Chapter 3 is here.
For anyone wanting to know why the cold didn't affect Harry. Well, Love is the short answer. As can be seen with the Winx and the short-lived Lovix power-up they gained an immunity to cold and frost. In Harry's case it comes from his mother's sacrifice after he united the Hallows to power it up.
Also the so called Dimensions, like the Omega Dimension or the Magical Dimension, are not that in my fic. Because they aren't. Omega is a planet and the Magical Dimension is more like a Galaxy.
YeTianshi: It is never explained what the Dark Mark needs or what restrictions it has. However, Valtor also had a mark, which he applied generously and which doesn't have a condition. It's the same here. The consensus thing is fanon as far as I'm aware.
Realm of Relix.
The Realm of Relix mostly consisted of an endless void, with ruins of ancient stone buildings floating in mid-air surrounded by more floating rubble. Red was the dominant colour in the sky together with grey.
Harry commanded his new thrall to hover in the air and wait for their return as soon as they arrived. The second guy was bound, stunned, blinded, frozen and silenced. Harry wasn't in the mood to take chances. To top it off the wizard ordered. "Lend me your power. I'll erect a ward that prevents people from following us."
They did as told a moment later. Harry gathered a considerable amount of power through the mark and erected a Dimensional Barrier around them. It would see all attempts to travel here disrupted.
While Harry did so the Trix had a conversation of their own.
"I wonder why the annoying Knights of the Fortress of Light bothered to get us out of here in the first place." Darcy pondered out loud, leaning against her chair, crossing her legs and arms. It didn't make sense to her.
Stormy looked at her sister while she spun around in her own seat. "What do you mean?" Not too troubled by that. She was more focussed on their future power.
"From the looks of it we'd been trapped here. Why get us out just to imprison us somewhere else?" Darcy questioned, tilting her head in confusion.
Icy was more on Stormy side and dismissed her sister's ramblings. "What does that matter now? They probably were called by that old bitch Faragonda and simply arrived too late for the actual fight."
Darcy nodded at that, conceding. "Hmm, you're probably right." she was most likely over-thinking it.
A moment later a thick shield made up of blood red energy and shimmering runes surrounded the ruin and vehicle. "There, now we won't be disturbed."
Exiting the vehicle, the four flew towards the ruin, landing between the rubble a moment later.
"What now?" Harry inquired, turning to the Trix and waiting expectantly. There didn't seem to be much on this rock.
Icy explained it to him, remembering the chant as good as she could. "You need to stand in the middle of it, channel your powers but keep it balanced between Light and Dark and chant the correct words." she pointed to the small elevated space in the middle of the ruin. The Trix then pieced the Chant of Power back together from their fractured memories as the Mega Trix.
Harry felt a bit silly as he stood on the broken altar, only there to humour them. He was expecting nothing much to come of this, but willing to try all the same. "Vites, Fortes, Subvertio." he chanted over and over again as he glowed bright red, pouring his considerable power into the surroundings.
It took maybe five minutes for Harry to notice a shift in the atmosphere once the chant reached its crescendo. Instinctively acting he held his hands above his head as if to receive something from the heavens. Next he shouted out the final word, throwing his head back. "Relix!"
As soon as the word was spoken a red cyclone-like mass with an inside that glowed pink and edges made of gold materialized between his palms.
The Trix watched on in glee as Harry succeeded where Darkar failed. Already feeling the tremendous power radiate from the artefact, transfer to Harry and through him arrive in them.
Not wasting any time, Harry absorbed the Crystal of Power in its entirety. A process that took the better part of ten minutes. The light of the relic faded the more time went by until it flashed out in a kaleidoscope of colour before vanishing completely into the wizard.
Power coursed through every fibre of his being, down to the very last atom before settling down. He looked at his fist and clenched it as if to confirm he was still himself. To test it, he cast. "Reparo." at once the rubble flew back together, forming an intricate temple that showed how the place looked like right after construction. There even was a pristine roof now.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Harry inquired. After all the excitement, and however long he was trapped on that frozen planet, he wanted to truly rest for a while.
