Love In Translation

Chapter 15. THE PORTAL OF POWER

Harry jumped in surprise when he saw the image of Albus Dumbledore appear in the huge mirror in front of him.

We meet again, Harry! Dumbledore spoke in a firm and detached voice, a curious twinkle in his deep blue eyes.

"Headmaster! Did you come to rescue us?" Harry asked.

You are going to save yourself. Be confident, Harry, and always follow your heart. Harry found Dumbledore's words puzzling. He stretched out his hand to touch the mirror and found that it was made of a fluid substance; his fingers disappeared inside.

"How will I be able to save myself and my friends?" Harry asked, confused, as the Headmaster's image slowly faded into the vortex of light and fog.

Remember my words, and soon you'll understand them. Dumbledore's voice echoed in Harry's mind. Harry woke up abruptly, breathing heavily.

Harry realized that he was still in the narrow cell where he, Hermione, and Marco had been dragged the night before. He felt pressure on his right shoulder and turned to see that Hermione was using him as a pillow. He smiled, watching the girl. Her bushy brown hair almost covered her face.

Harry thought back to the time when he, Ron, and Hermione were still in school, uniting their forces to get out of trouble. His best friend was again at his side, ready to fight with him until the end.

Hermione shifted in her sleep and woke up; she looked around. Marco was sleeping in one corner of the cell. Hermione turned to Harry and smiled sweetly.

"I shouldn't have fallen asleep. How long have you been up?" she asked, worried.

"Not long. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a long time. Are you all right?" he asked.

"I think so. Even though I'd rather be anywhere else right now," Hermione replied."Have you got a plan to get us out of here?"

"Well, it isn't really a plan, but it's something that Voldemort doesn't expect from me. Have you still got your wand?"

"Yes. It's in my jeans'pocket. Why?" Hermione thought her wand was useless, anyway, since they were still tied up with magical ropes.

"Don't worry. At the right time, you'll see what I have in mind," he replied, with a weird twinkle in his eyes.

"I have to tell you something, Harry. These may be our last moments together, and I could never forgive myself for not doing it now," she said. Harry stared at her.

"You asked me why I came to save you. Well, after Hedwig brought me your letter, I had to. She was seriously wounded, poor thing!" Harry's eyes widened. "Don't worry, she's fine now," she added.

"I tried to contact Dumbledore with no success. What else could I have done?"

"I went to the meeting spot in Paris and I found Angy, who filled my mind with her lies. She kept saying that she was an Auror, that she was working with you, that she was your girlfriend!" Hermione stopped for a moment, then she went on, "I don't know why, but I believed her. To tell you the truth, I almost hated you."

"But I've never met her before!" Harry said, horrified.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry for having trusted her, but at the time, I felt betrayed by you! How could I have been so stupid? I didn't manage to see farther than my nose, and now we are all paying the consequences."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. It's your character! You're always trying to see the good side in everyone, even if puts you in really dangerous situations." Harry looked at her with sympathy, and Hermione felt tears spring to her eyes. How could she have been so wrong, so irresponsible? Hermione sighed and made a strong effort to not burst into tears.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that... My goodness, it's so difficult!" Hermione looked away, feeling her heart beat faster. Then she sighed again and turned to face Harry directly.

"Well, I-I'm happy that Angy isn't your girlfriend, because I think... No, I'm sure that..." Hermione couldn't find the right words.

Harry stared at her, puzzled.

Finally, Hermione gathered her courage and spoke. "Harry, I..."

Bang! The door opened, and three hooded Death Eaters entered.

"It's time to go. The Dark Lord is waiting for you."

***O***

Harry, Hermione, and Marco looked around. They were in a huge, brightly lit room. The floor was navy blue marble, several lit torches hung on the walls, and a small round fountain sat in the center of the room. The sun was coming in through a hole in the ceiling and was reflected in the fountain. Numerous small white marble statues representing Greek deities adorned the room.

In a corner was a huge rectangular mirror that stretched to the ceiling and was surrounded by an ancient wood frame. Hermione and Harry recognized it immediately as the mirror in which Dumbledore had appeared to them in their dreams.

Apart from the three of them, there were a few hooded Death Eaters dressed in red robes. Angy was standing there as well and was the only one without a hood on her head.

"Aaaaah!" Harry shouted in pain and stepped backwards, hitting the wall behind him.

"Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked, worried.

"My scar!" he replied, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. Then he opened his eyes again.

"He's here!"

The doors opened, and Lord Voldemort entered the room, followed by a large number of his faithful servants. He was dressed in a long and sumptuous purple cloak, but his eyes were cold and devilish, like those of a snake. A horrible sneer crossed his pale face.

"Is he the bad wizard?" asked Marco, terrified. Hermione nodded to him.

"It's a great pleasure to have all of you as my guests, especially my worst enemy, the famous Harry Potter." Voldemort spoke in a chilling voice as he, slowly moved closer to them.

"I can't say the same about you!" said Harry.

"I'm sorry to see that you haven't changed that awful personality of yours! Anyway, there is no time to lose on this silliness," said Voldemort. He went on in a solemn tone. "Today is the third day of the third month, and after 300 years of waiting, we're going to witness a wonderful event. Shortly, the solar eclipse will start, but it isn't going to be just any eclipse. This is going to be The Solar Eclipse and you'll have the immense privilege of enjoying the show with us." Voldemort laughed devilishly then headed to the fountain in the middle of the room.

