CHAPTER 33: THE LAST STAND OF SELENA
The ancient statue groaned in response, its bottom lip dropping as old gears ground together, forcing the hidden pipe to open. With a menacing hiss, a long snake lunged out, hitting the ground with a heavy thump before rearing up, its massive form pulling free from the confines of the pipe.
"Master Shadow?"
"This is it, Selena. Kill one, kill any, but this is the end of Hogwarts," Shadow declared grimly, his gaze fixed on the snake before him.
"Two smell like Weasels, the large hatchling smells like rancid sugar and sweets," Selena remarked, her voice dripping with venomous malice.
"Funny, Coilis said the same thing," Shadow remarked with a hint of amusement.
Selena seemed to smirk, her yellow eyes glittering with a primal ferocity as she spun around, hissing out in such a ferocious display that even Shadow himself took a step back, momentarily caught off guard by the intensity of her attack.
"Whatever you do, don't look in its eyes!" Daemon shouted, his voice filled with urgency as he and Ginny clamped their eyes shut. Ron, on the other hand, turned away, his wand trembling in his hand.
"Go ahead, Daemon Potter, make your move," Shadow taunted, his laughter echoing through the chamber as he swept his arm across, commanding the shadows to knock out their legs, causing them to collapse in a heap.
"We can't take on him with the big snake!" Ron protested, his eyes still tightly closed in fear.
"We need to split up. To be honest, I think Shadow's a worse foe. You two take him, and I'll take the snake!" Daemon shouted, rolling away just in time to avoid Selena's strike, which ripped up piles of stone in its wake.
"Stay still, sugar-child! In my time, a creature as large as you would be killed!" Selena hissed, frustration evident in her tone as Daemon managed to dodge her flying tail once again.
The sudden sound of a bird caused Shadow to cry out in pain, clutching his head and squeezing his eyes shut. Ron and Ginny stepped back, watching in astonishment as the child-like figure writhed in agony.
"What's happening?" Ron shouted to Daemon, who looked up at the approaching bird with awe in his eyes.
"It's Fawkes!" Daemon exclaimed, and indeed it was. Fawkes, Dumbledore's faithful phoenix, soared into the chamber, his feathers ablaze with radiant colors and his plumage as magnificent as ever.
Fawkes landed swiftly, shedding tears that glistened in the dim light before taking off again, leaving Shadow bewildered. It wasn't until he noticed Daemon blinking rapidly that realization dawned.
"The bird shed drops in his eyes! He cannot be killed by your gaze!" Daemon exclaimed, his voice filled with triumph as he scrambled to his feet.
"Then let me bite him!" Selena snarled, her fangs bared as she reared up, only to shriek in pain as Fawkes swooped in for another attack.
"Not on my scales, you ruddy chicken!" Another voice echoed through the chamber, and the group watched in disbelief as a thin black snake lunged from the shadows, clashing with Fawkes in midair. The two creatures collided with a loud thud, their cries of pain reverberating off the walls.
"What the hell?" Ron cried out, his eyes wide with shock as he watched the unexpected turn of events. Shadow, however, wore a slight smile, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes.
"I wondered when you would show, Coilis," Shadow laughed, his amusement evident as he exchanged hissing insults with the unseen serpent.
Meanwhile, Selena focused her attention on the pale and trembling boy before her, relishing in his fear as she circled him like a predator closing in on its prey.
"Come on, little child. Are you afraid?" Selena teased, her voice dripping with malice as she toyed with her captive. With a swift motion, she dropped down and began to circle him, her movements fluid and predatory.
But then, without warning, the loose loop around Daemon tightened, transforming into a deadly noose that threatened to snap his spine in two. The air grew thick with tension as the group watched in horror, realizing the dire predicament Daemon now found himself in.
"Protego!" Daemon shouted, casting a Shield Charm just in time to halt the scales an inch from his body. Selena hissed in anger, her yellow eyes gleaming with fury as she prepared to strike again, her head poised to jam down into the gap her body had created.
