CHAPTER NINETEEN
Harry spent the rest of her day working on the portrait with Orion and Loreley, again not having much luck despite using some powerful summoning and extraction spells of Ancient Egyptian origin, but apparently the portrait had been protected against that as well. Whoever imprisoned the people inside did a very thorough job, and Harry was getting quite annoyed – she didn't like to be beaten. Especially not by a crackpot who decided to lock two people inside a painting! After about two and a half hours, the group gave up and decided to go and do some homework in the library with Artemis and Minerva, with Harry diving into the archives periodically to get onto tome studying and also to garner her thoughts.
It was at dinner time that Harry decided she was going to put her plan into action to begin her revenge against Tom Marvolo Riddle. She had eaten two treacle tarts and some shepherd's pie to make sure that her friends couldn't reproach her for not eating, and then made an excuse to them that she still had some unfinished homework to complete so she could have a free evening. Plus, her 6000 word thesis on the Ashwinder egg was only 2000 words by this stage, so it wasn't like it was an unbelievable excuse.
"OK, night Harry, don't drive yourself crazy!" Artemis had called.
"Night Harry!" Minerva and other Gryffindors had chorused.
Loreley had said nothing, simply watching her knowingly, as did Orion. Both tactfully kept their mouths shut.
As soon as she got to her dorm room, Harry chucked her bag onto her chair, startling Seraphina, Sigyn and Athenaïs slightly, and had opened her trunk. There on top of her every day wear, was the shimmering of the familiar Invisibility Cloak Harry hadn't realised she had missed so much. The very sight of it made Harry giggle to herself.
She heard Athenaïs give a musical cry that could only be translated as a "What is it, Harry?"
Harry grinned as she looked up at her nonplussed familiar. "We are going to have some fun, my friend."
The young Gargouille lit up in an instant and chirped excitedly. Athenaïs was always up to have some fun! Spying on humans and catching her prey unawares was really fun. Sitting up on the Astronomy Tower in the sun was fun. Whatever Harry had planned it must be just as fun, because she was smiling.
"All right, Athenaïs, what I need you to do, is blend into the background and keep watch for Tom Riddle and his friends," Harry instructed. "It is very important that I do not get caught, you understand?"
Athenaïs gave a cry of affirmation.
"So, when you see them, cry, howl, sing as loud as you possibly can manage – just let me know, they are coming."
The young dragon nodded again, looking very serious. As they stepped into the common room, Athenaïs flew up to join some of her favourite dragon statues, keeping her eyes on the common room entrance like a hawk while Harry slung the Invisibility Cloak over her shoulders and headed for the door that led to the sixth and seventh year boys' dormitories.
Harry thought it would be difficult to find the dorm rooms she needed, given there were more boys than girls in the sixth and seventh years but they were very conveniently labelled with a plaque that had all the names of the inhabitants attached to the doors. Orion's dorm was the third on the right and Harry entered without much difficulty, which slightly worried her. Orion's bed was just as easy to find. It was the one nearest to the window and the bathroom, with Somnus on top of the four poster bed, sleeping – as always – rather precariously. It looked like the owl was about to topple off at any given minute. Harry was almost tempted to conjure a pillow just in case he fell but no evidence of her presence there was allowed to remain.
Harry opened Orion's trunk and cast a quick Revelation Spell. Several of the supposed Dark magic books in there quickly turned into a copy of Sense and Sensibility, Little Women, The Railway Children, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Frankenstein. Others were Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Sherlock Holmes and Treasure Island.Harry grinned to herself as she picked out several which she thought would be the most embarrassing.
Then, she got up, put the Glamours back on the books, closed and sealed Orion's trunk again and swept out of the dorm and went to Riddle's dorm, which was the one conveniently opposite Orion's dorm. Harry also managed to find Riddle's spot very quickly: it was the one right in the middle with the tell-tale diary Horcrux open and out on the desk with whom Harry guessed was Frey the ball python sleeping soundly next to it. Harry almost had to laugh at the brazenness of the baby Dark Lord, keeping his little soul prison out in the open like that.