Stormy proposed. "We could go to Darkar's Fortress." they didn't have any fixed residence, never had. Cloud Tower had been their home until their expulsion. "It is a pile of rubble, but you'd be able to have it up and running in no time by the looks of it."
The Witch of Darkness voiced her objections, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I don't like the idea of living underground, like a mole."
However, Icy concurred with Stormy's suggestion by saying. "Do you have a better idea?" her ice-blue eyes focussed on her sister, white eyebrow raised in a challenge to argue.
Darcy's silence was her answer. All three of them knew they were homeless with nowhere to go. They were fugitives, hunted by the Magical Galaxy as a whole, should their escape be discovered.
Shrugging, Harry accepted. "Where do we need to go?" Right now was one of the times he lamented to be atrociously bad at Legilimency. While his mind was impenetrable, he had no talent for invading over people's minds. Which made plucking the location out of one of them rather impossible. Which meant he needed to trust them. He knew nothing in this new world.
"It's located on Magix, in the heart of the Magical Galaxy." Icy replied, looking at the vehicle they stole from the Fortress of Light. "It should be easily reached by our ride and if not we can still fly."
"Sounds good." Harry responded with a nod of agreement. Extremely glad to have learned to fly without a broom by now. Be it through Animagus form or magic alone.
The quartet boarded the ship again and the last Potter commanded their thrall to bring them to Magix. The Red Fountain, specifically. Doing so due to the advice of Darcy, who claimed it was nearest to where they wanted to go. To be sure the craft was made invisible with the inbuilt camouflage.
Planet Magix, Lake Roccaluce.
Another wormhole-jump later and they arrived near the school that apparently trained young men into warriors of some kind. Harry hadn't really listened during the explanation.
It was unlike any building Harry had ever seen. A futuristic kind of tower that floated in the air, with some trees around the upper levels, as well as some miniature waterfalls going downwards. Not giving it any further mind Harry let the Trix guide the pilot to their new location.
Looking out of the window of the ship, Harry saw Magix. He had to say he was disappointed. It just looked like Earth in terms of vegetation and atmosphere. Quite a let-down as far as Harry was concerned. In the distance he could make out a lake, a huge tower reaching into the sky and a horrid blob of pink.
Soon enough they arrived near the cave-system, flying into a narrow canyon peppered with sharp spikes and edges to get to their destination. Further ahead came a long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow running back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley's arms, high on a rocky seat sat the entrance they sought.
Steering the vehicle into the abandoned mines, the enslaved pilot flew expertly downwards, avoiding the walls easily. Darkness swallowed them whole as the descent proceeded uninterrupted. In response the vehicle activated its floodlights to drive back the dark and allow the pilot to see.
Green crystals began to appear together with some mushrooms and swarms of bats that fled from them.
A few minutes later saw them forced to land on a rock spur big enough to hold their aircraft.
"What are we gonna do with these two?" Darcy pointed with her thumb over her shoulder and at the two guards. One a mind-slave the other unconscious and bound so tight he wouldn't be able to leave.
Stating as if it was obvious, Harry stood up from his seat. "We kill them, obviously." after his time on that prison planet he learned to never leave anyone alive that could kill or make problems for you later. Without acknowledging the three witches, Harry commanded the pilot. "Let the aircraft hover in autopilot!"
Once that was done Harry cast. "Avada Kedavra!" sickly green light erupted from his palm, trailing what looked like black smoke behind as it sped towards the unfortunate victim. A second later it connected, killing the man and letting him fall into himself like a puppet with its strings cut. The same flash of green was repeated with the co-pilot. Harry was a bit surprised at the cosmetic change but simply chalked it up as a result of his new power.
"What was that?" Icy asked completely enthralled by the experience.
Reluctantly, Harry told them grimly. "It's called the Killing Curse." he began to get used to his new power. "There is no magical defence against it and once it hits it does what the name implies." he was kinda used to casting it by now, which should concern him. Though, the spell served him excellently during his imprisonment. Ended any fight as quick as possible with no fooling around. "Back home it's part of a set called the Unforgivables. Anyone using them gets an immediate trip to prison."
