Seduction of Darkness
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Voldemort
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
25
Views:
65,288
Reviews:
247
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Voldemort
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
25
Views:
65,288
Reviews:
247
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
2
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Reflect the Storm
Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Seduction of Darkness
Poisoned Ink
Chapter 23
Reflect the Storm
~0~0~0~0~0~
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade
Noble six hundred.
-The Charge of the Light Brigade
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
~0~0~0~0~0~
Harry looked around nervously as they walked down a darkened hallway, unconsciously scooting closer to Voldemort as they walked. He jumped as something snapped behind him.
“It’s just a twig,” Voldemort murmured, placing his hand on Harry’s back once again, feeling the tensed muscle relax slightly at his touch.
Taurean pulled both of them into a stop before a stone wall. He held out his hand, tracing the crack that cut the stone wall in half. Harry squinted and tried to trace Taurean’s hand in the flickering light from the torches. There was a weird movement from Taurean’s hands and a quiet murmur.
“Stand back,” Taurean grunted, stepping away from the wall. Harry and Voldemort followed, both watching the wall curiously.
With a wave of his hand, the wall crumbled into pieces, the dust danced in the air with a loud bang, leaving Harry in coughs.
The three waved their hands frantically, wands forgotten, to clean the dust. When the dust had settled down, an entrance was revealed.
“Welcome,” Taurean introduced proudly, waving his hand in big arcs in the air, “To the Battle Room.”
Harry’s eyes widened as he stepped into the room. The room was decorated in gold and marble. Hanging al over the walls were maps of the world and the veela kingdom, with thousands of marks on the maps.
Voldemort nodded his head in approve, examining the maps.
“It’s one of the most secretive rooms in the castle,” Taurean commented, and held his head up high, “It contains all the war plans in case we are in war.”
“Of course,” Voldemort nodded, letting his eyes sweep over the long tables, which were also overlapped with maps, although much older. The wrinkled edges of the maps seemed to shrink under the torch light. “It has the most…interesting…entrance.”
“Designed by Oliverium himself,” Taurean said proudly, “It rebuilds itself after we’ve entered. Oliverium thought the dramatic effect was quite entertaining.”
Both Voldemort and Harry assumed that Oliverium was the person who designed the castle.
Harry found himself attached to a particular map on the wall. “Look!” he dragged Voldemort in front of the map. “It’s Hogwarts!”
The map of Hogwarts was the most extensive one he’s ever seen. There were rooms on the map that he’s never seen or heard of. The map glowed with colors, each color representing what Harry suspected to be the wards.
“The wards are being rebuilt,” Voldemort muttered, watching as another layer of faint glow slowly took place with the others. The death eaters that he has chosen to guard the castle were doing their job, indeed.
Voldemort shook himself away from the map and walked sharply to the table, settling himself down at one of the armchairs.
“Taurean,” Voldemort drawled, “Why don’t you start by telling me what’s happening in the Kingdom?”
Taurean chuckled nervously under the slick voice Voldemort have mastered so well.
“We’ve been having problems with vampires for centuries;” Taurean said finally, “Their Kingdom is not far away from here. In fact, we have just finished a way with them, that’s why everything is disorganized around here.” He laughed nervously again, “People are still jumpy, despite our victory.”
Voldemort growled, still not happy about letting Dumbledore go because of the faults in the veela kingdom.
“What about my war?” Voldemort said quietly, glaring at Taurean still.
“We have 20,000 in the army right now,” Taurean said quickly, not wanting to upset the prince, Only 5,000 can be sent out.”
Voldemort nodded in approval. 5000 was more than enough, especially when every one of the soldiers is as strong as his top death eaters, if not more.
“Is there a chance that the vampires would be joining us as well?” Harry asked quietly, his stomach tightening at the building power the light side was up against. “They are dark creatures, after all.”
“There are no dark or light creatures in alliances of the war,” Taurean commented, “We are supposed to be light creatures. And yet we are on the other side.”
He went silent for awhile. Taurean darted his eyes across the room and looked at Voldemort, who stared coolly back. “Perhaps we can convince the vampires,” he finally said, “Although thousands of years of rivalry are hard to overcome.”
Voldemort suddenly smiled at Harry, “I’m sure we can overcome those…problems.”
