INNOVATOR Ch 37: Fleeting Peace

Author's Note: Hello there, this is chapter 37 of INNOVATOR. I really hope you will like it.

Also, many thanks and congratulations to our first seven holders of the Guildmaster tier: Camo, I am Lord Dems, StormFox, RyanMK666, Lyrical, Tyler and HadesReynes! 😇🥰

Now, without any further ado....Let's begin!

Author Out!

“I am Talking.” 

‘I am Thinking’

Spells

“ᦓꫝꪖᦔꪮ᭙ ꪻꪖꪶᛕ꠸ꪀᧁ” (Shadow talking or Shadow speech)

§Parseltongue§

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

You need to love the villain as much as you love the hero if you're going to have a great story

~Andrew Scott
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

INNOVATOR

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 37: Fleeting Peace~~

.

Harry blinked when he heard his godfather’s squeak. It was then the shock wore off, and he remembered that there was a reason why the newly arrived ghost looked distinctly like the man behind him. After all, siblings do have quite the resemblance, especially when both of them have a powerful family magic supporting them. 

“Regulus?” Dumbledore whispered in shock. “Regulus… Arcturus Black?” 

The Headmaster would be lying if he said this was the first time when he met the ghost of one of his former students, after all Myrtle was still haunting the second floor, still that didn’t mean he was ready to face another one in his life. 

There was a reason he had stopped to hunt for the Deathly Hallows after his sister, Ariana’s, death. He knew that he would end up summoning her soul repeatedly if he ever got his hands on the resurrection stone. And then he would end up becoming a lunatic like Cadmus who killed himself when he saw the person he wanted to be so close and yet so far.

“Don’t drink the potion.” The ghost of Regulus told him as he floated closer. “There is nothing in there.” 

“What do you mean by—”

Sirius stopped Harry as he jumped back on the ground. “REGULUS!! What… what happened to you?!” 

The ghost gave a small painful smile when he saw the shock on his brother’s face. “Hey, Siri, been some time, eh?” 

“Reg… I don’t understand…” Sirius whispered, “I-I knew you died, we all did, they said Voldemort personally killed you. Hell, mother wailed like a damn harpy when grandfather announced the news that night. But… but a ghost? Here? How?!” 

His brother tilted his head. “I don’t know how it happened either, there was a moment when I died, everything was black and then, suddenly I woke up here. And I've been here for a long time.”

“Obviously, you have!” Sirius exclaimed. “You… left us in ‘79, it's ‘95 now! Sixteen years, Reeggie!” Tears started to fill his eyes when he saw the smile on his younger brother’s face. 

“How did you…?” He asked hesitantly. “I-I mean you don’t have to tell if you don’t want to, of course… I was just—” 

“It corresponds to what you were going to do.” Regulus pointed at the stone basin behind them. “You see, The Dark Lord asked me for my house-elf, Kreacher, for some work. It was supposed to be really important and, therefore, I happily summoned Kreacher and told him to follow the Dark Lord.”

“But it was wrong of me to do so.” His expression darkened. “The Dark Lord had brought Kreacher to this cave where he tested the defenses around his horcrux on the poor thing, and then left him to die here.” He shook his head. “Thankfully the Dark Lord forgot to put anti-house-elf wards around this place which helped Kreacher escape.”

“Never knew that the crazy bastard had been tortured like this by the other crazy bastard,” Sirius grumbled but quieted when Dumbledore signaled him to.

“What happened after that?” Harry asked the ghost who heaved a tired sigh and floated towards the stone basin. He touched the potion, his ghostly hand phasing through the emerald green liquid without any ripples. 

“Kreacher told me all about it, how he had been forced to drink the potion and how the Dark Lord had left him in the cave to die,” Regulus continued. “The Dark Lord repeatedly bragged about how he had surpassed mortality and had ventured into the immortal realm, and that no one could ever truly kill him. I made the connection that the secret to his immortality was laid here.” 

“So, I did the stupid thing.” He smiled. “I made a locket, an exact replica of the one that he left here — yes, it’s a locket — and then asked Kreacher to guide me through the cave’s defenses. It was I who had tied the boat here, hoping that if he ever returned then he wouldn’t be able to find a way to reach the isle.”

