Arc 3: Enraptured Revelation
Chapter 8: What Are Sacrifices If Not Discipline?
"Go on, interrogate them. The traitor lies in wait of their exposure." the voice repeated its instructions.
But this couldn't be happening. How could I pick one of them to just... die? If the voice was correct and one of them was a traitor, that doesn't mean they deserve to lose their life. ...I wasn't like that anymore.
"How are you going to solve this one, cutie?" Patricia asked, folding her arms patiently as the flames tried to lick at her dragonhide boots. They didn't have much effect.
"P-Please Cassandra, y-you have to do something!" Trelawney spluttered out. She was in considerably more fear than her two companions. Her legs were trembling.
Severus looked at me with determination. He understood I had to do what I had to do without words.
How would someone go about this? I couldn't be biased, and what if I killed the wrong person? No, there's no right person in this. These people were so important to me and losing any of them would be a massive blow.
"I guess..." I began, "the only way to go about this is to interrogate each of you."
Severus nodded, Patricia shrugged and Trelawney squeaked in fear.
I stepped first in front of Severus. The flames didn't appear to be bothering him one bit, though it wasn't as if I was a Legilimens that I could make sure. I did see him eyeing both Patricia and Trelawney so there could be a chance he was using his abilities to gauge an idea for the criminal.
I tried my best to think of anything Severus could have done but... I came up empty. For something that deserved death, that meant a deed far worse than the silly things that happened at home, like him moving a book without telling me. I guess there was one empty piece of my knowledge. Though I knew he was innocent, I had to keep it fair to Patricia and Trelawney.
"Okay, Severus, if you're not the traitor then..." I extended my arm and pointed my finger at him like some sleek detective. "What happened between the time I left to search for the vault and the goblins chasing us?"
Patricia eyed us disappointed as if she was heartbroken we had been vault breaking and being chased by monsters without her.
"Simple. That buffoon Lockhart began by showing me the tat he kept in his so-called vault. I feigned interest to buy you time until a herd of goblins ran past saying that there was a thief. At that moment, I left him behind and went to try to find you before they did. After that, you know the rest." he explained neatly. There really were no flaws in his alibi.
"And can anyone corroborate your statement?" I demanded.
Severus gave the most confused and stupefied expression. "Of course not, unless you plan to leave and drag Lockhart down here."
He had me there.
Patricia couldn't help but laugh aloud despite the seriousness of the situation. Doing so gave Trelawney slight ease.
Next, I stepped before Patricia. Her smile came to a neutral expression now that it was her time.
"Okay, Patricia. If you aren't the traitor then... where did you really get the charm you gave me?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "I told you, I found it while travelling."
"You must realise by now that it isn't some random charm, right?" I asked curiously.
"That much was obvious when you suddenly had multiple of them, but go on and tell me your story and I'll tell you mine." she retorted oddly defensively.
I explained to her the situation of us trying to finish the Amulet of Ylgind in order to get answers regarding my mother. Her arms once again folded and she inclined her head in understanding.
"I do wish you had told me this earlier. I could've helped you more. You do owe it to me considering you wouldn't even have started this journey without me." she sighed deeply.
"Patricia-"
"I don't care to hear it. As for trying to convince you to not kill me, I got knocked off course during training once and when I crashed, I found it in a clearing in a forest. Waterfall and everything, crazy. That enough to clear me or are you going to accuse me of hiding things from you as you did me?" She refused to make eye contact with me for the entirety of her speech.
I knew she had a point but her wounds cut like knives into my heart.
Finally, I moved over to Trelawney. She had pulled herself together so finely that she was as thin as a needle while she tried her best to avoid the flames.
"Sybill..." Her eyes shot up in fear as I spoke her name. She was truly terrified I would choose her. "Why did you make my father the Prophecy?"
Her body was shaking so much that her ornaments were clacking together like an instrument.
"Y-Your father approached me one day. He-He asked for a Prophecy re-regarding your future together. I tho-thought you were on acceptable terms so I did-did not question it." she stammered horribly.
It was a half-reasonable request. As she did not know the state of the relationship between my father and I, and we were friends, what reason did she have to reject him? Even if she did know, it may have been her strange way of trying to make me happy.
"What did the Prophecy say?" I asked.
"M-My Inner Eye was somewhat c-clouded. It sho-showed you making a cho-choice at the end of your journey. The retro-retrograde of Mercury made it difficult to-to get a proper reading."
"But what kind of choice?" I interrogated further.
