Author's Note: Thank you so very much for all the reviews and love you showed to my fic. I am glad that you liked my work, I read each of them multiple times and I am really glad that you liked my previous chapter so much. Even a simple "Good work, Dev!" works wonders for my motivation.
To read the next three chapters, and get access to my super secret Discord server (Beware: Loads of Smut. Yeah, porn, lol ), check the Ending note.
Hearty thanks and congratulations to our first seven members of Guildmaster tier: Camo, I am Lord Dems, Stormf0x, RyanMK666, Lyrical, Tyler and HadesReynes.
"I am Talking."
'I am Thinking'
"ᦓꫝꪖᦔꪮ᭙ ꪻꪖꪶᛕꪀᧁ" (Shadow talking or Shadow speech)
Spells
§Parseltongue§
You need to love the villain as much as you love the hero if you're going to have a great story.
~Andrew Scott
INNOVATOR
-Dev Sagittarius Black
~~Chapter 37: The Call from Beyond~~
.
Harry blinked when he heard his godfather's squeak, never in their times together has the Black of the Blacks squeaked like a little girl, and only when the shock wore off, did he remember that there was a reason why the newly arrived ghost looked distinctly like the man behind him. After all, siblings do have quite the resemblance, especially when both of them have a powerful family magic supporting them like that of the Blacks.
"Regulus?" Dumbledore whispered in shock. "Regulus… Arcturus Black?"
The Headmaster would be lying if he said this was the first time when he met the ghost of one of his former students, after all Myrtle still haunted the second floor bathroom and could be seen floating around other places as well, still that didn't mean he was ready to face another one in his life.
There was a reason he had stopped the hunt for the Deathly Hallows after his sister, Ariana's, death. He knew that he would end up summoning her soul repeatedly if he ever got his hands on the resurrection stone. And then he would end up becoming a lunatic like Cadmus who killed himself when he saw the person he wanted to be so close and yet had to be so far.
"Don't drink the potion." The ghost of Regulus told them as he floated closer. "There is nothing in there."
"What do you mean by—"
Sirius stopped Harry as he jumped back on the ground. "REGULUS! What… what happened to you?! What..where...I don't understand."
The smile that appeared when he saw the shock on his brother's face reflected the pain and suffering the poor boy had been through. "Hey, Siri, been some time, eh?"
"Reg… I don't understand…" Sirius whispered, "I-I knew you died, we all did, they said Voldemort personally killed you. Hell, mother wailed like a damn harpy when grandfather announced the news that night. But… but a ghost? Here? How?!"
The younger Black tilted his head, "I don't know how it happened either, there was a moment when I died, everything was black and blank and bleak. Colourless and devoid of life. I could feel my heart stopping, my bones losing strength and I could feel something freeing me from my body." He explained, "And then, suddenly I woke up here. And I've been here for a long time."
"Obviously, you have!" Sirius exclaimed, shock imminent on his handsome face. "You… left us in '79, it's '95 now! Sixteen years, Reggie!" Tears started to fill his grey eyes when he saw the smile on his younger brother's face.
"How did you…?" He asked hesitantly. "I-I mean you don't have to tell if you don't want to, of course… I was just—"
"It corresponds to what you were going to do." Regulus pointed at the stone basin behind them. "You see, The Dark Lord asked me for my house-elf, Kreacher, for some work. It was supposed to be really important and, therefore, I happily summoned Kreacher and told him to follow the Dark Lord. After all, that was what mother and everyone else would have wanted for me to do, right?" He asked them and the three nodded.
"But it was wrong of me to do so." His expression darkened. "The Dark Lord had brought Kreacher to this cave where he tested the defenses around his horcrux on the poor thing, and then left him to die here." He shook his head. "Thankfully the Dark Lord forgot to put anti-house-elf wards which helped Kreacher escape this wretched place."
"Never knew that the crazy bastard had been tortured like this by the other crazy bastard," Sirius grumbled but quieted when Dumbledore signaled him to.
"What happened after that?" Harry asked the ghost who heaved a tired sigh and floated towards the stone basin. He touched the potion, his ghostly hand phasing through the emerald green liquid without any ripples.
"Kreacher told me all about it, how he had been forced to drink the potion and how the Dark Lord had left him in the cave to die," Regulus continued. "In almost all of our meetings, the Dark Lord repeatedly bragged about how he had surpassed mortality and had ventured into the immortal realm, and that no one could ever truly kill him. It wasn't too difficult to make the connection that the secret to his immortality was laid here."
