Chapter 13 is out!
Scala ad Caelum
Chapter 13: The Stone of Life
Ronald Weasley POV
Thursday 21st May, 1992 (Hogwarts) - Past noon
As he fell, cold and damp air rushed past him, but it ended quickly. With a muffled sound, he landed in something soft. He sat up and tried to feel around, but unfortunately, his eyes still weren't accustomed to the darkness of the place.
"It is okay!" Ron shouted. "You can all jump!" One by one, the other four also got down, all of them landing near the redhead.
"What is this stuff?" Harry asked, trying to feel up the unknown floor.
"It feels like some sort of plant," Daphne said.
"Well, I don't know what it is, but we should thank whoever put it here," Ron pointed out.
Out of nowhere, the redhead felt something crawling up his leg. "What the hell?" He cursed. But as the others' drowned shouts came, he knew that he wasn't the only one to feel it. Ron tried to feel whatever was twisting around his leg with his hand, and what he found made him as pale as a ghost.
Hermione, who had been the last one to jump, managed to free herself from the tendrils before they could get a firm grip on her. "Stop moving!" She shouted at them, watching in horror how the others tried to fight the plant off. "It is the Devil's Snare!"
"That is nice!" Ron shouted back. "At least, I will know what the bloody hell killed me!"
"Fire!" Nevil exclaimed, one of the tendrils already circling his neck. "He doesn't like light and hot temperatures!"
"But there is no wood here!" Hermione lamented, looking around in a frenzy.
Ron was about to shout at her how stupid she could be in a moment like this, but one of the tendrils circled his neck with enough force to make him unable to speak; thankfully, Daphne hadn't fought as hard as him with the plant. "Use your wand!" The blonde exclaimed. "Use the fire-making spell or whatever the hell you want; but do something!"
Hermione, now back in control, waved her wand as she pointed it to the plant; as soon as she muttered some words, her specialty, those blue flames she always liked to do, were thrown in the form of small fireballs to the Devil's Snare. In a matter of seconds, they were all set free; and as soon as Harry and Ron landed on the stony floor, they both got their wands out, sending their fire-making spells to the retreating plant; which started to escape using some small, but large, holes that were set on the wall.
"That was close," Daphne sighed, trying to tie her hair back in a messy bun.
"We were lucky that Neville likes Herbology so much," Harry pointed out. "That was a nice call, mate."
The conversation went on, but Ron wasn't paying any attention to it; instead, he was just observing the dark passage they had in front of them; the same passage Gerd had used as soon as they fell into the trap, leaving the redhead behind without much thinking.
In the end, they all went through the dark corridor, the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls as the only sound audible. "Can you hear something?" Daphne suddenly asked. "It is like…, a flap of wings, or something like that."
Ron tried to divert his mind from any other thought, and put everything into hearing whatever he was supposed to do. After some seconds, he did it; a soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead. As they reached the end of the passage, the first thing Ron saw was Gerd, back in her human form, and brightening even more than usual.
The Essentia was levitating in the middle of the extenze chamber, looking upwards, to some kind of jewel-bright birds; there were dozens of them, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber, there was a heavy, wooden door. That probably is the reason why Gerd is still in this room; and whatever the challenge here is, it has to do something with those birds, the redhead thought.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we try to reach the door?" Hermione asked.
"Probably," Harry answered. "They don't look very dangerous at all, but there are too many of them. Well, there is only one way to check your theory."
Not giving the others time to react, the boy just covered his face with his arms and started to run. Much to everyone's surprise, nothing happened; Harry had reached the door with no incidents. Daphne was the first one to follow the boy's path; the others following her.
"One of them is the key," Gerd pointed out, still looking upwards.
Ron was able to hear the Essentia on his way towards the door, where Hermione was trying to open it with magic. "It is of no use," the bushy-haired girl said. "My magic doesn't work. Whatever it is needed to open it, is in this chamber."
They all looked above them, to the dome-like ceiling. "One of those must be the key," both Harry and Ron said, at the same time.
"Well, yeah, that makes sense," Daphne added. "The only problem is that, well, there must be a hundred of them; and on top of that, I don't know how we are supposed to catch them."
"Guys," Neville called. "There are three broomsticks here!"
After some rather short discussion, Harry, Ron and Daphne were the ones to mount the broomsticks. The three of them kicked off into the air, but they soon understood that catching one of those keys was going to be very difficult. In the end, as expected, Harry was the one to identify the different key after some minutes of flying.
He dived for the catch, but the bird-key was also very fast. Thankfully for him, Ron came from out of nowhere, cutting the key's way out, and making it dodge downwards, just where Harry had launched himself. Leaning forward to gain speed, he caught the key by pinning it to the stony floor with a risky maneuver.
"That was nice!" Neville congratulated. "Come on! Use the key to open the door!"
They all gathered around Harry, who rammed the key into the hole as soon as he got to the door. Much to everyone's relief, the door opened with little effort after the lock clicked open. "That is two trials down," Harry encouraged. "Come on! Let's keep the pace."
With renewed spirits, they all run forward through another dark passage; Gerd, back in her eagle form once again, overtaking the group with ease. What the hell is going on with her, Ron thought. I need to ask her as soon as the chance comes.
The next chamber was so dark that they couldn't see a thing; but, as soon as they stepped into it, dozens of lights ignited all around the big space, allowing them to sight the astonishing terrain.
They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard; especifically, right behind the black pieces. "Don't tell me that we are going to need to play chess," Daphne whispered, shivering due to the menacing form of the faceless pieces.
Ignoring the other's whispering among them, Ron walked forward, dragging his hand along the knight's horse. "I think that we need to take their places," he said.
