Chapter 306: The Fated Sovereign
If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.
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30 December 1994, Durmstrang
"Well, you stand in the presence of Nero Claudius, fifth Emperor of Rome. Now, I wish to know the name of the man who dared to summon me from my rest…"
Harry's only response was, "What the fuck?"
The man seemed offended by what he said, "I know that it's hard to deal with my magnificence, but there's no need for that sort of language…"
"Wait," Harry said, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. "Nero Claudius? The Nero Claudius? The Emperor that burned Rome?"
Harry turned towards Daphne only to see her frozen in time… Ah, right. The resurrection stone didn't exactly summon a shade into the real world, just the illusion of one. A simple way to prove this was the fact that the shade was speaking in English, something that he wouldn't really expect from an Emperor of Rome.
In truth, Harry accessed something akin to an archive, a repository of the world's memories of people, one that wasn't exactly perfect. It was more akin to a form of scrying than anything… Theoretically, it happened inside his head…
"Yes, the very same," Nero responded, his sneer deepening. "Although I do admit that the fact people remember me for this incident to this day is very upsetting… Still, you seem surprised, wizard. You are the one that summoned me…"
"I'm surprised because this is impossible… Even if you're someone remembered by history, you died almost two thousand years ago. Whatever imprint you left on the world should have faded in time… You shouldn't have been whole enough to summon as something as defined as you are now…"
"I am not just anyone, wizard. I am Nero, Emperor of Rome…"
Harry snorted at the man's arrogance, "Dude, no offence but there's been hundreds of other emperors and kings in history… I wouldn't have been able to summon them… There has to have been something else to it…."
"I do admit that my knowledge of the Arcane Arts is spotty at best, and so I cannot help you in that regard. It matters not how my presence is possible, only that it is. Now, who are you, wizard, and why have you summoned my august self?"
"My name is Harry Potter, and I have summoned you through a connection to a girl who was sacrificed for a ritual. I isolated the magic in her blood and used it as an anchor to find its source. I never imagined it would have reached so far back…"
The man seemed oddly pleased, "So, my line survived all this time. I had hidden my child well, but I fully expected my successors to have killed her to secure their reigns… I suppose that damned witch was right, after all…"
"What witch?"
"The Oracle… She came from Greece, and somehow found her way past an army of mages, just to speak to me. I asked her how I would be remembered… I remember that day as if it was yesterday, the way her voice changed and the world itself thrummed at her words, the moment she proclaimed that I would be overthrown, but that my line would outlive the empire, and rebuild it in fire and blood… I was young back then, barely ascended. I found enemies everywhere, tried to stop anyone from gaining too much influence… I tried to make myself beloved by the people so that the mere thought of overthrowing me would have resulted in riots and massacres… Not that those useless plebians did anything when I was betrayed and forced to flee Rome… I think I realized then, that I could have done better in that regard, that they overthrew me because of how I made sure to stifle their influence as much as possible… It was funny in a way, I brought my own downfall..."
As much as the tale was fascinating, there was one main critical detail, "You were involved in a prophecy…"
That actually explained too much and it made everything fit. How couldn't have have seen it before? The magical release was too powerful, too raw, to be anything else… The goal of Dumbledore's ritual wasn't to kill Maria but to actually destroy the prophecy she was involved in. Maria, or one of her descendants, was prophesied to rebuild the Roman Empire, and now it couldn't. It explained why Emperor Nero was still relatively intact in the sea of souls… He was involved in a prophecy and the world remembered him for it. With that prophecy being destroyed, it was likely that he would start to fade away like he should have when he died…
It also explained the dagger during the ritual…
It was obviously created to channel the power of every single spectator in the task, because it could, for a fraction of a second, hold enough power to make things unpredictable, to take fate by surprise… It was a safeguard against any potential shenanigans destiny could have used to save the girl… No wonder it slid through Harry's portal as if it didn't exist. It was was blade meant to slice destiny…
He grimaced as he murmured, "I got it all wrong… It wasn't seven tasks, seven schools… No, it was seven prophecies… Or more accurately, seven broken ones. But the energy release that I felt was just the overflow, the loss… What the fuck are they powering?"
The emperor stiffened, "Did you just say that someone broke a prophecy?"
"Yes… Someone killed the last of your line to break the prophecy. They've been doing it for months… What could possibly need that much power?"
"But… Fate is absolute…"
"It is," Harry replied with a hollow smile, "Until it isn't. The world itself protests the idea of a prophecy being void… And if it is, it tends to react violently with a very strong release of energy."
"How strong?" the shade hesitantly asked.
"My mother did it once out of desperation… It created a hole in space and time themselves, bypassed the abyss between dimensions, and the spillage vaporized an entire village in seconds… But using seven prophecies for a ritual… The sheer power alone could wipe out a continent…"
The former Emperor gave Harry a shrug in reply, "That sounds like a problem for the living… I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, Harry Potter."
And just like that the shade disappeared and the world resumed… Daphne gave Harry a weird look, "You've been staring at the wall for a while now… Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think I figured out how Dumbledore chooses his victims. We were thinking about it the wrong way. He's not killing people, he's killing prophecies. People are just the unfortunate victims if it pertains to them…"
"There was a prophecy about Maria?" the blonde asked.
