Ch 40 To the Portal
Ron sat on the ground with a small group of Gryffindors as they listened to the explosions and watched in awe what was proving to be an amazing display of fireworks just inside the Forbidden Forest. Hermione appeared to be growing increasingly agitated, her muttering growing louder and louder.
"What on earth do they think they're doing? How many spells do they want to see? This is beyond ridiculous, beyond absurd," she complained darkly.
A few minutes later, out walked Harry, his robes slightly burnt and his face smudged but with a wide grin on his face. Behind him followed the trio of examiners from the Ministry with looks of utter shock plastered on their faces. They kept walking past the group of students as Harry stopped and chuckled as he watched them walk on.
"What did they do to you Harry?" blurted out Ron.
"Oh, it was mostly illusions to see if I knew the correct spell to use, a few attacks by multiple creatures…"
"What was that horrid scream we heard?"
"Oh, that? Well, that was either the banshee or the gorgon-they both…"
Harry missed the looks of shock on several of his classmates' faces.
"What do you mean attacks by multiple creatures?" asked Seamus.
Harry started ticking off his fingers thoughtfully. "There were the Death Eaters, the werewolves, the vampires, a pair of giants, and…well, I'm not sure what those two floating things with the big eyes and tentacles were, but the Conjunctivitus curse sure made a mess of them."
"That wasn't a NEWT exam, that was an Auror qualifying field test," snapped Hermione. "What did they think they were…"
"Relax, Mione," urged Harry, brushing off some soot from his sleeves. "It wasn't really that bad. I've seen lots worse you know…How did yours go?"
"Well, they left the vampires out-no doubt they thought it might traumatize me or something," replied Hermione sarcastically. "But it was fairly routine, similar to what the others had-a couple of skeletons, a mad goblin, a spider, and a wyvern. They also had me duel with one of the members for a minute to demonstrate my defensive spell ability."
Harry laughed. "That's it?"
"Hey!" shouted Ron. "It was a really big spider!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply…"
"Well, at least we're done with exams," sighed Hermione as she stood up.
"Exactly!" shouted Dean. "And we have already uhh…acquired some food and drinks for the party. You guys are coming, right?"
Hermione stopped and looked at the group of Gryffindors. "Yeah, maybe later." Then she wandered off towards the lake by herself. Ron looked at Harry for a moment and then Harry turned to follow her. Ron led the others back up to the Gryffindor tower.
"Mione! Are you OK? You seem a little…uhh…"
"Stressed? Fried? Burnt out? Yeah…" replied Hermione glumly as she reached down to grab a stone and sent it skipping across the lake surface. "I know everyone else is happy about finishing exams and school and everything but…"
"But it's hard to enjoy it with Atlantis and Corlyn hanging over our heads?"
Hermione looked back at him and nodded.
"We'll deal with them soon enough, but in the meantime you can't give up enjoying life itself."
"Is this what it felt like after you learned about the prophecy?" asked Hermione. "Is this what it felt like to be part of a prophecy? Fearing what might happen, fearing you might not live up to your role, fearing you might not be able to prevent something terrible from happening? I thought I understood what you were going through…but I don't think I really did…"
"Mione, for the millionth time-you are not the Dark Queen of that stupid prophecy…" insisted Harry wearily. "And yes it was tough, but you and Ron helped me make it through all of that. You refused to let me wallow in self-pity and doubt-well, you tried really hard anyways. And you both reminded me that there were still lots of good things about life. So I'm ordering you to stop brooding for the next three hours and we're going to go have some fun with the rest of the Gryffindors tonight to celebrate the end of exams." Harry raised his hand to prevent any comments from Hermione. "No buts, Miss Granger. I won't take no for an answer."
Hermione stared for a moment and then laughed. "You're very convincing Mr. Potter. Very well, I promise to stop thinking about how to find Atlantis and Corlyn for the next couple of hours. After all, the weeks I've already spent haven't done much good so far. Maybe I need a little break for some inspiration to finally…"
Hermione paused as she stared out across the pond at the giant squid. "Harry. Why do we have a giant squid in the lake at Hogwarts?"