“What did you do, Reggie?” Sirius mumbled in shock. He already had a faint idea as to what his stupid brother would have done, but he didn’t want to admit it.

Regulus sighed. “I drank the potion. Completely.” He looked at the three men who looked at him with saucer wide eyes. “I told Kreacher to replace the fake locket and destroy the original one, he popped away and I replaced the potion. I think after that I was too thirsty to think coherently and ended up drinking the water from this lake.” 

“The inferi…” Dumbledore muttered and then turned to look at the lake sadly. “They pulled you inside, didn’t they?” 

Regulus nodded, but then he tried to smile again. “Well, then I woke up again and found myself here.” He waved his hands around the cave. “I’ve been here since then. Can’t really leave this place, and yes, I’ve tried.” 

They talked some more, Sirius and Regulus discussed stories, the latter revealed that he told Kreacher to tell Grandfather the truth, which meant that it was Arcturus Black who tried to turn his grandson’s death into a heroic one. The former Black was also quite surprised to know about Harry and his brother, and pitied the elder one for what he had to go through while growing up, then he shared a few stories about Lily when she met him and Snape. 

After some time, it was Dumbledore that finally broke the small family reunion with a question.

“So do you think Kreacher was successful?” He asked the youngest Black, “And if he wasn’t, then where is the locket?” 

“Kreacher failed, sir,” Regulus replied. “Because, for some reason I can still feel the locket to be around. It’s not here, I don’t know its location but it still contains a piece of him.” 

“How about we summon your house-elf and ask him?” Harry suggested and the rest of them immediately agreed. 

Sirius called him out, and the house-elf took some time before his magic forced him to respond to its master. At first, when Kreacher came to the cave, he stumbled and fell back. The poor house-elf’s past experiences haunted him, holding him in a vice grip of fear and pain when he remembered how this cave took his beloved master from him.

That changed when he saw Regulus’ floating form, the house-elf got so happy that Sirius had to strictly command the old thing from jumping too much or they’d all fall in the inferi infested lake. Even then, Kreacher tried to keep hugging the only person whom he really considered to be his master.

“Kreacher, did you finish the task that I gave you before you left the cave?” Regulus asked him. “You do remember the locket, right?” 

The old house-elf of the Blacks bobbed his head feverishly. “Kreacher does, great Master Regulus sir, Kreacher remembers the filthy locket!” 

“And did you destroy it?” 

This time the little being broke into hysterical sobs as he tried to hug Regulus’ leg but fell on the ground. “Kr-kreacher tried! Oh yes, he did!” The house-elf banged his hand on the rocks. “The locket bes not opening! Kreacher burned, blasted, used everything Kreacher could! But the locket bes strong! It bes only destroyed after openings, Master Regulus sir. And Kreacher cannot openings it!” 

“Is the locket under some runic enhancement, Kreacher?” Harry asked him. He knew that other than Regulus if there was anyone whom the house-elf respected enough to answer politely; it was Harry.

“N-no, Harry Potter.” The house-elf wiped his eyes, “The filthy locket bes openings only with specific language of the Blacks. No one else bes openings the locket.” 

“A specific language of the Blacks?” Dumbledore frowned. “Then maybe Sirius or Regulus here could—”

“Master Regulus doesn’t know the language.” Kreacher shook his head. “And the filthy master could only dream of knowing it.” This time he sneered. 

“Why, you little—”

“Sirius! Not now.” The Headmaster stopped him and turned to the house-elf once more, “Now, Kreacher, is there anyone else who could speak this language? Other than the former Blacks, of course.”

This time the old house-elf gave a small nod, he looked up into Dumbledore’s curious blue-eyes and then whispered, “The… snakes.”

⁂

“Excellent work, Alan!” Hermione congratulated him as she checked his essay on defensive charms that Flitwick gave them yesterday. She looked through the spells, the spelling, formation of sentences and the paragraphing as well as grammar. It was all perfect, well it wasn’t as good as hers — obviously — but it was way better than what half of their year mates would come up with.

