Okay everyone, chapter 17. Within these pages, everything will be revealed. There isn't much else going on in this chapter besides that though, so you'll have to resign yourself to a very informative, but not as action ridden chapter. It's important though, so read every word. And when you're done reading every word, write me a review letting me know how you liked it. I'm a starving college student. Cut me a break. I need reviews. I live off of reviews. Please review.
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Desdemona sat on the couch, with her legs crossed regally. Hermione, Sebastian and Draco sat on the other couch, facing her, wands in their laps, and Carys sat on the floor between Sebastian's knees. Harry, Ron and Ginny had all decided to stand, and Noah was perched in the chair. No one had put their wands up. They didn't trust Desdemona, and she couldn't blame them for it.
"Lamia is my daughter. She's twenty-eight. Ten years ago, she came into my chambers and cursed me. I had always known that she would want to take power away from me. By the time she was eighteen, I'd taught her everything I could, and still she was learning more. She grew powerful, much more powerful than I ever was. And we both knew that it was only a matter of time before she took power from me.
"But I'd always expected it to be in a duel, not for her to curse me while I slept. She took a good portion of my power, and while I was not left helpless, neither did I have any followers, or any chance of beating her. I went into hiding and remained there ever since. Lamia has been steadily gaining new followers and more power. She controls several of the governors; the Deputy Minister of Magic is on her pay. Her network is as great as the one Voldemort and I sat up years ago.
"She wants you, Carys, to be her successor. Of course, she hasn't decided if she'll give you the throne when she's finished, or if she'll just kill you and rule herself, but if she has to pick one, she's already chosen you. She sees a lot of herself in you."
Carys' hands gripped tighter around her father's, and Sebastian laid a hand on her shoulder. "Why does she want me?" she asked.
"That isn't important right now. I'll get to it. The important thing is that I know where she is, what she's up to, and most importantly, how to stop her."
Harry pushed off the wall, walked to the back of the couch to place his hands on his wife's shoulders. "So get talking already. We don't have time for small talk, and neither do you."
"She is in a place that she and I built together. Our first and last undertaking as mother and daughter. It is Unplotable; it is Randomized. Technically, there is no way that you can possibly get there. And truly, you can't Apparate in because of wards more powerful than any you've seen before, and brooms are a suicide mission. We built it as a castle, and a castle it is. There are charms on in, but I'll give you the recipe for the potion to simply walk past them.
"The castle isn't on Earth. There's no road that leads you to it, no map that it has ever been on. It's above the Earth, amongst the clouds. A floating island, if you will. And you can think I'm lying all that you want, but," she withdrew a small piece of parchment and handed it to Hermione, "here are the Muggle coordinates. Go there and straight up several hundred feet. It's invisible until you land on it, which makes it extremely dangerous. You can take brooms to the edge, but then you'll have to walk several miles to reach the castle. Odds are, she'll know you're coming. But don't let that stop you. It's your biggest advantage.
"My daughter was born conceited, and she was born talented. She also has a temper that could rival that of Satan himself. That you would even dare to attempt to infiltrate her home and fortress will send her into a rage. If you make it to the castle, which in itself is no easy feat, she'll be waiting for you. Her and an army of Death Eaters. And you cannot take your own army with you. If you want the slight chance that she doesn't discover you're coming, you don't want to take many more people than those that are sitting in this room.
"Her temper makes her irrational. She doesn't think correctly, and she doesn't think things through. She throws curses without really aiming them, and she doesn't stop to think about what you're doing while she's throwing curses. It's her biggest, and only weakness. If she gets angry, you have an opening. But I'm warning you all, she is powerful enough that it may not matter how angry she becomes. Curses and spells bounce off of her. She is so resistant to them that I can barely get one through. It will take a lot of power to kill her, and it will leave you feeling as if you have no power left. You need to be prepared for that.
"Don't take Invisibility cloaks or potions or anything else. Just your wand. Anything else will be useless up there. They don't work unless the potions have been administered two to three hours before you go up. It's the way I built it. And there are many magical creatures that you will have to face. Ones I wager none of you have ever seen before. I bred them myself, many years ago.
"Once you are inside the castle, you have to get to her chamber. She, like Voldemort, had divided her soul into pieces. However, she is too conceited to think that she may need to hide them. They are in a crystal case in her bedroom. There are six of them, and they are all gaudy, elaborate pieces of jewelry. But don't touch them, whatever you do. Only someone from her line can handle them safely. If anyone not of blood relation touches them, then it will kill them, and quickly. Gather them in a cloth and take them to the great hall. It takes up half of the castle, so it's nearly impossible to miss. In there, you will see her cabinets of potion ingredients. You must use the Essence of Gryffindor to destroy them.
