Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 30

The next morning Harry received a note from Professor Snape suggesting that they attempt to read Voldemort's journal again and could he ensure that Miss Weasley accompanied him down to the dungeons after breakfast. Harry grinned sightlessly at Ginny who had read the note to him while they were sitting in the common room.

"Well, Miss Weasley?" he said roguishly. "Will you accompany me down to the dungeons after breakfast?"

"Why gladly, Mr Potter," Ginny replied with a laugh. "I suppose we'd better go down and eat then or we'll never get there."

Harry laughed and the young couple crawled out of the entrance hole and headed downstairs, Harry tapping his cane lightly in front of him. The strange magic was still lingering around him and a brief experiment at using his Oversight the previous night had failed dismally. Tomorrow night was New Year's Eve and a few days later the rest of the students would return and Harry was rather desperately hoping the magic would fade before then.

In the meantime Master Nhean had decided that they would revisit some of his earliest lessons though in a slightly grander scale. They would also start to incorporate those lessons into his combat training. Harry had mostly managed to conceal his apprehension at the continued presence of the magic. The fact that Dumbledore did not know what it was or how to get rid of it was worrying him. He hadn't realised until it was taken away how much he'd relied on his Oversight.

Ginny slid her arm through his as they walked down the stairs then pressed a kiss onto his cheek. Harry smiled at her, knowing that while she had taken his arm in order to kiss him, she had also done it to steady him down the stairs. He had mixed feelings about that; while he didn't really want to accidentally misstep and fall, he didn't like having to rely on others for help.

"None of that, mister," came Ginny's quiet voice from beside him.

"What?" he said, sounding startled. Ginny was becoming rather adept at reading him these days.

"It is perfectly alright for you to accept help from me and everyone else," Ginny said, sounding like she was warming up to her subject. "Just because those idiots you lived with for ten years didn't lift a single, lazy, stupid finger to help you doesn't mean the whole world's like that. Yes, you could quite easily get down the stairs on your own without a skerrick of help from me or anyone else. But I want to help you, I like helping you and besides...it gives me a really, really good excuse to get close to you."

"You...need an excuse for that?" Harry asked, feeling a fraction shell-shocked. He'd never thought about it all that way before.

"Well, no," Ginny replied impishly. "But it's still a good excuse." She sobered. "Harry, you're blind and you occasionally need help particularly on the moving staircases. That's not pity, that's fact."

Harry was silent for a moment then he smiled. "I guess you're right. I just...don't really like it."

"Didn't Snape once say something about your overdeveloped need for independence?" Ginny asked tartly.

Harry laughed at that. "Yes, he did. And I think I was going to listen to him."

"Good," Ginny said firmly then they were walking into the Great Hall and they let the conversation drop.

Once they finished breakfast they headed down to Snape's office in the dungeons and Harry knocked in the door.

"Come in," Snape barked through the door.

Harry opened the door and he and Ginny walked in.

"Ah, Mr Potter, Miss Weasley," Snape said neutrally. "Good. I have set everything up in the classroom. I think it would be better to use one of the benches."

Harry took Ginny's arm and let her lead him through the office to the classroom. He hadn't been in Snape's office enough times to know exactly where he was going without Oversight and he had no real desire to walk into the doorway for Snape's entertainment, for despite their acknowledged truce, he had no doubts Snape would find it amusing. They walked around and Harry groped for one of the chairs, pulling it out and sitting down. He leaned his cane against the desk as he listened to Ginny and Snape sitting down as well.

"Shall we, Mr Potter?" Snape said abruptly.

Harry nodded then he felt Snape's mind touch his and they established the mesh. Snape let it sit like that for a moment then he deepened it. Harry had closed his eyes during this process and now he slowly opened them, bracing himself during that moment of disorientation that had come the first time they had tried this. He gasped as he once again saw through Snape's eyes.

*Mr Potter?* Snape asked.

*I'm fine,* Harry replied. *It's just a bit of a shock, every time it happens.*

Snape slowly looked around the room to let Harry get used to the sensation then with a sense of resigned impatience that flowed through their meshed minds, he turned and looked at Ginny. A broad smile grew on Harry's face as he truly saw Ginny for the first time since he'd been blinded and he brought one hand up to brush her cheek.

"Beautiful," he breathed and Ginny blushed and captured his hand, weaving their fingers together.

