Potter Legacy

Chapter 4: Memories

Memories

Ignotus Peverell sighed as he tried to read through several magical tomes trying to soak in the knowledge provided by each of them. Ignotus ignored the sigh his wife gave him as she set a glass of hot milk beside his den. Isabella twitched as her husband continued to do his research without so much as looking up. Isabelle pinched her nose in irritation before shaking her head. Ignotus flipped through the pages again as he looked for specific spells and rituals through the ancient tomes.

Ignotus was a tall man with light black hair falling towards the right side of his head. His dark grey eyes could scare the willies out of anyone, his wife reckoned. He wore a common cloak over himself and looked like a normal commoner. Isabelle on the other hand was a woman of average height, with light, almost silver blonde hair falling towards her sides. Isabelle took a deep breath as she approached her husband and placed her hand on his right shoulder blade. Ignotus stopped reading as he looked behind him towards his wife.

"Ignotus, I know why you are so engrossed into your books and tomes, however, you cannot allow these to define your entire life." Isabelle murmured softly.

Ignotus's eyes softened as he clasped his hands over Isabelle's and simply said "Sorry."

Iabelle nodded as Ignotus started to close the books and tomes. After few minutes Ignotus had placed all the books aside in a neat pile. Isabelle smiled as Ignotus then came over to her and pecked her cheek softly.

"I am sorry. I forget how I sometimes ignore you with my fascinations over my books and tomes." Ignotus apologized as he held his wife. Isabelle shook her head slightly and said "It is fine, Ignotus. If I went through what you did…I would probably be the same."

Ignotus nodded with a haunted look in his eyes. He shook his head before asking "Has Edward sent a letter?"

Isabelle shook her head. "Our son clearly has inherited your behavior of providing a lack of information! You had better ask Salazar about his condition in that new school that they opened."

Ignotus laughed softly as he nodded. He leaned down and kissed his wife softly for a few minutes without being interrupted. Isabelle slowly separated herself from him and sighed. "Talking about your friend Salazar, you told me that he would come to visit today evening. Would you like to have some food with your friend?"

Ignotus shook his head. "No. Salazar does not like food in general. He looks at them as a waste of time."

Isabelle snorted. "I will never understand that man and why Helga likes him so much."

Ignotus chuckled as he ruffled his wife's hair. He quickly withdrew his hand however when he saw the angry look she gave him for ruining her hair. Ignotus smiled cheekily as he with a swish of his wand made his wife's hair go bushy and very frenzied. Isabelle shrieked as she grabbed her own wand and started to curse him. Ignotus laughed as he dodged the curses, jinxes and hexes sent his way. Along the way he ran over the furniture's and ornaments that decorated his home as he laughed all the way whilst his wife kept cursing at him. A cough interrupted their little session as Ignotus saw a tall man with shaggy black hair and dark green eyes wearing a black robe standing at the door.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Ignotus smiled as he walked towards his friend. "Salazar! You are about two hours early!"

Salazar shrugged and said "I did not wish to have a hangover, thank you very much."

Ignotus shrugged and nodded. He looked at his wife who was busy repairing her hair. "Isabelle, can you please look after the cows and chicken for today?"

Isabelle nodded as she exited the house towards the farm. Ignotus looked at Salazar and gestured for him to sit down.

"How are you doing at that new school of yours Salazar?" Ignotus asked as he poured a glass of butterbeer in front of him.

"It's going great! You will not believe how much students have come from all over the isles, my friend! Godric was gaping at the amount of students! Rowena was very excited as was my wife, Helga." Salazar rumbled as he took the offered glass from Ignotus.

"That is great to hear! I am sure Hogwarts will be a great success." Ignotus praised. "How is my son by the way?"

"Edward? The little rascal got sorted into my house. A right prankster that one." Salazar replied as his eyebrows started to twitch.

Ignotus sighed as he put his glass down. "What did that boy do now?"