"I-I cannot tell you. It was im-impossible to see." she stuttered and from the looks in her eyes, she had no more she could say.
It was at this moment I realised I was no closer to determining the traitor than I was at the start. Patricia now despised me and Trelawney was about to burst into tears.
"Perhaps," Severus said as he saw me struggling. "you ought to think outside the box."
Hold on, did he know something I didn't? If he did, why wasn't he telling me?
The flames inched ever close to the trio. "Now would be a good time to hurry up, Cassandra." Patricia spat angrily. She was done with the nicknames...
Think, Cassandra, think. The other challenges were all provided by the professors. This one would not be here for no reason. It was placed here. Though, if Severus was aware of its existence, he would have warned against it. He knew of his challenge. His challenge was a riddle of potions and poisons. The infiltrator, if they did not know how to solve the said riddle, had a one out of seven chance of succeeding through guessing. Could this be the result of us not actually solving the riddle?
Could the original riddle, as perplexing as it sounds, be offended that we did not solve it? Then... if this is punishment for not solving the original riddle, what if it was a riddle that forced your hand? It gave the illusion that I had to make a choice but... what was actually forcing me? Some voice from nowhere? There was a punishment for not choosing: the flames kill all three. There was a punishment for choosing: the flames kill the traitor. For all riddles, there has to be a perfect option.
An option where everyone lives.
That was it.
"I have my answer." I said aloud.
"Who is the traitor you wish to expose to the flames of Hell?" the voice sounded throughout the chamber.
"I said I have my answer, not that I have my choice. My answer is that you have no power here. You're telling me to kill one of them but I do not want to. Therefore, I won't. There is no traitor and I refuse to believe your words that there is one. Release them immediately." I stood firm though my rapid heart said the opposite.
"Wisdom from the truth-seeker. Our retribution has been sated."
The flames disappeared in an instant, though the black flames preventing further passage remained. Trelawney collapsed to the ground in a pile of tears and Patricia shot over to comfort her. Severus casually came to my side.
"Well done." he congratulated.
"You knew the answer all along, didn't you?" I asked straightforwardly.
"To a degree. No, I did not know of this counter-measure. However, once I concluded that it was a result of not passing the original riddle, it was not too difficult to realise this was a second riddle with its own answer." he explained to me, though I already understood it.
"But if you knew, then why didn't you say?"
He went past me to inspect the table of bottles. He held the light blue one I consumed in his hands. "This was your riddle to overcome. Had I told you the solution, it may well have killed the three of us."
"So you placed your faith in me?" I said with a laugh.
He turned to face me with a confused look. "I always place my faith in you."
Wow. Okay. Severus being endearing. Not alarming at all. Completely normal.
"I am able to be... considerate on occasion." he said dismissively.
I went up behind him and placed my lips close to his ear to whisper: "Just because you were able to use Legilimency on those two does not mean you get to use it on me."
"Then why are you not maintaining your training? Just because Ruberion is gone is no excuse for slacking." He had a point... He always did... "You best go on ahead before the potion wears off. The three of us will be waiting here for your return."
As I was about to take my leave towards the black flames, Patricia called out for me.
"Listen, cutie. I want to talk this out when you get back." she said while Trelawney was gripping to her for support. She hadn't stopped crying. "I don't think Stoic here is going to let me hear the end of it if we don't clear the air."
"Thank you." I replied. "I know I did wrong and I want to make it right, but I have to finish what we came here for." She let out a small smile to show she agreed and went back to tending to Trelawney.
As I approached the flames, their heavy heat hit my flesh. I put my hand gingerly through the flames and flinched back instinctively. The flames didn't hurt a bit. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and jumped through. Instead of my clothes catching fire and my body singeing at the contact, I passed through unscathed.
*****
The final chamber began to come into view. Down a set of wide stairs sat a large mirror surrounded by stone flooring. The torches on the walls now felt strangely homely as if this location had been awaiting me for so long.
Slowly, I approached the mirror. It was about twice my height and decorated with gold. The intricate engravings were elegant. My eyes were paying such keen attention to them and I knew it was for the fact I was fearful of what I would see when I looked in the mirror.
The Mirror of Erised showed your deepest desire. What was my deepest desire? For the most part, I was happy and content in life now that I was in a job I was happy with and I had Severus to support me. What if when I looked, I would see something that I would never be able to take my mind off? Would I struggle to look away and waste my life staring into the mirror until I was no more?
