spell.'
He held the Charm in his hand while she pointed her wand at it. A long tendril of red hair fell down over her face as she began to speak, and she impatiently brushed it aside. 'Ullus res muta. Anima irreti. Sanguinum ad vitrum transmuta!'
There was a flash of light, and the Charm flipped over in Dracos hand.
'Its done,' said Ginny.
Draco stood up, looking at the Charm, which, like the other one, was transparent, although this one held a lock of his hair instead of a tooth. Now there are two objects in the world that could kill me instantly, he thought grimly. Hermione has the first one. Who in my life do I trust enough to give this one to?
He could feel the eyes of the other three on him as he walked toward the window, holding out the Charm in front of him, and paused there, looking out. Then he shut his eyes, letting everything fall away as he had learned to do when he was a child, locked in the wardrobe in his bedroom. He could feel the charm beating in his hand like a tiny heart, and although he knew it was no more than his own pulse that he sensed, he concentrated on it, holding the charm, tightly, tightly…
A round tower surrounded by trees. The walls were ancient stone, and black in places, as if the tower once had burned. There were no birds. Images in quick succession: a bare room with straw on the floor, a man with a hand made of silver, a hallway lined with tapestries, and Hermione, her dark eyes frantic with worry, looking at him.
Where are you? Where are you?
He opened his eyes, turned, and met Harrys steady gaze across the room.
'South,' he said. 'We go south.'
References: 'I've been called a lot of things in my life,' said Draco, looking at the plate. 'But never a vicious, cold-blooded piece of toast.' [B]This line is, very famously, from Buffy: 'I may be a cold-blooded jelly doughnut but I have impeccable timing.'
'He must not have been reading his Evil Overlord handbook,' grinned Sirius. 'Rule 54: 'I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being, then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.' From The Evil Overlord List!
''You must at least believe that there is a natural balance to all things,' said the demon. 'For every profit in one thing, payment in some other thing. You will profit greatly by the use of this sword, but first it must be paid for.' — This speech is an altered version of Pluto's speech to Orpheus in the play of the same name by Ted Hughes. From Orpheus:
'Nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for. For every profit in one thing, payment in some other thing. For every life, a death.
Even your music, of which we have heard so much, that had to be paid for. Your wife was the payment for your music. Hell is now satisfied.'
Orb of Thessala: This is an actual mythical object. It was referenced on Buffy, so I'll mention it here.
'I had a flashback in the middle of a delusion.' Red Dwarf 'That's just his teaching persona,' Draco said, hoping he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. 'Stodgy by day, perhaps, but at night it's booze, whores and flying fur.' Buffy. From the episode
'The Dark Age', regarding Giles.
As they flew, Draco discovered that the Epicyclical Charm worked a bit like a compass. Every twenty miles or so he would have to pause and reattune it, and the others would stop and watch, hovering in midair.
Because he was the navigator, he flew ahead, with the others following him: Harry second, then Ginny and Ron behind. He was actually quite enjoying the flying. They had been flying low over a thickly wooded area for several hours, just skimming the tops of the trees, and the pull coming from the Epicyclical Charm had been growing stronger and stronger. When, after another hour, he paused and touched the Charm again, images came to him in a surge like a tidal wave: the forest, the burned castle, the round tower. And Hermione. He felt almost sure that the forest in the visions was the same forest they were flying over now.
He looked over at Harry, Ron and Ginny, who were hovering a little ways away, and felt just a bit smug. There's no way they could do this without me. Not even the great Harry Potter.
He was about to call out to them that he was sure they were getting close, when a flicker of movement below him caught his eye and he glanced down. And stared in surprise. It was difficult to see through the thick canopy of interwoven branches, but Draco thought he saw a line of dark figures, like a column of ants, wending their way between the trees. Were they people? It looked like much too orderly a column for animals — but it was hard to tell.
Draco leaned forward, trying to get a better look. And froze, as a searing wave of cold suddenly washed over him. He jerked upright, but the cold didn't vanish — it was cold like no cold he had ever experienced, cold that burned and slashed at his insides like knives.
Suddenly terrified, he tried to yell out for Harry, but he couldn't hear his own voice over the voices that suddenly began shouting in his head.
You're not my son. That was his father speaking, of course it was his father.
I am still young; I can have other children.
Draco clutched at his broom. I don't care, he said stubbornly to his father, I don't care, but Lucius Malfoy's voice was suddenly swept aside by a rising and howling tide of other voices, voices he didn't know. Voices screaming in pain, choked off in blood, voices he remembered from his dreams, crying out in agony…and a man's voice, rising above them all, hoarse and angry, You lied to me! You lied to me!
I never lied to you! A woman's voice, shouting her reply: You just believed it because it was what you wanted to believe!
You'll be sorry you ever said that. Don't think I won't hurt you.
Nobody can hurt you like I can.
No! NO! The unknown woman was screaming now. What have you done to him? Where is he? Salazar, what have you done?