Suddenly, the black knight sprang to life, looking down at him with his helmeted head. "Do we…, er, have to be human pieces?" He asked.
The knight answered him with a nod of his head. "Well, that is unfortunate," Ron joked in a poor way. "Now, tell me something else; do we all need to play, or just the one who is going to be directing the game?"
This time, the only answer he got was the knight stepping aside, beckoning him to take his place. "Well, I'll take that as a yes," he said, before taking his place. "Now, you four listen to me. If my hunch is right, I don't think we all need to take a piece's place, which is the best thing that could happen to us; because, if I had to win without having to sacrifice any of us, well, that would be rather impossible."
"Are you really going to play by yourself?" Hermione asked, evident concern on her voice.
"Yes, I think it is the best way to pass this trial."
"Not that fast," Daphne piped in, stepping into the chessboard. "Don't you remember the reason why I'm here? Did you really think that I was going to let you play by yourself? Come on, you can't even beat me most of the time."
"That's not the main point," Ron argued back. "Don't you understand? The more people we use as pieces, the more difficult it will be to win without one of us being hurt!"
"I perfectly get that," the blonde stated. "But meanwhile you were giving your heroic speech, I was thinking about the game we are about to play. Listen to me, those pieces are enchanted to play as soon as anyone steps into the chamber; they can't improvise their game, that is not how that kind of magic works; they are programmed to play with an unique playstyle, and that is where their main weakness resides."
"How…, how do you know that?" Hermione asked. "I mean, that seems pretty reasonable, but we still can't be completely sure about it."
"My uncle has an identical chessboard in his manor," Daphne replied, taking the queen's place. "My cousin and I always play in it when we meet on holidays. I know what I'm talking about."
"I hate to stand aside and just watch," Harry said. "But Ron has wiped the floor with me enough times to understand that he is a much better chess player than the three of us. If you say that you are even better, leaving this task up to you might be the best decision we could take."
Not caring about their conversation, the white pieces started the game, sending one of their pawns forward. "Ron," Daphne called. "If you were to play against an opponent you know nothing about, what would be the most optimal playstile at most of the games?"
"I would play rather defensively," the redhead answered. "In a reactive way to see what he can do; but, not letting him to move his pieces freely. But if we keep in mind that the pieces don't have the skill of improvising…"
"You would enchant them to play a very standard game," she completed. "Or at least, that is what I thought. We don't know how good the wizard responsible for this is; but, being just above average, playing a standard and safe playstile could win you most of the games against players who are worse than you. If we add the fact this whole trial's purpose could just be trapping someone here until the Headmaster handles the situation… I would say our odds are pretty good."
"You are a bloody genius, Daphne," Ron smiled with confidence. "Let's do it; let's wreak havoc!"
Thanks to a very aggressive, and almost careless playstile, the Slytherin duo managed to destroy the enchanted pieces by putting their programmation at its limit; recklessly sacrificing some pieces, and using the bishops to punish the whites' mistakes was all that it took to surpass the third challenge.
Having secured the victory, Daphne placed her hand at the white king's chest, completing the check-mate. The moment her hand made contact, the piece took his crown with both of his hands, just to hand it to the blond girl, who took it after a moment of hesitation.
Ron allowed himself to finally take a relaxing breath; it wasn't as if the game had been incredibly difficult or something like that, actually, it had been a quite easy one; but, that didn't help him to not feel stressed and anxious. "That was incredible," Harry said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Ron answered. "I'm just catching my breath."
"Come on," Hermione urged. "There is no time to lose. If my suppositions are right, only Snape and Quirrell's chambers are left. I don't know about the latter, but we can expect anything with Snape."
In the end, they didn't have to worry that much about Quirrell's test, because, as soon as they got to his chamber, a disgusting, and familiar, smell filled their nostrils; lying flat on the floor, there was a mountain troll. They didn't even bother checking if it was dead or just unconscious; the five of them, with their robes pulled over their noses, went past him.
"That one was way bigger than the one we faced on Halloween," Harry pointed out, opening the door that led to the next chamber. "I'm glad we didn't have to fight against it; I think I've had enough trolls for the rest of my life."
What was waiting for them in the next chamber, really confused them. There was nothing but a table with seven differently shaped bottles, each one of a different colour.
"This must be Snape's," Harry guessed. "But what the hell do we have to do here?"
"Look closely," Hermione said, pointing at something with her finger. "There is a note there."
The five of them finally stepped into the chamber, and as soon as they all were totally inside, a fire sprang up just behind them, cutting their only way of escaping; if that wasn't enough, the whole chamber past the table, exploded like a volcano of purple fire.
"Shite, we are trapped," Ron cursed.
"I bet it has to do something with this note," Hermione muttered, grabbing the note from the table.
"What does it say?" Daphne asked, trying to read it from above the other girl's shoulder.
The other two boys also gathered around Hermione, leaving Ron a bit behind; this was his change to finally sort things out with Gerd. It didn't take long to locate her since the shiny woman was levitating above his head. "Gerd!" Ron whispered, trying to get her attention; and he did it, because the Essentia looked downwards, at him, before descending.
"Shouldn't you be there with your friends?" Gerd plainly asked, as if her behaviour in the last hour hadn't been strange at all. "They might need your help."
"Well, they can wait," Ron whispered back. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you? First, you start muttering nonsense about things I didn't understand; then, you completely ignore me when we were risking our freaking lives here; and now, you act as if nothing happened?"
"Sorry," she sighed, sounding very tired. "Watching your friend put to sleep that Nightmare made something click in my brain; some memory which I had forgotten. But, what really…, freaked me out, was the fact that, as soon as we jumped from that trapdoor, I felt His presence."
"What? A-Are you talking about Y-You-Know-Who?"