"So, I did the stupid thing." He smiled, once more looking at them with all the familiarity of a stranger. "I looked through Kreacher's memory and made a locket, an exact replica of the one that he left here—yes, it's a locket—and then asked my elf to guide me through the cave's defenses. It was I who had tied the boat here, hoping that if he ever returned then he wouldn't be able to find a way to reach the isle."
"What did you do, Reggie?" Sirius mumbled in shock. He already had a faint idea as to what his stupid brother would have done, but he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to believe the fact that his younger brother, the 'good' son who faithfully followed the family, was in fact a brave human who had gone against the ideals and had chosen to die doing the right thing.
Regulus sighed, "I drank the potion. Completely." He looked at the three men who were watching him with saucer wide eyes. "I told Kreacher to replace the fake locket and destroy the original one, he popped away and I replaced the potion. I think after that I was too thirsty to think coherently anymore and ended up drinking the water from this lake." He pointed at the large water body around them.
"The inferi…" Dumbledore muttered and then sadly looked at the lake. "They pulled you inside, didn't they?"
Regulus nodded, but then he tried to smile again. "Well, then I woke up again and found myself here." He waved his hands around the cave. "I've been here since then. Can't really leave this place, and yes, I've tried."
They talked some more, Sirius and Regulus discussed stories, the latter revealed that he told Kreacher to tell Grandfather the truth, which meant that it was Arcturus Black who tried to turn his grandson's death into a heroic one. The former Black was also quite surprised to know about Harry and his brother, and pitied the elder one for what he had to go through while growing up, then he shared a few stories about Lily when she met him and Snape, and the small moments of actual fun that he had at the castle.
After some time, it was Dumbledore that finally broke the small family reunion with a question.
"So do you think Kreacher was successful?" He asked the youngest Black, "And if he wasn't, then where is the locket?"
"Kreacher failed, sir," Regulus immediately replied. "Because, for some reason I can still feel the locket to be around. It's not here, I don't know its location but it still contains a piece of him."
"How about we summon your house-elf and ask him?" Harry suggested and the rest of them immediately agreed.
Sirius called him out, and the house-elf took some time before his magic forced him to respond to its master. At first, when Kreacher came to the cave, he stumbled and fell back. The poor house-elf's past experiences haunted him, holding him in a vice grip of fear and pain when he remembered how this cave took his beloved master from him.
That changed when he saw Regulus' floating form, the house-elf got so happy that Sirius had to strictly command the old thing from jumping too much or they'd all fall in the inferi infested lake. Even then, Kreacher tried to keep hugging the only person whom he really considered to be his master. Tears streamed down his eyes as the poor thing bawled like never before, he cried and kept muttering about how great his Master Regulus was.
"Kreacher, did you finish the task that I gave you before you left the cave?" Regulus asked him. "You do remember the locket, right?"
The old house-elf of the Blacks bobbed his head feverishly. "Kreacher does, great Master Regulus sir, Kreacher remembers the filthy locket!" He sneered, "The locket of evil!"
"And did you destroy it?"
This time the little being broke into hysterical sobs again as he tried to hug Regulus' leg but fell on the ground. "Kr-kreacher tried! Oh yes, he did!" The house-elf banged his hand on the rocks. "The locket bes not opening! Kreacher burned, blasted, used everything Kreacher could! But the locket bes strong! It bes only destroyed after openings, Master Regulus sir. And Kreacher cannot openings it!"
"Is the locket under some runic enhancement, Kreacher?" Harry asked him. He knew that other than Regulus if there was anyone whom the house-elf respected enough to answer politely; it was Harry.
"N-no, Harry Potter." The house-elf wiped his eyes, his tiny hands clenched angrily into a fist. "The filthy locket bes openings only with specific language of the Blacks. No one else bes openings the locket."
"A specific language of the Blacks?" Dumbledore frowned. "Then maybe Sirius or Regulus here could—"
"Master Regulus doesn't know the language." Kreacher shook his head. "And the filthy master could only dream of knowing it." This time he sneered at Sirius which made Regulus chuckle a bit.
"Why, you little—"
"Sirius! Not now." The Headmaster stopped him and turned to the house-elf once more, "Now, Kreacher, is there anyone else who could speak this language? Other than the former Blacks, of course."
This time the old house-elf gave a small nod, he looked up into Dumbledore's curious blue-eyes and then whispered, "The… snakes."
"Excellent work, Alan!" Hermione congratulated him as she checked his essay on defensive charms that Flitwick gave them yesterday. She looked through the spells, the spelling, formation of sentences and the paragraphing as well as grammar. It was all perfect, well it wasn't as good as hers—obviously—but it was way better than what half of their year mates would come up with.
