The Philosophy of Fear Chapter 15: Oneirophobia, a Harry Potter + Percy Jackson and the Olympians Crossover fanfic

Welcome back to another chapter of The Philosophy of Fear. In which we see a world across the sea going to hell and a single child's fight against all that has haunted him.

This chapter has been edited and a few things added.

On with the show.

Ronald Weasley, The Burrow, Lottery St Catchpole. July 25th 1996.

Ron was laying down on the couch in the living room, his feet up on the armrest doing something that Hermione would be shocked to see; Ron was reading. It was one of the books by a muggle author that Hermione had recommended, On War by Carl Von Clausewitz. The book focused on a lot of political aspects when it came to war, but the thing that Ron found interesting was Von Clausewitz's comments on something he called " The Fog of War" and how one would control and use it to one's advantage. She had also sent him a book written by a wizard from the colonies who fought in the Revolutionary War against the British monarchy. It was all about guerrilla warfare and hit and run tactics, it even had a few useful spells that he was itching to try out.

Hermione herself was in France with her parents at the moment, Ron wasn't sure if her Mum and Dad knew anything about what was happening in the magical world but he doubted they did. Hermione hadn't wanted her parents to flip out over the on-going war and pull her out of Hogwarts before leaving England altogether. She had to practically beg Tonks and McGonagall to deliver the news of her "accident at school" as something more toned down then it actually was. Hermione had framed it all as a spell gone wrong and got herself hurt enough to have to stay behind at the school for a few days. As far as Ron knew she was still on a small potion regiment to heal from the damage infected on her, though she had told him in her last letter that she was down to only one a day.

Ron sighs before he lets the book he was reading fall open on his chest as he turns to the fireplace. His Mum and Dad had been gone for the last two hours now, off at a meeting with the Order, they had told the last two of their children still living at home that they would be back in a few hours and Ron was now starting to worry a bit. But that wasn't new to him, for Ron has been worrying about one thing or another this whole summer; namely his best friend, Harry Potter.

He and Hermione had found out the day after about what had happened at Mag Turied. About Sirius and Atalanta, and even the single thought of the old prankster and the Hunter brought a stabbing pain to Ron's chest. He liked Sirius after they found out he wasn't trying to kill Harry and Ron had enjoyed Atalanta's company long before even that. With the exception of Percy, the prat, the entirety of the Weasley clan had gone to the old dogs funeral just a few weeks ago and Ron wasn't ashamed to admit he had cried. Not just for Sirius but for his best friend as well, for once again the world had conspired to bugger over Harry and succeeded.

Ron sighs once more before picking up the book off his chest, trying to distract himself from the depressing thoughts. But he's soon pulled away from his book by the sound of someone coming down the stairs toward the back of the house.

"Mum and Dad still not back?" Ginny asks as she enters the sitting room, not even stopping to snatch an apple from the fruit bowl on the table before sitting in one of the many chairs.

"Nope, probably a long meeting or something," Ron mutters as he dog ears his page and tosses the book on the table to his left before sitting up.

"Yeah," Ginny agrees, but her voice sounds hollow and distant as she turns to look at the fireplace, the worry and anxiety she felt painted across her face. "Have you heard from…" she says, trailing off before saying any name, but Ron knew who she was talking about.

"No, I'm gonna write to him again tomorrow for his birthday before sending it to teacher," Ron says as he stands and stretches. He had sent Harry three letters over the past few weeks, but each one had come back unopened and unanswered. Ron was sure it had to do with international Mail seeing that Harry was with the Hunt over in the colonies. Thankfully Scáthach had sent word via his mum to send the mail to her and she would see it sent to Harry.

"Yeah, I plan on doing that too," Ginny says with a sad look in her eyes. She cried as well at Sirius' funeral and wanted nothing more than to convey her sorrow for Harry's loss to him.

"Heard from Luna yet?" Ron asks before walking into the kitchen, intent on scrounging up something to eat.

"No," Ginny says with an aggravated sigh. "And honestly I'm starting to worry a bit, it's not weird for her and her dad to take off for a few weeks in the summer but- I don't know, this feels different. She's always answered my letters before," she admits with a sigh, tossing the apple in her hand up and down with a scowl on her face. Ron knew that Ginny had written Luna a number of letters over the last few weeks, trying to check in with her but the odd girl had answered none of them. Ron closes a cabinet door, his thumb scratching the underside of his chin in thought.

"If she doesn't answer back by midday tomorrow, we'll both walk down to the Rookery and check, yeah? They normally leave a note or something if they took off for a few weeks to go monster hunting and whatnot," Ron says before moving to the pantry with a frown on his face. While Luna was a friend of his through Ginny, Ron also knew that if anything happened to the odd girl Harry would go around the bend over it.

"Yeah, sounds good," Ginny answers absentmindedly as she continues to toss the apple up and down. "It's kinda weird with no one else here," she says, turning to look out one of the windows.

Ron snorts before shutting the pantry and shakes his head. " She's not wrong about that," he thinks to himself as he walks back over to Ginny. Bill, Charlie, the prat, and the twins had all moved out of the burrow, leaving only Ron and Ginny behind. It was odd, normally the summer was filled with yelling from Percy about the explosions coming from the twins room, chores being done by all of them while Mum cooked dinner. But now the house was quiet and empty, it was…a bit unnerving.

Ron reaches out and snatches the apple out of the air before giving Ginny a small grin in return for her glare. "Well, if you think it's quiet now, just think what's gonna happen when we move out, Gin," he says before taking a bite of the fruit.

"Prat," Ginny says, more amused than angry by the small grin on her face. "But you've got a point. Think mum is gonna suffer from an empty nest?" she asks with a smile as she tilts her head back.

" Aplbry oot," Ron says through a mouth full of fruit before swallowing. "Considering how much chaos we caused for-"

Booooooooooom!

"-her…" Ron says, trailing off at the distant sound of an explosion, his eyes narrowing at the window. It sounded not too far off, possibly from the small village square at the bottom of the hill that the burrow sat on. Even Ginny turns her head to look at the window, an uneasy look on her face.

"Maybe it was a firework?" She offers weakly as she turns back to look at him. Ron swiftly moves across the room and presses himself flat against the wall right next to one of the windows. Peeling the curtain back he peaks out into the dark of the night, scanning for any signs of a firework and hoping Ginny was right. But all he sees is curling smoke rising in the air as a pit begins to form in his stomach.

"Fuck," Ron cruses as he tosses the apple back to Ginny as he moves to the middle of the sitting room. "Don't go near the windows," he says with a pointed look at Ginny before moving the sitting room table to the side.

Boooooom!

Another explosion, close enough to shake the house, echoes across the farmland right outside the burrow. Ron throws back the carpet under the table to reveal a small trap door, he quickly opens it to a set of stairs and he quickly descends them. It was a small cellar that Mum used for storage of dried meats and family heirlooms, it was one of the most protected places in the house thanks to Bill. Ron moves toward the back of the dark room and shuffles around a few boxes thanking whatever God that was listening that his dad showed him this last year, just in case something like this happened. Buried under the boxes, in a small magically reenforced safe was the burrow's wardstone, something Bill had bought and enchanted himself the day after the Triwizard championship was over.

It was a large pointed sapphire with bands of silver and platinum wrapped around it. It had cost Bill nearly all his savings to get it, at the time Ron had thought Bill mad to spend that much money on something like this; but now he was glad his older brother loved them enough to do it.

Ron pulled out his wand, tapping the bands of platinum and silver, muttering the activation spell under his breath. There was a crack of power before the sapphire hummed with magic that sunk deep into the house. Ron quickly shuts the safe before tapping it three times with his wand, but he doesn't let himself feel relief. In theory, the wards now protecting the house could withstand damn near anything trying to break them while also alerting Bill, Dad, and Mum that they were activated. While the wards should keep out anyone breaking in, and Ron trusted his older much smarter older brother's work, he didn't know if it could stop the Formorians.