"I don't know," she said, her eyes focused on the chamber's exit door. "What I know is that it was something wrong; something that shouldn't exist; just like me, or like some of my…, comrades? I don't know what to think anymore, I can't focus on anything right now; my mind is going back and forth between me and my real self's memories."
"Shite," Ron cursed. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"You are already doing it," she answered. "Our link is the only thing keeping me sane right now; more or less, at least. Don't worry about me, just focus on the mission right now; I've been in way worse situations."
If you say so. But, even with her words, the redhead sent her a last look before walking towards his friends; who were in the middle of a discussion. "If we ignore the rest of the potions, we can stay here doing nothing, right?" Daphne said. "I mean, the paper says to choose wisely if we don't want to stay here forever; so, we can just remain in this chamber, waiting for the help to come."
"What's the matter?" Ron asked.
"What?" Hermione almost shrieked. "You weren't listening? Ronald! This is a very serious situation!"
"I know, I Know," Ron tried to calm her. "I'm sorry, okay? I had to…, think about something."
Hermione sent him a sour look, but, thankfully for the group, she didn't get to talk again. "I think the one who should drink the potion are either Harry, or Ron," Nevilled proposed, talking once again after a long time. "They are the two best wizards among us five."
"I agree," Daphne secunded.
"What?" Harry exclaimed. "It is not like that; we all did our bit to be here! If we hadn't worked as a team, neither Ron or me would be here!"
"Neville is right," Hermione sighed. "Books, cleverness… There are way more important things. You two know how to improvise in extreme situations. I think that any of us three would get paralyzed with fear the moment we don't know what to do."
Harry and Ron looked to each other, but the redhead was the first to talk. "I think it should be you the one to go ahead, Harry," he said. "We don't know what is awaiting us in the last chamber, but if You-Know-Who is there…, well, I think you are the one witht the most possibilities to stop him."
For some seconds, Harry kept staring at him, their gazes not averting. "Ahg, okay, I will go," Harry groaned. "But, I just wanted to let you guys know that…, well, I wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't because of you. Even you, Greengrass; I'm…, sorry for putting you in the same group as Malfoy and his people; you…, er…, I liked to have you here."
"Do you really think this was the best moment for that?" Daphne groaned, her face getting red. "But…, thank you."
"How do we do it?" Ron asked, trying to keep the group's focus.
"Leave it to me," Hermione stated, walking to the table with a confident stride. "All of you had your moments in the previous chambers, now it is my time; that's what teams are for, right? When someone can't keep going, the others take his place and help him to move forward."
"This is just a problem of logic," she muttered, now lost deep in her thoughts. "Very clever, Professor. Another witch could have gotten trapped here forever, but…, not me! This is the one, Harry; I'm sure of it."
The girl handed him the potion; all the eyes now set on Harry. "Well, this is it," the black haired boy sighed. "I'll see you all after this is finished. Do as we agreed and send someone out of here to get the Headmaster, or any of the Professors. I might be able to hold Snape or whoever is there for a bit, but I'm not a match for him; especially, if Voldemort is the one to be there."
The other four shivered after hearing the taboo name, but they were too worried for the boy to say something about it. "Harry," Ron started. "Don't do anything too rash; just wait for the help to come. We won't leave you alone there for too long, I swear."
Harry nodded, sending them a last look before gulping the small frasc down; then, he walked through the flames, as if they weren't there.
"Now, who will be the one to go back?" Daphne asked, still looking at Harry's back.
"I will," Neville stated. "Not counting Ron, I'm the fastest one; and it will be much better if he's the one to stay here, just in case of something happening."
"That is a nice idea, Neville," Hermione told him, while looking at the potions. "This is the one." The girl handed him another one of the small vials, one of a blue colour, along with Harry's flute. "Take this too, otherwise, you won't get past Fluffy. As soon as you get to Flitwick's chamber, grab one of the broomsticks, you will be able to get out of here with all those things."
"Yeah," Neville said as he gulped the potion down. "I won't fail you, I promise."
As soon as the vial was finished, not looking back, the boy started to run as fast as he could, getting through the flames just as Harry had done. The other three were left in a deep silence. "Waiting time is it, then," the redhead announced, taking a seat on the cold floor to look at the direction Harry had taken.
The two girls followed his example, taking seats at both of his sides; the three of them sharing that same preoccupation. You better don't do anything too crazy Harry; because, if you got yourself killed, I promise I will kill you, the redhead thought as a deep silence enveloped the small group.
That day, Ron learned that Albus Dumbledore was not to be angered. The Headmaster stormed into the room by blowing the entrance's door away; his eyes showing anything but a cold seriousness. Even the flames must have been afraid of him, because as soon as the old sorcerer stepped into the room, they ran away from him; as if an invisible wind was pushing them away.
The only time he averted his gaze from the three of them was to look at Gerd's directions; the Essentia, still levitating in the same spot, looking back at the Headmaster with a raised brow. Did he see her? But, that…, can't be possible. Whether the old wizard saw her or not was something he wouldn't know, because he averted his gaze from the Essentia as fast as he set it on her for the first time.
"Harry has gone ahead, hasn't' he?" The Headmaster asked.
The three of them nodded their heads at the same time, too impressed to talk a single word. "Just as I imagined," he muttered. "Don't move from here. You all did an incredible job; but now, it is my time."
Just as the dark flames, the purple sea of fire also ran away from the Headmaster, who didn't even bother to open the door; this one, just as the first, was also blown away.
Second after second; minute after minute; time passed, and they couldn't avert their gazes from the now inexistent door. But, after what seemed like an eternity, it happened.
