Ascending Darkness/Faltering Light

By AlbusSeverusGryffindor

Author's Note: Once again real life has gotten in the way but I'm back with an another update finally. Hopefully some of you are still with me.

Chapter 14: Darkness and Light

"When the Dark comes rising..." The Dark is Rising- Susan Cooper

"The Dark Lord will rise again...greater and more terrible than ever he was." Sybil Trelawney- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Pg.324

"He still lives," the woman's weak, raspy voice sounded loud in the stillness of Aetren's chambers

The young Dark Lord glared at the woman who knelt on the floor before him wanting very much to slay her for her words but he knew he could not. She was one of the few truly gifted seers skilled in the ancient art of scrying and he needed her skills now that all passes into the town where the Phoenix Childe resided were blocked by the winter's snows making travel nearly impossible and very dangerous.

"The Infernus Touch should have killed him outright. The poison should have reacted immediately upon contact with the boy's skin and there is no known antidote. What happened, Mauve? Tell me what you have seen," he demanded, angered that the boy had once again escaped his trap.

Mauve rose smoothly from the ground at Aetren's feet and paced toward him with a silent grace. Her hood fell back revealing long, white blonde hair, pale white skin, and milky white eyes in a young face. She moved unerringly toward a chair near the fire and sat with a regal grace, seeming to stare into the flickering flames though she could not see the fire that burned there. Aetren sat down across from her and waited, knowing it would do no good to rush Mauve. She would only get angry and refuse to tell him anything at all as was her right as a Seer.

"He is well protected, my lord. Many spells and enchantments have been placed over him," she turned her sightless eyes on him. "Ancient magics set in place to guard his life. He is stronger than we first thought. Your poison worked it's way through his system as you planned but it was not strong enough to both break these protective enchantments and kill him. The poison, though deadly, was only ever at half-strength from the time it entered his body."

Aetren's fist slammed down on the arm of the chair but Mauve didn't even flinch at the sound. She remained still and stared up at the Dark Lord with her milky eyes waiting.

"The boy stands in my way, Mauve. I cannot proceed without first slaying him and claiming his vast powers. That is what the vision I had meant, according to you."

Mauve nodded. "It is as I have predicted, my lord. He must die in order for you to be victorious over our he allowed to live he would destroy you and your armies with his Light."

"You may go," Aetren growled at her and she departed without another word or even a sound.

Aetren rose from his chair and began to pace. This young man was more powerful then he'd believed despite the warnings of his most trusted men who had first seen the Phoenix Childe's powers in action at the gate months before. How could he had been so mistaken?

"He is well protected..." Mauve had said. The question was why?

Aetren paced the room deep in thought. If the Phoenix Childe was so well protected then he must have another enemy somewhere. That was the only reason, in his own experience, one had strong protective enchantments placed over them. Aetren was skilled at breaking such enchantments but he was hampered by the weather and by distance. He would either have to go there himself in disguise or use the Shadow Soul spell, which required massive amounts of power to fuel and left him weakened and vunerable after it's use. The last time he had used it he'd felt weak and was unable to do much more than light a candle with his powers for almost a full week. He couldn't afford to use it again so soon, there was a traitor in their midst who might use such an opportunity to try and kill him.

No, breaking the protections over the Phoenix Childe would have to wait. In the meantime Aetren had other players on the field and maybe one of them would be powerful enough to bring about his enemy's death. He would even reward them with a place of honor at his side though he would keep a close eye on them. Anyone that powerful could become a danger to him. Failing that maybe the enemy of the Phoenix Childe could be coerced into aiding him if he could be located and converted to Aetren's way of thinking.

Aetren pulled out the Death Skull amulet that he wore around his neck and pricked his finger so that drop of his blood fell onto it's silvery surface. At once a shadowy figure appeared in the room and the temperature seemed to fall.

"What is your command, my lord," the figure voice sounded as if it was coming from inside a well.

"Sandar, I require your services as we discussed before."

The shadowy figure of a man flickered briefly. "Is the target the same?"

"Yes, it is. He must seem to die either by accident or naturally. The other await your instruction."

"As you will it, my lord, so it shall be done," Sandar bowed and his shadowy figure flicked out.