“It is?!” Alan asked her, excited to finally be done with the homework part of the day. “You’re not patronizing me, right? Because if you are then—”

All of a sudden the common room was drowned in bright orange light, Hermione hugged him tightly as others who were around the room shrieked in horror. The most melodious song that he had heard started to thrum from every corner and Alan could actually feel himself relaxing as he basked in it. 

When the light vanished, Alan looked at the source of disturbance and was surprised to find Dumbledore’s phoenix, Fawkes, flying in front of him. 

“Fawkes?” He asked, confused. “What happened? Why are you here?” 

The mythical bird gave a legendary trill as he flapped his wings, his beady black eyes looking at the Boy-Who-Lived before he dropped the piece of parchment that his owner had sent. 

Alan picked the parchment and was surprised to note that instead of the Headmaster, it was his brother’s cursive calligraphy on it. The parchment said that he needed to hold Fawkes’ tail feathers because he was needed somewhere. 

“What is it, Alan?” Hermione asked him, trying to take a look at the parchment that he was reading. 

“It’s from my brother,” He told her. “Says he needs me for something, and I need to come with Fawkes here.”

“Your brother has a phoenix?!” She asked, surprised that someone their age had bonded with a  mythical bird that had only been heard in legends. 

“Hell no.” He laughed. “Fawkes is Dumbldore’s phoenix, I think both of them are together,” he told her and looked at the bird who flew over to him and sat on his shoulder.

“Err… Alan? Are you sure about it?” She asked, “Your brother isn’t someone who would call you to help him with anything, and if he’s with Dumbledore, then—”

“The chances are even less likely, yes. I know.” He nodded. “But then, I know my brother’s handwriting, I’ve been learning from his notes for the last two months, and I know that Fawkes won’t listen to anyone other than Dumbledore himself, or maybe Harry too?” He asked the bird who shook his head. 

“Well, that decides it then.” Alan nodded and held the bird’s tail feathers only to be engulfed in flames and a loud trill from the flaming bird as he was transported directly to the cave where others were waiting for him.

When he opened his eyes next, he saw that there were a lot more people than just his brother and Dumbledore. There was Sirius Black, who was talking animatedly with a teenage ghost that looked remarkably like him, there was also an old looking house-elf who held a weird looking locket of gold in his hand.

“Harry?” He asked his brother who was standing by the side of the lake. “What’s all this? Where are we?” 

But it wasn’t Harry who answered him, it was Dumbledore. “Alan, I am glad that you were able to join us tonight.” He smiled. “I hope you weren’t too busy?”

“Uh… no sir, I was just doing my charms homework,” he admitted. “Though, I thought I should say that Fawkes here caused quite the commotion in the common room, I won’t be surprised if rumors are made regarding my possible ‘kidnapping’ by the time we return.”

Dumbledore chuckled a bit as he petted his Fawkes’ plum making the phoenix trill in happiness and pride. “Fawkes is rather fond of showcasing his talents to the audience.” He smiled. “But, right now we have summoned you here for something that only you can help us with.” 

“Anything for you, sir.” Alan nodded, “What do I have to do?”

Dumbledore took the locket from Kreacher and showed it to Alan. “Remember the Voldemort that was inside your mindscape?” He continued when the boy nodded. “Well, you see, my boy, a similar piece resides inside this locket. It’s a magical locket that used to belong to Salazar Slytherin and somehow, Tom got his hands on it. He has tainted the locket with his magic.” 

“So, what do I have to do, sir?” 

“We will destroy this locket tonight, but for that we need you to open it for us,” he told Alan. “The locket can only be opened by someone who has the gift of being a Parselmouth. Therefore, I want you to open the locket, and then stay away from it. We will destroy it before it could harm you, or anyone else.” 

Alan nodded, he looked at Harry who was looking at him without any external expressions, though Alan could distinctly note that his brother seemed more tense than he usually is, which meant that he was trying his best to look calm. 