With an inhuman scream, some kind of black mist stormed into the room; its blood-red eyes looking at them with a demoniac rage. Ron's instincts told him to run away from that thing as fast as he could, but his legs weren't answering his command. The girl's screams somehow woke him up; no, he couldn't let that monster harm them.
His whole body was pierced by some kind of electricity; one that urged him to move. As fast as he could, he grabbed both of the girls, each one of his arms embracing them by their shoulders. The next second, they were kneeling on the floor, the redhead's body in front of the girls, taking the best protective stance his fear allowed him.
The shadow kept coming at them, the nearer he was, bigger was the horror Ron felt. But, when it was about to crash with them, the fear disappeared; now, what Ron felt was some kind of warmness which enveloped them, as if it was telling him that everything would go alright.
With a furious roar, Gerd launched herself towards the red-eyed shadow.
They clashed midair; Gerd's blue light meeting the shadow's dark mist. At first, it was only a fight of colours, but then, they took shape. Now, the three kids couldn't do anything but observe the fight.
The red-eyed snake tried to coil itself around the ethereal-blue eagle, who fought back with her talons. Soon enough, it turned into a furious fight, each one trying to finish the other as soon as they could. What the hell are you doing, you bloody Moron! Take your chance and get the girls as far as you can!
Now back in control of his body, Ron got up from the floor, trying to drag the paralyzed girls with him. "Come on!" He shouted. "Move your bloody feet! I can't drag both of you along!"
"W-What…, i-is…, t-that?" Hermione spluttered, her mind totally controlled by fear.
Hooking his arms under their armpits, the redhead, somehow, managed to drag them with him; but, just when they were about to get out of the room, the dark shadow managed to get ridden of Gerd-eagle, who was thrown into the purple flames, back in her human form.
This is it, we've failed, Ron thought; embracing the girls as tears started to roll down his face. But the end did not come.
"Ignis Aspide!" A new voice exclaimed.
Suddenly, the dark flames which were blown away by the Headmaster's presence, gathered around them, creating some kind of dome-shield that protected them from the dark shadow. Bursting inside the flames from one of the sides, their saviour came into the shield; Professor Snape had come to their rescue.
"Come here!" He beckoned.
Ron practically threw himself towards the young professor, who positioned his own body in front of them. "Are any of you hurt?" Snape asked, still eyeing the front of the flames.
"N-No," Daphne managed to say.
"H-How?" Hermione muttered, eyeing the professor with open eyes. "Y-You were s-supposed to-"
Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by something bumping into the flames, denting the shield a bit. Snape pointed his wand at the flames, ready to do anything. However, he didn't need to act; the dent went upwards, following the curve of the dome-shield, as if the shadow wasn't strong enough to pierce it. Quick on his feet, the professor moved in front of them, following the shadow's movement.
Seconds after not appreciating any movement, with a complex twist of his wand, Snape casted the flames away, instantly transforming them into a dozen of swords that circled them. But there was nothing for them to attack; the shadow was gone.
Totally exhausted, Ron fell to the floor on his arse; allowing himself to breathe after what seemed like an eternity. "That was pure madness," he said; half laughing, half crying.
"Weasley," Snape called him. "Are you hurt? Did you hit your head or something?"
"No, sir," the redhead answered. "Just tired; very tired." Now that the fight and danger were gone, exhaustion hit him like a bludger. It was at that moment, when he realized how close they had been to their deaths.
"Drink this, then," Snape said as he handed him some vial. "It contains some bit of pepper-up potion; it won't make any miracle, but it will allow you to walk back to the medical wing." Then, he turned to the girls, who were a bit more relaxed now. "You two take these; it contains a less powerful solution than the Calming Draught."
"Severus!" The Headmaster's voice echoed in the chamber. "Did everything go alright? Are you all okay?"
Walking towards them, the old sorcerer was carrying Harry's body in his arms. "Don't worry, my boy," he kindly smiled to the redhead. "He is just unconscious. He only suffered some scratches."
Way more calmer after those words, Ron took a long breath; but, something else caught his attention. Just at the Headmaster's right side, the flames opened a bit, just enough to reveal the smallest Gerd he had ever seen. The Essentia, still in her human form, came out of the flames, surrounded by a very thin shield of light. As soon as she got out of the fire, said shield disappeared; then, Gerd raised her head and looked at him.
When their eyes met, she let out what seemed like a relieved sigh. Ron didn't know if she had overcome her crisis, but it sure seemed like that, because she gave him thumbs up and a warm smile; not stopping for an instant on her way towards him.
"Albus, he is gone," Snape stated. "I didn't even try to stop him, I had to focus all my attention into protecting them."
"That was the right choice, my friend," the Headmaster nodded; then, he turned to the children. "What you did today was extremely dangerous; but, hadn't you acted, an incredible tragedy would have taken place. I would like to apologize with all my heart, but you three must be incredibly tired; so, I will not be the one to stop you from resting after this eventful day. Come on, the sooner we start moving, the sooner we will be under Poppy's care."
Not needing further words, the small group walked forward, on their way back to the castle. Ron's eyes felt heavy, just as the rest of his body, but he kept moving forward. Just before getting out of McGonagall's chamber, Gerd caught up to them. She wasn't brightening as much as she always did, but the Essentia still managed to jump atop of his shoulder, reclaiming her favourite spot; that scene was so familiar, that for a moment, Ron was able to pretend that the events of that day were a complete fluke.
But deep inside him, the redhead knew that everything had changed; and not for the better.
Harry Potter POV
Wednesday 22nd May, 1992 (Medical Wing, Hogwarts) - Before midnight
Even though it was very faint, Harry had to shield his eyes as soon as the light blinded him. Where am I? What happened with the Stone? With those thoughts on mind, he tried to sit up as best as he could, but soon enough, he found out that his body wasn't feeling the same.