"You can see me?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Through Professor Snape's eyes."

Ginny's gaze flickered over to Snape who was looking at her with a neutral expression.

"Thank you, Professor," she said quietly then she looked back at Harry with a smile. "Harry, aren't you here to do something serious?"

"I am doing something serious," Harry replied then he grinned. "But I take your point. Sorry, Professor."

*I had anticipated this,* Snape said with arch amusement. *Young men are regrettably predictable when young women are concerned.*

*What? You never stared at a pretty girl when you were my age?* Harry asked cheekily.

*I did however they rarely stared back,* Snape replied sourly. *I was not a promising boy in any way, shape or form. And I knew far too much about the Dark Arts to make anyone comfortable, including myself.*

*Why learn it then?* Harry asked as he wisely got down to business and flipped through the journal to the last place they'd been.

*You are, of course, assuming I had a choice,* Snape replied archly.

*Oh,* Harry said awkwardly.

*Shall we get down to business?* Snape said briskly, echoing Harry's internal thoughts.

*Er, yes,* Harry replied.

He felt a moment of disorientation as Snape looked down at the journal then the Parseltongue slowly coalesced in his mind. He grimaced as he realised that the page they were on dealt with some possible plans for kidnapping himself.

*I think we can move from there,* Snape said with distaste.

Harry nodded and quickly flicked through the journal until he found the page on crystal magic they'd been on before the poison coursing through Snape had made any further investigations impossible. He then began reading the words aloud in soft, hissing Parseltongue.

My research into crystal magic is showing some positive results. The crystals, if of a certain size and clarity, can be used as repositories for magical energy. This had led me to theorise that they could be used for something more. Could a suitable crystalline repository be used to store a person's soul? I believe it could and intend to turn my researches in that direction. I have come to the conclusion that my survival of the rebounded Killing Curse was largely due to the complex magic Lily Potter used but even in this new form I believe I am still vulnerable to the power of the Killing Curse. While the protection allowed the Potter boy to survive, it is quite likely it has been diluted now that we both share it. It is possible that I am wrong but I am not willing to take that chance. If the crystals can be used to store a soul then that will be the answer to my problem. I could use one to ensure my immortality for all time. I must research this.

16^th January

Success! My theory is correct. A crystal of sufficient size and purity can be used to store a soul and furthermore it can be set up to allow the soul to possess any person who then touches the crystal. This is ideal! I have found a crystal that will work and I shall set it up to house my soul should all things go against plan. My final confrontation with the Potter boy is approaching. I can feel it. But the boy is blind so I am sure of success. But I have been sure before and been wrong. So thus my crystalline back up plan. I can only see one flaw in the plan. Once the soul has taken over a new host, the old host cannot be completely cast out. It must remain in order to animate the body. This may be a problem depending on who is the first to touch the crystal. One can only hope it is someone competent. The only advantage to this is that only the owner of the body can cast out the soul and truly kill me. If the owner casts me out then my soul cannot return to the crystal. If the body is destroyed then my soul will simply return to the crystal and while my soul inhabits the crystal it is invulnerable. I shall record the incantation needed to cast out the possessing soul here. I believe it needs to be recorded and where better than here in my own journal in Parseltongue where none but me can understand it. The incantation is Respuoanimus.

*Why would he write that down? Even here?* Harry asked with disbelief.

*He always felt the need to crow about his own superiority,* Snape said with a sneer. *But this is useful. He has possessed Draco's body and Draco can cast him out.*

*But will he?* Harry said dubiously. *He's always supported Voldemort.*

*I severely doubt the current situation is one he willing allowed,* Snape replied. *Given the opportunity, I believe even he will cast out Voldemort.*

*I hope so,* Harry replied, his voice still dubious. *Because it looks like that's our only chance of getting rid of Voldemort for good.* He bit his lip worriedly. *I just wish I could use my Oversight.*

*The magic still has not faded?* Snape asked, concern lacing his mental tone.

*I tried activating it again this morning and it didn't work,* Harry replied glumly. *Master Nhean going to step up my training but this is starting to really worry me. We did a full combat training session yesterday and it was frustrating to say the least.*

Snape was silent for a moment. *I shall speak to the Headmaster. There may be a few things we can try if the situation continues.*

Harry nodded and they continued reading through the journal. They soon established that there was little else of use. Most of the rest of the journal detailed potential plans for the final battle and Voldemort's plans for Harry. More than a few of these were unpleasantly graphic and Harry quickly flipped past those pages.

