Black stone arches rose hundreds of feet toward a ceiling concealed in darkness. Narrow bridges extended over an abyss whose bottom I couldn't see. Vast metallic rings occupied the center of the cavern, turning slowly around a suspended mass of magic.
Ancient power filled the chamber in dense, visible currents. Black and crimson clouds rolled around a brilliant silver core. Violet lightning moved through them without producing sound. Countless threads flowed from the walls, the floor, and the foundations of Hogwarts itself before disappearing into the churning mass.
The pressure touched every part of me at once.
Dumbledore stopped beside me. His fingers tightened around his wand as his face pinched with discomfort. "This is the Final Repository."
Another pulse passed through the repository.
Dumbledore flinched.
I did the opposite.
My demonic senses purred. The power felt warm. The air remained cold enough to raise goosebumps across my exposed skin—but familiar in a deeper way. It brushed against my soul like dark velvet. My magic stirred beneath my skin and leaned eagerly toward the reservoir.
The shadows along the chamber walls bent in my direction.
Nyx released a delighted trill from between my breasts.
I looked toward Dumbledore. "What's wrong?"
Dumbledore's gaze remained fixed on the mass of ancient magic. "The magic stored here is extraordinarily powerful. It is also profoundly unnatural."
I studied the black and crimson currents. They didn't feel unnatural to me. They felt almost welcoming. I turned toward him more fully. "What is it?"
Dumbledore took several seconds to answer. "Pain..."
The single word settled heavily between us.
I looked back toward the reservoir. "All of it?"
Dumbledore moved to the stone railing at the edge of the balcony. "Pain, grief, despair, fear, and suffering. Small amounts were siphoned away from people throughout England and Scotland. The original intention may even have been compassionate."
I watched a crimson thread coil through the darkness. "Someone tried to take away their pain."
Dumbledore inclined his head. "A fraction from one person. Another fraction from the next. Small enough that each individual might feel relief without understanding why."
The repository pulsed again.
Dumbledore's expression twisted. "But the practice continued for centuries. Thousands upon thousands of lives. Every stolen grief accumulated here until those insignificant portions became this."
I rested my hands against the cold railing.
The reservoir contained generations of suffering. The terror of dying children. The grief of parents. The agony of war. Betrayals, murders, starvation, broken hearts, and every wound people had begged the world to take away.
I understood why Dumbledore recoiled from it.
I also understood why it liked me.
The first tendril of ancient magic detached from the reservoir. A silver-black ribbon crossed the enormous chamber. It moved through the metallic rings, climbed over the railing, and curled around my wrist.
Power entered me.
I shivered.
The sensation was exquisite. Ancient magic poured through my arm and spread beneath my skin. It threaded itself into my magical pathways, touched the core inside my soul, and dissolved into the power already residing there. My body drank it instinctively.
My knees nearly weakened.
I caught the railing before the reaction became obvious. "Oh…"
Dumbledore turned sharply toward me. Concern overtook his discomfort. "Amara?"
I raised my free hand before he could interfere. "Don't."
Dumbledore stopped.
The stream flowing into me remained small compared with the impossible ocean inside the repository, but even that fragment deepened my magic. It didn't create an entirely new power. It reinforced what I already possessed, widening channels, and adding another layer of density to my core.
My wings pressed against the boundary of their concealment.
My tail threatened to emerge beneath Lily's skirt.
Then the reservoir's attention shifted. Dozens of dark currents rose from the suspended mass.
They did not move toward me. They moved toward Nyx. The little phoenix chirped once in surprise. Ancient magic curled around his body. It slipped beneath the front of my shirt, lifting him gently from between my breasts. Nyx's tiny claws released the fabric. He floated into the air in front of me, wings spread and black eyes enormous.
Dumbledore raised his wand.
I caught his wrist before he could cast. "Wait."
Dumbledore looked from my hand to Nyx. "Are you certain?"
I felt the answer through the bond connecting Nyx to my soul.
I released Dumbledore's wrist. "He's safe."
The streams thickened around Nyx. Black, violet, silver, and crimson magic folded over his tiny body. Layer after layer wrapped around him until only his silhouette remained visible. His wings curled against his sides. His head tucked beneath one of them.
The cocoon closed.
It looked almost exactly like his original egg—obsidian black, polished smooth, and veined with purple fire.
The egg remained suspended several feet above the balcony.
Ancient magic flowed continuously into it.
My bond with Nyx pulsed. Understanding entered me alongside it.
I stepped closer. "The castle is helping him."
Dumbledore lowered his wand but continued watching the cocoon in awe. "Helping him do what?"
I placed my palm lightly against the smooth surface.
Warmth answered from within. Nyx was a phoenix. Traveling through flame was part of his nature. He had already crossed realities once with Didi's help. The path existed inside him. He only lacked the raw power to open it again while carrying me.
The repository intended to correct that weakness.
My breath caught. "He's going to take me home." It came so suddenly that I laughed. My hand remained pressed against Nyx's cocoon while relief crashed through every part of me.
I was going home.
I would see Morgana again. Raven. Dick. Kara. Kori. Bellatrix, Daphne, Astoria, Mazikeen, Lucifer, Damian, Jonathan, Lois, and everyone else waiting in the reality where I belonged.
I would return to Black Manor.
I would sleep in my own bed.
I would hear Bellatrix singing songs about dismemberment from the kitchen while wearing her ridiculous pink apron. I would feel Morgana's arms around me. I would give Raven the chance to curse Trigon in person for what he had done.
I hadn't been lost forever.
Then the happiness twisted.
Lily's face entered my thoughts. Sirius laughing beneath the Hogsmeade streetlamps. Remus's shy smile. Peter clutching his bag of pastries. Marlene and Alice teasing Lily until her entire face turned red.
I had only known them for days.
Apparently, that had been long enough.
Dumbledore watched my expression change. "How soon?"
I closed my eyes and listened to the bond. The repository flowed into Nyx at a steady rate. His tiny magical core expanded inside the cocoon, growing strong enough to bear a burden no ordinary phoenix could have carried.
I opened my eyes. "A day. Perhaps two."
The words hurt.
Days ago, I would have sacrificed almost anything for a path home.
Now the path had appeared too quickly.
Dumbledore studied me with quiet understanding.
I released a shaky breath. "I'm going to miss people I never should have met." I looked toward the repository. "These feelings are extremely inconvenient."
Dumbledore's eyes briefly twinkled. "Most worthwhile feelings are."
Nyx's cocoon pulsed beneath my palm.
I sensed his contentment. He was not trapped or frightened. He was sleeping, feeding, and growing. The ancient magic had recreated the security of his egg while transforming him into something powerful enough to carry us between universes.
I reluctantly removed my hand. "He needs to remain here."
Dumbledore looked around the sealed repository. "No one will disturb him."
I nodded.
Dumbledore moved beside me at the railing. His gaze traveled across the vast chamber, following currents he could sense even if he could not see them as clearly as I did. Wonder slowly replaced the discomfort in his face. Dumbledore smiled. "Even after all these years, magic is still amazing."
I looked toward him.
Dumbledore watched Nyx's cocoon with the expression of a man who had spent more than a century studying magic and still occasionally discovered something capable of making him feel like a first-year student. "Never lose that feeling of wonder, Amara."
