We are finally here! When I started this journey, my mind hadn't even comprehended what 100 chapters of a story could look like, what the journey could feel like... Now that I'm here, I can happily say that the story looks and reads so much better than I could have imagined and the journey has been nothing short of proud. I'm proud of this story and I can't wait for all of you to read it unfurl.
Here is Chapter 100... Enjoy!
Ron walked into the library, looking for Harry and Hermione. He couldn't wait to tell the two of them everything Dumbledore had just told him about the Deathly Hallows. The moment he walked in, his eyes fell on Harry and Hermione busy in a deep conversation, so much so that, for a second, they didn't even realise that Ron was walking towards them.
However, the moment they did, both Harry and Hermione went instantly quiet.
"Hey," greeted Ron and sat beside them.
"Hi, Ron," greeted Hermione.
"Hey," greeted Harry.
"What were you two talking about?" asked Ron, curiously.
"Uh... nothing," replied Hermione.
"She was telling me about Arithmancy," replied Harry.
Unconvinced, Ron stared at them for a few seconds before speaking up. "You are not going to believe what I've just found out," he remarked, excitedly.
"What happened?" asked Harry, intrigued.
"I know what You-know-who is after," replied Ron. "The Deathly Hallows," he announced, beaming.
Hermione and Harry stared at each other for a moment before glancing at Ron. "The Deathly Hallows?" retorted Harry, pretending to have never heard the phrase before.
"Yes, I'm surprised Dumbledore hasn't told you about it," replied Ron.
"Dumbledore told you about the Deathly Hallows?" asked Harry, surprised.
"Yeah," replied Ron, proudly.
"What are the Deathly Hallows?" asked Hermione.
Ron narrated the story of the three brothers to Harry and Hermione, describing each of the hallows specifically and finished with the symbol he had seen.
"Wait... what's that?" asked Harry.
"That's the symbol of the Hallows, mate... The wand, the resurrection stone and the invisibility cloak," replied Ron.
"I've seen that before..." remarked Harry and glanced at Hermione. Hermione seemed to recognize it as well, having seen it engraved on the suitcase owned by Benjamin White.
"You've seen this before? Where?" asked Ron, shocked.
"I... uh... am not sure," replied Harry. "I swear I have seen this before somewhere," he added.
"Oh," sighed Ron.
"So, You-know-who is after the Deathly Hallows?" asked Hermione.
"Dumbledore didn't confirm it for sure. But think about it, who do we know who's capable of killing people for fun, for something that would make him the most powerful wizard?" replied Ron, confidently.
Hermione nodded in response, however, Harry seemed to have zoned out. A thought struck him and out of nowhere, Harry suddenly started panicking.
Hermione and Ron continued talking about the Hallows, and whether the magical objects mentioned in the story could be real. Hermione sounded sceptical, but Ron was confident that it was real.
As they continued talking, a couple of minutes went by. And suddenly, Hermione glanced at Harry instinctively. "What happened?" she asked, looking a little worried.
"Uh... nothing... I was just wondering what would happen if You-know-who got a hold of the Hallows," replied Harry, though she could feel there was something more.
"You have no idea the kind of chaos that monster could wreck... Imagine him with the most powerful wand in existence," retorted Ron.
After a couple of minutes, Harry spoke up. "I don't feel like it anymore... I want to get out of the library," he remarked and got up. Promptly, Hermione got up along with him.
"Where are you going?" asked Ron, surprised.
"Uh... I'll grab some dinner and get back to studying," replied Hermione.
"Fine... I'll come along," remarked Ron, getting up.
"We are going to head to the common room to keep our books. Why don't we meet back at the Great Hall?" retorted Harry.
"Yeah, sounds great," replied Ron and watched the couple leave the library. "Though, I wouldn't have minded going up to the common room and coming back down with you guys," he sighed to himself. "What's up with you two?" he wondered.
Harry and Hermione went back to the common room, and on their way, Hermione spoke up. "What happened, Harry?" she asked.
"I know why he's going after the Deathly Hallows," replied Harry. "He's after the wand," he remarked.
"Apart from the obvious reason... why?" asked Hermione.
"We can't kill each other with our own wands, remember? He's looking for a wand that will help him kill me," replied Harry.
Ever since Ron had completed the demonstration of his duelling skills blindfolded, he had been frequenting Dumbledore's training sessions much more.