"It is?!" Alan asked her, excited to finally be done with the homework part of the day. "You're not patronizing me, right? Because if you are then—"
All of a sudden the common room was drowned in bright orange light, Hermione hugged him tightly as others who were around the room shrieked in horror. The most melodious song that he had heard started to thrum from every corner and Alan could actually feel himself and his friend relaxing as they basked in it.
When the light vanished, Alan looked at the source of disturbance and was surprised to find Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flying in front of him.
"Fawkes?" He asked, confused. "What happened? Why are you here?"
The mythical bird gave a legendary trill as he flapped his wings, his beady black eyes looking at the Boy-Who-Lived before he dropped the piece of parchment that his owner had sent for the boy.
Alan picked the parchment and was surprised to note that instead of the Headmaster, it was his brother's cursive calligraphy on it. The parchment said that he needed to hold Fawkes' tail feathers because he was needed somewhere.
"What is it, Alan?" Hermione asked him, trying to take a look at the parchment that he was reading.
"It's from my brother," He told her. "Says he needs me for something, and I need to come with Fawkes here."
"Your brother has a phoenix?!" She asked, surprised that someone their age had bonded with a mythical bird that had only been heard in legends.
"Hell no." He laughed, "Well it's not that impossible actually because this one listens to both of them but Fawkes is Dumbledore's bonded phoenix, and I think both the headmaster and my brother are together right now which is why the note is from Harry." He told her and looked at the bird who flew over to him and sat on his shoulder.
"Err… Alan? Are you sure about it?" She asked, "Your brother isn't someone who would call you to help him with anything, and if he's with Dumbledore, then—"
"The chances are even less likely, yes. I know." He nodded. "But then, I know my brother's handwriting, I've been learning from his notes for the last two months, and I know that Fawkes won't listen to anyone other than Dumbledore and Harry, right?" He asked the bird who bobbed his head in consent.
"Well, that decides it then." Alan nodded and held the bird's tail feathers, as instructed, only to be engulfed in flames and a loud trill from the flaming bird as he was transported directly to the cave where others were waiting for him.
When he opened his eyes next, he saw that there were a lot more people than just his brother and the Headmaster. There was Sirius Black, who was talking animatedly with a teenage ghost that looked remarkably like him, there was also an old house-elf with a frown on his face as he held a weird looking locket of gold in his sickly hands.
"Harry?" He asked his brother who was standing by the side of the lake. "What's all this? Where are we?"
But it wasn't Harry who answered him, it was Dumbledore. "Alan, I am glad that you were able to join us tonight." He smiled. "I hope you weren't too busy?"
"Uh… no sir, I was just doing my charms homework," he admitted, politely. "Though, I thought I should say that Fawkes here caused quite the commotion in the common room, I won't be surprised if rumors are made regarding my possible 'kidnapping' by the time we return or me having a phoenix familar."
Dumbledore chuckled a bit as he petted his Fawkes' plum making the phoenix trill in happiness and pride. "Fawkes is rather fond of showcasing his talents to the audience." His smile waned a bit. "But, right now we have summoned you here for something that only you can help us with."
"Anything for you, sir." Alan agreed, looking at Harry as well, "What do I have to do?"
Dumbledore took the locket from Kreacher and showed it to Alan. "Remember the Voldemort that was inside your mindscape?" He continued when the boy nodded. "Well, you see, my boy, a similar piece resides inside this locket. It's a magical locket that used to belong to one of the founders—Salazar Slytherin, to be precise—and somehow, Tom got his hands on it. He has tainted the locket with his magic."
"So, what do I have to do, sir?"
"We will destroy this locket tonight, but for that we need you to open it for us," he told Alan. "The locket belonged to Slytherin, and therefore, can only be opened by someone who has the gift of being a Parselmouth. Therefore, I want you to open the locket, and then stay away from it. We will destroy it before it could harm you, or anyone else here."
Alan nodded, he looked at Harry who was watching him without any expressions, though Alan could distinctly note that his brother seemed more tense than he usually was, which meant that he was trying his best to look calm.
The younger Potter took the locket from Dumbledore's hand, he could feel the dark energy that was trapped inside it writhing and alluring to escape and possess. There was a certain familiarity to it, which he supposed, came from the fact that this same thing had resided inside him for more than a damn decade.
"Alright then, I will open it now," Alan announced and was immediately the recipient of every pair of eyes, including the ghost's in the cave. He closed his own eyes, imagining a small snake on the locket and then said as clearly as he could.
