Weapon

Posted - 29/10/2010

Thank you to Angel no Yami and teamedward240 for the editing :)

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Weapon (Possession Chapter XCVI)
Chapter XLV - It's Not All Smoke and Mirrors
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Draco lay on his back, looking up at the canopy of his bed. He needed to rest but he was too hyped to close his eyes. It almost felt as if he'd nicked the snitch from between the Gryffindorks fingers but about a thousand times better. At least the buzz did. The exhaustion plaguing his limbs was also real. He couldn't sleep yet though; he had too much to think about, too much to work out before he could succumb to the rest his body so desperately wanted.

First and foremost was his mother. Followed very closely by working out what exactly he'd done today. Or maybe the two of them went together, because his mother hadn't seemed surprised at his actions and had just packed him into bed without too much concern. Which would indicate she knew what that devastating but draining attack was.

The day had started out usually enough. He'd had a light breakfast and done some sparring against some of the pre-set targets his mother had always set up in the dueling room. Then he'd retired to his room to review a few of the advanced charms she'd assigned him to learn. They were charms he could barely perform, but Narcissa had assured him that he would be able to do them in due course, once he could fully access his power. She'd said something about him coming of age and accepting his heritage and if Draco was truthful with himself, the charms had been becoming easier over the summer. But they weren't coming easily enough yet to be useful. And he was looking forward to the looks on many faces when he casually erected what was one of the only known charms capable of deflecting the Cruciatus curse, a charm that required near sorcerer like understanding of magic to power it, or when he preformed other offensive charms. The three unforgivable curses were deemed that because of their ability to disrupt magical society and because they were performable by almost everyone. The charms his mother was teaching him were performed only by the most powerful and most skilled of wizards and while they were capable of great disruption to society, the rarity of wizards able to cast them meant they were regulated to listing as merely highly dangerous and almost unperformable charms. His mother had worn a particularly mystic smile as she'd explained that to him.

Still he wasn't yet capable of them and after reviewing them and practicing a little, practice which pulled tantalizingly on his power but didn't manifest the charms, he'd changed into his daytime formal robes. Today, his Mother had organized a luncheon with their peers. Peers who for the most part were loyal to the former Dark Lord. He'd decided he would never call the man he used to revere a Dark Lord any further. The man may have been once but now lacked the vision and the will to claim that title. He had become corrupted. Despite that though, the young Malfoy still assigned full respect to the Serpent Lord. He may no longer be a Dark Lord but he was still a wizard of formidable power, even if his vision had become corrupted. That was one of the things his Mother had taught him. Do not underestimate a foe. It was better to be sure of their abilities and for those you did not know, overestimating their strength and defeating them easily was far better than falling yourself. They would get only one chance.

The luncheon had been tense. The Malfoy's had known that their guests were Death Eaters loyal to the Serpent Lord, their guests had known that they were the last leaders of Lucius' Rebellion, but apart from that they were also all part of the same social group, and had often held parties and luncheons such as this. Refusal to attend would have been odd and they all were far too experienced to appear out of place. And that had lead to a very tense lunch, with each word weighed and every gesture measured for intent. He'd itched to hex the lot of them and had been amazed by how calm his mother had been. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn she was one of those witches without a thought in her head by the way she'd preened and chattered with those he knew to be deadly enemies. For her, this had simply been a luncheon between old friends and there was nothing amiss... at least, that is what it had looked like.

After the last of them had floo'd out, she'd dropped the vacant yet pleasing expression and her eyes had narrowed in concentration as she'd reviewed the conversations. "That was enlightening," Narcissa had muttered to her son before looking at Draco properly and giving him instructions to change again so that they could continue their training here. Of course he'd asked what had been so fascinating but she'd promised to tell him over dinner, saying that she wanted him to complete his training today so that they could discuss things without him being distracted, but apparently the Serpent Lord had had ordered quite an odd meeting for his followers and while everyone at the luncheon had been circumspect, some hints had been dropped as to everyone's true allegiance. Even so, he never thought he'd say this but considering what his mother had put him through after the luncheon, he was more than happy now to face every Serpent Lord loyal Death Eater over a meal about a hundred times over. The shifting eyes and stances and the ability to read the room was essential and had been tiring but there was a reassurance there that everything was how it should be.

And that feeling was most definitely lacking from the afternoon.

Draco resolutely pushed away the fear tinged anger that rose at the thought, directed towards his Mother. He had to work this out rationally, no matter how much he thought she had attempted to kill him because unless there was something else there, something he wasn't seeing then the next time they met they would be enemies and while a part of him whispered that everyone was the enemy, the greater part of himself warned caution, this was his Mother, she would protect him always. It was confusing and sickening and thus he had to work it out.