The magic I would always favor was darker than anything Dumbledore would find comfortable. I liked curses, blood rituals, black fire, death magic, and spells respectable witches pretended not to study. I felt at home inside a repository filled with centuries of human suffering.
But wonder did not belong exclusively to the light.
I looked at Nyx suspended inside his cocoon of ancient darkness.
For once, Dumbledore and I wanted exactly the same thing.
I allowed myself another genuine smile. "I won't..."
One day. Perhaps two…
The thought followed me all the way out of the Final Repository.
Forty-eight hours at most. That was how long I had before Nyx finished absorbing enough ancient magic to carry us between realities. After that, I would leave this world behind and return to the people waiting for me.
I had suddenly found myself on a time limit.
That should have made every decision easier. It did the opposite.
I had intended to spend the rest of the day with Lily and Sirius. I wanted to verify that Sirius's resurrection remained stable. I wanted to help Lily become comfortable with whatever was developing between the three of us. I wanted to allow the Marauders to show me the secret parts of Hogwarts they had promised to reveal.
There was no longer time for an entire leisurely day of that.
I would simply have to spend another restless night with Lily and Sirius later.
The thought sent a pleasant little pulse through my body.
I ignored it.
Dumbledore and I retraced our path through the spiral passage. The currents of ancient magic continued beneath my feet, although none attempted to follow me away from the repository. Whatever intelligence inhabited the accumulated power understood that I would return.
Behind us, Nyx remained suspended inside his cocoon.
The bond between us had stretched but not weakened. I felt his contentment through it. He was precisely where he needed to be.
Dumbledore paused at the concealed entrance after restoring the outer wall. His wand lingered against the ancient stone, reinforcing whatever protections kept the repository hidden.
I rested my hand against the apparently blank surface. Nyx's sleeping presence pulsed faintly on the other side. "Nothing can reach him in there?"
Dumbledore lowered his wand and considered the wall. "Nothing that I am currently aware of."
I turned my head toward him.
Dumbledore released a tired sigh. "After the discoveries of the last three days, I have learned to be more cautious with absolute statements."
I accepted that with a small nod. "Fair."
Dumbledore studied me as we began walking toward the upper levels. "What will you do with the time remaining?"
I had already formed a list.
Voldemort needed to die. His Horcruxes needed to be found and destroyed. I needed to search the Chamber of Secrets, say goodbye to people I had known for less than a week, and prepare for whatever awaited me when I returned home.
I also needed to rob the most secure magical bank in Britain.
I adjusted the strained front of Lily's borrowed shirt. "I have a few errands."
Dumbledore gave me a sidelong look. "Should I be concerned?"
I offered him an innocent smile. "Almost certainly!"
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed behind his spectacles.
By the time I left the castle, the morning was becoming offensively productive and active.
It was a good thing Morgana's blood rituals had placed me in exceptional physical condition.
A normal witch would have collapsed already.
I crossed the Hogwarts grounds without returning to Gryffindor Tower. Several students called my name from the castle windows, but I pretended not to hear them once again. The last thing I needed was Sirius deciding to accompany me on an adventure less than twelve hours after I dragged him back from death.
The moment I passed beyond the anti-Apparition wards, I fixed an image of Diagon Alley inside my mind.
Spatial magic folded around me.
The Hogwarts grounds vanished with a sharp crack.
I reappeared inside a narrow alcove near the far end of this world's Diagon Alley.
Apparition felt remarkably crude compared with Shadow Travel or passing through phoenix fire, but it was efficient. I stepped out of the alcove and surveyed the street.
Diagon Alley looked almost identical to the version I knew. Shopkeepers raised security shutters, swept entrances, and levitated displays into place. Owls crossed overhead carrying letters and parcels. The smell of fresh bread drifted from a bakery beside an apothecary that contributed a less pleasant combination of dried roots, preserved organs, and something resembling boiled feet.
Early customers had already begun moving between the shops. Most were too distracted by their own business to notice me. The ones who did notice stared openly at the way Lily's shirt stretched across my breasts and the way her charcoal skirt clung to my hips.
Gringotts stood at the end of the alley, its white marble façade rising above the surrounding shops with architectural arrogance. Goblins in scarlet-and-gold uniforms watched customers climb the steps.
My Cursed Knowledge supplied the relevant memory.
Helga Hufflepuff's cup.
Voldemort had turned the cup into a Horcrux and placed it inside the Lestrange family vault. If this reality continued following the broad shape of the familiar story, one of his remaining soul fragments was sitting beneath Gringotts at that very moment.
Bellatrix had escaped with Voldemort after I burned a hole through his chest. He was wounded, furious, and temporarily vulnerable. Destroying another Horcrux before he recovered would weaken him further and eliminate one more path back to life.
Unfortunately, I doubted the goblins would accept a polite request to inspect the Lestrange vault.
That left theft. The hypocrisy was not lost on me. In my own world, Dumbledore and Ruknuk had spent years stealing from the Black vaults. I had wanted to peel the flesh from both of them when I learned what they had done.
This was different. I was stealing from Bellatrix. That made it morally enriching.
Also, fuck Goblins in general…
I approached the bank but stopped before climbing the steps.
My soul still carried the power of Death's Invisibility Cloak. Becoming invisible required only a thought.
I hated it.
I hated that ability more than almost any power I possessed.
The hatred had little to do with the Cloak's connection to the Potter family, although that certainly did not help. James Potter had treated the silver fabric as more precious than his daughter. The Potters had treasured their family heirloom while leaving me to rot in an orphanage.
But the deeper reason was simpler.
I hated not being seen.
Heather Potter had spent eighteen years invisible without possessing any magic at all. People had looked through her, stepped around her, forgotten her name, ignored her hunger, and dismissed her pain. She had existed in the margins of everyone else's lives, too ugly and awkward to be wanted, too powerless to demand attention.
Becoming Amara had been the first time the world looked back. Every stare, every blush, every lingering gaze proved that I was no longer the forgotten girl in the corner.
Using the Cloak's power felt too much like becoming Heather again...
I looked toward the goblins guarding the entrance. My mouth twisted. This was temporary. Practical. Necessary.
I called upon the fused Hallow. The world no longer saw me. My hands vanished first. The effect traveled over my arms, breasts, stomach, and legs until no part of me remained visible.
A wizard descending the bank steps walked directly toward me.
I moved aside before he collided with my invisible body.
The wizard continued past without the slightest awareness that I existed.
I hated it.
I climbed the steps.
Neither goblin guard reacted. Their sharp eyes moved across the crowd and slid past the space I occupied. One opened the bronze door for an elderly witch carrying a small mountain of documents.
I slipped through behind her.
The main banking hall stretched beneath a vaulted ceiling. Goblins worked behind counters on either side, weighing coins, examining jewels, authenticating documents, and arguing with customers over fees. The morning crowd had not yet reached its full size, but enough witches and wizards occupied the hall to conceal the occasional sound of my footsteps.
I moved toward the doors leading into the underground vault system.
Several goblin guards stood nearby.
I waited until a wealthy-looking wizard approached with two assistants. The goblins checked their documents, opened the reinforced doors, and waved the group through.