"Why do we have a…what?" asked a bewildered Harry, as he stopped to looke back at her.
Hermione stepped closer to the water, still staring intently at the giant squid floating lazily on the surface in the afternoon sunlight.
"Why is there a giant squid, a sea creature, in a fresh water lake at Hogwarts? And how did the merpeople get here? This is the only lake in all of Great Britain that has merpeople, did you know that Harry?"
"I know that we had to transport the merpeople who fought with us from here to the battleground with Voldemort. I didn't know there weren't any other merpeople in Great Britain, though if you say so…but I'm not sure I'm following you Mione," admitted Harry.
"Why do the merpeople of the lake look so different from all the pictures in the books and…"
"I didn't think you judged people by their appearance Mione. We've all had bad photos…besides, what difference does it make?"
"I need to talk to one of the merpeople…"
"Well, unless you fancy going for a swim, there's a picture of one hanging in the Prefect's bathroom you could talk to," offered Harry.
"And the password…"
Harry grinned. "I think it's still Gabrielle Delacour."
Hermione snorted. "Fine. Let's go."
A moment later Harry appeared by himself outside the door to the prefect's bathroom. He grinned and said, "Gabrielle Delacour." As he opened the door, he stepped by Hermione who was already inside waiting.
"Still hate that password, huh?" teased Harry.
"Where's the picture?" she asked, ignoring his question and walking around the huge pool, scanning the walls.
Harry pointed to the picture of the beautiful mermaid, throwing her long tresses in the gentle sea breeze of her picture.
"I have a question for you, if I may," asked Hermione, stepping closer to the large picture.
"Of course dear. How can I help?"
"Uhh…I wanted to ask you about your beautiful skin tone and your magnificent hair. Err…how do you manage to keep them so enchanting?"
"Well put Lavender. The Parvati twins will be so thrilled to hear you're finally into girly stuff like skincare and hair products…"
"Oh be quiet Harry."
"Well…" began the mermaid as Harry nearly dozed off. Even Hermione had to fight to keep from yawning as the mermaid painstakingly detailed every single thing she did to keep up her appearance. Harry's head started to ache.
Hermione finally managed to ask, "What would happen if you lived in fresh water and not salt water?"
"What? Oh that would be terrible! A merperson is made for salt water-only those who have committed terrible crimes are banished to fresh water. Without the salt, all kinds of horrible things would happen-greyish skin and green hair, yellowish teeth and eyes-oh, don't even joke about such a horrid fate."
"But you could survive in fresh water…" prompted Hermione.
"I'd rather die. But yes, I suppose so. But who would want to?"
"Thank you, you've been very helpful."
"But I haven't even told you what I do with my nails…"
"That's OK, I just chew mine," finished Hermione as the mermaid looked at her in horror.
"No you don't Hermione."
"No, but it shut her up long enough for us to leave. Come on, let's go."
Harry chuckled as they closed the door behind them. He glanced at Hermione and whispered, "Going for a swim are we?" Then he added, "Do you really think we'll find one of the portals at the bottom of the lake?"
"Yeah, I do. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. How else would we get creatures in our lake that belong in the sea? They must have come through a portal to Atlantis somehow."
"But that would mean the portals were underwater. And Atlantis was an island, it wasn't underwater until after..."
"It would be much easier to defend an underwater portal than one on dry land. It would keep most creatures out, and would be virtually impossible for Muggles or anyone else to discover either by accident or on purpose."
"And we still have no idea what we're looking for, do we?"
"Not really, though if the squid fit through, it can't be too small."
"I'll meet you in a few minutes then by the lake shore."
*-*-*
An hour later, Hermione heard Harry's excited voice. "I think I found it. This has got to be it."
"Where are you?"
A moment later, Hermione was floating beside Harry in her wetsuit and bubble head charm. She looked up at the enormous carving of a door on the side of the rock that was under one of the cliffs near the school. There was a very narrow path that allowed students to walk along the edge of the lake, but under water, the edge turned very sheer again.
