Shadow of the Dark Fortress (Part 3): Vohaul by Triggy

Rating: G
Genres: Action & Adventure, Mystery
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 6
Published: 01/04/2006
Last Updated: 03/04/2006
Status: Paused

The third and last installement of the Shadow of the Dark Fortress Series. The final piece of
Voldemort's plan to dominate the Wizard world comes. It is more terrible and powerful than him
but serves him without question. An ancient Order emerges from secrecy to counter this Prophecy
with Harry and Hermione destined to be part of.




1. Prolgue (Expanded)
---------------------



This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various
publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and
Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.

**Shadow of the Dark Fortress Part 3: Vohaul**

By Triggy

March 2006

**Prologue**

It was two hours past midnight in one of the remotest parts of Ireland - a shadowy figure stood
under the shadow of a tree, made by the pale moonlight, among hundreds in the thick forest . He was
tall; he wore all black robes, boots, gloves, and a hat with a wide rim to hide his pale, bruised,
and wrinkled face. He stood on the same spot of the forest for hours on end since the last sunset,
unclear to whoever may be observing him all night what his intentions were. He sunk his shivering
hand in his right pocket, fished out a pack of cigarettes, took a stick out of the pack, and put
one between his shuddering lips but he did not light it at once.

He looked around. The person he was expecting still has not shown himself up to now. A growing
sense of panic now lorded over him. He was told by his superiors that this person he was supposed
to meet possessed vital information that would help the Order win the never ending and ancient war
against the terrible Beast and its Lord. As the minutes kept ticking by, his spirits gradually
ebbed. An owl would have been a more convenient way to send the message across and he would have
not been here all night long, he thought, but he knew that it was not the safest way as their
secrets could be easily spilled. But the meeting was supposed to have already been done with two
hours before. Whoever he was meeting was late.

He fished out a lighter from his pocket, and with a shaking hand, he tried to meet the small
flame with the tip of his cigarette - he was not sure if his hand was trembling because of the cold
or the tension he felt. He knew the risks of lighting up a cigarette, but he could not hold on to
his breath much longer.

“I wouldn't light that cigarette if I were you, Creedy,” whispered a voice that seem to come
from an adjacent tree a mere ten feet away. “Somebody could smell the smoke for miles around and
find us here.”

Creedy jumped, dropped his lighter, and fumbled for his wand, which was tucked inside his robe
pocket. “L-lumos,” he said, pointing the wand to where he thought her heard the voice was coming
from. The wand light illuminated the face of a man about ten years his junior.

“Good Lord, Creedy,” said the man as softly as he could, squinting away from the wand light.
“Put that off or we'll be seen!”

“Nox,” Creedy muttered.

“Much better…”

“Who are you?” asked Creedy, still pointing his wand to the unidentified person.

“Hugo Driscol,” he replied, “but that is not important - what is important is the information I
bring you…the one the Order is waiting for eons.”

“Show me your right arm,” commanded Creedy.

“Of course,” said Hugo. He rolled up his sleeve and in the dark Creedy saw the faint glow of the
mark of Order. Satisfied, Creedy lowered his wand, rolled up his own right sleeve to show his own
mark, and approached Hugo.

“What is it that you bring to the Order?” asked Creedy.

“Almost all of my Guild members have lost their lives to bring this piece of information to the
Supreme Guild, which you are an envoy. The Order of Vahaul, our enemy, is on to us trying to make
sure the Prophecy will not come to pass. Alas, I do not feel what I keep in my mind is of
importance, but I must do what I was told…”

“C'mon, c'mon, cut the bloody introduction and just tell what you know,” Creedy said
impatiently. Aside from going back to headquarters early, staying too long each minute outside runs
the risk of being intercepted.

“You'll find what you want at Hogwarts,” Hugo simply said.

Creedy waited a few more seconds, expecting more, but Hugo did not say anything else.

“And?”

“That's it,” Hugo said.

“Are you sure? Are there any details?”

“I'm afraid that's all,” Hugo sighed. “One of our Guild brothers who did the searching
only said that he found what we were all looking for in Hogwarts and he died before giving us their
names.”

“And does anybody else know from Hogwarts know about this?”

“I wish I knew the answer.”

Creedy breathed. Although the information was too vague to begin with, he understood how
important and significant it was for the history of the Order. The only problem was, they were
supposed to be getting names. The identities of the persons involved should be kept secret at all
cost, and how do you get to find and talk to them without arousing suspicion? Other than that any
mention about the Order or its name is forbidden, are the persons, or the chosen ones, involved
even aware about this? Creedy put that aside for the moment after deciding it's for the Order
to decide on how to go on about it.

An extraordinarily strong breeze blew the wide-rimmed hat off Creedy's head - this jolted
him out of his thoughts immediately. The sudden stillness of the night air that followed the breeze
made him and Hugo feel uneasy.

“I think we need to go,” Hugo said, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. “It's possible
that I might have been followed…”

Creedy nodded, and raised his wand higher. Then every tree seemed to be moving and double in
number…a score of dark figures emerged from behind tree trunks from the north. Creedy's eyes
turned wide - he knew who they were and why they were here.