"Your hand is getting worse, the curse seems to be spreading to your arm," remarked Ron remorsefully as he glanced at the nasty-looking Dumbledore's injured right hand.
Dumbledore ignored his comment.
"You still haven't told me how you got injured," sighed Ron and glanced at Dumbledore hopefully.
"An old man like myself gets curious and perhaps even a little greedy," remarked Dumbledore. "And once in a while, you are bound to get burnt," he added.
"Or cursed," chuckled Ron.
"Well, yes," smiled Dumbledore in response. "Now, shall we get started?" he remarked taking out his wand with his left hand.
Months ago, they had started off with verbal duelling and had moved on to defending non-verbal spells, i.e. defending against someone who was adept at non-verbal magic. Now, it was time for non-verbal attacking spells, which were just as crucial as defending against them. Fortunately, Ron had already been using non-verbal spells sporadically during their training sessions. It was just that Ron wasn't accustomed to it all the time, and he wasn't well-versed in non-verbal attacks.
Ron nodded in response and took out his wand.
"The only way to master non-verbal magic is through practice," said Dumbledore. "Remember to keep yourself calm, void of any thoughts," he remarked.
In the past couple of sessions, Ron had managed to get a hold of performing magic non-verbally. Most of the times he had used it in the past had been on pure adrenaline more than anything else.
Dumbledore waved his wand and a mannequin with a wand in its hand appeared.
"Let's start with a simple disarming charm," he remarked.
Ron pointed his wand and tried to think about the disarming charm in his mind as he struck his wand aimed at the mannequin.
Ron tried a couple of times, but it didn't seem to be working. Curbing his impatient tendency and growing frustration, he took a deep breath in and pointed his wand at the mannequin again.
"Focus and intent, Ron... visualize the wand flying out of its hand," guided Dumbledore.
Ron closed his eyes and pointed his wand at the mannequin with an outstretched arm. After a moment, he visualised himself generating power from the bottom of his abdomen and flicked his wand in a decisive and quick fashion, aimed at the mannequin. Ron almost felt the magic surge through him and a stream of red sparks flew out of his wand as the wand flew out of the mannequin's hand.
"Well done," remarked Dumbledore smiling. After a moment, he continued. "Now, focus your attention on the expelled wand. I want you to levitate it, to your eye level," he instructed.
Ron nodded and glanced at the wand lying on the floor. "Swish and a flick," he muttered to himself, chuckling.
"Soft hand movements, imagine the wand floating in the air," remarked Dumbledore.
Ron relaxed his arm and pointed his wand at the wand lying on the ground. Slowly, he swished his wand and flicked instinctively. With every flick, the wand he aimed at started to levitate and float in the air. Keeping eye contact on the floating wand, Ron kept flicking his wand little by little and the wand kept rising higher and higher.
The moment the wand had risen to Ron's eye level, "Use the summoning charm, now," exclaimed Dumbledore, with a little urgency in his voice.
Ron gripped his wand tighter but in the process, lost focus on the floating wand and it fell to the ground.
"Bring it to your eye level and then summon it," instructed Dumbledore. "No shortcuts here, Ronald," he added with a smile.
"I could summon it while it is lying on the ground. But of course, I mustn't," he chuckled and pointed his wand at the mannequin's wand once again.
It took him a couple of more attempts, but Ron finally did it. In his final attempt, Ron managed to get the wand floating to his eyeline. And in a swift motion, he made a decisive upward motion with his wand, like beckoning the floating wand towards himself. And to his delight, the floating wand flew at him instantly and he caught it with ease.
"Nice work," appreciated Dumbledore, proudly.
As Ron's training under Dumbledore's guidance continued, the class started to echo with the silent but powerful magic of a determined young wizard mastering his wizardry.
"Question everything around you, every step you take, every action that you feel like doing," exclaimed White, loudly and clearly.
Harry stood in front of him, in their usual spot. The training session had started a short while back and Professor White insisted that they start with the Unforgivable curses right away. And for this session, he wanted to give Harry a taste of the Imperius curse.
"But, how do I fight it, Professor?" asked Harry, confused.
