Elementals of Magic: Prophecy of Lies

Chapter 25

Bound

Breakfast was sullen at the Slytherin Table. Half the students were not fully awake yet, and the other half was either eyeing everyone suspiciously or looking to see if Draco would receive his instructions at this time.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were studying ridiculously, noses buried deep in their books. It was like Granger had replaced all of them, the way they were studying fanatically, as if N.E.W.T.s or O.W.L.s were to be taken the next day.

Most of the Slytherins could care less about O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. After all, their paths in life had already been predetermined. They were to graduate and join the ranks of Death Eaters, and most of them will do so willing, as they had never known another way nor did they believe there was another choice for them.

Pansy would start studying in May, even though she knew everything almost as well as Granger and did not need the prodigious amount of time that she had allotted to herself to study. Draco would also start studying in May. He had tied with Granger for all 18. O.W.L.s possible, and he was determined to make a perfect score on the N.E.W.T.s as well. After all, it wouldn´t do for him to be initiated with bad graces.

The owls arrived with much commotion, though not many people paid attention to the event. The freshness of it had been lost after less than a year, the owls becoming as commonplace as going to classes or eating lunch or listening to Dumbledore talk about school pride and equality for all.

Draco, however, did not fail to notice two owls swooping towards Boot and Bones and having to employ farcical antics to attract their attention. Then, to his prediction, two more came towards him and Harry.

Draco watched Harry open his. After reading the instructions, the Gryffindor quickly stuffed it away. Draco frowned inwardly. Was it another ridiculous task, as usual? The only one left was Slytherin´s, and he was not exactly known for his sane mind.

The Slytherin removed the single piece of parchment from his owl and unrolled it.

Make a Power Location Potion.

A Power Location Potion? Surely no one at Hogwarts had such a perverse sense of humor. Draco thought about what Slytherin favored in his students. Pureblooded, of course, ambitious, definitely, and the will to break the rules. Which meant that Draco would have to carry through with this.

This was definitely biased against him, seeing as how he was a Slytherin. They probably expected him to win this contest as well, so they gave him a harder task than the rest of the champions. Prejudiced Gryffindors.

A Power Location Potion was a very useful potion for detecting the disturbances in the fabric of time and other such forces or just for seeing where large amounts of power were radiating from, or actually, who. Of course, talented Wizards would know to shield their powers so other couldn´t detect the vast amount of energy radiating from them.

The function of a Power Location Potion was not dark in nature, but it was considered a Dark Potion and was usually forbidden to be made, unless in special and urgent circumstances. All because of one crucial ingredient--the blood of a unicorn.

Unicorns are pure and defenseless creatures that never harmed any living thing, and to kill one is a sin. Any person who did so would be haunted and tormented for the rest of his life by non-relievable guilt. To drink the blood of a slain unicorn could restore one´s health, but the person would be cursed for all eternity.

The making of Power Location Potions was strictly regulated by the Ministry, and Draco wondered how Dumbledore managed to pull the strings for this, or perhaps he didn´t even inform the Ministry. The xanthochroid, though, had a strong suspicion that the Potion might be used for detecting Voldemort, not that it was likely that he would be found. Voldemort would most definitely cloak his power, like all powerful Wizards. Of course, he would be the scapegoat, the person to blame everything on if Fudge ever discovered that a highly regulated Potion was being made on the premises without permission. It was too much like Dumbledore´s style, to set things up so that others would be blamed, usually the foe or the obstacle in his way.

Rumor had it that Voldemort had drunk unicorn blood during First Year, in an attempt to restore his health so he could return to his body. If that were so, then he would be living a cursed life. But then, why had he still not been defeated?

Draco wondered how he was to attain unicorn blood. He most certainly could not raid the Potions closet, not with Black here and Snape gone. Not that it held any unicorn blood in the first place. After all, the only known way to acquire unicorn blood was to kill a unicorn, and Hogwarts would most definitely not carry tainted blood.

Lucius might have some, but Draco did not think that his mother would send it to him without asking questions. And he would not dare lie to his mother. When Narcissa discovered his purpose, though, she would refuse to send it to him. His mother had morals, after all, but then good mothers needed to have morals.

By process of elimination, Draco realized that the only method of procuring unicorn blood would be to venture into the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night. If only he had saved the unicorn blood that he had found in First Year, when he had served detention with Harry.

The Slytherin fervently hoped that he would not have to kill a unicorn. Because if he did, then he would not carry through with this contest. Draco did not want to be frequented by guilt for the rest of his life, nor did he want blood over hands for killing a pure and innocent creature such as a unicorn.

