Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 47: The Hidden Cave
It was almost midnight when Harry descended to the bottom of a cliff and landed on top of a large boulder that had been soaking from the breaking waves.
The ocean was right behind him, and on this particular night, it appeared to be in a bad mood.
Water was splashed everywhere as the waves continued to clash against the rocks near the coast.
Harry's eyes scanned the area, trying to find something. "It should be near here, ri—"
"Ahh! Careful!" V shouted at him before he could even ask the first question. "Get away from the rocks. Salty water would not be good for me." The hat complained.
Harry looked exasperated. "Your leather is enchanted to repel water, remember? I did it around five thousand years ago, after that incident at the Mariana Trench."
"You mean the one where you dropped me to the bottom and I was almost ripped apart by the currents and water pressure?… that one?" V scoffed at him.
"So you remember that part…" Harry used his magic to levitate in the air, putting some distance between himself and the wet rocks.
"I was practicing some underwater movement spell. Don't get mad, I already fixed it. Even if we were to enter the waters, you would be f—"
"Don't!" V shouted.
"I didn't think magical hats could get post-traumatic disorders… even after all this time, I'm still learning new things," Harry commented. "Isn't that fascinating?"
"The cave should be right ahead of you. Just get inside already." V commanded.
"Alright, let's go find that thing." Harry located the entrance. It was a small opening in between two massive boulders.
Even if it wasn't protected with magic, it would be easy to miss.
Not that many people would want to come here anyway. The currents were always dangerous, and without the ability to fly as Harry had, it would be extremely dangerous to move around.
"Lumos." Harry manifested a sphere of light above the palm of his hand and ventured further into the cave.
The entrance was very narrow, but it got wider as he went deeper.
Eventually, he arrived in front of what looked like a dead end.
"Look to your right. You should be able to find a cluster of runes inscribed on the stone." V instructed. "Then you have to a—"
"I know. I got this." Harry began to manipulate the runes using his index fingers as if they were buttons. "It's not a very complicated formation."
"Well, excuse me. I was only eighteen when I made this." V huffed with annoyance.
The stone door in front of Harry parted away, revealing an entrance.
"Luminas." This time, Harry created a dozen shiny spheres that flew out of his hand and spread across the large underground chamber, illuminating everything.
Right ahead of him, Harry saw a large pond that seemed to cover most of the chamber. In the middle of the pond was a tiny island with some kind of altar on it.
"Kinda dull… don't you think?" Harry gave V his opinion on the place.
"I wasn't planning on living here. Just hiding the locket. And it more than served its purpose in that regard. We have to get to that tiny island at the center." V said.
Harry spotted some chains on one side and looked at the murky waters; he could barely make out the shape of something hidden beneath.
"What did you put down there? I can sense a lot of darkness… and death."
"Inferi," V responded. "Many of them… over a thousand. Try not to bother them, and don't disturb the waters."
"I wasn't planning on doing that." Harry could simply use his flying magic to hover over the pond and reach the small island.
Now that he could see it up close, Harry realized it was a basin made of some quartz-like material. A dark liquid could be found in it.
"Now what? Is the thing inside the basin?" Harry asked.
"Yes, it is inside the liquid, to be more exact. To obtain it, one must first ingest all of it. It cannot be vanished or scooped out." V explained. "I made sure of that."
Harry got closer and gave it a good sniff. "Do I smell asphodel and acromantula venom? Is this some kind of Draught of Living Death?"
"Of course not! Nothing so uncreative." V sounded offended. "It is a potion called Drink of Despair."
"Ah! I read about that one. It induces terrible visions of one's worst fears and causes tremendous pain, as well as an unquenchable thirst that… oh, I see." Harry's eyes moved to one side. "Those who drank this would become desperate for water, go to the pond, and disturb the inferi. Very creative."
"See? I told you." V said with a hint of pride in his voice.
"But a bit unnecessary. Just put some poison in there." Harry suggested.
"You wouldn't understand my vision," V said.
Harry got closer to the liquid.
"You are not going to actually drink it, right?" V got a bit concerned about Harry doing something reckless.
"Nah… I had enough despair for a thousand lifetimes, thank you. I was just thinking of having someone else do it for me." Harry moved his hand and conjured a small knife.
He took a step back and used the knife to create a cut on his palm, allowing some of his blood to touch the ground.
Harry then dropped the knife and placed his hand near the blood while muttering a chant in an old tongue.
"पर्याय (substitute)"
The few drops of blood began to grow in size and float in the air while morphing into something humanoid.
A few seconds later, there was a naked boy in front of him. It was a perfect copy of Harry.
"A blood clone. I see." V said while staring at Harry's copy.
The real Harry pointed at the basin. "Drink that."
The clone began to do just that.
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