"It's that how you ended up on Planet Omega?" Stormy questioned curiously, wanting to know more about their partner.
Harry shook his head as he made to exit the aircraft. "No, the prison of my people is called Azkaban. It's guarded by Dementors, demons that suck the warmth and happiness out of everything and everyone in their vicinity. In their presence you are forced to relive your worst memories and nightmares over and over until nothing remains but a rambling lunatic. That is if you didn't get your soul sucked out by them, leaving your body an empty husk."
Not really knowing what to say the Trix wondered just where he came from. What kind of people used such punishments? They would fit right in. "What was your punishment?" Icy inquired, wondering why he was banished to Omega, if the prison in his home sounded so much worse.
With time Harry had come to see it as ironic that his punishment didn't have the intended effect. He truly was the Boy-Who-Lived. Giving them a smile without humour, he explained as they left the ship. "My punishment was to be thrown through the Veil of Death, an artefact that supposedly kills anyone going through it. Turns out it really is just a portal to Omega."
Stormy, Icy and Darcy hadn't heard of any planet that used capital punishment anymore. Any and all criminals were banished to dead planets like Omega, or different realms like Oblivion.
"Makes sense." Icy replied, tapping her chin in thought. Together they stopped a few meters away from the ship, standing in a circle. No wind blew here, leaving the air stale and only the sound of silence to listen to.
Darcy chimed in. "What did you do?" gold eyes focussed on him as they stood before the machine, standing in its cone of light.
"Yeah, must've been pretty bad for you to be sentenced to death." Stormy contributed, an eagerness to hear was clear to see as she leaned forward, eyes curious and hands behind her back.
Harry chuckled, a truly amused smile on his lips. "Indeed, my crimes were so numerous, hideous and atrocious that nothing else could've possibly sufficed. I even was the number one wanted criminal where I'm from." he built the suspense, causing the Trix to lean in anticipation. "To sum it up I saved them from total and utter annihilation."
Complete silence reigned in the cavern, creating a tomb-like atmosphere. That was interrupted by Icy saying flatly. "What?!"
Darcy was just confused. People didn't treat their saviours like that. They threw parties and celebrated them.
"That doesn't make sense." Stormy said completely baffled, angrily asking a moment later. "Are you pulling our legs?!"
"No." the wizard said utterly serious. His tone alone convincing them, not that it helped their confusion. He then cast. "Fiendfyre." Harry threw a ball of blackish fire from his fingertips. It latched onto the vehicle in an instant. Controlling the demonic fire Harry let it devour any evidence of their presence, leaving only a soot mark on the floor where the machine had stood. It tried to lunge at Harry to burn him alive as well, but with a flick and an iron will the wizard killed the fire.
Utter darkness crept back over them as soon as the ebon flames were extinguished, prompting him to cast bluebell-flames and making them follow the group like ghostly lights. One after another the small blue flames popped up. Without waiting Harry walked deeper into the tunnels. His curiosity reignited after so long of the same cold wasteland and ice.
Icy didn't let the matter rest, wanting to solve the enigma that was Harry Potter. On the other hand the spells were a better place to start. She had an inkling he didn't like talking about how he landed on Omega. "What are the other Unforgivables?" the killing curse sounded absolutely wonderful in her own completely biased opinion. Her imagination went wild as to what the others were or how many there were.
"The second one is the Imperius Curse and I used it on that unfortunate pilot. A spell that places someone under your total control. It's arguably the weakest of the bunch, because someone with sufficient willpower can throw it off." Harry began to explain. "The last is called the Torture Curse, again it is obvious what it does. It feels like your very bones are on fire, as if white-hot knives are piercing every single inch of your skin. A pain so all-consuming you don't know where you are anymore, thinking your head will burst open any moment. All you want is for it to end, for you to die." He spoke softly and without looking back to his companions, an echo carried his words to the Trix. Her therefore didn't notice their looks as he led the group further along the path.