He'd been pleased, inordinately so when Narcissa had told him that he'd have to fight, that he would be taking a direct position in battle to bring down the corrupted Dark Lord. And the training she'd given him all summer had just reinforced that. She trusted him enough to be able to fight, trusted him enough that he could take care of his own problems and he had fought some very dangerous beasts during his training, fought and subdued or killed them outright. Today though, today she'd just sent him into the dueling room with nothing more than the usual 'Be careful' and from then on he'd been in a battle for his life!

Today's enemy had been highly dangerous, very fast and extremely motivated to kill him. It was one of the creatures they had deemed a sure kill - as in one of those creatures that had a method of killing that did not fail - one hit, one kill. For example wizards had Avada Kedavra, nundu had their breath, a basilisk their eyes, a dementor their kiss, a werewolf their bite, which while the last two were non lethal, they would end his aspirations to become the next Dark Lord forever. His training this summer had referenced those creatures and they had discussed methods for dealing with them when the usual avoidance was not either appropriate or possible but for the most part his training had been geared towards fighting other wizards. This wasn't the Triwizard Tournament, it wasn't a game, and he had to be ready. But even in training, precautions had been taken.

Today they'd been absent and it was only because of some unknown attack that he'd pulled off, an unknown attack that had left him drained and powerless that he'd survived.

Draco remembered he'd been happy when he'd identified the foe for today's battle. That was before he realized the usual safe guards were absent. He'd been expecting to have to fight serpents at some stage. The corrupted Dark Lord was also a Serpent Lord and his familiar, Nagini, was well known to be a very potent serpent. Further to that, the Serpent Lord had the animagus form of a great basilisk and through his affinity to reptiles it was rumored that he was never unguarded, that there was always a basilisk with him. That belief rang true to Draco, and he thought it went deeper but he couldn't prove it. It didn't matter though, sooner or later he was going to have to face and fight serpents, including basilisks and he had been pleased that his mother had had the foresight to see that he was trained in how to fight and kill them. Except THAT training was meant to be theoretical, because there was no safe way of practicing. At least that's what Narcissa had said when they had discussed the issue.

She'd obviously changed her mind since somehow, for his training she'd found a 30 foot long basilisk that was as fast and as vicious as anything he'd ever encountered. The instant he'd entered the room, he had known something was wrong. The taste of the air was somehow different; darker and more dangerous.

He'd only had a moment to consider this before there had been an angry hiss from the monster serpent and he'd felt a chill pass through his soul as he identified what he was facing. By then it was too late to storm out and demand an explanation since the room's containment warding was active and so he'd done the only thing he could, made a desperate dive for cover while running his mind back over the strategy discussions he'd had with his Mother about how to fight a basilisk.

First and foremost was to not look it in the eye or into the reflection of its eye, but gazing upon it with astral eyes was permitted though dangerous because it left the body motionless and unprotected. Second was that a basilisk's scales were harder than armor and provided the great serpent with more than adequate protection from most offensive charms. Charms like diffindo would bounce off unless cast either on to the unprotected eye or into the serpent's mouth. That meant for the most part he was limited to that magic which actually had a physical presence and even then, only the strongest physical presences would even register with the serpent. Third was to avoid the poisoned fangs because even if the basilisk's gaze didn't kill you, a nip from those fangs would. The serpent had two defenses there, the first was its venom and the second was not as well known but was its saliva. Even if the bite was not envenomed, it would most likely kill, though on this serpent, the fangs were large enough to do significant damage without needing to be poisoned in any way.

The dueling chamber had been configured today to provide some cover for him, though it appeared to be a maze. It would hinder the basilisk but would hinder him as well if he wandered aimlessly through it, Draco had realized while he had taken stock of his weapons. He had his wands, his primary wand strapped into the small of his back while his secondary one lay along his right arm. He'd argued the positioning should be reversed, until his mother had pointed out how easily his arm could be broken and in the break his wand would be finished as well so it was better to use his primary wand only when needed or when doing set charms and spells in controlled environments. His sword was at his side, where any good Lord would keep it but he also had a dagger in each boot, though he wasn't as proficient in their use as he wanted to be and a set of throwing blades were on his right thigh. At the beginning of summer he'd tried arguing with his mother that he hadn't needed such weapons, he did after all have magic but she'd insisted and explained patiently that while he had magic, most shields weren't effective against physical weapons and that a dagger in the heart was just as fatal as Avada Kedavra. She didn't intend for him to always use these weapons but she wasn't going to allow him to be in a situation where he needed them and was without. Her training had been as much about contingency as it had been about ability.

