Chapter. 4.4- Doom Days

Disillusioned and disguised, he began his trek towards the forbidden forest. The Chamber of the Secrets had a few entrances and exits that he was aware of, and probably more that he had never been able to find. One of them was right into the heart of the forbidden forest, and that was what he was going to be using. Considering Tom had been the last to see it, he did not feel comfortable enough to consider apparating to it. Ginny had been possessed by the Diary for a whole year so it would not turn out to be much of a surprise if he had made a few changes in the area and the slightest mess up when it came to visualisation could throw off one’s apparation by quite a bit. Wizards in public were more than willing to risk it as the ministry was quick to respond to reported splinchings so the risk was lower, but he would not have such a safety net for a long long time. Possibly even never, depending on how things ended up developing in the war or wars to come.

He arrived at the exit, and took a deep breath and thanked his better sense for not apparating. The space he was familiar with had suffered some sort of cave-in. He waved his wand to clear the space and repair the arch only to be forced to notice that the damage was purposeful. Much like that of a blasting curse. Considering the forbidden forest exit was the one way for the basilisk to leave the castle and go hunting, then it had been done to keep it stuck here. Stuck here and hungry. The more he thought about it, the more doom was forced to realise that Tom Riddle, even after only a single horcrux had been a uniquely cruel soul. One did not need to be Shakespeare to figure out was intended.

Dumbledore had been chased from the school. The Boy Who Lived should have died in combat with the basilisk in any reasonable man’s contemplation, and Tom Riddle would have a brand new body gained from the life-force of a freshly dead Ginerva Weasley. One way to smear the old man’s reputation forever and ensure that the attention of the Wizarding world would be far from him and his reawakening would be unleashing a hungry basilisk in a school full of children. He had gone to the effort of killing all the roosters as well so there was no chance of the beast being taken out easily. It would have killed hundreds before being either defeated or trapped and locked away.

A massacre of such scale would create the perfect smokescreen for whatever he wanted to do in the aftermath. Would also serve as one hell of a way to introduce the world to a new Dark Lord. Would probably get him more props than Voldemort just off of sheer evil alone.

Doom walked through the arch and into the forest proper after making sure to silence his movements with a quick flick off his wand.

“Point me Dragons” He tried, placing his wand on the flat of his palm and intensely calling up the image of a dragon in his mind. The wand span out of control, moving in every which way for a few seconds before coming to a stop pointed directly in front of him. The book had described this effect. It meant that there were no dragons within range of the spell. That meant he had to walk deeper into the forest because he was certain that there was no chance that the dragons would be any closer to the castle than this so they had to be further.

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The Forbidden Forest. Some thought of it merely as an addition to Hogwart’s grounds to give the school some aura of magical supremacy. Of course, those were fools who knew less about history than children. The Forbidden Forest had been around long before Hogwart’s foundation was laid. It would exist long after the School was torn down. It was an inherently magical site, even older than Stonehedge when it came down to it. It was the home to so many magical creatures that even the books had no idea what exactly called the forest home.

One author had written that it was more likely for a creature to be found in the forest than it was for it not to be. Of course, that was only really the case when it came to the truly deeper areas of the forest. The areas where the ministry and Hogwarts had essentially given up on regulating and instead allowed to operate as a place of its own. The areas of the forest where the sun did not reach and things went bump in the night.

It was those areas that he found himself walking towards as he went deeper and deeper into the forest. His point me spell was yet to register anything, and he was beginning to have the sinking feeling in his stomach that there were no dragons in the forest, and that could mean a million and one things. He just hoped it was not the case. Such a canon divergence so early in his time here would toss into doubt a lot of the things he hoped he would be able to rely on, and so he kept searching. Of course, the sinking feeling was not helped by the sounds of skittering as multiple giant spiders- acromantula- moved across the treelibne that he walked beneath.

He had not expected to find a subsection of Aragog’s colony all the way here. They lived much closer to the School than this lot were, he knew from the time he’d been forced to escape from them in his second year. He kept a careful eye on both the spiders above, and the foliage below to make sure that he didn’t step on anything and trigger their attention. His spells were holding up for now, but he remained alert for any failures.

When he finally came to what felt like the end of the nest, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, that did not mean he was home free. In the corner of his eyes, he spotted some sort of creature. He froze as it jumped right in front of him. His wand was already raised to deal with the interference but it seemed to ignore him and keep on running. After it came the sound of thundering hooves. A centaur. A very familiar centaur chased after the wolf and that was all he needed to see to pursue after them.

They tore through the forest at a rapid pace, and only circulating his magic through his body allowed him to even keep them within his sights as they darted through the foliage with inhuman grace. Where he found himself unable to keep up with their acrobatics, he resorted to magic. A cutting spell removed a root from his headline as opposed to ducking underneath it, and a simple elasticity charm on the ground allowed it to function as a trampoline for him to jump over a massive gorge that both creatures had skied with little thought.

When he landed with a role, he found that the hunt had come to an end. Firenze stood over the creature with an arrow lodged in its throat. In that moment, he noticed that it was the only arrow the centuar had fired all through. And also the fact that there was another arrow lodged in the centaur’s bow and aimed right at him.

“The stars foretold your coming, Harry Potter” He said, showing recognition, but failing to lower the boy.

“Well met, Firenze my old friend” I said, only to receive narrowed eyes and a tightening of his grip on the bow. One of his hooves tapped on the ground almost impatiently.

“Mars is bright tonight, Harry Potter. Why dost thou wear the appearance of another?” He asked with audible distrust.

“Just to prevent detection by those who would see me harmed, my friend” He scoffed at the words, turning up his nose at me in a way that made me want to lash out with my magic and bring the damned creature to heel. But I held on and exercised patience. Doom was no stranger to insults. He just had to make sure he got what he wanted in the end.

“What a cowardly means to avoid what is foretold. The fates are not pleased. Mars is bright tonight” He said again, and I almost sighed as I dispelled my transfigurations hoping that would be enough to clear the tension, but it did not.

“I didn’t come to fight you tonight, Firenze. I came looking for something here.”

“In the forest? This one remembers warning thee that thee hath few friends here in this forest”

“Yes, I know that. I came looking for something recent. Something placed here for the competition taking place in the school”

“Harry Potter speaks about the creature of fire.” I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched his grip on his bow lighten.

“Yes. Precisely. The dragons. Where are they?” I asked, only for my hope of a peaceful night to disappear with the sound of approaching hooves.

“You have spoken too much, Firenze. Mars is bright tonight” Another centaur said, and this one, I noticed, did not seem to like me very much.

He came with even more of his kind, and it took me little time to realise that in a matter of seconds, I’d become trapped between the Centuars who surrounded my front and the gorge to my back.

A/N; Cliffhanger?