I followed close behind.
The stone passage beyond sloped downward. Magical lamps burned along the walls, casting cold light over iron tracks that disappeared into the earth.
I was preparing to select one of the waiting mine carts when two women emerged from a side passage.
The first woman made every part of me go cold.
Bellatrix Lestrange walked behind a goblin attendant. Exhaustion had left bruised shadows beneath her eyes. One sleeve concealed the arm Moody had injured.
This Bellatrix was not my mother. This Bellatrix had fired the Killing Curse that struck Sirius.
The woman beside her was older, with black hair streaked by grey, and the cold bearing of someone who had spent her entire life mistaking cruelty for dignity.
Recognition arrived a moment later.
The woman was Walburga Black. She looked younger than the portrait hanging inside my Black Manor, but the differences ended there. The living woman possessed the same pinched mouth, furious eyes, and expression of permanent disgust. Even her posture suggested that the rest of humanity had been created to disappoint her personally.
The goblin attendant gestured toward a larger cart waiting on the nearest track. Bellatrix climbed into the first seat. Walburga followed, gathering her robes around herself with obvious distaste for the vehicle.
I moved quickly.
The rear of the cart possessed a narrow platform behind the passenger bench. I stepped onto it immediately before the goblin climbed into the driver's position. My invisibility prevented his eyes from registering me even when he glanced directly toward the space I occupied.
The cart jolted forward.
Iron wheels shrieked against the track. We accelerated into the underground darkness, passing tunnels, platforms, and branching lines at increasingly dangerous speed.
Walburga gripped the side of the cart with one pale hand. She waited until the bank entrance had disappeared behind us before turning toward Bellatrix.
Walburga's lip curled. "You still haven't told me what happened last night!"
Bellatrix kept her face directed toward the tunnel ahead. Her fingers flexed around the wand resting across her lap. "Our attack failed. The Dark Lord was injured…"
Walburga's expression was shock. "Injured!? By whom?"
Bellatrix's mouth twisted into something halfway between a grimace and a snarl. "A monstrous witch appeared at Hogwarts. She claimed to be a member of House Black."
The urge to laugh nearly escaped me. Monstrous witch was practically a compliment. I folded my arms and leaned back against the cart's iron frame.
Walburga's eyes narrowed. "Is this the American pretender I got a letter about yesterday? Regulus sent me an emergency owl about a false family member spending time with Sirius."
Bellatrix gave a rigid nod. "Amara Black. That's her name…"
Walburga spat the name as if it tasted unpleasant. "A Mudblood con artist! How dare she use our family name."
My eyes rolled despite no one being able to see them.
Walburga leaned closer to Bellatrix. Anger tightened every line of her face. "What did you do to my failure of a son?"
Bellatrix's expression became strangely distant. For the first time, something resembling unease passed through her eyes. "I killed him…"
My nails sharpened instinctively against my palms.
Walburga did not gasp. She did not mourn. She did not even look surprised. Walburga merely clicked her tongue. "Earlier than I intended…"
For one heartbeat, I wondered if I had misunderstood.
Walburga stared into the tunnel with cold irritation. "Sirius is a disgrace, but he remains a Black. I had hoped to force a few proper pureblood heirs out of him before arranging his more permanent removal from our family."
Rage moved through me so quickly that the iron rail beneath my hand began warming.
I forced my fingers to release it.
Bellatrix shifted in her seat. Her gaze moved briefly toward Walburga, although even she appeared mildly disturbed by the casual statement.
Walburga noticed and rolled her eyes. "Do not look at me like that. The boy abandoned his duty, disgraced our name, and rejected every advantage his blood offered him. I'm not that upset that he's dead. At least I still have Regulus!"
Bellatrix's fingers tightened around her wand. "His death didn't remain permanent..."
Walburga finally reacted. "WHAT?"
Bellatrix's composure fractured. Madness flashed beneath her eyes as the memory forced its way through. "That witch reversed it! Amara Black pulled him back from death itself after the Killing Curse struck! She tore the death magic out of his body and dragged his soul back into it!"
Walburga stared.
Bellatrix's voice became strained. "I watched Sirius die. I felt my curse take him. Then she kissed him, and he started breathing again. It was like some disgusting mudblood fairy tale and yet it is true!"
Walburga's face displayed confusion for less than a second before furious calculation replaced it. "Impossible.."
Bellatrix turned her stare toward the passing darkness. "I know what I saw…"
Walburga did not ask whether Sirius was healthy. She did not ask whether he had suffered or whether reversing death had damaged him. Walburga's first concern settled elsewhere. "And the Dark Lord? What happened to him?"
Bellatrix's face twisted with anguish. "Amara used black flames and some form of death magic. The curse burned a hole through his chest."
Walburga became pale. That reaction was far more emotional than anything she had shown while discussing the death and resurrection of her firstborn son. Walburga caught Bellatrix's forearm. "Will he survive?"
Bellatrix hissed and pulled her injured arm away. "He cannot die while his protections remain, but the damage is severe. His body is failing faster than he can repair it."
Walburga's voice dropped urgently. "How can we help him?"
I pressed my lips together.
Sirius had been right to leave this family. If anything, he hadn't gone far enough.
Bellatrix looked toward the goblin driver before lowering her voice. My enhanced senses captured every syllable despite the shriek of wheels against iron.
Bellatrix's eyes gleamed with fanatical purpose. "The Dark Lord entrusted an object to my vault. A piece of his power is bound inside it. If I return it to him, he can draw upon that magic and restore what the bitch burned away."
Hufflepuff's cup.
Bellatrix was not merely visiting her vault. She had come to retrieve the Horcrux and use it to repair Voldemort's body.
I had excellent timing.
Walburga released a relieved breath. "Then we will take it to him immediately."
Bellatrix's expression darkened. "Once he recovers, he will tear Amara Black apart. I want to hear her scream while he does it!"
I silently mouthed a mocking imitation of her words.
Walburga sat straighter, some of her usual contempt returning now that the solution appeared simple. "And afterward, we will deal with Sirius. Associating with a Mudblood whore who stole our family name is the final proof that he is beyond redemption!"
I decided that if Walburga survived the next hour, I would make her very much regret it...
The cart descended more steeply. Wind tore through my hair despite my invisibility. Stone walls became natural cavern, the tunnel widening around chasms and ancient support structures. Distant vault doors appeared through openings in the rock, each protected by increasingly complex enchantments.
The goblin driver abruptly reached toward a brass lever. "We are approaching the Thief's Downfall."
Bellatrix and Walburga stopped speaking.
The name reached something inside my inherited memories.
A waterfall. In the story I remembered, Harry Potter and his companions had passed through it while breaking into this exact vault. Harry had been beneath an Invisibility Cloak…
Uh oh…
The cart rounded a bend and plunged into the water before I finished remembering the relevant scene.
Freezing liquid crashed over us.
My invisibility vanished.
I reappeared on the rear platform, drenched from head to toe.
My black hair plastered itself across my face and shoulders. Lily's borrowed white shirt became almost transparent against my skin. Water ran down my bare legs and dripped from the edge of the tight charcoal skirt.