By now, Harry knew Riddle's schedule quite well: tomorrow he would be having Potions, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Divination and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Conveniently enough, the books that the baby Dark Lord would need that day were stored away in his very extensive bookcase where they could easily be reached. Usually that would be a sign of good preparation, but in this case, it just made Harry's little plot a whole lot easier. Grinning madly to herself, Harry pulled the necessary books out of the bookcase and then took out the Muggle books.
Harry laid the books carefully on the floor, the classics corresponding with which book she wanted them to look like, taking a deep breath in preparation. Once she was ready, Harry stuck her hand above the books and focused on the covers and back of the text books, making sure there wasn't a detail out of place in her mind. Time to test out one of her Old English spells. "Writ þás geliċnesse ond afæstne þa þissum bōcum þa."
The text books and the Muggle books began to glow with an orange light. Harry watched in delight as the Muggle books took the exact likeness of the textbooks. Harry, chuckling gleefully, put the Muggle books in the place of the text books and picked the real text books up and tucked them under her arm.
And not a moment too soon.
"KYUOOOO!" The sing-song howl of Athenaïs echoed down the boys' dormitories and straight into Riddle's dorm room, making Harry shoot up to her feet in an instant.
"DAH! Get off me you stupid stone creature! Where did Peverell's beast come from?!" Harry heard Dolohov shriek like a little girl, much to Harry's amusement. "It just appeared out of nowhere!"
"For Merlin's manky beard, Dolohov, she's a Gargouille! What did you expect, idiot? You're lucky Athenaïs was just playing and not actually hunting," Harry heard Nott shoot back with a lot of venom. "It's in her nature."
"Hiding in plain sight, like her mistress," Rosier sneered. "Another red flag, right there."
"Shut up, Rosier," Avery advised icily. "Gargouilles are known to blend in with cathedrals for their hunts. Athenaïs may have been evicted from her chapel, but it doesn't take away her instincts. I'm going to go and take a shower and have an early night."
Hearing this, Harry rushed out of Tom's dormitory and down the corridor as fast as she could manage while holding onto both the text books and her Cloak. She had to plaster herself against the wall as Mulciber and Lestrange came up the corridor towards her and she prayed the Cloak stayed in place as she ran towards the door, which Avery was holding open so very kindly for her. Wrapping the Cloak closely to her, Harry hollered through the door and ducking underneath Avery's arms towards the door to the girls' dormitories.
"Stupid fucking dragon," she heard Dolohov grumbled as Athenaïs stuck her tongue out at him and bounded towards the girls' dormitories. The door, for some unexplainable reason, opened magically and let the dragon to pass through before shutting again, which Tom found a little odd. He had never seen any of the dorm rooms open to allow the familiars back in before. Why did it do so now?
Breathing heavily from the adrenaline coursing through her veins, Harry found her dormitory still empty when she returned. She laughed triumphantly and in relief as she tossed her Cloak and the text books into her trunk and sprawled herself on her bed, Athenaïs laughing as well and jumping up to join her mistress on the bed.
"Well, I never thought I'd say this ever again but, mischief managed, Athenaïs," Harry sang, cuddling her familiar close. "I just wish Papa, Sirius and Remus could have seen me." Harry laughed again. "I cannot wait to see the look on Riddle's face!"
Athenaïs chirped in excitement.
It had been a while since her last prank, the last had been in her fifth year where she had helped the twins devise the tricks and traps against Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad. Harry didn't tap into her Marauder heritage enough for her own liking, but now she had a very good excuse to do so. Harry sighed in contentment at her success and went to take a shower before actually doing some work. Druella, Walburga, Ophelia and Ygraine had come into the dorm just as Harry was continuing with her Ashwinder dissertation and the Ancient Runes homework she got from Orion. Walburga immediately went to take a shower while Druella, Ophelia and Ygraine joined Harry with their own books and magazines. Sigyn preferred to continue snoozing on Druella's bed and Athenaïs went back to observing the ugly portrait Harry still hadn't decursed yet.
"You were amazing in Defence today, Harry," Ophelia gushed as she continued taking notes from the book on Occlumency she had in front of her. "Terrifying, though. How you treated Dolohov and Rosier. I'll definitely think twice about vexing you in the future!"
Harry chuckled lowly. "Thanks."
"You should have let Dolohov faint," Ygraine commented off the cuff as she leisurely looked through a catalogue with some stunning but rather over the top dresses. "Serves the damn scoundrel right."