"Unlike the Cruciatus curse, Mr Potter, there is a way to defeat the Imperius curse," replied White. Harry was intrigued by this revelation. "The only direct way to fight the Cruciatus curse is to either dodge it or not succumb to the pain caused by the curse," began White. "But, with the Imperius curse, you can try to fight the curse. But, it'll require immense willpower to do so, something, very few wizards possess. Besides that, if you are able to train yourself to question everything you do, you might be able to fight the curse, fight whatever the attacker wants you to do under the Imperius curse," he remarked.
Harry nodded his head in response, soaking in everything he was taught.
"I'll let you figure it out," said White and took out his wand to point it at Harry.
"Imperio"
Harry stood rooted to his spot. Suddenly, he felt a floating sensation, as though every thought and worry in his head was wiping away gently.
And then he heard a voice in his head.
"… take out your wand … attack the tree … burn it down …"
Initially, Harry thought it was White's voice telling him to attack a tree. But as he continued listening to it closely, the voice sounded different. The voice sounded eerily similar to how White sounded, yet it was distinguishably different. The tone, rhythm and articulation of the voice reminded him of White's voice, but the accent, clarity and projection of the voice were way different.
Confused, Harry prepared to take out his wand and burn the tree down. But just then, he felt something else, another voice in his head.
This one didn't feel like anyone's voice at all, more like a feeling. "Why are you burning the tree?" it asked Harry. "Don't do it, Harry," said the other voice.
However, at the back of his head, White's voice kept telling him, "… take out your wand … attack the tree … burn it down …".
As one voice told him to burn the tree, and the other refused him, Harry pointed his wand at the tree and flames burst out of it. However, his wand wasn't entirely pointed at the tree in front of him, he was pointing at it, but very loosely. Ultimately, the flames burst out of his wand and burnt everything around the tree, including parts of it.
And right then, Harry felt himself coming back into control, feeling the environment around him.
Harry stared at the burning bushes and branches of the tree in shock. Right then, a jet of water escaped White's wand and sprinkled over the fire, extinguishing it. Harry turned around to glance at White.
"That was not bad for your first attempt," sighed White.
"Professor... what happened?" he asked.
"Do you not remember?" retorted White, curiously.
"I do... I felt your voice, it was a bit different, but I heard it clearly, asking me to burn down the tree," replied Harry. "I felt this other voice, stopping me from doing it," he added.
"Try to listen to your other voice, Mr Potter," remarked White.
White hit Harry with the Imperius curse again and again, every time, making him do something that he wouldn't normally do. Harry, with every Imperius curse put on him, started to get a hang of how it'd feel to be put under the curse. But he wasn't as successful as he'd have wanted.
After an hour or so of training, they came to an extended halt.
"You are doing very well," remarked White as the pair sat down.
"What?" asked Harry, bemused. "Really?" he reiterated.
"Yes, don't seem so surprised, Mr Potter. You are doing much better than a lot of wizards. There is a long way to go, you are still yet to fully resist the curse, but you will get there," replied White, reassuringly.
The pair sat in silence for a couple of minutes. White was about to resume the session when Harry spoke up.
"Professor," called out Harry. "There's something I wanted to ask you," he mumbled, a little under-confidently.
"Yes, Mr Potter," replied White.
"There is a symbol, engraved on your suitcase. I have seen that every time I enter it to get here. Now, a few days back, Ron told us about the Deathly Hallows, and he showed us the symbol of the Hallows," remarked Harry and paused.
White glanced at him and after a moment spoke up. "The Hallows are one of the most powerful magical objects ever created, Mr Potter," he said.
"Do you know where they are?" asked Harry.
"The Hallows?" retorted White. "Why?" he asked.
"I was... I was wondering... if I could get my hands on the wand before You-know-who does, that'll help me defeat him, right?" replied Harry.
"Yes, that'd help you to defeat the Dark Lord, Mr Potter," replied White. And he continued instantly, "But, wiser men than you have gone down that path, in search of the Hallows, consumed by desire... and it has not ended well for them," he warned. "Believe me, Mr Potter, I know the feeling," he sighed.
Harry stared at him, unconvinced that he should forget about the Hallows.
The pair resumed training. After a couple of attempts at defending against the Imperius curse, they moved on to the Cruciatus curse. Like the time before when Harry had faced the Cruciatus curse, he struggled to manage the pain caused by the curse. He writhed and wriggled in pain and gave up again and again. To make matters worse, the pair shifted back to training with the Imperius curse. This time around, Harry was nowhere near able to resist the Imperius curse.