§Open.§
There was a small snap, and the locket opened almost immediately. Charcoal like black smoke started to drift out of the small golden thing, pouring out as it started to move towards the ceiling of the cave. Out of shock Alan dropped the locket on the rocky floor, and took a step back as Harry and Dumbledore immediately levied their wands on the locket.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" "Ignis Praesidium!"
The mages shouted in tandem as one destroyed the horcrux while the other protected them from its curse with a draconian shield of flames. The green ray of death from the innovator's wand clashed with the soul piece and a loud piercing screech was heard from it as Voldemort's screaming face was formed in the large wall of smoke.
The face tried to attack Harry only to be met with Dumbledore's draconian flame shield that had been erected to protect everyone from the cursed spirit. The shrieking face burned against the wall only to vanish as soon as it had appeared, and after a few moments Dumbledore canceled out the shield to look at the locket that was broken in front of their eyes.
It took a few minutes before the Headmaster raised the broken artifact and announced, "It's now done." His face broke into a smile. "The last of Tom Riddle's soul pieces has been destroyed. Voldemort is now mortal!"
The elation that each of them felt was clearly portrayed on their faces, Sirius threw his hands in the air and did a victory jig with Kreacher supporting him in doing so for the first time ever. Regulus smiled and flew around them in circles, feeling the weight of the cursed locket lifted from his shoulders while Harry and Alan gave a nod to each other.
The two titans of magic inside the cave silently conveyed a message that was imminent thanks to their victory…
After decades of continuous fighting, now was the time to put an end to the fruitless war and bloodshed, and to end its root cause with death's mercy.
The letter that was in her hand crumpled to dust, she looked at the ashes of the conjured paper that had the message along with the broken golden and green locket which came with it. If someone were to ask her what would have been the best gift, then she would undoubtedly told them about the last horcrux of a man who was about to meet his end.
'So you two finally did it.' She rose from her throne and placed the locket on the shelf that contained five other artifacts that were once tainted by the spirit of a foul man named Tom Marvolo Riddle who had fashioned himself to become the Dark Lord Voldemort.
"Persephone." She summoned her spirit guardian that had stayed by her side since she joined the guild centuries ago. The ethereal large black raven came to life as it slowly formed in front of her, its pale gray eyes looking towards the enlightened one as it waited for the message that it was meant to deliver.
"I need you to tell Drauma, to send a message to all of our teams that their task is over." She nodded. "Unfortunately, we can't give them any break and therefore, they are to immediately report back to the Guild. Also, tell her to send scrolls to all of the Guildmasters to ready their defenses, because our master says that the time to fight is coming closer by the days. And yes, don't forget the ICW mage council, they need to be ready as well. They are not of much use, yet every wand is useful; against the threat that we are about to face."
The raven gave a throaty squawk, looking up towards the infinite ceiling of the Black castle before it flapped its large wings and flew up the staircase, disappearing through the stone archway that was softly glowing under the eldritch energies from the thousands of souls that resided in, and around, the castle of Necromancer's Guild.
"I really hope that it doesn't come to a war, Master," she whispered to herself as she looked around her place. The one she had inhabited for centuries as she guided her and all other guilds through thick and thin. "Or else, Anubis would have to take up the mantle of the Guildmaster after me, I just hope that you would guide the young man as you have always guided me."
Achlys knew that the probability of war was quite imminent, because her master, Death, hadn't even bothered to question her—or Harry—when it had been summoned to train the young boy. The Master had just said that the time for Anubis to use the boon is coming sooner, and then had proceeded to train the young boy in the Realm of Death for about seven earth years.
An omnipotent and omnipresent multiversal entity like Death would not have wasted the time of its general, or its own, if the cause was as weak as the attempts before it. Which also meant that soon something was going to happen that would force them against the army of Damnation. Something that would force them to use the last resorts in protecting the entire world against the souls from the fields of punishment.
"I just hope all of us are ready by then." She prayed, thinking about her dearest guild and all the Guildmasters as well as their Guilds and members who were doing their very best to support the life-cycle on earth. Protecting it from harm and danger, and yet remaining as an invisible shield that was helping to smoothen the functions of life.
She knew that her command would be taken seriously and all the Guilds, as well as the mage council would be alerted about the impending war that would take place sometime this month as they had already trudged through half of it, soon the rift between the realms would open completely and the army shall pour through it.
