Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter and the Elder War
Visitor in the Castle
1 reviewMystery and intrigue surround a tragic event in Knockturn Alley while a visit to a place fills with memories brings about comprehension.
0Unrated
A/N: I own nothing except for the plot and original characters.
Chapter 2: Visitor in the Castle
Harry and Ron Apparated into Diagon Alley from the Ministry and were immediately met by their team of fellow Aurors. The co-leader of their team, Stenos, approached the pair and began to speak immediately after nodding his head in greeting,
"This way guys, it's like nothing I've ever seen."
Harry and Ron followed Stenos into Knockturn Alley and were greeted with the site of at least 5 other Aurors standing over the lumped mass of skin and bone. Harry and Ron moved closer to inspect the corpse and determine what spell was used to kill him. Harry waved his wand and murmured an incantation meant to reveal the use of Unforgiveables. When he found the presence of none, he furrowed his brow curiously. Ron noticed this, and without needing words, began to perform his own spell over the body. Again there was nothing. Now he was thoroughly stumped. Ron turned to Harry finding him just as puzzled.
"He definitely died before hit the wall. There's no way he was killed without the use of magic, since there isn't a mark on him."
Harry nodded and spoke as well,"The assailant didn't use the Avada, nor any magic we can find, so how did he die?"
"That's we are trying to figure out," said a deep commanding voice from behind the pair. They knew that voice. The men both turned around and were greeted with the sight of none other than the minister himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley patted both men on the back and ushered them away from the body.
"We can't pin what could have caused this. It obviously wasn't suicide; his wand hasn't been used in the last 2 days. That is why we called you both. You have experience with powerful and mysterious magic since you dealt with Voldemort. I was wondering if you would be willing to try and see what happened using your past experiences," Kingsley explained.
Harry again furrowed his brow,"Minister, I told you about all that before. I honestly don't know what caused me to survive two Avada Kedavras, nor do I know much about old magic. I'm just as stumped as you are," and Ron nodded in agreement.
Kingsley sighed in defeat. If Harry or Ron didn't know who would? "Very well then, I appreciate your efforts. We'll keep doing what we can to figure this out, but I'm a bit weary of finding the answer to be honest."
"As you should be," said a deep, authoritative and commanding voice. Harry, Kingsley and Ron whirled around immediately, wands drawn and pointing at the foreign voice. Noticing the movement, the rest of the Aurors reacted similarly, aiming their wands at the unknown presence.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Ron commanded.
The figure stepped into the light. It was tall and stocky, wearing dark robes that revealed the hilt of a sword from underneath them. Its face was obscured by a dark hood, but its eyes were icy blue and piercing. The figure's hands were at its side, open and dangling harmlessly. Slowly, its left hand rose and ran through its hair, pulling the hood back and revealing its face. The man's face looked like it was chiseled from marble, with high and well defined cheekbones. His chin was smooth and fit his face perfectly. Furthermore, he was smiling. It wasn't a threatening smile, nor was it one of pleasure. It was one of knowledge and superiority, like he knew the group that currently surrounded him could nothing against him. His grin grew wider as he spoke, "Satisfied?"
Ron maintained his composure, unfazed by the eerie eyes and smile from the man before him, "Not in the least. What is your name and why are you here?"
The man's smiled faded and his face became hardened and serious, "You must look in the place where what you desire is what you find, and discover when imbalance was born. You must /need/to see into the beginning. Perhaps then you will vaguely understand why this does not concern you."
The group looked puzzled. What was he babbling about? However, something inside told Harry that he should take this man's words to heart. He was trying to tell them something, but what and furthermore, why? Harry was oddly reminded of Dumbledore, and how the reverent old man used to teach him in riddles. Harry was brought out of his musings by Kingsley's frustrated and irritated reply,
"You will come with us and submit to questioning regarding the events that transpired here today."
"I think not," the man replied. His smile returned as his hands moved towards the inside of his robes. Instantly, Harry, Ron, Stenos, Kingsley and the other Aurors cried "/Stupefy!" /The jets of red light flew towards their target, heading straight for his chest. The man's smile merely widened as he raised his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, all of the jets were deflected away harmlessly. The group was stunned, how was that possible? His icy eyes gazed at Harry, Ron and Kingsley hard and the three men begin to feel a cold shiver run up their backs. Within seconds they became incapable of movement. The man was still smiling as he approached the trio slowly, the other Aurors seemingly frozen in place. When the man reached them, he leaned close, his eyes never leaving them and his calm voice was a mere whisper.