" Aaaahhhhh!" Ginny's scream snaps Ron back to the here and now, he turns and starts running back to the stairs but before he could make it even halfway up, the trap door slams shut.

"Nooo!" Ron yells as he scrambles up the last few steps and slams against it. "Gin! Ginny! Open the door! Quick!" He calls out as he slams against the best he can.

" There you are, Ginny," a soft voice says beyond the door. " I've been looking for you. My pretty, poor, pathetic Ginerva," the voice says with a slight hiss and a cruel enjoyment.

"N-no, you- you can't be-" Ginny says, her voice shaking in fear at whoever was with her.

" Oh, can't I be?" The voice says snidely. " Did you think I was dead after that stupid boy stabbed our diary? Oh no, I've always been here, in your head, biding my time and that time is now," the voice says before laughing softly at her. Ron could hear Ginny sobbing now, the slow creeks of the floorboards were like Bombarda's to Ron as he had to listen to his little sister back away in fear. " I'm here to take you back to the Chamber, Ginny. To finish what I started, for me to take you over completely," the voice says and it clicks into place in Ron's head.

"Ginny! It's not him! It's a fake!" Ron screams once more as he continues to slam against the trap door. "It's using your fear! You have to fight back! Don't give in damn it!" He yells but Ginny continues to sob. "Oh, sod it," Ron growls as he hops off the ladder and levels his wand at the trap door. " Bombarda!" he roars before the trap door explodes outward before with a quick slash of his wand he repairs the stairs and takes them three at a time.

Ron reenters the sitting room just as a pale skin and dark hair boy in Hogwarts robes looks up at him from covering his face from the explosion.

"Get the fuck away from my little sister!" Ron roars before sending a wide cutting curse at the boy. The boy bends his body back in an impossible angle to dodge Ron's curse, so much so that Ron can hear the bones in his back snapping as the boy does it. The boy begins to crawl backwards on his hands and feet, screeching inhumanly as it does before crawling onto the wall and swiftly moving to the ceiling. It was honestly one of the top ten weirdest things Ron has seen while hanging out with Harry, so he's able to keep his calm as he spins his wand in a flourish. The scattered remains of the trap door jump to his command, twisting themselves into sharp daggers before flying at the creature.

The Formorian arm whips out knocking the immediate dangers to the side as a two land home in its chest, but the creature ignores them before leaping at Ron from above. Ron leaps away from it, rolling across one of the chairs before banishing it at the monster. There's a crack and a screech but Ron ignores it as he jumps to his feet and takes a running leap over the couch. Ginny was sitting huddled on the floor with hands covering her face as she shakes with fear.

"Gin! Gin! You have to get up, we've got to-" Ron tries to say to his sister, trying to get her to her feet so they can run. But he's cut off as the monster slams into him and sends him sprawling into the kitchen, his wand flying from his hand.

"She's not going anywhere with you, child," the monster says with a hiss as Ron looks back at it only to see its broken arm snap back into place. "The only place where she's going is back to the Chamber, where I'm going to finish what I started and take her body," it growls inhumanly as it marches on Ron.

Ron groans and for once he wishes he had the Sword of Peleus in hand so he could ignore the pain with the Hunt. He's soon yanked to his feet by the monster wearing a false face with a false smile.

"But first, I'm going to make her watch as I kill and eat you," it says as the jaw of the boy pops and detaches, the corner of its lips splitting in a torrent of blood across its cheeks only to reveal rows of shark teeth. But Ron soon gets his feet under him and grabs the collar of the boy's robes. Ron smiles as he shows the monster that one doesn't grow up with five older brothers without picking up a thing or two about brawling. The monster's lower jaw meets its upper in a crash of breaking and shattering teeth as Ron uppercuts it. As the monster rails back in pain, Ron pulls it back by its robes and smashes his fist into its nose before letting go as it stumbles back. Ron uses the island in the middle of the kitchen and the wall to both brace himself and lift his full weight to put it behind a kick to the creature's ribs. Sending the monster flying back and into the back of the couch before Ron sets himself down again. He doesn't waste time and immediately dives for his wand, looking to end the fight quickly.

The couch slams into the kitchen wall as Ron scrambles for his wand. "I'm going to eat your fucking guts as you scream, human!" The monster roars as it stands back up.

" Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Ron screams in his head as his hand finally finds his wand and he begins to stand back up. He made it as far as his knees before another voice spoke.

"You won't touch him," Ginny says, soft, vicious, and merciless as Ron peaks over the island to see the monster turn to look at Ginny in shock. She had such a look of pure fury that all Ron saw in her face was his mother and with a look like that, Ron did the only thing he could, he ducked.

There were no words spoken, but the sound of spell fire ripping through the air and the shrieking of the monster over it. Ron doesn't have to see to hear the bones breaking, the skin ripping and peeling, organs bursting, with the smell of muscles and blood boiling inside the monster's body. After a moment of quiet with only Ginny's huffing filling the air does Ron poke his head up, his eyes scanning the room to find Ginny standing with her wand out and her hand shaking as the monster was in a heap by the front door.

Ron swallows the lump in his throat before leaping across the island. "Gin?" He says softly to his sister who was still shaking from head to toe, tears streaming down her eyes. "Ginny, you did it. You got him," he says as he approaches her slowly before gently grasping her wrist and lowering her wand. "You finally got him," he says as he pulls his distraught sister into a hug. "You finally got him," he repeats just as Ginny collapses in his arms, sobbing as she does.

Ron holds her as she weeps, remembering the summer after his second year when Ginny would wake up screaming from nightmares of half remembered memories. Ron sighs as he hugs his little sister closer, pride in her blooming in his chest. She had faced her fear and overcame it in a storm of violent magic.

"Come on, Gin. We've got to go," he says softly as he pulls her up when he stands, only to stop at a disgusting sound of sloughing meat. Ron turns to see the Formorian standing back up slowly, chunks of its flesh sliding off its body to show the twisted form underneath its fake skin. Pale and clammy, like a drowned and waterlogged body with unnaturally long limbs and blades fingers jutting out of its hands. It moved as if it was in great pain and near death, it turned to look at Ron with a flat featureless face and elongated jaw filled with broken teeth. "Just fuck off mate," Ron says as he rises his wand one last time.

But with the spell on his lips and the unearthly screech of the monster filling the burrow. The lights in the house go out as the creature charges, and from that darkness and shadow, someone steps from it in front of Ron. His eyes widen at the form in the darkness as it raises a crimson spear.

"Stay away from my students, monster," the voice of Scáthach rings out in the burrow with disgust and rage coloring her voice. The creature dies with a scream as the Gaé Bolg punches right through its heart in the middle of its charge.

"Teacher!"

"Professor!"

The siblings call out in tandem as Scáthach flings the corpse of the monster off of her spear before it is reduced to seafoam and muck. Scáthach, dressed for battle, turns to them with a proud look upon her face.

"Ronald, Ginerva, I'm glad to see you two safe," The Witch-Queen says, her proud smile never faltering.

Ron lets out a sigh of relief. "You know I had that, right?" He says with a smile, his arm still wrapped around his little sister.

"Without a single doubt in my mind, but I would be a poor teacher if I didn't defend my students in some way," Scáthach informs them, her smile shifting to more of a smirk. "But now is not the time to dole out house points, Ronald. Molly asked me to come here herself and see you both back to headquarters with haste," she informs the two siblings as her smile falls completely.

"What about the village? It's under attack!" Ron tells Scáthach quickly.

"And the Aurors are on their way as we speak, not to mention-" Scáthach begins to calmly explain to them before the night beyond the windows light up with flashes and the booming sound of thunder. But Ron hears something deeper in the thunderbolts that fall to the earth, the sound of a hunting horn and the baying and barking of hounds. "-Cernunnos has taken a particular interest in the hunting of death eaters and Formorians as of late," the Witch-Queen says, turning to look out the windows as the summer storm begins to brew outside.