The younger Potter took the locket from Dumbledore’s hand, he could feel the dark energy that was trapped inside it. There was a certain familiarity to it, which he supposed, came from the fact that this same thing had resided inside him for more than a decade. 

“Alright then, I will open it now,” Alan announced and was immediately the recipient of every pair of eyes in the cave. He closed his eyes, imagining a small snake on the locket and then said as loudly as he could. 

§Open.§

The locket snapped open and almost immediately black smoke started to pour out of it. Out of shock Alan dropped the locket on the cave’s floor, and took a step back as Harry and Dumbleore immediately levied their wands on the locket.

“AVADA KEDAVRA!” “Ignis Praesidium!” 

Harry and Dumbledore shouted simultaneously as one destroyed the horcrux while the other protected them from its curse with a draconian shield of flames. The green ray of death clashed with the horcrux and a loud piercing screech was heard from it as Voldemort’s face formed in the charcoal black smoke. 

The face tried to attack Harry only to be met with Dumbledore’s shield that he had erected to protect everyone. The shrieking face vanished as soon as it had appeared, and after a few moments Dumbledore canceled his spell to look at the horcrux that was broken in front of their eyes. 

It took a few minutes before Dumbledore raised the broken locket and announced, “It’s now done.” He smiled. “The last of his soul pieces has been destroyed. Voldemort is now mortal!”

The elation that each of them felt was portrayed clearly on their faces, Sirius threw his hands in the air and did a victory jig with Kreacher supporting him for the first time. Regulus smiled and flew around them while Harry and Dumbledore smiled. 

The two titans of magic looked at each other once more, and silently conveyed a message…

After decades of continuous fighting, finally it was time to put an end to the war.

⁂

The letter that was in her hand crumpled to dust, she looked at the ashes of the conjured paper along with the broken locket that came with it. If people had to ask her what would have been the best gift for her, then she would undoubtedly tell them about the last horcrux of a man who was about to meet his end. 

‘So you two finally did it.’ She rose from her throne and placed the locket on the shelf that contained five other artifacts that were once tainted by the touch of a foul man named Tom Marvolo Riddle who had fashioned himself to become the Dark Lord Voldemort. 

“Persephone.” She summoned her spirit guardian that had stayed by her side since she joined the guild centuries ago. The ethereal large black raven came to life as it slowly formed in front of her, its pale gray eyes looking towards the enlightened one as it waited for the message. 

“I need you to tell Drauma, to send a message to all of our teams that their task is over.” She nodded. “Unfortunately, we can’t give them any break and therefore, they are to immediately report back to the Guild. Also, tell her to send scrolls to all of the Guildmasters to ready their defenses, because our master says that the time to fight is coming closer. And yes, don’t forget the ICW mage council, they need to be ready as well.”

The raven gave a throaty squawk before it flapped its wing and flew up the staircase, disappearing through the arch that was softly glowing under the eldritch energies from the thousands of souls that resided in, and around, the Black castle of Necromancer’s Guild.

“I really hope that it doesn’t come to a war, Master,” she whispered to herself as she looked around her place. The one she had inhabited for centuries as she guided her and all other guilds through thick and thin. “Or else, Anubis would have to take up the mantle of the Guildmaster after me, I just hope that you would guide the young man as you have always guided me.” 

Achlys knew that the probability of war was quite imminent, because her master, Death, hadn’t even bothered to question her — or Harry — when they had summoned it. The Master had just said that the time for Anubis to use the boon is coming sooner, and then had proceeded to train the young boy in the Realm of Death.

An omnipotent and omnipresent multiversal entity like Death would not have wasted the time of its general, or its own, if the cause was as weak as the attempts before it. Which also meant that soon something was going to happen that would force them against the army of Damnation. 

“I just hope all of us are ready by then.” She prayed, thinking about her dearest guild and all the Guildmasters as well as their Guilds and members who were doing their very best to support the life-cycle on earth. Protecting it from harm and danger to the very best of their skills. 

She knew that her command would be taken seriously and all the Guilds, as well as the mage council would be alerted about the impending war that would take place sometime this month as they had already crossed half of it, and soon the rift between the realms would open completely. 