The only way to stop it was by killing Voldemort, unfortunately for that to happen they needed to know where exactly that idiot was. Because according to the special mission taken by her commander Anubis and Guildmaster Beasten, Tom had started taking precautions once he realized exactly who was hunting them.
And the first thing that he had done was leave the ancient Malfoy Manor to a more secure and unplottable location. A place that was hidden from everyone through a multitude of obscure charms including the fidelius. Only a selected few were privy to the new headquarter's location, and that little group most certainly did not include them, or their spies.
Which was why they were having trouble locating the hidden Dark Lord, and even though the last horcrux had been destroyed and the raids stopped. The problem continued to grow because according to the reports received from Creatures Guild, about five hundred dark creatures including werewolves, acromantulas, trolls, giants and the likes had been spotted moving towards the British forests.
It was Beasten's guess that they were probably under the command of Voldemort, and he would use them all to do a surprise attack on the ministry sometime soon to take revenge on all the raids that he and Harry did on Death Eaters safehouses.
Although the golden-eyed Guildmaster had reassured her that he had already sent his best hunters to take care of as many of the dark creatures as they could, she knew that there would still be more than a few when Tom would finally snap and decide that it was time to attack.
'May you save us all from reaching your merciful realm, Master.' She thought before she opened a leather-bound scroll and began looking through protective enchantments.
Chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise when they took in the unusual sight as their owner reached the famous fifth floor corridor at the exact time that he had been asked to, by his brother. The very same man who stood in front of his door, his back against the hard stone wall of the magical castle with an immensely pensive expression etched on his handsome face.
This was new, after all, this was the first time that Harry was actually waiting for him outside his door instead of just sitting inside his suite and making him wait. And the expression? Don't even get him started on how scared he was right now.
"Harry?"' He asked as he approached his brother. "What are you doing here? Everything alright?"
Harry nodded and left the support of the wall, he opened his mouth to tell his brother that everything was indeed alright but then, he hesitated. There was something that had been going on his mind for some time; something that would be better done now than waited for later.
After all, who knows what might happen to either of the Potters tomorrow, or the day after? They were safe right now, but did that guarantee their future? No, it didn't. Therefore it was necessary to show a few things to his brother, and maybe it was time to bring the younger Potter into the game that Harry had been playing for almost a decade.
"Come with me, Alan," Harry said, "Tonight, I have something special planned for you. Just don't ask any questions till I tell you to." And with that he opened the door to his suite before stepping inside.
The redhead boy blinked in confusion at that, did his brother just ask him to step inside his VIP suite?! He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and when pain flared on his arm, he learned that as unbelievable as it was, he had indeed been allowed to enter Harry's suite again.
Last time he did that, it was when Harry wanted to clear out a few issues that they had regarding his memories and the certain things that had confused him, after that he had been forbidden to enter the place unless it was extremely important.
The inside was just as he had remembered, complete with the large center table, the leather-bound tomes and parchments that were strewn all over the place. And through it all, Alan could definitely notice certain changes which he attributed to Daphne's work. There were certain things that couldn't be ignored, and a colorful shelf, a Slytherin tie and outer robe definitely came under that list.
'I could bet my life on it that neither Harry, nor his house-elf Dobby know what to do with a few of her things, and both of them are just letting her do what she wants,' Alan thought, smiling at the mental image of a chibi Daphne ordering a chibi Harry and Dobby who look at her like confused babies who are learning new things.
"Now, if your observations regarding the recent changes in my living accommodations are complete," Harry broke in with a dry tone, "I would like it more if you came here, and checked out a few things that I actually want you to see."
Alan did as asked, pushing away the mental image that he had just conjured and instead followed his brother's orders. They went towards a bookshelf that was loaded with several leather tomes, and a few knick-knacks that were kept on periodic intervals. His brother looked at him once more before he turned towards the bookshelf, particularly to two red leather bound books, and pulled, what looked like, a newspaper that was sticking between them.
"Remember, Alan, what I am about to show is something that no one knows about, not even Daphne, and I trust her with almost everything," he said as he opened the folded piece of newspaper. "Therefore, I hope that you won't fuck this up, and would listen to things before jumping to conclusions like a dimwitted monkey."
"And what if my reaction isn't what you think it would be?" He asked, hesitatingly. "What if I am not able to take what you are about to show?"
"Ah, I hope that it doesn't come to that." Harry sighed, and gave him the piece of paper. "But if it did, then you must remember that you are inside my suite, you know you cannot escape me, and I am quite proficient with memory charms."
The casual way Harry had said those words sent a shiver down the redhead's spine. He knew that the elder Potter wasn't joking when it came to such things, he was absolutely ruthless and every move was actually thought about multiple times before it was executed without hesitation.