"But that is neither here nor there for you two, I'll be sending you to the Orders Headquarters before heading out to battle myself," Scáthach informs them before raising her hand to send them off.

"Wait! Luna lives close by, she hasn't been answering my letters. I need to go check to see if she's-" Ginny begins to babble and struggle out of Ron's grasp to rush off to her friend in a panic.

" Ginerva," Scáthach says in her teacher's tone of voice when she was commanding a class, stopping Ginny dead. " You are going nowhere but to your very worried mother," she says with an unflinching stare at Ginny. " I will go check on Miss Lovegood myself after I deal with the attack on the village- one that I believe Octriallach is behind, which makes it far more dangerous for mortals to handle themselves. Besides I haven't been pestered by that damn cat in weeks, which is…" Scáthach says, her lips thinning as she trails off, not wanting to voice her own concerns.

The Witch-Queen lets out a sigh before speaking again. "You two are leaving, now," she says in a tone that brokered no argument from either of them, leaving Ginny to deflate and Ron to nod.

"Yes, teacher," Ron says quietly as Scáthach raises her hand before gracing them both with a smile.

"You've both fought well this night, I am proud of you both," Scáthach tells them both with a gleam in her red eyes that spoke nothing but pride, causing both Ron and Ginny to blush at her praise before with a wave of her hand, their swallowed by darkness and sent to Grimmauld Place to the waiting arms of their mother.

Harry Potter, a waking nightmare.

The stench was overpowering, rancid, and decaying. Rotten flesh drenched in brine filled the room so thick he couldn't smell anything else. His stomach heaves and turns as the miasma waters his eyes. He quickly pushes himself up off of the floor to his hands and knees before ripping his helmet off and vomiting into the pool of blood below him.

Harry freezes as he looks into the ripples of the blood, distorting his own face like a fun house mirror. He knew this blood, he knew this fear crawling up his back like an icy serpent, but what he didn't know nor could he understand was why he was back. He raises his head, his eyes wide and fearful as he reaches back to the tap in his mind and tries to twist it open; only to find it stuck fast. Panic begins to seep into his mind as he looks around the hall of Mag Turied, the Formorians had already risen and unlike last time, they were all looking at him with hungry eyes.

His arms begin to shake as he hears Indech speak once more. " Balor, kill that… thing," the forever blind orders as the largest Formorian turns to Harry with balefire in his single eye. He feels his nerves catch fire, his blood boil, his muscles cook, and his bones melt before another voice speaks.

"No," it was a tone of cold command that caused all the Formorians to turn to it as the shadowy form of the monster steps into focus. "The boy is mine to kill," he says with a gruesome smile as he steps forward, walking with his head held high. Indech merely laughs as he steps to the side, an action that is followed by all the other monsters in the room. The monster looms over Harry, larger and more frightening than even humanity's greatest collected fears. He raises his wand to aim it right between Harry's eyes, a cruel smile pressed into his cold face.

"I had asked you before, Potter. Of who else I would get to take from you," he says softly as bodies begin to break through the surface of the pool of blood. Ron, Hermione, Luna, misses and Mr Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny, Theodore, McGonagall, Dumbledore, and other faces he knew. They kept coming and coming in a non-stop torrent of bodies he never wanted to see with empty and glassy eyes.

"And the best part, it wasn't even my hand that took them," the monster whispers softly, his smile turning as sharp and as barbed as Harry's spear. "Now was it, Potter?" He asks, causing Harry to look around at the bodies, each and every single one having a perfectly shaped hole right where their hearts used to be.

"No, no, no, no nononononono!" Harry chants to himself as he looks away from them and their empty eyes. Just to stare back into the blood to see his own reflection looking back at him, his eyes fully consumed by the Hunt.

"Time to put this mad dog down," the monster says above him. Harry looks back at the monster just in time to see the poisonous green light of the killing curse slam into him. He falls backwards into the blood, sinking into it as the spectral hands of gods long dead reach out for him. Grabbing and clawing, whispering and yelling, pleading, begging, demanding from him.

His fault, his fault, his fault! They screech into his ears. A magician did this to us! You did this to us! Your fault, your fault, your fault! Harry tries to push the hands away but they're slick with ash and rendered fat, Harry tries to yell at them to stop, that it wasn't his fault, that it was Inkarri's but all he does is choke on ash and fat as he tries to scream. A hand breaches the surface of the divine sludge, wrapping its ice cold touch around Harry's wrist and yanks him back to the surface.

"There you are, my Harry," Didi says, her { Fathomless Black Eyes} burning into his soul as she pulls him into her embrace. "You're finally here and all mine, all mine for the rest of forever," she whispers into his ear as Harry could feel her freezing blood pouring from a skinless back and across his face.

" No!" Harry screams in defiance before shoving her way, landing on his hands and knees once more.

Harry freezes as he looks into the ripples of the blood, distorting his own face like a fun house mirror. He knew this blood, he knew this fear crawling up his back like an icy serpent, but what he didn't know nor could he understand was why he was back. He raises his head, his eyes wide and fearful as he reaches back to the tap in his mind and tries to twist it open; only to find it stuck fast. Panic begins to seep into his mind as he looks around the hall of Mag Turied, the Formorians had already risen and unlike last time, they were all looking at him with hungry eyes.

His arms begin to shake as he hears Indech speak once more. " Balor, kill that… thing ," the forever blind orders as the largest Formorian turns to Harry with balefire in his single eye. He feels his nerves catch fire, his blood boil, his muscles cook, and his bones melt before another voice speaks.

"No, no, no, no nononononono!" Harry chants to himself as he looks away from them and their empty eyes. Just to stare back into the blood to see his own reflection looking back at him, his eyes fully consumed by the Hunt.

His fault, his fault, his fault! They screech into his ears. A magician did this to us! You did this to us! Your fault, your fault, your fault! Harry tries to push the hands away but they're slick with ash and rendered fat, Harry tries to yell at them to stop, that it wasn't his fault, that it was Inkarri's but all he does is choke on ash and fat as he tries to scream. A hand breaches the surface of the divine sludge, wrapping its ice cold touch around Harry's wrist and yanks him back to the surface.

"There you are, my Harry," Didi says, her { Fathomless Black Eyes} burning into his soul as she pulls him into her embrace. "You're finally here and all mine, all mine for the rest of forever," she whispers into his ear as Harry could feel her freezing blood pouring from a skinless back and across his face.

" No!" Harry screams in defiance before shoving her way, landing on his hands and knees once more.

" Why!?" Harry thinks to himself as the monsters gather around him once more, Indech speaking, the pain from Balor, the whispers of the monster, the blood, the bodies. They all kept repeating on a loop, Harry just wants it to end, to cease, he didn't want to see these things, he didn't want to feel them. He tries to slam the door in his mind, but all it does is echo around him, he tries again and again but the monsters still loom over him, he is still going to die.

It repeats again and again, the Formorians, the monsters, the ghosts of Paititi, and Didi, over and over again. Harry tries to shut them away, to seal off the memories but no door could hold them and he couldn't force them away.

He didn't need to see this, he didn't want to see this.

" But you are,"

He was fine, he was fine, he's fine, he's fine hesfinehesfinehesfinehesfinehesfinehesfine.

"No, you're not Harry. Even a fourteen year old girl could see that,"

The monsters reach for him once more, Didi's eyes looking at him in mad glee, the claws of dead gods rip into him wanting nothing more than an end he couldn't give them.

Finally something in him snaps.

" STOOOOOOOOOP! " Harry screams, loud and clear, announcing his intent that echoes throughout the house. "Just- just stop, please," he says, begging really. He didn't want to do this anymore and as he opened his eyes that he had slammed shut as he screamed, he saw the monsters frozen in time.

"What do you want from me!?" Harry growls out half in anger and half in despair as he slumps his shoulders and sits on his feet, waiting for the monsters to start moving again.

" I want you to face it,"

"Face what!?" Harry roars into the nothing beyond the horrors in front of him.

