Chapter 8
Storybrooke, present
They then entered Mr. Gold's pawn shop.
And there was the well-dressed man in a suit and tie and with him was a woman with reddish brown hair.
"Well, what do we have here?" said Mr. Gold.
"You've got a lot to answer for after what you did back at the clock tower." said Harry.
"Wait," said the woman with curiosity, "untidy black hair, glasses, lightning bolt scar on your forehead. Your Harry Potter."
"How do you know who I am?"
"I read the novels about you in Rumple's Library back in the Enchanted Forest."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" asked Harry.
"Oh, I'm Belle."
"Belle? From Beauty and the Beast?" asked Hermione.
"Beauty and the Beast?" said Belle with confusion. "I don't know what that is?"
"It's a book, I'll get you a copy."
"Wait, are you Hermione Granger?"
"Yes." answered Hermione.
"Oh my god, it's so great to get to know a fellow bookworm." said Belle with excitement.
"I know right." said Hermione with equal excitement.
"Well they really hit it off." said Ron to Harry.
Harry then walked up to the counter and produced Henry's story book. Harry flipped to the page where Rumpelstiltskin and Tom Riddle were having a conversation.
"You met Lord Voldemort as a teenager!" said Harry Potter with anger. "Tell me Rumpelstiltskin, what deal did you make with him?"
Mr. Gold paused. Collected his thoughts.
"Well Harry Potter, if it is one thing that I'm good at, it's keeping records, particularly records of every deal I have ever made."
He then waved his hand and with a puff of purple smoke appeared in his hand a scroll.
He then handed it to Harry Potter.
Harry unrolled it and read.
'I Rumpelstiltskin,The Dark One, will provide, the client, Tom Riddle, alias Voldemort, with the step-by-step instructions on how to be able to split his soul in half and place that half of a soul in an animate object. This information would be given to, Tom Riddle, alias Voldemort, upon delivery of a means of step by step instructions to transport oneself from the Enchanted Forest to Lord Voldemort's non-magical muggle Realm.'
And on the dotted line at the bottom was Tom Riddle's signature.
"And he succeeded?" asked Harry.
"Oh yes." said Mr. Gold. "He returned several months later. With a rather obscure and difficult and elaborate means to transcend the realms. I gave him the step-by-step instructions that I promised him as I personally never break a deal."
"You taught Lord Voldemort how to make a horcrux?" shouted Harry.
"Bloody hell mate!" said Ron "Do you have any idea what you've done? How many people have died because of You Know Who?"
"Wait a minute?" said Hermione.
She then reached into her beaded handbag and pulled out the very old leather-bound copy of Secrets of the Darkest Art.
"I thought Voldemort got the idea of how to make a horcrux from this book."
"Are you sure Miss Granger?" asked Mr. Gold. "What if I could prove that he didn't."
"Very well." said Harry.
Hermione then placed the book on the counter.
"I will need something that used to belong to the Dark Lord." said Mr Gold.
Harry thought for a minute, then he reached into a small bag that he had around his belt. And out he pulled the destroyed horcrux of Tom Riddle's old diary.
"Will this suffice?" asked Harry.
"It will do." said Mr. Gold.
He then began to wave his hand around the copy of the diary, where he then began to wave his hand around the copy of Secrets of the Darkest Art. A blue light appeared in his hand and then both objects began to glow blue.
"Well," said Mr. Gold, "I have just confirmed that the Dark Lord never touched or looked at this book."
"So if it wasn't for you then he would have never found out how to use horcruxes?"
"Oh I disagree with you Mr. Potter. You see, if he and I had never met I think he may have eventually found that book or he would have found another way. He was pretty darn determined."
It was then that Emma, Mary Margaret, and David came into the front door.
"Gold!" said Emma angrily. "I got a bone to pick with you. Why did you betray us back at the clock tower? Why did you steal the potion?"
"And you did who knows what to this town!" said David.
"And worst of all you risked Henry's life!"
"Well, that is quite a list of grievances from all of you. But first let me ask a few questions of my own. Miss Swan, is Young Henry here alive and well?" he gestured to Henry.
"Yeah." said Emma reluctantly.
