Chapter 53
As Alucard closed in on Matrograno with a savage, feral grin and pinned him to the wall behind him with a pair of long, wicked looking daggers. Matrograno shrieked in pain and cowered as Alucard loomed over him.
"Legillemens." Harry said, entering the Bishop's mind. He slammed against a nearly impenetrable barrier, one similar to those he'd seen in high ranking Death Eaters towards the end of the war. He backed out and found himself once again inside his own body.
"Is he wearing any peculiar jewelry?" Harry asked. Alucard frisked him thoroughly, tossing a signet ring over to him, but that was all he'd been wearing. Harry examined the ring and shrugged.
"This is inert.. How? Oh it must be implanted somewhere." Harry said.
"What are you talking about?" Alucard asked.
"I can't get into his mind, it's shielded by powerful magic, and he is not a wizard. One of Millennium's former Death Eaters must have charmed a small bit of metal and implanted it somewhere in his body to protect his mind. Not even the Imperious would affect him." Harry said.
"So what are our options?" Alucard asked.
"Veritaserum would work, but that charm amplifies his ability to resist even that astronomically." Harry said, then grimaced.
"But if his will were broken..." Harry said, trailing off. Alucard's smile became wolfish.
"Go." Alcuard said.
"Huh?" Harry asked.
"Go find some veritaserum. I'll get our little birdie ready to sing." Alucard said. Carrie squawked indignantly.
"Sorry, Carrie." Alucard said grinning at the bird.
"I don't know. I should be here if that's the road we're going down." Harry said, grimacing again.
"No you really shouldn't. You'll do no good by subjecting yourself to this. What must be done is in my nature, but you it would hurt. Remember Jan?" Alucard asked. Harry shuddered.
"Do I have the right to burden you with that though?" Harry asked, more himself than anyone else.
"No you don't but what you do have the right to do is let your friends help you do what you cannot. Go. He will be ready when you return." Alucard said, his voice unusually kind.
"I... Thank you, Alucard." Harry said. Alucard nodded and turned back to a now terrified Bishop. The last thing he heard before apparating back to Hogwarts was the choked sobbing of Matrograno as Alucard approached. He reappeared in his home and immediately sought out Seras, who was in the shared nursery chatting with Integra who had Regina and Zorin who was holding Nicole. Seras didn't let him get three steps into the room before she was up and in his arms.
"You're back earlier than I expected." Seras said.
"Yeah..." Harry said.
"Where's Alucard?" Integra asked.
"Yeah..." Harry said.
"Ah." Integra said. Harry sighed, looking miserable.
"I need to find some veritaserum, there's got to be some at the Ministry, Hogwarts or Gringotts. It's going to take Alucard a while to do what he needs to get done, and I'm in dire need of a distraction." Harry said.
"I have an idea..." Seras said.
*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*
Sirius was pacing back and forth in his library, reading an ancient tome on Demonology. He'd taken to studying that subject after the last attack, and he was revolted with what he was reading. Christianity saw Demons as fallen angels, and servants to some sort of religious antagonist, however the truth was nothing like that. They were in fact a group of several subspecies that exist on a plane Humanity cannot normally access.
Like Humans, they were good, bad and everything in between, however lesser Demons were similar to house elves, their will was easily bent. If you could summon a Demon, and then dominate it, it would be your slave until its corporeal form died at which point it returned to its own plane. Greater Demons on the other hand.. Their will was indomitable. The much more numerous lesser Demons were ruled over in a society that resembled feudalism, the fewer greater Demons acted as territorial lords across Hell, and the lesser Demons were their serfs.
Sirius was halfway through a description on the ritual used to summon a lesser Demon when he heard a strange noise. When handling books about Demonology, hearing strange things is never a good sign, many such books were inscribed with runes that would thin the barrier between our world and theirs.
"Mooney? Tonks?" Sirius asked. The same sound again, like footsteps softly creeping all around him..
"What the fuck?" Sirius asked.
"Siiiiirrriiiiuuuuussss!" a deep, wavering voice bellowed.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" Sirius yelled.
"You seek forbidden knowledge!" The voice continued, if anything sounding more creepy. Sirius stared down at the book in horror, slowly backing away from it.
"Stay back!" Sirius said, at the last minute remembering he was a wizard and withdrawing his wand.
"Your magic cannot save you, Mortal!" The voice bellowed. To Sirius' horror the room filled with thick, black smoke. He covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and spun around looking for the source of the voice and smoke. The gas lamps in the room were extinguished by the encroaching smoke, and shortly after the last remaining light in the room, the cracks under the doors faded, leaving him in complete pitch black.