"Your fear," a soft voice says, causing Harry to turn and look behind him. Sitting on a low wall of the ruins of Mag Turied was Melinoë, one leg drawn up to her chest as her cheek rested on it, the other dangling off the wall. She was watching him with those haunting eyes, a sad look dancing in them as she smiled sadly at him. "Your nightmares and your ghosts as well. I need you to face them for you," she admits before dropping off the wall and walking through the gathered monsters to stand before him.

"Why?" Harry asks softly, looking up at the princess of ghosts. "I don't need to face anything, I'm fine," he growls at her before standing on shaky legs.

"Are you?" Melinoë asks, her brow raising in question as a sad smirk appears on her face. "Because from where I'm standing you're not fine, Hades, you're even okay. You just wish you were," she tells Harry in a soft tone.

"I. Am. Fine," Harry growls as he steps forward threateningly, his hands balled into fists.

Melinoë frowns but nods her head. "Sure, yup, you're fine, sure. Then you don't mind me asking, just want that is?" she asks as she does a half turn and nodding her head toward the far side wall. Harry looks past the Princess of Ghosts, toward where she nodded at and freezes once more. Laying on the ground curled up into a ball by the destroyed walls was a child who looked no older than six or seven, but even from where Harry was standing he could see not all was right with the boy. The child was skinny, far too skinny, Harry could easily see the boy's cheekbones and wrists, he looked ragged and unwashed with a layer of dirt caking over his pale flesh from spending his days in the dark. The small boy was wearing clothes that he seemed to drown in and a large black leather jacket wrapped around him protectively.

A deep hatred and disgust twisted in Harry's stomach as he realized what it was mere moments after he laid eyes on the small huddled body of the boy. He grinds his teeth before looking away from the boy, he didn't need to see it, he didn't need to know it was here.

"Make it go away," Harry says harshly, snapping at Melinoë as he turns to look at her. " Now!" Harry demands.

"But I thought you were fine?" Melinoë asks a small smirk snaking its way onto her face. "Surely one tiny, underfed child isn't enough to make you-" Melinoë teases Harry in the cruelest way, causing the boy to snap once more.

" Now! " Harry roars in her smirking face, which only becomes sharper after Harry's outburst.

"No Hunt to hide behind here, Harry. Just you and your feelings, your nightmares, your terror, and your ghosts," Melinoë says watching as Harry's eyes keep flicking back and forth between her and the small boy laying unmoving on the ground. "But how about this," she starts, her smile turning more sly as she speaks. "If you face this nightmare, if you stop running from it and work through it, I'll make that-" she nods her head over to the boy laying on the ground. "-stays nice and locked up. How about it?" Melinoë offers with a smile, watching Harry flitch at the words "locked up". Harry continues to grind his teeth before nodding sharply.

"Fine, just- just make it go away," he says quickly as he locks eyes with Melinoë. The ghost girl smirk turns into a huge playful grin before turning back to the small boy. Harry slowly looks over and much to his surprise, he feels relief that the child is gone. Harry sighs before turning back to Melinoë, she was currently inspecting one of the Formorians with a frown on her lips. "Where the fuck are we anyway? Why are you doing this? Why-why did you stop me?" Harry asks.

Melinoë hums a bit before answering. "The answer to the first question is kinda complicated," She admits before moving away from the twisted flesh of the stitched together human shaped Formorians. "Technically, where we are now is in your mind, where your fear is set deep causing this-" she waves her hand around the ruins of Mag Turied as she moves to the multi-eyed form of Cathlenn. "-but we are physically in the underworld; my cave to be exact. Best place to do this kind of thing," she says, turning to Harry with a grin full of mischief and want.

"And what the hell is this!?" Harry asks angrily, waving a hand towards the Formorians and Voldemort.

" This-" her hand gestures around the ruins in a way to mock what Harry had just then with a smirk. "-is your nightmare, so I guess it's better to ask yourself what it is," she says airly as she turns from Cathlenn to walk over to the towering form of Balor, letting out a low whistle at the sight of the monster. Melinoë finally turns back to Harry, her smile curling up as her dark eyes sparkle. "As for why I'm doing this, well that's pretty simple. I'm hungry," she tells him, her grin turning dark in the shadows of Mag Turied. It felt like a stone fell into Harry's stomach at Melinoë's smile. Her words rang alarm bells in his head as Harry grinds his teeth, she was like the Formorians, she had all but admitted that to him.

"Oh? Well isn't that a scary face," Melinoë tells Harry as his face contorts into a look of rage and hunger, but all it does is make her giggle. "You look so fearsome right now, if I was a monster I think I'd be crapping my pants at that look," she admits with a sharp smile.

"You are a monster, just like the Formorians- just like him," Harry tells her with a growl as he bends his knees on near instinct.

Melinoë's smile drops as she looks taken aback at Harry's words. "Rude," she snaps at him with a frown. "I'm not standing here calling you a monster for all the things you've done, or any other offensive thing I could think of," she tells Harry as she crosses her arms over her chest. Her eyes travel over the frozen forms of the creatures surrounding her, narrowing as they look from monstrous form to monstrous form.

"So, these are the Formorians, huh?" Melinoë says, her words a soft breath from her lips before she clicks her tongue against her teeth before putting her hands on her hips. "I've heard of them before but I've never seen them, they were long gone by the time the flame moved and I was still locked in my cave when the underworld was dragged along with it," she says, sounding almost angry at the monsters lined up before her.

She turns back to Harry with a frown on her face but an inquisitive look in her black eyes. "How am I like them?" She asks, sounding more intrigued than mad as she speaks.

"Fear," Harry says, his jaw still locked in rage. "You feed off fear," he points out and Melinoë blinks in surprise.

"You're a sharp one, aren't you?" She says with a shake of her head. "But you're missing the mark somewhat, I don't feed off fear, I feed on it," she says with a sigh as she walks slowly over to Harry. "It's a small distinction but a very important one in context. Feeding off fear is the need to subsume off a continuous flow of fear, feeding on fear is, well…" she grows a bit as if she was having a hard time finding the right words to use. "What I do is very different, I consume the emotional discord brought on by tragic and traumatic events, but I only do it once," she informs Harry as she stops before him.

"Why only once?" Harry asks, not trusting the goddess' shorthand explanation.

"Because once is all you'll need," she says vaguely with a small smile. "It took me a very long time to figure that out. To have all this want and power and absolutely no guidance on how to use it to…" she trails off, looking away from Harry before shaking her head as if the explanation didn't matter in the end.

"So you stop me from -from…" Harry says, unable to finish the sentence.

"From killing yourself?" Melinoë supply's with a small smile.

"Is so you can feed off of me?" Harry says, ignoring what the ghost said.

Melinoë's smile falls. "Harry, I stopped you because killing yourself is never the answer. Suicide doesn't remove the pain you feel, it just passes it on to others, the people who love you," she says with a sad tone of voice.

Harry flitches at her words and the sad truth they contained. "But if I was- if i'd never been…" he says looking down at his feet as familiar faces and names flash through his mind, causing him to let out a shuddering sigh.

"What if's, maybes, and could be's are very foolish things to think about Harry, but we'll burn those bridges when we get to them. For right now, right here, let's focus on your nightmares, something I can help with," Melinoë says with a wide smile and a gesture toward Mag Turied. "Why here? Why these things? Walk me through it will you?" She asks as she walks behind Harry. Harry's eyes shut as his face twists in anguish before he opens his eyes once more to face the monsters and memories that have been plaguing him for weeks.

"Fine, let's get this over with," Harry says as his shoulders drop and the nightmare begins anew.

Delphini Lestrange, Grimmauld Place, July 27th, 8 PM.

Delphini was in the last place she thinks she should be, in Harry's bedroom. She was snuggled up with a recovering Luna, a stuffed lion and her Poppet of Harry with a black and white cat dozing lightly at the foot of the bed. Depression, helplessness, and powerlessness felt heavy in her bones as she squeezed the younger blonde closer to her like a lifeline. The last few days had been a scramble for the Aurors, the Order, and the Dé Danann there had been eight simultaneous attacks across both the magical and muggle half of the islands. Sinkholes and plagues, ravenous beasts and terrifying storms, madness and missing persons, along with random attacks from seemingly the most random people in the heart of muggle London and the Ministry of Magic.