“What about the other allies?” Harry asked, “I know Dumbledore is here to seek alliance with the veelas…”
“That’s the other problem,” Voldemort frowned, and rubbed his nose, “As far as I know, the werewolves are siding with the light because Lupin,” He snarled, “Is a pack leader.”
“Vampires and werewolves are very closely related…” Taurean hesitated, “Many vampires mate with werewolves.”
“That’s going to make it hard for us to get the vampires,” Harry commented, his fingers twisting in his white robes, not quiet comfortable being with strangers, “that’s if we can convince them overcome their problems with the veelas first.”
Voldemort tapped his fingers on the table slowly, lost in thought for the moment.
“Vampires are not out only option,” Taurean said softly, “We do have some contacts with dementors.”
Harry gasped in surprise. You would never expect a creature as beautiful as veelas to make contact with dementors.
“Forget the vampires,” Voldemort finally said, “It would be better to convince other groups than to focus on the single group of vampires.”
Taurean gulped. He knew what that meant for the veelas. They would have to go through another war with the vampires, although they are only allies this time. But who could turn down the Crown Prince’s request?
~0~0~0~0~0~
While in the throne room, the King and Queen settled in their thrones again, the chatting counsel calmed down and took their place in the court.
A messenger knocked on the doors of the court, and everyone stood more still. The doors were pushed open, and came the messenger with Dumbledore trailing behind him.
The messenger bowed in front of the thrones, gesturing Dumbledore to bow also.
The King waves his hand, dismissing the messenger while Dumbledore straightened up and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“Dumbledore,” The King chuckled uncomfortably, “What brings you here?”
Dumbledore hesitated before answering, the unfamiliar aura getting stronger as he stepped into the courtyard. “My King,” he finally replied, “I apologize for disturbing your peace, my highness,” he said politely, bowing his head slightly as he talked, “But there are situations in the wizarding world that must be brought to attention…”
“So I heard from others,” The King interrupted, brushing his hand against his knee, “That there is a war in the wizarding world, no?”
“Yes,” Dumbledore confirmed firmly, “It has been going on for years…”
“And why must it be brought to my attention?” The King said slowly, “As much as I’m concerned, the Veelas are not involved in any of your world’s problems…”
“Perhaps you misunderstood, my King,” Dumbledore said quickly, beginning to feel the nervousness knotting in his stomach, “The war will not only affect the wizarding world, but all the magical creatures that currently exists.”
“I see,” The King said calmly, “I assume that you are involved in this?”
Dumbledore scowled slightly, the sparks in his eyes dulled. The Veelas leader was strangely…calm. Too calm, in fact, it is as if he has been contacted before, as if the veelas have been contacted with the dark side…
“Yes,” Dumbledore replied, more slowly now, “In fact, I am a leader of the light wizards in the war.”
“Ahh, then it is a honor to speak to you,” The King smiled slightly, “Unfortunately the veelas are not ready to choose sides in another war.”
Dumbledore felt the knot building in his stomach move, making a sharp soreness in his abdomen.
“And may I ask, why not?” Dumbledore inquired quickly, not letting the veelas deny him easily.
The King shifted, and glanced at the Queen. The Queen’s eyes narrowed. The King turned back to Dumbledore and his face twisted into an apologetic expression.
“The veelas have just gotten out of our war with the vampires,” he replied, “The army is weak and people are still in panic. We will not have another war placed upon the veelas.”
Dumbledore sighed. This is not his day. Everything seemed to go wrong, with the capture of Harry, the sharp, bitter aura surrounding the castle, to the horrible timing of the war that limited his alliances.
“I apologize, my King,” Dumbledore finally said in resignation, “for the disturbance I have caused.”
“It was my pleasure, Dumbledore,” The King replied smoothly, “My deepest apology for not being able to help.”
Dumbledore nodded, and exited the throne room. After all, the Veelas’ help did not determine the victory of the war. There are many other alliances that he has yet seeked, and he was going to make sure to get to every one of them.
~0~0~0~0~0~
The hall seemed darker than before Dumbledore walked in. He walked slowly down the blue-tinted halls. The aura was getting stronger now, pulling him at the back of his mind. Dumbledore frowned as he encountered a hallway where the aura was particularity strong, luring him to step into the hall. Curiously, he turned to the hallway, gripping his wand so tight that his knuckles turned white.
