Vault of Fear

Item Chosen: [ The Hero's Journal ]

Choose Enchantment(s) to be applied to [ The Hero's Journal ]

1. Reduce Magic Cost In [Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Restoration] Spells By 50%

2. Fortify Skill In [Alchemy, Archery, Barter, Block, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Lockpicking, One-Handed, Pickpocket, Smithing, Sneak, Two-Handed, Unarmed] By 50%

3. Fortify [Health, Magic, Stamina] by 20%

4. Fortify [Health Regen, Magic Regen, Stamina Regen] by 100%

5. Resist [Disease, Poison] by 100%

6. Resist [Fire, Frost, Shock] by 50%

7. Resist Magic by 20%

8. Muffle Footsteps

9. Underwater Breathing

He read through the first option about reducing magic costs. The words were a bit confusing - what was Alteration supposed to be? But some made sense - Restoration had to be healing spells, like what Madam Poppy used. Destruction sounded like Defense spells, and Conjuration was probably like Transfiguration. Maybe Illusion was what his mist counted as?

It would be nice to use less magic when making his mist, but he rarely ran out of magic unless he was practicing for a full hour. Even in the library just now, he'd only needed a little mist to help Charlotte. Maybe not worth picking, especially since he'd trained his control over his mist so much. It would have been useful in the past when he needed to convert the majority of his magic into mist that randomly spread towards places, but not now.

The skill improvements were next. Harry perked up at seeing Alchemy - that was what Grandpa was famous for! But the rest... who needed archery when you had magic? And what even was 'barter'?

Block and armor skills seemed pointless for a wizard. Lockpicking made no sense when unlocking charms existed. And pickpocketing? Harry wrinkled his nose - stealing was something that only existed in his fiction books, and he already had everything he needed anyway.

He held up first one hand, then both, trying to figure out what One-Handed and Two-Handed skills meant. Unarmed fighting might be useful, but he preferred using his fire from a slightly safer distance. And sneaking? He could just turn into an eagle if he needed to be sneaky.

The health, magic, and stamina improvements sounded good at first, but 20% didn't seem like much. And the regeneration options... well, Madam Poppy could fix any injuries, and sleeping already helped him recover his magic. Though getting his magic back faster did sound useful for when he was practicing...

Then Harry saw it - complete protection from diseases and poisons. His heart skipped a beat as he remembered what Aunt Min had told him about his grandparents dying from Dragon Pox. No way was he going to let some tiny invisible thing kill him! And poison... well, there were still dark wizards out there who might try to hurt him. It had already happened once that he knew of, so this would keep him safe.

"Those two for sure," Harry whispered to himself.

Fire, frost and shock resistance... Lightning wasn't really a problem, and he could warm himself up if he got cold. But fire resistance… While he didn't usually worry about burning himself with his firebending - it felt as natural as breathing now - having extra protection would let him practice even harder. Plus, lots of wizards used fire spells.

But what really made him grin was the magic resistance. Being able to shrug off spells, even a little bit? That would be brilliant! He could just imagine some mean Slytherin trying to make him cough up toads and nothing happening. Well, he hoped it worked that way and it didn't make him spit out 20% less toads.

For his last choice, Harry kept coming back to Alchemy. Sure, the magic regeneration would be nice, and fire resistance was tempting... but being more like Grandpa? That was special.

Harry nodded to himself, feeling confident in his choices. His Hero's Journal would protect him from poisons and diseases, help him resist magic, and make him better at Alchemy - just like Grandpa Dumbledore. That felt right. Though he had a feeling that he'd need to actually wear or carry the journal for the enchantments to work... He will just ask Aunt Min for a belt or something so he could keep it at his side later.

Enchantments Applied to Chosen Item [ The Hero's Journal ]:

Poison Resistance 100%

Disease Resistance 100%

Magic Resistance 20%

Fortify Skill in Alchemy by 50%

"I'm done," he whispered to Charlotte. "Sorry for taking so long. Let's go find that vault!"

Charlotte looked relieved. "Finally! Come on, we need to hurry before Madam Pince gets back."

They walked deeper into the Restricted Section, where the torches barely seemed to light anything at all. The shadows felt thicker here, almost alive, and the books seemed to whisper as they passed. Some of them were even chained to their shelves.

Charlotte shivered slightly. "Look at this place! You'd think students would need advanced Defence against the Dark Arts training to enter..."

"Why?" Harry asked, keeping his voice low. "It's just a library, right?"

Charlotte let out a quiet snort. "There's forbidden spells, explosive potion recipes, dangerous secrets and who knows what else here. I don't know why they keep it so unguarded to be honest."

Harry nodded at that, before shrugging. He didn't really understand grown-ups sometimes. They'd tell him not to fly into classrooms because it was dangerous, but then leave scary books just sitting around where anyone could find them.

"So where's the entrance?" he whispered, eyeing a book that seemed to be dripping something dark onto the shelf below it.

"My brother's notebook we found in the Ice Vault is the key," Charlotte said, pulling out the worn journal. "I don't actually know how, but it should be in this corner somewhere."

"We should split up and look for empty spots where the journal could fit," she added, already moving to search the left side of the shelves.

Harry nodded and turned to the right side. It was way too dark to see properly, so he created a small flame in his left palm. The firelight made the shadows dance weirdly on the walls, and some of the books seemed to shift away from the light.

He was starting to think this wasn't such a good idea when he spotted it - a rectangular gap between two massive books, just the right size for Charlotte's journal.

"Over here!" he called softly. "I found something!"

Charlotte hurried over, her eyes lighting up when she saw the space. "That's perfect!"

She stretched up on her tiptoes and then jumped slightly, journal in hand. The moment she pushed it into the gap, before her feet even touched the ground again, inky black shadows shot out from between the books. They wrapped around both children like dark ribbons, and suddenly the floor wasn't there anymore.