The figures all had the same height, about eight feet tall, wearing blood-red robes and the only
facial feature he could see from beneath the hood were two red dim lights that served as their
eyes. Creedy had faced one of them before in his life - he was with about four of his Guild
brothers and only he survived despite a heroic but one-sided battle. He knew he had no chance to
get out of here alive if he had to fight them out. He and Hugo both possessed information that was
vital to this ancient secret war - he knew one of them must neither fall into enemy hands nor lose
what they know by dying this day.

Creedy grabbed Hugo and they both began to run away from the direction of the enemy. A stream of
lightning came from the fingertips of one of the red hooded giants, hitting Hugo's feet - he
stumbled in pain just after a few strides from where they once stood. Creedy conjured a thick
shield of light in between him and the attackers, protecting him and Hugo from multiple lightning
bolts that bounced off to the sky. He knew that leaving Hugo was not an option - he crouched low
and attempted to carry Hugo over his shoulders to carry him off.

Hugo refused.

“You must escape, Creedy!” he cried. “I'll just slow you down - you must tell them about
what I told you…just kill me now!”

Creedy shook his head, hoping he could save escape with Hugo's life. He glanced back to the
direction of the attackers - they were calmly walking to his direction, not running, with their
arms pointed toward him. Lightning bolts streaked off from their fingertips to break the weakening
shield.

“Do it!” Hugo growled.

The attackers were getting closer, and Creedy had to make a quick decision. He stood up, pointed
his wand to Hugo, but hesitated for a moment.

“DO IT!”

“*Obliviate*!” Creedy shouted, and Hugo slumped down barely conscious on the wet ground.
Then Creedy ran off as fast as he can, just in time to get out of sight from the red-hooded
attackers when his shield dissipated. He expected to hear Hugo's cry of death in the quiet
night air anytime soon, but nothing came. He didn't dare go back to see what they did to him,
for now his only concern was to escape and get back to his hideout alive.

-o0o-

Hundreds of miles away to the East, Casius Wallace stood still in a Hall deep in Xanthius, Lord
Voldemort's Dark Fortress among several other Death Eaters. It was only about two moons ago
that this supposedly impenetrable Fortress was invaded by Albus Dumbledore to rescue Harry Potter
and Hermione Granger from the bondage of Lord Voldemort. A bloodbath ensued when, with the help of
the two young wizards, some potions masters and Muggle scientists rose up and fought to escape.
Voldemort lost many Death Eaters that day, a day that the Dark Lord did not want his surviving
Death Eaters to forget. It was the day that Death Eaters like Cassius despised. It was the day Lord
Voldemort constantly held up against them because of their failure to secure the fortress - the
Dark Lord was never as ruthless and unforgiving as he was to his faithlful Death Eaters ever since.
A small mistake made by any Death Eater always meant torture from Voldemort. Cassius was amazed no
Death Eater decided to fall off the ranks in spite of it. They have remained faithful and loyal to
their master.

Cassius was not a true Death Eater, by the way. His name was Ramius Palkov, Dumbledore's
spy. Getting inside Voldemort's inner circle was not at all easy. Ramius was an Animorphagus, a
wizard that could change into another person's form down to the last molecule. Animorphagi were
extremely rare in the wizard world as there were only a few living wizards of the age who had this
gift. Ramius had merely taken the form of the real Cassius Wallace to infiltrate the ranks of the
Death Eaters. It was also a stroke of luck that they got hold of Cassius because he was rising fast
as one of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters. Dumbledore gifted Ramius with his own Pensieve
and extracted all of Cassius' memory since childhood - he had studied the Death Eater's
mannerisms and history. Voldemort would never suspect that Cassius was not he was ought to be, but
Ramius knew a simple mistake could also cost him his life.

Ramius looked around - there stood twenty of so Death Eaters waiting for Voldemort to come in. A
meeting was called for tonight, but for what reason nobody knew. It seemed like the routine meeting
Voldemort had called for almost every night - and every Death Eater, including Ramius, dreaded each
gathering as there was always somebody being tortured by the Dark Lord. However, this gathering was
entirely different from all the others for the last couple of months. They were always called to
the throne room each meeting, but tonight, they were called to gather around in the Den of the
Beast, a place that they have never been inside since the Fortress was built, although they have
heard about this room many times. In the middle of the Den was a stone statue of a strange looking
beast. It had feet of a bull, a body of a lion with eight long protruding limbs of a spider, a
hairy torso of a human like that of a centaur, with a head containing seven red eyes, three horns,
and a jawful of fangs. Harry was in this Den once, and his description of the statue was not as
scary for Ramius to hear than seeing it for himself. Ramius had a bad feeling he will know soon
enough what the significance of this statue is.

The wall to the north broke open, and at last, Voldemort emerged from it. The Death Eaters shook
at the mere sight of him. The Dark Lord walked straight to the statue and caressed the stone with
his long fingers as he walked around it.