"As you can see, at this very moment, the sun's rays are coming through that hole in the ceiling and are being reflected in the water of the fountain. As soon as the eclipse starts, we'll watch the event by staring at the fountain. But the most important thing is the magical mirror." Voldemort pointed at the mirror in the corner.

"The mirror will turn into the Portal of Power." He then stared at the mirror with a weird twinkle in his red eyes. "The Portal will give me a special power, and I'll become the greatest wizard of all ages! Naturally, since I'm receiving such a precious gift, I have to sacrifice something of the same importance."

The Dark Lord turned to the three of them with an evil sneer on his face. "This is the reason you're here, young Harry. When the eclipse reaches totality, the Portal of Power is going to ask for a human sacrifice before it can disclose its gift to me. This is what is written in the secret prophecy, which a really powerful Seer has revealed to me years ago."

"I'm not going to give up without a fight!" shouted Harry.

"You young, inexperienced boy, how can you resist the Dark Lord? The only thing that is bothering me is the possibility that one sacrifice won't be enough, but I've taken a few measures. That's why your Mudblood friend and the muggle boy are present as well, ready to offer their miserable lives to my noble cause."

"You're completely crazy!" Harry struggled to free himself from the magical ropes.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a ceremony to accomplish." Voldemort turned toward his servants.

One of the Death Eaters opened a dusty book, and Voldemort read some complex spells in an unknown language. The Death Eaters kneeled on the floor with downcast eyes. In the meantime, a dark shadow was slowly crossing on the sun and being reflected in the fountain.

"What are we going to do now?" Hermione asked in a trembling voice, trying to free her arms from the ropes.

"Your wand is in your jeans pocket, right?" Harry whispered to her.

"Yes, but..."

"Do you trust me?" he asked, and she nodded.

Harry stared at Hermione's pocket in concentration, and the wand suddenly levitated out. Hermione was surprised, and then she looked around warily, hoping that nobody had noticed. Luckily, everybody was too busy following the ceremony.

With his mind, Harry ordered the wand to point at his wrist behind him, and the ropes disappeared. Losing no time, he took the wand in his hand and pointed it at his ankles and then he removed his mates's bonds.

"Now, you two may apparate out of here!" he whispered to Hermione.

"I won't leave you, Harry! We're going to fight together!"

Before he could reply, Voldemort turned to them; he had finished the incantations and had ordered all of his Death Eaters except Angy to leave.

"Now your time has arrived, Harry."

"I think that for the moment, your Portal will have to do without my contribution!" he replied, pointing the wand at Voldemort.

"I was expecting something like this!" He took his wand out of his cloak.

They faced each other and walked slowly around the fountain.

Harry concentrated on the statues in the room, and suddenly, they began to float in the air. Before Voldemort could react, Harry used all his mind power to throw the statues toward his enemy.

The Dark Lord acted quickly. "Avada Kedavra!" A ray of green light shot out from his wand and struck all the statues, shattering them into pieces.

He turned to Harry. "Very good! But you won't be able to defeat me with just a few flying pieces of marble!" said Voldemort, grinning.

At that moment, Hermione noticed with horror, that a fast- moving vortex of light and fog had just formed in the mirror, strong enough to suck in everything that was standing in front of it.

The Portal of Power was finally open.

"Harry! Mind the mirror!" she shouted at him, but the young wizard was concentrating on Voldemort, and he didn't lower his guard.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, and a ray of red light shot toward Voldemort.

"Protego!" The Dark Lord materialized a magical shield in front of him, neutralizing the attack.

"Crucio!" Harry jumped aside, avoiding the blow; he rolled on his back and got up, immediately ready to fight again.

The eclipse had nearly reached totality. Hermione was holding her breath, her hands over her mouth, noticing that Harry was walking dangerously close to the Portal.

She gathered all her courage and ran toward Harry.

"Locomotor Mortis!" A ray of violet light shot out Voldemort's wand and headed straight for Hermione. She moved before it could hit her, but the spell's aura had enough strength to throw her violently backwards, and she collapsed on the floor.

Harry saw her fall and moved toward her.

Voldemort took advantage of the situation. "Remordeo!" The spell hit Harry in the chest. The boy somersaulted backwards and fell right in front of the Portal of Power.

"Noooo!" Hermione shouted, running towards him.

Harry grabbed one of the columns close by and struggled to avoid being swallowed by the vortex.

"Quick! Give me your hand! Give me your hand!" shouted Hermione desperately, stretching out her arm. She gripped another column qith her other arm. The vortex was emanating a strong wind and a blinding light, preventing her from seeing clearly.

"I can't! It's drawing me inside!" Harry shouted, terrified. He took one of his hands away from the column, and tried to grab Hermione's hand.

Their fingers were a few centimeters from each other. Hermione was not going to give up, even though she felt that her strength was slowly abandoning her.

"Take my hand, my love! I won't let you go, I promise!"

Hermione grabbed his hand, squeezing it in hers.

"I won't let that stupid Mudblood ruining my plans! Remordeo!" Voldemort ordered, and another ray of light shot out from his wand, hitting them both in the hands. Their grip broke.

"Nooooo! Harry!" Hermione shouted desperately.

In a flash, the boy was swallowed by the terrible vortex of light and fog.

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