"Publicly humiliating him and showing him for the spineless wimp that he is seems apt enough for me," Harry replied crisply. "Riddle has the propensity for collecting people he views as powerful or worthy. What better revenge is there by showing his so-called friends that Dolohov is neither, when it comes down to it?"
Druella, Ophelia and Ygraine blinked at her in awe.
"You Machiavellian little viper! Well done!" Druella laughed. "So how are you going to deal with Riddle, Avery, Mulciber and Lestrange?"
"I haven't got a plan for Mulciber or Lestrange yet. To be honest, they are not the issue here," Harry answered candidly as she started carefully drawing her diagram. "Riddle and Avery will bear the brunt of my wrath. I have already set a plan in motion for Riddle. As for Avery, the best revenge I can think of is dismantling his little spy ring."
"Merlin, girl! How are you going to do that?" Ophelia asked eagerly, looking slightly bewildered. "Avery has contacts in every house-"
"Including his little sister," Harry cut across. "Who is a female Slytherin with dorms we can access and who knows everything about her brother's operation, if I am not mistaken."
"Oizys bloody Avery," Druella seethed, looking up from a book on Legilimency, just as Walburga was coming out of the bathroom. Ygraine immediately got up to have her turn.
"What about the little maggot?" Walburga asked, running the towel through her hair. Seraphina looked very tempted to start batting her mistress's hair, the way it was swinging in front of her.
"We are going to destroy Avery's spy network, starting with Oizys," Ophelia informed, her eyes gleaming. Walburga blanched slightly, dropping her towel in shock and Seraphina mewed indignantly as it blanketed it her completely.
"Well, that would be a very effective method of vengeance for Avery," Walburga eventually conceded as she picked her towel up off her familiar. "Issue is, we know the shrimp looks up to her brother. She will not turn on him that easily."
"There are two ways we could win the little Avery," Druella stated as she stood up and began pacing. "One, we make her believe that what she's doing is actually helping her brother. Or option two, we make sure she's indebted to us."
"OK, for option one I have no idea what to do to convince that vicious harpy that we know anything useful to her brother, given the fact she knows we will be out for blood. She may be a blabbermouth and utterly disrespectful, but she isn't stupid," Harry said frowning. "As for option two, it seems more feasible but I haven't the foggiest idea how to get someone who doesn't like me to become indebted to me."
"You will simply have to wait for the right moment, dear Harry," Ophelia stated wisely. "Wait for the opportune moment to present itself. You are a Snake; act like a snake."
Harry nodded ponderingly and in affirmation. Fortunately the rest of the evening passed in relative tranquillity until Seraphina – for once – was the one protesting to be groomed. Other than that, when it came time for lights out, Harry felt she could get a decent amount of rest before her training session with Thanatos and the others.
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Harry was let out of the Realm of Hypnos at around 12.30, and – using as many Quietening and muffling spells as she could – Harry threw on a jumper, trousers, boots, took her wand and Cloak, then, followed by Athenaïs who ambled next to her under the cloak, snuck out of the dormitories, into the common room and then out of the dungeons. On the way to the Come and Go Room, Harry kept her eyes peeled for Peeves, any patrols still ongoing and any annoying caretakers she hadn't the displeasure of meeting.
Frankly, anyone was better than Filch and that blasted cat of his.
Hogwarts during the night was just as magical as during the day. The moon light somehow reflected differently on the ancient stone than sunrays did, despite them being essentially the same thing. Harry loved hearing and seeing bats and owls taking to the night sky and even the howling of wolves and werewolves in the distance made her smile. It was the music of the night, when barely anyone was around to hear it. What didn't make her smile, was almost bumping into Riddle and his Knights, whom she could hear approaching her way. Just in case, and out of curiosity, Harry hid in the shadows of a nearby alcove as she heard them draw ever nearer.
"-for goodness sake, if bloody Peverell can do it so can we! Why is casting the Patronus so difficult?!" Dolohov seethed.
"It is as Harry said, you need a happy memory that fills your being," she heard Lestrange answer coldly. "It is not any of our fault that you don't have one!"
Harry couldn't believe her ears and thought she had misheard. Was it just her imagination playing tricks on her, or were the Dark magic club really practising the Patronus Charm?! They were practising the lightest of Light magic?!