"Is the curse broken?"
Emma did not reply because she knew he was right.
"And are you not reunited with your parents?"
He then turns to Harry.
"And you Harry Potter, has the Dark Lord not been defeated?"
"No thanks to you!" said Ron angrily.
"I'm just saying that in the end, everything turned out."
"You can twist our words all you want Gold," said Emma, "it doesn't change the fact that you gambled!"
"And just out of curiosity," asked Ron, "what method of transportation across the realms did You Know Who give you exactly?"
Mr. Gold then gestured to the room at large.
"Why, the town, Storybrooke." he said in a tone as though stating the obvious.
"The curse?" said Mary Margaret with disbelief. "But I thought you created the curse."
"Oh no Your Highness. I did create a lot of things, but the curse, the town, no no, this curse could only have been created by someone far darker and more evil than myself."
He then turned to Harry.
"Can you Harry Potter think of none other?"
"Lord Voldemort." said Harry. "Now that I think of it, a curse this dark and evil could only have come from him."
It was then at that moment that there was an earthquake and then a roar of a monster could be heard outside.
"Oh what now?" asked Emma as they grabbed their items and rushed outside.
Once they were out in the street, they could hear the roar even louder. And then they saw it. A flying Grim Reaper-like entity wearing tattered black robes.
"What in the hell?" asked Emma to know in particular as she looked at the creature with disbelief.
The creature was tipping over cars and smashing walls of buildings and other such things as it swooped all over the place.
Harry, when he saw the creature, with second nature instinct and muscle memory pulled his wand, took aim and imagined having sex with Ginny.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A large glowing silver stag burst forth from the end of his wand and charged down the creature. It collided with the creature and they began to wrestle. The creature held on to the antlers of the Stag while the Stag tried to fight to get free. The Stag pushed forward, breaking the creature's grip and trampled it. But the creature got up. The creature then struck back. It seemed to be a stalemate neither one able to beat the other.
"Expecto Patronum!" said Ron and Hermione in unison as they both raised their wands.
Two more patronuses, one of an otter and one of a dog, burst forth from the tips of their wands and attacked the creature. The creature fought against the three patronuses. The battle was fierce.
"Reducto!"
"Stupify!"
"Incendio!" The three wizards shouted together simultaneously.
The three spells struck the creature simultaneously, the combined magical effect blasting it back while the three patronuses continued to charge it down while simultaneously Emma Swan was shooting at it with her 9 millimeter firearm.
The creature then seeming to feel that it was outmatched then fled.
"What in the hell was that thing?" asked Emma with shock and disbelief.
"It most certainly was not a dementor." said Hermione.
"It bloody hell looked like one." said Ron.
"No," said Hermione, "it looked sort of like one but there were clear differences, especially no freezing air, no feeling of depression or hopelessness."
"Well, why is it here and where did it go?"
"There's only one person I think to ask," said Mary Margaret, "Regina."
Back at the police station Regina was in the holding cell.
"Regina," said Emma, "do you know what is attacking the town now?"
"Yes," said Regina, "I know exactly what is attacking the town. It's a Wraith."
"Oh, like from Lord of the Rings?" said Harry.
"These ones are a little different." said Regina. "They seek out whoever is marked."
And then she held up the palm of her hand with a burned symbol indentation in it.
"And then they capture your soul."
"How did this happen?" asked David.
"Gold." said Regina. "During the curse I had locked up his girlfriend Belle for 28 years in the asylum. And this is his way to get revenge."
"Well, we just fought the Wraith. We managed to drive it off but our patronuses don't seem to affect it as powerfully as they do Dementors. And our three most powerful spells hitting it simultaneously barely put a dent in it."
"You can't kill something that is already dead." said Regina. "My guess however is that you did severely weaken it, which is about the best you can do. Right now it is regenerating."
"So how do we stop it?"
"We need to banish it from this land. We need to send it through a portal to the Enchanted Forest." said Regina.
"But you said that the reason that the breaking of the curse didn't send us back to the Enchanted Forest is because the Enchanted Forest no longer exists?" said David.
"Exactly, we will be banishing it to Oblivion." said Regina. "It's the only way to destroy such a creature."