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Cygnus sat by Harry's bedside and watched his friend's slow, rhythmic breathing. His normally jovial face was marred by a frown and his eyes were dull and red from crying. His hair was mussed, as if he had just awakened and there was deep purple shadows under his eyes. He hadn't slept well since the attack on Harry and had volunteered for the duty of helping watch over him when it became known he would make a full recovery. The Founders, Snape and Harry's other friends had agreed to allow him to do so when they saw the state the young man was in. It would do him good, it was thought, to see that his friend was on his way to recovering from the attack and curse.

Harry muttered something under his breathe that sounded like a girl's name and then slipped into a deeper sleep.

"You certainly know how to find trouble, my friend," Cygnus smiled faintly and rose to look out the window.

A faint sliver of light came from the moon, which was waxing but he could make out the manor wall and the forest beyond with little trouble. There was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground that had fallen only that morning, which the groundskeeper had yet to clear a path through. Cygnus pressed a hand to the glass and felt the coldness from outside seep into his hand, chilling it with a coldness similar to that which lived in his heart. Harry was his friend and yet...yet the entirety of Cygnus's life was a couldn't make up his mind which was the true him...

"What troubles you so, child?" Helga's voice floated to him from across the room.

"It's not fair," Cygnus knew he sounded like a petulant child but he couldn't help it. Here he was wanting to be Harry's friend but if his father should learn of it... Then there was the family secret he must never reveal to any on pain of instant death.

Helga, thinking he was referring to all that had happened to Harry, nodded. "I quite agree."

Cygnus turned to face her, trying to calm his racing heart. He was sure she knew nothing of his family or his past but he couldn't very well say anything to her here and now. He merely nodded at her and walked back to the chair he had vacated a moment before.

Helga moved to Harry's bedside and began to run several diagnostic spells over him. After several moments of silence, during which Cygnus studied Harry's pale face, Helga gave a nod and smiled down at him. "It appears that Harry will awaken soon."

Cygnus looked from Harry's still face to Helga's smiling one and found that a grin was pulling at his mouth. Despite the fears in his heart and the expectations of his parents he found that he was glad that Harry had, once again, managed to survive what should have killed him.

"Thank Merlin," he said with such heartfelt relief that Helga's smile widened. She was worried for Cygnus. Most of his family were in the pay of Aetren and those that weren't were nearly as bad for standing by and doing nothing. Helga wondered which side Cygnus would be on when it came time to chose.

"The fates have not been kind to young Harry but he has a strong will," Helga rose and began to leave but she turned at the door to look at them both. "I don't know where Harry's destiny will take him but I do know that you too have a part to play. For good or ill I do not know but only you can make that choice. Think long and hard on your choices, young Cygnus for there is so much riding on your decision. The fate of the world rests with you."

Cygnus's mouth fell open and he stared at Helga as she left. Clearly his past was not hidden from his Head of House as he'd thought.

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Harry awoke suddenly out of deep, dreamless sleep. He stared at the dark ceiling of the room he was in and tried to remember how he had gotten there. His mind was a jumble of fuzzy images, none of which stood still long enough to be examined. His head felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton and his mouth was as dry as the air that hung in one of the greenhouse of the Hogwarts of his time, the one that contained magical plants that needed very little moisture to survive.

He blinked at the ceiling and watched the moonlight move across it. The room was completely still and silent, the only sound was the wind howling outside. Harry's eyes wandered toward the window and he saw the darkness of full night. It had to be quite late if everything was so quiet.

"What happened? Where am I?" he thought and he jumped when a voice in his mind replied though there appeared to be no one in the room with him.

"In your room at Hogwarts," the voice was warm and felt comforting. "You should try and go back to sleep. Your body is tired and you've been deathly ill."

Harry frowned. He didn't remember being sick at all. The last thing he remembered was being in Gryffindor's office with the others and then waking up here. How much time had passed he wondered and how had he fallen ill?

He heard the flapping of wings and a shadow detached itself from the foot of his bed to land on his chest. Sothis, the phoenix studied Harry's pale face a moment, making soft clicking noises as he did so. He noticed the slightly dazed look in his young charge's eyes and felt a little concern for him. He began to preen a bit of hair that lay across the young wizard's face and Harry reached out a hand to smooth the feathers on the phoenix's back, watching a small shower of sparks drift from the feathers to the blanket without damaging it.

"You were cursed by an Inferi. It's touch poisoned your body and spirit. You are extremely lucky to be alive. Had not Severus figured out what to do in time you would have died. As it was you came within an inch of death."