"Ah, the endless energy of the youth, such a wonderful thing," a voice suddenly said.
With a jerk of his head, Harry found the Headmaster himself sitting in a chair by the right of his bed, smiling at him with that familiar twinkle of his eyes. "H-Headmaster," Harry spluttered. "What happened at the chamber? I can't remember almost anything!"
"You stopped Quirrell, that's what happened," the Headmaster answered. "When I got to the final chamber, you were almost unconscious on the floor; for a moment, I imagined the worst, but luckily, I was on time to save you before it was too late."
"That was what I saw," Harry muttered, "I thought it was a snitch…"
"Well, that is a delightful thought, but I'm not sure a snitch would have been able to save you," he smiled.
"What happened with the others?"
"They are very fine; very concerned about you, of course, but fine. You have very good friends, Harry."
"Thanks…," the boy muttered. "Headmaster, what happened with Voldemort?"
"Ah, I see that you call him by his name; well done, Harry, fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself," he said. "Let me be the one to ask you something; what do you think happened to him?"
"Even if he failed…, he can always find a new body and try getting the Stone again, right?"
"You are partly right, my boy. He certainly can find another vessel; unfortunately, there are many people who still share his views, and even those who won't hesitate to sacrifice their own body and mind for the cause. But, in regards to the Stone, he won't place his hand on it ever again, mainly, because it was destroyed."
"What? It was destroyed? But, what about Nicolas Flamel?"
"Ah, I see that you know about my old friend," the Headmaster said, sounding quite delighted. "Don't worry about him, he has enough time to set his affairs before the long nap. To the well organised mind, death is nothing but the next great adventure, Harry."
"Headmaster, can I ask you something?"
"You can," he sighed. "However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to."
"Why…, why did Voldemort come after me?"
"I'm sorry, but that is one of the things I cannot tell you; in the future, when you are ready, I will tell you everything; but, meanwhile, I can't."
Harry, knowing it would be useless to argue, went for the next question. "Why did Quirrell burn his hands when he touched me?"
"Because your mother died to protect you, Harry," the Headmaster answered. "If there is something Voldemort doesn't understand is love and its power. The day your mother and father were killed protecting you, something was activated; some kind of ancient protection. Love, oaths, promises, bonds, are all very important things to Magic itself, don't ever forget that, my boy."
The Headmaster took a sudden interest in a bird out on the window-sill, time which was used by Harry to clean the few tears that were starting to build up on his eyes. "Now, there is something I want to ask you," he started, after some seconds of silence. "Do you remember that man I talked to you about? Sirius Black?"
"M-My godfather?"
"Yes, your godfather," he smiled. "Since there were a few problems with Peter before the trial, it wasn't such eye-catching news, but he was finally freed in January. Since then, he has been living in his childhood home, recovering from the hell he had been at for ten years with the help of some friends. Do you want to see him?"
"What, really?" Harry almost exclaimed. "Does that mean I won't have to live with the Dursleys anymore? He was my father's best friend. right?"
"They probably gave us the most headaches out of all the students who have been here," the Headmaster answered, looking as if he was remembering better times. "He is dying to finally see you, it is the thing he wanted the most since he got out of prison; but, that doesn't mean you are not coming back to your uncle's house. Sorry, but it is necessary."
"Why? I don't understand…"
"Do you remember what I told you minutes ago? About love being the thing that protected you against Quirrell? Well, I can't elaborate a lot on this topic, but I believe said magic still works because, somehow, it gets renewed each year thanks to your aunt Petunia, in whose veins runs the same blood that once ran in your mother's."
"I'm sorry, Harry," he went on. "But you have to go back every summer; at least, for a month. I've already talked about this with Sirius, and I will do the same with your uncles. It will be just a month; please, do it for me."
With a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder, the Headmaster got up from his chair, ready to leave the medical wing at once. "Just one more thing," he said, just before closing the curtains. "I need you to keep the events of the past night a secret. Word about Voldemort being on the move once again can only hurt us, not to talk about the hysteria it would generate. I've already dropped some hints to your friends, but I'm asking this to you because I personally trust you, Harry. Now, eat something and rest, you've earned it."
With a last smile, the Headmaster closed the curtains; the faint sounds of his footsteps as the only thing giving away that he was indeed leaving the medical wing. I'll finally meet my godfather… Harry thought. Sirius Black, my father's best friend…
Looking to his bedside table, Harry hungrily eyed the basket full of sweets. Well, it would be a bad idea to sleep with an empty stomach; I'm sure a few Chocolate Frogs will help to have a better night.
Severus Snape POV
Tuesday 23rd May, 1992 (Headmaster's office) - After midnight
"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Severus asked.
"We do the same we've been doing for the past months," Albus answered, putting his mug of tea back on the table. "We keep an eye on everything; we'll need to be prepared for Tom to appear somewhere. Even though he managed to escape, he couldn't have made it far, unless he wasn't as alone as we first thought, that's it."
We do the same, he says, Severus mentally sneered. There were many of the old man's antics that irked him greatly, but none as much as the one he was doing right now. I know that you have your great schemes stored in your mind, but we just failed to capture the most powerful Dark Lord in history when he was as weakest as he has ever been, you old fool.
"And what about Pettigrew?" The young professor kept asking. "Is there anything on him?"
"Not yet. For now, we can only hope for him to not be found by Malfoy or any of the other pureblood lords; if they haven't done it yet, that's it. Still, there is something that doesn't add up. I don't know who it is, but there is someone else helping Tom; and he probably is the one who helped Peter to escape; not Yaxley, Nott, or any of the others, but this unknown individual."