The only way to stop it was by killing Voldemort, unfortunately for that to happen they needed to know where exactly that idiot was. Because according to the special mission taken by Harry and Guildmaster Beasten, Tom had started taking precautions once he realized who was hunting them. 

And the first thing that he did was leave Malfoy Manor to a more secure location. 

A location that only a few knew about. And that little group most certainly did not include them, or their spies.

Which was why they were having trouble locating the Dark Lord, and even though the last horcrux had been destroyed and the raids stopped. The problem continued to grow because according to the reports received from Creatures Guild, about five hundred dark creatures including werewolves, acromantulas, trolls, giants and the like had been spotted moving towards the British forests.

It was Beasten’s guess that they were probably under the command of Voldemort, and he would use them all to do a surprise attack on the ministry sometime soon to take revenge on all the raids that he and Harry did on Death Eaters safehouses. 

And although Beasten had assured her that he had already sent his best hunters to take care of as many of the Dark creatures as they could, she knew that there would still be more than a few when Tom would finally decide that it was time to attack.

'May you save us all from your merciful realm, Master.’ She thought before she opened a leather-bound scroll and began looking through protective enchantments.

⁂

Chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise when they took in the unusual sight as their owner reached the fifth floor corridor at the exact time that he had been asked to, by his brother. The very same man who stood in front of his door, his back against the hard stone wall of the castle with an immensely pensive expression etched on his handsome face.

This was new, after all, this was the first time that Harry was actually waiting for him outside his door instead of just sitting inside his suite and making him wait. And the expression? Don’t even get him started on how scared he was right now. 

“Harry?”’ He asked as he approached his brother. “What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” 

Harry nodded and left the support of the wall, he opened his mouth to tell his brother that everything was indeed alright but then, he hesitated. There was something that had been going on his mind for some time; something that would be better done now than waited for later. 

After all, who knows what might happen to either of the Potters tomorrow, or the day after? They were safe right now, but did that guarantee their future? No, it didn’t. Therefore it was necessary to show a few things to his brother, and maybe it was time to bring the younger Potter into the game.

The game that he had been playing for quite some time. 

“Come with me, Alan,” Harry said, “Tonight, I have something special planned for you.” And with that he opened the door to his suite before stepping inside.

The redhead boy blinked in confusion at that, did his brother just ask him to step inside his VIP suite?! He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, and when pain flared on his arm, he learned that as unbelievable as it was, he had indeed been allowed to enter Harry’s suite again.

Last time he did that, it was when Harry wanted to clear out a few issues that they had, after that he had been forbidden to enter the place unless it was extremely important. 

The inside was just as he had remembered, complete with the large center table, the leather-bound tomes and parchments that were strewn all over the place. And through it all, Alan could definitely notice certain changes which he attributed to Daphne’s work. There were certain things that couldn’t be ignored, and a colorful shelf, a Slytherin tie and outer robe definitely came under that list. 

‘I could bet my life on it that neither Harry, nor his house-elf Dobby know what to do with a few of her things, and both of them are just letting her do what she wants,’ Alan thought, smiling at the mental image of a chibi Daphne ordering a chibi Harry and Dobby who look at her like confused babies who are learning new things.

“Now, if your observations regarding the recent changes in my living accommodations are complete,” Harry broke in with a dry tone, “I would like it more if you came here, and checked out a few things that I want you to see.”

Alan did as asked, pushing away the mental image that he had just conjured and instead followed his brother’s orders. They went towards a bookshelf that was loaded with several leather tomes, and a few knick-knacks that were kept on periodic intervals. His brother looked at him once more before he turned towards the bookshelf, particularly to two red leather bound books, and pulled, what looked like, a newspaper that was sticking between them.

“Remember, Alan, what I am about to show is something that no one knows about, not even Daphne, and I trust her with almost everything,” he said as he opened the piece of newspaper. “Therefore, I hope that you won’t fuck this up, and would listen to things before jumping to conclusions like a dimwitted monkey.” 

“And what if my reaction isn’t what you think it would be?” He asked. “What if I am not able to take what you are about to show?”