And if he could not kill a unicorn, then he would most definitely lose, which would result punishment as he had never before experienced at the hands of Lucius, who would be most displeased. The older man had won second place himself, and Narcissa had won first. Draco would be expected to continue the glory.

This brought Draco to another question. If he could not kill a unicorn, then how was he to survive on Death Eater raids and attacks? The blonde would most definitely have to kill and/or torture innocent Muggles, Muggle-borns, and Wizards like the Weasleys. And the Dark Lord did not tolerate weakness of heart nor failure.

This was not to be easy. Dumbledore must have made it so that he received the hardest task of all, the one that would be nearly impossible to accomplish. That way, he would lose. And if he did accomplish it, then all of the staff would know that he was responsible for the slaying of a unicorn, and he would just be condemned for another thing besides being a Slytherin, a Malfoy, and a soon-to-be Death Eater. Such was the unfairness of Hogwarts, arisen from House rivalries centuries ago that continued to this day and would continue on.

***

Draco knew that he would have to steal the other ingredients for his potion, as Black would never willingly give them to him nor any other Slytherin. Of course, if it was Harry, then Black would probably lavish him with extras, but neither champion wanted to break the rules and have the other help him, so Draco was on his own.

The blonde retrieved his Invisibility Cloak after curfew and slipped the fabric on, then slid out of the Slytherin common room stealthily. Hogwarts was eerily silent at lone hours of the night, though Draco made no footsteps as he crept in Slytherin Territory, towards the Potions classroom.

The Potions door was locked, obviously. Draco thought back to a powerful unlocking spell that could almost break any locking spells and cast it. The door opened with no sound, and Draco was in. He quietly walked to the storage closet and tried the knob. Again, it was locked. Draco cast the same spell.

The door opened quietly, and Draco sneaked in. The ingredients were arranged neatly on the shelves, alphabetized to help the students in the task of retrieving them. This would be easy.

Draco brought a bag with him, and he held it open. The Slytherin carefully located the ingredients that he needed and placed them in the bag softly, muffling the clinking of the vials as much as possible. He also tossed in some extra ingredients of no use so that Black would not suspect him immediately as soon as he took inventory.

With the easier task done, Draco carefully tucked the bulging bag into his robes, then gently closed the door and cast a spell on the door that would implement the original spell in place. Draco quickly left, thankful that he had not been caught. Yet.

***

Draco did not have the chance to venture into the Forbidden Forest until almost a week later. His nights were filled with Harry, who did not seem to be too worried about the impending contest. Of course, Harry was also known for slacking off until the last moment. Then, Harry might not want to worry Draco with his own concerns, especially as they had not decided to tell each other their own tasks.

The topic of Victoria had been dropped for now, and along with it the related topics of Voldemort and Narcissa. All of them were mixed in a jumble of tangled threads that could not be unraveled, at least not currently, what with their lack of true and accurate information.

Narcissa was in another one of her secretive and distant moods, the ones that Draco had always hated, ever since he was a child. She was a wonderful mother, the kind that all children loved, sweet, kind, caring, and doting. Yet, sometimes, she would withdraw from Draco and act coldly towards him, and these moments had always perplexed Draco. It was as if she had split personalities. But she didn´t, which made Draco puzzle over it even more.

Harry, though, was still the same innocent and sweet Harry that he had fallen in love with, the one constant in his life. Their relationship had escalated beyond just kissing, not that neither minded. It didn´t matter who brought their relationship to the next level, all it mattered was that they were in love.

Draco knew that he would have to "fight" against Harry in the upcoming war, and he needed something to bind them together so that he would not lose Harry once the bloodshed for freedom ended. But Draco wasn´t sure if he was ready for true commitment yet. He loved Harry, but he didn´t know if he could bind himself to the Gryffindor for all eternity. Thus, for the time being, he contended himself to enjoying Harry´s loving administrations upon him.

***

Once upon a time, there were two siblings.

Once upon a time, there were two people in love.

Once upon a time, he left her for power.

Once upon a time, she mourned for him.

Once upon a time, there were two lovers who could not die until destiny had been fulfilled.

Then, there were two rivals.

Then, there were two people in love.

Then, he left her for power.

Then, she mourned for him.

Then, there were two lovers who could not die until destiny had been fulfilled.

Now, there are two enemies.

Now, there are two people in love.

And the rest has yet to be sung.

And the rest has yet to be determined, whether the past will repeat itself again with these two as it had with the previous four.

