Chapter 417: Entering The Castle
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Quinn's feet touched the road. He saw the achingly familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop fronts, and the outline of black mountains beyond the village, and the curve in the road ahead that led off toward Hogwarts. He didn't take that curve and instead took the opposite path and moved to the periphery of the town, stopping in front of a dark and gloomy building in the mostly upbeat town.
He swiped his hand, and there was a grinding of bolts behind the door. The dark door opened on the narrow street, and he stepped through after scanning the street once.
He saw, by the stuttering light of a single candle, the grubby, sawdust-strewn bar of the Hog's Head Inn. He walked behind the counter and through a second doorway, which led to a rickety wooden staircase that he climbed after looking everywhere else. The stairs opened onto a sitting room with a threadbare carpet and a small fireplace, above which hung a single large oil painting of a blonde girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of vacant sweetness.
The barman-owner of Hog's Head wasn't here anymore. Aberforth Dumbledore had done a great job of distancing himself from the Dumbledore name— he had been let out with other men without Voldemort holding him back to keep leverage against big brother Albus. It was fortunate. He didn't want Aberforth to become Albus' weakness.
Quinn's eyes traveled to the painting of the girl over the mantelpiece. It was the only picture in the room. There was no photograph of Albus Dumbledore nor of anyone else. It was the sister. Youngest of the three Dumbledore siblings, Ariana Dumbledore. Attacked at the tender age of six, set upon by three Muggle boys. They'd seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge: She was a kid; she couldn't control it; no magical child can at that age— except if they were like Quinn, who sought out magic and actively tried to get back it.
What the boys saw scared them. . . They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn't show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak from doing it. What the children did, destroyed her: she was never the same again. She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly, she was sweet and scared and harmless.
Quinn remembered how Ariana and her story were described. Everything could be summed up with a single word: Obscurial. An Obscurus was the manifestation of the repressed energy of a young magical child— known as an Obscurial. Described as a "dark" and "parasitic" force, an Obscurus was created when the wizard child in question consciously attempted to repress their magical abilities or were forced to do so through physical or psychological abuse. This energy could manifest itself as a separate entity that could erupt in violent, destructive fury.
Ariana had once lost control over her magic and ended up killing her mother in an Obscurial rage. Then the poor little girl died in a three-way battle between her brothers and Grindelwald.
"Will you let me in, please," he said to the girl in the portrait. The girl, however, didn't move. . . simply staring at him with curious eyes. He tried again, "I want to get into Hogwarts; may I pass?" He had tested every secret pathway he knew could lead into Hogwarts, but the all-out defense had blocked everything. The path in Hog's Head was the only one he knew could work.
Portrait-Ariana again didn't move. She continued to gaze at him like a curious child, as if he was an oddity that she had encountered for the first time. He looked down, and while his clothes were out of the ordinary, at least he wasn't wearing his mask in his presence. He was sure she wouldn't have looked at him if he had used his Invisible Vigilante's voice.
"Me asking won't work, now would it," he sighed. Quinn unclasped the flap on one of his pockets and summoned one of the objects inside into his palm. It was a palm-sized framed portrait. He expanded it back to its original size and hung it beside Ariana's portrait as she looked on with an inquisitive gaze. In comparison to the simpler frame of Ariana's portrait, the one that Quinn had hung was flamboyant, gilded with gold with intricate design.
"Hey, wake up; I have a job for you," Quinn knocked on the pitch-black portrait, and the pitch-black painting turned into the image of Merlin sitting inside a lavish room, dressed in comfy robes. The portrait had changed quite a lot since Quinn had met Merlin, and every time he went to see the portrait, it would change a little bit. Magical portraits weren't supposed to change like this, but the master of magic had enchanted his post-mortem portrait to be special like him.
"Oh, now that's a surprise," Merlin's eyes shone with interest. It happened every time Quinn interacted with him. The portrait didn't handle boredom well and always seemed to be wanting to do something. "What does the great child prodigy wants from this old fella?"
