Godslayer

Arlene pov.

Six hours later, the cold air chilled Arlene, even through her coat and long sleeve shirt underneath. The four of them rode brooms over the mountains North of Vancouver. She led them deeper into the mountains, following her intuition.

Then she spotted it below them, not the castle from her dreams. A much smaller one sitting on the side of a mountain.

She pointed at it and exclaimed over the wind, “down there!”

The others followed as she descended towards the mountain. The air warmed slightly as she neared the ground. The wind only got worse, keeping her cold.

There was just enough ground to land on. Joan was the one to ask, “how has this gone undiscovered for so long?”

Adrian answered, “Ollivander knew about it. He was the last one to see it.” The began walking towards the only doors in sight. “Might be a powerful illusion charm. Like what’s around Hogwarts. Maybe it makes it look like part of the mountain instead of a ruin.”

Arlene rested a hand against the door. She magically felt around for traps or secrets. Nothing popped out to her, leaving her free to push the wooden door open. Despite the age and rust on the hinges the door glided open freely. The only thing it revealed was a small stone walled room. On the bare floor sat a human skull.

“Fantastic, great find everyone.” Adrian turned and crossed his arms over the valley.

Arlene kneeled and reached for the skull. Before anyone could stop her, she tapped the top of it with her finger. Everything changed around her in an instant.

Instead of a small room she now kneeled in a massive ballroom. Several shadowy figures stood around her. Magic rose within her and her hands glowed slightly as she prepared to defend herself.

None of the figures moved a muscle. They were all too obscured in darkness to see any details. Red lanterns dangled from the walls of the ballroom, throwing a bloody tinge on the whole room. Almost as one, the figures shook their heads in a single, slow motion.

The ballroom vanished to be replaced by the old empty stone room from before. The skull was gone. She looked around for it, but it couldn’t be seen. “Has anyone seen where the skull went?”

She turned to see Joan looking at her funny. “The skull is right where you left it. Are you okay?” She turned back to the spot it sat at, but it still wasn’t in sight. Joan leaned forward and touched the spot where the skull sat. She blinked and pulled back. After a moment of confusion she said, “I understand your confusion, Arlene. I don’t see the skull anymore.”

Kristina cocked her head at them. “What happened to you two?”

With a shaken expression, Joan began to explain, “I was in a ballroom. Shadowy figures all around. Red light was all I had to see by.” Adrian’s focus returned to them. Despite him trying to hide it, she could see the concern on his face. “They all shook their head as one then I came back here.”

Kristina kneeled and reached for the skull. A hand stopped her from touching it. Adrian told her, “we don’t know what this is doing.”

“We have to try something,” she responded. Her hand still reached for the skull even through it couldn’t move. Adrian sighed and released her. Now free, Kristina tapped the skull. Her face went slack for a second then she vanished.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Kristina Pov.

Kristina stood up and reached for her wand. A massive room filled with darkness surrounded her. Raising her wand, she spun to look for attackers. Nothing peered from the darkness, not even details about the room she was in. Keeping her guard up, she moved forward to see if anything could be found.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?” She jumped at the booming voices. She spun around looking for the source. “WE ARE NOT HERE. YOU ARE NOT HERE. WHY DO YOU SEEK IT?”

A light appeared. A spotlight shone in the air above her, illuminating an old staff. The idea of trying to pull it to her occurred, but she knew it wouldn’t work. “We need something to defeat our enemy.”

“A SEEKER OF WAR, YOU ARE UNWORTHY.”

“No!” She desperately cried out. If the others were telling the truth, then she’d gotten the farthest. “Someone is threatening all our loved ones, my friends and family are in danger. This might be the only way of protecting them.”

The voices stayed silent for a moment. “YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH, ONLY WHILE THIS THREAT LIVES WILL WE ALLOW THE STAFF ON THE MORTAL PLANE. YOU MAY TAKE THE STAFF BUT YOU ARE NOT WORTHY TO WEILD IT.”

The normal stone room appeared around her. Three pairs of arms wrapped around her at once. She fought them for a second before realizing it was her family holding her. “You got it,” Arlene commented. The arms released her, and she looked down at her non-wand hand. The old staff from the vision lay in her hand. Her wand lay in the other.

