Harvest Moon

Vorcious Reader, thank you for pointing out that certain things need to be explained.  I appreciate it.

***

Lucius tried to charge the false Liren at that point only to be thrown back by the forcecage.  He snarled a little.  “As master of this property, I command you to release,” he said.  The forcecage remained in place, much to Lucius’ confusion.

Liren tightened his hold on Hermione fractionally.  “Really, Lucius, did you actually forget you gifted this property to Narcissa during the divorce proceedings,” he said with a nasty smile.  “You are not the Master of this place anymore.”

“Yes.  I had utterly forgotten that, Fake,” Lucius sneered. He actually had forgotten all about it.  He had given so much over to Narcissa during the divorce, nearly anything she wanted in fact.  All he’d wanted at that point in time was to be free.  He might very well have signed away his last knut if asked just to have that freedom.

The false Liren chuckled.  “Fake, hmm?  I think that is amusing.”

“I refuse to call you by a name that doesn’t belong to you,” Lucius said.

“Ah, but it does belong to me, dear Lucius.  Darling Narcissa gifted me with it the moment your brother departed this lifetime.  I can assure you, it is mine.”

“I truly cannot muster myself to care one way or the other, Fake.”

The smirk faded from the other man’s face.  “Perhaps you can muster yourself to care about this then,” he said, abruptly releasing Hermione.  So quickly in fact, that she staggered and nearly lost her footing on the slippery ground.  “Now, little auror, let us have a battle, shall we?”

Hermione had her wand out instantly and trained directly at his head.  Draco had taught her that.  Head shots were usually twice as effective as anything else if aimed correctly due to the inordinate amount of damage that could occur.

“Now, now, did I not say I wanted to see what you were trained in,” he said.  His wand was out as well and pointed, not at her, but at Lucius.  “I can assure you that while his and your magick will not affect the forcecage, mine certainly will.”

“And why would that be?  If the property is Narcissa’s as you say, the forcecage will only hold solid as long as you concentrate on it.  If you drop that concentration enough to harm Lucius, he or I would have the drop on you, as I’m sure you well know,” she said, trying to get him distracted enough to give her an opening.  “If you don’t drop it, the property’s natural magicks will overwhelm any restraint or shields not set in place by the proper owner.”

The false Liren laughed.  “Very nice, little auror.  You do know your modern magicks well.  A nice bit of the ancient magicks too, I’d wager.  However, this particular bit of magick has been taken from a somewhat . . . darker path.”

Hermione snorted inelegantly.  “Hardly surprising, all things considered.  Let me think, dark path that would override natural protections . . .” She glanced at Lucius, now that she knew the forcecage was there she could see the perimeters of it.  Noticing something odd about it, she took a step closer, still keeping an eye on the Liren clone.  Her eyes widened a bit as it dawned on her.  “Sanguine spiritus.”

“Mine?” Lucius questioned.  It must indeed be very old, very dark magick indeed if he had never heard of it and he hadn’t.  Though he thought if he knew how it worked he might be able to unravel it enough to get out.

“It’s blood magick, Lucius,” Hermione said, still watching Liren closely.  “The cage walls are made of blood, it’s why three’s a slightly red tint to them.”

“It’s also why,” the false Liren said, “That you’ll be there until you rot, Lucius.”

“He will not,” Hermione said.  “It’s reversible.”

“It is.  But only by my blood or that of a close family member.  And since you have no clue as to who I am . . . Poor Lucius.  I will be happy to keep you company as you slowly starve to death where you stand.  But really, little auror, let’s get this adventure going, shall we?  If you’d so kindly put away your wand.”

“And you’ll put away yours? I hardly trust you not to cheat,” she said.

“I see you’re finally learning,” he said, abruptly tossing her the wand in his hand.  “It hardly matters, little auror.  A wand is simply a tool to focus the magick.  Most have forgotten the old ways because they are difficult to master.”

In a blink, there was a massive, crackling ball of energy in the Liren clone’s hand.

“Now, if you’ll kindly put the wand away, we can play.”