Unofficial Portkey Archive

His footsteps echoed with each step, a soft and assured thump that bounced off the walls and returned to their source in a matter of seconds. Harry turned a corner and approached the Hospital Wing, steeling himself at the door and resurrecting some of his Occlumency to still the inner turmoil. He opened the wide swinging double doors with both hands, immediately spotting the cluster of students with battle robes pocked with green patches.

They quieted as he approached, smiles disappearing off faces as a somberness overtook the corridor. Harry's footsteps seemed even louder, each hard echo contrasting the silence of the Slytherins grouped around a bed. Harry stopped short, looking at the supine Goyle. Even the other Houses were watching with abject curiosity.

"Are you going to be alright, Goyle?" Harry asked.

"Yes, sir," Goyle said slowly.

"Good. We're going to need you next time."

"I'll be ready."

Harry nodded at him, keeping his hands still by his side. The rest of them looked at him expectantly, and Harry eye's wandered to each member of his House, taking in their reactions. At last, he nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

"No practice tonight or tomorrow night. I'll see you Sunday night in the Common Room before curfew."

Harry turned on his heel and walked away without saying another word. Victory would not forge a bond between them. He had to keep them at a distance, controlling them at arm's length and without hesitation. But as he left, he could hear the Slytherins congratulating each other and laughing about their time off. Harry allowed a smile to himself that would not seen by others.

His pocket heated up and Harry was unsurprised to see Hermione requesting his presence. She was most fired up after a loss, immediately seeking to rectify her mistakes. In truth, it wasn't that she had made a mistake. Harry had just outmaneuvered and outsmarted her. Trudging down the various staircases, he contemplated his next moves.

The groups of three were a good idea, allowing him to direct each squadron with a unique identity. Furthermore, it could still be hidden at least until the next Battle class. The loss of Blaise disguised the identified groups. Handling Blaise would be a delicate tightrope. It wasn't as if he could banish Blaise from Slytherin or hold him out of Battle class forever. Eventually, Snape would make him or the Slytherins would see it as a grudge or a fued. No matter how subordinate Blaise was, Harry still needed him.

He would also have to find a way to continue these battles without micromanaging every single movement. There was no possible way he could come up with a new idea every time. It was unfeasible. A leadership structure would be the best way to delegate his tasks, but then there was the question of who to give command to. There was no way he could let them choose. Everything had to flow down from his orders.

Hermione interrupted his thoughts by stepping into the hallway, tossing him an annoyed look.

"You're late," she said as she tapped the wall seven times and opened the secret entrance.

"You didn't specify a time."

"I didn't realize as soon as possible had any other meanings."

Harry chuckled, amused by Hermione's barbed retorts. She did not take losing well.

"That neat little trick of yours will only work once," she said as soon as they entered the cave.

"Once is all I needed."

Hermione was pacing relentlessly, her arms crossed and a permanent scowl etched upon her face. Battle was their last class of the day, so Harry took some much needed time to relax and sat down heavily on the chair, slumping until his head was laying on the backrest. He had not gotten more than four hours of sleep in the past five days and it was starting to catch up to him. The tranquility of the lake overhead soothed his mind and allowed him some.

Meanwhile, Hermione rambled to herself, "You subverted general tendencies, opting to break up your House into a subset of groups. Disillusionment charms were a neat trick, but Detection spells will override that. Bulstrode and Goyle as meat shields were a good touch too. You had a lot of good ideas, Harry, but you could've only done it if you were confident they could operate independently or micromanaged every one of their moves. Is that what you did?"

"I can't very well tell you, now can I?"

"What happened to cooperation?" she asked.

"We can help each other, Hermione. I'm not going to tell you my entire strategy."

"Yes, Commander."

Harry cringed at the moniker. "You heard about that?"

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, I heard about it. Don't worry, it probably works for you."

Harry shrugged in response. "It easily could have backfired. They could have laughed in my face."

"No, they wouldn't do that. It works you for because you have that aura. The Boy Who Lived. The Bringer of Lightning. You're already pretty mythical in their eyes. Not to mention binding them under that sort of leadership is a pretty good tactic for getting them to listen to you."

"Are you thinking about doing the same thing, Commander Granger?" Harry teased.

She shook her head, her bushy tresses flying about. "No, I can't do that. They wouldn't believe me. They only listen to me out of default. Even if they did obey your every order, that doesn't expect how good they were at it. In comparison to last Battle class, they were well drilled. Too well drilled to just be slavishly following your every whim."