"So much secrecy for nothing," Snape sneered. "All those hours to create that lie around the rat, just for them to know everything from the very Minister's mouth; what a spineless bastard."
"It wasn't as if we didn't know that was bound to happen," Albus sighed. "The lie was mostly designed to hide Ronald's participation; but, even if they weren't the ones to abduce Peter, they now know about one of the Weasley's sons being the one to discover him. We must keep an eye on them for this summer too."
"What about this whole mess with the Stone? Are we going to prepare another lie to cover it?"
"I see no reason for it; that is not a matter which should leave these walls. Here, we don't need to do any justice."
"Good luck with that, should I remind you that Daphne Greengras was involved? The girl will tell everything to her lord father, and then, it will be us the one in problems. What we did with the Stone is enough to gain ten lives in Azkaban. I don't get any pleasure from breaking this news to you, but one of us must use his brain sometimes."
"Are you finished?" The old man smiled, clearly amused. "You needed to let your thoughts out, my boy; and that is totally fine. Now, in regards to the young Greengrass, it would greatly surprise me if her father doesn't know it yet; but, as far as I know, there is no love between Thomas and the other English lords. So, I don't see him handing them a piece of information as valuable as this whole thing is; not when one of Lucius' greatest desires is to finally make me resign as the Headmaster."
"Does it matter at all?" Severus questioned. "You know how they are, their relationships don't matter the moment one has something the other wants; let it be money, contacts, or information."
"We will need to trust in pride being more powerful than ambition, then."
"The girl saw Him, Albus!" Severus raised his voice. "They all saw Him; maybe, the others won't say a thing because you told Potter to keep this whole mess in secret; but, the girl will tell everything to her father, and then, Thomas Greengrass will be onto us, asking for our heads and for the truth."
"What Miss Greengrass and the others saw was a shadow," Albus pointed out, as calm as always. "It is true that Harry had a hunch about Tom being the one after the Stone, but they didn't know for sure; mainly, because they believed that you were the main villain here. The only reason why Harry knows is because I told him; what he is going to do with that information is something only he knows; but, I asked him to be very careful with who he shares that information; if he decides to trust Miss Greengrass, then I will trust in his judgment."
"We are placing everything on a bet once again, eh?" Severus grunted. "Shall I remember what happened with your last one? It was sheer luck that none of those meddlings, stupid children were hurt."
"I know," the old man muttered. "That is the only thing I regret greatly from our last idea; but, I must say that I was left speechless with what they did. A group of five first years managed to beat the defences we had placed to defend the Stone; a group made with students from Gryffindor and Slytherin."
"Does that even matter?"
"Of course! Those five managed to triumph over the strong, and unnecessary, hatred that has existed between the Houses for centuries. They are the proof that change is possible; that we can get ridden of that excessive hatred before it gets too strong; that the events of the last war won't repeat in this school."
As he always did when the old man started to ramble about the power of love, Severus stopped listening. Deep inside him, the young man agreed with the Headmaster; but, he wasn't as blind as him to believe that love could triumph over power and other things.
But, what he really agreed with the old sorcerer was in the strange nature of the recently formed group. Gryffindor and Slytherin working together? No, there were things that weren't supposed to happen; just as history had proven many times; just as Severus' personal experiences had also proven many, many times. Still, that group had been formed, and things were happening around it; or rather, around Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.
"I think it is about time for us to make a move, don't you think so?" Albus proposed, out of nowhere.
"Didn't you just say that we were going to keep an eye on everything?"
"Yes, that is what I said; but, that doesn't mean we can't do other things meanwhile, right?"
"Enlighten me."
"After the school year is over, I'm going after whoever is helping Tom," Albus stated. "If we are lucky, that can lead us to Tom himself; but, if we aren't, we take a very important piece out of the board. It is a win-win situation."
"What am I supposed to do meanwhile?" Severus asked, now way more interested.
"You, my friend, are going to gain Lucius' trust once again. I want to know whether he knows anything about all that is happening, or if he doesn't."
"Just like that? Do you want me to approach him after all these years of almost no contact?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something."
"Oh, don't bother," Snape said. "I've already thought about it; after all, Draco finished as the third best student of his promotion this year. I want the boy to have some recognition from his father; I don't think Lucius understands how hard his son looks up to him; and how hard he tries to follow his steps, even if he didn't take the best choices this year."
"Oh, I see," Albus smiled, his eyes gleaming as they always did when Severus expressed any kind of concern about a student. "You need to make the boy understand what the good path for him is, I don't want the school torn once again due to children following their parents' steps."
"You are asking for the impossible to happen, Albus," Severus told him, getting up from the chair. "Now that the classes are finished, I need to go. Yaxley asked me to make some rather difficult potions for him, and I might need to go outside of the country to search for some ingredients."
"Oh, could you tell me more about it?"
"No, I can't," the young man answered, his hand already on the door's knob. "He made me sign some confidentiality contract; he paid me well enough, so I didn't even bother about it that much."
Just when he was about to leave the room, Severus turned around to look at Albus. "All this time you had known this was bound to happen," he started. "I still remember the day you convinced me to become a professor as it had been yesterday. Back then, you already knew it; but, how is this possible?"
"You know very well the answer, Severus," the old man sighed. "You are very versed in the dark arts; you know about what a Horcrux is and what they are supposed to do."
"I know it, but, why would anyone want to be reduced to that…, to a wandering, soulless aberration. Especially him, who was…, the closest thing to a god that has ever existed."
"When talking about Tom, we must ignore everything we know about magic and how it works. It is true that all the recorded experiments with Horcruxes in history had ended the same way; with wizards being reduced to subhuman aberrations, who lacked every quality that makes us humans. But, Tom is no ordinary man, he never was."