The Aurors had their work cut out for them as they tried to stand against the tide of darkness threatening to overtake them all. The crimson cloaks clashed with black cloaks and silver masks as they spread death and fear almost unchecked. The death eaters attack in tandem with the monsters they herald with frightening cohesion only to cut and run at the last minute, scattering to the winds and spreading paranoia and distrust among the people of the island.

The Order had their hands full trying to protect people against a threat that could appear from seemingly nowhere and at any time. Wizengamot members that the Order knew were good and righteous people doubled down on war quality wards. They helped muggleborns and their families either go into hiding or escape the Island in the attempt to save their lives. Bill Weasley was working his fingers to the bone trying to create a new kind of ward that would keep the creature of fear at bay, to no avail at the moment.

The Dé Danann were simultaneously doing everything they could and nothing at all. A few of the Dé Danann, Lugh, Scáthach, Ogam, and some other one named Cernunnos would meet the battlefield feet first with divine weapons at the ready to help with the fight. While others seemingly did nothing at all, pulling themselves back and standing at the side waiting, namely, The Morrígan. She sat on the ancestral seat of the House Peverell tapping her fingers as she waited for the vote on the summer solstice to happen. She was waiting to be handed the reins of the magical government and seemed quite content on watching her islands be sundered by the hands of Voldemort, Delphini's own father.

That's not even mentioning that the one person she wanted to see the most, the one person she yearned to speak too, was the same person that everyone believed could stop it. But he had vanished without a trace the night that both Atalanta and Sirius had died, the same night Voldemort became something even more monstrous than he already was.

To Delphini, it had felt as if when Harry had vanished he had taken all the hope with him.

She wanted to rage at him, she wanted to scream at him, to slap him, to kiss him, to be held by him and to fuck him until they were both emotionally spent and exhausted. But she couldn't because he wasn't here.

Delphini pushes her face into Luna's sleeping back, her golden curls wrapping around her face as she fights off the need- the want to sob. But Delphini learned long ago that crying would only make things worse; so she holds it in as she clings onto Luna for dear life. The younger girl had come to Grimmauld Place not even two hours after Ron and Ginny had shown up just outside the townhouse. But while Ron and Ginny were pulled into the protected arms of their mother and father, Luna had shown up carried in the arms of Scáthach as she kicked open the front door screaming for Snape.

Luna arrived near rail thin and filthy, cuts and slashes crawling up her arms as she fought to keep her eyes open as she was mumbling a song. It took Scáthach, Snape, and Madam Pomfry to stabilize her and heal most of the superficial damage done to her. The biggest fear at the moment for Luna was her mind, she had woken up only once in the last few days; It wasn't…pretty. Luna screamed as soon as her eyes opened, trying to claw them out, crying about a door that wasn't there. They had to put her back under, to allow her mind to recover from the shock and trauma from whatever happened to her. The most terrifying thing to Delphini about the whole event was Luna's eyes, her irises were cracked and broken sending fractal patterns throughout them as she screamed and cried.

Delphini had moved Luna into Harry's room in a hutch from one of the guest rooms. For the younger witch wasn't resting easy, always tossing and turning, sobbing and muttering the same song in her sleep. But as soon as Delphini had tucked Luna into Harry's bed, her fitful rest seemed to all but die as the younger witch let out a soft sigh of relief as, even in her dreams, she knew she was safe. While Delphini had sequestered herself away in the room to escape the lingering eyes of distrust that had pointed at her since she had arrived, with only the headmaster smiling cheerfully at her when he was here.

So, it came to Delphini's very clear surprise when the door to Harry's room opened without a knock.

She had sprung up, wand in hand and aimed at the door as she adjusted herself to shield Luna as well. A curse was half way off her tongue before her mind caught up with what was going on and just who had opened the door.

Black eyes twinkle and a roguish smile splitting her face with her hands raised in mock surrender was none other than Brigid. Gone was her hat and jacket and wearing a loose fitting white blouse and a pair of leather pants that should honestly be illegal with how well it hugged her hips and thighs.

"Well, ello, ello, luv," Brigid says, her smile turning sharper as her eyes drift over Luna's form. "Long time no see. Ah- do ya mind doing me a solid and…" she says, drifting off as she motions toward Delphini's extended wand. Delphini looks at Brigid in bafflement, not understanding why one of the Dé Danann outside of Scáthach was doing at Headquarters. But slowly she does lower her wand away from the goddess as her eyes narrow at Brigid.

"What- what are you doing here?" Delphini finally asks with a pinched look on her face.

"Oh, you know. I was kicking about the neighborhood and thought I'd swing by to see if anyone wanted to nip out to the pub for a pint," Brigid says with a lackadaisical grin as she lowers her hands and taking strides into the room, stopping only once to boop Luna's cat on the nose, to which said feline looked scandalized by the touch. But she makes her way to Luna's side of the bed before taking a seat on the edge of the bed, looking at Luna with a regretful look.

Delphini is quiet for a moment as she watches Brigid brush a lock of golden hair from Luna's face with a look of deep pain in the goddess' dark eyes.

"We think she was attacked by a Formorian," Delphini admits in a whisper as she pulls her knees up to her chest. "Her father is missing as well, they're- well, they don't think he made it out the other end of whatever happened to him," she says with a frown.

"There's no thinking about it, lass," Brigid says with a frown as she reaches for the hip flask. "This has Lomm's stink all over it. It always had a taste for the touched and unsound of mind, the fuckin cunt," she says shaking her head as she unscrewed the cap on her flask. She dips a finger into it before bringing the raw rum soaked finger to Luna's forehead and draws a cross on it and much to Delphini's bafflement, Brigid begins to pray.

(Oh, Brigid, Mary of the Gael,

May your protection never fail.

Spread your mantle over me,

where 'ere I am, where 'ere I be.

Cover me with God's joy and peace,

let my faith and hope never cease.

Shine your light where there is darkness,

strengthen me in any weakness.

Heal all within that may be ill,

give me the desire each day to do God's will.

'Till I rest, my journey o'er,

with you and God forever more.)

The smell of raw rum was soon replaced with Frankincense and myrrh as a flash of fire from a hearth cast itself over Luna. The flames sink into her overly pale complexion and return it to a rosy look that Delphini had normally seen on the odd girl's face along with her dreamy smile.

"What did you do?" Delphini asks Brigid in a whisper of disbelief, for it looked as if life had returned to Luna.

"I blessed her," Brigid says with a small sad grin before screwing the cap back on her flask.

"But- that was the muggle faith, right?" Delphini pointed out as Brigid turned to her, pausing for just a moment after she had opened her mouth to say something before quickly closing it and chuckling.

"You have the same look that Harry did when I told him about that," Brigid says while shaking her head. "I was- and still am, a patron saint of Ireland in the Catholic church, lass. Some of those whispers, of those rights, I carry within me so I may spread healin and protection in the name of the church and our Lord above," she says with a smile that spoke of knowing just how insane that would sound to anyone who knew what she was. "It was also a smart idea to move her in here, let alone this house," the goddess says before standing back up and replacing her hip flask.

"And why is that?" Delphini says as she tucks the Lion plushy into Luna's arms before looking at Brigid.

"Well, this house is sitting as a foreign temple in our lands, one my Ma has seen fit to let stay. Sirius Black, whether he knew it or not, had set up a sanctuary here in the name of a very old and very powerful goddess. One who has seen fit to invest some of her own power in this house to make any and all who wish harm to whoever is inside to think twice about trying anything," Brigid explains as she moves toward the desk in the room to move the rolling chair over to Delphini's side of the bed before sitting in it. "And that's not even mentioning this room in particular, it carries a scent that any Formorian with enough survival instincts would run from," she says as she pulls off her boots and kicks her feet up onto the bed.