"If I wanted you dead, you would be. Luckily for you, I don't kill innocents." He leaned back slightly and looked the men in the eyes one by one before he spoke again. "It would be prudent for you not to attempt to impede me. What transpired today is beyond your understanding, and you would do well to forget meeting me." The man then stepped away from the trio and brought his index and middle fingers to his forehead, resting them there lightly as he closed his eyes. In a brief flash of red, he was gone.
The trio was released from the invisible grip and the other Aurors suddenly burst into motion, running towards the three men. For a moment, they were all stunned. Finally, Ron spoke up,"What the bloody hell was that?!" Harry and Kingsley both looked to Ron as they replied, "I wish I knew." The group then broke their stunned silence and began to hustle and attempt to locate the mysterious man.
After several hours, they all came up empty handed. Kingsley called the Aurors together and proceeded to issue new orders to them. When he fell upon Ron and Harry, his voice was calm,
"You two have done enough today. You may both return to the Burrow. I'll let you know if anything new turns up."
Ron and Harry simply nodded and Apparated back to the Burrow, puzzlement and confusion still written across their faces...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hours Earlier...
The hooded figure made it way towards a massive castle. Something about was familiar. Not the castle itself, but the odd aura it gave off. The being approached the massive double doors that seemingly lead into the castle. He looked to the doors and waved his hand towards them. Then he stepped forward and passed directly through the doors. He ignored the rather large hallways and instead followed the odd pull of something in the castle. He couldn't figure out what it was or why it was calling to him, but he simply couldn't resist.
He made his way through the castle, passing adult magical beings as he did. His abilities kept his presence hidden from them and allowed him to move around unhindered. A few moments later, he arrived in front a door in the middle of a hallway. It seemed odd to have a room in the middle of a hallway, but he continued on anyway and passed through the door.
The room he entered was vast and filled with color. In the four corners of the room there were different colors and decorations, each having a rather large banner above them. The shrine to his right read"Gryffindor," the other to his left read "Slytherin," and the two across the read "Hufflepuff" and "Ravenclaw."
The latter two words he didn't recognize but the first two he did. He began to approach the shrine that read "Gryffindor" and examined it. It held many pictures of young magical beings dressed in the colors that represented Gryffindor. His gaze then fell upon a silver, jewel embedded sword with the name "Godric Gryffindor" written upon it. Realization hit the man in the flash. 'Could it be? Is that really Marcus' Grandchild?' he mused to himself. He then moved towards the other shrine, the one with "Slytherin" hanging proudly above it. He walked over and saw a similar display as the one of Gryffindor. He then saw the portrait of an old, bald and evil looking man. The man in the picture seemed to be staring at him with a blazing gaze. He then read the name underneath the portrait. It said "Salazar Slytherin," and he immediately recognized the name. 'That's definitely Trantis' son! What a vile and disgusting family!' he thought to himself as he spit on the floor near the portrait, showing his disgust for that particular family.
He was about to move towards the other two shrines when he immediately felt a powerful and familiar force enter his consciousness. He knew what that pull on his mind meant, and it also meant that he had to move immediately. He searched his mind for the connection once again, making sure it was real. Once he confirmed that it was, he growled deeply and uttered one word, "Lucien."
He brought his fingers to his head and concentrated as he closed his eyes, then disappeared in a red flash...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Present Time: The Burrow...
Harry and Ron walked to the front door of the quaint house and entered to find Hermione and Ginny sitting at the kitchen table having tea. The two women noticed their respective boyfriends enter and immediately rose to go to them. Hermione hugged Ron and gave him a quick kiss as she grabbed him by the waist and directed him towards the table. Ginny slid her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him sweetly. She led him to the table and sat him down, taking a seat on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. She looked him in the eyes and noticed the oddness in his expression and caressed his cheek gently.
"Something on your mind love?" Harry responded by wrapping his arms around Ginny's waist and sighed deeply." Something happened at work today, and it's got me puzzled and a bit worried." It was amazing how much Harry would open up to Ginny; it was like he wasn't afraid to say what he felt around her. Ginny continued to stroke his face and answered him soothingly, "Want to talk about it?"
