HEATHER POTTER AND THE LEGACY OF ALESSA

CHAPTER 4:

EXPEDITION

It was like being at a confession. Then again, Heather at least could trust her father. There were only three people off the top of her head she trusted as much: Hermione, Luna, and Neville. Ron, she still had a few issues with after the whole Tri-Wizard Tournament fiasco. And while Harry Mason was not her actual father, he had been so for the seven years she had been Cheryl Mason, and for the past two years as Heather Potter. She loved him as much as she would have, had her actually been her father.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose at the end of the explanation. "I should have figured they would send a detective, sooner or later. You're lucky you got here when you did, Heather. That damned thing was playing with me, but I knew it was going to kill me before long."

"I was lucky Snape taught me that healing spell," Heather said. "Yet another thing to be grateful to him for. Dad, I'm sorry that I dragged you into this again."

Harry waved his hand. "Both times, it was this damned Cult. First, Dahlia cast that spell on Alessa to draw Cheryl to her, and now, they've hired a detective." He then turned to Heather, urgency in his eyes. "You still have the Aglaophotis?"

Heather fondled the pendant around her neck. "Yes, though I'm not looking forward to taking it. I remember when Kaufmann threw it on me when Dahlia turned me into the Incubator. It was like having a bucket of acid poured all over me. Even the Cruciatus Curse didn't hurt as badly," Heather murmured. "Of course, that was nothing compared to the pain that I felt when that…thing emerged…or being burned alive, for that matter. I don't know how I managed to survive when I was Alessa, in that secret room in the hospital. It was only Lisa who helped keep me sane, and I think the Cult murdered her." She felt melancholy as she thought of Lisa Garland, the nurse who had tended to her. "All I know is, I brought her soul into the Otherworld, and her memories were addled by the drugs Kaufmann gave her."

Harry nodded, remembering the times when he encountered the nurse. The penultimate time he saw her, she transformed into a living corpse, wailing for Harry not to leave her. To his shame, he had fled, locking the door behind him. The last time he had seen her was when she attacked Kaufmann. Harry remembered catching a glimpse of Lisa dragging a screaming Kaufmann through the grated floor as Harry and Cybil fled from that hellish place(1).

"Is Cybil still in Brahms?" Heather asked.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. Last I heard, she was dealing with some murder case. A man murdered his terminally ill wife and fled to Silent Hill. Some said he came back out about a week later, with a kid in tow. If he has, he's on the run. I think his name was James Sunderland(2). She said she'd stop contacting me in case the Cult tracked me down. This was just after Lupin and Black brought you here."

Any further thought on the subject was erased when they heard a knock on the door to the apartment. Given that it was unlikely that either a member of the Cult or one of the monsters, Harry, after a moment, got up, and walked over to the door, peering through the spyhole. "Heather, is this guy Cartland?"

Heather went over to the spyhole, and peered through. She nodded. "Yeah."

Harry opened the door, but put a chain on to be sure. "Harry Mason?" Douglas asked.

"Yeah. You're the detective those bastards hired to track us down."

Cartland put his hands up in a placatory gesture. "Look, I didn't know about this crap going on. Monsters and other worlds…not to mention magic. I just wanted to make sure that you and Heather were okay."

"No thanks to you," Harry said. "I know you're not with the Cult, that you were only doing your job, but you still led them to us. It's only thanks to Heather that I'm still alive."

"Well, I'm glad you are, because then I'd have to be apologising to a distraught teenaged girl for getting her father killed. Did enough of that in the police force," Cartland said bitterly. "But I also want answers, and I don't think my employers will be giving me any. Mr Mason, I've seen and heard a lot of impossible things in the last few hours. I've seen monsters, the entire world turn into Hell, and your daughter use magical powers. I just want to know what the hell is going on."

After some thought, Harry let the detective in. However, he then said to Heather, "Call your godfather."

Heather nodded, and as she left, she heard Cartland say, "Godfather?"

"Mick Orion," she heard her father explain, using Sirius' chosen pseudonym. Orion came from Sirius' middle name, while Mick came from the first name of his favourite musician. Muggle musician, anyway.

She went to her room and found the mirror. She had the mirror for Sirius, but the diaries for everyone else. She called out his name, and soon, his face appeared on the surface. "Heather?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

"No, we've got a problem. The Cult's after us again. Are you free?"

"For my goddaughter, always," Sirius said.

Sirius, after taking up residence in Las Vegas, had invested much of his family's fortune into the town (he told Heather once that his mother would be spinning in her grave at the thought of so much investment into Muggle properties and business, something they both laughed at). He'd become known as a recluse, not unlike Howard Hughes when he lived at the Desert Inn. In truth, Sirius did enjoy the nightlife of Las Vegas, but used charms to disguise his face.

He also helped police the magical side of things in Vegas. The local Aurors knew who he was, but had subjected him to Veritaserum interrogation (Las Vegas' magical community was, ironically, one of the more sensible in the United States, never mind the world). He could never join the Aurors there, as he hadn't actually been officially cleared in Britain (and given the climate there, probably never would), but he acted as an information broker in the city.

One thing he would drop everything for, though, was to help his goddaughter. So when Heather got back into the living room, she was gratified to see Douglas nearly shit himself when a dark-haired, handsome man suddenly appear, nearly tripping on the carpet. "I hate Apparition," Sirius muttered. He then turned to Harry. "Nice to see you again, Harry. Who's this guy?"

"Douglas Cartland. I'm a detective."