"How do we open a portal to the Enchanted Forest?"
"A magical item back at my house." said Regina. "We will need to draw The Wraith in close, and then open the portal. I should be able to do it."
Back at Regina's house they had retrieved what seemed to be a very large hat.
"That's Jefferson's hat." said Emma.
"Well, now we're going to use it to banish the Wraith." said Regina. "We're going to need a larger but enclosed wide open indoor space. The town hall."
At the Town Hall Regina placed the hat in the middle of the room. The Wraith would be drawn towards Regina where she would use herself as bait and then activate the portal when it came in close.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione positioned themselves in a triangle formation around the room with their wands at the ready. Emma had her 9 millimeter firearm at the ready while David and Mary Margaret made some homemade torches out of brooms. David also wielded a sword.
"Found this in the elevator at the library." said David matterfactly as he held it his blade.
Regina knelt down by the hat and held her hands over it. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply and focused and concentrated. Nothing happened.
"What's wrong Your Majesty?" asked Harry with frustration at Regina's efforts. "Magic has returned to Storybrooke, how come it doesn't work?"
"I don't know." said Regina. "As far as I know the magic that engulfed Storybrooke is supposed to be a small pocket of the Enchanted Forest universe, therefore my magic should work within the town line, but for some reason it doesn't. All that Gold said was that Magic Works differently here."
"Gold had no difficulty using Magic." said Hermione.
"That's different, he's The Dark One. His magic also works differently and is exponentially more powerful."
They heard the growling Roar of The Wraith outside as it then forced its way through the window. Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not cast patronuses, they didn't want to drive it away, they wanted to draw it in.
They did however he was basic hexes and jinxes in order to contain it.
"Reducto!"
"Incarceriss!"
"Incendio!"
Mary Margaret and David lit their torches.
"Any time now Evil Queen." said Ron.
"I'm trying!" said Regina with frustration.
They had a heck of a time holding The Wraith back while it kept trying to get to Regina, the one that had been marked.
The Wraith finally broke past their defenses and was about to reach Regina, but Harry was staying right behind Regina as he pointed his wand.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The giant silver stag burst forth from the end of his wand and stopped the Wraith in its tracks. This time Harry kept pointing his wand and focused and will for the Patronus to become stronger. The Patronus successfully kept holding The Wraith back.
Emma then placed her hand on Regina's arm and then finally the Hat began to spin like a top and a hole in the space-time continuum appeared like a swirling vortex.
Regina got out of the way as The Wraith began to be drawn into the portal. A few moments later The Wraith could not fight it anymore and was fully through but the portal did not close and it's suction of the air in the surrounding area became even stronger. And then an invisible force grabbed hold of Mary Margaret where then Emma grabbed hold of her.
"Mary Margaret!" Shouted Emma in panic as she grabbed hold of her. But Emma was not enough to pull her back and began to be pulled in herself. And then that was when Hermione grabbed hold of Emma, and she too began being pulled in.
"Hermione!" screamed Ron in panic.
Hermione then cast a spell from her wand that was supposed to stop them all in their tracks and keep them from being pulled in.
"Cronominusdialatror!" screamed Hermione; the eight syllable incantation of the very difficult spell was a bit of a mouthful but was performed and pronounced flawlessly the way only Hermione could.
An invisible force surrounded the three women as they were pulled towards the portal where they then slowed down significantly but only for a moment, but in the end it didn't work as the suction and gravity field of the portal proved too strong for the spell and all three of them were pulled through the portal where the portal then closed up.
"HERMIONE!" screamed Ron one more time.
"SNOW!" screamed David.
The portal was gone. The Hat seemed damaged. They all took a few moments to realize what had just happened. Emma, Hermione, and Mary Margaret had been pulled into an empty void.
It was then that David and Ron turned to the Evil Queen with looks of pure hatred on their faces.
"You!" said Ron towards the mayor of Storybrooke.
Harry recognizing the look of hatred on Ron's face, it was the same thing Harry felt when he first met Sirius Black believing that he had killed his parents.
"Ron no!" warned Harry.
"I'll kill you!" said Ron, raising his wand.