The goblin driver looked back. His beady eyes widened until they appeared ready to escape his skull. "INTRUDER!"
Walburga saw me first. Shock destroyed her aristocratic composure. Her mouth opened and closed while she stared at the dripping woman who had materialized less than two feet behind her. Walburga clutched the edge of the cart. "WHO IS SHE!?"
Bellatrix recognized me. Rage transformed her face. Her lips pulled away from her teeth, and her wand snapped upward. Sickly green light began gathering around its tip. Bellatrix leaned toward me with murder burning inside her eyes. "AMARA BLACK. I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY LORD."
I smiled.
Bellatrix began drawing breath for the Killing Curse.
The goblin driver slammed the brass lever forward.
The cart stopped.
My stomach continued traveling at the previous speed while the rest of the vehicle remained attached to the track. Bellatrix and Walburga lurched forward. The goblin locked his clawed feet beneath an iron brace built into the driver's platform.
Then the cart flipped upside down.
Bellatrix screamed!
Walburga screamed even louder!
All three of us dropped into the abyss beneath the track.
Wind tore the breath from my lungs. Black stone, iron supports, and distant vault lights rushed upward around us. Bellatrix's robes billowed above her head as she fell. Walburga flailed for her wand while spinning through the darkness.
I did not panic. My evolved succubus wings burst from my back. The wings caught the air with enough force to rip several seams in Lily's shirt and arrest my fall so abruptly that my wet hair snapped downward.
I hovered beneath the overturned cart.
Bellatrix and Walburga continued falling…
Bellatrix recovered first. She twisted in the air and reached for Walburga, but both women had already dropped too far for me to see more than the flutter of their robes.
Their screams faded into the pitch-black depths.
I watched the darkness swallow them.
Powerful witches possessed dozens of methods for surviving a fall. They might cast an Arresting Charm. They might strike a ledge. Bellatrix might use whatever method Death Eaters employed to turn themselves into flying columns of black smoke.
Or they might hit the bottom…
I tilted my head and listened.
No impact reached me.
I wondered whether they would survive?
The concern lasted less than a second.
I flapped my wings and began descending under my own control.
Bellatrix had confirmed that the Horcrux was here. I no longer needed her to guide me. The oldest and most heavily protected Lestrange vault would be located somewhere near the deepest levels of Gringotts.
According to the story I remembered, those levels possessed an additional guardian.
Cold air moved across my skin as I descended. The distant glow of enchanted lamps revealed platforms, bridges, and vault doors carved into the cavern walls. Far below, something metallic groaned.
A chain. Then a deep breath rolled through the darkness. The exhalation carried heat, smoke, and the unmistakable scent of an enormous living creature.
I smiled and folded my wings closer, allowing myself to sink toward it.
I'm pretty sure I just found the dragon…
The dragon was massive. Even after fighting a sixty-foot basilisk, I needed a moment to appreciate the sheer scale of the creature. Its scarred body occupied most of the cavern beneath the vault platforms. Dirty white scales covered its serpentine neck and broad torso. Two enormous wings had been folded tightly against its sides, constrained by iron restraints attached to the stone. Heavy chains encircled its legs, neck, and one damaged horn.
Old wounds covered nearly every visible part of it.
The dragon's eyes were milky from spending decades underground. Scars marked its snout where goblins had punished it. One wing hung at a slightly unnatural angle, likely the result of an injury that had never been allowed to heal correctly.
The creature lifted its head toward me. Its nostrils flared. I allowed my wings to spread and slowed my descent until I hovered directly in front of its enormous face. One golden reptilian eye focused on me. The pupil narrowed into a thin vertical slit.
I smiled at it. I tilted my head and cooed, "Aren't you an adorable giant murder machine?"
The dragon opened its jaws. Its teeth were each longer than my forearm. A light appeared at the back of its throat. Heat struck me an instant before the flames did.
The dragon breathed fire directly into my face!
The cavern vanished inside a torrent of orange-white flame. Fire swallowed my entire body, pouring around my wings and twisting through my hair. It struck the stone platform behind me and immediately began melting it into glowing liquid.
The temperature would have reduced an ordinary witch to ash before she could scream.
I merely floated inside it.
My Daughter of the Eternal Fire affinity wrapped itself around my body and everything I wore. The flames touched my skin, recognized something they could not consume, and became little more than an aggressively warm breeze. Lily's borrowed clothing remained completely unharmed. Even the water clinging to my hair from the Thief's Downfall evaporated without producing so much as a singed thread.
The dragon eventually stopped. Smoke rolled from its open jaws. Molten stone dripped behind me. The iron railing nearest the blast had bent beneath the heat.
I remained hovering exactly where I had been.
The dragon stared at me. Its enormous eye moved over my unburned body. Confusion slowly replaced aggression. The creature lowered its head slightly and released a questioning rumble that shook dust from the cavern ceiling.
I gave the dragon a sympathetic smile. "That usually works, doesn't it?"
The dragon's nostrils flared again.
I decided not to make it feel worse by allowing it a second attempt.
My body dissolved into shadow. I slipped forward as a stream of living darkness, passing beneath the dragon's raised head and between two of the chains encircling its forelegs.
The dragon turned clumsily to follow me. Its chains snapped taut before it could move more than a few feet. The iron collar around its throat dragged it backward.
It released a frustrated roar. The sound rolled through the underground caverns and vibrated inside my bones.
I emerged from the shadows near the nearest vault platform. The dragon twisted its neck toward me but made no further attempt to burn me. Its enormous eye watched with what might have been suspicion.
I rested one hand against my hip. I gave it a reassuring nod. "I'm not here to hurt you."
The dragon released another low rumble.
I wasn't particularly fond of animal cruelty. Evil basilisks were an exception. Creatures that knowingly served dark wizards, murdered schoolgirls, and attempted to devour me forfeited the right to compassionate treatment.
This dragon had done none of those things. I knew exactly what it felt like to be imprisoned by people who called their abuse necessary.
I turned away from the dragon and studied the vaults.
Dozens of massive doors had been carved into the cavern walls. The vaults nearest the dragon were considerably larger than the ones I had passed during the descent. Family names, crests, and bloodline runes had been engraved across doors constructed from steel, goblin silver, and enchanted stone.
I moved along the lowest platform.
The Lestrange vault was not difficult to identify. Its door was an enormous circular slab of blackened steel, nearly three times my height and reinforced with bands of goblin silver. Serpentine designs curled around the outer edge. The Lestrange family crest occupied the center above a series of blood wards that pulsed with dark red light.
I stopped in front of it.
Gringotts proudly claimed that no thief had ever successfully robbed the bank.
The goblins repeated the boast so frequently that it had become one of the foundational myths of the wizarding world. Every witch and wizard was expected to trust that Gringotts was impenetrable, its vaults inviolable, and its goblin employees perfectly neutral.
Apparently, no one had ever considered walking through the door.
I placed one hand against the steel. My fingers became translucent, then passed directly into the metal without resistance. The rest of my body followed. For one brief moment, solid enchanted steel surrounded me on every side.
Then I stepped into the Lestrange vault.