"Turned my, Helga's, Rowena's and Godric's dresses to look like Santa Claus's dress. Of all abominations! And Rowena was positively fawning over him because of his high level conjuration and transfiguration for a first year!" Salazar grumbled.

Ignotus snorted into his drink before coughing to cover it up. He shook his head before then beginning to speak in a quiet voice. "You told me that you had important information to give me, Salazar. What is it?"

Salazar sighed as he started to wring his hands together. "You asked me to get information about your brothers. I have tried to get information from every possible means, even using snakes. Now I have received all the information about your brothers."

Ignotus nodded absently as he remembered his brothers. Antioch was a tall man with the same shade of black hair that adorned Ignotus's head. He was very rambunctious and boisterous and always loved a goo duel and took it as a personal affront if anyone won against him except if it was father, mother, Cadmus or him. That was also why he was so angry when Theodore Twist won a duel for the hand of a girl in marriage against Antioch. Cadmus looked a lot like Ignotus's mother. He had light brown hair and light brown eyes. He was a very arrogant man, in Ignotus's opinion and he had become very bitter and cold after Abertha had died before they could marry.

"After you separated from them 13 years ago, Ignotus, Antioch apparently tracked down one Theodore Twist to a tavern in Cardiff and killed him. He boasted that he had a wand snatched from an entity itself. That night in the tavern a person snuck in and slit Antioch's throat taking the wand with him or her." Salazar said in a low voice.

Ignotus clenched his fists as he heard Salazar. Of course his rambunctious brother could not have kept his mouth shut about the wand! He sighed for his fallen brother and looked at Salazar gesturing for him to continue.

"Cadmus, apparently went back to look after your parent's property. Apparently over the years the neighbor's reported him speaking to no one at night and him having dark circles under his eyes. He was also prone to burst into crazy exclamations every now and then. Slowly he started to confine himself to the property only coming out every Monday to get home supplies. Even then, people reported that he was very frail and pale looking. About a year ago, when Cadmus did not come to the market for over a month, the market people noticed and went to the property. They found the rotting corpse of your brother hanging from the ceiling. Six years after Antioch's death, two years ago, he died." Salazar finished.

Ignotus let a few tears escape him as he drank the butterbeer. He closed his eyes as he remembered his brothers. The same brothers with whom he had ventured into the Other itself. He out his shaking hands down on the table trying to control himself and the amount of tears flowing through him. He hiccupped slightly as Salazar gave him a slow pat on his back.

Ignotus sighed as he nodded his thanks to Salazar. "I cannot express my gratitude for finding these information for me Salazar."

Salazar smiled as he replied. "It was nothing, my old friend. You should really thank my old chap, Theseus Hagrid for finding the information about your brothers, macabre the information may be."

Ignotus nodded as he looked blankly into space thinking about his brothers again. Salazar sighed before setting his cup down. "Ignotus. I don't mean to pry, but when you and brother's set out 14 years ago, you all went missing for 1 year. You were all changed people. Only you three and I know your wife, also knows what happened. Tell me, what happened?'

Ignotus hiccupped as he shook his head. "It is too great a secret my friend. Too great."

Salazar sighed. "I intend to help you. I have seen the amount of tomes and books you keep. Those books far out dwarf the books in Hogwarts! Please allow me to know, so that I can help you."

Ignotus laughed bitterly. "Quite Slytherin of you Salazar. You live up to your house's name. Guilt tripping me."

Salazar ignored the comment as he repeated. "Tell me."

Ignotus sighed before a steely glint appeared in his eyes. "Promise me on your magic and life that you will never tell anyone what I will tell you."

Salazar nodded. He took his wand out and proceeded to recite "I Salazar Ignatius Slytherin hereby pledge upon my magic and life that I will never reveal what Ignotus Peverell reveals to me today to anyone. So mote it be!"

Ignotus nodded. He reached for his cupboard as he took out a glass of water and poured himself a glass of water to drink.