"Hey, Ron, Ginny! What do you have in your pockets?" Daemon called out, desperately searching for a solution to their predicament.
"Um—" Ginny rifled through her pocket while Ron kept the shadow monsters at bay with a Lumos spell, causing them to shriek and back away momentarily before circling once more.
"I've got a Chocolate Frog card, and…uh—" Ginny trailed off, allowing Ron to take over the search. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a strange assortment of sweets.
"I've got three blood pops, a Chocolate Frog, and…uh…four Sour Fizzlers, and an Ice Mice!" Ron shouted back, his brow furrowed in concentration as he handed the items to Daemon.
Daemon's eyes widened as he tried to formulate a plan. He recalled a prefect once mentioning that snakes tended to throw up after consuming sour candies. Perhaps it could provide them with an opportunity.
"Accio, Sour Fizzlers!" Daemon screamed, summoning the candies and tossing them into the open mouth of the serpent as it lunged downward.
Meanwhile, Shadow paced back and forth, his movements fluid and predatory as he slashed down with his arms, allowing the shadows to lunge at the trio. However, Ron's Lumos spell kept them at bay, forcing them to retreat momentarily.
Out of the corner of Shadow's eye, he caught sight of the ongoing battle between Fawkes and the serpent. It seemed that Coilis had the upper hand, his superior ground attack skills giving him the advantage over the majestic phoenix.
"It burns! The pain! Ahh! Master Shadow, Coilis, help, the burning!" Selena shrieked, her voice filled with agony as she gagged on the Sour Fizzlers lodged in her teeth. Daemon scrambled back, shocked beyond belief, as the muscles in Selena's throat twitched, forcing her last meal to plop down next to him.
Daemon screamed in horror as the putrid smell of rotting unicorn filled his nose. The upper half of the creature was all bones, stripped clean by the acidic candies, while the lower half still contained chunks of putrid black meat, rancid melting organs, and twisted legs.
Even Fawkes wrinkled his nose at the foul stench emanating from the grotesque remains.
"He gave you the sour poison?" Coilis asked, spotting what had happened.
"Why! Never in all my existence have I tasted something as horrid as that!" Selena shrieked, shaking her head in a futile attempt to rid her maw of the numbing drool.
Shadow snorted and turned his attention back to the two Weasleys, his expression filled with malice.
"Too late, little red-heads. You're going to die soon, you know that?" Shadow taunted, his voice dripping with contempt as he chuckled darkly.
With a sinister laugh, Shadow pulled his arm back in a rear, causing all the shadows to jump back and swirl together until they surrounded him. They morphed and twisted, forming a grotesque and frightening being with demonic claws, dragonfly-like wings, stubby back legs, and a thick, fat tail. The head resembled that of a vulture, with a hint of dragonish features.
Ron wrinkled his nose in disgust and fear at the sight of the monstrous creature before him. He was certain that anyone being chased by such a nightmarish being would scream in horror.
It charged forward, its shrieks reverberating through the chamber as it displayed its twelve giant teeth, each nearly two inches long and dangerously curved.
"Lumos!" Ron and Ginny shouted in unison, their wands held aloft as they tried to defend themselves from the monstrous creature. Despite the blinding light, the beast continued its relentless advance, clawing at the earth and tearing a chunk out of Ron's brown tunic.
"Lumos! Lumos! Lumos Maxima!" Ginny screamed, tears streaming down her face as she unleashed a barrage of spells. The creature recoiled at the intensity of the last one, but not before swiping down with its claw, leaving a deep gash on Ginny's knee and another on Ron's arm, causing him to drop his wand.
Long tentacles shot out from the darkness, snatching Ron's wand and flicking it up to Shadow, who stood in the same spot as the monster, after causing it to vanish into thin air.