He'd decided he would need some cover still but not the amount that the maze was giving and so once he'd listened for the basilisk he'd risen and swept his right hand through a grand gesture, destroying the maze at waist height. Now he could see his way through it, and see what was coming towards him, while the height of the walls would provide him some cover when he needed to duck and hide. It was also high enough that the basilisk would be reluctant to slink over the walls as the tops were jagged and uneven and would not provide enough support for the serpent's bulk. He'd hoped. He'd dived a few pathways into the maze then and slammed himself up against the wall so that the basilisk couldn't see him. At that point Draco had smiled ruefully as he cut his hand on a small piece of debris. There was a thick dust in the air which obscured vision as well but also, probably, hindered tracking by scent so the blood shouldn't be a problem. The injury though had reminded him that he hasn't taken into account all the weapons. The debris itself could be used to effect against the serpent.

The blonde had flicked his wand again, pointing it at the debris that was lying around and levitating as many finger sized pieces as he could manage before he hurled them in the direction he could hear the serpent. Larger pieces wouldn't penetrate the basilisk's eyes and Draco had been rewarded with a hiss and an almost squawking like sound of surprise as the small debris hit the serpent.

In as much as Draco hoped that the debris would have blinded the serpent, he knew better than to assume that it had and so he shifted his power around to take a peak with his astral eyes. It required quite a bit of concentration to send the astral projection and recall it fast enough so that your physical form was not endangered. He felt a small flash of satisfaction at the sight of the basilisk hissing in pain, left eye closed with blood flowing from beneath the eyelid. The other eye was flashing red and the basilisk's mouth was open, the almost acidic venom glistening on the serpents very long fangs. The mouth wasn't open enough though for a thrown dagger to penetrate. He shook his head resolutely. He shouldn't be thinking about throwing a dagger yet as he had not yet mastered his father's grace with those weapons. It was coming to him, his Mother had assured him but he couldn't rely on his aim that much yet.

Draco rose and jumped, clearing several more paths on the maze. The serpent turned towards the sound but the loss of one eye hadn't yet made the serpent angry enough to attack without thought and the great snake hissed, remaining good eye flashing as it examined the debris and the maze carefully. There was a crash and a puff of cloudy air rushed overhead. The noise was repeated and Draco frowned. What was the beast doing? He risked another astral glance and was surprised at the logic the snake was showing. The maze was, as Draco had hoped, still too high and the tops were too sharp for it to safely and comfortably crawl over, and the pathways, while wide enough for the serpent to slither through would limit it's methods of attacking and so it was using its tail to destroy the maze, hitting the structure repeatedly and with great force that was collapsing the walls and creating a path towards him. While the pile of debris would not be even for the snake to crawl upon, it would not hinder its movements much.... and flattening the maze reduced the cover available to the serpent's attacker.

All right, so the lesson was, it might look like a dumb, stupid beast but even dumb, stupid beasts could reason out the best method of their survival and most definitely did not respect the power he wielded. Draco hunkered down. He had to find some way of taking out the other eye, or fight completely blind. He could just cast reductos at the serpent but even with his power behind them, it would be a stroke of luck them to be fatal, especially if he was casting blind. If he could remove the other eye, then he could cast much more freely and there was a chance he could aim into the beast's mouth which would do much more damage. But to do that he would need to LOOK at the serpent.

But... he didn't have to look at the serpent on the side of its good eye.

A slow smile stretched across his features. He was approaching the snake almost head on but to be safe and be able to cast from relative safety, all he had to do was make the beast turn to its right. Carefully, Draco levitated some more debris, and hurled it to his left heading towards the serpent. There was a hiss and the soft slither of scales over the debris and while it was dangerous, Draco risked a peak upwards. As expected the snake had reacted to the noise and had turned its good eye towards the sound. Malfoy grinned and dived away from the basilisk, casting a cushioning charm so that the great serpent couldn't sense the vibrations from his movements.

Once he was settled, he levitated more debris, this time casting it to his right. He didn't want the serpent to get suspicious of a sound always coming from one side. Again there came a slither of scales accompanied by an annoyed hiss as the serpent realized again there was nothing there. It turned back towards the maze and began hitting the structure again with its tail. Draco shuddered sympathetically with what was left of the structure as each thump reverberated through him. The snake was a lot stronger than it looked.