"Mother was sick. Seriously sick. It wasn't any muggle disease or any magical disease that we knew of. Father was already busy looking after her. Despite our differences, Antioch, Cadmus and I all loved Mother dearly. We wanted to help her. We poured over ancient tomes and books. In ancient greek scroll we found something peculiar. It described the same kind of disease and symptoms that mother was showing. The scroll said that the disease was an old disease from the time when Zeus tried to make the human species extinct. That being legend did not sit well with us, however it was our only lead. The scroll said that to stop the disease from claiming the life of the victim, a person(s) on the behalf of the victim must journey to Delphi where 'answer lied'. Antioch, Cadmus and I immediately started to pack our things. We apparated to Gaul and started our journey from Gaul to Greece. After several montsh of tiring journey we reached Delphi." Ignotus started to explain as Salazar listened intently.

"The people were amiable enough, even though the Byzantine officials were not. We searched around for the 'answer' but could fin none. Finally Antioch who was always a fan of myths thought about consulting the oracle of Delphi. At that point me and Cadmus were out of ideas so we agreed. We met the old oracle. She was actually a seer. He told us that the problem we had would be solved in the 'world down under' in the place where the philosopher's city could be seen. The second part was easily deciphered as he marched towards Athens. We finally reached a hill that overlooked the city. Now Down under obviously meant underground and we found several quake gaps in the ground. We entered them. We climbed down and down until we hit rock bottom. We were in an unusual place. We were on an island of sorts with water running on both sides. Cadmus reached out to the water and touched it. He recoiled in pain and told us that the water made him feel pain and anguish. Antioch touched the water and had the same reaction. We needed to get out the place. We turned towards the left shore of the river where a crevice was letting dim sunlight through. We could climb from there. We tried to apparate towards the crevice but we couldn't. It was as if someone had kept anti-apparition wards around the area. We looked at each in surprise. We took our wands to create a bridge. However, in that damp and dark place with the weird river, our magic found it hard to function. It took all three of us straining to the limits of magic to conjure up one single bridge." Ignotus revealed as he absently spoke. Isabelle had entered the room and was sitting next to him placing her hand comfortingly over his.

"We immediately went towards the bridge. However, the moment our feet touched the bridge, we froze. A dark figure was standing in the middle bridge. The figure was intimidatingly tall, about 10 feet. He wore the darkest robes I had ever seen with a cloak covering his face. The man walked slowly towards us and rasped in an ancient and dusty voice. He congratulated us. Told us that where millions had failed, we succeeded."

"Succeeded in what?" Salazar asked intrigued.

"He never said what. He looked at us in glee and told us to ask him for one gift each, and he would grant it." Ignotus replied. "Antioch obviously believed it to be a rhetorical question and jokingly asked for an unbeatable wand. The dark figure simply bowed his head and walked over to the lone tree on the banks of the river. He, within minutes fashioned a wand out of the tree and handed it to Antioch telling him that it was the 'Elder Wand', the strongest wand in the universe. Antioch was astounded. He fired a simple disarming spell at a boulder. The boulder shattered to pieces."

"A disarming spell can't do that!" Salazar gasped astounded.

"Indeed. Antioch literally had his jaw hanging when he saw the result. The figure turned to Cadmus. Cadmus who was still broken hearted after the death of Abertha asked for an object which would allow him to call anyone from the hands of death. This request seemed to receive a very vague reaction from the figure. He chuckled and shuddered with delight or fear, I do not know. He went towards the shore of the river again and plucked out a stone. He gave it to Cadmus and said that it wouldn't have the ability to revive the dead, however it would allow the user to converse with the dead if the stone was rolled three times in one's hand with a clear person thought in the user's head. Cadmus tried and to our shock, Abertha, a non-Corporeal version of Abertha formed before our very eyes. She looked delighted to see us. She smiled and tried to hug Cadmus, however failed as her hands went through him. She frowned and looked sad. Cadmus was weeping tears as he slowly allowed Abertha to disintegrate once more." Ignotus spoke in a low volume as Isabelle comfortingly rubbed his back.

