Chapter 11 The Valley of the Damned

A/N: The Souls drawn upon by the Valley include those who were killed during Harry's Past Life ( before he was sent back after battling Dumbledore). This significantly expands the repertoire of spirits to battle against him, considering he did kill 140 people.

Review Response: A couple of reviews now have told me that I've been a little heavy on the obsessive plot twists. Rest assured, they came at a good time, because I'm running out of ideas, and I needed Harry to go status quo for awhile anyway. The only twist in this chapter is my own form of the Soul Bond. This type of bond is called Star-Crossed.

Harry walked his way into the deep vale in the Ural Mountains not mentioned on any map, if it even existed and wasn't just an illusion like the Forests had been. From what Krum said, this was the Valley of the Damned, a place where all those who died unjustly went to seek their revenge on those who killed them. No doubt Harry would face some people he wouldn't like to see again.

So he descended into the craggy valley, and immediately was set upon by traps and other countermeasures. He flung his hand out to stop a boulder that had come hurdling down the mountain side when his foot suddenly got trapped in a bear-trap that most certainly hadn't been there when he stepped down. The boulder exploded, showering the nearby landscape in pebbles, and Harry bent down to remove the trap, only to have a flaming arrow almost set his hair ablaze.

His head flew up, and he saw an archer, one of the Centaurs, riding towards him. It was one of the ones that had died fighting Grawp when he and Hermione had lured Umbridge into the Forest. Magorian, his name was.

" Harry Potter, you are not welcome in this valley of misery!"

Harry shouted in defiance, " But I heard that misery loves company!"

" You will be judged this day!"

" Bring all you have! I'm ready for this judgment day!"

Harry froze the arrow to Magorian's string, keeping him from reloading. He saw the centaur draw a sword and rush in. Harry shouted, " Secare!"

The slicing red energy slashed Magorian's manish torso from his horse body. The centaur gasped in pain as his top flopped onto the ground. Harry laughed, " I hope that isn't all you fools have."

" Careful what you wish for Potter. The Great Lady will have you, mark my words!"

" My own mother told me that too, and I sent her to hell. Stop being so much like Draco Malfoy."

With that, Magorian's corpse returned to the ether. Harry finally undid the bear trap, healed the gashes it had given him, and continued onward. Finally, he had to stop to brew mana potions. Mana, he found, was a calculable value of how much magic one could cast based upon several key attributes. The most important ones were Willpower, Intelligence, and Magic Power. Since Harry had obscenely high values of all three, he had an obscenely high Mana threshold, compared to others at any rate. Every time he fought, he would gain power based on how hard the battle was. Since his mother was the most challenging opponent he had fought since Dumbledore in his past life, she had yielded quite a bit of EXP.

With Tom's instruction, he had learned how to make Mana Potions, potions that restored magical power instantly, rather than the delayed or indirect actions of potions like Pepper-Up. But the main ingredient, Lyrium, was an elemental only found in rare veins, and only by those who know what to look for. Luckily for Harry, the Goblins were more than generous with their offer of Lyrium. Lyrium was also a dangerous drug, it could be highly addictive if not properly distilled. Unfortunately, the rawer the Lyrium was, the more powerful the potions made from it. Luckily for Harry, he seldom needed the really powerful stuff. Same with Health Potions, which use an elemental called Mysterium and a plant called Elf-Grass.

Harry finished brewing his potions, strapped them to the inside of his vest, and soldiered onward. He felt the unfortunate inkling that someone was following him, and sure enough, when he turned, the forty Death Eaters he had slain stood arrayed against him, led by none of than the Specter Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry shouted, " Just what I need! Death idiots."

Bellatrix shouted, " You will pay for what you did to us, Potter! I don't care if the Dark Lord calls you his chosen or not!"

Tom exclaimed, "Chosen?"

" More of Bella's ranting I suppose."

Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, " My present self may be your ally, but I am your enemy here."

Many of the Death Eaters who were indeed on his side in this time, nodded in consent. Harry drew his staff, and for the first time, felt Tom push a spell in English to his mind without him asking, " Word of Power, a spell designed by the White Wizard Mithrandir, also known as Gandalf, who is often regarded as the Purest Light Wizard of all time, even more so than Merlin."

Harry nodded, before challenging, " Bring all you have! You will need it all and more against me!"

Predictably, they charged him, sending a variety of curses, ranging from Blasting Hexes and Stunners, down to Cruciatus and Killers. Harry absorbed the ones he could into his barrier, and dodged the ones he couldn't. He charged into the throng of them and shouted, " Word of Power!"

He felt his staff raise to the sky, and begin drawing in blue energy. His own body was raised with it, and any spell they used on him was absorbed to power the spell. Finally, his staff smashed down, taking him with it, and expelling a vibrant blue blast of killing energy that consumed all the Death Eaters, and blew them back. Harry smiled, collected himself, dusted himself off, and walked on off toward the East end of the Valley.