"Lumos!" Sirius cried. His spell produced a dim light that only illuminated mere inches away from his face. He spun as he felt the air shift to his left, followed by rapid footsteps.
"I'm armed!" Sirius cried. The air shifted again and this time as the footsteps passed, his wand was plucked from his fingers.
"Fuck!" Sirius yelled.
"Your trespasses won't be soon forgiven!" The voice bellowed. He felt a pair of strong arms close around him, and he let out a high-pitched girlish squeak as the world twisted into a vortex of a million shades of grey and the air was forcibly pushed out of his lungs. The moments it took felt like eons to Sirius, but eventually the grey vortex gave way to a painfully bright spectrum of color as he was deposited roughly onto the ground.
He clawed at the ground, scrambling backwards, looking around wildly as he tried to get his bearings. When his vision cleared, he felt as though his spine had turned to ice as a cold dread settled at the bottom of his stomach.
"No..." Sirius said.
"Hey Sirius, come on we gotta go get some veritaserum." Harry said, pulling him to his feet. Seras and Luna stood beside him laughing uncontrollably. They were right outside the main entrance to Gringotts
"That is so not on! You know the kind of shit I'm researching right now!" Sirius cried.
"Stop being a pussy, Sirius." Luna said, the phrase sounding utterly wrong coming out of her mouth. They walked into the bank, Sirius grumbling and walking with his arms crossed in a fantastically juvenile display of indignance.
"'Sup, Talnok." Harry said with a grin as he saw the leader of Gringotts making his way into the main entrance.
"I am not worthy, my king." Talnok said with a shit-eating grin.
"Ha ha. I need some truth juice." Harry said.
"Veritaserum? Of course. Come with me to the infirmary." Talnok said, leading them through a door and down the corridor that lay beyond it. The inside of the infirmary looked nothing like Harry expected. If anything it resembled the Hogwarts infirmary, with its many comfortable looking beds lined up and equipped with privacy curtains. There were several medical workers, including both Goblin witch doctors and Human mediwizards and mediwitches. Harry even spotted what he assumed was a muggle or squib ordering several subordinates around as they installed what Seras identified as an MRI machine. Talnok lead them to an ancient looking Goblin sitting a desk that was behind thick iron bars which glowed and thrummed with numerous protective enchantments. There was a small opening right in front of the desk.
"Talnok. King Shit. What do you want?" The gruff sounding Goblin asked. Talnok, Seras and Luna laughed, Sirius smirked, and Harry glowered.
"We need veritaserum." Harry said. The Goblin shrugged, and walked over to a rack full of vials before returning and passing it through the opening.
"Doing anything fun with it?" The Goblin asked.
"We've captured an enemy that is resistant to legillemency." Harry explained, his mood somewhat subdued.
"One of those Millennium assholes?" The Goblin said, spitting.
"Sort of. Associated, but a different faction." Harry explained. The Goblin nodded.
"Say no more. I hope you get what you need from him." the Goblin said seriously. Harry nodded.
"What do I owe you?" Harry asked. The Goblin grinned savagely.
"250 galleons, or a vial of your blood." the Goblin said.
"Nice try." Harry said with a grin, producing the galleons.
"Can't blame a Goblin for trying." The Goblin said with a grin. Talnok decided to give them a tour of the infirmary, as it was a new addition to the bank. Before, Goblin witch doctors would simply arrived where needed, however the Goblins of Gringotts considered themselves allied with Harry, and Harry was at war with Millennium, so they were updating their medicine and preparing for casualties.
"How has working with Humans affected things?" Harry asked.
"It's been interesting. The magical healers don't really bring anything new to the table, but having more staff has been beneficial. The muggles and squibs on the other hand..." Talnok said, gesturing towards a line of machines on the back wall.
"We don't know why but Goblin magic doesn't affect electrical circuits as much as Human magic. Goblin infants require careful warming until six to ten weeks old. Normally this is accomplished by being strapped to one of their parents' bodies for most of the day, but that makes working difficult. Muggle medicine uses these incubators on their premature babies to keep them warm and support respiration. They're perfect for Goblin infants." Talnok said.
"That's amazing!" Luna commented.
"Speaking of infants, when will we be meeting our new princess?" Talnok said.
"Seras and I aren't quite ready to bring her out in public just yet, but soon." Harry said. Talnok nodded. He wouldn't want to parade his baby around right after someone tried to kill it and their mother either.