Hermione concentrated intently on the etched runes along the sides of the marked door, but had to rub some of the dirt and silt out of some of them in order to make them out. Suddenly Harry spun when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
"We've got visitors Mione. And I don't think they want us by the portal."
"I can't read this last line…I've almost got it…" She was suddenly thrown to the ground as a flash of light sped across her peripheral vision and a spear arced over her shoulder. Harry moved his hand from her shoulder where he had pushed her to the ground and sent another spell at a group of three crabmen who were preparing to launch their spears. They fell over backwards as Harry looked for another target.
"I need another minute to finish deciphering the runes…"
"You've got thirty seconds." "Pummelo! Arius!" shouted out Harry as he dodged several spears launched at him and knocked down another two aimed at Hermione.
With the crabmen scuttling closer, Harry was forced to use several Sunflare charms to hinder their aim.
"Harry, I can't see when you do that."
"Well, neither can they. That's why you're not a pincushion yet."
"Can't you do that bubble thing to keep them away, I've almost finished translating…"
"I'll see what I can do." Harry focused and pushed a wave of water back at the crabmen moving closer. As he concentrated he could dimly hear Hermione muttering words to herself. Then she spoke more loudly, and more firmly, as if she were now sure of the translation. Harry cracked open an eye and saw the outline of the door glow a dim green. Hermione put a hand forward in the center of the door and pushed.
Nothing happened except that the lights dimmed and then went out. Several spears landed near Hermione's feet and quivered in the sand, but she didn't even flinch as she began repeating the same words again. Harry dove forward as another volley of spears landed right where she had been standing
When Hermione opened her eyes, she turned to him and asked "How did you get us through the portal Harry? I thought it had closed. I began repeating the…what the…wait…are we…are we in your house? I thought..."
"Slow down, Mione. You just about got yourself shish-kabobbed at the portal trying to reread the runes."
"I think I know what I did wrong, maybe if I…"
"I don't think rereading the inscription is going to make much difference Mione."
"What? I think I can figure it out Harry. I just need some time to…"
"Look, you said yourself that the portals have a number of defenses, right? Why would they just open to anyone who came along who could read Atlantean?"
"Well, maybe they…err…umm…what about the giant squid and the merpeople…how do you explain them being here Harry?"
"Well, I doubt they opened the portal. Maybe they were sent as additional guardians. Maybe they were being punished. Maybe they came through the portal when Atlantis was destroyed and the elves were fleeing…maybe somebody left it open…I don't know. What we do know is that the portal is there, but you couldn't open it."
"I only got one chance to try it…"
"And you won't get many more with the crabmen guarding it. Now they know that someone is looking for it and trying to pass through the portal. It will be nearly impossible for us to get past them now without killing them all. And even then, I doubt you'll be able to open the…"
"You don't think I can do it? You don't think it can be done? So what, we just give up and hope that Corlyn can't figure out a way past the portal and…"
"I didn't say that Mione. Let me finish. What we need is somebody who can get the crabmen to back off…somebody who can open the portal…somebody like…"
"Master Potter. Mistress Granger. Dobby is so happy to see you both. Will you be staying for dinner? And why are you dripping wet?"
Harry turned towards Dobby as a wide smile spread on Hermione's face.
"Dobby, I have a huge favor to ask you."
*-*-*
An hour later, with their bubble head charms in place once again and a very nervous and reluctanct house-elf beside them, the three disappeared from Harry's house and reappeared at the bottom of the lake in front of the portal.
Instantly the crabmen moved forward with their weapons raised and then halted as Dobby raised a hand. They bowed in front of him and then moved aside as he told them, "Step aside, I need to use the portal. You will not harm either the wizard or the witch you see beside me. Step aside and make room for us."
Dobby walked slowly to the portal, with Harry and Hermione on either side of him. He stopped in front of the portal, gazing at it with trepidation. He then repeated the phrases Hermione had deciphered earlier, with Hermione silently translating for Harry.
"Welcome home wandering Athlanti, return now to your glorious island.
Rest well from your journey, and enjoy again your friends and family."
