Return Ⅸ

The small glowing butterfly flaps its wings fiercely, before coming to a halt on Sir Knight Prince's shoulder. The butterfly gently lands on his shoulder as if in gratitude, before flapping its wings and fluttering towards Rowan. The butterfly lands on the tip of Rowan's nose as if in gentle tease but causing Rowan to wrinkle her nose at the sensation. Rowan refrains from sneezing the butterfly from her nose before the butterfly flutters away on its own.

The butterfly hovers in the air as if saying goodbye, before fluttering upward and vanishing through the ceiling. It was going home. At last,…

"Good luck, wherever you're headed," Rowan privately thought to herself.

Sir Knight Prince icily remains to gaze at Rowan in reminder, who hurriedly raises her still bleeding hand and says, "The request has been fulfilled, the Keeper may rest anew."

A tired sigh of relief emerges from Sir Knight Prince as the temperature in the room returns to normal. The flashlight regains its strength again as a thick line begins to appear around Sir Knight Prince's neck. The head of Sir Knight Prince begins to slide as his body carefully removes the head of Sir Knight Prince and cradles him in his body's arms.

Sir Knight Prince returns to his ghostly pearly self except there is still a chilly gleam remnant left in his eyes. "You are just as troublesome as your grandfather, Rowan," Sir Knight Prince dryly exclaimed to the acute embarrassment of Rowan.

"It is VERY late," Sir Knight Prince added causing the tips of Rowan's ears to begin to burn. "Still, it was needed."

"Will you inform, grandfather?" Rowan warily asked.

An impish smirk appears on Sir Knight Prince's handsome ghostly face. "What grandfather doesn't know can't hurt him? And in comparison, to your grandfather's antics in his wild youth, well, this is rather tame when in comparison."

Rowan makes a wary face at Sir Knight Prince's words. Stifling a loud yawn, she nods her head sleepily. "All right, I'll head back to bed now."

"Good," Sir Knight Prince said before pausing to glance around. "Out of curiosity, where are we?"

"Inside one of the hidden chambers within the Chamber of Secrets," Rowan deadpanned.

Sir Knight Prince chokes for a second before a wry expression appears on his face. "That certainly explains much," he drily muttered. "Now off to bed," he instructed Rowan.

Rowan nods her head and heads up the stairs back up to the Chamber of Secrets. She would teleport back to the girl's dorm once she was certain the ghost wasn't following her. He was nosey enough to do so! That and well, she really was dead on her feet at this point. She barely could keep her eyes open!

Unable to feel the cold, Sir Knight Prince patiently waits in the depths of Hogwarts until he is certain Rowan is gone. With ease, he floats back up and through the ceiling back to the surface of Hogwarts. The laws of the living are not applicable to the dead and at times like these, it can be nice to be a ghost so to speak.

Sir Knight Prince emerges near the dungeons of Hogwarts, before strolling through the castle. He pauses to admire the changes wrought since his passing before gliding through the castle walls to the astronomy tower. It was about time he had a chat with the Bloody Baron, his dear old house ghost. As the Prince's before and after, he too had been placed into Slytherin despite his valiant character. Then again according to the Sorting Hat, he possessed a streak of ruthlessness that would not permit his housing in Gryffindor.

Not before long the 'groaning and clanking' of the Bloody Baron can be heard echoing through the Astronomy Tower. Sir Knight Prince floated up through the tower before spotting the ghost with silver (bloody) stains on his robes and clinking chains. The Bloody Baron ceased to groan and turned his infinite chilling gaze upon Sir Knight Prince.

"The dead of the Prince Household holds no bearing here," the Bloody Baron hoarsely whispered in a frigid voice.

"I was summoned by my kin," Sir Knight Prince fearlessly responded.

A sneer appears on the Bloody Baron's face. "Then your business is completed, henceforth depart!"

"I shall not tarry longer than necessary, Baron," Sir Knight Prince bowed his head in an indication of keeping his word.

The Bloody Baron snorts in distrust. "Speak quickly then and tarry no longer than necessary!"

"The foul scent of the abomination can be found within these walls," Sir Knight Prince hissed. "Faint as it is, why have ye not acted?!"

"The dead cannot interfere with the living! We are bound by the pact between life and death!" The Bloody Baron roared. "You would do well to remember Keeper of the Prince Household. Have you forgotten the innocent lives that were lost due to your incompetent dealings with Rancor Prince!"

The face of Sir Knight Prince tightened in a familiar way like that of Reginald Prince. "I am bound by my oath as Keeper, I had no choice!" Sir Prince Knight snapped back.

"Then speak to me of such foolishness," the Bloody Baron snarled.

Sir Knight Prince's face hardened for a moment before he recalled the reason for his presence. As if taking a calming breath, Sir Knight Prince carefully says, "The descendants of my household walks these halls. I request that you guard their path from the fragments of the abomination."

"I can make no promise," the Bloody Baron gruffly replied.

Sir Knight Prince stiffly bows his head in thanks, before pausing to gaze at the Ravenclaw Tower in the distance. "Have ye not after all these centuries asked for her forgiveness?"

"With what courage to face her?" The Bloody Baron hoarsely answered gazing longingly at the Ravenclaw tower that hid, the love of his life, Helena Ravenclaw. The same woman that he had murdered in life with his own two bare hands. And in doing so condemned her and himself to a life of eternal condemnation as ghosts. His beautiful, Helena, a ghost hidden away forever from his sight, the Gray Lady confined to the Ravenclaw Tower.

Sir Knight Prince bows his head much more sincerely this time, before gliding out of the castle onto the snow-covered grounds. The Bloody Baron pays no attention to the ghost once more falling into the depths of his memories. He begins to groan in despair and pain as the chains wrapped around him begin to loudly clank. They were the chains that he had forged in life, and which haunted him now even in death.