The aura is stronger now. Dumbledore could feel it pulling and mingling with his own. This hallway was different than others. The normal ones seem majestic and delightful, and this one is more like the Dungeons of Hogwarts. It’s slimy and dark, with porches every few feet to provide light. Shadows followed him, danced around, and he jerked away from the dark and retreated to the area where the torches’ light lit, but there was no escaping from the shadows.
He finally reached the end of the hallway, and stared in surprise at the dead-end that he faced. He was just about to turn back when the wall collapsed, the heavy stones smashing into the stone ground, breaking into pieces. Dust rose in the air, causing Dumbledore to duck on instinct. Coughing slightly from the dirty air, he tensed on the sudden event, his heart started pounding harder as silhouettes started to appear before him.
Voices began to murmur among the silhouettes. Dumbledore stayed still in the dancing dust, leaning forward slightly, listening carefully to the conversation. The aura was at its strongest now, almost causing pain in his hest. Dumbledore was sure this is where the aura originated from, that this is what he is looking for.
“…annoying…”
Dumbledore frowned at the murmurs that he can barely hear over the scattering stones.
The dust settled slowly. Dumbledore gave a muffled yelp as the figures of Harry, Voldemort and Taurean appeared before him.
Voldemort had a somewhat similar reaction. Harry found himself pushed aside roughly. Wands were drawn, both Dumbledore and Voldemort stood, facing each other, their bodies tense, ready to attack at any moment.
“Well, well, well,” Voldemort glared, feeling the excitement building up at the thought of capturing Dumbledore.
“Voldemort,” Dumbledore murmured, “So we meet again.”
“You won’t get away this time,” Voldemort laughed evilly, getting a better grip on his wand. “Not like the last time.”
Glances were thrown at Harry, who struggled weakly in Taurean’s arms, too shocked to say anything. There was a reason that Taurean was the Army Commander, Harry grunted, the guy was strong and he had iron grips.
“You will release Harry this moment,” Dumbledore lowered his voice, his magic cackled around him.
Voldemort was not intimidated by the show of magic. “I don’t plan to, Dumbledore,” he drawled arrogantly, “You might have been a challenge two years ago, but now, you are nothing to me.”
“Always so arrogant, Tom,” Dumbledore smiled tightly, “Always underestimating your opponents.”
Something flared in Voldemort’s eyes and he held his wand firmly. His magic was almost sparkling around him, the room getting hotter and hotter by the minute.
“You,” he walked slowly towards Dumbledore, “will not call me Tom.”
“Expelliarmus!” Dumbledore cried, taking several steps back. Voldemort leaped to the right, the sizzling light zoomed past his left shoulder, smashing into the stone wall, making a small dent in the wall.
“Incendio! Crucio!” Voldemort flicked his wand quickly, sending two beams of magic towards Dumbledore.
“Tom!” Harry finally cried out as more curses were exchanged, the stone wall tearing its tones to the floor. “Sto…”
Voldemort sent a quick glare at Taurean, who scrambled into action and placed a hand over Harry’s mouth, dragging him out of the hallway, dodging several curses on his way out.
In the hallway, the curses intensified, sending more crumbles onto the floor from the damage of the stone walls. Magic sizzled in the air, swirling and tangling each other.
“Crucio! Diffindo!” Dumbledore murmured under his breath, his body flinging wildly in the air, dodging curses that seemed to be everywhere. He now knows that age played a big role in dueling, he wasn’t able to dodge as fast as he liked.
Voldemort avoided the two curses easily. “Effregiossis!” he sent the curse slightly off to the right of Dumbledore. “Avada Kedavra!” he shouted loud enough for Dumbledore to hear, aiming the deadly curse straight to his chest.
Dumbledore’s eyes widened and he stumbled the opposite side of the Killing Curse. He lost his balance and leaned on the left, the first curse that Voldemort cast hitting his calf. He grunted and reached for the wall, supporting himself with his hand and his right leg.
Voldemort grinned in triumph. The reaction was exactly as he expected. With Dumbledore’s leg down, he would never be a match to himself. With another flick of want, he sent more curses, while Dumbledore started to panic.
With a difficult grunt, Dumbledore leaned on his injured leg for a fraction of a second, trying to ignore the white, hot pain that his protesting leg sent up. He twisted his body in the last the minute and avoided the blue beam of light from Voldemort.
Dumbledore knew he had to get away somehow; otherwise he would be captured in this duel that he has already lost.
All the while, the stones from the walls kept breaking, shattering to the floor like rain.