"Don't start now," sighed Quinn. He lifted his hand again to cast magic, and Merlin turned his head to look to the left towards Ariana's portrait. Quinn had just connected both portraits, allowing Merlin to exit his and go into her. It was easy with the enchantments placed by the real Merlin on his portrait.
"Who is the girl?"
"Ariana Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore? Is she related to the Headmaster?"
"Younger sister."
"What do you want with his younger sister's portrait?"
"Her portrait is special, you can sense, correct?"
"Yes. . . yes, I can sense it," Merlin got up from his desk and made his way to the edge of his frame and disappeared. Quinn moved his eyes to Ariana's, and Merlin appeared into her's from the edge. The little lady took a step back, acting cautiously for the first time. "What's special about this one? There's something. . ."
"Her portrait is an entrance to Hogwarts. She isn't opening the path to me. I don't want to be. . . rough, so can you convince her to open it up."
Merlin joined his hands, touching palms, and kept his eyes on Ariana. When he separated them, there was a charming, cute bluejay sitting on his palm. The bird seemed to do the trick as Ariana forgot her caution and hoped her way to Merlin, who handed her the bird.
"Why don't you use one of the other entries?" said Merlin, watching Ariana with a kind smile.
"Voldemort has taken over Hogsmeade. Dumbledore activated the Hogwarts defense, and that locked up every path I knew. She's the only one who can let me in, so please. . . and quickly."
Merlin looked at Quinn, Ariana slipping out of his attention as soon as the words left Quinn's mouth. "Tell me more about this," said Merlin, moving closer to Quinn.
"Can't we do it later, when I have the time? If you can't tell, I'm swamped."
Merlin continued to look at Quinn. Quinn sighed and took a minute to explain the situation to Merlin and then took three more to answer his answer. "Now, can you get her to open the way?" said Quinn.
Merlin smiled and faced Ariana. He began whispering to the girl, and she looked at Quinn a couple of times. Quinn couldn't tell what they were talking about, so he just smiled and waved.
After a couple minutes, Ariana nodded, smiled, and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, out of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally, she was swallowed by the darkness.
"Can I roam inside the castle?" Merlin asked as they waited.
"Sure, I don't mind. But I'll be removing your portrait from here, in case, Voldemort wipes out the village. I will be back to get you when all this is over; until then, you'll be inside Hogwarts."
"Fine by me."
A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was somebody else with her now, someone taller than she was, holding her hand, looking confused. Her hair was the blonde he loved, and her blue eyes were an electric blue that he had looked into countless times. Larger and larger the two figures grew until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait. Then the whole thing swung forward on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, dressed impeccably even in the current situation, clambered Daphne Greengrass, who leaped down the mantelpiece, and hugged Quinn the moment she reached him.
Merlin had popped back into his frame and whistled. Quinn gave him a glare, and the old wizard silently chuckled before disappearing.
"Hey, how are you?" Quinn returned his attention to Daphne. "I hope they're not giving Slytherin a hard time."
Daphne shook her head in his embrace. "I don't know; I haven't gone out that much. Tracey and I stayed with Astoria and Luna in the AID office." AID office's security had been improved by Quinn before he left— it had been fine when he was in Hogwarts because he was the security system, but with him leaving, he had turned into a safer place in case Astoria and Luna ever needed it. It was only second to the Room of Requirement and maybe the Headmaster's Office.
"Thank you for taking care of Luna," he said.
"Astoria would've done anyway. She and Luna have become best friends."
The hug ended, and Quinn gazed down at his girlfriend. "I messed up," he sighed. "I should've done this much before and taken all of you out, away from this, to home. But I. . ." he sighed again. He had started a ticking clock when he had approached Voldemort and the Aurors. He had made an error— with his mind occupied by Voldemort, he had forgotten that he could let them exit through a Labyrinth door.