*There appears to be nothing else of value in here,* Snape said with disgust. *I had hoped he might have detailed his research in more detail.*

*Well, he did put down the important stuff,* Harry said, still feeling a little unsettled by the last description of Voldemort's plans for him that they'd encountered.

Snape raised an eyebrow as he picked that up through the mesh. *I shall take what we have learnt to the Headmaster. I suggest you and Miss Weasley take yourselves off and...do whatever it is the two of you do.*

With that Snape began to dissolve the mesh. He paused momentarily and with an air of resignation he looked over once more at Ginny. Harry drank in the sight of his girlfriend then sighed as the mesh was dissolved.

"Thank you, sir," he said quietly as Ginny slipped her hand into his.

"Get out," Snape grumbled as he gathered up the journal and stalked over to his office.

The young couple quickly scurried out of the classroom and up the corridor.

"What was that last bit all about?" Ginny asked as they walked up the stairs towards the Entrance Hall.

"He relented and let me have one last look at you," Harry replied with a grin. "Guess he growled at us because he didn't want to ruin his snarky, sarcastic reputation."

"So what did you find out?" Ginny asked.

Harry was silent as they walked through the Entrance Hall and out onto the grounds.

"There wasn't much useful in there," he finally said with a shudder. "Most of it was Voldemort making his plans for the final battle and what he was going to do with me."

"Urgh," Ginny said with a grimace. "You didn't actually read that, did you?"

"Only glanced at it," Harry replied. "We moved on pretty quickly."

"So was there anything in there that was worth it?" Ginny asked.

Harry nodded. "There was some information about Voldemort's research into the crystalline magic. He'd worked out a way of...storing his soul in a crystal. He could then possess another body."

"Didn't we already know that?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, true," Harry replied. "But it also detailed how to destroy him. You can't just destroy the body he's possessing. That'll just send the soul back to the crystal and the whole thing starts again. The owner of the body, Draco in this case, is still in there. Only he can cast out Voldemort. If that happens then the soul can't return to the crystal and it'll be destroyed. I guess a soul in that condition can't survive outside some kind of host, either human or crystal."

"Makes you wonder how he survived the destruction of his body the first time," Ginny mused.

"I don't think even he knew," Harry said. "Though the whole thing does make me wonder why he was so afraid when he first ended up in the crystal. The anger makes sense since it meant he'd been defeated again but the fear?"

"Maybe it wasn't quite what he expected?" Ginny suggested. "It's one thing to know something is going to happen, it quite another to experience it."

Harry considered that for a moment then nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Nice to know even he can be afraid."

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them as they walked through the grounds. Harry determining by sound where they were though sometimes it was hard to tell. Finally Ginny broke the silence.

"Do you think Draco would actually do it? Cast out Voldemort?"

"Professor Snape seems to think so," Harry replied after a moment of consideration. "He says that Draco would hardly have wanted this to happen and that given a chance to reclaim his body, he'd take it." Harry gave a dubious grimace. "I hope he's right. I think we're in trouble if he isn't."

"So what do we do now?"

Harry stopped and smiled sightlessly at Ginny. "Well, Professor Snape said that we ought take ourselves off and do whatever it is we do. Sounds like a good idea to me."

Ginny leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before saying impishly, "Who says Professor Snape doesn't have any good ideas?"

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The next few days passed quickly then the rest of the students arrived back and classes began again. The strange magic still lingered around Harry and by this time he was getting worried and even a little frightened about what exactly it was that Voldemort was doing. After several hours of intensive lessons with Nhean, he was able to revert back to the way he'd done things before he'd learnt to use Oversight. This made him a little more confident about moving around the castle but didn't really relieve his main worry. His friends did what they could to help with Hermione promising to copy her notes for him and Ron and Neville promising to make sure Harry didn't have any troubles with the moving staircases as he went to his classes. Harry accepted all of these offers with tight smiles and a growing frustration. That frustration peeked out every now and then and when it did Ginny was always quick to remind him of Snape's opinion of his sense of independence.