"Yeah, but, I still don't get why."
"That is because you never knew Tom," Albus explained, his voice coming out way lower than before. "You only knew about the monster he became; not about the boy he was."
Not giving any answers, Severus left the room; the last thing he needed was for the old man to inquire about his sudden moment of weakness. Right now, after the events of the past days, what he really wanted was to rest for an entire day; unfortunately for him, he couldn't waste any time; not when he had that many obligations. Seems like it is time to meet my old acquaintances once again, he thought. I'll do it for Draco; I can't let him make the same mistakes I did when I was his age; that won't happen.
Master Shana POV
Saturday 25th May, 1992 (Shawn Manor, USA) - Midday
Shana, with her legs up on the table and eyes closed, waited for the others to come. She wasn't the only one in the room, though. At the other end of the enormous, wooden table, Lord Elend Shawn was reading a book about some of his ancestors' lineage or something like that; to Shana, it wasn't interesting, so she didn't really pay attention when the man told her about it.
"Can I ask you something, Elend?" Shana suddenly asked.
"You already did," the man answered, his eyes not leaving the book.
"Didn't know you could be sassy at all," she raised a brow at him. "Whatever, what I wanted to know is why are you wearing glasses all of a sudden? This is the first time I see you with them."
"I only use them to read books with tiny letters, just as this one happens to be."
"Well, yeah, I can understand that; but, there are way more comfortable methods of improving your eyesight. Potions, spells, enchanted accessories, you know what I want to say?"
"I do," Elend nodded, still not looking at her. "But these were a gift from my daughter, who has developed a…, great interest in the muggle's things."
"Who would have thought that you were such a softie," Shana whistled. "I guess it is true what they say about fathers having a soft spot for their daughters rather than with their sons."
"If that is the best you can do to irritate me, please, stop. It is nothing compared to all the years of pureblood politics and family problems I've had to withstand. Our dearest guest should arrive soon, you can try your best with Sargeant Levitt when he comes."
Of course, it is not like the last, and the only time I tried to joke with him, he almost put a knife through my head; yeah, a very lovely person to be around, Shana thought. In the end, much to her pleasure, Elend was right. With a loud knock on the door, three men stepped into the meeting.
The first one to get into the room was Nathan Miller, the man responsible from the security of the Great House of Shawn; after him, came Captain Jordan, as serious as ever; and closing the little comitive was Levitt, who as soon as he saw Shana, sent her the best condescending glare she had ever seen. Hey there Mr Sunshine; it's been quite a long time.
They all took seats around the table, their gazes firmly set on Elend, who dropped the book on the table as soon as everyone was ready. "The moment had come," he stated. "All our efforts in these past months had finally been rewarded."
"Does that mean we finally know what to do?" Levitt asked, as sour as always.
"Yes, we do," Elend answered. "Thanks to all the information we've gathered, we now know that Jin and his men are looking for some ancient, and valuable item. They've tried to deceive us many times, but thanks to Nathan, we caught one of Jin's closest generals. He ended up telling us that what they are looking for is definitely in Croatia, the exact location still unknown."
"It isn't like I care about why you really contracted us," the brown-skinned man started. "But, you sure are making a big fuss of this whole hunt. Makes me wonder if there is something we should-"
"Levitt, shut up," Jordan cut in.
Much to Shana's surprise, no other words came from the Thay, allowing Elend to resume the meeting. "As I was saying," he continued. "We also learned they have already reduced their search to five possible locations; the good part being that among that number, we've already done our search in two of them; leaving only three to be explored."
"That sounds like a good number," Jordan agreed. "But, we ought to be quick if we want to beat them in this race of ours. Do you have any details about those locations?"
"The three of them seem to be some kind of ancient settlements for wizards of the Ancient Times," Shana piped in, talking for the first time. "One of them is an abandoned town, which the local muggles had considered to be cursed for centuries; the second, are some interconnected caves, very similar to the one we visited at Italy; and the third, are the outskirts of some abandoned village in the forest, its fame being quite similar to the town I previously mentioned."
"We expect them to go with everything they have," Elend pointed out. " So, if we want to have a chance, we must do the same."
"Let me guess," Levitt started. "You were going to propose the creation of three squads, each one of them choosing one of the destinations."
"Yes, that was the plan I was about to propose," Elend affirmed. "In fact, both Shana and I have already arranged our teams."
"That would leave us, the Wings of Liberty, as the third team," Jordan stated. "I think that is the best strategy we could come up with. My men should be more comfortable fighting on their own rather than with other men they don't know."
"That is what I thought," Elend said. "But, there is one thing I wanted to discuss with you, Captain Jordan. While my team is already pretty complete and balanced, Shana's lacks the numbers."
"Mmh, that is quite the problem," the mercenary commented. "But we happen to have many men to spare. Keeping in mind the difficulty of this mission, my second in command, Sargeant Kouji, along with the men from his squad, will accompany you, Master Shana."
"That would be nice, Jordan," Shana thanked him. "I've already worked closely with him, and I think he is the perfect one to come with me."
"Is there any information about what location is the most probable for Jin to go?" Levitt asked.
"From the little we know, the most probable one seems to be the abandoned village in the forest," Elend answered. "Which is the location I've chosen for my own squad; led by myself, my brother, and Nathan."
"Will you be able to handle someone of Jin's calibre, Lord Shawn?" The soldier went on. "If you are doing it because you feel like it is your duty as the main benefactor of this operation, we can take that location in your place."
"Don't get that cocky, soldier," Nathan cut in. "Lord Elend and his brother wouldn't have any problems to end someone of your level even if there were a dozen of you."
"That would be a first when talking about Lords being able to do the job with their own hands."