Mountains of gold filled the chamber. Galleons overflowed from open chests and formed drifts across the floor. Goblets, plates, ceremonial weapons, crowns, and jeweled boxes had been stacked wherever space remained. Suits of enchanted armor stood against the walls beside rolled tapestries, antique furniture, and shelves crowded with artifacts.
The Lestranges had accumulated centuries of wealth.
The sight awakened every greedy instinct my demonic nature possessed.
I could have taken all of it. My inventory still possessed enough space to swallow a significant portion of the vault. I could strip the Lestranges of their fortune, carry it home, and use their gold to pay for something Bellatrix would have found deeply offensive.
I extended one hand toward a nearby pile of coins. My enhanced senses detected several layers of hostile magic before my fingers came within a foot of the gold. Multiplication curses crawled beneath the surface, ready to make every disturbed object reproduce until the intruder was crushed beneath an avalanche of burning metal.
Other objects possessed more individual protections. A silver necklace pulsed with a curse designed to constrict around the wearer's throat. A jeweled dagger wanted blood. One ornate box contained something that whispered about eternal beauty while quietly attempting to rot the flesh from my fingers.
I withdrew my hand. I could probably survive most of the curses. That did not make touching them intelligent.
I gently flapped my wings and lifted myself above the treasure. I flew carefully through the vault, remaining several feet above the gold and avoiding anything that might react to the movement of my wings. My eyes scanned the shelves, alcoves, and display cases.
The cup waited at the rear. Helga Hufflepuff's Cup sat alone on a narrow stone shelf. It looked almost offensively harmless compared with the corrupted magic leaking from it.
I hovered in front of the shelf.
The Horcrux vibrated. The cup began trembling violently in my presence as if it was aware this was the end.
I smiled. My fingers closed around one of the golden handles.
The Horcrux screamed.
Dark mist exploded from the cup. It twisted around my wrist and tried to force itself beneath my skin. Images flashed behind my eyes—corpses, serpents, a red-eyed face, and an impossibly powerful wizard promising me everything I had ever wanted if I only released him.
It was considerably less convincing now that I had met Voldemort.
I opened my mouth.
The Horcrux screamed even louder as invisible force ripped it out of the gold. Black vapor stretched between the cup and my lips, forming a distorted face whose mouth opened around an endless cry.
I inhaled. The soul fragment tasted like rotten blood, spoiled meat, cold metal, and the lingering bitterness of someone who had spent his entire life mistaking terror for respect.
It tasted no better than the last one.
That did not make the experience less satisfying.
I sucked harder. The fragment clawed at the edges of the cup. Its misty hands stretched and broke beneath the force dragging it toward me. The scream became a desperate plea, then dissolved into raw terror as the last connection to the artifact tore free.
The soul fragment flew into my mouth. I swallowed. Cold darkness traveled down my throat and entered my stomach.
Pleasure followed. A hot pulse moved through my stomach and spread outward. My magical core tightened as it absorbed the fragment's power. My nipples hardened beneath Lily's strained white shirt. Heat curled between my thighs, and an involuntary shiver traveled along my tail where it remained concealed beneath the skirt. My pussy tingled pleasantly. I caught my lower lip between my teeth and closed my eyes for half a second.
Eating an enemy's soul was disturbingly erotic. Perhaps it was the dominance involved. Perhaps it was the intimate sensation of taking everything someone had been and breaking it down inside my body. Perhaps my succubus nature simply regarded any sufficiently intense experience as an excuse to become aroused.
Whatever the reason, I did not have time to explore it inside a cursed vault.
I forced my attention back toward the cup.
The artifact had stopped trembling.
The dark magic was gone. Helga Hufflepuff's Cup rested harmlessly inside my hand, ancient gold reflecting the vault's cold light. Unlike the Gaunt ring, the cup had survived the removal of its soul fragment.
That was convenient. I placed it inside my inventory. The goblins would probably become irritated when they discovered it was missing. I suspected they were already irritated about several other things.
I turned toward the vault door. My body became translucent. I descended slightly, passed through the steel, and emerged onto the outer platform.
The dragon remained where I had left it. It had retreated into the far side of the cavern, pressing its massive body against the stone wall. Its wings were folded tightly against its sides. The chains prevented it from withdrawing any farther.
An annoying metallic ringing echoed across the chamber.
The dragon flinched.
The bell rang again.
The enormous creature recoiled so violently that its shoulder struck the wall. Stone fractured around it. Its head lowered, and its milky eyes squeezed shut as though it expected pain to follow the sound.
I followed the noise.
A small army of goblins had assembled across the nearest bridges and platforms.
There had to be more than fifty of them. Every goblin wore fitted silver armor and carried weapons that looked as though they had been stolen from a medieval battlefield. Spears, swords, axes, hooked blades, and compact crossbows formed a bristling wall around me.
Some weapons carried visible enchantments.
The spearheads glowed. Runes crawled along the swords. Several crossbow bolts leaked a green liquid that smelled poisonous even from a distance.
The goblins snarled when they saw me.
Not all of them.
Several wore distinctly different expressions. Their beady eyes moved over my face, exposed cleavage, tight skirt, thighs. Lecherous smiles spread across their ugly faces. One dragged a grey tongue over pointed teeth.
Disgust tightened my stomach.
The goblin who had driven the cart stood at the front of the formation. He had abandoned his scarlet uniform for a silver breastplate and carried a short spear in one hand.
He pointed the weapon toward me. The goblin driver bared his teeth and shouted, "Intruder! You have violated the deepest vaults of Gringotts!"
I glanced across the formation. "You recovered quickly, didn't you?"
The goblin's expression darkened. Apparently, he had not appreciated nearly being thrown into the abyss with the rest of us.
The goblin driver raised his spear higher. "By the laws of Gringotts, your life is forfeit!"
I considered becoming intangible and walking past them.
Then his gaze dropped toward my chest.
The goblin driver licked his lips. The movement was slow, wet, and revolting.
The goblin driver gave me a hungry grin. "But death would waste such valuable flesh. Because you are an unclaimed human female trespassing within our domain, the Gringotts horde will seize ownership of you!"
Several goblins laughed.
Others struck their weapons against their shields.
The goblin driver allowed his stare to travel down my body. "You will be placed inside our breeding chambers and used to produce the next generation of goblins!"
My expression went completely still.
There were no female goblins.
The species survived by abducting human women—usually Muggles who would not be missed quickly enough for magical authorities to intervene. The victims disappeared into goblin settlements and spent years being forced to produce children until their bodies failed.
Wizarding governments quietly ignored it because goblins controlled the banks.
I stared at the goblin driver. "Thank you…"
Confusion flickered across his face. The goblin driver tightened his grip on his spear. "For what?"
I allowed my soul-bound wand to emerge from the tattoo along my right forearm. Black fire curled around my fingers, solidifying into the Stick of Lust and Death. I smiled at him. "For removing any concern I might have felt about what happens next…"
The goblin driver snarled, "Seize her!"
The goblin near the dragon began ringing the bell frantically.
The sound echoed across the cavern. The dragon pressed itself harder against the wall. Its entire body trembled. Every strike of the bell made the creature flinch before a blow that had not yet arrived.
The goblins had trained it to associate that sound with pain.
My attention shifted away from the army.