As any good RPG player would know, Harry knew his challenges would only get harder as he advance. While in America, he had the chance to play some pretty good RPGs and Platformers, and he found that he couldn't wait for games like Super Mario 64 to come out in this life. Unlike his fellow Wizards, he kept good track of Muggle entertainment, and to his surprise, so did Tom. One of the most disturbing things Tom had ever told him, was that he had gone to an arcade to play some Donkey Kong before going to kill his parents.

Harry found himself navigating through thickets of briars, when he noticed that he was once again being watched. He cautiously worked his way into a clear spot before turning around and looking. He suddenly wished he hadn't. Three Hungarian Horntails were following him at a discreet distance. No doubt they were waiting for him to end up in a location where he couldn't flee.

"Harry, you can't fight those things. Not all at once at any rate."

" I know Tom. It was hard to take one, I don't know about three."

Just then, he heard the rustling of wings, " Potter, we need to get out of the open."

Harry nodded, and began to run towards the mountains. He looked over his shoulders to see all three taking different angles at him. He heard the familiar woosh of flame firing at him. He leapt to the left, narrowly avoiding a jet of flame. Another jet barely overshot him.

Harry felt a blast graze the top of his head, and he ducked to avoid it. He saw a cave entrance coming up, but he was tiring fast. The Dragons were gaining on him. He gritted his teeth, used a spell he found in America while talking to some guy named Phreak, called Ghost. His speed boosted, and he became almost transparent, dashing through the rocks and brush dotting the landscape. The spell was only designed to last about a minute, so he felt it beginning to fade quickly. He jumped forward, sliding into the cave. He fired a quick Blasting Hex on the cave entrance, collapsing it to keep the dragons out.

" Close one Potter. I can't help but think that this cave was put here on purpose."

" Me as well. We must keep our guard up, that is for certain."

" Well, hello there Harry. How nice to see you again."

Great. Turning around, Harry saw immediately that he was in trouble. The entire DA was lined up against him, ready for battle. An older Ron Weasley stood at the helm, his bucktoothed beaver of a girl friend, Hermione, stood at his side. Harry jeered, " I guess you two finally hooked up then? Such a shame, I really liked Hermione back then."

Hermione looked like Harry had just smacked her, which he was most likely to do anyway, but beside the point. Ron shouted, " You blew your chance when you led us on that harebrained mission to the Ministry!"

" Oh, so I guess Tommy boy had nothing to do with it then."

Naturally, his statement threw most of them off. Nearly the entire DA was looking at each other, except Ron and Hermione, which was who it was designed for. Ron began to boil, his face turning that magnificent shade of magenta pink that it always did whenever he felt an emotion that wasn't happiness. Hermione decided to take her shot, " If it hadn't been for you, Sirius would have lived, and none of the horrible injuries any of us took would have happened."

Naturally, this just pissed Harry off, but he was a pro at hiding his emotions, and did it once again, " Oh, so who was it that led Umbridge into the forest and left her for dead? Who was the most staunch supporter of all those rebellious things I did? Wait, what's that? She's standing right in front of me isn't she?"

Ron looked like steam was about to come pouring out of his ears, and funnily enough, Hermione looked enough like Ron when she was angry, it wasn't surprising at all that they hooked up. In fact, Harry pointed this out, " You know, I would be worried she was like your long lost cousin, Ronnie. You know, the daughter that your uncle P.G said was kidnapped? I recall that he had black hair like mine, and his wife has cinnamon hair like Hermione's."

Now that he looked hard enough, Hermione really did look like she would be somehow related to P.G, something he had never noticed before. Either way, he struck a nerve with all the Weasley's present. They charged him. They wanted to see death? He obliged them.

( Wizengamot Court Room 11)

Sirius, Lucius, and P.G sat uneasy at Katie Bell's trial. Via some law none of them save Dumbledore had ever heard of, the lawyers of WJMS were prohibited from participating in the trial because it wasn't in the international district. Granted, Martin Cresswell and his boys were pretty good, but they weren't good enough. Anyone with an eye for politics knew immediately that this was meant to be the last nail in the coffin of Harry Potter's attempted coup of Magical Britain. It was Dumbledore's way of telling everyone that this country was his, and that no one else would ever rule it.

Granted, everyone in both power blocs knew that Katie had never had anything to do with any of the political power plays, their consequences and sequential failure, but an example had to be set of what would happen to anyone who defied Dumbledore. To say the girl was taking the guilty verdict quite badly was an understatement.

Even heartless ass Lucius was a little concerned at the breakdown she was having as the Dementors circled her cage. Of course, Sirius thought, they can do that to a man. Dumbledore intoned in an evil, authoritative voice that reeked of triumph, " Katherine Anastasia Potter nee Bell, you have been found guilty of the use of Unforgivable Curses. To this end, the Court has announced the seizure of all material possessions, and a life term of internment in Azkaban, with a minimum of fifteen years. As such, your marriage with Harry Potter is dissolved. Your ring, Ms. Bell."

A deathly whisper rose up, " No."