"Then why do you want to enter Hogwarts?" asked Daphne, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Quinn internally sighed when he heard no complaint in Daphne's voice. He would've preferred if she had been angry with him and showed some heated emotion. Even though he knew it wasn't the case, her lack of anger sometimes made it seem like she had been used to him disappointing her.
"I have some business with Dumbledore," said Quinn, feeling bitter inside as he said the words to keep her in the dark. "With how the current situation is, I think it's high time I talk to him and see what he is thinking."
Quinn got up into the tunnel and held out his hand to Daphne, and helped her to climb up onto the mantelpiece. There were smooth stone steps on the other side: It looked as though the passageway had been there for years. Brass lamps hung from the walls, and the earthy floor was worn and smooth; as they walked, their shadows rippled, fanlike, across the wall.
"I assume Ivy told you about Voldemort's offer," said Daphne as they moved across the tunnel.
Quinn's fingers twitched. He showed no external sign otherwise. "She did. It's an impossible offer. Dumbledore isn't going to give the Potters to him."
They turned a corner, and there ahead of them was the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Daphne pushed it open and climbed through, and Quinn followed her to find himself in a room that resembled Daphne's bedroom in her house. Seeing that made Quinn feel worse because it was clearly a sign that she was seeking comfort and safety.
"How about you stay here and call the others as well," Quinn suggested. Room of Requirement was the safest place in Hogwarts, and he knew just what to ask to make it the safest.
Daphne shook her head. "It's better if I stay inside the office. It'll be better if we stay in a place where we can be found." She took a neatly folded cloth from her robes and placed it in Quinn's palm.
"I don't need it," Quinn tried to give it back.
"No, use it," she said. "You can't be seen in Hogwarts. It's better to be safe than sorry," and pushed it back into Quinn's hands. She tiptoed to kiss him before saying, "Close the Room before you leave."
Quinn watched as she exited the Room of Requirements. He then looked at Recon in his hand. Did he need it? Yes— it made his job much easier. Was he going to ask it from Daphne if she hadn't given it on her own? No, he would rather that she keep it.
He felt like shit.
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Quinn West - MC - Knows that it's only the start.
Merlin - Portrait - Wow, Hogwarts sure has become depressing.
FictionOnlyReader - Author - I suck at pacing. I really need to work on it. . . sigh.
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Chapter 418: Securing Asset
If you want to read ahead, you can check out my Patreón @
[ https://www.patreón.com/fictiononlyreader ]
The link is also in the synopsis.
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Harry lay in the room alone, staring at the ceiling with a vacant gaze. There was no energy in his body; he didn't want to speak, move, or even blink. Staring at the wall with his mind shut felt the best when he knew there was a group of people, his classmates, even some of his friends, who wanted to give him to Voldemort so that they would be left alone. In a position like this, stopping his thoughts was the best relief he could muster.
He sighed. It had taken some heated and harsh words from him to his mum and friends to leave him alone. It had taken an unflattering tone for them to give him some space. By right about now, he usually would be feeling terrible about it, but right now, his mind couldn't be bothered to go in that direction.
Harry closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would take over him. Alas, the moment he closed his eyes, the empty suite got too loud— the ticking of clocks, dripping of water from the tap, the gentle ring of the chime from the other room— it felt like Sonorus had been cast on everything. He squeezed his eyes as he smushed a pillow over his ears, and that actually worked as the sounds quietened. . . until he heard a knock on the door.
He ignored it. Knocking meant that they didn't have access to get inside the room— and thus, they didn't have access to him. But then the knocking changed. The simple raps on the door turned faster and louder until whoever it was playing a rhythmic beat on the door.
Even he couldn't ignore that. Harry, half-furious, half-bewildered, got up from the bed and made his way to the suite door. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he pushed the door open forcefully, but contrary to his expectation of the door hitting the rude person, the door swung wide open on its hinges.
"You weren't opening the door."
. . . . .
