Obsidian - A Harry Potter fan fiction

Chapter 5 - Secrets of the darkest art

Amidst furious whispers, questioning glances and dubious grimaces, the Minister continued..

"Do you Lord Malfoy take Lady Narcissa Black to be your magically bonded wife?"

"I do" replied Lucius.

The audience broke into an uproar,wizarding bonding ceremonies were unheard of in the elite pureblood class. 

"Do you Lady Narcissa Black take Lord Malfoy to be your magically bonded husband?"

"I do" replied Narcissa.

Lightning started crackling overhead and the first drops of rain started falling. The sun still shone bright! And no one paid it any attention.

A wizarding bonding ceremony was the way wizards had married traditionally. Merlin himself had married Morgana through a bonding ceremony. It was common knowledge that Merlin and Morgana's bond was so strong that their powers had merged and flown into each other's veins. Being exceptionally gifted at magic even before they were bonded, there was a huge increase in their magical potential thereafter. 

These days however,old magical families often married for money, and such marriages were usually based on a binding marriage contract between the heads of the two families. Bonding ceremonies were very common in the lower classes or in young lovers who ran away together. It was also the preferred way for men to get out of a troubled marriage because strong bond naturally overruled any magical contract. It was therefore now taboo.

A bonding being performed by a pureblood family, in a public ceremony with the amalgamation of two family businesses at stake, was unheard of. No family wanted to risk public humiliation if no natural bond was found between the Man and woman getting married. 

Lily Potter was intrigued. James and she had also gotten married by a bonding ceremony. It turned out their bond was as fierce as her love for James. The fact that their power flowed into each other after the bond, it made them the strongest aurors in a century. Lucius and Narcissa both had great magical potential. Any bonding would make them stronger. If the rumor regarding their involvement with Lord Voldemort was true, the magical community would have two very formidable dark wizards. The mere thought of the Malfoys growing in power made Lily very nervous.

The minister produced a small ornately carved knife. Lily had seen such knives whenever she was investigating crimes related to purebloods. She knew that only a handful of such knives existed and most could be traced to old wizarding families. The Potter family also had one such knife. And the last time they had taken it out of its case had been for their bonding ceremony. The minister raised his arms and cast some spells. It appeared that he had summoned the wind. The spells were all ancient and hardly anyone should make out what the minister was casting. Sunlight caught the knife and its beauty was for everyone to see.Rubies the size of eggs glistened in it's hilt and the blade was goblin wrought. The minister had evoked all the four elements and brought down the knife to place small cuts on both Lucius and Narcissa's palms. 

Their blood oozed out .

And combined. 

Suddenly a glow started surrounding their hands.

Lily looked on stunned. The bride and the groom were encased in bright green light and she was hard pressed to just make out their shapes. The bonding ceremony had been completed. Their bond was spectacular. Equal if not brighter and James and Lily's had been. 

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were man and wife.

---------------------------X------------------------

Frank Longbottom was lost. The elves of Malfoy Manor were on his tail and he was no closer to discovering any connection to Voldemort.

He cursed himself for not bringing James Potter's invisibility cloak.

Frank quickly removed his wand from his wand holder. This was a special holder that had been designed by his friend and fellow auror - Lily potter. She was amazing with charms and she loved experimenting. The wand holder was one of her discoveries that the Auror department had bought exclusive access to. Whilst a wizard's wand was in the wand holder, for all intents and purposes the wizard looked and felt magically wandless. While in the holder ,a wand could neither be summoned, nor could it be snapped. The owner of the wand was the only one who could retrieve it.

Once Frank got his wand back in his hand, he could feel the waves of alarm going on throughout the manor. While an unarmed visitor was not much of a threat, and registered basically as a muggle.A wizard with a wand, with loyalties that didn't lie with the Malfoy's, triggered all the protective charms that guarded the manor. Waves of magic, as strong as the imperius he had been repeatedly subjected to in training, hit Frank, forcing him to retreat from the lobby. Frank put his occulumency shields up, making a mental note to thank Mad-Eye moody if he ever got out of here alive, he ignored the strong compulsion to back off. Frank knew he had mere moments before the Malfoy's elves trailing him found him.

A door to his right caught his attention. It was brilliantly carved and had the biggest gems studded in it. Where all the doors of the manor were plain polished oak, this was a different kind of wood. Elder.

Frank tried to push his frozen limbs to move. The compulsion coming off the elder door was weighing him down.

As soon as his hand connected with the door, an army of elves surrounded him. Mad-eye's rigorous training paid off again, before the first elf could even raise its arm, Frank was on the other side of the elder door. As the door swung shut, the last thing Frank saw was the elves of Malfoy Manor looking at him fearfully. An unwelcome visitor had breached the manor, their masters would not be too happy. Frank looked around, the compulsion that had been preventing him from opening the elder door had vanished. The spell caster had only cast the enchantment at the doorway. A rookie mistake, thought Frank with satisfaction, and one that Frank fully intended to take advantage of.

The room that he was in could only be described as a church. His muggleborn girlfriend - Alice, had taken him once to a muggle prayer hall, and it looked very much like this. There were even benches that all faced in one direction - 'pews' - Frank remembered they were called. Muggles believed in the concept of god; there was no wizarding equivalent of a god . Sure there were very powerful ancient wizards like Merlin and Morgana that were almost worshipped in their own right, but nothing that equalled the all powerful being that muggles revered. Such a concept was so alien, and the faith muggles associated with it was so profound, that walking into a church ruffled many wizards. Frank strode forward, his wand at the ready. Strange light was coming from the altar, casting gloomy shadows on walls as Frank walked past the pews. A couple of times Frank turned around suddenly, sensing movement from the corner of his eye - there were mirrors reflecting his movement - disorienting him. 

By the time Frank reached the end of the room, he was totally spooked. Either it was the creaking floorboards, or the crazy mirrors, or the flickering light, all Frank knew this was no ordinary room, and he probably should have got backup. Frank looked around, at the altar a book was open, Frank was just about to read what was written in it when the book closed with a snap!

'What in the name of Merlin's - ' !! Frank stopped himself from finishing, he was in a church after all; and even though he wasn't a believer, his girlfriend Alice would have his head if she heard that he swore in a place of worship.

Frank slowly crept forward to get a better look. It was a thick book that looked ancient . The binding was in some strange material that looked suspiciously like human leather. Some faded marks at the centre of the cover caught his attention, Frank squinted closely, they looked like faded red runes. Frank tried not to think how much the letters looked like they were carved in blood. He read the title and felt a trickle of unease. It loosely translated to :

"Secrets of the darkest art"