"See, millennia ago, when the battle between Slytherin and Gryffindor started, Slytherin took one part of his soul away and created one Horcrux. Gryffindor knew that he would be killed, and bottled a small amount of his magical essence so that the Horcrux could be destroyed if he died before he got to destroy it. It was never used, and has been passed down through my line ever since. It's the only thing that can destroy all six at once. Even that potion you used two decades ago, Draco, is only powerful enough to destroy one at a time. And you don't have that kind of time while you're there.
"Now that I've told you where she is, how to get there, and how to stop her, I'll get to my favorite part of the story. Who she is. And why she wants Carys as badly as she does. See, my daughter is sterile. She was born that way. She can never produce an heir on her own to take her place when she dies or is killed. Lamia's father is one of her greatest griefs, and for that she blames you, Draco. You killed her father, twenty years ago, when you were eighteen, in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. You looked him in the eye, and you killed him. You went into that battle knowing that he was the only one you truly wanted dead, and you would have killed anyone who had tried to stop you. Her father, Draco, is your father. Lamia Desdemona Malfoy."
Carys' breath stuck in her throat, and she couldn't force it in or out. She paled considerably and her grip on Draco's hands became bone crushing. Not that he could blame her. Not when his grip on her was nearly as tight. His face, however, never changed. Desdemona chuckled.
"Surprised you there, didn't I? Yes, Draco, you're hunting your sister, and Carys, you're after your own aunt. Why else do you think she's so determined to get you? You're her closest relation. She wants this to come back full circle. She'll kill the one who killed her father, and train you to succeed her. A brilliant plan in theory, really."
Draco scoffed. "No one is going to kill me. How do I know you're telling the truth, Desdemona? I think I'd have known if my father had another child. Especially a girl. Dad didn't care too much for daughters. Mom had three of them after me, and none of them made it through the first night of life. What makes this one so different?"
"The fact that she was heralded by Voldemort, and my child. I was in charge, Draco. You forget that. They both answered to me, and no one else. Me. And I told them not to touch her. They didn't. I told them to train her, and they did. She was so very young when Lucius and Voldemort died, though. And she has grieved for them ever since. Sad, really. Grieving for people she never really even knew. That having been said, my hypothesis is that the only people that have the power needed to actually kill her are those of you who are related to her. And continuing on that thread, I believe that you will have to accept and embrace the dark power that both of you keep suppressing. It is important that you accept who you are fully."
Draco shook his head. "Good triumphs over evil. Basic rule of the universe."
"And there must always be battles fought and a balance kept. Another basic rule of the universe. And oftentimes, the battles fought aren't fought outwardly. They can be fought within oneself. There has to be a balance in individuals, as well as in the grand scheme of the universe. The trick to power is learning to use both sides of the scale to better yourself."
Carys felt as if she was getting a lesson in basic Dark Arts. She eased her grip on Draco's hand and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to clear her head so that she could think rationally. "I am not evil. Dad is not evil. Our family was. We aren't our family. I'm nothing like her! I'd rather die than be like her! Than embrace my darkness! Do you know how hard it is to push that back sometimes? Knowing that what haunted and devoured them is hovering just below the surface, waiting to devour me too?"
Sebastian rubbed her shoulders, turned to Desdemona. "What we do and how we defeat her is our business. I don't think that good could win by the good people letting evil rule them. Dark magic is scarier, and brings more fear than good magic, but ultimately, good always wins. We're prepared to die to ensure that it does, and that's all that matters. Using dark magic may make us more likely to live, but having to live with what we'd done would take away that advantage." He stood, looked to his father, who nodded. "I think that you should leave now."
Desdemona smiled again, and rose. "As you wish. You know, Sebastian, you could be very powerful with the right training. I wish I had the chance to give it to you."
"Even if you weren't dying, I'd kill myself before taking a lesson from you."
Harry watched Desdemona leave and shut the door behind her. He gave himself five seconds to take two deep breaths, then turned around. "Okay. Let's get busy. We have a lot of work to do now. Carys, Draco, you two all right?"
Draco and Carys exchanged a look. Carys nodded. "We'll be fine. Let's finish this."
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