I'm sorry this chapter is a week late. I got the chapter written before Friday, but cleaning it up took me until Sunday.
In this chapter we will have the first clues as to what was up with Susan during Anthony's chapter. We will also have the first task of the tri-wizard, although it doesn't all go well
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Disclaimer I in no way own Harry potter or Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. I'm just having some fun.
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6: disaster at the first task
Jasmine, Luna and Susan came to in the secret room under the grate hall. Jasmine and Luna noticed how Susan was crying.
Jasmine pulled Susan into a hug. "Are you ok Susan"?"
Susan nodded. "It just hurts to know that there was nothing we could do to help Anthony."
The other girls nodded in agreement.
Luna had a dreamy look in her eyes as she spoke. "It is unfortunate that we can only watch these scenes play. Without any chance to effect the outcome."
Susan sat up at that. "That reminds me" she said. "Did either of you see what the third rune Anthony picked up was?"
Jasmine and Luna nodded.
"It was the rune for Chattur'gha" Jasmine said.
Luna gives Jasmine a strange look. "That's odd. I saw him pick up the rune for Xel'lotath."
All 3 girls exchange looks.
Susan asked, "Did the monk mention who he served?"
Jasmine blinked. "Yes, he did" she said looking over to Luna.
Luna nods. "For me as well."
Susan slumps down. "I wonder why I couldn't see the rune and tablet, and why I couldn't hear any name just before that creature burst out of the monk's chest."
All 3 girls shuttered at that image. Jasmine drew her wand and checked the date and time. It was 3:33 A.M. November 24th.
"Ok this is odd."
"What is Jasmine" Luna asked.
Jasmine looked puzzled about something. "This is now the third or fourth time I have woken at 3:33 in the morning."
Susan looked interested. "What do you mean" she asked.
Jasmine shrugged. "First Hedwig woke me up the day my maternal grandfather died. Then I woke in the grate hall after reading the first chapter. Then Luna and I woke here after reading the second chapter. Finally, all 3 of us woke here at 3:33 A.M. after reading the third chapter. I really hope this doesn't become a habit."
Luna was frowning. "Isn't today the first task of the tournament?"
Jasmine and Susan glanced at the date, and both shot her in the feet.
"We'd better get to our dorms" Jasmine said, before noticing the look in Luna's and Susan's eyes. "Is there something more I need to know?"
Luna looked down. "Ever since you started talking with me the Nargles have just gotten meaner"
Susan looked up at the only person who was willing to let her be herself. "My dorm mates publicly ignore me when anyone else is around. However, when we are alone, they like to make snide remarks about all 3 of us."
Jasmine nodded. "Dobby!"
With a pop a house elf was standing in front of the girls. "Mistress calls Dobby" the creature said, vibrating in excitement.
"I did Dobby" Jasmine said to the little elf. "Could you collect the belongings of Luna and Susan here?"
Dobby turned to look at the 2 girls in the room with Jasmine.
"The three of us will be moving into this room. Especially since we seem to be ending up here so often."
Dobby studies the three girls for a minute, and then not into Jasmine pops up. After a few minutes he reappears carrying the trunks that belong to Luna and Susan.
Luna squeals at the sight of her trunk, and walking overtakes the trunk from Dobby. Susan looks on in puzzlement as Dobby sets her truck down next to the spot where she had woken up.
"Jasmine, are you sure it's fine for us to sleep here?"
Jasmine give Susan a comforting smile. "It's fine Susan. This is now the third time that someone has woken up here, and the teachers haven't done anything about it."
As Jasmine talks to Susan, and Luna takes the time to rearrange the stuff from her trunk, Dobby looks around the room and puzzlement. After a couple of minutes, he speaks to Jasmine. "Mistress Jasmine" he asks. "Is this under the great Hall?"
Turning to Dobby, her faithful companion, Jasmine nods. "Luna and I discovered this a couple days ago. Ever since then we've been coming down here to study, and we've woken up here twice after reading chapters from this book." With that she holds up the Tome of Eternal Darkness.
Dobby's eyes widen in surprise at the sight of the book. "You know what this book is?"
Jasmine looks puzzled. "It says Tome of Eternal Darkness on the cover" she says giving Dobby a look. "Does it mean something else to you, my friend?"