"I don't remember any of it. Nothing," Harry frowned.

"It's not important now. What's important is that he was able to pull you back out of Death's grip again," Sothis had stopped preening Harry's hair and was looking deep into his eyes. "You should rest. The others will be here in the morning to make sure the healing is progressing correctly. I shall guard you tonight."

Harry nodded and rolled over on his side as soon as Sothis had flown back to his perch at the end of the bed. The phoenix was right, what he needed most now was sleep. All else could wait.

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Harry awoke several hours later to find his room full of bright sunlight and to the sound of the church bell down in the village. The room had grown chill despite the sun's light streaming into it and it was this that had awakened him. He lay there shivering under his blankets for several moments, waiting to see if anyone would come and stir up the fire. When no one did he sighed and sat up slowly, grimacing as he was attacked by a wave of dizziness and nausea. He closed his eyes until it passed and put on the thick dressing gown that lay across the foot of his bed.

With equal care and slowness he got out of bed, clasping one of the posts as another wave of dizziness hit him. When this one had passed he made his way carefully to a chair near the fireplace. Sitting down he stared at the dying embers that flickered feebly in the grate, willing them to burn a little brighter and had the satisfaction of seeing them do just that. He levitated some wood into the fireplace and watched it catch. Soon he had a merry blaze burning there and the room began to warm up slowly by degrees until Harry was no longer shivering.

He sat drowsing in the warmth that had enfolded him like a blanket, his mind completely blank and relaxed. Suddenly a cold wind swept across his soul even though he remained surrounded by warmth and hard upon this feeling came a vision.

He was standing in a passageway made of polished white stone lit by torches that flickered in a cold draft. Harry shivered and drew his heavy cloak more tightly around him to stave off the chill made deeper by the whiteness of the walls around him. Everything around him was silent except for the sound of his footfalls as he moved forward down the tunnel. There was something he needed to see here, something was calling to him in a voice that he could no longer ignore. He followed the sound that he heard feeling the magical call pulling him along and he felt unable to resist it.

Suddenly the smoothly polished white walls vanished and he found himself in a roughly hewn cave. He could still hear the sound that he'd been following before so he continued to move forward. The walls became somewhat smoother a few feet in and soon an archway appeared before him. He knew the object that was calling to him was close, maybe even just beyond the archway. He felt his heart race and could feel the magic inside of him responding to whatever it was in the room beyond.

He passed under the archway and entered a room so vast that he could not see the ceiling. The roughly hewn room was lit by torches that blazed into being the moment he entered but the room itself was empty except for some faintly glowing shapes on the farthest wall from where he stood and a slender object that was suspended in midair before them. He moved closer and he could see silver runes that blazed with light on the wall behind a beautifully carved wand that was suspended in midair in front of them. The wand was what was calling him and he felt his magic respond to it in much the same way it had to the phoenix and holly wand he currently carried. He moved closer still and found that he could read the glowing runes without trouble though he'd only just begun lessons in the ancient language.

The Wand of Light awaits it's true master

The 'Chosen One', the 'One Who Lives'

Phoenix slain and reborn in endless cycle

Heir of Ancient Powers Unknown

Darkness will be dispelled by Heir of Light

The words burned into his mind and a sound broke the trance he was in. He turned toward the sound, his hand outstretched and power wreathing it in magical flames.

"Whoa there Harry. It's just Dud."

Harry blinked slowly and the flames that had surrounded his hand in their glow disappeared. The words he had read on the stone wall in his vision and that he had thought were branded into his mind forever faded as well leaving behind only a faint memory of the vision and the words Wand of Light in his mind.

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Helga finished examining Harry marvelling at the young man's ability to sit calmly during it. Never in all her years as a healer had she seen a young man who would sit still during a medical treatment or exam. Most were impatient louts who only wanted to be healed quickly so they could get back to whatever they'd been doing to get themselves injured to begin with and the rest were babies about the entire process from exam to taking their potions. Harry was neither, though she knew the Harry she'd come to know was not the same one his companions had known in the past.

Severus often said that Harry had been changed as a result of his captivity and would bare the scars of what he'd suffered at the hands of his captor for the rest of his life. Helga believed him though Harry was to all appearances a strong willed young man and had very likely been so for all of his life.

"Everything looks fine but you'll need to rest for the next few days and continue taking the potions for a few weeks after."