The goblin ringing the bell stood on a raised platform near the dragon's chains. He carried the bell in one hand and an iron rod in the other. His face shone with cruel satisfaction as the dragon cowered.
I raised my wand.
The bell-ringer noticed too late.
I focused on his chest and whispered, "Avada Kedavra."
Green light crossed the cavern. The Killing Curse struck the goblin directly over his breastplate. His body went rigid. The bell slipped from his fingers, struck the stone once, and became silent.
The goblin toppled from the platform.
The dragon's trembling gradually stopped.
The advancing army hesitated.
I swept my wand toward the enormous iron collar encircling the dragon's throat. Power gathered along the black wood. I drew my wand through a violent arc and shouted, "Bombarda Maxima!"
The force shattered the anchor embedded inside the wall and ripped three connected chains from the stone. The dragon jerked its head upward as the ruined collar fell away.
I fired again.
A second Blasting Curse destroyed the restraints around its forelegs.
A third broke the chain pinning its injured wing.
The dragon unfolded itself. Its head rose higher than the vault platforms. Pale wings spread across the cavern, stirring a gale that nearly swept several goblins from their feet. The creature's claws gouged deep trenches into the stone as it stepped forward for the first time without chains restraining it.
The goblin formation looked considerably smaller than it had a moment earlier.
The dragon's golden eyes fixed upon them. Smoke poured from its nostrils.
The goblin driver slowly looked from the shattered chains to the enormous scarred creature looming above his army. Every trace of triumph vanished from his face. "Oh, fuck…"
The dragon descended upon the goblins with decades of violent vengeance.
I hovered above the nearest platform and smiled as one enormous claw crushed three armored bodies into the stone. Goblin silver folded. Bones snapped. Purple-black blood burst between the dragon's talons and spread through the cracks beneath them.
The surviving guards scattered.
Some threw down their weapons and sprinted toward the tunnels. Others fired enchanted crossbow bolts and spears at the dragon, apparently believing that the creature they had tortured for decades might be intimidated by another moment of pain.
The dragon answered with fire.
Orange-white flames swept across the bridge. Goblins vanished inside the inferno before they could scream. Armor glowed, softened, and melted into the bodies beneath it. Several guards hurled themselves over the sides in a futile attempt to escape the heat, only to disappear into the same abyss that had swallowed Bellatrix and Walburga.
The dragon lunged through the flames.
Its jaws closed around the goblin driver. The creature's teeth punched through armor, flesh, and bone with equal ease. The driver released one high, horrified shriek before the dragon tossed its head and swallowed him.
Apparently, goblins were edible.
The dragon tore into the remaining formation. Its claws reduced shields and bodies to scattered metal and meat. One sweep of its tail cleared an entire platform, throwing more than a dozen guards into the cavern wall hard enough to leave wet stains against the stone.
I watched for several seconds longer.
The dragon had matters under control.
I raised my wand in a small salute toward the magnificent creature. "Enjoy your breakfast."
The dragon ripped another goblin in half and released a triumphant roar.
I spread my wings and launched myself upward.
The vault tracks gave me a clear route through the underground maze. I flew above the iron rails, following them through branching tunnels and across chasms while the dragon's vengeance continued behind me. Roars, screams, and distant explosions pursued me through the darkness.
More goblins attempted to intercept me along the way.
I passed through the first barricade as a shadow. The second group fired crossbows, but their bolts moved far too slowly to threaten me. I flicked my wand as I flew past and transformed the stone beneath their feet into thick mud. Their legs sank to the knees before the surface hardened around them.
I left them trapped.
The ascent took longer than the descent in the mine cart, but my wings were considerably more reliable than goblin machinery. I followed the main track until the natural cavern walls became carved tunnels again. Soon, familiar reinforced doors appeared ahead.
I accelerated.
The last set of security gates had been sealed. I did not slow down. My body became translucent, and I flew directly through six inches of enchanted steel.
Cold magic rippled across my skin.
Then I emerged into the main banking hall.
I landed lightly upon the polished marble floor.
The lobby no longer resembled the crowded chamber I had crossed beneath the Cloak's invisibility. Every human customer had disappeared. Abandoned documents rested on counters. A pile of galleons lay scattered near one teller station where someone had apparently dropped an open money pouch while fleeing.
The enormous bronze entrance doors had been sealed.
Goblins occupied every exit. More than thirty guards had formed a half-circle across the lobby, their silver armor reflecting the cold light of the chandeliers. Spears, axes, swords, and crossbows tracked my movement as I folded my wings behind me.
Two human women stood at the center of their formation.
Bellatrix and Walburga had survived.
Bellatrix looked considerably worse than when she entered the cart. One side of her robes had been ripped from shoulder to waist. Blood ran from a cut above her eyebrow. Stone dust covered her wild black hair, and the arm Moody had injured hung stiffly at her side.
Walburga had retained slightly more dignity. Her expensive robes were torn around the knees, and several strands of black-and-grey hair had escaped their severe arrangement. A bruise was already forming along her jaw.
Both women stared at me.
I tilted my head and allowed my wand to rest casually against my shoulder. "I honestly wasn't certain either of you had survived the fall."
Walburga's mouth compressed into a bloodless line.
I gave them a disappointed sigh. "Pity. The wizarding world would have been better off without you."
Walburga's remaining composure shattered. Walburga stepped forward and lifted her wand. "You insolent little Mudblood!"
I examined my fingernails as though her fury bored me.
Walburga's voice rose until it echoed beneath the vaulted ceiling. "You wear our name while carrying none of our blood! You have corrupted my son, bewitched him against his family, and encouraged him to wallow among Muggleborn filth!"
I looked toward Bellatrix. "Does she ever stop talking?"
Bellatrix's wand remained trained upon my heart. Her expression promised an answer involving violence.
Walburga took another furious step. "House Black descends from the greatest magical bloodlines in Europe! Our ancestors built this world while creatures like you crawled through Muggle gutters. Pure blood carries power, discipline, and the sacred right to rule over lesser beings!"
I slowly lowered my hand from my nails.
Walburga gestured toward me with enough force to shake her wand. "You are an abomination wearing stolen beauty and stolen status. You have polluted Sirius with your body, murdered loyal servants of the Dark Lord, and struck at the greatest wizard of our age!"
My patience expired. I swept my wand toward her. "Depulso!"
The Banishing Charm struck Walburga in the center of her chest.
Her feet left the floor.
Walburga flew backward across the banking hall while releasing a shriek of pure aristocratic outrage. Her arms and legs flailed beneath her robes. She passed over two startled goblins, crashed through a wooden teller barrier, and disappeared behind a counter in an explosion of splintered furniture and parchment.
A heavy impact shook the floor.
A goblin ledger fluttered down onto her head.
I lowered my wand and admired the result.
Sirius would laugh his ass off when I told him I had sent his mother flying across Gringotts. I might ask one of the portraits at Hogwarts to paint the memory so he could appreciate it properly.
Bellatrix did not look amused. Bellatrix's eyes followed the space where Walburga had vanished, then snapped back toward me. Madness burned through the exhaustion in her face. "You will suffer for that."
I allowed my gaze to settle upon her injured arm. "You keep making promises you lack the power to fulfill."