~0~0~0~0~0~
“Let me go, God dammit!” Harry struggled and squirmed in Taurean’s arms, trying to break loose.
Taurean merely tightened his grip on Harry, and continued to drag him towards the throne room.
Finally Harry gave up and fell limp in Taurean’s arms, letting himself to be dragged further.
Taurean didn’t even bother to knock on the great doors, pushing them roughly with his left shoulder, stepping into the room hastily.
The whole room turned and stared as Taurean dragged a very unwilling Harry Potter in front of the throne, both panting as if they’ve ran miles.
“Dumbledore…”Taurean panted, trying to catch his breath, “Dumbledore…duel…Prince…”
Immediately the murmurs rose from the room again, the member of the counsel whispering furiously among themselves. The King stood up angrily.
“Silence!” he yelled, his voice echoing throughout the room. The counsel stopped their chatter, looking at their leader expectantly.
“Ten guards,” The King murmured after a few seconds, “Send ten guards to help the Prince. This incident will not travel beyond the walls of this castle, is this clear?”
The counsel quickly nodded in assurance, scrambling around to get the guards.
“You two,” The King turned sharply, gesturing to Harry and Taurean, “Come with me.”
“Perhaps I should…” The Queen started, but sat down quickly as the King sent her a hard look.
Harry gulped and let his feet drag himself slowly to follow the King. Something tells him that his will not be such a pleasant experience.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Between the sound of the murmurs and the crumbling stone, Dumbledore somehow picked up the sound of footsteps. Haste and urgent footsteps that were becoming louder and louder. He looked back to the end of the hall between the beams of light, the familiar shines of the Veelas’ silver armor flashing in the corner of his eye. Dumbledore gulped. The Veelas have sent help for Voldemort, and he had to get out of here, fast.
Suddenly there were spells everywhere, sent both from the Voldemort and from the Guards. Voldemort’s spells were determined to break him into pieces by some very disturbing methods, while the guard’s curses were for distraction, not aiming to actually damage him.
The stone over head rumbled and shook, sending more and more pieces of tiny grains to the ground. The soldiers have moved past Dumbledore now, surrounding Voldemort like bodyguards. Dumbledore looked around wildly, trying to find something, anything that would help him to escape.
The sounds surrounding him drew him in, and suddenly all he could hear was the sounds. He moved numbly to avoid the beams of light. The ever increasing muttering of curses, the crumble of grains under his feet and the sounds of the wall breaking fill him head. The walls creaked, unable to hold on for any loner under the incessant attack of magic.
An idea came into Dumbledore’ mind. He crawled backwards, getting further away from his attackers. A beam of light soared through the air and hit his back, causing several long wounds to appear. Blood gushed out of the wounds, painting his white robes crimson. Dumbledore winced, aiming his wand at himself to murmur a spell to stop the flowing of blood.
With all his energy, Dumbledore flipped around and pointed his wand at the ceiling between him and Voldemort. He sent several blast spells up the cling quickly, smiling at the flash of surprise in Voldemort’s eyes as huge pieces of stone came between them, successfully blocking Voldemort and the guards for a short time.
Dumbledore quickly sent a few more blasts towards the ceiling, causing more stones to fall on the floor, making even a bigger pile. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and ran as fast as he could with an injured leg. No more than 50 feet away from the hallway and an explosive sound could be heard, along with violent coughing in the dust. Dumbledore kept running, determined not to look back. He limped through the mazes of hallways, silently cursing the Veelas for building such a complicated castle, before he finally reached a doorway that led to the outside.
He pushed through with his now sore legs, the pain shooting up to his head and all over his body. Balance was lost during the process of opening the door. Dumbledore fell onto the floor, wincing as his body sent more pressure to both of his legs. The good thing was that now he was out of the protective wards.
He apparated with a pop, missing a stun sent by one of the guards narrowly. The last thing he heard was the outraged scream made by Voldemort.
He reappeared at his Manor, immediately being swarmed over y concerned order members. Dumbledore grunted weakly as he was lifted gently off the carpet and onto the bed, thinking of ways to tell everyone the new discovery.
~0~0~0~0~0~
O, serpent heart, hid with flow’ ring face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!
Dove-feathered raven! Wolvish-ravening lamb!
Despised substance of divinest snow!
Just opposite to what thou justly seem’st
A damned saint, an honorable villain!
O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell,
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend
In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?
Was ever book containing such vile matter,
So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell,
In such a gorgeous place!