"Because of Harry, but why?" Delphini asks as she looks at the ridiculous sight of Brigid's neon pink socks.

"Oh, lass. The Formorians are terrified of our little hunter. They call him the living legacy of Tethra, which is one of the most metal things I've heard anyone call anyone else," Brigid says with a smirk as she leans back in the chair with a smirk, but seeing the confusion on Delphini's face, she rolls her eyes. "Tethra was a Formorian from a long time ago, and arguably the most powerful of them since he embodied the fear of the end," she explains with a lazy wave of her hand.

"The end? The end of what?" Delphini asks, curious and confused all at once.

"The end of you, the end of me, the end of nothing or of light, the end of everything. Death in a not so poetic sense," Brigid explains and watches as a look of understanding washes over Delphini's face.

"And Harry is that to them?" Delphini asks and watches Brigid nod her head.

"Harry is the child of a goddess whose main domain is hunting, in specific, the hunting of monsters," She tells Delphini, who nods in understanding.

"And the Formorians are nothing but monsters, aren't they?" Delphini asks for clarification as Brigid smirks at her.

"A wee bit more complicated than just monsters but yes- that is what they essentially are. Harry is the embodiment of the end of that hunt, the killing of monsters and to the Formorians; the end of their feast," the goddess explains while crossing one foot over the other.

"And that scares the piss out of them," Delphini says, nodding her head in understanding as Brigid winks at her with a grin. "But Harry isn't here to help if you haven't realized, sooner or later they're going to realize that and attack. So what the bloody fuck are the Celtic Gods doing other then sitting back and watching this horror show unfold," Delphini asks, scowling at the divine being in the room. Brigid's face had gone flat, her eyes almost narrowing into a glare.

"It's not that simple, lass," Brigid tells her in a soft voice.

"Why the hell isn't it!?" Delphini snaps at the goddess with her own glare and her own anger. "And don't even feed me that utter tripe that god's works in mysterious ways either. People are suffering and dying, Luna was attacked in her own home! And as far as I know, other than a small handful of you, you've done nothing to help," she accuses Brigid, tears threatening to fall. Delphini had risked everything to try and help, to see Harry, to do something! But it felt as if it was all for nothing.

Brigid's face morphs and twists like haze and smoke, as she was unsure what form to take and what to feel at Delphini's words, soon the Loa sighs before rubbing her eyes as her face comes into focus.

"It's not that simple, child. Fighting the Formorians never is," Brigid says before looking back at Delphini with sad and understanding eyes. "It's an uphill battle even at the best of times. If the others didn't spend all that time locked away, if we had just a few more demigods; this fight would be a bit more easy. But we don't, we have only two and neither of them are on the islands right now," she says as she pulls out her hip flask once more but this time she takes a long pull from it.

"At this time it's taking everything we have just to stop the mortals from pissin in the wind and keeping our plans from the enemy. And let me tell you, it's not as easy as any other fight," Brigid says before clicking her tongue against her teeth in aggravation. "Cathlenn, one of the Formorians, has the most aggravating ability of just bloody knowing things she shouldn't. She has better sight than me Ma and has an understanding that rivals Ence, she knows what we're going to do next before we even do. It's like playing poker with your cards revealed when we're against her," she finishes explaining as she takes another pill from her flask.

"The only one of us that Cathlenn won't fight or spy on is Ence, and it's one the reason why I came here tonight with him," Brigid tells her before letting out a deep breath from her rant. "I know it's hard- hard to keep faith in these dark times and keep that flame of hope lit, but believe me girly when I say we are trying," she says with gritted teeth.

"Then why are you here, Brigid?" Delphini asks, wrapping her arms around her knees and looking away from the goddess.

Brigid doesn't say anything for a moment before letting another deep breath. "Champions, Ma wants most of us to pick out champions," she admits before leaning forward in the chair, taking her feet off the bed as she does. "Normally, we would pick them out of our Demigod children. But as I said, we're a bit short on them at the moment, so we have to make do with what we've got," she tells Delphini.

Delphini turns her head to glance at the goddess. "What do you mean by champions?" She asks with a frown.

"Champions, back in the past, were mortals hand picked by a god to invest a small portion of our power into. Whether that be a small bit of ourselves, knowledge only we have, or a symbol of our power for them to use. It's a practice still done today by the rest of the pantheons around the world," she explains as she runs her hand through her short red locks. "But a normal mortal becoming a champion is dangerous, any amount of divine being introduced to them can burn them to ash, so we normally stick with a magical sword or some tripe to give to them. But, witches and wizards are a bit different seeing they already have a touch of the divine in them with magic," she tells Delphini as the girl slowly turns to look at Brigid agaped.

"I also need to talk to the older Weasley as well, he's been trying to create a ward that could keep some of the Formorians at bay, and I think I can help with that," Brigid admits with a shrug before looking at Delphini with a small smile.

"You want Bill to be your champion?" Delphini guesses and curses the taller, rugged looking man for his luck.

"That his name? Good to know," Brigid says with a nod as if she was committing his name to memory. "But no, as cute as he is and as absolute banger of a girlfriend he has, it's not Bill I want as my champion," she says, looking at Delphini with a knowing grin.

"Then who? Luna?" Delphini asks before turning to look at the sleeping girl. "Because I don't think she'll be awake for a bit to agree," she notes as she turns back to Brigid, who was still smiling at her.

"Not Luna, she's off limits to damn near everyone unless they want to face the wrath of the seas, but you're close lass," Brigid says as her grin grows wider and her head tilts to raise her brow at Delphini.

Delphini blinks, then opens her mouth to close it more before blinking again. "No," she says as realization slaps her across the face.

"Yes," Brigid tells her, her dark eyes growing wider as her grin grows a bit mad as she nods her head.

"Me? Why the hell would you pick me?" Delphini asks as she draws herself back with wide shocked eyes.

"Because you have both things I'm looking for in a champion. You want to protect people and an understanding of what you're protecting them from," Brigid tells her with a smile as she stands from her seat. "Ma wanted some of us to pick champions from those around her own, Ence is talking to Ron as we speak, Da wanted to ask Dumbledore but Ma vetoed that for some reason and Scáthach told him of another that would be a much better champion. Aengus is asking Nymphadora, Ogam is talking to Kingsley, and Lugh with Moody, Manannán is with Theodore, and Scáthach said she already had someone in mind. But I want you as my champion," she tells Delphini before offering her hand to the girl. "So, what do ya say lass? Want to learn some real Voodoo, yeah?" She says with a mad grin on her face.

Harry Potter.

The nightmares were like claws of iron and salt carving through his mind, digging up and overturning everything that had happened to him in his life. From his mother's dying screams- "Not Harry, please not Harry! Take me! Kill me instead!- to darkness and loneliness of the cupboard that had suffocated him all his life, and every defeat at the hands of the Monster- pain radiates up his ruined arm as the monster stood over him, "Crucio," he says. "NOOOOOOOO!" Atalanta screams as she charges and Sirius smiles at him as he vanishes in the flames- Harry stood watching the horror of his life play out over and over again.

He couldn't stop it or look away as the gruesome show played out. He could only watch at how powerless and helpless he was in the face of all the death that followed him.

"Killer indeed," was his hateful thoughts to himself, he had gotten the most important people in his life killed just because he was born. From his mom and dad, to his family in Atalanta and Sirius, it was, in the end, his fault. What was all the training and learning for? What were all the spars and small triumphs he had done added up to? Nothing, that was what. " Nothing but the bodies of those he loved at his feet," was another clear thought. In the end, the bitter thought that the Dursleys were right about him in the end, he was powerless, pathetic, and hopeless.

And he hated it.

" Are you?" The voice of Melinoë asks somewhere amid the nightmares.

"I got them all killed, and I couldn't do anything to stop it," Harry says out loud, watching for the uncountable time as the bodies floated to the surface of the blood. "In the end I'll just get them all killed," he admits to himself.