"Sounds incredible." Stormy remarked kind of awed by all the powers and spell Harry knew, not really reading the mood. Understandable, considering that from out of the Trix she was the most power-hungry, always wanting more of it. Like Icy her imagination too ran wild.
Harry stopped and turned his head. Emerald eyes glowed eerily in the dark, a green fire dancing in them. His face was dimly illuminated by the light of the ghost flames. With no inflection in his voice, he said. "Do you want to experience it?" he couldn't hurt them, but he could make his stance clear.
Snapping out of her stupor, Stormy shook her head wildly, teal eyes wide in fright, forgetting that they were as protected form him as he from them. Though, Harry's modified Mark gave the caster some influence of the subject. Silencing them forcefully for example.
"Then don't say that." Harry grunted, and resumed walking. Once he rested up properly he would see if he would work with them further or leave.
Darcy, briskly walked up to him. She was as curious as her sisters, but she had more tact. "I take it you experienced it yourself." It was not a question but an observation.
A sigh left the wizard's lungs. "Yes, all three." he confirmed, stopping Darcy and her sisters dead in her tracks.
"All of them? You mean..." Darcy whispered in shock.
Icy huffed, turning her head to the side and crossing her arms in disappointment. "So there is a way to block the Killing Curse?" more disappointed with that revelation than the knowledge of Harry's experience with Dark Magic.
Harry answered in the negative. "Not exactly. I'm just the only one it was ineffective on." he sighed again and explained. "My story is...complicated. Let's just say that my people never knew what to call or do with me." that was true enough. "I also am not really enthused about sharing these personal things with strangers." he was pretty sure they would use the Unforgivables without much remorse.
"What about you, why were you imprisoned?" Harry questioned, trying to turn the tables on them as they descended further. In the week spent there with them they didn't talk much about the past. Much more focussed on escaping.
Stormy and Darcy were silent. However, Icy answered proudly, not an ounce of remorse or shame in her words. Besides, in her mind she had something to prove, as well as impress Harry. "We summoned the Army of Darkness in a bid to take over Magix, as well as allying with Darkar." she counted their partnership with Harry as a success so far. Darkar had discarded them as soon as he nearly had the Crystal of Power in his grasp.
"Why?" Harry inquired calmly, wondering what would've caused them to do such a thing. He didn't expect people he found in a prison to be paragons of virtue. Though, he refrained from judging people early after knowing some innocents were imprisoned there. His time there also made him kinda insensitive to gory or violent subjects.
His question seemed to get various reactions from the trio. Stormy frowned angrily, Darcy looked a little lost and Icy simply was pissed. "Do we need a reason to want power?" the Witch of Ice ground out, teeth threatening to shatter like a block of frozen water. She had to remember his power. Whereas before she couldn't beat him, what hope did she have now?
'So they're those types, huh?' the last Potter thought. Icy had given him a hint as to what they wanted and why.
Harry shrugged and explained as he walked leisurely. "Most people want more power for a reason." even the criminals he killed in Omega did have reasons for what they did, but it came always back to the same basics. "A common one is that they hope to better their social expectations and standing. In short they want to be someone of renown, the one with the bigger stick. Usually that is because the person or people in question felt they were constantly at a disadvantage." it was Voldemort's reason for his rise to power. He didn't want to be the orphan, the Bastard of Riddle. No, he wanted to be acknowledged, because he never had been. So, he'd planned to force them to. "Another common desire for power is usually for ideological reasons, to change the world or some such."
Getting no reply Harry didn't pry further, knowing them good enough by now to know it was a fruitless effort to do so.
From then on the group walked in quiescence.
After a while the green crystals were becoming less plentiful until the walls were only made out of normal stone. The ghost flames burned brighter as a response. Luckily, nothing was encountered on the way down further down, except a broken down door and some rubble. Harry repaired the door after they passed it, restoring it and the spells it was enchanted with.
Finally, after more than an hour the group arrived on another ledge. From there a seemingly endless abyss opened up before them like a maw of some great beast, threatening to swallow anyone foolish enough to enter whole.