There were so many doubts swirling in my mind but I had to stay determined. The bangle on my wrist was a sign of the struggles I had overcome to reach this point. If I could beat the Hound, prevent Ruberion from unleashing Calamity and be the first person to successfully break into Gringotts, I could do this. I took a deep breath and allowed my eyes to finally meet the glass.
There Elsie stood, as vibrant as the time I first saw her. Her hair was fair, neatly trimmed and styled beautifully. Her ocean eyes were filled with happiness and motherly love. The way she looked at me made me feel safe and secure. She was the mother I was supposed to have but could never reach for.
I felt angry. She was meant to be there for me. To hold me when I cried, to pick me up when I fell down and to guide me through life. Instead, she went and died and I went my entire life hardly knowing her face. She was selfish and I hated her for that.
And yet... that anger quickly became loneliness. I sat down on the floor and pressed my hand against the cool glass. I wanted to reach out for her and pull her through but the mirror stood in my way. What could I do to restore her? To bring her back? To finally have a mother? I would do anything to be held by her.
Next, a flush of depression came over me. I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry to her. To tell her all of the pain and suffering I had been through because she hadn't been there for me. I desperately wanted to hear her voice but she watched on, unable to open her mouth. There was no possible way to get her back.
Finally, I came to accept that Elsie was gone. No matter how hard I screamed, begged or cried, there was no bringing her back to life. I had to move on and continue without her in this world. I had done so all these years already. I never started this journey to try to bring her back; I did it for the closure I had wanted all my life.
This was that closure.
"I miss you, Mother." I said as I once more placed a hand against the glass. She smiled back. "But I know that I have to leave you behind. I'm just glad I got to see you." I wiped the tears that pooled in my eyes and went to leave.
As I did so, Elsie began to reach into her pocket and held out her hand. Within it was the fifth piece of the Amulet. I reached my hand out and the piece disappeared from within the mirror and appeared in my palm. When I looked up, she had the most mischievous grin on her face.
"You were waiting for me all along, weren't you?" I asked, gripping the piece firmly. "You wanted me to forgive you."
The image in the mirror began to change. Now, instead of just Elsie, Fudge and Severus joined her. The four of us stood together so happily as the family we could have been but never amounted to. I smiled but I couldn't entirely ignore the pangs in my chest knowing it would never be real. With a hefty sigh, I placed the piece in the Amulet and made my way back, trying with difficulty to not turn around again.
*****
Returning to the previous chamber, the black flames had since disappeared. Patricia was sitting on the table with the bottles and was talking to Trelawney who listened to her with feverish attention. Severus leant against a pillar with his arms folded, trying his best to keep out the pointless drabble.
"Hey cutie, back so soon?" Patricia said, kicking her leg over the other as she sat. "You were hardly gone fifteen minutes."
Severus approached and placed a hand on my cheek. "You've been crying." he said delicately.
I covered his hand with my own to keep it there. "I got some answers. And the piece, of course." I showed him the hole was now filled. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Let's get out of here already."
The trio mutually agreed and we made our way back through the chambers and back to the main corridor of the third floor. I hadn't realised how awfully stuffy it was down there that I immediately sneezed upon resurfacing, much to Trelawney's unfortunate unpreparedness.
Together, we went outside for fresh air and sat down collectively in one of the courtyards. The sky was beginning to be filled with its dusky glow of purples and oranges. The stars were twinkling faintly above us. For a time, we sat in silence until Patricia broke it by speaking.
"We should sort out what happened now, huh?" she said. "Listen, cutie. I was hurt, I'll be honest with you. I thought we were friends enough that you would have told me about everything considering it was because of me you were able to do this."
I looked down at my hands. My scars were sore from the countless challenges we endured today. "I don't want to give excuses because you're right, Patricia. It's not that we aren't friends; I was simply negligent and I'm sorry. I should have owled you as soon as it happened. You deserved to know."
"Too right." she replied and looked at Trelawney fondly. "Though, I guess if you hadn't, I wouldn't have met this sweet one."
"Me?" Trelawney asked with a blush creeping up on her. Thankfully, her magnified glasses didn't work for her cheeks.
"But that doesn't mean it was alright for me to speak to you like that." Patricia continued. "I should have taken into account the personal situation of it all. Hope you can forgive me for that."
"As if you have anything to apologise for. You were stressed from having a significant chance of dying. I don't hold that against you." I explained back at her.