And the First is still waiting for the Prophecy to come true.

And the First is still waiting for three of Her children to change into their true state.

***

It was at the end of April that Draco finally had the chance to enter the Forbidden Forest. The night was windy and quite chilly, the wind rustling the newborn leaves and making unnecessary noise to warn Draco of possible consequences.

The xanthochroid shrugged his Invisibility Cloak off once he was deeply hidden within the shadows of the gnarled old trees. He surveyed the forest lying in front of him. The trees bent into twisted shapes, as if trying to scare any intruders away. Thank Slytherin that it wasn´t a full moon, or otherwise, there would be rampaging werewolves to add onto the ever-growing list of disasters to cope with.

Draco cast a spell that would make a trail of yellow appear after him so he could retrace his path. The last thing the blonde needed was to be stuck in the Forbidden Forest and discovered missing the next morning, which would most likely result in a long period of detention with Black after he was found.

The Slytherin entered the Forbidden Forest carefully, hoping to stumble onto some unicorn blood while keeping away from the carnivorous creatures that would most likely eat him if he wandered upon them sleeping. The Forest held a deep silence of slumbering creatures and unfathomable darkness that one could not escape out of.

Before long, Draco had stumbled into the heart of the Forest, where no creatures resided. All around him were seemingly identical trees, some as old as Hogwarts and some even older. There was nothing but deep and unending silence around him. And then, Draco heard hoof-beats.

A centaur cantered out of the trees, heading straight for him. The creature stopped in front of Draco and scrutinized him carefully.

"I have found you, dragon."

"My name is Draco, not Dragon. And you are?"

"I am Firenze. Perhaps Harry Potter has told you about me? I am here to assist you in your search tonight?"

"Why would you help me? Centaurs are known as reclusive creatures that do not associate with humans much."

"True, we do not. But you are the dragon, and you are important."

"Mother said the very same thing to me. Why do everyone speak the same words?"

"Your mother would not say such a thing. Come, let us go find the unicorns."

The centaur, Firenze, set away, with Draco following him. What did he mean by saying that Narcissa would not say such a thing? She had! Perhaps centaurs were a bit mental.

The two journeyed through the Forest carefully, avoiding any foes that they might chance upon and steering wide of enemy nests. After much time had past, they arrived at the place of the unicorns.

Draco was astounded by their habitat. The trees were all upright, none of them bent and gnarled. New leaves rippled in the wind, the moon shining onto the pale green leaves. And the unicorns, they were glorious.

The moonlight bathed them in a resplendent light, making their pure white coats shine almost silver. Their horns gleamed brilliantly, and their coats shone in the night, even more so than the moon. Draco was awed by their splendor.

A unicorn made its way out of the fray of unicorns and came upon them. It circled around them several times, sniffing Firenze and Draco. Then, it dropped to its knees in front of Draco. The Slytherin quickly hurried over to the kneeling unicorn and helped it up, hands tangled in the soft mane, forgetting that unicorns were partial to females. However, the unicorn made no resistance.

It stood up regally and nuzzled Draco in affectionate respect and obedience. Draco looked at Firenze questioningly.

"He has acknowledged your blood. This will be easier."

Then, Firenze stepped up to the unicorn and whinnied in what Draco assumed to be the unicorn language. The unicorn whinnied back, and a conversation occurred between them. After a while, Firenze stepped back.

"He has agreed to your request, dragon."

Draco watched as the unicorn dragged his hoof down the trunk of a nearby tree. A small gleam of silver appeared. The brilliant creature repeated his act. The xanthochroid quickly took out the vial in his robes and held the glass receptacle underneath the blood. The silver flowed into the vial effortlessly.

Once enough blood was collected by Draco, Firenze turned to leave. The unicorn came to Draco and nuzzled the Slytherin again, then stepped back and joined the rest of its kind. As he left with Firenze, he could hear the unicorn whinnying to the others.

And the unicorn leader told his people that the human was the dragon in the stars, one of the ones that would be part of the change. And all the unicorns bowed down to Draco, the dragon. Draco, one of the many children of the First. The First that ruled over them all with Herprophecies and her laws, even humans.

***

The surrogate watches over him with love.

The possessive watches over him with jealousy.

The possessive will eventually steal away from him the one he most loves.

He will chase after the possessive, whom the surrogate set free.

And the Black Roses of Allure will be the beginning and the end.

And the surrogate and the possessive will betray him for each other.

All for the Black Roses of Allure.

______________________________