Harry pointed his wand at Ron's hand.
"Expelliarmus!"
Ron's wand flew out of his hand and landed in Harry's left hand.
"That's not the way." said Harry.
"Where are they?" demanded David.
"I don't know." said Regina.
"Are they dead?" demanded David.
"I don't know." Regina repeated.
"You did this!" said Ron. "Now fix it!"
That was when she raised her hand and long thick vines magically sprung out of the wall and bound David and Ron to the wall. Harry raised his wand.
"Flipendo!"
But Regina deflected it with a spell.
Regina then conjured a fireball in her hand and hurled it at Harry. But with a wave of his wand the fireball was deflected and extinguished.
He tried again and again with different spells. Regina deflected them all but with extreme effort and difficulty.
Before Harry could then cast his next spell they were interrupted.
"Stop this now!" demanded Henry as he came into the room followed closely by Ruby.
"Henry." said Regina as her demeanor then quickly calmed.
"Relashio!" said Harry, pointing his wand at Ron and David.
The long thick vines in the wall released them.
"Henry." said Regina one more time. "Henry, I am so sorry that you had to see that."
"Look at you!" said Henry with a tone of disgust in his voice. "Look at what you've done! You really are The Evil Queen!"
"Henry please!" pleaded Regina.
"No!" Henry insisted. "I don't ever want to see you again until you find a way to bring Emma, Mary Margaret, and Hermione back."
Henry was then lead out of the room by Ron, David, and Ruby while Harry kept his wand pointing at Regina.
"Your Majesty, behave yourself." Harry warned as he then backed out of the room leaving the Evil Queen alone.
The Enchanted forest, present day
The portal exited about 20 meters up in the air while Emma, Mary Margaret, and Hermione all held on to each other. They plummeted towards the ground.
Hermione quickly waved her wand.
"Arresto momentum!"
Their velocity towards the ground slowed significantly and when they hit the ground it felt like they had landed on a thick cushion.
They then heard the Roar of the Wraith. And a gold medallion then fell from the Wraith and landed on the ground with a metallic clatter.
They then realized that they were not alone. There were three people behind them. But they had no time to take in the details of them. Hermione quickly got to her feet and pointed her wand as the Wraith came at her.
"Protego!"
The Wraith crashed right into the invisible magical solid wall.
"Incendio!"
The Wraith was hit by fire which caused it to retreat slightly.
"Expulso!"
A jet of blue light hit the right square in the chest causing a low-yield explosion on the point of impact. The demon then decided that this was a lost cause and retreated.
Hermione then turned to Emma and Mary Margaret.
"Are you guys all right?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah I think so." said Emma.
"Me too." said Mary Margaret.
The three of them then looked around.
"What is this place?" asked Hermione.
"I think this is the Enchanted Forest." said Mary Margaret.
"But Regina said that the Enchanted Forest was destroyed and that this place was just an oblivion of empty void." said Emma.
"Well, obviously she was wrong." said Hermione. "Or she lied."
They then turned to the three people that were behind them. There were two women and one man. The men wielded a sword and appeared to be dressed like a knight. One of the women appeared Asian and was dressed like a warrior. Well the third appeared to be a young Caucasian woman dressed in an elegant pink dress.
The night and the warrior woman held their swords at the ready.
Hermione held her wand at the ready while Emma pointed her 9 millimeter firearm.
"Who are you guys?" asked Emma.
"We could ask you the same question." stated the warrior woman matter of factly.
Mary Margaret then stepped forward and smiled and held her arms wide with her Palms forward to show that she had nothing to hide and no threat to make.
"Of course. My manners, I apologize. I am Princess Snow White." said Mary Margaret. She then gestured to her companions. "And this is my daughter Princess Emma, and Hermione Granger, sorceress."
"Princess Snow White?" said the warrior woman. "My apologies, I did not recognize you with your modified hair and strange clothing. You do not know me personally, but I have seen you from an audience in a crowded assembly of people. I am Mulan. This is Prince Philip, and his wife Princess Aurora."
Hermione and Emma then looked at each other with disbelieving faces at the appearance of all of these Disney character names.
Please Review!