"All that without a wand, shame really," Shadow mused, stroking the wand shaft thoughtfully as he inspected it. His critical gaze turned to Ron.
"Unicorn tail hair. The weakest of wand cores," he remarked disdainfully, before raising the wand high, aiming it directly at the two Weasleys.
"Any last words?" he taunted, a smirk playing on his lips. Ginny's scowl deepened, and she defiantly smacked her wand down, unleashing a grey spell that shot towards Shadow with surprising speed. He hissed in pain and spun back, clutching his face in agony, while Ron looked on at his sister with a mixture of shock and pride.
"You just hit the bloody son of you-know-who with a Bat Bogey Hex," Ron exclaimed, his voice a mixture of shock and awe, while Ginny smirked triumphantly.
Shadow, having used the counter curse, turned to face them, his sharp green eyes wide with outrage, his silver flesh appearing colder in the light.
"Crucio!" Ginny screamed, narrowly avoiding the curse as she launched a desperate attack. Ron, finally grasping the gravity of the situation, bolted into action.
"Selena!" Coilis's voice echoed through the chamber, and Shadow spun around, his eyes widening in shock as he witnessed the unfolding events.
Meanwhile, Daemon raced to the unicorn's corpse, quickly retrieving the large two-foot horn. Realizing that magic would be of little use against the creature's thick hide, he made a split-second decision.
Selena reared up once more, seizing Daemon by his feet and flipping him into the air. With a sickening crunch, one of her back fangs pierced his flesh, eliciting a gut-wrenching scream from him. Ginny cried out in horror, while Ron's expression remained blank, his mind going into shock at the brutality of the scene before him.
Selena repeated the action, tossing Daemon aside like a rag doll, his screams echoing through the chamber as he desperately tried to find purchase in her dark, poisonous maw.
She seemed momentarily satisfied, until a blood-curdling scream tore from her lungs. Selena's mouth flew open, revealing the unicorn horn embedded in the roof of her mouth, causing excruciating pain and brain trauma.
With a final, agonized collapse, Selena fell to the ground. From her mouth emerged Daemon Potter, bloody, weak, and slowly dying, with a fang lodged in his leg. The air was thick with tension and despair as the grim reality of their situation sank in.
"NOOO!" Shadow's scream echoed through the chamber as he appeared by Selena's side, gently pulling out the unicorn horn and tossing it aside. Selena let out a relieved whoosh of breath, her body trembling with the release of pain.
Meanwhile, Coilis had abandoned the weak and limping Fawkes, who did his best to move towards Daemon, who was panting in agony.
"No, please, great Salazar, have mercy!" Coilis cried, pressing the back of his head against Selena's cheek. Shadow's body trembled as he set his hand on the skull of the great snake, silently pleading for her healing.
"Heal her…just heal her, end our pain and suffering… heal her…" Shadow repeated the words over and over in his mind. But like many great wizards before him, not even Shadow could defy death.
Just then, the vault door opened once more, revealing a summoned snake that had become confused and ended up in front of the five.
Albus Dumbledore rushed into the chamber, James and Lily Potter at his heels, followed closely by Minerva McGonagall and Sirius Black. They watched the scene unfold with gasps of shock and concern.
Daemon Potter lay limp on the ground, panting in pain as the tooth was removed from his leg. Fawkes, badly bruised and bloody, bent over in agony but shedding tears over his wound. Ginny and Ron bore tear-streaked faces, their features twisted with distress. But perhaps the most striking sight was the ruined stone, heaping in globs, blood staining the floor, and a crater that only an Unforgivable Curse could have caused.
The boy leaned over the seventy-foot snake, his heart heavy with desperation.
"Don't die, please don't die, Selena," Shadow whispered, his magic failing to heal her. Her sparkling yellow eyes were glazed, half-lidded, and her breaths came in short, labored pants.
"Promise me, Master Shadow, that you will be great, that you will fulfill what Master Salazar always desired, not what his son became," Selena rasped weakly.