Harry made a face but nodded to her before sitting up in bed and beginning to eat the lunch she'd brought him. She noticed he ate with a good appetite, which told her more about how he was doing then a dozen magical scans could.

"Your cousin and your other friends have been asking to see you."

"Okay," he said in his oddly soft voice as he fed a piece of fruit to Sothis who made a soft chirping noise.

Helga watched him pet the phoenix with his left hand, a faraway look in his eyes. She wondered what he was thinking when he looked like that but she knew better than to ask. There were some things better left alone, especially when it came to boys and doubly so if the boy in question happened to be Harry. He'd seen and done far more than most people his age and that tended to make one forget that he was still only 16 summers old and not yet a fully qualified wizard for all that his powers had already matured before his arrival here. Harry continued to pet the phoenix lost in his own thoughts. His sleeve shifted a little and Helga could see the beginnings of the horrible scar that he had on that arm, a gift from the ones that had held him captive for several months before a small band of his friends had managed to free him. Again she wondered how he had managed to survive the torture he'd been put through at their hands. She'd seen the other scars that covered his body and marveled again at his fortitude, at his strength of will. To have survive so much in such a short time...it was an amazing thing. But how much more could the boy take before he broke?

As she watch him she was reminded of Godric and his own imprisonment years before. He'd been almost broken by what was done to him by the minions of Aetren's that had taken him captive as he lay wounded on the battlefield and it had taken him months, years really, to come to terms with it. Yet, as with Harry, he had eventually moved on from it and had been known to remark that he had actually learned something about their foe as a result.

Helga sighed and found that Harry's deep green eyes were looking at her in a way that was similar to a look Godric sometime wore. He studied her for a moment then turned back to his marveled again at how much like Godric Harry was. It wasn't that the two looked anything alike, it was more that the two had the same serious, brooding expression and the some of the same mannerisms. It was as if the two were really the same age though decades separated them. She blinked in confusion then she set out the row of potions he would need to take that day on the bedside table next to the spellbook he'd been reading before his illness.

"Remember these need to be taken in the order they are on the table."

"Thank you, mistress," he said softly and he looked up at her with a wry grin. "I suppose it's time that my friends saw me so they know I'm fine. I just wish I wasn't so often in bed when friends come to call."

He sounded so forlorn that Helga gave him a quick hug, before clearing away the tray. "Not to worry, Harry. I am sure they will just be glad that you are alive and well again."

He shrugged and muttered something that sounded like 'should be used to it by now'. Helga chuckled and left him to visits from his friends wondering where Cygnus had gotten off to and hoping he wasn't planning any mischief.

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The stone cottage stood at the very edge of Ravenclaw's manor very near the dark woods. In the past it had been home to the woodcutter and his family who had once served those in the manor but now it lay empty and neglected. Some said it was haunted by the spirit of that same woodcutter who had been found stone dead without a mark on him. He was found in the middle of the room that served as both the living and dining area and his pretty young wife was the one who had found him. She was never right in the head after and had thrown herself from the church steeple in grief not long after. The locals avoided the place as if it had a curse upon it that might rub off on them and the village children often dared one another to set foot inside it.

The dark, cloaked figure thought of these things as he waited for the contact his Master has told him to meet. He paced the room as he waited, for the room was cold enough to freeze fire or so it seemed to him. He shivered and wrapped the cloak more tightly around himself, while muttering an incantation that caused his body to begin to warm under it.

He continued to pace, waiting impatiently for the man to show up. He would need to get back soon before he was missed but he knew he could not anger his Master again by leaving before the contact arrived. He did not want to suffer through that torture again.

Finally, the sound of apparition caused the slightly distracted man to jump and to whirl around with his wand at the ready. A man in a blood red cloak smiled at the other in a way that told the first man how much he was enjoying his fear.

"Report," the red cloaked man said harshly.

"He has awakened and seems well," he began nervously. "They say he will be well enough to be out of bed in a few days."

The red cloaked man growled low in his throat. "What of the plan? The Dark Lord is anxious for it to come to fruition."

"Everything is in readiness, my lord. Though the target does not know it yet, he is already ensnared."

"Excellent. The Dark Lord will be pleased. I shall pass on the information to him by the usual means. Now we must go. You have your duties and I have mine."

The red cloaked figure turned on the spot and vanished as the second man bowed and left by the door, heading back to Hogwarts, an evil grin on his face.