"Yes, either her or her descendants was supposed to build an empire or something… We thought that it might have been a curse because of the magical release. We never considered that it might have been a prophecy, but it would have been far greater… Only it seems like Dumbledore is very efficient with his energy."
"So, what now?"
Harry smirked, "Now that we know how he's choosing his targets, we'll need to follow the same trail. We need to figure out if there are any prophecies regarding Durmstrang…"
Daphne sighed heavily, "To the library then?"
He nodded, agreeing with her, "To the library."
Minutes later the two of them stood at the library of Durmstrang, ready to find records of prophecies involving the school. The fact that the entire fortress was hidden meant that Dumbledore had to use the school grounds to perform the ritual. The prophecy had to be local. Either something about the school or something about students who attend the school… Considering that killing a student isn't something one could just brush off, it was probably the former, hence their research…
The library itself was very well-organized and the books looked in good condition. Rows of towering shelves stretched out in every direction, filled with volumes on dark arts, magical theory, and historical accounts. The best perk, by far, was the fact that every single book was manually translated by someone, and you could access the translation by just powering a small rune matrix on the spine of the book. A large majority of books had English translations, so that saved them a lot of time.
However, despite the neat organization, there was no specific section dedicated to prophecies. They found themselves wandering through aisles, pulling out various books that seemed only vaguely related to their search.
Hours passed, and the lack of clear direction began to wear on them. The blonde, holding a particularly dusty book on historical predictions, cleared her throat awkwardly. "Um, Harry," she started, fidgeting slightly…
Harry gave her a questioning look, "Did you find something, Daph?"
"No… I just wanted you to know that I figured out why the other girls have been glaring at me so much."
"Huh, sure… What was it?"
She looked slightly awkward, "During the ball, Tracy and Blaise kissed, while they were pretending to be us… People think that we're in a relationship."
Harry sat up, looking Daphne straight in the eye, "We did go on one date…"
The blonde snorted, "Robbing a bank does not constitute a proper date, Harry…"
"Fine, we'll go to a restaurant next time… If you want to be boring that is."
"Stop being a prat, Potter," she answered while her cheeks reddened, "Look, what I'm trying to say is that since we don't want people to suspect anything, would it be so bad that we pretend that we are dating… To shrug off the suspicion, of course."
The last Potter gave her a cheeky smile, "Are you asking me out on a date, Daphne Greengrass?"
"I swear, you're so not the effort…"
Harry's smile turned warm, "Tell you what… About that dating thing… Look, how about we go out on a proper date after the task, just you and me in some restaurant or having a picnic. I'll think of something, and we'll see where things go…"
Daphne didn't look that happy by the prospect and Harry quickly tried to speak up before she could take things differently, "I'm horrible at this kind of stuff… Look, if we just jump into this and not ease our way in, then we're risking ruining what we already have now... It's better to be patient now than to not be friends after rushing into things…"
Daphne's icy glare softened, "Fine… I see your point."
Moments later, Daphne murmured, "I think I have something…" She handed Harry an old book with a weathered cover and yellowed pages. Inside, they found a poem that seemed promising:
"By the heart of the mountain, deep and untamed,
Lies Gram, the lost sword, in fire's fierce flame.
A hero shall rise, Sigurd's heir by deed,
To wield the lost blade in time of great need.
When darkness encroaches and shadows loom tall,
The hero with Gram shall conquer it all."
Daphne looked confused, "Sigurd… That name is familiar…"
"It's the name of the first hero, the slayer of the dragon Fafnir… This is an old legend, one of the oldest in history… I never knew about a prophecy of someone succeeding him… His blade, Gram, was lost when he died… So, that's the prophecy, that someone would end up finding Gram and wielding it… It seems like something Dumbledore would be interested in. A prophecy like this is bound to be powerful…"
The blonde gave him an exasperated look, "I can see where this is going…"
Harry gave her an innocent look, "Whatever do you mean?"
"We're going to end up looking for this mythical sword… Where you'll try to steal it from under Dumbledore's nose or something. There are hundreds of mountains around the school, Harry. We do not have enough time to look at each of them…"
"I'll figure something out, probably try to craft something to help us locate it. Maybe some sort of tracking spell or a map that shows us the most likely locations."
Daphne sighed, but a small smile played on her lips. "Of course you will. I suppose we better start gathering supplies then. We'll need food, warm clothes, and some enchanted tools if we're going to search the mountains."
Harry gave her a warm look, "Alright, let's do this… We have a legendary sword to find, after all."
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AN: I'm not sure about this chapter, to be completely honest. It's meant to expand the lore a bit, but also show Harry's complete obsession with Dumbledore's plans, even without knowing what they are. I've been trying to humanize him a bit, by focusing on his obsession with knowledge as one of his biggest flaws. Generally speaking, writing a flawed main lead is pretty difficult (at least for me) and I think I didn't pull it off in this story.
A small update about Daphne as well. She is still researching her sister's cure but without Lily, she's not making any meaningful progress (Don't worry I do have a plan on that front). I wanted Daphne and Harry to finally get closer (It's kinda about time, especially considering that she sacrificed a 'sure way to cure Astoria' for Harry's sake when she told him about Lily).
Anyway, I'm not sure if it came out like I wanted to. Maybe I should have put an extra chapter about what Daphne has been doing in her free time. Astoria's blood curse is important and will be tied to some pretty important events (Sorry, trying to avoid spoilers).
As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.