Harry was glad that she didn't seem to know about their extra practices. He had purposefully had them late at night in an unchecked corridor to keep out of the way. It would have been easier to hold it in the Room of Requirement during normal hours, but that would have taken away the element of surprise. In the future though, Harry had no choice but to start utilizing the room for more advanced scenarios.

"They can be better," Harry responded.

"I'm sure they will, but don't think you're the only one who can come up with a couple of tricks."

"They're not tricks," Harry corrected.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at the semantics but let it go. Instead, she pulled a few parchments out of her satchel and slammed them down on her desk. Harry raised his eyebrows at her, leaning forward to examine one of the documents.

"They're bare bones, but it's what I could get in such a short period of time. There's no way I can figure this out on my own. Between classes, Battle, and coming up with ways to beat you, there's not enough time in the day to deconstruct and reconstruct each of these spells and transfigurations. Unless I had a Time Turner of course," she added as an afterthought.

"Unlikely," Harry muttered.

Hermione had procured vague notes on communication devices and the charms and runes needed to configure them. They were obviously above their level, referencing spells that were nowhere near their repertoire as well as advanced runic knowledge that was ahead of their syllabus schedule. As Harry delved further, there were even more complexities around designing something that could possibly replicate the Board room. It was obvious that the spells were intricate, given that the Board room and all of its magic were constructed by the combined talents of the Hogwarts professors.

"It doesn't need to be an exact replica, just something like it. Something we can use," Harry said.

"I don't have the time, Harry, and neither do you. This is a few years in the making at the very least just to learn everything we have to do!"

"What if I got you another hand?"

"Tracey?" Hermione snorted. "Forgive me for my insensitivity but no."

"Not Tracey. Someone else. Someone that I trust and might give us a bit different perspective on creating some of these things."

"I hope you're not going to say Blaise," she dryly added.

"No," Harry shook his head. "He's a different problem I have to deal with. Let me introduce you to her and you can judge whether we can bring her on board."

"Her?" Hermione asked in surprise.

* * * * * * *

Harry waited until most of the kids turned in to confront Blaise. How he handled this situation was important not only to him but to the continuing improvement of Slytherin. Yet, he wasn't particularly sure of how this scenario would unfold, so he wanted to do it without a crowd. He had already shamed Blaise a plenty. Now would be the time to heal old wounds and bring him back under his control.

"Blaise," Harry said in a soft undertone.

Harry was in the Common Room, waiting underneath the winding staircases that lead to the dormitories. Blaise had been out late again, not even bothering to return for dinner. He was undoubtedly avoiding Harry. Even if he was unmotivated, it was at the very least embarrassing to be cowed in front of the rest of the Fourth Years. Harry expected anger.

Blaise froze at the sound of his voice, his back coiling together and his shoulders tensing. His head swiveled each and every way, trying to locate Harry until his eyes adjusted to the darkness and found the green-eyed boy underneath the stairs. He hesitated, not sure whether he should proceed up the staircase or address the matter at hand.

"Do you understand why I did what I did?"

Blaise hesitated, his face carefully managed but his brown eyes fierce. He stood a great bit taller than Harry, a sinewy muscle that looked intimidating shrouded against the backdrop of light. Yet, it was Harry who made the decisions and it was going to be Harry who decided what Blaise's future role would be. It was not lost upon Harry that their friendship was dangling by a very thin thread.

"You didn't have to do that. Not in front of everyone."

Harry bit his tongue, repressing the urge to berate Blaise for thinking about his pride first. If that was truly what he was hurt about, then maybe Harry had truly overestimated his abilities. But Blaise had been his friend for quite a while and he had gone into Battle class more than enough times with him to know that he could possibly be his number two. Application was the issue.

"I did it because you didn't come to practice. There are to be no deviations from what I say."

"So that's really how it is now? It's not an act?"

Truthfully, it was an act. He had no real power to affect change. He couldn't dismiss anyone from Slytherin. Though Snape had done nothing would Harry held Blaise back, Harry couldn't imagine that the headmaster would let that act continue. The punishments for not obeying his commands and orders would have to be carried out by himself and with brutal efficiency. No, the only real power he had was their belief in him and with that, their belief that he was never to be disobeyed.

"No games. No tricks. This is how it is now."

