Post by Lee on Oct 22, 2009 15:57:56 GMT -5
rules ◊ canons ◊ full plot ◊ application
Why was he here? His eyes swept the dark corridor around him, the sounds of the Halloween feast fading softly as he and his two friends moved farther away from it toward the astronomy tower entrance. Ron and Hermione were silent behind him, their footfalls the loudest sounds in the corridor. The portraits were empty, their inhabitants all having gone down to join the rest by the moving stairways, wishing whoever went past a happy Halloween and making enough noise to drown out the replies of those they greeted. Harry was glad they weren't in their paintings, it would have been bothersome if they had been. About as bothersome as the reason for this meeting in the astronomy tower. Why was it bothersome? Well, he didn't know the reason for the meeting because the person who had arranged it had fled one class screaming bloody murder and hadn't been seen for the rest of the day after its proposal.
The moonlight lit the way through the open-air windows well enough that they didn’t need their wands. The wooden door that led to the stairs was ajar, an oddity since it was usually locked before Astronomy class began. However, Isabella must have unlocked it herself or she wouldn’t have suggested on meeting here. Harry pushed the door open and started climbing the steps to the next landing. There was an oddly pungent smell in the air, like rotten eggs. He wrinkled his nose but climbed anyway.
It was quiet and stifling. Not even the wind could penetrate the tower for some reason. “Hello?” Harry called. No one answered. He stepped out onto the landing, turning toward the next flight of stairs that led to the top. Maybe Isabella was up there... “Harry!” Ron’s voice from behind him stopped him in his tracks. He pivoted to face the other side of the tower and felt the blood drain from his face. There, in a beam of moonlight on the floor, lay Isabella Witchworth. Or what was left of her. He barely registered the scream Hermione emitted before launching herself into Ron’s chest, sobbing. Harry rushed to the body, breathing hard. “No…. NO !” He kneeled next to her, as close as he could get without sitting in the pool of blood surrounding her. Her eyes were glazed over and wide open, staring unseeingly at the stone ceiling above them. She looked like she had been attacked by some kind of wild animal, her clothes were torn and ripped, just like the skin underneath them. She had never had a chance. A few inches away from the hand closest to him was an overturned leather-bound book and a folded piece of parchment sticking out of it. On the exposed part of the parchment were the letters ‘HAR’. He reached out with a shaking hand and pulled it out. His name was written out on the parchment, just as he had hoped it hadn’t been. “Harry, Harry we have to go get help. We have-“ Hermione’s voice was heavy with emotion and he cut her off quickly. “I know Hermione. Go down to the feast and straight up to Professor McGonagall. Don’t make it obvious what's happened.” He turned to his two best friends. “Go, quickly!” They nodded and left swiftly, they couldn’t wait to get out of the room. Harry was alone now, with the corpse of a girl he barely knew. He swallowed hard and opened the note.
“Harry,
I needed to tell someone this. Well, more specifically, you. I guess I should explain it a little more fully than I did earlier, because if you’re reading this, they probably already… have gotten to me. It started at the end of last semester. I was helping Professor Trelawney put away the crystal balls and suddenly, out of nowhere there was this crash behind me. She was in a trance and she was just staring into space. I went up to her to see if she was alright but when I did, she grabbed my arm and began speaking in this strange voice. I can’t get what she said out of my head. She said ‘With the rise of the Dark Lord, a new enemy becomes stronger. The Dark Lord shall gain new allies, powers darker than ever imagined by his enemies. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will fall into perilous hands. The safest of homes has already been breached. NOS SUMUS HIC. NOS SUMUS HIC.’ She kept repeating that. I got so freaked out that I just left. But I was curious about that phrase she was saying. Nos Sumus Hic. It’s Latin for ‘we are here.’ Latin is mostly associated with religious things, especially with the ‘darker’ forces of the world. When people are possessed, it’s common for them to speak in Latin, even if they don’t know it. I think… After doing some research, that You-Know-Who has… joined forces with demons. I’m almost sure of it now. Ever since I started looking into this, strange things have been happening to me. I’ve been seeing things, and hearing things. Shadows that aren’t there when I look but seem to follow me out of the corner of my eye. Scratches on my body that weren’t there when I went to sleep. I feel like I’m always being watched and I hallucinate when I’m alone… And even in public. Or, I think they’re hallucinations because no one else seems them.
They can hurt us, even kill us, which you probably already know if you’re reading this. Take the book this was in and read some of the marked pages. Be careful Harry. We’re all counting on you.
Isabella.”
Harry’s brow furrowed. In fear, anger and sadness, all at once. He looked up from the note and noticed, for the first time, the stone wall not too far away from Isabella’s body. Or really, what was on it.
Written in Isabella’s blood was the phrase
Lord Voldemort has gained new allies in the form
of a group of demons headed by Lilith. This new
sect of deatheaters are called the Dark Deatheaters.
And one of them has infiltrated Hogwarts and killed
Isabella Witchworth because she knew too much.
Innocent blood has been spilt in Hogwarts once
more and has it has the whole school bewildered
and frightened. The message that was sent has
indeed been received and interpreted. The lines
have been drawn and everyone is vulnerable now.
"We are here." And just dying to meet you.
NOS SUMUS HIC[/color][/URL]
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