Harry barely had time to yelp before they were pulled down into darkness.

oo0ooOoo0oo

The fall seemed to last forever and no time at all. Then suddenly they crashed onto cold stone floor, Harry landing on his bottom while Charlotte managed to catch herself in a crouch.

"Ow," Harry muttered, rubbing his sore behind as he looked around. The room they'd landed in was huge and dark, with walls that seemed to stretch up forever into blackness. Thick stone pillars rose up like giant tree trunks, covered in carvings that writhed and shifted when you looked at them too long. The air felt wrong somehow - heavy and sticky, like breathing through syrup.

Charlotte made a choked sound beside him. Her face had gone very pale as she stared at their surroundings, her hands shaking as she compulsively straightened her red tie. "This... this isn't..."

Harry watched her curiously. His instincts weren't screaming danger yet, which was weird given how scary everything looked. But maybe that meant the room itself wasn't actually dangerous? Like those Halloween decorations the professors sometimes put up.

"At least we didn't break anything in the landing?" Charlotte tried to joke, her voice wobbling slightly. "Though I think my pride might need-"

She cut off with a gasp as inky black shadows suddenly poured from the walls like water, flooding the room until only the space around them remained clear. The shadows writhed and twisted, then started gathering into three distinct shapes in front of them.

Harry's eyes widened as the shadows formed into three identical figures. Each was impossibly tall and thin, like someone had stretched a person out too far. Their black robes seemed to eat the light around them, making it hard to look directly at them. But their faces - Harry had never seen anything like them. Chalk-white skin pulled tight over skull-like features, flat snake-like nose, and eyes that glowed red like hot coals.

Charlotte made a strangled sound beside him. Her wand hand was shaking so badly Harry thought she might drop it. "No," she whispered. "Not him. Please not him."

The middle figure raised a bone-white wand. When it spoke, its voice was high and cold, like winter wind through dead trees. "Avada Kedavra!"

Green light filled the chamber. Harry felt himself yanked upward by an invisible hand around his throat. His feet kicked uselessly in the air as one of the figures held him suspended with its wand. The red eyes studied him with cruel interest, like a cat watching a mouse it had caught.

Harry's first instinct was to use his mist - he could already feel his magic starting to shift and cool. But something felt... off. His instincts weren't screaming at him like it should if this dark wizard-

"They're just Boggarts!" Charlotte's voice cracked with panic. "Harry, don't panic - they can't really hurt us!"

The mist coming from his hand slowly disappeared. He remembered what happened last time with the Boggart in his room, how the feedback loop had made everything go crazy... But how could a Boggart use spells? That didn't make sense.

The figure holding Harry snarled, a sound no human throat should make. The pressure around Harry's neck tightened. Charlotte raised her wand, hand still trembling. "R-riddikulus!"

Nothing happened. The spell seemed to slide right off the figure's robes. Charlotte's eyes went wide with horror.

"No no no," she muttered, backing away. "That always works. It has to work!"

The other two figures glided forward, raising their wands. Green light started building at their tips. Charlotte screamed and cast again, putting everything she had into it. "RIDDIKULUS!"

This time the spell struck true. The figure holding Harry transformed, black robes becoming a garish polka-dot clown suit. He dropped Harry with a surprised squawk as a red rubber nose appeared on his snake-like face.

Harry landed hard but rolled to his feet, already moving toward Charlotte. She cast the spell two more times in rapid succession, turning the remaining figures into equally ridiculous clowns. They danced and bounced around, looking completely absurd with their skull-white faces topped by rainbow wigs.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte grabbed Harry's shoulders, checking his neck frantically. "I'm so sorry - they shouldn't have been able to do that. Boggarts can't cast real spells!"

"I'm fine," Harry assured her, though his throat felt a bit sore. "Who was that supposed to be anyway? The scary snake man?"

Charlotte's face went pale again. "That was... that was You-Know-Who. The dark wizard who..." She trailed off, glancing at Harry.

"Oh." Harry kept staring at the dancing clowns, but they didn't seem funny anymore. This was him. The monster who killed his mum and dad. The reason he grew up without parents, watching other kids get hugged by their parents while he didn't get to have them.

His hands clenched into fists. The clowns looked silly with their rainbow wigs and red noses, but Harry could still see those red eyes underneath, cold and cruel like a snake's. He thought of the few photos he had of his parents - his dad's messy hair, his mum's kind smile. Gone forever because of the man these Boggarts had become.

Something hot and angry burned in his chest. It wasn't fair. He'd never even gotten to know them. Never got to hear his mum sing him to sleep or have his dad teach him to fly. All because of this... this thing that looked barely human.

Charlotte must have noticed something in his face because she reached for his hand. "Harry..."

But before she could finish, the clowns suddenly melted away into the shadows coating the floor. The darkness seemed to pulse, like a heart beating.

Charlotte grabbed her head with both hands, swaying. "Something's wrong," she whispered. "This feels like... Jacob?"

"Charlotte?" Harry reached for her arm, trying to push away thoughts of his parents. His friend needed help.

"I don't understand," she mumbled, staring at nothing. "Why are you telling me this?"

The chamber shuddered, stones grinding against each other. The shadows began flowing together again, building up into another You-Know-Who. But this one was different - its face twisted with very human emotions as it raised its wand...

oo0ooOoo0oo

Note:

Harry doesn't know this, but the "Fortify Skill in Alchemy by 50%" effect applies to Potions. In Skyrim, Alchemy refers to potion-making, so it will increase his skill in that area, not Alchemy as it is known in Harry Potter. This will have some surprising effects in the future, as a well-known potion with a complete recipe increasing in potency by 50% would put him well into the territory of prodigies.