The first day of classes was almost interminable. His teachers handled it well since they'd been around to see what was happening but his classmates and the other students stared and whispered and looked confused, curious and worried. Thankfully in his current state Harry couldn't see the looks but he could hear the whispers and by the time his lesson with Nhean rolled around at the end of the day he was in a rather grouchy mood. As such he didn't notice the almost preternatural silence in the training room until he was about halfway across and then he came to sudden halt.

"Master Nhean?" he said warily.

When no response came he began edging back towards the nearest wall, one hand groping behind him. When he felt the cool stone he flattened himself against the wall and loosened his sword in its sheath as he listened intently. There was nothing but silence, no sounds of anyone breathing, not even the sounds of the rest of the school could be heard. Harry slowly came to realise that this silence could not be natural. He clicked his sword back into place and pulled his wand out of his robes.

He pointed the wand at the room in general and said, "Finite incantatem."

He listened intently but the unnatural silence did not change. He swallowed hard then tucked his wand away and decided to try something. He tranced down to the point where he could see the magical energy that swarmed through the school and was relieved to see the colours burst into life. He gave a sigh then looked down towards his feet. He was startled to see that where he could normally see his own energy colours, scarlet and silver with black tracery, there was nothing, not even at this level. He put that aside for the moment though with a mental note to himself to tell Master Nhean. He looked around the room for a moment to get used to the intense silver and gold energy that indicated the school then in one corner he saw a collection of energy colours. He stared at them for a moment as he worked out who was there then he grinned and pulled himself out of the trance state he'd been in.

"I can see you when I trance down, Master Nhean," he said, making a calculated guess that the spell creating the silence in the room would stop them from hearing him. "And I know you're standing there with Sirius and Jun'ko."

The strange silence evaporated and he heard chuckling coming from the other side of the room.

"Very good, Harry," Master Nhean said with approval. "And it's even better to hear that whatever Voldemort is doing hasn't affected that part of what you can do."

"I can't see me though," Harry said soberly. "I can usually see my own energy colours but I can't now."

"Curious," Nhean said in a very odd tone. "What precisely do you see when you look at yourself in the trance state?"

"Black," Harry replied. "Just...black."

"And when you look around the rest of the room?" Nhean prompted.

"I see everything as normal," Harry replied. "Well, normal for the trance state."

"I...see," Nhean said thoughtfully.

"Master?" Harry asked carefully when the silence stretched out a bit longer. "Do you know what's happened to me?"

"I'm not sure," Nhean replied slowly. "There are spells that could create such a...blankness but we can't seem to detect anything on you except for that strange magic being produced by Voldemort." He paused and when he spoke again his tone was very strange. "Or can we?"

"Okay, the inscrutable act is very convincing but you're starting to disturb me," Sirius said worriedly. "What's going on, Nhean?"

"Does any of this ring any bells with you, Jun'ko?" Nhean asked, ignoring Sirius' question for the moment.

Jun'ko thought for a moment then shook her head. "No, can't say it does. I'm as confused as Harry and Sirius."

Nhean made a disgruntled noise then Harry heard him pacing quietly back and forth.

"Master Nhean, what's going on?" Harry asked firmly.

"Your description of what you see when in the trance state has rung a very soft, dim bell in my mind," Nhean explained intently. "But I cannot quite put my finger on what it is. I think I read of something like this a long time ago."

He was silent again and Harry could hear his light footsteps pacing back and forth.

"I shall have to return to the Academy," Nhean said firmly. "I am reasonably sure that if the information that is tugging on my brain came from a book that is where I read it. But I shall do that later. For now, I believe we have a lesson to be getting on with. Sirius, I thank you for your help."

"No problems," Sirius said, sounding like he wasn't entirely happy with Nhean's answer. "Listen, if Harry can see the energy colours in this trance state, why doesn't he just use that for now?"

"Because it takes too much concentration," Harry replied before Nhean could say anything. "When I'm trancing, I have to concentrate on that. I can't do anything else."

"Some people have managed to learn how to move at least a little while trancing but it has taken them years and much in the way of practice to get to that state," Nhean added. "It would be a bit difficult for Harry to attend to his lessons while he was in the trance state."

"Oh," Sirius said with realisation. "Guess that wouldn't be too useful." He ruffled Harry's hair. "Well, I'll leave you to it, Pronglet."

"See you, Siri," Harry said as he listened to Sirius' footsteps leave the room.

"Now, Harry," Nhean said briskly, regaining Harry's attention. "I want you and Jun'ko to spar. Jun'ko's much lighter on her feet that Tien. You've been doing well sparring with him, I want you to try it with someone a bit quieter."