Fortunately for the group, Jordan took the floor before the head of security could answer the allomancer. "Allow me to apologize in Levitt's place," the blond man started. "That is why I never bring him to the meetings if there is any pureblood lord involved, no matter how important it is. He shares no love for any of your kind. But, it is on me for not being able to control him before he could snap."
"Don't worry about it, Captain," Elend dismissed everything. "It didn't offend me. Now, back to the main topic; were you about to say something, Master Shana?"
"Thank you," she sighed. "Now as you said before that interruption, keeping in mind the difficulty of the mission, it is time to talk about your payment."
That definitely caught Levitt's attention, who had closed his eyes after the exchange of words ended, as if he wasn't interested in the meeting anymore; now, they were looking at Jordan; the man's emotions still unreadable for the witch. "The gold we've already received is more than fine," Jordan stated. "But, I have one more request for our final payment. I want to know what we are really doing, and why we are doing it; I want no more secrets, just the truth. Otherwise, this mission could get compromised."
Shana sent a subtle look to Elend, who in exchange, nodded his head at her, putting the whole responsibility on the young witch's shoulders; after all, they had already talked about this exact scenario. "Knowing you, it was just a matter of time," Shana sighed. "Tell me, Captain Jordan, what do you know about Herpo the Foul and the Seven Founders?"
"I know who Herpo the Foul was," he answered. "This is the first time I've ever heard about the Seven Founders."
"Well, there is a very strong relation between them; after all, Herpo was the one to create said group," Shana explained. "They were seven of the best, and most talented wizards of the Ancient Times, whose ambitions and ego were so big to a point in which they formed a very selective organisation. Some of them were warriors, and others were scholars; but, they all shared the same objective. To keep developing their magic and their knowledge about it."
"The thing is they broke up after some years," the witch went on. "And saying that, I actually mean that they ended up killing each other after a grave, but still unknown dispute. Their fight not only ended their group for good, but thanks to being some of the most prominent figures of the age, it wreaked havoc in the magical community; especially since wizards had just ended a very long and bloody war against some of the mightiest magical beast who had ever existed, the Nightmares."
"Very interesting piece of history there," Levitt commented. "But, I still don't get the point."
"Do you know what is believed to be Herpo's greatest achievement?" Elend asked; but, being silence the only answer he obtained, he kept elaborating. "It is his Horcrux; some aberration that allows you to anchor your soul, by splitting it in two, to an object. It is said to be the only known path to 'immortality'."
He dropped the bomb; now, it is time to observe their reactions, Shana thought as she eyed the two mercenaries. For the first time, Levitt seemed to be a bit shocked, which was no small thing; the soldier had stopped tapping his fingers on the table as soon as Elend's words came out of his mind; now, he had his gaze firmly set on his superior.
On the contrary, Jordan seemed to be completely unfaced with the information he had just received. The tall, blond man had his perfect, emotionless mask on; but, there was some very little detail giving away the truth, and that was something Shana was perfectly able to catch. The man's eyes had glistened for less than one second; enough time for someone like the red-haired witch to catch it; after all, there was no other person in the whole planet as skilled as her in the act of hiding everything under a mask.
"That can't be possible," Levitt said, after some seconds of silence. "There is no such a thing as immortality; everyone dies one day, let it be by the hand of others, or by natural cause. Death is the only thing we all share; it is our destiny, and the thing the majority of people fear the most."
"I agree with you, soldier," Elend sighed. "In my mind, there is no room for that idea. But, other lesser wizards had tried it in the course of history, all of them obtaining the same result. It is true that after creating a Horcrux, you can't fully die; now, calling that state as something akin to immortality is something I wouldn't even dare to do."
"Summing up, you are telling us that our main objective is preventing Master Isaac from putting his hands on the Horcrux," Jordan pointed out. "Can I ask you why it is that important? It isn't like a wizard as competent as him wouldn't know how to do one."
"He doesn't want it to create one of his own," Shana piped in. "I would say death is the only thing he wants; but first, he has to put his name in all the history books. That is why we need to stop him; because we don't know what could happen if someone as competent as Isaac managed to make some sort of contact with what is left from Herpo's soul. First, it was Gellert Grindelwald, and then, Lord Voldemort; this century has had enough dark wizards; the last thing the Wizarding World needs is the coming of another one."
"I gotta agree with you in that," Levitt said, in a lower voice than usual.
"That is the reason why this operation is so important for the two of us," Elend added. "Of all the people in this room, I am the only one who has fought a dark lord, and I wouldn't even desire for it to happen to my worst enemy."
"That is the reason why we have put so much effort into this operation," Shana supported him. "I admit it, I'm afraid of Isaac and of what he can achieve; unlike you, I know him very well, and he won't ever stop in his search for glory."
"Thank you for being that honest with us," Jordan said, getting up from his chair. "Honesty is a very rare thing to witness nowadays, especially when dealing with mercenaries, like we are. The Wings of Liberty has never broken a contract, this time won't be the first."
"At least, this time we have a good reason to fight for; not like those petty fights between purebloods we are used to," Levitt commented, following his commander's actions. "That is good for a change. I won't hesitate tomorrow; not after hearing what you just said."
His mood changed when I mentioned the name of the two dark lords; I guess we all have our past, and our reasons, Shana thought as she also got up. "So this is it," she started. "Tomorrow, we will be crossing a line; up until now, we have been acting from shadows, but that will change. Tomorrow is the day we will be declaring open war to Isaac the First, the leader of the Order of Merlin."
"So be it," Jordan stated.
"Rest well tonight, my comrades," Elend said. "Tomorrow before dawn, we will be in Croatia fighting for our cause; fighting for a better future."
