Chapter hub: https://theowlhouse.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000195081
“He's... a better version of an old friend. But, thanks to you, I'll have to make another one.” Belos chided as he morphed from appearing like Philip to looking like the Emperor everyone knew him as.
“But... why? Why go through all this?” Luz begged.
“I'll do anything to save humanity from evil.” the monster answered plainly, grabbing a Golden Guard mask off the ground.
“No,” Luz stated, shaking her head, “You’re evil”
“Well,” Belos shrugged, dropping the mask to his feet, “Can’t reason with crazy,”
In a flash, Belos’ arm transformed into abomination-like slime, shaping his hand into a scythe. The blade came directly through her chest. Hunter hadn’t saved her.
Luz could feel herself collapsing.
“And I thought that maybe we could have gotten along,” Belos said over her dying body, “Oh well, I suppose that’s what I get for thinking a heretic like you could ever amount to anything,”
Luz opened her eyes. She was in her bedroom. She glanced at the clock, it was four-thirty in the morning.
This was the third night in a row where she had had visions of that night in her head. The third night in a row where she woke up in a cold sweat and was too exhausted to get up. The third night in a row where Luz spent half the night staring at the ceiling, praying that her eyes would shut. The nightmare always went the same way, it was just like how it had really gone, but Hunter never saved her.
They never shut, because why would they? By the time her alarm went off that morning, Luz was almost paralyzed by fatigue, the thing blasted in her ears for what felt like hours before she could finally muster the energy to move her hand a few feet to turn it off. There was no way she was going to school today, not after the third night of nightmare-induced insomnia.
A few minutes later, Luz heard a knock on the door.
“Luz?” It was Eda’s voice, “Kiddo, trust me, I get not wanting to go to school, but this seems unlike you. Is everything alright?”
Luz groaned with fatigue. It must’ve been heard through the door, because Eda quickly responded, “Do you really think you can fake being sick or tired so you can play hooky?”
Eda opened the door.
“Oh,” was all that escaped her mouth. Luz understood why, she probably looked almost as shitty as she felt.
Eda swiftly moved to Luz’s bedside. “What’s wrong, kid?” asked the concerned Owl Lady.
“Couldn’t sleep…” Luz softly moaned.
“Why not?”
“...nightmare…” Luz muttered.
“Well, you’re safe here Luz,” Eda whispered, “Try to get some sleep, you look like you really need it,”
And with that, Eda left her.
Luz tried to sleep, but it didn’t go well, as to be expected. After what felt like forever, she gave up and dragged herself out of bed. There was someone she knew who had experience with bad dreams, so she was going to find them.
Harry’s eyes were already heavy as he climbed the ladder into Professor Trelawney’s classroom. He, Ron, and Hermione had been practicing stunning spells on each other all morning. The heavy perfume wasn’t helping. Nor was the light breeze. Almost as soon as he took a seat, his eyelids drooped…
He was riding on an eagle owl, soaring through the clear blue sky in wonderful sunlight. He was flying directly towards an old, vine-draped house. The owl flew lower and lower toward the house, eventually, it flew in through a dark window on the top story of the house. It flew further and further inside the house, eventually leading Harry to a gloomy-looking room at the end of a seemingly endless hallway. Harry leaped off the back of the owl. He was now watching as it fluttered across the room into a chair with its back to Harry. There were two dark shapes on the floor beside the chair.
One was a huge snake, and the other was a short and balding man. He was wheezing and sobbing on the rug.
“You are in luck, Wormtail,” said a cold, high-pitched voice from the depths of the chair the owl had fluttered into. “You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead.”
“Nagini,” The voice continued, “You are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you after all. But never mind that, there is still Harry Potter.”
The snake hissed, and Harry noticed its tongue fluttering.
“Now, Wormtail. Perhaps you need a little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you.”
“My Lord,” The voice begged, “Please… no… I beg of you…”
The tip of a wand emerged from the chair. It was pointed directly at Wormtail. “Crucio,” said the cruel voice.
Wormtail screamed as though every nerve in his body was on fire, the screaming filled Harry’s ears as the scar on his forehead seared with pain; he was yelling too, Voldemort would hear him, would know he was there…
“Harry! Harry! ”
Harry opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of Professor Trelawney’s classroom. His scar was burning so badly that his eyes were watering. The entire class was standing around him, and Ron was kneeling next to him, looking terrified.
“You alright?” He asked.
“Of course, he isn’t!” exclaimed Professor Trelawney, looking far too excited.
“What was it, Potter? A premonition? An apparition? What did you see?”