“Ah, I hope that it doesn’t come to that.” Harry sighed, and gave Alan the piece of paper. “But if it does, then you are inside my suite, you know you cannot escape me, and I am quite proficient with memory charms.”

The casual way Harry had said those words sent a shiver down the redhead’s spine. He knew that the elder Potter wasn’t joking when it came to such things, he was absolutely ruthless and every move was actually thought about multiple times before it was executed without hesitation.

Somehow that didn’t make this anymore easier. 

Alan read the headline on the newspaper and frowned. “Harry?” He asked, “This is… what is this?” 

“This is something that you must know about.” His brother turned back towards the bookshelf and started pulling random books halfway through it. “Remember when you were here last time, I told you about mine and mom’s kidnapping? About The Council and that eleven families ruled it?” 

Alan nodded. He clearly remembered talking about this with his brother after he had been released from the Hospital wing in February. 

“I told you that Voldemort had the Council’s help during his first rise to power, and if not for that fateful night of October, he’d have won long ago,” Harry said. “The Council supported him with men, resources and money. And they had also built his headquarters for him, which was known as ‘The Morte Tower’.”

Alan looked down at the article, he read how the entire tower had been scorched and everyone inside it, including the Guards and the prisoners had been killed. 

“Mom and I had been kept captive inside the dungeons of this same tower on the orders of the Council,” Harry said, and stopped pulling the books out. He then looked back, his eyes glaring daggers at the moving image of the burned tower. “And the day I escaped with Tim’s help, I swore that I’d destroy the tower that took my mom away from me.”

“Is that why you kept this article with you?” Alan asked him as he read the clipping. “I remember the day as well, Mr. Weasley had been quite shocked; had even said that this might be the doing of the Death Eaters, and had asked Dumbledore to increase the security of his house because he thought that the ones who did this might come after me soon.”

Harry sighed and looked back at his brother. “I am the one who was responsible for the Massacre, not Death Eaters.” He announced, shocking Alan to the core. “That night I infiltrated and killed all the guards that had mocked my mother, spat on me and beat me for months when I had been under their ‘care’. It was my way of taking revenge on the Council; unfortunately that didn’t give me as much satisfaction as I had thought it would.” 

“Ha–Harry, I–” Alan trembled in shock, but he was again stopped by Harry. 

“Which is why, I decided that simply burning the tower wasn’t going to quench my thirst, it didn’t satisfy me at all, quite the opposite in fact because it aggravated the hunger that burned me from inside.” Harry pulled one more book and took a step back as the bookshelf was split into two with a small screen on it. 

“Give the paper, Alan.” 

Alan did so immediately, he saw Harry placing the paper on the small screen. A red rune illuminated once before the screen went inside and a rumble was heard as the wall started to rumble. 

Both the Potters watched as the two halves of the bookshelves joined once more before the entire thing rotated on its axis. 

Alan was shocked to see that behind the bookshelf there was a HUGE bulletin board that had been pricked with several articles, photographs and notes on it. There was a web of multicolored threads that linked them together, somehow making links between the articles and the photographs that were placed on opposite ends. 

There was a small space left in the center of the bulletin board where Harry placed the piece of newspaper and pinned it with two pins. 

“Ha…” Alan didn’t even know what he wanted to say anymore.

“Harry… wha- what is… this?” He stammered as his gaze followed the multicolored threads, going through photographs and articles as well as the notes that were pinned in a haphazard manner. 

“For the last decade, Sirius and I have been working tirelessly to find every last detail about The Council of Paragons, their places, their works, the eleven Paragon families that rule it, their seats of power, and the members working in it.” Harry announced to his brother. “And this… is the fruit of our work. We call it ‘The Board of Everything’, because it contains everything that we will ever need to destroy that organization completely.” 

⁂

“My Lord.” Bellatrix bowed deeply as she looked up at her master who was holding the bright crystal ball in his hand. “We got word from Greyback, master, he says that our plan has worked and that the response is positive, they will be here in a week.” She smiled, “We are just waiting for your command, master.” 