Blaise nodded as he averted his eyes, looking at anything but Harry. Neither of them spoke for what seemed to be a handful of minutes. They just stood there, waiting for the other to break the silence. Harry remained resolute, a stillness achieved within him via Occlumency. Finally, it was Blaise who broke.

"Yes, Commander," he whispered.

* * * * * * *

The next following weeks fell into a routine if not exhausting pattern. Schedules were still held in secret for the first week until Dean Thomas happened upon them in the dungeons. After that, Harry was forced to hold it in the Room of Requirements at normal times where others could observe either in person or via the Stationaries. In the room, Harry had them practice in two large groups as to not give away their particular squadrons.

They rapidly improved, picking up various spells and adapting to their roles. Blaise fell in line, listening obediently and marshalling Green squad with increasing efficiency. But Blaise didn't speak to Harry outside of the necessary conversations in practice and in Battle class. He remained in conversations with Tracey, Draco, and Pansy as the four of them regularly sat together at lunch and in class. Harry would have preferred if Blaise sat with Gregory and Millicent, but he could only imagine how much conversation those two could hold.

They won their next Battle class in though with far more difficulty this time. Hermione had indeed adapted to Harry's splintering style and went so far as to individually manage each member of Gryffindor. While it created much confusion and disrupted his Disillusionment tactics with Detector spells, Harry suspected that they didn't follow precise orders as some of the Gryffindors would overextend themselves, an error compounded by their singularity.

Still, in combination with Terry's still over complicated maneuvers and Susan's lack of ingenuity, Harry managed to win the Battle by surviving with four Slytherins, most notably, the whole of Black squad intact. Hermione had refused to speak with him for a few days after, growing more irritable with each loss. He would spot her leaving the Room of Requirement after each of Slytherin's practice sessions and whenever he brought up the topic of meeting in the cave again to go over their research project, she would dismiss him.

In the next Battle class, Hermione employed transfiguration to the maximum of her House's skills, changing the environment to suit their strengths. Harry was again reliant on Black squad's increasing skill to navigate a rather mazy series of magical traps and feints by Gryffindor. Every object in the Room of Requirement, in here a replica of the Forbidden Forest, was a potential trap. She had them mirror objects, transfigure various items to disguise their locations. Poor Terry ran them straight into another trap as they tried to outflank Gryffindor, only for his whole group to be split down the middle and separated. Yet, Draco came up with the ingenious idea of creating falsified images of themselves, a spell that Hermione knew.

They would first use spells against the duplicated image and find that it was a distraction. Then, in a masterstroke, Draco pretended to be one of the duplicated images and Hermione had them belay their attack to look for the portended source. It was only after Draco had stunned at least four people that they realized the duplicate was in fact the original. Harry congratulated the blond Slytherin in front of the whole House at the end of the class and as he left the room, he could hear their whoops and hollers of congratulations for Draco.

This time, his pocket heated up as Hermione's coin reflected her desire to meet.

Bring your extra set of hands.

Harry brought the person to their designated meeting spot in the upper towers of Hogwarts. It was probably an overreaction to their secret location in the dungeons, but Hermione would be the one to decide whether or not the person would see the cave. Harry opened the door to the classroom and looked down at his watch, noting there were ten minutes before their final class of the day.

"Luna Lovegood?" Hermione incredulously asked as the Ravenclaw emerged from behind Harry.

"Yes, I would be."

Luna must have been a strange sight, dressed not in the usual dark garb of Hogwarts robes, but in a white dress made of a thick material accented with little patches of blue and green. Her bottlecap necklace was around her neck and loopy, golden earrings only served to accentuate her eccentricity. Yet, Harry did not forget the object she made at the end of last year and after all, she was the one who had lead him on the right path to break Hermione's cypher.

Hermione looked imploringly at Harry, expecting him to say something, but Harry gestured that she should be the one to speak Luna. He already vouched for her and there was nothing that he could really say to convince Hermione otherwise. With an exasperated sigh, Hermione approached Luna, bringing herself up to full height in what looked to be an amusing form of intimidation.

"What are the problems of transfiguring larger complex objects into simpler pieces?" Hermione fired.

"There is always a slight loss in conversation rate when you convert any unlike objects. For larger, complex pieces, the complexity increases as you differentiate the number of objects. You would think that it would make an easier transfiguration into simpler objects, but the truth of the matter is that any unlike change will result in a less than desired conversion percentage. It would be preferable to transfigure large, complex objects to a large simple object, thus avoiding the bottleneck of multiple objects."