“Nothing” Harry lied, sitting up. He couldn’t stop himself from looking around, into the shadows behind him. Voldemort’s voice had sounded so close…
“You were clutching your scar!” Professor Trelawney said, “You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar! Come on now, Potter, I have experience in these matters!”
“I need to go to the hospital wing, I think,” He said, “Bad headache,”
“My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my room!” Trelawney exclaimed, “If you leave now, you may lose the opportunity to see-”
“The only thing I want to see is a headache cure,” Harry snapped as he grabbed his bag and headed for the trapdoor.Harry had no real intention to go to the Hospital Wing,. Sirius had told him what to do if his scar acted up again, so Harry planned to follow that advice. He was going to go find Dumbledore.
He started sprinting toward the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. He was almost there when…
“Ow!” someone yelled, “Watch where you’re going!”
Harry looked around, he had accidentally bumped into Luz, who was now on the ground. How hard did I hit her? Harry wondered. She had heavy bags under her eyes, and her hair was a mess. She looked worse than Hermione had during final exams last year.
“Oh, Harry! You’re just who I’m looking for!” She realized, dusting off her knees and starting to stand, which was about as successful as Neville’s attempts in potions.
“Woah,” She said as her legs wobbled so much she fell again, “You know what? I think I’ll stay on the ground for a while. Anyway, Harry, can I talk with you?”
“Can it wait?” Harry stapped angrily, “I need to see Dumbledore,”
“Harry, you said that if any of us had bad dreams, or heard voices, to talk to you,” Luz said, “So I took that advice,”
“Look, can it wait? I really need to see Dumbledore,” Harry insisted.
“Why do you need to see him?”
“Same reason you need to see me,” Harry admitted under his breath.
“Then maybe I can come with you!” Luz exclaimed.
“Err,” Harry paused, he couldn’t think of a way to talk her out of it, especially one that would work on someone as stubborn as Luz.
“Sure, I guess,” Harry finally said.
Luz yawned, “Could you help me up?”
Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her off of the floor, “Need me to help balance you?”
Luz nodded. So Harry let her lean on him.
They finally reached the stone gargoyle, and that was when Harry realized he still didn’t know the password.
“Sherbet Lemon?” He tried tentatively.
Unsurprisingly, the gargoyle did not move.
“Okay…” Harry said, trying to think of what else it could be, “Pear drop, err… Liquorice Wand, Fizzing Whizzbee, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum,”
“Harry, what in the world are you trying to do?” Luz asked.
“Trying to guess the password,” He said.
“And you think it’s going to be a candy?”
“Well, it was ‘Sherbet Lemon’ two years ago,” He admitted.
“Then try Muggle candies,” Luz said plainly, “Hershey’s Chocolate, Gushers, Butterfinger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Joy, Jolly Ranchers-”
The gargoyle practically leaped out of place, allowing the two champions entrance.
“Jolly Ranchers?” Luz muttered, “Good to know,”
Harry walked to the foot of a stone spiral staircase. “Here, Luz, you should take the railing, not me.” He offered, swapping sides with her.
But instead of actually having to climb the stairs, they brought them up like a set of escalators, eventually bringing them up to a polished oak door with a brass door-knocker.
Harry could hear voices coming from inside the office, so he placed his ear up against the door to eavesdrop.
“Dumbledore, I’m afraid I don’t see the connection, I don’t see it at all!” said the voice of the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, “Ludo says that Bertha’s perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by no, but all the same, we’ve no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked to Barty Crouch’s!”
“And just what do you think happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?” Moody’s growling voice pestered.
“I see two possibilities, Alastor,” said Fudge, “Either Crouch has finally cracked - which I’m sure you’ll agree is more than likely, given his personal history - lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere-”
“He must have wandered rather quickly if that is to be the case,” Dumbledore said calmly.
“Or else… well…” Fudge sounded embarrassed, “Well, I’ll reserve judgment until after I’ve seen the place where he was found. Which was just past the Beauxbatons carriage, correct? Dumbledore, do you know what kind of woman their Headmistress is?”
“A very capable one,” Dumbledore quietly replied, “And an excellent dancer to boot,”
“Dumbledore, come on!” Fudge irately insisted, “Don’t you think you’re a little biased in her favor thanks to that oaf you hired for a groundskeeper? They aren’t all harmless, if, that is, you consider Hagrid harmless, with that monster obsession he’s got,”
“I no more suspect Madame Maxime than I do Hagrid,” said Dumbledore, still very calm, “I think it is possible you might be prejudiced against them, Cornelius.”
“Can we wrap this up?” Moody growled.
“Yes, let’s go finish this down on the grounds,” Fudge said impatiently.
“No, that’s not it,” Moody said, “It’s just that Potter and Noceda seem to want a word with you, Dumbledore. They’re just outside the door,”