“I got it. They said I couldn’t wield it though.”

“They spoke to you?” Joan asked.

“I didn’t see anyone. Just a dark room. Loud voices spoke to me.” She walked out onto the ledge. She pointed the staff at the nearest rock, swished and flicked, and said, “wingardium leviosa!” Nothing happened.

“So, you have it, but it won’t let you use it?” Adrian stepped up.

“I guess so, maybe we have to find someone worthy of using it?”

He huffed, “there’s no time. We’ll have to figure out a way to make it work. Or find something else to overcome him.” He grabbed his broom and ordered them, “let’s head back to the house. Try to figure something out.”

They all grabbed their brooms and disapperated back to the house.

Arlene Pov.

Arlene walked out to the beach for some air. There hadn’t been a minute to relax since she woke up from her coma. She wanted a moment just to watch the waves roll onto the shore.

Her enjoyment of the peaceful scene was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Hey Arlene.” She turned to see Luna standing in the sand behind her.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” She wasn’t unhappy to see her, but it was confusing to see her here.

“Professor McGonagall is sending everyone home. She said it’s too dangerous for us all to stay at Hogwarts.” She stepped forward with that small smile on her face.

Arlene turned all the way around to face her and returned the smile. Opening her arms for a hug, she told her, “this isn’t home.”

Luna fell into her arms. Looking in her eyes, she told her, “I think it is.” Luna gently kissed her. After a moment of bliss, she pulled away and told her, “I convinced my dad to let me visit. He wanted to come with though.” Arlene looked over Luna’s shoulder to see Xenophilious admiring the house. “Dad!”

He spun to look at them. “I noticed this house is protected against Nargles, good to see.”

“It’s protected against everything.” Adrian stepped out the front door. “I made it myself.”

Xeno stepped back. “I’d heard a rumor you weren’t dead. I didn’t know whether to believe it or not.” It looked like he couldn’t decide between awe or horror.

Adrian tried to assure him, “if it helps, I never actually died. It just looked like that.” That seemed to relax Xeno some. Adrian turned to Arlene. “We’re meeting with the others at Sirius’s house. We’re going to make a back up plan in case we can’t get the staff working.”

Luna asked, “are you taking down Dumbledore?”

Arlene nodded, but Adrian didn’t seem fully convinced. Being beaten by Dumbledore twice must’ve shaken him harder than she realized. On top of their weapon not working, he must be wondering if their quest was even possible. They didn’t have her in their last fight though. Arlene’s powers might just be enough to tip the balance.

Xenophilious tensed up again. His voice shook as he asked, “the rumors are true then?” He stepped back in shock. “Dumbledore turned evil?”

“He fooled us all,” Adrian told him. “He was always evil. We just forced him to show it now.” He focused on Arlene again. “If you’re going to be part of this fight, then you need to come with me.” He walked off the porch to go to the dock.

With a heavy sigh, she turned to Luna and said, “I’ve got to go.”

Her face tightened. After a moment she conceded. Luna pulled Arlene into another hug before letting her go. She got in the boat with Adrian, who untied it and took them across the water.

“Why are we taking the boat?”

Adrian didn’t answer right away. Only the rumble of the boat’s motor gave noise over the quiet water. Arlene almost asked again before he said, “I know you won’t sit out, but I just need…I need…” He shook his head. “I couldn’t handle it if you got hurt.”

Arlene absorbed his words for a minute. She responded, “it hurt when I thought you were dead.”

He looked down. Arlene spotted the far shore approaching them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t have a choice.” He began slowing the boat down. “I was injured, I needed to recover. Moving around on my own wasn’t much of an option.”

Arlene struggled to find the right words. Nothing seemed to express how she felt, it didn’t help that she didn’t know how she felt. She understood the situation he’d been in and that he didn’t have a choice in anything that happened. That didn’t change the fact that thinking Adrian was dead hurt. His survival should’ve filled her with joy, instead it just confused her. “I think I can understand, I just need to process it.”

Solemnly, he closed his eyes. “Thank you.”

Minutes later, He was tying the boat to the dock. They got out and went to meet with Tom and the others.