Harry coughed vehemently, hiding the smile behind his hand.

Hermione narrowed his eyes at him and continued. "You have applied a charm to six items. The charm is ineffective in two of them and at half efficiency on three of them, leaving only one fully functioning object. How would you improve the other five?"

"Given the parameters that it is the same charm on exact replica objects, I would have to conclude that it is the casting of the charm that would be the error. Applied charms, especially without runes, have a very specific procedure that must be followed with a less than one percent margin of error in order to achieve the true state of the object. Furthermore, any misapplied charms could result in disastrous and often dangerous items. It is advisable to be rid of all ineffective objects."

Hermione continued in the same vein, hammering Luna with questions that were intentionally superfluous and difficult. Yet, Luna handled them with aplomb even when Harry got lost in the technicalities. She never wavered under Hermione's glare or condescending tone, even going so far as to correct her on some solutions. After a while, Harry intervened and pointed at his watch.

"Almost time for Theory, Hermione."

Hermione relented, taking a step back as she eyed Luna up and down.

"How much has Harry told you?" she asked.

"He said he needed help with a project. I owe Harry my help," Luna answered.

"And do you know that it would perhaps be a burden to both of us to have you know that we meet often?"

"I have very few friends, Hermione. Of the few I have, none I would trust with this knowledge."

There was finally a break in Hermione's hard approach as she bit her lip from any more patronizing questions. Looking at Harry, she nodded once and excused herself, presumably leaving for Theory. Harry waited until she left to smile at Luna and clasped the smaller girl on the shoulder.

"She's not so bad after a while," Harry said.

Luna smiled serenely.

"Oh, yes she is," she replied.

* * * * * * * * * *

The windy tower where Flamel held his class was colder than the previous week, the chilly wind snapping around their robes. Flamel, buried under what must have been three layers of robes waited patiently for them, leaning against a windowsill, his scraggly beard swaying slightly with the breeze.

Terry barely spared Harry a glance, a haggard and unfocused glaze upon his face. Among the four of them, he had suffered the worst losses during Battle classes, routinely having Ravenclaw eliminated before all of the other Houses. The climb towards this tower was exhausting enough without thinking of all of the other responsibilities during the descent. Likewise, Susan's and Hermione's minds were elsewhere as Flamel once again delayed the start of class.

"Levitation Charms!" Flamel brightly spoke.

They all looked at each other, wondering what their professor would want with one of the first spells they ever learned.

"Well, don't just look at each other. Perform them on your chairs," Flamel said.

There was still a momentary pause as no one quite moved out of their chairs yet. Flamel was looking at them with his usual smile on his wrinkled face, a patient and expectant visage betraying no other emotion. Slowly, Harry stood up and performed a Levitation Charm, swishing and flicking like he was supposed to. He turned to Flamel, trying to gauge what exactly the professor wanted.

Flamel nodded back at him and said, "Now lower it."

Harry hoped that he wouldn't ask him to levitate it again.

"Now levitate it again!"

Luck was not on his side.

They continued for the rest of the period, levitating and lowering their chars with a steadfast repetition that Flamel did not allow to discontinue. Bored out of his wits, Harry started levitating it different heights, letting it fall instead of gradually lowering it to the ground to entertain himself. Flamel quickly snapped at him, telling him to focus. Harry complied but let his eyes wander. Terry was monotonously performing the task, his mind no doubt within Battle class while Hermione pointedly stared at Flamel, trying to will her thoughts to the professor. Of course, she could have performed Legilimency on him, but that would give away all their practice.

A sudden clatter interrupted Harry's grazing thoughts as Susan's chair collapsed on the floor and broke one of its legs. The Hufflepuff girl frowned at her chair as if it did something wrong and attempted to levitate it again. Noticeably, her hand wavered and though she tried to hide it, there was the tiniest show of effort on her part. They must have performed it over one hundred times at this point.

"Keep going, Susan," Flamel encouraged.

Yet, with each passing levitation, Harry begun to realize what exactly Flamel was trying to accomplish. Susan tired out first, each levitation failing to reach the height before it. She was sweating, her face a contortion of concentration as the simple spell began to wear her down. Terry was next, suddenly snapped out of his lethargy as his chair visibly wobbled during its ascent. Harry was fascinated by their troubles even as he started feeling the resistance of his own magic.