Gathering his power, Draco had levitated more debris and rose when he heard the hiss as the serpent turned to investigate. With one eye blind, it had to turn to see because even basilisk's knew their best weapons were their eyes and if any attacker was approaching, it's gaze would force them back or fix the problem all together. That though left an opening for someone who wasn't where he was meant to be. It appeared the serpent hadn't yet grasped the concept of projectiles. As the beast turned, Draco rose and as fast as he could he aimed and cast the strongest diffindo he could towards the serpent, trying to severe the head from the body.

Almost before he'd completed the harsh slashing movement of the charm he'd been jumping for a new place of cover, stretching as far as he could. The serpent may not understand projectiles... but just in case it learnt, better to try to be away from the point of origin of the charm. It wasn't a hiss this time from the serpent but an amazingly human like scream of pain before there was a clatter of debris as the serpent swung back around quickly snapping their jaws at where a foe should be. That brought a hiss of annoyance and Draco ducked back down to cover as the serpent swept its gaze over the maze.

His diffindo had cut into the basilisk's scaly hide and the wound was dripping blood down the serpent to pool on the ground. It wasn't a fatal wound though and the serpent would not bleed out from it but Draco was pleased. His charms could at least hurt the beast and if he could continue to cut at the serpent he would eventually win, especially if he could take out the other eye.

The injury though seemed to awaken the serpent's blood lust and with a loud hiss that was almost a snarl it began to spin, coiling itself tight before uncoiling with impressive force to ram its tail into the already abused maze. The noise of impact was incredible and Draco shuddered with the maze as the shock reverberated through him. The structure wouldn't hold through many of those hits and when it collapsed the basilisk would be free to attack him head on. At that point the serpent's greater bulk and near impenetrable scales would end the battle in its favor.

'And this was one training session that couldn't be repeated.' Draco thought furiously as he hunkered down, making himself as small as possible to avoid bringing attention to himself. What he needed was a distraction, something that would divert the serpent long enough for him to launch shards at its other eye. Once that deadly gaze was gone, he could fight far more freely and the destruction of the maze would no longer be critical. Desperate he pointed his wand to the left, flicking it through the proscribed movements for the locomotion charm and almost instantly some of the larger chunks of debris he'd created earlier grew little legs and began aimlessly and directionless running and scrambling around.

The snake paused at the new noise but Draco bided his time. After being wounded the basilisk would be cautious and would examine the situation with all its other senses before it risked its eye. It probably wasn't as reliant on eyesight as he was, Draco realized ruefully but a basilisk did know what its best weapon was. He was going to have to time his strike for when the basilisk turned to see what was making the new noises, for when the basilisk needed that last visual check that the newly enhanced debris was not a threat.

Draco strained his hearing, holding his breath and listening through the pounding of his heart, so that he could hear every small shift the serpent made while he waited for the heavier slither that would announce that the serpent was turning.

It never came.

Instead the noise that came was that of the serpent spinning and an almost deafening thud as it impacted with the maze. And this impact was followed by a loud crack. The initial noise faded and then there came softer cracks, the noise almost feathery and delicate. The basilisk hissed and the blond didn't need to be a parselmouth to hear the satisfied note in the serpents voice.

His time was up.

The noise of the feathery cracks was drowned as the serpent began spinning again, preparing to hit the maze again. Draco gulped before calling his strongest charms to mind. He still had a chance. The maze would collapse but he could still take out the basilisk's other eye and then he would just have to be very fast on his feet to defeat the serpent. He just had to remain calm, remain focused and not hold back his power when destroying the other eye. It would be a barrage, physical and magical. He only needed one splinter to hit and while elegance, precision and conservation of magical power had been a significant part of his mother's training, this was one situation where overkill would not be ostentatious.

There came the thud of impact again, and this time there was no deafening crack but rather there was a wave like noise as the feathery cracks spread throughout the maze. Draco shifted slightly as they whispered past his back, feeling like a gentle caress though his battle robes and light armor. He shifted his grip on his wand as he waited for the serpent to strike the maze again with the blow that would destroy it. As it fell, while the debris provided cover, that was his time to strike.

The basilisk hissed, sounding sure of itself and in his mind's eye Draco could see it as it drew itself up, waiting for any movement to reveal the location of its prey. Its wounds were painful, no doubt but not debilitating and except for the loss of one eye it was in reasonable condition. 'Well', Draco considered, 'so was he'. This battle would come down to the final moments; the strikes they both knew would come when the maze fell.

The two of them waited and Draco resisted the urge to fidget. Any movement might give away his position and he was somewhat surprised that the serpent hadn't smelt him. He was grateful for that though and forced his muscles to relax. Losing patience now would not be in his interests and he thought that was why the basilisk was waiting.