"Gentlemen, settle. We do not wish to alert the ghosts or wake the dead," Malfoy scolded.
Harry had to almost laugh at the irony of the statement but didn't dare to as the group passed in front of her directly. Once more, Harry's adrenaline spiked in excitement and began swimming faster than Olympic swimmers around the veins in her body.
"Well, I think we have made some decent progress this evening," Riddle stated with a voice full of authority as they were almost well past her alcove. "At least, if Merrythought asks Peverell to teach again, which she likely will do, we will no longer look like complete buffoons."
We shall see about that, ran the challenging thought through Harry's head as she stepped out of her alcove and headed in the direction that they had come from. Clearly they had been in the Come and Go Room not too long ago and Harry wondered if Riddle and his little baby Death Eaters inadvertently may have passed Thanatos, Hypnos and Melinoë as well. Chances were quite high on that one.
When Harry arrived at the entrance of the Room of Requirement, the doors did not waste time to show themselves and let her in. Standing there, dressed in leather armour were Thanatos, Hypnos and Melinoë, smiling at her. The Goddess of Ghosts in particular was looking very amused. Athenaïs cried out in excitement and rushed to greet the deities, all of whom happily gave the young Gargouille her pats.
"Evening, Harry," Thanatos greeted as Harry tossed her Cloak aside. "Are you ready?"
"Definitely," Harry stated with a confident, but curt, nod. "Where shall we start and where do you want me?"
"Come and stand in the middle of the room. Athenaïs, sit opposite her, please," Thanatos instructed. Both witch and dragon did as they were told. "Tonight we will begin with the basics of Soul magic. There are many misconceptions around that branch of magic. Indeed, it is Life Magic as well as Death Magic. Done properly, it can be used to create life as well as cause death. When Forgers of the past used their own Magic to create weapons and armour and creations of wonder, they also used, albeit unwittingly, Soul magic because they inadvertently left pieces of themselves behind in their creations. Sometimes those objects would become sentient. Bearing this in mind, because Soul magic is also Life magic, the first thing any Soul Mage needs to learn is how to read the life force of another living creature. With me so far?"
"Yes, sir," Harry answered formally with a small nod.
"Reading the life force of a creature such as Athenaïs is much easier than the complex one of a human, that is why you will be starting with your own familiar," Melinoë continued. "So, close your eyes."
Harry complied in an instant.
"Deep breath in, and then out. Focus," the Goddess of Ghosts instructed as the three deities began to walk in circles around Harry and Athenaïs, keeping their eyes firmly on the Mistress of Death. "Now, focus on the heartbeat of Athenaïs."
The dragon kept very still, watching her witch eagerly. As for Harry, her ears were instinctively dulling out the sound of her own heartbeat and trying to capture only the sound of … humming?
"Humming?" Harry had repeated to herself out loud. "I hear humming…"
"Good, Harry. Keep it up. Now, try to push that sensation forward. Remember to keep breathing and to focus!" Thanatos instructed.
Harry thought she had no idea what she was doing but it seemed that as she focused more and more on the humming of her dragon's heart, her skin began to vibrate and hum as well and her own magic seemed to dance within her own body. Harry suddenly felt like opening her eyes and that is what she did. To her shock, there was a ball of silver dancing within Athenaïs inside her chest, close to her heart. The soul of her familiar glowed brighter than any Lumos Harry had ever seen. It stole her breath away in an instant.
"You can see it, can't you?" Hypnos chuckled. Harry nodded absentmindedly, eyes still on the soul. "Well done, Harry. Very well done."
From there, the deities asked Harry to try and sense bats, owls and familiars around Hogwarts and pin their locations on a rudimentary map of Hogwarts that the deities had made, which was actually very close to the Marauder's Map. Every time Harry pinned a location, one of the gods would go and check if she was correct. By the end of the exercise, Harry had managed to score a decent 7/10.
Next exercise: Soul Fire conjuration and wielding.
"Souls are sentient, but they are still made up of particles," Thanatos explained as he took out a lantern with a small soul inside. "If those particles vibrate enough, they overheat and thus burst into flame, while the soul is still sentient. It does not hurt them, but it does cause a great deal of discomfort. Both animal and human souls will suffice for conjuring Soul Fire, but a human soul is more powerful and will produce a much more potent flame. However, for this purpose you will be using an artic fox's soul."