"What kind of magic did this figure use?" Salazar asked flabbergasted.

"I do not know and I don't think I ever will." Ignotus replied truthfully. "Then he turned to me. I was much younger than my brother's at the time. Why I was 11 years younger than Antioch. So I childishly asked for something that would allow me to hide from death. Apparently this angered the figure. He most reluctantly proceeded to take his cloak and hand it over to me telling me that the cloak, if in my possession would make me invisible from death until I passed the possession of the cloak to someone else."

Salazar gasped as he looked sideways towards the main door. On it's side was a glistening silver cloak hanging from the wall. Salazar looked back towards Ignotus who simply nodded.

"Antioch who had regained his bearings asked the figure about his identity. What he told us, chilled us to the bones." Ignotus replied fearfully.

"What did he say?" Salazar asked softly.

" 'I have many names. The hindus call me Mrityu. The Chinese call me Siwang. The Arabs call me Almawt. The Turks call me Olum. The Egyptians called me Anubis. The greeks called me Thanatos and the Romans called me Letus. But you lot, call me Death.' " Ignotus murmured in a soft and terrified tone as Salazar looked at him shock. In his shock, the famed snake mage simply asked one question. "How?"

Ignotus shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. After we heard that we immediately drew our wands. However Death laughed. He simply stood there as Antioch's Blasting Curse, Cadmus's Cutting Curse and my Destroying Curse came towards him. The curses simply passed through him doing nothing. He took his hood off. His face, Merlin, I will never forget his face. A skull with glowing green eyes emanating from his empty sockets. We all backed away as we tried to look for exit points. However the entity simply smiled, or I think it smiled, it was hard to tell. He told us that he meant no harm. He simply said that a person who would be able to unite the gifts he had given us, would be able to become his master. What that truly meant, we don't know. He then warned us. Told us that these gifts came at a great cost. Cadmus frantically then reminded me and Antioch about why we were here on the first place. He asked Death on how to cure our mother. Death laughed at our faces and said "The First Cost has been extracted". Mother and Father had died during our travel to find a cure. Cadmus in anger tried to lunge at him. Death simply looked at him and Cadmus was flung into the river. He screamed and screamed in pain before Antioch used his new wand to summon Cadmus."

Ignotus paused as he drank some water.

"Death told us that we had a great destiny. A great destiny for trying to cheat him and the holy illness. He told us that no one could cheat him. He then snapped his bony fingers and suddenly we were in London." Ignotus finished.

Salazar wringed his hands helplessly as he asked weakly "How did all of that even happen?"

"I do not know. I do not know. But what I do know was that the disease that afflicted my mother was not something ordinary, by both muggle and magical means. Something about trying to cure the disease invoked Death to come to us. I have trying to learn about the disease ever since. But nothing ever comes up, except for that one greek scroll." Ignotus told Salazar helplessly.

Salazar sighed as he put his hand in his face. He wiped his face with his hands as he looked at Ignotus again. "For all the might people say I have, for all the wisdom people say I have, I really do not know what to say, Ignotus."

"Nor would I expect you to Salazar."

"This means, this means that the cost that Death mentioned, he is extracting your lives Ignotus as cost! We must do something to protect you." Salazar jumped up as he said these words.

Ignotus shook his head. "No. Whatever Death is, he is not a liar. He truly gave me possession of a cloak allowing him to forever become blind sighted by me."

Salazar sighed before hugging the last Peverell brother. Ignotus after some time separated himself from Salazar.

After Salazar had left after an hour or so, Ignotus took a glass of firewhisky in his hands and went out to the orchard. He looked upwards towards the heavens as he saw the stars glimmering and the full moon shining down. He raised his cup and said "The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed Is Death."

End of Memories

Harry gasped as he woke up. He trembled as he looked at himself in the mirror. What had he just witnessed in his dreams?

END OF CHAPTER