-Romeo and Juliet
-William Shakespeare
~0~0~0~0~0~
Seduction of Darkness
Poisoned Ink
Chapter 23
Reflect the Storm
~0~0~0~0~0~
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade
Noble six hundred.
-The Charge of the Light Brigade
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
~0~0~0~0~0~
Harry looked around nervously as they walked down a darkened hallway, unconsciously scooting closer to Voldemort as they walked. He jumped as something snapped behind him.
“It’s just a twig,” Voldemort murmured, placing his hand on Harry’s back once again, feeling the tensed muscle relax slightly at his touch.
Taurean pulled both of them into a stop before a stone wall. He held out his hand, tracing the crack that cut the stone wall in half. Harry squinted and tried to trace Taurean’s hand in the flickering light from the torches. There was a weird movement from Taurean’s hands and a quiet murmur.
“Stand back,” Taurean grunted, stepping away from the wall. Harry and Voldemort followed, both watching the wall curiously.
With a wave of his hand, the wall crumbled into pieces, the dust danced in the air with a loud bang, leaving Harry in coughs.
The three waved their hands frantically, wands forgotten, to clean the dust. When the dust had settled down, an entrance was revealed.
“Welcome,” Taurean introduced proudly, waving his hand in big arcs in the air, “To the Battle Room.”
Harry’s eyes widened as he stepped into the room. The room was decorated in gold and marble. Hanging al over the walls were maps of the world and the veela kingdom, with thousands of marks on the maps.
Voldemort nodded his head in approve, examining the maps.
“It’s one of the most secretive rooms in the castle,” Taurean commented, and held his head up high, “It contains all the war plans in case we are in war.”
“Of course,” Voldemort nodded, letting his eyes sweep over the long tables, which were also overlapped with maps, although much older. The wrinkled edges of the maps seemed to shrink under the torch light. “It has the most…interesting…entrance.”
“Designed by Oliverium himself,” Taurean said proudly, “It rebuilds itself after we’ve entered. Oliverium thought the dramatic effect was quite entertaining.”
Both Voldemort and Harry assumed that Oliverium was the person who designed the castle.
Harry found himself attached to a particular map on the wall. “Look!” he dragged Voldemort in front of the map. “It’s Hogwarts!”
The map of Hogwarts was the most extensive one he’s ever seen. There were rooms on the map that he’s never seen or heard of. The map glowed with colors, each color representing what Harry suspected to be the wards.
“The wards are being rebuilt,” Voldemort muttered, watching as another layer of faint glow slowly took place with the others. The death eaters that he has chosen to guard the castle were doing their job, indeed.
Voldemort shook himself away from the map and walked sharply to the table, settling himself down at one of the armchairs.
“Taurean,” Voldemort drawled, “Why don’t you start by telling me what’s happening in the Kingdom?”
Taurean chuckled nervously under the slick voice Voldemort have mastered so well.
“We’ve been having problems with vampires for centuries;” Taurean said finally, “Their Kingdom is not far away from here. In fact, we have just finished a way with them, that’s why everything is disorganized around here.” He laughed nervously again, “People are still jumpy, despite our victory.”
Voldemort growled, still not happy about letting Dumbledore go because of the faults in the veela kingdom.
“What about my war?” Voldemort said quietly, glaring at Taurean still.
“We have 20,000 in the army right now,” Taurean said quickly, not wanting to upset the prince, Only 5,000 can be sent out.”
Voldemort nodded in approval. 5000 was more than enough, especially when every one of the soldiers is as strong as his top death eaters, if not more.
“Is there a chance that the vampires would be joining us as well?” Harry asked quietly, his stomach tightening at the building power the light side was up against. “They are dark creatures, after all.”
“There are no dark or light creatures in alliances of the war,” Taurean commented, “We are supposed to be light creatures. And yet we are on the other side.”
He went silent for awhile. Taurean darted his eyes across the room and looked at Voldemort, who stared coolly back. “Perhaps we can convince the vampires,” he finally said, “Although thousands of years of rivalry are hard to overcome.”
Voldemort suddenly smiled at Harry, “I’m sure we can overcome those…problems.”
“What about the other allies?” Harry asked, “I know Dumbledore is here to seek alliance with the veelas…”
“That’s the other problem,” Voldemort frowned, and rubbed his nose, “As far as I know, the werewolves are siding with the light because Lupin,” He snarled, “Is a pack leader.”