" Hmm, no. I don't believe any of that,"

"It doesn't matter what you believe, it's what's true,"

" Is it? Did you really get them killed?"

"Voldemort may have killed them, but they stayed because of me. Because I wanted to kill the monster!"

" Was it you? Or was it the Hunt?"

Harry opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out of his mouth. He had lived a few short months without access to the ancient domain and remembers how… peaceful his life was. No push, no drive, no bloodlust from the beast that stalked his mind. He remembered how scared he was when it came back and how it all came flooding back. The fear of his mind turning against him and how he couldn't separate his own love for the Hunt from the bloodlust and drive from the domain.

" It was me, wasn't it?" He thinks to himself as the nightmare around him shifts again, but this time to a memory. It was just after The Morrígan had told him to run, to retreat, and fall back to the Order to escape. He pushed himself up from the ground and he remembered…remembers… " I- I- wanted to. I was willing to run, I had failed, there was no more reason to be there anymore. I was going to run but why…" he thinks to himself in shock before he hears it.

A creak, like that of an old rusty hinge on a door that wasn't oiled in a long time. He looks up and meets fractal eyes from across the room.

A monster stood beyond a door that wasn't there, smiling a twisted grin full of shark teeth. The repeating patterns of its eyes gleamed and the Hunt awoke with an ancient hunger and a bloodlust that would never end. Harry felt it proding around in his mind, antagonizing the Hunt to the point it was all he could think or feel. Harry had then turned to Voldemort and beared the fangs of the beast as it still wasn't given its due fill.

" Things are a lot clearer without the haze of the Hunt, isn't it? The ingrained madness of that domain has driven many demigods all over the world to an early grave, but you already know that; don't you?"

Harry didn't say anything, he couldn't say anything as he continued to look into the repeating fractals of the monster's eyes as the door shut and vanished. Harry was stuck fast in shock, something had reached into his mind and twisted the Hunt against him. Something that he had once thought would protect him from any intrusion into the sanctity of his mind had turned against him in that aspect. He couldn't think of the hows or the why's because he didn't care, all Harry knew was the taste of blood and rage in his mouth.

" It's easier, sometimes, to blame oneself for something that you didn't know who to lay true blame onto,"

"It doesn't- its- it's- I could have-"

"Your argument is falling to pieces now, isn't it?"

"My mum and dad-"

" Would probably smack you upside the head if you even begin to say that their deaths were your fault. They fought for you, they died for you, so you could live and don't even think that it was your fault in that, you know who to blame for that,"

And he did, he knew it as soon as the dream-like memory turns to Voldemort, the monster that has haunted him since he drew his first breath.

" But this isn't about who's at blame, Harry. It's about the why you having these nightmares,"

"It's because-"

Atalanta and Sirius once more die in front of him, Harry unable to stop it, unable to help. The scene shifts once more burying him in the sludge of ash and rendered fat of things in perpetual death. He could feel the grasping and grabbing claws trying to get his attention, asking for something he couldn't do.

" Pause. Where is this? What is this?"

"Its- it was at Paititi. It's a pit filled with the Mesoamerican Gods, or- well…what's left of them,"

"...oh. oh thats- that is…something else…"

"A Magician was at fault, he- he tried to do something, mantel something to overturn death of his family, of his people and for that, this was the end result. All because someone like me-"

" Stop,"

The scene shifts once more as the tainted golden city of Paititi is rebuilt around him. He stood once more at the peak of the city, standing on top of a temple of a dead God looking at the last person he wanted to see; Inkarri. His twisted and dried out visage once more looming in the city that death had forgotten about. Even with the husk of his face, Harry could still see the centuries old rage carved into it, and the heartbreak that led him down his doomed and cursed path.

" Is this you?"

"It could-"

" Is! This. You?"

"No,"

" Then why are you blaming yourself for an event that happened long before you were even born?"

"Because he was a Magician, he has the same ability that I do. Whose to say that I won't be the next Magician that fucks up and gets a bunch of gods killed,"

" You do,"

"And I'm like him, we both lost people we loved,"

The scene once more shifted to the dark and familiar halls of Hogwarts. Three familiar faces each stood in one of the castle's rare four way intersections. To Harry's right was the pinstripe suit wearing and fag smoking form of Jonathan Doe, to his left was the blonde hair and fair skin of Brynhilda Ruine-Torchter, and right across from him stood Makoshi Tomoe.

" If that's the logic you want to go with, you're like these three as well. You don't think they have lost people they love? That they wouldn't be tempted to enact the same crime as Inkarri just to speak to them again? To hold them? You're not special in this case, Harry, the only outlining factor is in the brutality that you lost people in,"

"But the ability is still-"

" Yes, it is. The potential will always be there, in every Magician around the world,"

The scene once shifts, this time a muggle restaurant in the late afternoon. The small of Italian food filling the air as Harry sat at the booth across from Athena, her face set in a glare as the words she spoke still rang across the restaurant; "The child we should have thrown from the walls,"

"She had a point,"

" She always has a point, pretty much her only job nowadays. But it doesn't matter if she did, it wasn't a good point to make. You're not a monster, Harry, you're not destined to repeat the actions of the Magicians of the past just because you have the same potential at causing a calamity as bad as they did,"

"But-"

" No. No buts. A monster wouldn't save a little girl from a giant snake and an evil wizard like some fairy tale hero. A monster wouldn't save the life of an innocent man he had known for a scant few minutes. A monster wouldn't step on a battlefield, knowing he might not come back from, and fight to do the right thing. You have the potential, sure. But it's not you,"

"..."

"Should I go on?"

"No, you've made your point,"

" Thought so,"

"Smug bitch,"

" What was that?"

"Nothing,"

" That's what I thought, but we're wasting time,"

The restaurant and Athena melt away to the Department of Mystery and the archway that sat at its heart. Standing on the fossilized bones that formed the bridge to the arch was none other than Didi. She was dressed simply in a white sundress that almost matched the pale look of her skin, her black eyes looking at him with a soft smile on her face.

" So, this is her? Didi,"

"Yeah,"

" You never answered my question back at the penthouse. What did she do?"

"She used me,"

" Details matter, Harry. How did she use you?"

"She- she was there when Voldemort forced his way into my mind, she said- she told me she could stop the pain, to have me not feel it any longer. But all she did was- was mantle me,"

The scene shifts through half remembered dreams, of a house he couldn't remember going up in, to a playground with a swing of ligaments and bones, to a fleshless back that did not bleed. Of a forest that he had never been in where love was almost forgotten before a broken goddess shows herself to remind him. To caverns deep and shadows old where a fleeting dream played out in a twisted show of a silly whim he once had. And finally to a ballroom filled with dancing and twirling guests where he had caught her and casted her out.

"She used me, puppeted me, and tried to kill the monster using my body. I couldn't- I was-"

" Powerless. You were powerless,"

"Yeah,"

The nightmares flips through all the scenes playing again and again, all having the same reason, the same outcome; Harry unable to do anything.

" The loss of control. The loss of power. Feeling helpless in the face of something you should be able to overcome, but are unable to do so. I see…"

"What? It's all true. I guess I really am hopeless in the end, pathetic and useless,"

"You might not know this yet, Harry. But you're not," Melinoë says as Harry turns around as the nightmares fade to darkness once more. "You've just forgotten what's made you strong, what makes you- you," she says with a sad smile, her hands folded behind her back.

"I didn't forget anything, I just remembered that the Dursleys were right about me," Harry says, the defeat in his tone was something even he could hear.

"They weren't Harry, they were never right about you," Melinoë says with a small, sad smile. "And I think it's about time you remember that," she says as she reaches out to caress Harry's cheek. He felt it then, something seeping into him coming from Melinoë. It was…pleasant, a warmth he had no words for, a softness he had only experienced with one other as they danced during a party he didn't want to attend at first. Shadows of doubt began to fade away as if something was taking bites out of them.