It wasn't as if he started performing as poorly as Susan or Terry, but he could feel it. There was a palpable weight as he levitated his chair for what must have been the hundred and fiftieth time. It increased in feeling as if someone were adding bricks onto the chair as he tried to settle into a rhythm, willing the pressure to go away. Next to him, Hermione was deteriorating, a gap growing between each Levitation Charm. Harry started pacing himself as well, unsure on whether or Flamel was reading something into their reaction of their diminishing magic or simply determining who could outlast the other.

Harry settled with his Occlumency, his mind passively recreating defenses and perhaps retaining whatever magic he had left. He had felt magical exhaustion before, the emptiness inside coupled with the physical exhaustion that accompanied it. He persisted, blocking the world out until they were blinking black dots out of the corner of his eyes and that was left was the brown, wooden chair.

His chair suddenly splintered apart as Hermione's chair flew into it, shattering both of them into splintered pieces. Harry dropped his wand arm, trying to steady his breathing while Hermione bent over with her hands on her knees, exhaling heavily as her hair covered her head. Flamel, unmoved from his place by the window eyed her curiously.

"Dismissed," Flamel said.

Harry looked at his watch and found that it was indeed time to leave. He looked at Hermione, trying to catch her eye but she had yet to move from her bent position. The splintered pieces of the two chairs lay mixed on the ground and Harry approached them, wondering why Hermione would destroy both of their chairs.

"I said dismissed," Flamel repeated, his voice containing a bit more glower to it.

Hermione finally stood straight, huffing one last time as she caught her breath. Harry looked at her in the eye, green meeting brown, and raised a solitary eyebrow. She fixed him with a stern look and shook her head, but he didn't know how to interpret it. Hermione left without another word, not wanting another scolding from Flamel and left Harry with his own thoughts.

What was Flamel playing at?

* * * * * * *

The next few weeks was a blur to Harry, a mixture of Battle class, practice sessions, and more peculiar lessons by Flamel. Slytherin continued their dominance, though they did finally lose to Gryffindor through a mistake on Harry's part. He had misjudged Hermione's intentions and overcommitted in what turned out to be a trap. The mood was despondent among his House mates afterwards and Harry had to break his persona for just a moment to reassure them that they were going to be fine.

More and more students watched their practices and Harry noticed that Cedric had begun to attend nearly every one as well. Harry had yet to find a quiet moment to speak to Justin as the Hufflepuff always seemed to be busy or surrounded by others of his kind. Harry wasn't too worried for the moment, but made a mental note to book extra practices in varied rooms in the dungeons. It became a cat and mouse of game of what he showed to the public and what he practiced in the darkness.

Of course, the double practices exhausted everyone and Harry slipped up in Potions while they were studying the Polyjuice Potion and was subsequently scolded by Slughorn. Harry promised not to make the same error, but all he wanted to do was fall asleep. Though he had a busy schedule, Harry had never felt more lonely. Blaise did not speak to him at all as Harry had to relay any information, including practice times and locations, through Tracey. Tracey did her best to speak with him in private, but neither he nor she could afford to be seen as making exceptions for each other.

His sessions in the cave with Hermione had also lessened as she grew more and more frustrated with each of his victories. Even when he tried to raise her to continue working on their project with Luna, she had declined, citing studying and extra practice. Harry knew that her weakness in Battle class resided in her inability to command the Gryffindor House with precision. They didn't like listening to her and only obliged her command without realizing the true objective. Yet, he doubted that a Commander Granger would hold the same clout that he did. She was right. His cult of personality worked to his favor and undermined hers.

Flamel did not assuage the fatigue with his lessons as he seemed hell bent on exhausting whatever magic they had left in his class. Two weeks in a row he had them performing first year spells until they could no longer do it. Hermione had not done anything as drastic as subvert his own accomplishments, but he could tell that she was also perturbed by his perceived advantage in sustaining spells over her.

At the end of October, a notice was put out over the school that the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be arriving the next day. There was an excited buzz in the school that flew from student to student, but Harry was just glad that classes ended early so he could finally get some sleep. Harry informed Tracey and Draco that practice was dismissed for the day and bid everyone an early goodnight, collapsing in his bed at approximately five in the afternoon.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was sucked into a dream. He was walking through a hallway with various coats of arms on either side. The cobbled stone gave away that it was Hogwarts, but Harry had no control of where he was traveling. His feet moved out of its own accord, bringing him through the Great Hall and into the main courtyard.