Dobby nods. "When Hogwarts was built the founders had constructed this room because they knew there was a great darkness seeking to devour our world" he said ringing his hands. "Dobby only knows of this because of legends taught down through the elves here. It is said that one will master the tome, and bring light to where there is darkness."
Jasmine frowned. "Not another prophecy" she said wanting to bang her head on the wall. "I've already had one spoken for me, and that one turned out to be wrong. And now I suspect I have another hanging over my head."
Luna and Susan both giggled at the jasmines look.
It was Luna however that knelt down in front of Dobby. "Young Dobby" she said waiting until Dobby turned to give her his full attention. "Does this legend mention anything else?"
Dobby nods to Luna. "It is said that the master of the Tome will have three companions that will help her navigate the past and bring light to the present and the future."
Jasmine, Luna, and Susan exchanged looks.
"I wonder if that actually means that I'm the master of the tome" Jasmine said looking around. "After all I may have been the one to get it, but it looks more like Susan is the one who doesn't seem to be locked into a specific time."
Luna and Susan exchanged a startled glance, well Dobby looks surprised.
"It's certainly possible," Susan said, taking time to think about what they discovered. "After all, so far it doesn't indicate who the master of the tome is, or how we would identify them."
Nodding Jasmine raises to her feet. "Well, we need at least to organize our stuff here. Then once it's time we need to go down to breakfast."
Susan and Luna nodded as the three girls started to sort out their things.
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It was finally time for the first task. Jasmine, Luna, and Susan found that they weren't welcome to sit near any of the other students. The Gryffindor's physically push them away. . The raven claws actually gave Jasmine and Luna the stinking eye whenever they went near them. The Hufflepuff actually raised their hands when the three girls came near. The Slytherin's actually looked like they would welcome them. That is until Malfoy opened his mouth and insulted all three. The French students weren't much better. Their headmistress actually told them not to sit anywhere near her students.
The same was true for the students from Durmstrang. They were a hostile lot, and none of the three girls felt safe sitting near them.
Because of this the three girls sat in their own part of the stands, watching as dragons were led into the arena.
"Boy, am I glad I wasn't dragged into this circus" Jasmine said as she gazed over the dragon that had been let into the arena below them. Jasmine recognized it as a Swedish Shortsnout. Usually a docile breed, she knew that if its eggs or young were threatened in any way the dragon could become very vicious. "Is that what the organizers are hoping for" she thought gazing over the arena again.
The first champion out of the tent was Cedric Diggory. All three girls were giving him the evil eye as he strutted out into the arena. That is until he caught the side of the dragon. Jasmine had never seen anybody's eyes go quite that wide, nor had she seen anybody's skin pail quite so quick.
Luna giggled. "I'm guessing the Hufflepuff wasn't able to discover what the task was about" she said pointing to Cedric.
Susan giggled as well. "Too bad for him" she said. "I discovered the dragons the day before the boys accosted me. I would've been happy to tell him about them, but he decided not to be a Hufflepuff and stick up for one of his own."
Jasmine actually giggled. "Well let's see how he does with the unknown" she said sitting back to watch the show.
Cedrick for all they are disparaging him wasn't a bad wizard. Pulling out his wand he pointed it at a rock nearby and transfigured it into a Labrador retriever. Then sent a stinging hex at the dog. This caused the dog to run out of the nest away from Cedric. The Swedish Shortsnout watched the dog go, but never moved away from her nest to chase it.
Cedric side and tried transfiguring more dogs for the dragon to be distracted by. None of it did a thing. The dragon never took her eyes from Cedric, and never moved away from her nest. Getting annoyed Cedric pointed his wand and fired a stinging hex at the dragon.
"Oh" Jasmine said as she saw the dragon flinch from the spell. "That's not going to end well."
She was right. The dragon was incensed by the stinging hex that she was hit with her sworn tail.
Cedric, being a seeker, was quick on his feet, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the dragon's tail. Without any warning at all for the spectators Cedric was sent flying.
Everyone looked surprised. Cedric was supposed to be the best seeker there was in the school. Of course, a lot of the student's thought Potter was supposed to be the best but given the way things had been going this year, a lot has switched to Cedric. Especially when his name had come out of the goblet of fire. Of course, some of the Hufflepuffs for a while had been happy that Potter had allowed their own to take the spotlight, although they hadn't lasted too long.