Shadow nodded solemnly, a small smile tugging at his lips as he ran his fingers over the smooth scales under her eye.
"Promise me, great Coilis, that one day, the race of Basilisks shall rise again, prosper, and roam the ancient forests as they once did," Selena continued, her voice fading.
"I promise, Noble Serpent," Coilis choked out, his voice thick with emotion, almost as if he were swallowing his own tongue.
Albus Dumbledore, Lily Potter, and Minerva McGonagall took a step forward, their hearts heavy with sorrow. But James Potter and Sirius Black held them back, silently observing. They understood the profound connection between animal and human, recognizing that animals were just as intelligent, if not more so. Losing an animal was akin to losing a brother.
"I see Salazar, he is waiting for me. Go to the forests, little one. Find Mylla; she rests with the great herd. Find her, and tell her that Salazar sees all. Don't forget me, hatchling. Let my name be carved in stone, and carry the world on your scales," Selena whispered softly, her voice barely a whisper as she drew her body up slightly, curling into a gentle ball.
"Rest in peace, Selena. Perhaps one day, we'll meet again," Shadow murmured, his voice tinged with dry amusement as he stroked her muzzle one last time.
"Goodbye… Coilis… and… Sha-do-w…." With those final words, Selena's glittering yellow eyes slid shut, and she released her last breath, her body growing still.
Shadow hadn't shed a tear since the day of Grass-Tongue. He had hardened himself against misfortune and pain, vowing never to cry again. But as a hauntingly old voice whispered throughout the chamber, he found himself unable to hold back a single tear.
"It's a wonderful place…"
James Potter observed with morbid fascination as the boy, Shadow, hung his head in sorrow. Slowly, he rose to his feet, lifting Ron Weasley's wand. There was a moment of hesitation, as if he were listening to a voice, a voice that even James himself could faintly hear.
"It's a wonderful place…"
The voice was ancient and strange, yet strangely comforting. It sent shivers down James's spine to hear it.
Shadow seemed to choke back his emotions as he waved the wand three times. Almost before their eyes, clear glassy rock began to sprout from the ground, crackling and groaning as it covered the seventy-foot-long snake, solidifying into a gentle, curved diamond tomb.
Selena appeared as though she were merely sleeping within.
Ginny Potter watched, a lump of guilt forming in her throat as she remembered Shadow's earlier words.
"Look at me, I'm just a child, but I was brought into war because of Dumbledore, do you know that?" Shadow hissed, grabbing Ginny's head and pulling her close to him.
"I-"
"I was only a child!" He hissed, his voice raw with emotion.
Ginny blinked, trying to clear her mind. Waves of guilt washed over both Ron and Daemon, but for Daemon, there was an insistent sentence that kept replaying in his mind, echoing like a relentless accusation: "...you're a murderer... you're a murderer..."
The words seemed to reverberate endlessly, and Daemon couldn't shake the feeling that Shadow wanted him to know it.
"Come to see her funeral?" Shadow's voice broke the silence, his fingers trailing across the diamond-like rock that now encased Selena. Albus Dumbledore stepped forward, but Shadow swiftly pointed the wand at the eight of them, his voice low and threatening.
"Take one step towards Selena and you die," he growled, his eyes flashing with a mix of sadness and rage. Albus complied, stepping back cautiously.
"How are you still alive?" James Potter demanded, his fear evident in his voice. Shadow tilted his head, taking a step forward—
—only to suddenly appear right under James's nose.
"Who said I am? Who said that I am living, still breathing?" Shadow's words hung heavily in the air as he backed away, his gaze shifting to a nearby statue. His eyes narrowed as he spoke again, his voice tinged with bitterness.
"You are all foolish to come here," he muttered, and Sirius Black, never one to back down, stepped up to the challenge.