Harry sighed as he allowed Jun'ko to lead him into the middle of the room.

"Go easy on me," he said to her a touch plaintively as he drew his sword.

Jun'ko chuckled wickedly as she stepped away. "Now, why would I do that, Harry?"

Harry groaned as he raised his sword then he fell silent, listening intently to try and pick up Jun'ko's movements, his head swaying slightly from side to side. A light patter of footsteps to his left had him turning and dancing away from the sound as he raised his sword defensively. He came to a halt and listened intently again.

Once more he heard the light patter of footsteps then he heard the whistling sound of a sword blade moving through the air. He ducked and rolled away, coming to his feet and darting backwards. He held out his off hand, the one that held the scabbard of his sword, knowing that he had to be somewhere near one of the walls after his two evasive manoeuvres. The quiet tick of the end of his scabbard hitting the wall told him he was right and he quickly pushed off it and towards the centre of the room, not wanting to get caught without adequate moving room.

He heard the sound of Jun'ko's light steps to his left and they sounded like they were coming closer. He spun towards them and brought up his sword, lashing out in a quick slash. His sword jarred in his hands as it impacted with Jun'ko's and the quiet, surprised grunt he heard told him that his fellow Night Warrior hadn't been expecting that move. He drew a sharp breath and followed the slash up with a second and third in one of the movements inspired by the katas he'd learnt long ago. His sword clashed with Jun'ko's again as she countered his moves then he brought his sword around almost automatically to counter the attack that was inevitable from Jun'ko if she followed the pattern. She almost had to; his attacks would leave her in a position where she really only had one attack option herself. Her only other choice would be to retreat and he didn't think she'd do that.

The jarring of her sword impacting with his again told him he was right and he pushed her away with his sword, dancing backwards and listening intently for her next move. When he heard her rush towards him he decided to abandon the almost strict defensive moves he'd been using since he'd lost his ability to use his Oversight. He ducked and rolled forward past Jun'ko, hoping he'd judged his distances correctly in the darkness. As he rolled past the other Night Warrior, he whipped his scabbard around and took her legs out from underneath her. He then slapped around with his scabbard in the direction she should have fallen. When he heard the soft thumping sound of his scabbard hitting flesh and the resultant pained grunt, he dropped the scabbard and leapt towards Jun'ko in the direction of the grunt. His outstretched hand found her face and he quickly whipped his sword around so it rested on her throat.

"Yield," he said roughly.

"I could still throw you off," Jun'ko countered.

"Maybe but not before I cut your throat," Harry replied firmly.

"Good point," Jun'ko said after a moment of silent consideration. "Yield."

Harry removed his sword and moved away. He started groping around for his scabbard, sheathing his sword when he found it and standing.

"Well done, Harry," Nhean said with approval when he was standing. "Jun'ko, what happened?"

"I wasn't expecting him to attack," she said promptly and with some chagrin. "He's been mostly concentrating on defence up until now and the attacks were rather sudden. I didn't quite think he was ready."

"I didn't think I was either until we ended up using those pattern moves," Harry said, feeling a fraction of confidence ooze into him for the first time in days. "It's the first time I've felt comfortable fighting like this."

"Yes, I thought that was what had happened," Nhean said, his smile obvious in his voice. "And the rest?"

"I...kind of made that up," Harry replied a little hesitantly.

"It was very well executed," Nhean said. "Very creative, particularly your means of locating Jun'ko once she was down."

"Er, yeah, sorry about that," Harry said a little sheepishly, looking sightlessly in the direction Jun'ko's voice had been coming from.

"No problems, Harry," Jun'ko replied cheerfully. "I've had worse and it's a good technique. I'll have to remember that one."

"I should think you were taught it once," Nhean said with severe amusement.

"Probably was," Jun'ko replied blithely. "No doubt I forgot."

"Try not to this time," Nhean replied. "Alright. Off you go, the two of you. Harry, I want you to come down at your normal times for your training sessions. If I'm not here, one of the others will train with you. I hope to be back but I may have to go searching for that book I'm sure exists somewhere."

"Do you really think you know the answer to what's going on?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Nhean replied calmly. "But I hope so. We shall see. Off you go."

Harry nodded and at Jun'ko's quiet question, he took her arm and they left the room.