“Vampires and werewolves are very closely related…” Taurean hesitated, “Many vampires mate with werewolves.”
“That’s going to make it hard for us to get the vampires,” Harry commented, his fingers twisting in his white robes, not quiet comfortable being with strangers, “that’s if we can convince them overcome their problems with the veelas first.”
Voldemort tapped his fingers on the table slowly, lost in thought for the moment.
“Vampires are not out only option,” Taurean said softly, “We do have some contacts with dementors.”
Harry gasped in surprise. You would never expect a creature as beautiful as veelas to make contact with dementors.
“Forget the vampires,” Voldemort finally said, “It would be better to convince other groups than to focus on the single group of vampires.”
Taurean gulped. He knew what that meant for the veelas. They would have to go through another war with the vampires, although they are only allies this time. But who could turn down the Crown Prince’s request?
~0~0~0~0~0~
While in the throne room, the King and Queen settled in their thrones again, the chatting counsel calmed down and took their place in the court.
A messenger knocked on the doors of the court, and everyone stood more still. The doors were pushed open, and came the messenger with Dumbledore trailing behind him.
The messenger bowed in front of the thrones, gesturing Dumbledore to bow also.
The King waves his hand, dismissing the messenger while Dumbledore straightened up and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“Dumbledore,” The King chuckled uncomfortably, “What brings you here?”
Dumbledore hesitated before answering, the unfamiliar aura getting stronger as he stepped into the courtyard. “My King,” he finally replied, “I apologize for disturbing your peace, my highness,” he said politely, bowing his head slightly as he talked, “But there are situations in the wizarding world that must be brought to attention…”
“So I heard from others,” The King interrupted, brushing his hand against his knee, “That there is a war in the wizarding world, no?”
“Yes,” Dumbledore confirmed firmly, “It has been going on for years…”
“And why must it be brought to my attention?” The King said slowly, “As much as I’m concerned, the Veelas are not involved in any of your world’s problems…”
“Perhaps you misunderstood, my King,” Dumbledore said quickly, beginning to feel the nervousness knotting in his stomach, “The war will not only affect the wizarding world, but all the magical creatures that currently exists.”
“I see,” The King said calmly, “I assume that you are involved in this?”
Dumbledore scowled slightly, the sparks in his eyes dulled. The Veelas leader was strangely…calm. Too calm, in fact, it is as if he has been contacted before, as if the veelas have been contacted with the dark side…
“Yes,” Dumbledore replied, more slowly now, “In fact, I am a leader of the light wizards in the war.”
“Ahh, then it is a honor to speak to you,” The King smiled slightly, “Unfortunately the veelas are not ready to choose sides in another war.”
Dumbledore felt the knot building in his stomach move, making a sharp soreness in his abdomen.
“And may I ask, why not?” Dumbledore inquired quickly, not letting the veelas deny him easily.
The King shifted, and glanced at the Queen. The Queen’s eyes narrowed. The King turned back to Dumbledore and his face twisted into an apologetic expression.
“The veelas have just gotten out of our war with the vampires,” he replied, “The army is weak and people are still in panic. We will not have another war placed upon the veelas.”
Dumbledore sighed. This is not his day. Everything seemed to go wrong, with the capture of Harry, the sharp, bitter aura surrounding the castle, to the horrible timing of the war that limited his alliances.
“I apologize, my King,” Dumbledore finally said in resignation, “for the disturbance I have caused.”
“It was my pleasure, Dumbledore,” The King replied smoothly, “My deepest apology for not being able to help.”
Dumbledore nodded, and exited the throne room. After all, the Veelas’ help did not determine the victory of the war. There are many other alliances that he has yet seeked, and he was going to make sure to get to every one of them.
~0~0~0~0~0~
The hall seemed darker than before Dumbledore walked in. He walked slowly down the blue-tinted halls. The aura was getting stronger now, pulling him at the back of his mind. Dumbledore frowned as he encountered a hallway where the aura was particularity strong, luring him to step into the hall. Curiously, he turned to the hallway, gripping his wand so tight that his knuckles turned white.
The aura is stronger now. Dumbledore could feel it pulling and mingling with his own. This hallway was different than others. The normal ones seem majestic and delightful, and this one is more like the Dungeons of Hogwarts. It’s slimy and dark, with porches every few feet to provide light. Shadows followed him, danced around, and he jerked away from the dark and retreated to the area where the torches’ light lit, but there was no escaping from the shadows.