Crimson red eyes glared at the woman who was bowing. “Did you just say, ‘our’ plans, Bella?” He whispered.

“I-I mean, your plans, my lord,” she stammered. “All… all yours, Master.” 

“Do you know why I made those plans in the first place? Do you even know how much I hate it here? How much I hate the fact that I had to relocate to this hellhole just because someone was going after my men?!” He slammed his fist on the throne’s handle. 

“I, Lord Voldemort, the man who has surpassed the frivolous troubles that vexes a mere mortal! Has to live in a broken safehouse that was used by… filthy dogs?!” He sneered in disdain. “Do you have any idea how much I loathe this?!” 

Bellatrix rapidly nodded, not daring to look in her master’s eyes. She knew that if she did then she’d be the recipient of one of his infamous crucios, and if simply staying silent would save her from it then she’d remain that way for as long as he wanted. 

“The men who died for us, without knowing who killed them…” He whispered, remembering all of the raid teams' incidents. “They shall be avenged soon. It’s time for us to gather all of our forces…” He muttered, “Tell our spy in Hogwarts to initiate the plan. Let this week be the last for the Potter brothers, and all those weak minded gullible fools who think that two kids — still wet behind their ears — could even dream of defeating Dark Lord Voldemort!”

Bellatrix immediately bowed, her eyes shining with the  unbound joy as she giddily skipped out of the room. Finally! It was time for them to rise; time for them to live the way they deserved because now the time has come for which she had waited the last two decades! 

It was time to end this with one mighty blow that would shatter Britain’s backbone, and make the entire nation fall on its knees! Her Lord would rule, he would guide her and all of her brothers and sisters as they helped their Lord eradicate the filth that had plagued the country for centuries. 

Voldemort looked as the door closed behind Bellatrix, he looked down at the softly glowing crystal ball and gave a triumphant smile when he remembered how this particular piece had come into his possession three days ago. 

After the failed attempts to infiltrate the ministry by force, Voldemort had found someone who had enough power to get something like this from the Department of Mysteries without rousing any alarm.

Pius Thicknesse, a politician, who aspired to one day become the Minister for magic had been tasked with the retrieval of the prophecy through any means necessary. Now, the Dark Lord didn’t bother learning exactly how the man had done something that even the most trusted had failed to do.

All he wanted was the prophecy that linked him, and the youngest of the Potter children, and now, he had it within the palm of his hand. 

He still remembered the words that had been spoken to Albus Dumbledore by the seer Sybil Trelawney, and it surprised him because nowhere in the Prophecy did it say his own name, or Potter’s for that matter. Still, he knew that due to his past transgressions, the Prophecy was now active, and therefore, the only person who could even dream of defeating him was Alandale Potter.

‘Which is why, he has to be the first who dies by my hand…’ He thought and was about to pick the prophecy orb again when some movement was caught through the corner of his eyes.

Voldemort immediately picked his wand and raised it in the direction of the intruder. “Who is it?” He announced, “Come forth, and you shall be spared. Hide anymore and I shall kill you without a second thought.” 

For a few moments nothing happened, and he was about to shoot the killing curse in that direction when he noticed something move. 

The shadow to the far right darkened and moved towards the center where it coalesced and it seemed to become more solid. Slowly a shape started forming as a solid black mass emerged from the darkened center and rose to some height. Hands and legs started forming as the shoulders space widened and a head of the same inky blackness emerged.

There was now a shadow figure standing right in front of Voldemort who was looking at it with wide eyes. This wasn’t something that he had seen before at all. It looked quite close to being a wraith, and yet it seemed like this was something else at the same time.

“What are you?” Voldemort asked loudly, his wand still pointed at the shadow.

“ꪻꪮꪑ ꪑꪖ᥅ꪜꪮꪶꪮ ᥅꠸ᦔᦔꪶꫀ…” The shadow chittered, making a weird noise that sounded like a collection of snaps, shrieks and whines.

“I can’t understand you,” His eyes narrowed, “What are you, and what do you want?” 