"Lumos Maxima." Harry cast, throwing the orb of light into the abyss. A moment later a truly bright light was born into existence by the spell. For the fraction of a second Harry thought he had created a sun. Thankfully, the orb of light flew further and further away until it hovered in the middle of the room, illuminating everything.
"Seems I used a little too much." Harry remarked a bit sheepishly while the Trix rubbed their eyes to get the spots in their vision to vanish.
The cavern was some three kilometres wide, about 500 meters high and shaped like an arrowhead. Down below was a huge lake filling dozens of huge vaults , some hundreds of meters high. Ribbon cascades of water sprayed down from the high ceiling. The only reason the cave wasn't completely underwater was probably an outlet to the world outside the mountain.
Numerous stalactites and stalagmites were present with the biggest ones broken. Inside the waters of the lake lay what Harry suspected were the remains of what the Trix called the fortress. "Reparo Maxima!" he cast, this time testing what happened with how much power. He didn't even feel winded in the slightest from casting so many high-level spells and frankly overpowering them.
Piece by piece the mighty building put itself back together. Stone flowed into each other as the damage was undone, leaving a smooth surface once more. The result was a fortress built into the massive stalactites on the roof of the room. The biggest one looked like the main-building with walkways, pillars and more carved into the stone. Surrounding it were masses of stalactites that formed a vague circle, starting at the biggest tower and closing at its front. Shaky wooden bridges or stone arcs connected the different parts of the labyrinthine complex.
The quartet flew towards the fortress, landing in a sombre courtyard. "Do go ahead and explore. My sisters and I have to discuss a few things." Icy spoke aloud, giving Stormy and Darcy a look that said it all.
Not really wanting to know either way Harry agreed, pushing his long bangs out of his face. "Sure." having said his piece Harry left them to their devices, exploring the interesting fortress.
Without further ado the sisters flew away and down to the surface of the lake, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and Harry as possible. Stopping near a waterfall to let the noise drown out the conversation.
"What do you want to talk about?" Darcy's golden eyes were narrowed, wondering what her sister wanted.
Stormy simply crossed her arms under her bust, waiting for what was to happen.
The eldest shared her concerns. "I think Harry won't help us in our revenge on the Winx or anything else we might have planned."
Darcy, hands on her hips, questioned. "What makes you say that?"
"Do you think we should leave him?" Stormy butted in, glaring at them as she twirled one of her bangs between her fingers. "Which would be stupid. In case you haven't noticed he has incredible spells, as well as the Crystal of Power. We'd be retarded to leave." it made no sense to the youngest Trix.
Their brown-haired sister concurred with that statement. "Indeed." she had no idea where they would go if he should leave. One slip-up and they'd be back in Omega. Being on the run wasn't much fun. Harry also attacked the Lightrock Monastery, that alone was enough to warrant his imprisonment. They were in the same boat. Then again, Darkar also attacked the place and that relationship turned out badly for them.
Icy glared at her sisters and shot right back. "You're both retarded if you think I was about to suggest that." shaking her head, she added. "No, I think he won't do it because we don't have a good enough reason for him." why else did he question their motives. "Why else did you think he questioned us? We don't even know what he wants personally."
"Well, duh, Power obviously." Stormy remarked in a snarky tone, rolling her eyes. "He took the Crystal of Power quick enough." After all, everyone wanted power.
Frustrated with their lack of understanding, Icy explained. "He didn't seem like he truly desired it though. It was just something he took because it was convenient." there had been no greedy gleam in his eyes, no longing to be stronger.
"Well, you did feel his magic yourself, sister. You should know that he was leagues above us in terms of power." Darcy commented casually and added. "Even combined." she shivered excitedly and gasped out. "Now, it is an indescribable sensation." the feeling of euphoria she got from his magic was simply wonderful.
"Yeah, and he made us more powerful." Stormy continued the barrage of points against leaving him, surprisingly. Just as impressed with his magic than Icy and Darcy. "I can still feel my magic getting more plentiful." it felt like she was a small boat on an endless ocean, filling with water and in danger of sinking. She put a hand on her stomach where the mark was located. If she lost it then she'd be weak again.