Bellatrix took a slow breath through her teeth.
I remembered the conversation in the cart and smiled. "If you're here because you still want your master's special cup, you're too late."
Bellatrix froze. The change was immediate. Her wand dipped by half an inch before she forced it back into position. Bellatrix stared at me. "What did you say?"
I tapped one finger against my stomach. "Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Beautiful little artifact. Hideous piece of magic inside it? Ring any bells?"
Bellatrix's face drained of color.
I widened my smile. "I destroyed it!"
Bellatrix looked as if I had reached into her chest and closed my hand around her heart. "You lie… That's impossible…"
I tilted my head. "You came here to retrieve it because Voldemort intended to use the soul fragment to repair the hole I burned through his chest."
Bellatrix's breath stopped.
I stepped toward her. The nearest goblins immediately raised their weapons higher, but I ignored them. "The cup is gone. The Horcrux is destroyed. Your master is weaker than he was when he crawled away from Hogsmeade."
Bellatrix's wand shook.
I gave her a sympathetic pout. "How many pieces does he have left, I wonder?"
Bellatrix's terror transformed into murderous fury. Bellatrix snapped her wand forward. "Avada Kedavra!"
Green light erupted across the lobby.
The Killing Curse moved directly toward my chest. I saw the magic clearly now. Death clung to the spell, not as an unknowable force but as a familiar current. It was crude, violent, and absolute only to people who had never touched the threshold from the other side.
My wand moved almost lazily.
I struck the Killing Curse from the side. Black-and-silver sparks exploded where the spells met. The green bolt changed direction so sharply that it nearly folded in half. It crossed the goblin formation and struck an armored guard directly between his beady eyes.
The goblin stiffened. His axe slipped from his fingers and struck the marble with a metallic clang. The dead guard toppled forward without attempting to catch himself.
Silence filled the bank.
Every goblin stared at the corpse.
Bellatrix stared at me. Her mouth opened, but no sound emerged. She had now watched me reverse its work upon Sirius and redirect it with a flick of my wand.
I examined the dead goblin. "That was unfortunate."
Bellatrix's eyes widened with horrified disbelief. "You deflected it…?" Bellatrix's breath came faster. "No one can deflect the Killing Curse!"
I rolled my wand between my fingers. "You should stop relying on rules written by weaker witches…"
Something crashed behind the ruined teller counter.
Walburga emerged unsteadily from the debris. Blood ran from one nostril, and half a wooden railing had become tangled inside her robes. A large accounting ledger remained balanced on one shoulder.
I gave her an approving nod. "You survived that too? How persistent..." I added with a tease.
Walburga tore the ledger from her shoulder and threw it aside.
Bellatrix's shock finally gave way to rage. She swung toward the surrounding guards, wild hair whipping around her face. Bellatrix pointed her wand at me and snarled at the goblins. "What are you waiting for? Capture the bitch!"
The goblin formation tightened.
Crossbows rose. Spears lowered. Enchanted blades began glowing as more than thirty armored guards advanced across the marble.
My wand pulsed eagerly inside my hand.
The first rank of goblins charged.
Crossbows fired before the melee fighters had crossed half the lobby. Enchanted bolts screamed through the air, their metal heads trailing poison, lightning, and sickly green curses.
I swept my wand across my body.
Black fire rose from the marble floor in a solid wall. The bolts entered the flames and stopped existing. Metal melted. Wooden shafts became ash. Poison boiled into harmless vapor before the wall collapsed forward.
The goblins behind it screamed.
My fire struck their silver armor and flowed through every opening. It crawled beneath breastplates, entered helmets, and poured through the gaps around their arms and legs. Goblins dropped their weapons and clawed desperately at armor that had become an oven around their bodies.
I closed my hand.
The black flames contracted.
Six armored goblins collapsed into smoking heaps.
Bellatrix fired a jagged purple curse past the surviving guards.
I tilted my head and allowed the spell to miss my cheek by less than an inch. It struck a goblin behind me instead. The unfortunate creature's armor folded inward and crushed his chest with a wet crunch.
I glanced toward the twitching body. "You should be more careful. These goblins are trying to help you."
Bellatrix's eyes flashed with madness. "Hold still and die!"
I stepped sideways as another curse crossed the place where my heart had been. "That strategy nearly worked on Sirius."
Bellatrix's face twisted.
I smiled more broadly. "How is he doing after you murdered him? Very well, actually. He ate an enormous breakfast this morning!"
Bellatrix screamed and fired three curses in rapid succession.
I spun my wand. The first curse struck a circular shield of silver-black magic and ricocheted into the ceiling. The second passed through my body when I became intangible, continuing into a goblin who had been attempting to approach from behind. His head vanished in a spray of dark blood.
I caught the third spell on the tip of my wand.
The red curse writhed like a living thing, resisting the magic holding it. I flicked my wrist and sent it back toward Bellatrix.
Bellatrix threw herself aside. The curse passed beneath her arm and struck Walburga directly in the shoulder.
Walburga spun completely around before crashing against a teller counter.
I gave Bellatrix an approving nod. "Excellent teamwork right there...."
A goblin rushed me from the right.
His hooked sword swung toward my exposed stomach. I caught his wrist with my free hand. The goblin strained against me, but Peak Performance and my evolved body made his strength almost laughable.
I squeezed.
Bones cracked beneath my fingers.
The goblin shrieked and dropped the sword.
I pulled him closer and drove my wand beneath his chin. Black flames erupted from inside his skull. Fire blasted from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. His body convulsed in my grip before becoming limp. I released him, allowing his burning corpse to collapse at my feet.
Three more goblins attacked together.
The first thrust a spear toward my chest. I turned sideways, caught the shaft beneath my arm, and ripped it from his hands. I reversed the weapon and drove the glowing spearhead through his breastplate.
The goblin's eyes bulged.
I kicked him away, leaving the spear buried inside his chest.
The second swung an axe at my neck. I dodge before retailing with a close range banishing curse. More powerful than what I hit Walburga with. He collided with a marble pillar. His helmet shattered against the stone, and his body dropped without moving again.
The third tried to retreat.
I pointed my wand at his back. "Corruptio Viscera."
The goblin stopped. His stomach expanded beneath his armor. Flesh bloated faster than the breastplate could accommodate it. Metal buckled outward. The goblin clawed at the straps while releasing a high, terrified scream.
Then his torso exploded.
Pieces of armor, bone, and purple-black organs scattered across the marble.
The remaining guards hesitated.
I stood among their dead with my wand resting loosely at my side. Black flames curled around my bare legs without burning Lily's borrowed clothing.
I looked over the survivors. "You all were considerably more confident when you thought I was going into your disgusting breeding chambers!"
Several goblins glanced toward the sealed entrance.
I followed their attention. "You may run."
Hope flickered across a few ugly faces.
I allowed the silence to continue for one heartbeat. "It won't help, but you may try."
The formation broke. Some goblins charged in a final desperate wave. Others turned and sprinted toward side passages, employee doors, and hidden exits behind the teller stations.
I raised my wand toward the ceiling.
Fire gathered above me. It condensed into a black sphere whose surface cracked with lines of silver light. Every torch and chandelier dimmed as the growing spell drank heat from the room.