Pathetic: he had hunted and killed a Basilisk at the age of twelve, he sent hundreds of dementors fleeing from him at thirteen, he had fought the most powerful dark Lord in the past century and arguably the most powerful mortal alive to a stand still.

Worthless: he freed the rightful gods of his homeland, he had fought monsters of nightmares and fear to do so. He had hunted a calamity of the divine and fought to protect those he loved.

Powerless: he was far from powerless, and with every step he took he had proved it, every accomplishment was testament to that.

Melinoë lets out a content sigh as she pulls her hand back, a smile blooming on her face as she does.

"What did you just do?" Harry asks, his own hand raising to the cheek she had caressed.

"It's only when people are at their worst that I can help them. It is only when you face your nightmares and not run from them, to let your mind process the trauma you've been through that I can take away the self doubt and the edge off the depression that takes root so deep; it's the only time I can feed on fear," Melinoë says with a smile before giving him a wink. Harry lets out an amused scoff, " context matters indeed," was the thought shooting through his mind before turning back to Melinoë. Her face was back to its grim seriousness she had on when she first appeared.

"This isn't gonna last, this feeling, is it?"

" No,"

"We're not done either, are we?"

Melinoë just shakes her head, a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm not going to like what happens next, am I?"

"No, you won't and for what it's worth, I am sorry. But once this process starts, you need to finish it," She tells him as she raises her hand once more, looking into his eyes as if she wants to caress his cheek once more, but she hesitates and drops her hand. Harry's hand shoots out and grabs hers, to bring it back up to his cheek and smiles at her, a look of forgiveness in his emerald eyes that causes the princess of ghosts to blush.

"It's okay, I- I think I understand, it's like a ritual, right? Once you start, you can't stop it," Harry tells her.

"Y-Yeah, like a ritual," she says, stammering as she draws her thumb under Harry's right eye. "The next part I can't help you with, you have to do it on your own," She admits before withdrawing her hand from his face as she looks at her feet.

"What is it?" Harry asks, blushing at the feeling of loss when Melinoë took back her cold hand and the want of having it back on his face.

"Terror," Melinoë whispers, looking away from Harry's eyes. "You have to face your fear and find a way to overcome it. It's the part-" she swallows the lump in her throat. "-the part where most people can't get past," she admits.

"And that's…bad?" Harry asks with a tilt of his head and narrowed eyes.

"An overwhelming majority…die," the goddess of terror says as she shuffles her feet, causing Harry to sigh.

"Of course, face my fear. Easy enough, yeah?" He says with a forced grin. Melinoë is quiet for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking back at Harry.

"Remember this feeling Harry, hold it firm in your heart so terror can't seize it. Because I don't even know what you'll face next," she tells him before stepping to the side. Just beyond her was a door, like the ancient doors of Dún Scaith, aged dark English oak with iron fittings set into the darkness of what was the nightmare around him. Harry takes one last look at Melinoë smiling as he does before turning back to the door. "I'll be waiting on the other side," she tells him as he reaches for the handle, the " for you" going unsaid.

The door leads to a fight of old and worn stone stairs head downward into the aether of his mind. Harry swallows before taking his first step onto, a wave of cold, nearly unbearable, hits him in a wave. But he bites back a curse before proceeding downward into the depths, wondering where it was taking him. The further down he goes, the colder it gets and more oppressive the lightless flight of stairs is. In the distance, down in the dark he could hear the crack of thunder and the pita patter of rain on stone, a sound he had become all too accustomed to at Dún Scaith.

Before he reaches the end of the stairs, he could make out the flashes of lightning coming through barred windows. The soft swaying and squeaking of chains fill the small cramped stairway, Harry frowns at both the sight and sound but continues on. When he finally reaches the bottom of the stairs, he looks over the room in confusion. It was a dungeon, but one he had never been in. Barred cells lined the sides of the hall he now found himself in, more out of curiosity than anything else, Harry continued forward. He passes the empty cells of swinging chains as the cracks of thunder reverberated throughout the chamber with the quick flashes of light passing through the barred windows giving a peek into the world beyond while letting fresh air into the hall.

At the back of the hall, Harry sees a shadow of someone sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around their knees as if they were trying to stave off the cold of the room. As thunder rings once more and a flash of lightning illuminates the hall, for one heart stopping moment Harry sees the boy again. Curled up in himself, shivering in the oversized leather of the jacket as if he was crying, cold, or scared. But as the darkness returns, the boy is gone and is replaced by someone else.

He was unwashed and wearing rages of black and red, starvation was evident just by looking at the thin and still boy. A matted and tangled mess of dark red hair hung from his head as wounds, some fresh, some scabbed over, and some nothing but scars littered his body. Traveling up his arms and legs, etched across his gaunt cheeks and pointed chin. If Harry didn't know better, they would look like ritual scarring, but he did know better; for he bore similar scars across his own body. Lesser in number and viciousness, but the same in the way they had gotten them.

The boy was chained in place, bands of iron wrapped around his ankles and calves, his wrists and biceps along with an iron collar wrapped tightly around his throat. All connected to chains bolted to the wall to keep the boy in place, Harry could see the dull light of magic and hear its thrum in the air, reinforcing the chains to make sure the boy couldn't break free from his imprisonment. Sitting on the floor, sitting out of reach of the boy was a plate of moldy bread. Even if the boy laid on his stomach and crawled toward it, Harry doubted he could reach it fully, maybe a finger could tap the edge of the plate; if that.

Click.

The sound of footsteps echo throughout the dungeon. The boy in chains stiffens before begins to shake, pushing himself back against the wall as if he was trying to run away from the sound.

Click.

The boy whimpers, not in pain but in blind terror. Harry could feel the boy's fear as if it was his own, crawling up his back like ice. The boy looks up at Harry, tears in emerald eyes; his eyes.

Click.

Some terror is set deeper than scars on flesh…

"Please. Please, I'll- I'll do better, be better. Please, I-I di-didn't mean it," the boy begs and weeps as he shakes.

Some terror sinks deeper than torn muscles and improperly set bones…

Click.

"Not again, pl-please not- not again," the boy weeps into the uncaring darkness of his prison. Harry slowly turns his head, his own eyes wide with horror and terror and in the darkness he sees a silhouette that he is achingly familiar with. She was tall with her shoulders drawn back and arms folded behind her back, she walked with an air of confidence and unquestioned power, the hem of her dark dress skimming across the slate floor.

" Teacher?" Harry whispers into the dark and as if something was listening, a flash of lightning illuminates the chamber. Standing in the darkness wasn't Scáthach, she had none of the ethereal beauty that his teacher carried herself with. Age had crept into the familiar visage, her face sagged with wrinkles as crows feet sat under her eyes, her hair had lost its luster and now was thinned with gray. But the woman still stood proud, stood power and daunting, her eyes, pitiless pits of inky blackness that held a thin film of white over them.

Some terror is carved up on the very soul, to never be forgotten…

"Hello…" she speaks, but carries none of Scáthachs firm and loving tone she often used while teaching. It was cold, cruel, or uncaring, perhaps all three as she tilted her head a bit to the side like teacher would at times when he had answered a question correctly, but no smile like that Scáthach would give him appeared on her face. "Connla," she says.

Harry's eyes widened in realization of who the woman was just before the chains that held the broken boy were now on him. Trapped and helpless in the same dungeon, in the same way, by the same woman who was his own mother in a life he could not remember.

Chapter done!

And I still have to split it in two!

I am very upset about this, I had hoped to keep it as one but my insomnia has been kicking my ass this week.

I'm so tired…

Anyway, a lot in this chapter with one hell of an ending. I had originally wanted to include Aífe in this story with a much bigger role but could figure out how to make it work, so now she is here as a phantom of terror for Harry.

Also, forewarning: I will be going on a short hiatus come Oct 31st, Alot of you probably know why. But it shouldn't be more then three weeks.

Ooooooooh, boy, the next chapter is gonna be goooooooood.

Kingsaxcul, out!