"OK," Harry said with a little bit of uncertainty. She really hoped Thanatos was right and that it didn't hurt the little soul. Thanatos opened the lantern, cupped his hand as he picked up the soul and held the soul out to her. Harry swallowed a little with nerves as she took the soul as carefully and gently as she could into her hands.
"Can you feel it?" Hypnos asked gently and in a calm tone.
"Yes," Harry whispered.
"How does it feel?" Melinoë continued.
"Light. Warm," Harry answered immediately. "Like it is supposed to be with me."
"Good, now three deep breaths in and out, and focus on the soul's sentient core," Thanatos instructed.
Harry obeyed, and found the more she stared at it, she saw the sliver of the form of the creature the soul had once belonged to. The artic fox looked at her curiously but seemed to show no animosity to her, running from her palm, around her fingers and back again, leaving a warm but tickling sensation behind.
"From your expression, I can see you see the fox. OK, now focus on the particles around the core. Will them to begin to vibrate. Send your magic into them to assist in the endeavour," Thanatos continued.
Harry did as she was told, focusing on her magic and bidding it to head towards the soul. Her magic seemed extremely eager to comply, heading towards the soul with gusto, and engulfing the little soul, beginning to bind itself to it. Harry was shocked when very slowly, silvery fire began emanating from the soul around the core and began growing bigger the more her magic touched the soul and shook the invisible matter around the sentient core.
"Very good! Now, extract it gently from the soul," Hypnos instructed.
Harry lifted her left hand instinctively over the fire and made pulling movements with her fingers. The silvery Soul Fire jumped into the air, swirling towards Harry's other hand like it was being pulled there by a magnetic force. Very soon, Harry had a soul in one hand and a Soul Fire ball the size of a golf ball in the other, looking bewildered.
"Not bad for a first try. She's taking to this like a fish to water!" Melinoë laughed. "OK, Harry. Give the soul back to Thanatos and swish your hand once to dissipate the fire. We are moving onto the basics of Death Infusion next."
This was the topic Harry had actually been quietly dreading. Harry had thought initially she would hate Death Infusion. She didn't like how dark and scary it sounded and none of the books – except the Peverell ones – had anything good to say about Death Infusion. But it was more as described in the Peverell books than any of the other ones she had read.
Death Infusion was the art of embedding an inanimate object with the ability to kill or mark someone for Death to collect. It was why Reapers could easily take souls and Atropos could immediately snip someone's Ribbon of Life; they used objects infused with Death magic. An object infused with Death magic wasn't liable to immediately kill from one touch, unless the wielder wished it to.
Thanatos and Melinoë had decided to combine Death Infusion training with combat training. To Harry's delight, they had bought her an exquisite, ornate scythe, rapier and throwing daggers. The scythe had the most amazing handle, made of redwood and had lilies carved into the wood. The top of the scythe had been sculpted to have a stag, Grim, werewolf, and doe at the back of the scythe's blade. The rapier was clearly brand new, the outer shield decorated with depictions of a snowy owl and what looked like Athenaïs and the knuckle-guards, wrist-guard, forwards guard and pommel were decorated with snake designs. The grip of the rapier was made of a smooth, black material. The throwing daggers all had green hilts as green as Harry's own eyes and topped with snakes.
Harry fell in love with her new weapons in an instant. "Wow," was all she had to say.
"OK, so we can tell Hephaestus you approve!" Hypnos laughed. "He was rather worried you would want an executioner's sword like Tosti, but he thought you would prefer a more nimble blade considering your height, age and battle style. You prefer to be fast on your feet, and a rapier certainly fits that bill."
Thanatos punched his brother on his shoulder for the Tosti comment and then began the teaching the basics of Death Infusion. "Deep breaths, close your eyes. Focus this time on your own magic, only now the Mistress of Death aspect of it. You will sense it because it is the 'Darkest' part of your magic. Allow it to be sent into the weapon of your choice. Visualise where you want it to go. Weave the magic into the very fabric of your weapon."