The sky was dark and starless, an unnatural black blanket that smothered the horizon. Yet, there was a glow, a source of light near the highest tower of the school. As Harry looked up, he shielded his eyes, so bright was the light. Peeking through his fingers, he could instantly see the emblazoned symbol in the sky, shimmering brightly in place of the moon.

It was his lightning bolt, towering over Hogwarts as the only source of light in the dark night. It seemed to increase in brightness and Harry had to close his eyes as his hand was unable to cover the entirety of the glow. A thundering clap sounded overhead, making Harry jump as the rumble started. It originates seemingly from within his chest, growing until the loose pebbles on the ground shook in perfect harmony. Then, the top tower, where Flamel taught, crumbled like a stack of bread. Piece by piece, brick by brick, the castle fell apart.

He heard a voice and looked down at the archway of the Great Hall to see a solitary figure walking towards him even as the castle crumbled before her. Hermione, dressed in her nightgown, walked right up to him, calm and collected. She looked back, almost disinterestedly at the collapsing castle.

"Is this yours or mine?" she asked.

"What?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Is this your dream or mine?" Hermione repeated.

Harry looked as the castle imploded from within, debris flying sky high as the rumbling reach a pitched tone. It was as if the earth were shattering apart and Hogwarts was in the middle of it. The gnarled stone and boulders hovered in the sky, falling in an exaggerated motion as foundation splintered beneath him. Harry looked at Hermione, still cool and unmoved as a giant boulder hurdled toward them.

"I think this is my dream."

* * * * * * * *

"What is their project? What do they plan on doing?"

"I do not know. I did not hear of any conversation they had regarding the project. I am certain of that."

"Then how are they communicating? Is it through the Protean Charm? Is there something else we're unaware of?"

"Do you think they've figured out our method of surveillance?"

"No, they do not have the capable magic of detecting the House Elves. It is more likely that they agreed to it sometime prior, at a point where we were unable to detect it. Still, I think it's likely that they are trying to replicate the Board Room."

"But to what purpose? And of what use outside Battle class?"

"The boy wishes to initiate his own force. To what end I have yet to ascertain, but that much is certain."

"And the girl? What of her involvement? Do you still disapprove?"

"She is a moving target. On her day, she can be asset, but as she showed in Flamel's classroom, she is also envious of what the boy can do. Jealous of his command as well."

"Do you think he has grown too complacent with his victories?"

"I think that it is time to test him further. I plan on initiating some more...difficult...scenarios after the spectacle of the Goblet of Fire."

"Indeed. I have constructed some other scenarios. Ones that we have not tried before."

"Meaning?"

"Other years. Older years. A different subset of students that Potter is not well practiced on. After all, he will not know every enemy he faces."

"Are you privy to something I am not? I am in favor of an accelerated curriculum, but I have not known you to be."

"His magical levels are starting to become exponential. You saw the way he handled Flamel's test. Nicolas told me that he had never seen a student maintain such concentration even after the number of times he applied Power Limiters to him. He was shrugging off Nicolas' magic!"

"Did he know?"

"He did not. It only makes his feat even more extraordinary. His mastery of command is unparalleled at such a young age. I know we have spoken of having him learn his abilities, but never did I foresee it so young. I thought he would be ready at the end of his full curriculum…"

"So do you think he can handle the tournament?"

"The Goblet is being closely watched, especially by those in the Ministry who do not approve of our particular methodology. Nonetheless, if he submits his name, I will ensure that he is picked. The half-Veela and the Bulgarian are special in their own right. He would do well to learn from the."

"Learn from them or defeat them?"

"They are not exclusive. But there is something else that I must discuss. It is about the map. The map that his father had."

"What of it?"

"There was a name that appeared, albeit briefly. I can not tell if it was a trick of the eye or a temporary moment of madness. It has not since reappeared, but I can not rid myself of the image."

"A name that...shouldn't belong?"

"A name that should not be here. A terrible name. An awful name."

"You must be more sure than to half believe that it was the trick of the eye."

"It was for the briefest of seconds, but the more I think about it, the more it lingers and festers in the back of my mind. I can not ignore the feeling that it was not a trick. I can not ignore the possibility of it."

"You need to make sure. You need to make...absolutely...sure."

"A name. It is a terrifying thing."

* * * * * *

Projected update time: 35 days

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