Once again the lights glowed green and Dobby placed his palm in the center of the door. The lights flashed a bright green, and then Dobby stepped forward through the grey mist that seemed to bubble from the stone face of the arched portal. Harry and Hermione followed right behind him.
*-*-*
The three stepped through onto what appeared to be a large, spacious building. It was fairly dark, but as their eyes adjusted they could see better details of the room around them. Part of the roof was collapsed and there were bits of seaweed and other plants everywhere amidst the tumbled stones.
Harry led them slowly through the debris towards a doorway on the far wall. He cast a quick Disillusionment charm on Dobby and then disappeared himself. Hermione, too, disappeared from sight.
"Follow me," instructed Harry.
"How do you know where you're going Harry?" asked Hermione.
"I don't. but I've got a bad feeling about this place. Something doesn't feel right."
Stepping over the collapsed doors, they entered what was once a very nice street. It was now filled with cracks and debris from partially collapsed buildings.
Harry turned right and led the silent, invisible three slowly along what was once a major boulevard in the now silent city. Hermione marveled at the exquisite architecture evident in some of the surviving ruins while Dobby kept his eyes down. Harry's eyes darted from shadow to shadow, trying to locate the source of his unease.
Half an hour later, their street intersected with a much larger avenue and Harry paused, observing closely the various buildings and street conditions. Suddenly he clutched the sword hilt of Shadowbreaker.
"Mione. Can you Light Walk back to the portal with Dobby?"
"It would be easier to Apparate, but…"
"You can't. They've put up detection wards for that. Can you do it?"
"Yes, but…"
"Then do it. Give me three minutes. If I'm not back by then, take Dobby and go warn Dumbledore."
"What? Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go find out what you need to tell Dumbledore."
"Harry, I'm not leaving…"
"Just do it Mione. I don't have time to argue. I need to go see what they're up to and then I'll be back with you. Please, just trust me."
"Okay. Be back in three minutes Harry."
"I will." Harry teleported away while Dobby and Hermione disappeared amidst the faint light in the street.
Two and a half minutes later Hermione sensed Harry's presence next to the portal.
"Open the portal Dobby, we gotta go now!"
Hermione translated for Dobby the new inscription that was written on this side of the portal and he placed his hand again on the door and the three quickly stepped through. Harry immediately teleported them to Dumbledore's study where Harry looked around wildly.
"Dumbledore! Dumbledore!"
"He is not here, Mr. Potter," lectured one of the pictures on the wall. "Don't you ever knock young man?"
"Do you know where he is?" asked Harry. "It's very important that we speak with him immediately."
"It always is with you," replied the retired Headmaster. "He is in a faculty meeting with the other professors right now I believe in…"
"Mione. Can you get him? And bring Snape, Hagrid, and McGonagall too."
"Harry, what's this all about? What did you see?"
"I'll show everybody in a few minutes when they get here," explained Harry as he headed to the fireplace and grabbed a bit of powder.
Hermione frowned at the lack of an explanation but disappeared while Dobby looked around nervously.
"Hello Bev. Yes I know this is an unscheduled call, but I need to talk to Rem-Chief Auror Lupin immediately. It's an emergency."
*-*-*
Ten minutes later, Snape grumbled. "Could you explain to us again what, exactly, was so important that Mr. Potter needed to speak with us about?"
As Hermione turned towards him, she glanced over the various people gathered in Dumbledore's study. Dumbledore sat quietly behind his large desk, as always, tapping his fingertips together serenely. Hagrid stood anxiously, always worried about Harry. McGonagall sat to one side and watched Snape pace about with irritation. Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Draco and Gabrielle were on the other side of the room, looking confused and worried. They had all been searching the castle for Harry and Hermione when neither had shown up for the Gryffindor party and had bumped into Hermione and the professors heading up towards Dumbledore's study.
"Like I said earlier, Harry and I found something at the bottom of the lake, but until Harry returns I…"
Suddenly, Samuel and Remus burst through the door. Snape and many of the others looked up at the hulking, solid form of Remus, so different from the thin frame most of them were accustomed to seeing.