Dumbledore replied, " You are in no position to refuse the request, Ms. Bell. The ring. Now!"

Sirius watched as she clenched the Potter wedding ring in her hand, absolutely refusing to give it up. P.G commented, " Something is up. The girl is devoted to Potter utterly. Why I must ask?"

Lucius sneered, " I have heard of things such as this. I fear that Katie's life is about to take a very huge turn for the worse if what I think is true."

" What are you thinking about?"

Lucius looked slightly distant during his answer, " They call them Soul Bonds. There are many different types, and I know only a few of them. Let us just say that the one everyone thinks about, a Love Soul bonding, is the rarest type of bonding. I have heard of the Star Crossed bond, where one of the bonded falls hopelessly in love with the other, but the other isn't even remotely interested. Based on Harry's gestures to Katie, I am inclined to believe this to be the bond."

P.G. laughed, " Well, that does present a problem for Lord Potter, if and when he finds out of course. I'm guessing a Star Crossed bond works slightly different than the tradition bond?"

" Correct. The traditional soul bond allows the bonded to share power, know each other's thoughts at all times, etc. A Star-Crossed bond does not. Granted, it will allow Katie to leach off of Harry's prodigious powers, but it will also give her hope that one day he will return to save her. They also call it the Fairy Tale bond, because it never works like it should."

Sirius asked, " So in short, all it does is make Katie hopelessly in love with Harry, even if he suddenly desires nothing to with her?"

Lucius nodded, " A rather tragic bond it is, because the magic in the bond will actually push the apathetic partner away. My guess is that Lord Potter loves no one, that all of his marriages, regardless of intention, are for power."

Sirius scowled, " Hopefully the boy will find himself some love somewhere."

They all watched as the Aurors tried to wrench the ring out of Katie's hands, but it was like it was burned into her, it wouldn't budge, and she was now starting to bleed. Finally, Dumbledore just shouted, " Let her keep the ring. Isn't like she will ever see Potter again anyway. Let her keep it as a memento."

Sirius and the others watched stoically as the Dementors carried her out.

(Back with Harry)

Harry walked slowly away from the pile of smoking bodies that were the spirits of the DA from the DOM final. Suddenly, a blue sparkle caught his attention. A man leapt from the blast of light, carrying an aquamarine staff. The man had sapphire blue hair. He shouted, " Hello there, Lord Potter. My master sends his greetings."

Harry shouted, " Tell Baba Yaga that….Wait you said his! You must serve Azurial!"

The man smiled, " Tell me, Lord Potter. Can you tell me how magnets work?"

Harry answered, " Mormons hold the key."

The man nodded, " Good answer, my boy. Lord Crystallux sends his greetings. He tells me to tell you that he will wait for you at the Tri-Wizard Tournament after you finish the fool Yaga off. He has much to teach you."

Harry saluted, " Tell the Great Time Traveler that I eagerly await his training."

The man bowed, ripped open another portal, and disappeared. Just as swiftly, a man wearing blue armor appeared. It was Quirrel. Harry shouted, " So you are the Blue Knight!"

Quirrel laughed, " Yes I am. You have to atone for your crimes, Harry Potter. Let us fight like men!"

Quirrel drew a longsword, causing Harry to conjure a blade. Remembering what Krum had said about the Blue Knight being the easiest, Harry charged forward. In an anticlimactic battle, Quirrel slipped, and literally fell on to Harry's sword. Like that, the Valley of the Damned began to dissolve away.

A fell wind that carried a hint of a cold coming autumn began to blow, and with it, carried a message, " Lord Potter. You have done well. But I must ask you to turn back now. Important events are about to take place, and you will be needed for them to work."

" Who are you?"

" You know who I am."

" Yaga?"

" It is I. Go back to Durmstrang. For now. When your obligations are done on the outside, you will be brought back here to begin your journey again. Think of this as a save slot."

" Alright then. I save my progress."

As he spoke, Harry was surrounded by a blue light that saved an imprint of him right where he was standing. Not much later, a violet light enshrouded him, and he found himself back in Durmstrang, with Viktor Krum looking over him.

" Mr. Grant, you are back early."

Harry got up, and brushed himself off, " Yaga told me I had business to attend to back here. What happened?"

" Dumbledore moved the start of the tournament up. We have to be there at Halloween now."

Harry cursed his misfortune. That meant that all the preparations had to be moved up, and Harry had to make sure the rest of the school was in order. God he hated being a nice fellow.

A/N: No one say anything about the meme. I clearly stated in the chapter that one of Harry's contacts is a Time Traveler, and that he and Harry had already been acquainted.

Anticlimactic maybe, but no more random plot twists for awhile. Gotta let myself take a break for a time.

On another note, I've started going back and editing some of the earlier chapters that some of my reviewers have taken issue with. While the changes won't be huge, a couple have been repeated by a few people ( like the meme at the end of Chapter three, honestly, I really didn't think people would care that much), and another being the Soulstorm spell. Keep an eye out for these edits.