"Ah. Well, I'm Mick Orion, and I'm a wizard. Harry, please tell me I don't have to use a Memory Charm?"

"I used magic in front of him already, Uncle Orion," Heather said. "I don't think he's going to break the Statute of Secrecy."

"Who'd believe me, anyway?" Cartland asked. "They'd chuck me in the nuthouse if I talked about this. Hell, most people think I'm one foot in the nuthouse door anyway."

Sirius grinned. "Don't worry. You're in good company. I was kept in a wizard prison for a dozen years for a crime I didn't commit. And the guards wouldn't look out of place in Silent Hill. I was more than a little loopy afterwards."

Heather winced at the reminder of the Dementors. They would look right at home within Silent Hill, true. She hoped the town wouldn't form analogues of them when they returned. It wasn't a matter of if, really.

It took some time to fill Sirius in. "So…are we going to go after Claudia?" Sirius asked.

Heather nodded. "One way or another, she needs to be stopped. She tried to have Dad killed. She wants her god born. She thinks it will be paradise, but at best, it will be basically like being mindless livestock."

"Charming way of putting it," Cartland said with a wince.

"Yeah, and the thing is, she's going to keep attacking us. I ran from Voldemort and Dumbledore, true, but I can't run from this. And I owe it to Claudia to save her from her own delusions," Heather said.

"Can you save her?" Harry asked.

"I can try. But if I have to…" Heather shook her head. "I don't want to think about it. Stopping the birth of their god is the priority."

"And the Aglaophotis can't be taken any sooner?" Cartland asked.

"Snape was very clear on that, last time I asked. It has to be as close to the 'birth' as possible, so that every trace of it can be purged from me. Too soon, and there'll be remnants of it that could regrow. Too late, and I die, even if the god dies too." Heather clutched at the pendant. "Even killing me won't guarantee that the god will die with me, despite what Dumbledore thought."

"So, do we head to Silent Hill?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded. "I don't intend to let those bastards get away with this. We'll take my car."

They packed, and got themselves ready for an expedition to Silent Hill, then headed to the garage of the apartment building. They found someone unexpected and, to Heather, unwelcome waiting for them there. "Hiya, Heather," Vincent said, waving at them.

"Friend of yours, Heather?" Sirius asked.

"Not really. Just an ally of convenience," Heather retorted.

"Well, I guess that is an accurate, if unflattering, description," Vincent said. "You must be Harry Mason, you're that detective that Claudia hired, and…" He peered at Sirius, before laughing. "As I live and breathe! Sirius Black!"

Black scowled. "You know who I am? Are you a wizard?"

"I'm actually a Muggle, though I have contacts in your world," Vincent said. "I'm Vincent Smith."

"So you're the priest of the Cult who's against Claudia?" Harry asked, suspicious.

"Of course. I'm sure it must be galling to have to work with me, but frankly, I don't want God born any more than you do. My tastes are somewhat materialistic, and Claudia's plans would put a halt to that."

"Why can't you do your own dirty work?" Sirius scowled.

"Let's just say that I'm not fond of sweaty clothes, or bloody hands," Vincent said with a smirk. "Then again, the same could be said about many mages." Then, he became serious, handing over a map. "If you're heading to Silent Hill, you need to find Leonard."

"Leonard?" Heather said, taking the map. "You mean…Claudia's father?"

"So your memories have returned," Vincent said with a smile. "Well, he's in possession of a valuable little trinket. The Seal of Metatron. I mean, did you actually have a plan to deal with God?"

"Aglaophotis," Harry said. "We have a small supply with Heather at all times."

Vincent's eyes widened in surprise, and then his smile did too. "Excellent! Well, it's good to have a back-up. I mean, Harry and Heather remembers what the Seal does. Heather was using it as Alessa seventeen years ago, and Harry saw it in action, though that crazy hag mother of Alessa's told him it was the Seal of Samael."

"I know. I intended to use it to annihilate myself, along with that…thing inside me," Heather said.

"Well, this Seal is a bit more specific in that it can be targeted a little more precisely," Vincent said. "It's either in Leonard's own house, or else with him at Brookhaven Hospital. Of course, as you have already suspected, the town has awakened, and I'm sure you know what that means, having been Alessa and all. Should be fun, I daresay." He smirked, before waving cheerfully. "See you there," he said as he walked off.

Cartland looked at Sirius. "Why did that guy call you Sirius Black?"

"That's my real name," Black said. "I'm still a wanted man in Britain, and only the fact that I passed a test with a magical truth serum means that I can stay in the United States. I told you, I was put into prison for a crime I didn't commit. If I showed my face back home, they'd execute me. Or as good as."

Vincent left the apartment complex, and headed to his car. The influence of Silent Hill was fading from this area, thankfully. A combination of Claudia's powers and the influence of God on Heather had allowed the town to reach out. And now, here he was, heading back into the dragon's lair. Of course, so too was Heather and her little band.

It was good that Heather had Aglaophotis. Had Harry sought it out? If so, clever man. Even so, Vincent decided he needed to track some more down, just in case things went awry.

In matters involving Silent Hill, they invariably did…

CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:

The return of Sirius! And the preparations to take the fight to the enemy! You'll note that, unlike the game, instead of Vincent meeting Douglas off-screen, we have him meeting the four heading to Silent Hill.

1. As far as this fic is concerned, the Good+ ending of Silent Hill is canon.

2. As far as this fic is concerned, the Leave ending of Silent Hill 2 is canon.