Somehow that didn't make this anymore easier.
Alan read the headline on the old looking newspaper and frowned because out of all the news that has ever been published, why would his brother choose such a gruesome one. "Harry?" He asked, "This is… what is this?"
"This is something that you must know about." His brother turned back towards the bookshelf and started pulling random books halfway through it. "Remember when you were here last time, I told you about mine and mom's kidnapping? About The Council and that eleven families ruled the abomination?"
The boy nodded.
"I told you that Voldemort had the Council's help during his first rise to power, and if not for that fateful night of October thirty-first, he'd have won long ago," Harry said. "The Council supported him with men, resources and money. And they had also built his headquarters for him, which was known as 'The Morte Tower'."
Alan looked down at the article, he read how the entire tower had been scorched and everyone inside it, including the Guards and the prisoners dwelling in the dungeons had been killed in a single night.
"Mom and I had been kept captive inside the dungeons of this same tower on the orders of the Council," Harry said, and stopped pulling the books out. He then looked back, his emerald orbs glaring daggers at the moving image of the burning tower. "And the day I escaped with Tim's help, I swore that I'd destroy the tower that took my mom away from me."
"Is that why you kept this article with you?" Alan asked him as he read the clipping. "I remember the day as well, Mr. Weasley had been quite shocked; had even said that this might be the doing of the Death Eaters, and had asked Dumbledore to increase the security of his house because he thought that the ones who did this might come after me soon."
Harry sighed and looked back at his brother. "I am the one who was responsible for the massacre, not Death Eaters." He announced, shocking Alan to the core. "That night I infiltrated and killed all the guards that had mocked my mother, spat on me and beat me for months when I had been under their tender 'care'. It was my way of taking revenge on the Council; unfortunately that didn't give me as much satisfaction as I had thought it would."
"Ha–Harry, I–" Alan trembled in shock, but he was again stopped by Harry.
"Which is why, I decided that simply burning the tower wasn't going to satiate my hunger, it didn't gratify me at all, quite the opposite in fact because it aggravated the aforementioned hunger that burned within me." Harry pulled one more book and took a step back as, in front of their own eyes, the bookshelf was split into two with a small screen on it.
"Give the paper, Alan."
Alan did so immediately, he saw Harry placing the paper on the small screen. A red rune illuminated once before the screen went inside and a rumble was heard as the wall started to tremble a bit.
Both the Potters watched as the two halves of the bookshelves joined once more before the entire thing rotated on its axis.
Alan was shocked to see that behind the bookshelf there was a HUGE bulletin board that had been pricked with several articles, photographs and notes on it. There was a web of multicolored threads that linked them together, somehow making links between the articles and the photographs that were placed on opposite ends.
There was a small space left in the center of the bulletin board where Harry placed the piece of newspaper and pinned it with two pins.
"Ha…" Alan didn't even know what he wanted to say anymore. "Harry… wha- what is… this?" He stammered as his gaze followed the multicolored threads, going through photographs and articles as well as the notes that were pinned in a haphazard looking manner.
"For the last decade, Sirius and I have been working tirelessly to find every last detail about the shrouded Council of Paragons, their meeting places, dwellings of their members, their works, the eleven Paragon families that rule it, their seats of power, and the members working in it." Harry announced to his brother. "And this… is the fruit of our work. We call it 'The Board of Everything', because it contains everything that we will ever need to destroy the infamous organization completely."
"Ev-everything?"
Harry shook his head in negative, "There is still one thing left, and we are in the process of acquiring it." He sighed and looked back at the board, watching the carefully cutout pictures, the details and the colorful web of threads that joined the entire mess together.
"And what will we do once we have it?"
In that moment Alandale Potter learned why he should never ever cross his elder brother, why exactly was his brother one of the strongest mages in history and how thin was the leash that controlled his temper and power. The urge to kill, to demolish and to destroy. The madness of complete destruction and devastation on the ones who had wronged him, and the nonchalance with which his brother could finish everything and not bat his eye was terrifying indeed.
And to think that all of this could simply be understood by the ethereal glow in his Harry's emerald pools and the smile that had crossed over his handsome features.
"My Lord." Bellatrix bowed deeply as she looked up at her master who was holding the softly glowing crystal ball in his hand. "We got word from Greyback, master, he says that our plan has worked and that the response is positive, about ten more wolf packs will join us here in a week." She smiled, "We are just waiting for your command, master, almost everything is ready."