Just so keeping her anger in check, Icy forced out. "Are you finished?" seeing them stay silent Icy continued. "I know all of that. Now shut up and listen!" she commanded imperiously, shouting them into submission. "I simply meant we should give him a sufficient reason to help us." she also didn't want to leave Harry. The biggest reason was power, though he also saved them despite not having to. He didn't manipulate or lie to them to gain an upper hand, as far as Icy was aware.
"How are we gonna do that?" Today seemed to be a day of questions with no answers.
Nobody answered the question as the miniature sun that Harry had created flickered out, leaving them in total darkness once more. The problem was none of them possessed a spell to illuminate things.
Before they could complain something bizarre happened. The lake below them began to glimmer like a galaxy of colour, making the mostly still liquid look as though it contained all kinds of nebulas and star clusters. Looking up revealed luminescent spots twinkling merrily, imitating the very heavens themselves and being perfectly reflected by the waters below.
Not giving them pause crystal spikes the size of small towers erupted from the walls and floor in all directions, creating bedlam with the sound echoing through the massive chamber. A moment later the new protrusions began to glow eerily and softly. Though their light was paler than the moon's in an ailing eclipse, wavering and blowing like some noisome exhalation of decay. Theirs was a cold light, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing and yet something. Existing on another plane altogether, that just so touched and overlapped with their own.
"What is going on?" Icy exclaimed with wide eyes, stared upwards and abandoning their conversation as she flew towards it. Only vaguely able to make out the fortress from the lake's surface. Her sisters close behind.
Nearing the structure the trio saw better the closer they got. Transforming before their very eyes the fortress just finished changing its make-up to obsidian from limestone. Black walls replaced formerly colourless ones, polished and smooth as glass they were. Inside the obsidian a seemingly endless amount of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and more sparkled with imprisoned starlight as if burning with an inner fire, spending their humble light to their surroundings.
The fortress consisted of five massive stalactites that vaguely resembled fingers wanting to dip into the cool waters below. Surrounding them were many smaller ones. Flying to the biggest tower in the middle of the complex, the Trix saw even more of the wondrous transformation. Turning and twisting their heads to take it all in.
While the outer walls were made of obsidian, black marble dominated the walkways. A portico encircled the courtyard who gave way to the entrance of the castle. Connecting all the parts of the massive compound were slender bridges of stone without kerb or rail.
This was no longer a fortress, but a Citadel of Night.
The trio entered the building through the massive blood-red doors framed by gold. Inside the plain architecture of it was contrasted by a floor of bronze polished to a mirror finish, as well as veins of jade and beautiful lanterns of crystal that grew out of the walls and ceiling in random locations.
Neither of the Trix had ever seen such a dazzling display of wealth. The result of growing up without parents or any kind of caretaker.
Beginning from the luxurious corridor the Trix explored their old and now new home.
First they came upon the impressive and columned Entrance Hall that housed two black marble stairs mixed with jade twisting upwards along the walls in a double-helix pattern. The room itself took up the whole ground floor and was shaped like a cone, growing into a point at the top. That gave each floor the shape of an Annulus, each floor bigger than the last.
Growing out of the roof was what looked like roots, twisting and burrowing down along the walls' surface. On it were flowers that bloomed bright gold, shining with what seemed pure sunlight. As if the tree took the light from above and sent it down the roots. Though their light did not truly banish the shadows, but merely played with them.
The first floor was one big circular undercroft filled with yet to be filled wooden shelves.
One floor higher was an ice chamber. Which was just that; a special insulated room to keep ice. However, this one kept cool without the frozen liquid. The main purpose of such a thing was probably the storage of perishable foods. It could also be used to simply cool drinks, or allow ice cream and sorbet desserts to be prepared. Basically a gigantic walk-in refrigerator.
On the third floor laid the kitchen combined with the living room to not lose any heat coming from the fireplace. The crescent moon-shaped room possessed a high ceiling, but had a wooden floor that added a more homey feel to it. Wooden beams loosely separated the two areas. There were no Technomagical appliances to be found. Everything looked old-fashioned, possessing a certain rural charm. In an adjacent room from the kitchen was the larder, used to store foods before immediate use or things that didn't rot very fast.