As Cedric got up, he had no idea that he was in real danger. The dragon, incensed by a spell she had been hit with, and not satisfied with the smack she had given the puny human with her tail, opened her mouth as he was flying. As the puny human rose to his feet, she blew out A gallon of flame that he hadn't seen coming. Cedric had no time to react. The fire engulfed the Hufflepuff, and everyone cringed as they heard his screams as he was burned alive.
It was then that Jasmines eyes narrowed. Something was wrong with this picture. She had no doubt that dragon fire could burn a person to death that quick, but to her eyes that didn't actually look like Dragon fire. She turned to the two girls sitting beside her. "Girls" she said pointing over to the dragons that they could see. "Do those look off to you?"
Luna and Susan took a closer look as the Swedish Shortsnout was dragged out, and another dragon took its place. It was Luna who realized it first. "That doesn't look like a dragon to me" she said pausing slightly between her second and third word. "It almost, looks like the creature that Anthony had to fight at the end of his chapter."
At this Susan took a very close look at the dragon that was being pulled into the arena, and her eyes widened in horror. "It is" she said pulling out a badge under her shirt. With some quick taps she seems to send out a message. "My aunt should be here soon" she said .
Fleur Delacour was about to start, when aurors burst into the scene and stopped the task. The headmaster was ready to just send them away, thinking he had the power to do so when Amelia bones walked up. "What's this I hear about you using strange creatures to do the task with Dumbledore" she asked gazing over at where the dragons used to be. They were no longer dragons however, they were hideous looking large creatures with leather wings, and 3 heads. Each was a different color. One was red, another green, and the last was blue.
Each 1 was shooting blasts of magic at where the stands were., But the shields that someone had erected around the arena were protecting the spectators."
"Now Amelia" Dumbledore said with that damnable twinkle in his eyes. "As you can see everything is under control."
"Under control" she said giving him a scathing look. "One of the contestants is dead" she said gesturing over to where Cedric's body still lay. It no longer looked burning, but rather like someone had blasted through his heart. "And you want to put the rest of the contestants through that?"
Dumbledore harrumphed. "You cannot stop the task" he said. "If you do, the other contestants will lose their magic."
Amelia smirked. "Prove it" she said giving Dumbledore and I know something you don't look.
He side. "Very well" he said. "But on your head be at this task is over" his last few words echoed across the arena.
Dumbledore and Amelia watched both seeming to expect something. Crum and Delacour walked out of the tent and walked across the grounds heading for their respective abodes. Dumbledore frowned. Why weren't they losing their magic? They should be tied to the tasks, so why weren't the two foreigners losing their magic? It had then hit him. Of course, they weren't tied to the tasks. None of them had signed the contract. He could hold it over their heads all he wanted, but when push came to shove, they had signed nothing. The fact both were of age made it so that they could not be tracked into any kind of contract. His shoulders slumped as he realized his first gambit had failed. However he was a crafty son of a bitch, and he had more plans waiting in the wings. Now he just had to find out why the Potter girl had not been drawn into a scheme.
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Jasmine, Luna, and Susan are back under the great Hall. Trying to figure out where they could find the next page of the Tome of Eternal Darkness. They had searched the room but had found nothing new. They had discussed themselves, but they weren't sure exactly what they would need to do, or exactly which puzzle from the third chapter they would need to solve. Then Luna had the brilliant idea to ask Dobby if he had seen anything unusual around the school lately. Dobby hadn't returned with any information yet, but Jasmine knew to be patient.
It was as the three girls were looking over the picture of the cathedral again, that dobby appeared with a pop
"I think I found it mistress Jasmine" he said looking excited. "There be a strange symbol on one of the doors in the kitchen."
Jasmine rose to her feet. "Let's go see it" she said walking over to Dobby.
Dobby took Jasmine's hand, Jasmine took Luna's, and Luna took Susans. Without, all four of them popped out of the secret room and ended up in the kitchen. It was then that Jasmine saw an elf sitting by herself over getting drunk of butter beer. She turned to dobby in puzzlement. "Can elves drink butter beer?"