Harry looked to Ron and he nodded back in response. Harry then proceeded to relay the events of the past 4 hours. Hermione and Ginny listened intently and Ron interjected randomly to add to the story. When Harry finished, Ginny gripped him tightly and buried her head in the nape of his neck, snuggling close to him. "You know I'm confident in you, but please do as that man said and stay out of it," she said softly. Harry sighed and tightened his grip on her. She was scared for him, and scared of the mystery man's warning. Harry looked to Ron and Hermione to find her gripping Ron's hand tightly, watching Harry and Ginny with worry etched in her face. It was worry for them, worry for Ron, and worry for what all of this meant.
A few moments later, Hermione snapped out of her silence and addressed Harry, "He said you had to look in the place where desires become reality. Harry, I think he means the Room of Requirement." It was like a thousand pieces clicked into place in his mind. Of course! How could he have missed that? He was about to ask Hermione another question when she spoke again, "Discover when imbalance was born...that's a bit more complicated. I'll have to do some research, but first we need to figure out what he is referring to." Times never change, and Hermione as usual, was several steps ahead of Harry.
She looked to Ron, silently asking for his input. He also sighed, "Let's sleep on it and worry about it tomorrow. Right now I'm starving, so let's go eat yeah?" They all nodded in agreement, but only Hermione and Ron rose. Harry and Ginny remained in their embrace and Harry silently asked the couple opposite them for a moment alone. They conveyed their consent and left the room quietly.
Harry turned to Ginny and stroked her hair, grabbing her attention. "You ok with this love? I won't have you worrying about me and driving yourself mad over it." She smiled at him lightly and leaned in, kissing his nose. "You're capable and smart. Just don't do anything stupid ok?" Harry laughed and kissed her soundly on the mouth. "Deal, now let's go have some lunch." Ginny smiled brightly and looked mischievously at Harry, "How about we go upstairs for some quality time instead?" Harry stroked his chin and pretended to contemplate the option. This earned him a slap on the arm from Ginny and he nodded happily. Ginny moved herself off Harry's lap and grasped his hand, pulling him upstairs towards her room...
Chapter 2: Visitor in the Castle
Harry and Ron Apparated into Diagon Alley from the Ministry and were immediately met by their team of fellow Aurors. The co-leader of their team, Stenos, approached the pair and began to speak immediately after nodding his head in greeting,
"This way guys, it's like nothing I've ever seen."
Harry and Ron followed Stenos into Knockturn Alley and were greeted with the site of at least 5 other Aurors standing over the lumped mass of skin and bone. Harry and Ron moved closer to inspect the corpse and determine what spell was used to kill him. Harry waved his wand and murmured an incantation meant to reveal the use of Unforgiveables. When he found the presence of none, he furrowed his brow curiously. Ron noticed this, and without needing words, began to perform his own spell over the body. Again there was nothing. Now he was thoroughly stumped. Ron turned to Harry finding him just as puzzled.
"He definitely died before hit the wall. There's no way he was killed without the use of magic, since there isn't a mark on him."
Harry nodded and spoke as well,"The assailant didn't use the Avada, nor any magic we can find, so how did he die?"
"That's we are trying to figure out," said a deep commanding voice from behind the pair. They knew that voice. The men both turned around and were greeted with the sight of none other than the minister himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley patted both men on the back and ushered them away from the body.
"We can't pin what could have caused this. It obviously wasn't suicide; his wand hasn't been used in the last 2 days. That is why we called you both. You have experience with powerful and mysterious magic since you dealt with Voldemort. I was wondering if you would be willing to try and see what happened using your past experiences," Kingsley explained.
Harry again furrowed his brow,"Minister, I told you about all that before. I honestly don't know what caused me to survive two Avada Kedavras, nor do I know much about old magic. I'm just as stumped as you are," and Ron nodded in agreement.
Kingsley sighed in defeat. If Harry or Ron didn't know who would? "Very well then, I appreciate your efforts. We'll keep doing what we can to figure this out, but I'm a bit weary of finding the answer to be honest."