Quinn smiled as he responded to the nonplussed Harry and watched as the anger flushed away at his sight. He had used Recon to find Harry in Hogwarts, and to his luck, the Boy-Who-Lived was alone in Lily Potter's Professor's Suite. Thanks to Recon, he had the password to the portrait guarding the room, and he planned to take Hermione's form to fool the portrait in case it decided to go alert Dumbledore about his entry.
But, even before he could arrive in front of the portrait, he sensed an additional ward laid parallel to the door. It wasn't part of the original layout and was placed externally afterward.
"Hello, Harry," Quinn flashed a smile. "I know it's difficult right now, given what's happening, but I hope you're doing well."
"You. . . what are you doing here?" asked Harry, still reeling from the shock of seeing him.
"I came here to visit you, of course. . . won't you invite me in?" asked Quinn.
"How did you even get inside Hogwarts?" suspicion and caution surfaced on Harry's features.
"I will answer all your questions, but let's sit down before we talk. I've been busy ever since the morning and haven't had the chance to properly sit down and rest," Quinn said as casually as possible. "May I?" he asked. He needed the permission.
Harry eyed Quinn, looking at him with a searching look, but after a moment, Harry stepped aside.
Quinn smiled and crossed the threshold without hesitation. The additional ward was to alert the caster about an unauthorized entry into the room. Anyone who wasn't keyed into the ward couldn't enter without triggering it. However, there was an easy way to remedy it, and it was to get invited in or obtain permission to enter. And because Intent was a great part of magic, Harry stepping aside was all the permission he needed.
He stepped inside, and the portrait door closed behind him. He had jinxed into being confused so that he could converse with Harry without worrying about giving himself away to the caster, which he presumed was Dumbledore.
Quinn followed Harry into the living room with a homely aesthetic and sat down on opposite chairs. He unbuttoned the button of his suit as he sat down. Transforming his Noir gear from combat mode to a suit was so to make Harry feel comfortable.
"Now answer me, how did you get inside Hogwarts?" asked Harry.
"Not offering me anything to drink. . . No?" Harry scowled the more Quinn spoke, so he stopped. "Doesn't matter. As to answer your questions, I have my ways. If you're worried about Death Eaters using it, don't be; they don't even know it exists," Aberforth Dumbledore was already out of Hogsmeade and under DMLE care. "Let's talk about you, Harry. I came here to see how you are doing. I heard what Voldemort demanded— how are you taking it? I hope you're not letting it affect your health."
"How do you think I'm talking it?!" said Harry scathingly.
"Not well from what I can see," said Quinn, unbothered. That was the reaction he was expecting from someone in Harry's situation.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm the Invisible Vigilante, Harry. I must be present when the Death Eaters are trying to do something. I was outside Hogsmeade as soon as I got to know about what had happened and have been trying to get inside and elevate this mess ever since." Quinn peered out of the window in the room. "It's terrible out there. Hogsmeade is crawling with Death Eaters; DMLE cannot get in; Innocent people are scared for their lives. I haven't checked what the rest of the country is doing, but I guess it's in chaos. I don't even want to think about how the country is reacting to the news— the economy will suffer for a while after this." He put on a smile, "Ivy had to call me and ask where I kept the Horcrux so you guys could destroy it in case, you know, I died."
Harry's change in expression told Quinn that he hadn't been told about this fact. "S-She asked you that?"
"She had to, didn't have much choice, did she. Can't have the maniac running around forever."
Hearing that from Quinn made Harry go silent. The irritation and anger that had been present before have taken a back seat. That was why Quinn had brought it up; he needed Harry to be in a particular state for the conversation to follow.
"One good thing happened, though," Quinn continued. "Half of the hostages were released into DMLE custody just before I sneaked into Hogwarts."
". . . What?" Harry seemed deeply surprised by the shocking news. "Why would Voldemort let hostages go? He's planning something. He must've done something to the hostages," he got up. "We should warn DMLE about it—"
"Voldemort released the hostages because of me," said Quinn. Harry, who had already taken steps towards the door, came to a halt. He turned toward him and still seemed to process what was just spoken. Quinn continued, "He and I struck a deal, and releasing the hostages was him upholding his part of the deal."