He finally reached the end of the hallway, and stared in surprise at the dead-end that he faced. He was just about to turn back when the wall collapsed, the heavy stones smashing into the stone ground, breaking into pieces. Dust rose in the air, causing Dumbledore to duck on instinct. Coughing slightly from the dirty air, he tensed on the sudden event, his heart started pounding harder as silhouettes started to appear before him.
Voices began to murmur among the silhouettes. Dumbledore stayed still in the dancing dust, leaning forward slightly, listening carefully to the conversation. The aura was at its strongest now, almost causing pain in his hest. Dumbledore was sure this is where the aura originated from, that this is what he is looking for.
“…annoying…”
Dumbledore frowned at the murmurs that he can barely hear over the scattering stones.
The dust settled slowly. Dumbledore gave a muffled yelp as the figures of Harry, Voldemort and Taurean appeared before him.
Voldemort had a somewhat similar reaction. Harry found himself pushed aside roughly. Wands were drawn, both Dumbledore and Voldemort stood, facing each other, their bodies tense, ready to attack at any moment.
“Well, well, well,” Voldemort glared, feeling the excitement building up at the thought of capturing Dumbledore.
“Voldemort,” Dumbledore murmured, “So we meet again.”
“You won’t get away this time,” Voldemort laughed evilly, getting a better grip on his wand. “Not like the last time.”
Glances were thrown at Harry, who struggled weakly in Taurean’s arms, too shocked to say anything. There was a reason that Taurean was the Army Commander, Harry grunted, the guy was strong and he had iron grips.
“You will release Harry this moment,” Dumbledore lowered his voice, his magic cackled around him.
Voldemort was not intimidated by the show of magic. “I don’t plan to, Dumbledore,” he drawled arrogantly, “You might have been a challenge two years ago, but now, you are nothing to me.”
“Always so arrogant, Tom,” Dumbledore smiled tightly, “Always underestimating your opponents.”
Something flared in Voldemort’s eyes and he held his wand firmly. His magic was almost sparkling around him, the room getting hotter and hotter by the minute.
“You,” he walked slowly towards Dumbledore, “will not call me Tom.”
“Expelliarmus!” Dumbledore cried, taking several steps back. Voldemort leaped to the right, the sizzling light zoomed past his left shoulder, smashing into the stone wall, making a small dent in the wall.
“Incendio! Crucio!” Voldemort flicked his wand quickly, sending two beams of magic towards Dumbledore.
“Tom!” Harry finally cried out as more curses were exchanged, the stone wall tearing its tones to the floor. “Sto…”
Voldemort sent a quick glare at Taurean, who scrambled into action and placed a hand over Harry’s mouth, dragging him out of the hallway, dodging several curses on his way out.
In the hallway, the curses intensified, sending more crumbles onto the floor from the damage of the stone walls. Magic sizzled in the air, swirling and tangling each other.
“Crucio! Diffindo!” Dumbledore murmured under his breath, his body flinging wildly in the air, dodging curses that seemed to be everywhere. He now knows that age played a big role in dueling, he wasn’t able to dodge as fast as he liked.
Voldemort avoided the two curses easily. “Effregiossis!” he sent the curse slightly off to the right of Dumbledore. “Avada Kedavra!” he shouted loud enough for Dumbledore to hear, aiming the deadly curse straight to his chest.
Dumbledore’s eyes widened and he stumbled the opposite side of the Killing Curse. He lost his balance and leaned on the left, the first curse that Voldemort cast hitting his calf. He grunted and reached for the wall, supporting himself with his hand and his right leg.
Voldemort grinned in triumph. The reaction was exactly as he expected. With Dumbledore’s leg down, he would never be a match to himself. With another flick of want, he sent more curses, while Dumbledore started to panic.
With a difficult grunt, Dumbledore leaned on his injured leg for a fraction of a second, trying to ignore the white, hot pain that his protesting leg sent up. He twisted his body in the last the minute and avoided the blue beam of light from Voldemort.
Dumbledore knew he had to get away somehow; otherwise he would be captured in this duel that he has already lost.
All the while, the stones from the walls kept breaking, shattering to the floor like rain.
~0~0~0~0~0~
“Let me go, God dammit!” Harry struggled and squirmed in Taurean’s arms, trying to break loose.