"What happened to you?" exclaimed Snape.
"Well, it turns out that Harry and Dumbledore's theories about lyncanthropy and animagi were correct."
"But I thought you weren't going to try it for another month…" mumbled McGonagall.
A huge grin crossed his face as he glanced at Ron. "Well, I got tired of waiting."
"Well, what is your Animagus form then? An elephant?" asked Ron.
"Actually, it is a bear. A grizzly bear. You're the first ones I've told."
Most everyone stood to congratulate him warmly, except for Snape.
"Well, that certainly explains the growth spurt. I had thought you had gone through puberty years ago, but…"
Lupin ignored Snape's comment and asked, "So what is this all about? Harry didn't say much except that it was an emergency."
"That's what we'd all like to know," replied Snape.
Just then Harry appeared in the middle of the room.
"Nice of you to drop in, Potter," sneered Snape. "This better be important. I have much better things to…"
"It is. We've found Corlyn and Atlantis."
Harry pulled down Dumbledore's Pensieve from its cupboard while the room exploded in commotion. Harry glanced at Dumbledore, who nodded back at him.
Harry sat the Pensieve on Dumbledore's desk and pulled out his wand. He then turned to the room and spoke. "Though several of you are aware of what Hermione and I have been doing, let be briefly explain it for those of you who don't know. Hermione and I have been looking for Atlantis since last summer. There is a powerful artifact that was lost there centuries ago when it sank into the sea. Hermione and I had hoped to recover the artifact before someone else did. There is a very powerful vampire named Corlyn, the same one who kidnapped Hermione and the other students from Hogwarts last December, who desperately wants to find that artifact."
"But you've found him? And you've found Atlantis?" asked Ron in disbelief.
"Uh, yeah. The problem is that Corlyn found Atlantis first. He's already there with a new army of vampires. And they've been very busy looking for the orb. Let me show you."
He twirled his wand at his temple, pulled several strands of silver, wispy smoke from the side of his head and then said, "Sensoris altus," and then waved his wand in a large circle above his head.
What followed was a series of disconcerting images like a slide show shown at high speed.
"What are we supposed to make of that Potter?" complained Snape as he rubbed his eyes and temples furiously.
Samuel chuckled, too, as he rubbed his eyes with his forefingers. "Though it could have used some editing, I believe it was a quick tour of Corlyn's forces and where they are searching. What did you do-make a series of teleport jumps just as quickly as you determined a safe location?"
Harry shook his head in the affirmative.
"He would have had to move quickly. Vampires are very perceptive with living bodies. It's nearly impossible to completely hide yourself from the most powerful ones like Corlyn, even magically," explained Hermione.
Harry nodded again. "They had wards to detect Apparation, and had even set a few teleportation traps, but I've learned to avoid those," grinned Harry. "They're focusing on a huge building and the grounds around it. I couldn't teleport into the building itself though. I think it may have been a palace, there seem to have been some large walls around it once."
"And you saw Corlyn there?" asked Dumbledore.
"No, but I know he's there."
"That's a dangerous assumption Harry," warned Samuel. "It wouldn't be…"
"Unless you know another vampire after Atlantis, I would say the profile fits..."
"He'll be there," insisted Hermione. "He likes to keep very close tabs on his projects," her voice soft and dangerous.
"Did you see any of the missing Obliviators or Megan?" asked Remus.
Harry turned towards him sadly. "Yeah, I did." He poked his wand in the Pensieve and swirled it a bit. In the middle of the room hovered an image of a beautiful, but emotionless Megan standing near what appeared to be an enormous statue.
"Meg!" hissed Samuel angrily. "Do you have a plan, Harry? I assume that is why you asked us all here. Either you have one, or you need some help coming up with one…"
"Well, I do have a few rough ideas that need some fine tuning…" began Harry. He nodded and Aardus stepped out of the shadows.
"What is he doing here?!" seemed to be the general consensus of most of the exclamations made by the faculty and students in the room.
"I brought him here. I believe he can help us spring a trap for Corlyn."
"If he doesn't spring it on you first," muttered Samuel darkly.