Crimson red eyes glared at the woman who was bowing at his feet, "Did you just say, 'our' plans, Bella?" He whispered softly but the anger could easily be felt from his words.
"I-I mean, your plans, my lord," she stammered. "All… all yours, Master."
"Do you know why I made those plans in the first place? Do you even know how much I hate it here? How much I hate the fact that I had to relocate to this hellhole just because someone was going after my men?!" He slammed his fist on the throne's handle. "I, Lord Voldemort, the man who has surpassed the frivolous troubles that vexes a mere mortal! Has to live in a broken safehouse that was used by… filthy dogs?!" He sneered in disdain. "Do you have any idea how much I loathe this?!"
Bellatrix rapidly nodded, not daring to look in her master's eyes. She knew that if she did then she'd be the recipient of one of his infamous crucios, and if simply staying silent would save her from it then she'd remain that way for as long as he wanted.
"The men who died for us, without knowing who killed them…" He whispered, remembering all of the raid teams' incidents. "They shall be avenged soon. It's time for us to gather all of our forces…" He muttered, looking down at the grovelling witch "Tell our spy in Hogwarts to initiate the plan. Let this week be the last for the Potter brothers, and all those weak minded gullible fools who think that two kids—still wet behind their ears—could even dream of defeating Dark Lord Voldemort!"
The witch immediately nodded, her eyes shining with the unbound joy as she giddily skipped out of the room. Finally! It was time for them to rise; time for them to live the way they deserved because now the time has come for which she had waited the last two decades! She knew that they would win, and once Britain was under their control, she would kill every single one of those traitors and backstabbers who had run away from them.
It was time to end this with one mighty blow that would shatter Britain's backbone, and make the entire nation fall on its knees! Her Lord would rule, he would guide her and all of her brothers and sisters as they helped their Lord eradicate the filth that had plagued the country for centuries.
Voldemort calmly watched as the door closed behind his devout follower, he looked down at the softly glowing crystal ball and gave a triumphant smile when he remembered how this particular piece had come into his possession three days ago.
After the failed attempts to infiltrate the ministry by force, Voldemort had found someone who had enough power to get something like this from the Department of Mysteries without rousing any alarm.
Pius Thicknesse, a politician, who aspired to one day become the Minister for magic had been tasked with the retrieval of the prophecy through any means necessary. Now, the Dark Lord didn't bother learning exactly how the man had done something that even the most trusted had failed to do. All he wanted was the prophecy that linked him, and the youngest of the Potter children, and now, he had it within the palm of his hand.
He still remembered the words that had been spoken to Albus Dumbledore by the seer Sybil Trelawney, and it surprised him because nowhere in the Prophecy did it say his own name, or Potter's for that matter. Still, he knew that due to his past transgressions, the Prophecy was now active and bound them together, and therefore, the only person who could even dream of defeating him was Alandale Potter.
'Which is why, he has to be the first brother who dies by my hand…' He thought and was about to pick the prophecy orb again when some movement was caught through the corner of his eyes.
The Dark Lord immediately picked his wand and raised it in the direction of the intruder, somehow elder Potter's face came to his mind and a small amount of fear crept on his visage "Who is it?" He announced, the tip of his wand was alight with the killing curse. "Come forth, and you shall be spared. Hide anymore and I shall kill you with nary a thought."
For a few moments nothing happened, and he was about to shoot the curse in that direction when he noticed something move once more.
The shadow to the far right darkened and moved towards the center where it coalesced and it seemed to become more solid. Slowly a shape started forming as a solid black mass emerged from the darkened center and rose to some height. Hands and legs started forming as the shoulders space widened and a head of the same inky blackness emerged.
There was now a shadow figure standing right in front of Voldemort who was looking at it with wide eyes. This wasn't something that he had seen before at all. It looked quite close to being a wraith, and yet it seemed like this was something else at the same time.
"What are you?" Voldemort asked loudly, his wand still pointed at the shadow.
"ꪻꪮꪑ ꪑꪖ᥅ꪜꪮꪶꪮ ᥅ᦔᦔꪶꫀ…" The shadow chittered, making a weird noise that sounded like a collection of snaps, shrieks and whines.
"I can't understand you," His eyes narrowed, "What are you, and what do you want?"
" ꪖꪑ ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ, ꪖ ꪑꫀ᥅ꫀ ρꫀᥴꫀ ꪮᠻ ꪖ ᭙ꫝꪮꪶꫀ!" It chittered once more, irritating the Dark Lord further.