Taurean merely tightened his grip on Harry, and continued to drag him towards the throne room.
Finally Harry gave up and fell limp in Taurean’s arms, letting himself to be dragged further.
Taurean didn’t even bother to knock on the great doors, pushing them roughly with his left shoulder, stepping into the room hastily.
The whole room turned and stared as Taurean dragged a very unwilling Harry Potter in front of the throne, both panting as if they’ve ran miles.
“Dumbledore…”Taurean panted, trying to catch his breath, “Dumbledore…duel…Prince…”
Immediately the murmurs rose from the room again, the member of the counsel whispering furiously among themselves. The King stood up angrily.
“Silence!” he yelled, his voice echoing throughout the room. The counsel stopped their chatter, looking at their leader expectantly.
“Ten guards,” The King murmured after a few seconds, “Send ten guards to help the Prince. This incident will not travel beyond the walls of this castle, is this clear?”
The counsel quickly nodded in assurance, scrambling around to get the guards.
“You two,” The King turned sharply, gesturing to Harry and Taurean, “Come with me.”
“Perhaps I should…” The Queen started, but sat down quickly as the King sent her a hard look.
Harry gulped and let his feet drag himself slowly to follow the King. Something tells him that his will not be such a pleasant experience.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Between the sound of the murmurs and the crumbling stone, Dumbledore somehow picked up the sound of footsteps. Haste and urgent footsteps that were becoming louder and louder. He looked back to the end of the hall between the beams of light, the familiar shines of the Veelas’ silver armor flashing in the corner of his eye. Dumbledore gulped. The Veelas have sent help for Voldemort, and he had to get out of here, fast.
Suddenly there were spells everywhere, sent both from the Voldemort and from the Guards. Voldemort’s spells were determined to break him into pieces by some very disturbing methods, while the guard’s curses were for distraction, not aiming to actually damage him.
The stone over head rumbled and shook, sending more and more pieces of tiny grains to the ground. The soldiers have moved past Dumbledore now, surrounding Voldemort like bodyguards. Dumbledore looked around wildly, trying to find something, anything that would help him to escape.
The sounds surrounding him drew him in, and suddenly all he could hear was the sounds. He moved numbly to avoid the beams of light. The ever increasing muttering of curses, the crumble of grains under his feet and the sounds of the wall breaking fill him head. The walls creaked, unable to hold on for any loner under the incessant attack of magic.
An idea came into Dumbledore’ mind. He crawled backwards, getting further away from his attackers. A beam of light soared through the air and hit his back, causing several long wounds to appear. Blood gushed out of the wounds, painting his white robes crimson. Dumbledore winced, aiming his wand at himself to murmur a spell to stop the flowing of blood.
With all his energy, Dumbledore flipped around and pointed his wand at the ceiling between him and Voldemort. He sent several blast spells up the cling quickly, smiling at the flash of surprise in Voldemort’s eyes as huge pieces of stone came between them, successfully blocking Voldemort and the guards for a short time.
Dumbledore quickly sent a few more blasts towards the ceiling, causing more stones to fall on the floor, making even a bigger pile. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and ran as fast as he could with an injured leg. No more than 50 feet away from the hallway and an explosive sound could be heard, along with violent coughing in the dust. Dumbledore kept running, determined not to look back. He limped through the mazes of hallways, silently cursing the Veelas for building such a complicated castle, before he finally reached a doorway that led to the outside.
He pushed through with his now sore legs, the pain shooting up to his head and all over his body. Balance was lost during the process of opening the door. Dumbledore fell onto the floor, wincing as his body sent more pressure to both of his legs. The good thing was that now he was out of the protective wards.
He apparated with a pop, missing a stun sent by one of the guards narrowly. The last thing he heard was the outraged scream made by Voldemort.
He reappeared at his Manor, immediately being swarmed over y concerned order members. Dumbledore grunted weakly as he was lifted gently off the carpet and onto the bed, thinking of ways to tell everyone the new discovery.
~0~0~0~0~0~
O, serpent heart, hid with flow’ ring face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!
Dove-feathered raven! Wolvish-ravening lamb!
Despised substance of divinest snow!
Just opposite to what thou justly seem’st
A damned saint, an honorable villain!
O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell,
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend
In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?
Was ever book containing such vile matter,
So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell,
In such a gorgeous place!
-Romeo and Juliet
-William Shakespeare