"How do you know this isn't all part of another elaborate trap set up by Corlyn just to…" protested Snape.
"He's had plenty of opportunities to spring a trap for one of us if he wanted. Aardus has been in the Forbidden Forest for months now, but has done nothing but help train me. Corlyn could have set a trap at one of his sanctuaries that Harry and Samuel have been destroying, but hasn't, even though he knew Aardus would betray him to us if given the chance.
No, his plan was to let us think he remained weak and unable to pursue the artifact. That's why he never bothered to recall Aardus or use him. He hoped to fool us into complacency and inactivity while he pursued Atlantis. Harry and I nearly defeated him once before. He's not the type that will look for a rematch unless he is positive he will win," explained Hermione.
"So, assuming that Aardus is willing, what is it you propose to do Harry?" asked Remus.
"Well, there are two ways we can go about attacking Corlyn and his vampires. We can take a large force and try to simply overwhelm them-no doubt with a very high casualty rate and no guarantee of success. There are also some logistical problems with that as well, primarily that of transportation. We can't get to Atlantis except through the portals. We tried to teleport, light walk, Apparate, and make a portkey, but you simply can't do it. And within the city itself, Corlyn has set up alarm wards to inform him if anyone tries to portkey or Apparate. So, simply getting enough forces there quickly enough to take down his vampire army would be a problem. If we were detected before we got anywhere near the palace, the battle would be over before it began.
What I suggest is that a small group of us use the portal to Atlantis and hide in the building where it is located. Then we send in Aardus to find Corlyn. He can Shadow Walk and find him for us. Hermione can stay in touch with him, and when Aardus locates him, Hermione can let the rest of us know where to Apparate."
"But didn't you just say that there were alarm wards," pointed out Draco.
"Yeah, that's why we have to kill him fast. Once Corlyn goes down, the whole vamp army goes down."
"Assuming that you can figure out how to kill Corlyn. And assuming that Aardus doesn't betray you. And assuming…" protested Snape.
"Surely we can come up with a better plan than putting our lives in the hands of a vampire…" added Samuel.
"I think this is our best shot at finding Corlyn. Aardus will not alert any of the vampires to his presence, none of them know him-they'll just assume he's another one of Corlyn's army. The only one that will recognize him will be Corlyn himself, and by then it will be too late-we'll know where he is."
"But…"
"I'm willing to take the chance," stated Harry.
"And I've been thinking a lot about how you might kill an Eldor," added Hermione grimly.
"Well, that's good enough for me. Count me in!" yelled Ron. Hagrid was the next one to jump to his feet, barely beating Luna, Ginny, Neville, Draco and Gabrielle to their feet.
With a wide smile on his face, Lupin stood as well, towering over everyone but Hagrid. "I'm going as well. We can't let the young ones have all the fun…"
"Albus, surely you can't let the students go down-this is much too dangerous…" protested McGonagall.
"More dangerous than confronting Voldemort and his army last spring? No, I believe they have more than proven themselves. If they choose to fight this battle, I will not prevent them, not even the underage ones."
Ginny beamed at him.
"But I will insist that I be allowed to accompany them as well." He glanced quickly at Harry before he could open his mouth and added. "The portal and the danger lie too close to Hogwarts for me to ignore it. Do not worry, I will do my best to stay out of the way."
Harry grinned slightly and nodded. "Thank you Professor. I'm sure we'll need your help. Everyone that wants to go meet us down by the side of the lake in fifteen minutes-I don't want any of you to feel like you have to come. Change into something you can swim in and be ready to cast a Bubble Head charm. I'll make a portkey to take us to the portal."
Fifteen minutes later, Harry noticed that everyone from Dumbledore's office had arrived, as well as several dark robed Aurors. He was only slightly surprised to see Snape by the shore as well.
"Well, since they wouldn't allow me to see my own students take their DADA NEWTs, I thought I'd come along to see if any of you actually learned anything this year," he explained.
Harry smiled and then held up the long piece of rope. When they all grabbed hold, he said softly, "Atlantis." The entire group then disappeared.
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