Warding a graveyard

Chapter 31 –

"The ward stone is set, we're completely hidden from the magical world outside. Or at least this part of the island is. You guys can use your wands now." Nathan said as he walked into the magical tent that was set up beside the Mansion, as far away as possible from both the mansion and the edge of the forest that was right behind and surrounding the overgrown mansion.

"You look a little shaken up, Mary-Anne. Are you alright?" Nathan asked the girl who was looking out of the window of the tent down into the settlement.

Mary-Anne turned around and shook her head "Nothing, it's just that those skeletons..." She trailed off.

"Hey, it's alright. I understand. Stick close to mum when we head out to the mansion, you will be fine." Nathan replied as he squeezed the girl's hand in a comforting manner.

She smiled at him, as he turned and headed toward the kitchenette where his mum had decided to start preparing a small snack for them all, while Carlisle and Jeremy helped her with the process.

"The lunch is almost ready. Why don't you all go ahead and set the table, you will need the energy today." Jolene said as she directed her two helpers out of the kitchenette.

They quickly set the table and took their seats around the table by the magic-powered fireplace.

"We need to thank Mr. Wolfe for this tent once we return to Kamar Taj. She's been thorough with everything." Carlisle commented as she helped Nathan's mum with setting the plates and serving the food.

"Oh, yes. We can invite her over once the island is ready for magical expansion. She will love the beauty this place offers, ever since she's gotten her eyesight with magic, the Ancient One says that she's become a connoisseur of naturally beautiful scenery." Nathan mused.

"Hey, Nathan have you marked out where the other ward stones will need to be placed around the island?" Jeremy asked, his mind buzzing with excitement for exploring the misty tropical island.

"Hmm, yes, I have. But, I think, a hearthstone will be necessary to cover the entire island, amplified by the ward stones at three locations. One I've already placed down in the mansion, which is giving us the cover to perform magic here in this area. Once the hearthstone is up, and the blanket ward is set in place we'll have this island all to ourselves." Nathan said as he finished eating his meal. Once everyone was done with their food, Nathan helped Jolene collect the plates and floated them all back to the sink in the kitchenette, and had them cleaned with magic.

The group set out with their brooms once again, to find the first of the three locations that Nathan had identified for the ward stones. The ward stone and Hearthstone that they had acquired from the Kamar Taj sorcerers contained a blanket enchantment with the standard unplottable ward, muggle repelling ward, an interlayered connection to a map that would function similar to the Marauder's Map of Hogwarts, and self-update with every detail that they build into the island and other standard intent-based protection wards. Nathan wanted the island to become magically impenetrable, and though he knew that perfection is impossible, he had been guaranteed by the Ancient One that the ward scheme once completely in place would rival that of Hogwarts and Kamar Taj. Nathan had plans of eventually adding a layer to stop teleportation or portals into the island as well. To cover all his bases, he was going to have the sorcerers from Kamar Taj attempt to infiltrate the island and keep checking for holes in its magical defense.

They arrived at the first location, at they watched an abandoned stone quarry come into view. The carts seemed to look like they had been abandoned mid-operation, some were still loaded with large slabs of what looked like marble and limestone. There were even more skeletons lying about, each armed with muskets. The ward stone had to be placed inside the mine, underneath a layer of rocks.

They alighted their brooms as they scouted the mine for a possible entry point. Mary-Anne shivered as a slight chill went up her spine due to the dried and dust-covered blood splattering on a stone wall near the entrance of the mines.

"This is weird," Jeremy muttered.

Her focus shifted as she turned her gaze to the boy who was looking at a similar stain near the other side of the wall.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"These people weren't fighting amongst themselves; they were fighting someone else. All of them died near the wall, which means they were hiding from something up there." He said as he pointed at the tree line out and up into the quarry.

And sure enough, all the skeletons were lined near walls, behind barrels to cover their backs and fronts.

Jolene muttered, "Stick together, and let's finish this quickly."

The children huddled together, as Nathan led them deeper into the Quarry.

"There are no bodies inside. Everyone left?" Carlisle pondered as they reached the end of the mining line.

There was a large door, with steel hinges that had rotten at the end of the corridor. It was half-opened, and behind that would be where Nathan had to place the ward stone.

The group used their lit wands to head deeper into the mining shaft, and approach the door. Jeremy pushed the heavy door, which made a loud creaking, noise as the beam on which it was loosely hanging on groaned as the door gave way.

Nathan stepped inside, and he couldn't hide his horror at the scene inside. He heard both Carlisle and Mary-Anne gasp behind him, as Jolene clutched his shoulder tightly. There was a giant pile of skeletons, most of the children due to their size, and women as identified by their thick rotting clothes. Hundreds of skeletal remains of what looked like families sat in huddled corners, still clutching each other, clearly hiding away from whatever it was that haunted them outside in the quarry.