"You did what?" Harry's voice began to rise. "You struck a deal with HIM?! How can you, of all the people, think that dealing with him is acceptable?! He's going to go back on whatever. . . he has promised. . . ." Harry trailed off as he stared at Quinn. "What. . What did you promise him?"
Quinn looked back at Harry silently. The silence seemed to give Harry the answer.
"Me?" he uttered. "You promised me?" There was no anger in his voice; instead, there was a strange sense of something that Quinn couldn't pinpoint. There was a shock, confusion, fear, hate. . . but everything was shadowed by a convoluted sense of resignation.
"If I get him to you, he will let the Hogsmeade residents go," said Quinn. "I'm counting on him to leave after that to spread the news across the country to anyone who would listen. I can imagine what would happen after that, but at least today will end. We can. . ." Quinn stopped when he saw that Harry was no longer listening.
He got up from his chair, and his suit changed into Noir gear's combat mode. "The deal had been struck; Voldemort has already delivered half of what he has promised. So if I go back on his deal now, he will kill the rest of the hostages," he said. "I don't want this to be more difficult than it already is."
Quinn sensed the sense of resignation get stronger in Harry as he said, "I can't say goodbyes, or even see them, can I. . ."
"Do you want to say goodbyes?" That would just make things difficult.
Harry smiled bitterly, and the hate flared up a little, peeking through the resignation. "How do you think Ivy will react when she finds out that her precious boyfriend," there was venom in his voice, "sent her brother. . . her twin to death."
Quinn didn't show the emotion that Harry was expecting. But he also didn't show the opposite reaction to firing back at Harry. "I'm the biggest mistake she's made in her life. I don't understand why she hasn't left me already. I'm too much of a trouble to be in a relationship. After this, I'm going to lose her trust, and well, that's going to be the end of everything. . . . Does that answer your question?"
He turned away from Harry for a moment because his Occlumency didn't seem to be working, no matter how much he tried to clamp down it. "Come one, take your wand with you; we are leaving right now," he said.
"You're making me walk to my death; the least you could do is to knock me out and not make me suffer in the last moments of my life."
Quinn nodded, "Yeah. . . Yeah, you're right," he nodded again. Quinn turned to Harry, raised his arm, and knocked Harry out cold as he wished for. He looked down at Harry and sighed. Harry's attitude wasn't going to be optimal for what was about to come. If plans were going according to plan, he needed Harry to be a little more. . . resistant.
"Well, not if I have something to say about it," he muttered and levitated the unconscious boy off the ground. "Not if I have something to say about it." And he had a lot to say about it.
Sneaking out of Hogwarts was as easy as getting in. He got to the seventh floor without being seen, courtesy of Recon. The Room of Requirement was set up to keep a path open for him because he had to return to Hogwarts.
As he walked through the tunnel, he had his eyes on Recon. His steps faltered and eventually slowed down to a crawl when he saw the group of Ivy, Hermione, and Ron move towards the room. He steeled himself and increased his walking pace. By the time he reached Hog's Head, his feet felt like lead, and as much as he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes off Recon.
In real-time, he watched as the three entered the suite. Ivy and Ron settled in the living room, but Hermione made her way deep into the suite. . . and what followed was what he expected. He stepped into the old inn as he watched the three dots run around.
He closed his eyes, and with them, Recon. 'Don't do this now,' he told himself. 'You have to do this to end all of this. For freedom. . .' He resolved himself and walked to the front door
And that's why it hurt when he felt the mirror in his pocket buzz.
It hurt worse when he knew he couldn't pick up.
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Quinn West - MC - The fall down the hole doesn't seem to end.
Harry Potter - Boy-Who-Lived - Darkness before darkness.
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If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
FictionOnlyReader
FictionOnlyReader
Just like always,
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