“꠸ ꪖꪑ ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ, ꪖ ꪑꫀ᥅ꫀ ρ꠸ꫀᥴꫀ ꪮᠻ ꪖ ᭙ꫝꪮꪶꫀ!” It chittered once more, irritating the Dark Lord further. 

“If you can’t speak your cause, then I don’t have any use for you.” Voldemort raised his wand only to halt when he noticed that the shadow had slowly started to move towards him. “Lumos Maxima!” 

“ꪗꪮꪊ ᠻꪮꪮꪶ! ꪗꪮꪊ ꪻꫝ꠸ꪀᛕ ᦓꪮꪑꫀꪻꫝ꠸ꪀᧁ ꪶ꠸ᛕꫀ ꪻꫝ꠸ᦓ ᭙ꪮꪊꪶᦔ ᦓꪻꪮρ ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ ꪶ꠸ᛕꫀ ꪑꫀ?!” The chittering shrieked, and Voldemort was surprised to see that the spell had absolutely no effect on the shadow. 

“Umbra Ligare!’’ Voldemort casted the shadow binding spell which seemed to pass through the shadow that now stood just a few feet from him. “WHAT ARE YOU?!” 

“ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ! ꠸ ꪖꪑ ꪖ ᦔꪖꪑꪀꫀᦔ, ꪗꪮꪊ ᠻꪮꪮꪶ!” The shadow chittered, and slowly raised both of its arms in a universal gesture of peace. 

“What do you want?” Voldemort asked once more, and was surprised when the shadow forwarded its hand, as if asking him to touch its palm. 

The Dark Lord slowly did as requested. His hand seemed to blend with that of the shadow’s as a ginormous amount of dark force attacked his mental shields, it was as if the shadow was darkness incarnate and he was but a mere human who was standing against it. He grunted in pain that subsided as soon as it had begun, and then he noticed the foreign entity which stood in his mindscape. 

It was the shadow. Complete with its dark energy that seemed to circulate through, and around it.

“Is that you?” He asked once more. “Are you the one in my mind?”

“Yes,” the shadow in his mind replied, in a man’s voice and thankfully this time in an understandable dialect. “And to answer your questions, I am a piece of someone that is interested in making a deal with you, for our mutual benefit.” 

“What do you have that could possibly interest me?” The Dark Lord sneered in disdain, he had thought that the shadow was something powerful but in the end it was merely a messenger from someone who wanted another deal in his attempt to greatness. 

“Power,” Shadow replied, “We have power, something that you need right now as your fate hangs in the palm of Death.” 

This line made the Dark Lord chuckle loudly, “Death? Death?!” He laughed. “I have conquered Death long ago, there’s nothing that—”

“You have failed, Tom Riddle,” It interrupted him. “Six of your pieces have already reached the forbidden lands of no return, and you are the last piece that holds something open for us to completely come through.”

The Dark Lord’s eyes widened in horror when he realized that the shadow knew about his horcruxes. “What do you mean?” 

“Death has marked your soul, Tom Riddle,” Shadow spoke, “It has received all of your stored little pieces rendering you a mortal who can be killed as easily as anyone else. Something that we don’t want, because your survival is of utmost importance to us.” 

“Why?” He frowned, “Why is my survival important to you?”

He hoped that it was just an illusion of his mind, but for some reason it felt like the shadow had just given him a blood-thirsty grin which demanded pain, sacrifice and promised nothing but extreme amounts of agony to anyone who would dare to defy it.

“Let me ask you something, Tom Riddle,” Shadow whispered. “What do you know about the crevice in creation, and my army?” 

“Your… army?” 

“Indeed.” The shadow grinned once more as dark energy seemed to thrum around them, pleading to be used by them so that it could bring apocalypse on their world. “My army…” It whispered, “The Army of Damnation…!!!” 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ending note: There you have it fellas, chapter Thirty-seven of Innovator, hope you liked it.

This was the last chapter of Pre-finale arc. And now we will enter into the final arc of the story 'THE TRIPLE WAR' from next chapter onwards!! LET'S GO!!!!

Liked it? Loved it? Needs some changes? Please, do tell.

I am waiting for all your comments. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Thank you for reading and your comments,
With regards,
Dev Black