The highest floor contained their personal bed chambers. These massive rooms were mostly empty with only a huge queen-sized canopy bed in each. Every single one also had a small personal bath, consisting of a mirror, sink, lavatory and a shower with a glass door and shower head, built and decorated in the usual style and colour scheme of the building. Each room also had a personal cupboard.
Finally they exited at the top. The door revealed a round courtyard where the bridges to the other towers were. No wind blew in the cavern, making it save to look down into the abyss without being pushed down. The three briefly admired the lake below as it shimmered and reflected all manner of colours.
Not seeing Harry anywhere, the Trix explored further. Going across the left of the two bridges and past one of the roaring waterfalls falling into the lake.
The next tower was solely devoted to guests, composed exclusively of bedrooms. Though, before that came a smaller tower, which was in truth more a mass of stalactites, connecting both giant stalactite towers per bridges. Inside the cluster was an opulent banqueting hall. And below that was an equally luxurious ballroom that was left completely exposed to the air, an intricate railing the only barrier preventing someone from falling to their death.
Going back they took the other bridge.
This one led to a tower where a huge ancient library was located in the two upper levels, emanating the smell of old parchment. Books were in rows upon rows of shelves. Neighbouring that was a lounge where a crackling hearth and comfortable couches were placed. There even was a wall entirely made of glass, enabling a magnificent view. From the walls hung elaborate crystal lanterns to spend light when reading. At the bottom of the tower was also a Potions laboratory, new equipment and all.
Coming last was the tower devoted to be the dungeon, from the looks of it. Even that was a bust.
"Where is he?" Icy snarled out violently, the discussion with her sisters forgotten.
"I think I see him." Stormy exclaimed, pointing down to the edge of the lake. One could just so see pillars being raised.
In an instant the witches were flying towards the point at high speeds. Once near enough the three saw a bathhouse being finished. Steam already rising out of circular calciform pools of varying sizes, all of it framed by pillars wreathed in vines of shining bronze and connected with beautiful arches. Complementing the ensemble were statues of magical creatures, each made of transluscent alabaster and decorated with iridescent pearls, used as fountains, spraying water into the pools. Colourful mosaics depicting all kinds of scenes covered each pool's whole floor.
"You're back. Did your conversation go well?" Harry asked as he saw them, just finished with the bathhouse. A tired, but content grin on his face.
Darcy shook her head, ponytail swishing with the motion. "Never mind that! Why did you feel the need to remodel the whole thing?"
"Oh, you noticed?" Harry replied cheekily, a laugh escaped him through his beard a moment later as he saw their faces. "I grew bored. There wasn't much to see before." Only gloom and doom. This way it was much more appealing.
"And you decided to change the fortress completely?" Icy demanded, incredulity clear in her voice to hear, which was dripping with desire.
"Well I mainly wanted to try out my new magical limits. Seeing that destructive spells are a bit dangerous in this environment I decided to build and transform instead!" Harry replied happily. He didn't feel tired magically. It was as if he had a constant supply of it at his beck and call. Though, he still felt the usual mental fatigue settle in. "I just need to do one more thing and then I'm finished."
Stormy inquired as casually as she could. "Did you discover a limit to your magic then?" a certain eagerness in her voice. Teal eyes gleaming with an emotion Harry couldn't identify.
"No, but I noticed that my body still can channel only so much of it." His reply came absent-mindedly, much too busy with carving out a walkway through the cave wall and upwards, building a railing on the side to face the lake. He also studded the walls of the tunnel with uncut crystals and made them glow, illuminating the path.
The Trix were silent as well, digesting the news that he basically had unlimited magic at his disposal. Though, the limits of the body were another matter altogether.
Soon the path carved into the wall came back up and another bridge connected to the courtyard located on the main building.
Harry went to bed shortly after, his body tired after such a day.
All three witches lay awake however, thoughts of all kinds swirling through their heads.