"As you should be," said a deep, authoritative and commanding voice. Harry, Kingsley and Ron whirled around immediately, wands drawn and pointing at the foreign voice. Noticing the movement, the rest of the Aurors reacted similarly, aiming their wands at the unknown presence.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Ron commanded.
The figure stepped into the light. It was tall and stocky, wearing dark robes that revealed the hilt of a sword from underneath them. Its face was obscured by a dark hood, but its eyes were icy blue and piercing. The figure's hands were at its side, open and dangling harmlessly. Slowly, its left hand rose and ran through its hair, pulling the hood back and revealing its face. The man's face looked like it was chiseled from marble, with high and well defined cheekbones. His chin was smooth and fit his face perfectly. Furthermore, he was smiling. It wasn't a threatening smile, nor was it one of pleasure. It was one of knowledge and superiority, like he knew the group that currently surrounded him could nothing against him. His grin grew wider as he spoke, "Satisfied?"
Ron maintained his composure, unfazed by the eerie eyes and smile from the man before him, "Not in the least. What is your name and why are you here?"
The man's smiled faded and his face became hardened and serious, "You must look in the place where what you desire is what you find, and discover when imbalance was born. You must /need/to see into the beginning. Perhaps then you will vaguely understand why this does not concern you."
The group looked puzzled. What was he babbling about? However, something inside told Harry that he should take this man's words to heart. He was trying to tell them something, but what and furthermore, why? Harry was oddly reminded of Dumbledore, and how the reverent old man used to teach him in riddles. Harry was brought out of his musings by Kingsley's frustrated and irritated reply,
"You will come with us and submit to questioning regarding the events that transpired here today."
"I think not," the man replied. His smile returned as his hands moved towards the inside of his robes. Instantly, Harry, Ron, Stenos, Kingsley and the other Aurors cried "/Stupefy!" /The jets of red light flew towards their target, heading straight for his chest. The man's smile merely widened as he raised his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, all of the jets were deflected away harmlessly. The group was stunned, how was that possible? His icy eyes gazed at Harry, Ron and Kingsley hard and the three men begin to feel a cold shiver run up their backs. Within seconds they became incapable of movement. The man was still smiling as he approached the trio slowly, the other Aurors seemingly frozen in place. When the man reached them, he leaned close, his eyes never leaving them and his calm voice was a mere whisper.
"If I wanted you dead, you would be. Luckily for you, I don't kill innocents." He leaned back slightly and looked the men in the eyes one by one before he spoke again. "It would be prudent for you not to attempt to impede me. What transpired today is beyond your understanding, and you would do well to forget meeting me." The man then stepped away from the trio and brought his index and middle fingers to his forehead, resting them there lightly as he closed his eyes. In a brief flash of red, he was gone.
The trio was released from the invisible grip and the other Aurors suddenly burst into motion, running towards the three men. For a moment, they were all stunned. Finally, Ron spoke up,"What the bloody hell was that?!" Harry and Kingsley both looked to Ron as they replied, "I wish I knew." The group then broke their stunned silence and began to hustle and attempt to locate the mysterious man.
After several hours, they all came up empty handed. Kingsley called the Aurors together and proceeded to issue new orders to them. When he fell upon Ron and Harry, his voice was calm,
"You two have done enough today. You may both return to the Burrow. I'll let you know if anything new turns up."
Ron and Harry simply nodded and Apparated back to the Burrow, puzzlement and confusion still written across their faces...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hours Earlier...
The hooded figure made it way towards a massive castle. Something about was familiar. Not the castle itself, but the odd aura it gave off. The being approached the massive double doors that seemingly lead into the castle. He looked to the doors and waved his hand towards them. Then he stepped forward and passed directly through the doors. He ignored the rather large hallways and instead followed the odd pull of something in the castle. He couldn't figure out what it was or why it was calling to him, but he simply couldn't resist.
He made his way through the castle, passing adult magical beings as he did. His abilities kept his presence hidden from them and allowed him to move around unhindered. A few moments later, he arrived in front a door in the middle of a hallway. It seemed odd to have a room in the middle of a hallway, but he continued on anyway and passed through the door.
The room he entered was vast and filled with color. In the four corners of the room there were different colors and decorations, each having a rather large banner above them. The shrine to his right read"Gryffindor," the other to his left read "Slytherin," and the two across the read "Hufflepuff" and "Ravenclaw."