"Oh? And why's that?" Sirius retorted, his eyes flashing defiantly. Shadow's own eyes narrowed further, his voice growing increasingly strained.
"I am the heir of Salazar Slytherin. This is the chamber of Salazar Slytherin. You are surrounded by snakes, and I speak to snakes," he declared dryly, his voice cracking slightly. Lily Potter's eyes darted around, taking in the snake motifs adorning the chamber walls.
"Albus, I think we should leave," Lily whispered urgently, and Albus took another step back. But Shadow's gaze was fixed on Daemon, pure fury glittering in his icy green orbs.
"You! I won't let you leave alive, Daemon Potter. Snakes of Salazar Slytherin, kill the ones that dare to harm Salazar's Familiar!"
As the eerie glow emanated from the serpent's eyes, they flickered and multiplied, appearing to slither not just from the walls but from every shadowy recess of the chamber. Daemon Potter's instincts kicked into overdrive, propelling him swiftly away from the encroaching danger.
The group of eight desperately sought the chamber's center, only to find their path obstructed by a massive stone serpent, its imposing form blocking the exit like an insurmountable barrier. Sirius, breathless and tense, raised his wand, his voice trembling with urgency as he voiced his concern about the venomous nature of their assailants.
Harry's heart pounded in his chest as he witnessed the coordinated assault of the Stone Nagini and Stone Coilis, a grim spectacle that filled him with a mix of horror and fascination. The anguished cries of his mother echoed in his ears as he watched helplessly, the futility of their efforts to vanquish the creatures underscored by the imperviousness of the ancient chamber's protective wards.
A profound sense of grief washed over Harry as he bowed his head in silent reverence to Selena, his trembling frame betraying the depth of his emotional turmoil. With resolve hardening within him, he lifted his wand, his voice quivering as he unleashed a spell born of desperation and rage.
"Sectasumpra!"
The invisible force of the spell struck Black with unexpected ferocity, sending him hurtling through the air with a pained cry reminiscent of a wounded animal. James's own cry of anguish pierced the chaos, his horror mirroring Harry's own as they beheld Sirius sprawled motionless on the ground, his fate uncertain in the aftermath of Harry's impulsive spell.
Harry's gaze locked with Dumbledore's, a silent exchange fraught with unspoken tension. In that moment of hesitation, Dumbledore grappled with the weight of his decision, torn between his duty to protect and his reluctance to unleash further violence upon a troubled soul.
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The once icy depths of Dumbledore's eyes, typically veiled in darkness and a twisted light, now held an unexpected vulnerability, the faint glimmer of tears threatening to spill from their corners. For a fleeting moment, a flicker of humanity shone through the facade of the formidable wizard before him.
Albus Dumbledore, revered for his wisdom and compassion, was not a man accustomed to wielding lethal force. Yet, faced with the dire circumstances unfolding before him, he felt the weight of his decision bearing down upon him like a leaden burden.
"Crucio," he uttered, his voice strained with effort as he cast the curse upon his adversary. Instantly, the agony of the curse seized him, forcing him to his knees as he clenched his eyes shut, his body wracked with tremors of pain. Through the haze of torment, he faintly registered someone tugging at him, desperate to reach the sanctuary of the open door.
As the excruciating spell finally dissipated, Dumbledore found himself gasping for air, his senses reeling from the onslaught of torment. Yet, before he could fully comprehend his ordeal, a dark spell lanced through the air, striking his leg with searing intensity.
The sensation of flesh rending apart in a macabre spiral, blood pulsing forth in a grim rhythm, jolted Dumbledore into a stark awareness of his vulnerability. In that moment, amidst the chaos and carnage, James Potter came to a stark realization.
No matter what tales Dumbledore spun in the annals of history, extolling the prowess of Shadow and his enigmatic abilities, James knew the unvarnished truth.
Shadow had bested them all, his ruthless efficiency leaving no doubt in James's mind that they had been thoroughly outmatched.
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