Walburga dragged herself upright behind the damaged counter. Blood stained one side of her robes. She saw what I was creating and pointed her wand at me.
Walburga's face contorted with hatred. "Tenebrae Vincula!"
Black chains erupted from the floor.
They wrapped around my ankles, thighs, waist, arms, and throat. Ancient Black family magic tightened against my body, attempting to drag me onto my knees.
I looked down at the chains.
They were impressive. They might even have restrained an ordinary dark witch.
I flexed my magic. Silver fire traveled along the links. The binding spell shattered around me and dissolved into smoke.
Walburga stared.
I gave her a disappointed look. "All that inbreeding really does make you pureblood witches weak, doesn't it…"
Walburga raised her wand again.
I released the sphere before she could cast.
The spell burst.
Hundreds of black firebolts shot outward in every direction. Each one curved through the banking hall with deliberate purpose, hunting a living goblin.
The first wave struck the guards charging toward me. Flames punched through armor and bodies, leaving holes lined with burning flesh. Several goblins continued running for two or three steps before collapsing.
The second wave chased those attempting to escape.
Fire curved around pillars, passed over counters, and followed goblins into side passages. Screams echoed from every section of the bank. One guard reached a concealed door before a bolt struck him between the shoulder blades. Black flame tore through his spine and exploded from his chest.
Another goblin dove behind a teller station.
Three firebolts changed direction in midair and descended together. The counter erupted. Burning pieces of wood and goblin scattered across the floor.
A guard threw down his crossbow and raised both empty hands.
The fire found him anyway. He had been perfectly willing to help enslave me moments earlier. Surrender after defeat did not make him innocent.
The last goblin reached the bronze entrance doors and began clawing desperately at the locking mechanism. His fingers left bloody streaks across the metal as he tried to force it open.
One small flame drifted toward him.
The goblin looked back. Terror distorted his face.
The flame entered his open mouth. His body became rigid. Light glowed beneath his skin, tracing every vein in bright silver and black. Then fire erupted from the inside out and reduced him to a collapsing silhouette of ash.
Smoke gathered beneath the vaulted ceiling. Burning goblin bodies covered the banking hall. Purple-black blood spread across the marble and mixed with molten silver from their armor. The smell was unpleasant enough that even my enhanced senses considered retreating.
I surveyed the destruction.
No goblin remained standing.
A metallic crash sounded behind me.
Walburga had recovered enough to attack again. She swept a collection of fallen swords and axes into the air with a broad motion of her wand. The weapons turned toward me, their blades glowing with curses.
Walburga thrust her wand forward. "Die, filthy whore!"
The weapons flew.
I stepped into shadow.
The blades crossed the place where I had been standing and struck Bellatrix's magical shield instead. Bellatrix staggered beneath the impact, screaming at Walburga while metal ricocheted across the lobby.
I emerged from Walburga's shadow directly behind her.
Walburga sensed me a moment too late. She spun, wand rising toward my face.
I touched the tip of my wand to the center of her back. "Stupefy."
Red light threw Walburga across the room. She struck the floor, bounced once, and slid through a smear of goblin blood before coming to rest against the base of a marble pillar. Her wand spun from her fingers. Her eyes remained closed.
Bellatrix stared at her unconscious aunt. Blood continued running from the cut above her eye. Her breath came in quick, furious gasps. Her injured arm hung uselessly at her side, but her wand remained steady in the other.
Bellatrix bared her teeth. "I will never surrender to you."
I began walking toward her. "Good. Surrender would be boring after everything we've been through."
Bellatrix fired a Cutting Curse.
I knocked it aside. The curse sliced through a marble desk and continued into the wall.
Bellatrix fired another Killing Curse.
I turned my body and allowed the green light to pass beside my waist.
Bellatrix backed away while casting. Red, purple, green, and black spells crossed the shrinking distance between us. I blocked some. I dodged others. Two passed directly through me while my body became ghostlike.
None touched me.
I continued walking.
Bellatrix's confidence began to crack. For the first time since the fight began, she looked toward the nearest exit.
I smiled at the movement. "Where are you going?" I crossed the remaining distance through shadow.
Bellatrix found me standing directly in front of her. Her eyes widened.
I caught her wrist before she could redirect her wand. My claws emerged and pressed lightly into her skin, drawing several thin lines of blood.
I leaned close enough to feel her furious breath against my face. "You're going to tell me where he is hiding..."
Bellatrix's expression changed. She understood what I intended.
Bellatrix twisted violently, attempting to tear free. "I will tell you nothing! I will never betray my lord!"
I drove my knee into her stomach.
Bellatrix folded around the impact. The breath left her body in a pained grunt. I twisted her wand from her fingers and threw it into my inventory before she could recover.
Bellatrix reached for my throat with her remaining hand.
I caught her by the hair and pulled her head backward.
I pressed my wand beneath her chin. "Stupefy."
The Stunning Spell lifted Bellatrix from her feet. She flew backward and crashed through the nearest teller station. Wood exploded around her. Bellatrix landed on her back amid shattered furniture, unconscious before she stopped moving.
I released a satisfied breath.
Both witches remained alive.
That was important.
Bellatrix knew where Voldemort was hiding. Walburga might know as well. If Bellatrix refused to answer ordinary questions, I possessed several less ordinary ways to extract information.
Voldemort was wounded. The ring, diadem, and cup Horcruxes were gone. His basilisk was dead. If my inherited memories and the changes in this reality aligned the way I suspected, only Slytherin's locket remained.
One more Horcrux. Then Voldemort could finally die.
I stepped over a burning goblin and approached Bellatrix's unconscious body. I considered binding both women, throwing them into my inventory, and interrogating them somewhere private.
The enormous bronze doors exploded inward.
Metal struck the marble with enough force to crack the floor. Daylight flooded the smoke-filled banking hall.
A squad of Aurors charged through the destroyed entrance! There were at least twenty of them, wearing reinforced robes and spreading immediately into a trained formation. Wands rose in every direction. Several Aurors stopped abruptly when they saw the lobby.
Their expressions changed from urgency to horror.
Goblin corpses covered nearly every section of the floor. Counters had been destroyed. Blood painted the marble. Fires burned beneath thick layers of smoke. Walburga lay unconscious beside a pillar, while Bellatrix rested inside the remains of a teller station.
I stood in the center of it all.
Alastor Moody ran in front of the Aurors. Both of his eyes swept across the scene. His magical eye rotated fast enough to become a blur as it examined bodies, exits, concealed passages, and every visible threat.
Moody raised his wand directly toward my chest. "HANDS IN THE AIR!"
The Aurors behind him aimed at me.
I looked around the demolished lobby as though seeing it for the first time. I raised my empty hand while keeping the other around my wand. I gave Moody a shameless shrug. "They started it…"
Moody's scarred face twitched. He advanced several steps, moving carefully around a pool of goblin blood. The Aurors followed him, closing the formation until more than a dozen wands had a clear line toward me.
"Amara Black, you are under arrest for breaking into Gringotts, use of Unforgivable Curses, and the murder of every goblin in this room." Moody lifted his wand another inch towards me. "Dumbledore isn't here to bail you out this time!"
XXX