At the end of the session, Harry looked on the verge of breaking down, physically and mentally.
"Let's wrap up, Mr Potter," said White. "You will need to stay the night at the Hospital wing," he added.
Harry barely nodded in response.
"Come back here tomorrow evening," remarked White. "I have found something to protect you from any future mental assaults by the Dark Lord," he announced.
"What?" gasped Harry, surprised.
"One that doesn't involve stepping into the dark side," smiled White.
And with that, Harry left the training session.
As instructed by Professor White, Harry made his way back to White's office the following evening. He was intrigued by what White had in store to protect him from any future mental assaults by Voldemort. The moment he reached the office, he saw the suitcase lying on the ground and made his way inside it.
"Professor White," called out Harry. He looked around but White wasn't in sight.
Harry would have waited just over a minute when he heard the sound of footsteps, more than one. As he turned around to glance, his eyes fell on Professor White walking with the help of his cane. But, there was someone beside him, walking alongside him. The man beside White seemed quite old, almost as old as Professor Dumbledore looked. But for a man his age, he looked spry and enthusiastic.
"Mr Potter," exclaimed the old man.
"Mr Potter, you are here," exclaimed White.
"Professor, I was just waiting for you," remarked Harry.
"It is so nice to finally meet you," remarked the old man and held out his hand. "Newt Scamander," he introduced himself.
"Newt... Scamander..." sighed Harry as he got thrown into a brief, but deep thought. "You are Newt Scamander, the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?" exclaimed Harry, surprised as he shook hands with him.
"Yes, the same," smiled Newt in response.
"Mr Scamander is... an old friend of mine," remarked White. "I consulted with him, about your perilous position," he continued as Harry glanced at him. "And he has a rather unique solution," he finished.
"Yes, I must say that having a Mystara as a companion is not something anyone would consider, especially since most of us have an aversion to magical beasts," chuckled Newt. "But these are indeed wonderful creatures," he remarked, proudly. After a moment, Newt took out a small creature from his pocket. The moment Harry laid his eyes on her, he felt elated. Mystara was a pocket-sized marvel, an ethereal sprite with translucent wings that shimmered like stardust. Feather-like antennae adorned its tiny head, while gemstone eyes reflected the emotions it sensed. Delicate threads and celestial markings completed its enchanting, miniature form.
"What is this?" gleamed Harry, enchanted by the creature's features.
"This is a Mystara, the only bird of its kind that I could find in this world," replied Newt. Harry stared at him with a mixture of admiration and confusion. "In the ancient texts of magical creatures, the Mystara has a special place, Harry," began Newt. "Its origins are veiled in a magical mystery. There are those who believe that it is not of this world and that it was born in the heart of a forgotten star. It embodies the magic of distant realms," he continued as Harry stared at him, awestruck. "And most importantly," remarked Newt turning a little serious. "This will protect your mind from any kind of telepathic manipulation," he finished.
"Wow," gasped Harry as he continued staring at the Mystara. The cute little creature reflected a kaleidoscope of hues, soft blues, shimmering purples, and luminescent greens that shifted harmoniously. The creature looked heavenly and as other-worldly as anything Harry had seen before.
In another part of the world...
"My Lord," exclaimed Redwood as he bowed down to Voldemort.
"Redwood," hissed Voldemort.
"My Lord, I have found out about the Deathly Hallows," he remarked.
Right at that moment, Snape walked into the room.
"Severus," exclaimed Voldemort, surprised. "I didn't expect a visit from you," he remarked.
"My Lord," bowed down Snape. "I have some news for you," he replied and glanced at Redwood.
"What do you have for me, Severus?" asked Voldemort.
"I know why Dumbledore is interested in the Deathly Hallows," replied Snape. "It has to do with Miss Jane Smith," he sighed.
"What? How do you know that?" asked Redwood, shocked.
"Looks like both of you decided to come to me with the same information," sniggered Voldemort. "Let's hear it," he said and both Snape and Redwood recited what they had found out.
In these 100 chapters of my first ever fanfiction, I have created my very own spell, "Procidat Incipio", and in this chapter, I have created my very own magical - mystical creature, "Mystara". How did you like it?
PS - Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one is in the works. Until then, Ciao!