The three deities and the young Gargouille watched as the Mistress of Death chose the rapier as the first weapon to be infused and followed Thanatos instructions once more to the best of her ability. They tried not to cheer out loud when they saw a purple-white magical hue snake down from Harry's hands, down the hilt, past the guards, and down the saltire bar to the blade. Harry's magic started to cocoon the blade of the rapier in purplish, mystic fire which quickly dissipated, leaving the rapier looking normal once more. Harry had opened her eyes and frowned down in confusion at her sword, examining it. The Mistress of Death looked up at the three deities, who couldn't look more pleased.
"Did it work?" she asked, completely nonplussed.
"Oh, absolutely! I can sense the magic from here," Melinoë stated with a grin. "Don't you feel it yourself?"
"Well, I am not exactly certain what an object infused with death should feel like, but it is a little heavier now," Harry answered as she began checking the balance of the sword.
"That is perfectly normal," Thanatos reassured as he clicked his fingers and Harry's outfit gained the same type of black leather armour as he, Hypnos and Melinoë were wearing and he drew his own executioner's sword. "So, combat. Depending on what kind of creature you are facing will depend on the tactics and weapons you use. A mummy does not fight in the same way as a ghoul or lich and a strzyga will likely fight more dirty and underhanded than a vampire. But first, let us get you up to grips with your weapons."
They first trained Harry in the rapier's different wards, the cross-over, parries and then tested her while Harry was wielding both her rapier and a dagger. The deities did get a few decent hits in, but Harry was a quick study and she could dodge or parry their attacks quite quickly. She even caught a cut to her flank Hypnos tried to make with a great deal of finesse and had managed to cut the God of Sleep on his left cheek with her dagger, drawing some ichor – the blood of the gods – from the cut and onto her dagger's blade. Harry had been pretty pleased she had landed a hit on the deity. Hypnos himself could not decide whether to be pleased or put out.
Melinoë took over, teaching Harry the basics of how to best fight with a scythe, starting with the two high cuts, counter attacks, the two low cuts move, the two middle cuts, the "taking away" of the opponent's high cut, the "crossed cut" against a straight attack, the cut to intercept a "take away" of a straight and low attack, the high cut against low cut and a high cut against an attack to the unmentionable-vulnerable area. The Goddess of Ghosts pitted herself against the Mistress of Death several times in short duels to make sure the young witch had gotten the basics right.
After what felt like an eternity, Thanatos stopped the session, tossing Harry, who was breathing quite heavily from exhaustion and had her forehead beaded with sweat, some bottled water. "Very impressive for a first session my Lady. Keep practising where you can. You should get to bed before you cannot stay awake for class tomorrow."
"Indeed," Harry laughed, swigging back some water, taking a few deep breaths. "I have a revenge plan to see into fruition and I would very much like to be awake to see it work for myself."
"Ah, yes, putting that little Dark Lord of yours in his place. Please take a picture of Riddle's face for me!" Melinoë requested gleefully.
"Get a Pensieve for me at some point and I will show you the memory," Harry one-upped as she gathered all of her things and slung the Invisibility Cloak over her and Athenaïs. "Good night, guys!"
"Sleep well!" the deities answered through giggles.
It was safe to say Harry and her familiar went back to the Slytherin dungeons with a spring in their step. They decided to take a more hidden route back Harry knew about to try and avoid any ghosts they could. Harry was rather relieved that they had made it safely back to the dormitories without even bumping into Peeves the poltergeist, whom Harry feared could have so easily blabbed about Thanatos and Melinoë's true identities. Athenaïs went straight for her perch, the Realm of Hypnos summoning her like a Siren song, while Harry took time to disguise her weapons and her Invisibility Cloak, put them into her trunk and lock it tightly.
However, Harry didn't even have the energy to change into her nightgown and simply decided to sleep in her jumper, tossing only her trousers and shoes away, and snuggling down under the sheets. She was back in the Realm of her friend before she could do or say anything else.
Not surprisingly, the dream gods had decided to bless her with a peaceful slumber that night.
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So, Harry had her first training session as Mistress of Death! The seeds have been sown for her plans against Riddle and Avery, and then there is still the matter of that strange portrait. I don't know about you, but I am getting excited – and I am the writer of this little fanfic!
Stay tuned everyone and I would love to hear what you think about this chapter and what you think could happen!
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