Finally the serpent hissed something before there was a final thud against the maze and wizard and basilisk both sprang into action.

For Draco things seemed to slow down as he leapt and spun, risking the serpents gaze as he cast his strongest charms and flung as much debris as he could at the snake. The fractured shards of the maze seemed to hang in the air, spinning slowly. It would have been beautiful, almost like snowfall, if it hadn't have been so deadly. He kept casting but his breath hitched and his gut tightened as he realized most charms and debris were missing the mark and then bile rose in his throat as Draco realized the serpent's eyes were closed! It wasn't risking its other eye, not when teeth and venom would be just as effective and it could track him down by sound and smell.

Draco dived to the side as the serpent lunged blindly and then he realized his mistake when the basilisk turned sharply, its head tilting towards him, jaws half open and tongue flickering in the air. The movement had given away his position and the serpent seemed to smile as it lunged again, this time on target with bared fangs.

'I'm going to die.'

The thought was crystalline to Draco, sharp and concise with its clarity in his mind. But at the realization, something shifted within him, filling his heavy arms and legs with energy that burst out of him uncontrollably.

'I am NOT going to die,' came the denial and Draco wasn't sure if he spoke but he felt the power burst forth, brilliantly yellow and shockingly noisy in the Malfoy Training Room.

Power splashed every which way and the basilisk didn't even have time for a startled hiss before the ribbons cut through it. They traveled on to embed themselves into the rooms walls, making the entire manor house shudder and the wards rang as the power resonated with them. Draco didn't notice any of this because as quickly as the power had gathered it was gone and he didn't feel himself slump forward in exhaustion. He only felt the small satisfied smile on his features. 'I won.'

After that, he'd woken up as his Mother had levitated him through the house to his chambers. And then after making him drink a potion or two, she'd left him to his thoughts but there had definitely been a pleased smile gracing her features.

Draco blinked, going back to the core of his problem. Had today been advanced training or had today been an assassination attempt disguised as training? Was his mother now the enemy?

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the facts come to him. Some of the facts seemed insignificant: the way she smelt today, both before and after his training, the soft smile that had graced her features as she'd tucked him into bed, the lilt of her voice and some were significant: the set of the training room, the oblique warning, the teaching of charms and reinforcement of respect for foes. It all added to the picture and to the decision he had made.

Slowly he released his breath, letting it go as the tension drained from him in a tangible wave. His limbs felt light and buoyant and Draco opened his grey eyes to look up at the embroidered canopy of his bed. His mother was NOT the enemy. In fact, she might be the loyalist ally he could possibly have. The evidence was plain: the relief in her voice after he'd killed the basilisk, the tangy smell of worried perspiration clinging to her and the way her eyes had glittered with love. She was holding back on what that attack was but Narcissa was genuinely relieved he had survived the basilisk. At the same time, she was probably the only person who loved and trusted him enough to actually train him with such dangerous techniques.

Tomorrow they would discuss the battle and he would learn ways of improving as well as learning exactly what he'd done to the basilisk. While there was probably not enough time remaining in this summer to master that power he would go to Hogwarts with a plan to bring it under his control and he would work on it there because he could feel it now, coiled within him, waiting for his call. So he would train until he could pull his full power to himself at a moment's notice. There was a truism in wizarding world, one that went somewhat against the power of blood but it was one Draco accepted - power called to power. It was shown in the way that the mudbloods and blood traitors flocked to Dumbledore, it was shown in the way that those of the blood had recognized the power of the Serpent Lord before he became corrupted and Draco knew for him to attract enough followers, he would have to show his power but he would have to do it discretely, covertly, slowly gaining allies and strength under Dumbledore's nose.

He grinned. Dumbledore would keep the Serpent Lord away since it was well known that the former Dark Lord feared the batty old man and at the beginning of summer Draco would have rolled his eyes at the weakness but he better understood now. Albus Dumbledore was old and potentially senile and loopy but he was also powerful. He had allies, he knew people and more than that he knew things about people that kept them in line, and so while he was old, he was still a wizard to be feared. Draco would use that though. Dumbledore would keep the Serpent Lord away which would leave him free to recruit, to seduce and convince those who would have followed the Serpent Lord that their true path lay with him. Yes, the Defender of Light would nurture and protect his abilities and allies until they could bring down the Serpent Lord themselves... and then the Light should beware.

He... Draco Malfoy was not as insipid or as confused as the Serpent Lord. He would not be corrupted from his purpose by anything.

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