“Soon,” Voldemort said softly to no one in particular, “my army will be complete. The serum is
already spread to the populace, the imps are hungry for flesh, my Death Eaters are ready to command
them, the Hags are screeching for blood, and the Dementors are starving for souls.” He paused and
breathed deeply. “Pity I could not kill a puny 15-year old boy.”

“No matter,” he continued, looking up the statue. “He is gradually proving to be insignificant.
We have guests tonight, my faithful servants, the first of several important guests. They will help
me complete the army that I have sought for all my life. I will command the most terrible army the
wizard world will ever fear in its history. But this…” he pointed to the statue, “this will ensure
our victory. Vohaul will command his own army of Black Beasts, but he will answer only to me.
Dumbledore will wish he was never born, and all those who have thought of opposing me. People are
already trembling at the sight of this Fortress wherever they may be. And they will see Vohaul for
the first time. Such is the awesome power of this Beast, but still he will bow to Lord
Voldemort.”

Ramius felt a slight tinge of terror this early. He wondered what this “Vohaul” could do.

“I have carefully planned for this day,” said Voldemort. “I have found a weapon that will seal
make the whole of the wizard world kneel before me. It would have been better if Harry Potter
decided to join us - I do not know myself of regretting what was supposed to have been, but
nevertheless, we will soon realise our destiny without him. Wormtail, show our guests in…”

Wormtail, who was inconspicuously following Voldemort's path all the time, bowed and
scuttled to the gates of the Den. He slid open the iron barriers with a flick of his wand, and
Ramius saw several tall, red-hooded and glowy-eyed creatures slowly come in a circular formation.
As they reached the foot of the statue they broke off, and there Ramius was surprised to see two
young and pretty witches. He had never seen them before in their life - one was blonde while the
other had deep brown hair, and they looked no more than fifteen years of age. Ramius did not
understand what they were doing here, or if they came here against their will.

Voldemort approached the girls, who bowed daintily in front of him.

“Welcome to my Dark abode, Sarah and Jill,” Voldemort said. “I am saddened that you have lost
one of your kind last year.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” said the one named Sarah. “Such a thing never has happened to any of us in
our race in our endless pursuit of youth, but I am sure there enough of us left to dance for
Vohaul. I am honoured.”

Voldemort nodded and faced the Death Eaters once more. “These young ladies are not that young as
you think, my faithful servants. They are Oarlings…and you know what they are…”

Ramius felt his spine tingle.

“As far as the number of Oarlings go,” Voldemort continued, “we do not have much. We need six to
dance for Vohaul, and so far we only have two. There are several out there, and we need to gather
four more. Unless we have six to dance, Vohaul will not turn alive. But do not fear, I know where
and who they are. I will send you out to fetch them and bring them here before the next full moon,
and we will animate Vohaul. For now, we will make sure our guests will be comfortable until that
day…”

Wormtail clumsily showed the Oarlings the way to the guest wing, and Voldemort gestured Ramius
to come to him. He obliged.

“Cassius, one of my most faithful,” Voldemort said. “You shall take the lead in retrieving the
five Oarlings I want. I will tell you where to look each time you successfully bring me one of
them.”

“As you wish, my Lord,” Ramius replied. He felt a little edgy at that moment, as he once led the
Ministry effort to eradicate these creatures.

“One of them is in Scotland, and I expect you to bring her to me in less than three days. You
will do nothing else but bring me the five Oarlings alive, but this one in Scotland needs to be
here posthaste. She will need to reinvigorate herself as she is nearing her next 18th
birthday. It will be easy to convince her to come, as we will give her a candidate that she will
love to possess.”

Ramius did his best not to look troubled, as he knew this meant Voldemort may have had a poor
girl kidnapped for the Oarling. Ramius nodded rather reluctantly but managed to look Voldemort
straight in the eye, and the Dark Lord smiled. “You will command a small contingent of Death Eaters
who must be with you all the time. I put my trust in you that you will accomplish your mission,
Cassius.” The Dark Lord then walked away, caressed the statue once more, and left the Den.

Ramius hurriedly walked out of the Den to try to think of a way how to inform Olga Gargarin, the
Auror who actively pursued Oarlings like him about what he saw tonight, but five other Death Eaters
followed him behind. Finding Oarlings were difficult enough to begin with, and killing them was
another thing. Contrary to what he believed before that they had eradicated all existing Oarlings
with Carina Lovic as the last, there were still actually five still alive in Britain and Voldemort
knew it all along. He knew he had to do something in order that Voldemort will not get what he
wants - Vohaul looked menacing as a mere statue, but being alive and what he could do with
Voldemort was unimaginable.

-o0o-

*Author's note: I've now decided it's time to continue on with the story
that's been in my head for 5 years, and this is the start of the third instalment of the Shadow
of the Fortress series. You can find part one and two here in Portkey.org, and its prequel “The
Auror and the Oarling”. Please bear with me if updates will not come that quickly, as I'm still
adjusting to my new life in Canada. However I can promise you I will give this series a closure.
For now I hope the Potter fans who have come across this third instalment would read the first
parts of this series. “Auror and the Oarling” was my very first complete fic so it was rough around
the edges. Hehe.*

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