"If you can't speak your cause, then I don't have any use for you." Voldemort raised his wand only to halt when he noticed that the shadow had slowly started to move towards him. "Lumos Maxima!"
"ꪗꪮꪊ ᠻꪮꪮꪶ! ꪗꪮꪊ ꪻꫝꪀᛕ ᦓꪮꪑꫀꪻꫝꪀᧁ ꪶᛕꫀ ꪻꫝᦓ ᭙ꪮꪊꪶᦔ ᦓꪻꪮρ ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ ꪶᛕꫀ ꪑꫀ?!" The chittering shrieked, and Voldemort was surprised to see that the spell had absolutely no effect on the shadow.
"Umbra Ligare!'' Voldemort casted the shadow binding spell which seemed to pass through the shadow that now stood just a few feet from him. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
"ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ! ꪖꪑ ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ, ꪗꪮꪊ ᠻꪮꪮꪶ!" The shadow chittered, and slowly raised both of its arms in a universal gesture of peace.
"What are you?" Voldemort asked once more, his mind going a mile a minute to discern the nature and identity of the thing in his throne room and how did it not only find but also managed to enter such a well guarded and hidden location. He was actually surprised when the shadow forwarded its hand, as if asking him to touch its palm.
The Dark Lord slowly did as requested by the otherworldly creature. His hand seemed to blend with that of the shadow's as a ginormous amount of dark force attacked his mental shields, it was as if the shadow was darkness incarnate and he was but a mere human who was standing against it. He grunted in pain that subsided as soon as it had begun, and then he noticed the foreign entity which stood in his mindscape.
It was the shadow. Complete with its dark energy that seemed to circulate through, and around it.
"Is that you?" He asked once more. "Are you the one in my mind?"
"Yes," the shadow in his mind replied, in a man's voice and thankfully this time in an understandable dialect. "And to answer your questions, I am a piece of someone that is interested in making a deal with you, for our mutual benefit."
"What do you have that could possibly interest me?" The Dark Lord sneered in disdain, he had thought that the shadow was something powerful but in the end it was merely a messenger from someone who wanted another deal in his attempt to greatness.
"Power," Shadow replied, "We have power and numbers, an entire army of infinite beings that, as you may have noticed, cannot be stopped by any of your human enchantments or protections. something that you need right now as your fate hangs in the palm of Death."
This line made the Dark Lord chuckle loudly, "Death? Death?!" He laughed hard, the voice hoarse as it echoed in the empty throne room. "I have conquered Death long ago, there's nothing that—"
"You have failed, Tom Riddle," It interrupted him. "Six of your pieces have already reached the forbidden lands of no return, and you are the last piece that holds something open for us, like a gateway, to completely come through in the Realm of living and light."
The Dark Lord's eyes widened in horror when he realized that the shadow knew about his horcruxes. "What do you mean?"
"Death has marked your soul, Tom Riddle," Shadow spoke, "It has received all of your stored little pieces rendering you a mortal who can be killed as easily as anyone else. Something that we don't want, because your survival is of utmost importance to us." It added, "I went to your former location, and noticed that you did the right thing by leaving it. The place is in ruins now, and if you had not left then you too would have joined your other pieces long ago."
"Why?" He ignored the last part as he already knew that Potter had destroyed the Malfoy manor, "Why is my survival important to you?"
He hoped that it was just an illusion of his mind, but for some reason it felt like the shadow had just given him a blood-thirsty grin which demanded pain, sacrifice and promised nothing but extreme amounts of agony to anyone who would dare to defy it.
"Let me ask you something, Tom Riddle," Shadow whispered. "What do you know about the crevice in creation, and my army?"
"Your… army?"
"Indeed." The shadow grinned once more as dark energy seemed to thrum around them, pleading to be used by them so that it could bring apocalypse on their world. "My army…" It whispered reverently, "The Army of Damnation…!"
Ending Note: There it was, the thirty-seventh chapter of INNOVATOR. And with this we have closed the horcrux arc and towards the last arc of the story...
"!Innovator: Triple War!"
But what is this about a shadow from the Realm of Death? How did it reach Voldemort?! And what new twists will it bring to the future of wizarding Britain? You'll have to wait for the next weekend to know about it, or check the below links lol!
Once more, all I ask of you is a simple word of encouragement for me. You don't know how much it pleased me in the last chapter, and the amount of motivation it gave to write more, and finish the story faster for you. Even a simple 'Good Work, Dev.' is appreciated, still..those who don't want to review, it's alright. I am glad that you liked my story enough to read it this far. 😇
The next three chapters and all the character sketches... are available on my p -treon.
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