"We'll give them a proper burial, once we're done," Jeremy said, as he took the ward stone from Nathan's hands and used his wand to cast a spell to dig a deep hole in the middle of the large stone hall. Nathan quickly joined him, as he nodded to his mum who had clutched the girls in her arms after she let Nathan go.

Nathan lowered the ward stone into the hole, as he desperately tried to avoid stepping on any bones and keep his mind away from imagining what horror may have caused these people to hide away and die locked up, starved, and alone. Applying his magic to activate the ward stone, he saw it glow a deep blue before settling in its place, and he covered the stone with dirt. He quickly signaled the others to follow him out of the mine.

The group quickly retreated into the open air of the Quarry to collect their thoughts, and breathe a sigh to relieve themselves from the suffocatingly horrifying atmosphere scene they had witnessed.

"I am sorry," Nathan finally said, as the group collectively looked at him. "this…. you're here because of me. I shouldn't hav-"

"Don't finish that sentence, Nathan!" Carlisle cut in sharply, her horror being pushed down by her indignation at the notion that Nathan blamed himself for exposing them to this. "You didn't know, and we decided to be a part of this on our own. This isn't about some random exploration trip, we're slowly working toward changing the world. Many entirely unexpected things can happen along the way, and we have to deal with them as they come. So, don't you blame yourself for this!" She shouted at him.

His mum nodded, as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and the other around the other kids "She's right Nathan, as disturbing as that may have been, it shouldn't deter us from our goal,"

Nathan sighed, the feelings of guilt subsiding just a little as he nodded, and said "Alright, the last ward stone has to be placed this way." And he climbed onto his broom and flew off in the air, wanting to get as far away from the mass grave as he could.

The others quickly joined him, as they made their way to a large pond at the other end of the island, where they had gotten off their dinghy earlier. The pond was surrounded by tall trees with large leaves, and at the center of the pond was a large rock.

Nathan landed on the rock, as the others landed around the pond.

"Last one's in the pond. Then the hearthstone remains." Nathan said as he transfigured his clothes into snug swimwear. "This won't take much time."

He quickly applied a bubblehead charm around him, and dived head first into the pond. Using his magic, he could see clearly in the murky depths of the pond water. The deep pond's floor was littered with more skeletons, and Nathan was glad for once that the others had not pushed to join him inside the pond as well. Skeletal remains of pirates and what looked like giant trees were littered around the bottom of the pond. The trees had thousands of swords sticking out of them.

He quickly reached the bottom and repeated the process with the final ward stone underneath a giant slab of wood, that he broke open using the concussive force of a weak bombarda underwater.

Nathan made his way out of the pond back to the others, and they helped him out of the water.

"It's done. Now the hearthstone, and we can be done with this place and begin giving the dead the rest they deserve." He growled out after drying himself off.

The others looked both relieved and worried at the same time. Relieved due to finally being almost done with the place, and worried because of the implications the entire scenario painted.

"The Hearthstone has to go into the heart of the island. The center." Nathan said as he mounted his broom again, and led the others to the final spot on the island.

It was near the peak of the waterfall that fell into a river, which further led into a small opening of the inlet to the wider ocean. There the Hearthstone would lay beneath the stream that led into the constant waterfall. There were no trees in the area, and it was devoid of any skeletal figures. This was the highest point on the entire island. And the beautiful scene acted like a balm to everyone's soul as they took in the view.

"It's beautiful," Mary-Anne commented as she stood near the edge with her broom clutched in her hand, as she watched the sunset in the distant horizon.

"And it hides equally mysterious darkness somewhere inside it," Jeremy commented.

The others helped Nathan slowly lower the hearthstone into the ground. He activated the Hearthstone which glowed a deep Gold, before pulsing thrice and emitting a soft hum and thrum of magic.

"I will need to charge it overnight...…" Nathan frowned, as he gazed at the hearthstone, which was slowly adapting to take in ambient magic. The process would take all night, and Nathan who had the largest magical pool of them all would have to charge it for the ward scheme to hold.

"Alright, I will set the tent here, and layer the muggle repelling charms and the invisibility charms around here," Mary-Anne said as she fished out the tent from her pocket.

The others quickly occupied the tent after it was set up and prepared dinner for themselves, for their night atop the mountain.

No one noticed the thousand yellow eyes that watched their every move that they made on the island.

A few miles away in a dark damp cave somewhere on the island, four figures sat silently around a body in a comatose state. The comatose body was barely alive as it had been stabbed by four large wooden rods.

One figure said in a baritone-cracking voice "Such powerful magic has returned to our shores….."

Another added in a similar voice "They have more magic than this one, I look forward to devouring them...."

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