She chuckled fondly and looked at Severus. "I sure am jealous of you, Stoic. I've heard Rosmerta threaten you about her. I'm applying the same. Do her harm and I might just sweep her from under you."
Severus tutted and looked carefully at me. "I do not think that will be necessary."
Trelawney suddenly piped up with "My Inner Eye foresees it. There will be plenty of white in your future."
Did she mean... marriage? Severus and I locked eyes once more and I burst out laughing, to which Patricia joined and Trelawney giggled alongside her.
"Now that's something I want to see!" Patricia exclaimed happily.
Who knows what the future holds but... at least I'll always have Severus and my friends with me.
After a while, the laughter died down and the reason we had risked our lives became daunting in the air.
"So, are you going to use the piece?" Patricia asked a little out of place.
"Should I?" I fumbled unsurely.
"Only if you are comfortable." Severus responded.
"But remember, visions can be scarring. I am often overcome with unpleasantries when my Inner Eye decides to show me what I am unprepared for." Trelawney advised, though our scenarios weren't entirely the same.
"I should do it." I decided and placed my finger atop the new piece. The trio watched on intensely as my vision went to white.
*****
I could hear before I could see. The sound of a heavily panting woman and a crying baby. A nurse talked to the woman and settled the baby down. Then, the sound of a man speaking to her. She could barely get any words out between breaths.
"Look, Elsie, isn't she beautiful? She looks just like you." he said elated but there was concern and agony seeping through his voice.
"She's... gorgeous..." the woman heaved out at the end of her strength.
Her breathing gradually became less frequent and strong. The man pleaded for her.
"Keep your eyes open, Elsie. Look, look at little Cassandra's hands. She's reaching out for you. Take her hand. Here, let me-"
For a time, there was only silence. Then, the man spoke out again.
"Elsie? Elsie, can you hear me?"
The child began to cry for her mother.
"Elsie, please, open your eyes. You have to. Elsie. Elsie! Please! I can't-"
The man's voice turned to sobbing. He was experiencing the worst pain imaginable.
I finally was able to see the scene playing out before me. In St Mungo's Hospital, Elsie lay lifelessly in her bed with a baby cradled to her chest. Her eyes no longer saw light and her mouth was slightly open for she had no power to keep it closed. To her side, holding her other hand, was Fudge kneeling on the floor and weeping into her body. Their respective healer returned with a letter in her hand.
"She wanted you to have this, sir. If anything were to happen to her." she explained and handed it to him.
He was too shocked to give thanks. He gingerly opened the letter, doing as best he could to preserve the last memories of his wife, while the healer took the child in her arms. I went behind Fudge so that I could see what she had written.
Dearest Cornelius,
If you're reading this, I'm so sorry that my selfishness and greed have left you alone. I know I should have stopped all that time ago and it is because of me that you have to continue on alone. I can't ask for your forgiveness. I do not deserve it. If you will humour me and grant me one wish, it is that you forgive our child. It is not their fault for this. It is mine and mine alone.
Don't push them away. It will hurt but they will need you more than ever. Without me, you will be all they have. If you forget yourself, read this letter again. Remember me.
If you lose your will, I want you to give our child the Amulet of Ylgind. Do you remember that grey bracelet with the holes you asked about on one of our first dates? That's the one. I know you're smiling remembering it. Remember that smile.
I gave the old man at the bookstore in Hogsmeade the book. The riddle in it was rather humorous, huh? None of it ended up applying to me at all! Maybe I was never destined to finish it or find the Abyssian Blade. Maybe, with that tome, our child can solve what I never could. I didn't do too much with hiding the five pieces, did I? Not that you would know. *chuckle*
Look after them, Cornelius. I'm entrusting their happiness to you. Even though we may not be together physically, I'll always live on so long as you keep me in your heart.
I love you, Cornelius.
P.S Make sure you turn the stove off after you use it. You're a nightmare with that.
"Let me hold her." Fudge requested and the healer handed the baby over. As he looked into her eyes, he couldn't hold back his tears. All he could see were Elsie's...
*****
The vision promptly ended and only a second had passed between reality.
I stood up silently and stared at the sky. My heart felt so empty.
"Hey, Severus." I spoke lightly. He drew his head towards me with attention. "What was the final part of the riddle?"
"In a place not so far from home, encased in rubble and forgotten memories, an ancient civilisation remains with its forbidden treasure to its chest. Her sacrifice is sacred." he recited perfectly.
I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth. Still looking at the stars, a singular tear fell down my cheek.
"I know where the final piece is."