Dobby sagged. "We can" he said. "But it's not a good idea for us to do so. We can't really hold it very well."
Walking over to the elf Jasmine crouched down. As she got a closer look at the elf, she realized it was winky, the elf that Crouch had dismissed at the end of the World Cup tournament. "Winky" She asked in a quiet voice. Winky Turned slowly and surprise.
"Yes" she said hiccupping after the word.
"Why are you here" Jasmine asked gazing around at the busy elves.
Winky Hiccups again. "Winky Is a disgraced elf she said. " Winky Wants a family again, but nobody will take Winky."
Jasmine's heart went out to the little elf. She knew what it was like to be unwanted and abused. "Winky, would you like to come work for me?"
Winky's eyes shot open in surprise. "Used want Winky" she asked blinking her large eyes. "I'd be a disgraced elf."
Jasmine shrugged. "Not from what I saw. That man Crouch had no right to dismiss you the way he did, and certainly not for something you could not have done ."
Winky's eyes seem to clear. "Yes Miss" she said reaching out her hand toward Jasmine. "Winky want that very much."
As Jasmine and Winky grasped hands a light showed around the two. Winky Straightened up and turn to her new mistress. "What is your orders mistress?"
"For now, I want you to stay here and keep an ear out. The elves here everything, and I want you to listen out for when somebody else is in danger. I'm looking out for those who are unable to defend themselves. Your one task is to make sure that everyone who is currently a victim or will become a victim in the future while here at Hogwarts, is protected. I don't care who you need to get involved for this, I just want you to get it done."
With each word Jasmine spoke Winky straightened up more and more. "It will be done mistress" she said popping away at once.
While Jasmine was speaking with Winky Susan and Luna had searched the kitchen for what Dobby had told them about. At last, just as Winky popped away, Luna found it. "Jasmine" she called looking up.
Jasmine walked over to the two. "Yes" she said eyeing the wall that they were staring at in confusion.
Susan spoke up. "This symbol she said pointing to the wall. "It looks like some kind of room, but we can't figure out which one it is ."
Jasmine examined the room. Then pulled out the Tome of Eternal Darkness from one of her pockets. Flipping through it she noticed that the room had a similar look to one of the others in the tome.
"I think this rune represents Pious" she said pointing to the rune. "But I don't think we can do anything with this yet."
Luna And Susan sagged at Jasmine's words.
"Oh, don't be down" she said. "At least we know where we can find a future chapter."
Susan nodded at Jasmine's words. When she straightened, she caught sight of a small door. Almost hidden by a hanging tapestry. Looking over to Dobby she asked, "where does that door go?"
Dobby looked where Susan was pointing. "None of the elves know Miss. That door has been locked now for 41 years."
Jasmine blinked. "Is it protected against magic Dobby?"
Dobby nods his head. "Yes, Mistress Jasmine." Dobby walks over to another elf and the 2 have a whispered conversation. After a few minutes the elf gives Dobby a small package, and Dobby returns to the 3 girls. "This package was left for the elves" Dobby explained. "The elves were told that someone would be able to fix what was once broken using the old ways."
Jasmine took the package, opened it, and stared in surprise at the 2 pieces of a key that lay inside.
Susan watched Jasmine try using the `Reparo` spell to fix the key. Of course nothing happened. Susan started quietly giggling at Jasmine's frustration. "You have the tome Jasmine" Susan said between giggles. "Why not try something from that?"
Jasmine paused. Then quietly swore causing Susan and Luna to break out in giggles.
Thinking back to what Anthony did with the blue and green urns, Jasmine stuck the 2 pieces of the key together. Then cast the "Enchant Item" spell over the 2 pieces of the key. Causing the key to repair itself, and gleam as if it had just been made.
Reaching up with the key, Jasmine unlocked the door Susan had found. The key turned easily in the lock, and the door opened to see a nonmoving painting hanging on the wall behind the door. However, it was what was behind the painting that had captured the attention of the girls. It was a chapter page.
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An: and thats all for this chapter. Pore Cedric. I guess he shouldn't have treated Susan the way he did before. Next up is the fourth chapter, although we won't be starting it right away.
As always if you have a question or a comment you can send me a pm, or you can leave a review.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you all next time.