The latter two words he didn't recognize but the first two he did. He began to approach the shrine that read "Gryffindor" and examined it. It held many pictures of young magical beings dressed in the colors that represented Gryffindor. His gaze then fell upon a silver, jewel embedded sword with the name "Godric Gryffindor" written upon it. Realization hit the man in the flash. 'Could it be? Is that really Marcus' Grandchild?' he mused to himself. He then moved towards the other shrine, the one with "Slytherin" hanging proudly above it. He walked over and saw a similar display as the one of Gryffindor. He then saw the portrait of an old, bald and evil looking man. The man in the picture seemed to be staring at him with a blazing gaze. He then read the name underneath the portrait. It said "Salazar Slytherin," and he immediately recognized the name. 'That's definitely Trantis' son! What a vile and disgusting family!' he thought to himself as he spit on the floor near the portrait, showing his disgust for that particular family.
He was about to move towards the other two shrines when he immediately felt a powerful and familiar force enter his consciousness. He knew what that pull on his mind meant, and it also meant that he had to move immediately. He searched his mind for the connection once again, making sure it was real. Once he confirmed that it was, he growled deeply and uttered one word, "Lucien."
He brought his fingers to his head and concentrated as he closed his eyes, then disappeared in a red flash...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Present Time: The Burrow...
Harry and Ron walked to the front door of the quaint house and entered to find Hermione and Ginny sitting at the kitchen table having tea. The two women noticed their respective boyfriends enter and immediately rose to go to them. Hermione hugged Ron and gave him a quick kiss as she grabbed him by the waist and directed him towards the table. Ginny slid her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him sweetly. She led him to the table and sat him down, taking a seat on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. She looked him in the eyes and noticed the oddness in his expression and caressed his cheek gently.
"Something on your mind love?" Harry responded by wrapping his arms around Ginny's waist and sighed deeply." Something happened at work today, and it's got me puzzled and a bit worried." It was amazing how much Harry would open up to Ginny; it was like he wasn't afraid to say what he felt around her. Ginny continued to stroke his face and answered him soothingly, "Want to talk about it?"
Harry looked to Ron and he nodded back in response. Harry then proceeded to relay the events of the past 4 hours. Hermione and Ginny listened intently and Ron interjected randomly to add to the story. When Harry finished, Ginny gripped him tightly and buried her head in the nape of his neck, snuggling close to him. "You know I'm confident in you, but please do as that man said and stay out of it," she said softly. Harry sighed and tightened his grip on her. She was scared for him, and scared of the mystery man's warning. Harry looked to Ron and Hermione to find her gripping Ron's hand tightly, watching Harry and Ginny with worry etched in her face. It was worry for them, worry for Ron, and worry for what all of this meant.
A few moments later, Hermione snapped out of her silence and addressed Harry, "He said you had to look in the place where desires become reality. Harry, I think he means the Room of Requirement." It was like a thousand pieces clicked into place in his mind. Of course! How could he have missed that? He was about to ask Hermione another question when she spoke again, "Discover when imbalance was born...that's a bit more complicated. I'll have to do some research, but first we need to figure out what he is referring to." Times never change, and Hermione as usual, was several steps ahead of Harry.
She looked to Ron, silently asking for his input. He also sighed, "Let's sleep on it and worry about it tomorrow. Right now I'm starving, so let's go eat yeah?" They all nodded in agreement, but only Hermione and Ron rose. Harry and Ginny remained in their embrace and Harry silently asked the couple opposite them for a moment alone. They conveyed their consent and left the room quietly.
Harry turned to Ginny and stroked her hair, grabbing her attention. "You ok with this love? I won't have you worrying about me and driving yourself mad over it." She smiled at him lightly and leaned in, kissing his nose. "You're capable and smart. Just don't do anything stupid ok?" Harry laughed and kissed her soundly on the mouth. "Deal, now let's go have some lunch." Ginny smiled brightly and looked mischievously at Harry, "How about we go upstairs for some quality time instead?" Harry stroked his chin and pretended to contemplate the option. This earned him a slap on the arm from Ginny and he nodded happily. Ginny moved herself off Harry's lap and grasped his hand, pulling him upstairs towards her room...
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