Hello, yes, I've decided that I made everyone wait long enough. Update time folks...so let's get cracking eh?
Great to have such a huge response (and a few threats if I don't update...yikes!! I'm not THAT wanted am I??)...I know I missed a lot of you, but in truth, the writing of this chapter took several months as I could only write a bit at a time due to lack of time and plot bunnies...
Thanks to: Robbly(Haha...resistance is futile...muahaha!!), phoenix catcher, henriette (Looks suspicious, do I know you??), anton, ShyDayDreamer, The Lady Reaper of the Shadows, Mari G. Potter, BloodRedSword, Chicken stars, Chaser1, Jakeragedraaagon, darkfire19, Kraeg001 (You see, when the basilisks are still young, and their eyes not completely developed yet, they have their eyes poked out, singed etc. and/or mutated. Gruesome actually), Mikito, StarMage1, Peeves Girl (Haha..lol...), gaul1, Nasser Himura (Yeah, I hope Tro grows more too...come to think of it, I hope I grow tall too...sulk ), Drizzt of the 203-SAW (Some interesting ideas there, thanks, I'll think about it...but actually, they are Shadow KEEPERS so they dwell and guard the shadows...but hey...thanks!), SlytherinAngel (Oh yeah, good point...I think I'll do something unexpected with them, thanks for reminding me), aiquen, wanderingwolf (hehe...I haven't forgotten...they're not going to know for a while...just to torture you all...muahaha), Serpent of Light, Celtic Serpent, dd, Jess16 (Hmm...yeah, but hey, I some people will try and ignore it and make the best out of it. Optimistic nature?), star estrella, linky2, PheonixPadfoot89, athenakitty, misty43...and anyone else I have forgotten (just a feeling...)
Oh well, sorry for the slow update...busy busy busy...and I'm making the story up as I go along...sorta, I got the plot outline...but not the actual plot, stupid Skysong1.Hope you like this chapter anyways.
The Shadowkeepers By Skysong1Chapter 15: Festival
The weeks rolled in, and the Annual Hogwarts Festival had begun. Although the security of the Fort remained at the same suffocating level, even the guards on dreary duty seemed to have fun, chewing on toffee apples at their posts and tooting merry jingles on their recorders.
Daggyr however, meditating peacefully by the Great Lake's edge, had completely forgotten the Quidditch tournament...his memory was abruptly jolted however by a certain 'mangily mutt'.
"Hey, Harry! Ready for the match?"
"Match?" Harry plastered a pleasantly confused expression on his face.
"Quidditch...duh Harry!! I mean, seriously, a few years of..." Sirius' voice faded away as he realised what he was about to say, "don't worry...so who's on your team?"
Harry internally smacked himself on the head, he had forgotten, 'Damn...am I going rusty?...'
"Yes, I have a team." Harry bluffed, then shot off in the opposite direction.
Sirius blinked in surprise, "Gone to get ready I suppose, after all the match starts in half an hour..."
Harry ran full speed towards their 'tree dwellings'. "Damn" he cursed loudly. "What is it that's affecting me these days..."
"Ooooo...big strong assassin loosing his cool?" Nyoka's head appeared from behind a tree, a toothbrush hanging from the corner of her mouth. She took a sip from a mug then spat out her toothpaste at the base of a shrub.
Harry narrowed his eyes, he was not in a patient mood today. "Chaser, beater or keeper?"
Nyoka blinked in confusion, the exasperated Harry sighed, pissed off at the situation; he punched a dent into a nearby tree.
However, Nyoka was neither dim-witted nor slow. "Oh...the quidditch. Damn? Its today? Damn...damn...damn..."
Never fear my comrades, the Balatro the Great is here!! I still can't believe you guys tricked me into that name...I'll be your Keeper!!!
Single eyebrows raised all around.
"Balatro..."
Yes, O fearless Capt'n?
Balatro suffered a slap to his reptile head. "YOU IDIOT! How the hell could you ride a broom...let alone defend a hoop?"
O woe is me! Doth no one trust my abilities? Alack, alack...tis the life of a serpent...
Nyoka rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll take chaser...go and find more people...you know the game starts in 20 minutes...2 o'clock remember..."
Harry let out a soft growl, he frowned and tapped his right ring and middle finger against his left, black shadows swirled around him. He stepped and sunk into a shadow like quicksand, disappearing with a soft whoosh. Nyoka raised an eyebrow, "hmm..."
Severus Snape was enjoying a toffee apple in the relative privacy behind the primary school building. After deciding he really didn't want to ruin his appetite by staring at horridly coloured birds and butterflies made of cellophane, he gracefully sat down on the grass.
Obviously, he could not allow his reputation to be tarnished...and since it was a 'public holiday', no one would bother being around the school. He gazed up at the clouds bored. 'Damn clouds. Drifting by, untouched...' he took a rather aggressive bite out of his toffee apple. Sure he enjoyed being a Shadowkeeper-Spy...its just that, he would rather spend the rest of his life, in a decent sized mansion, with a decent sized fortune, maybe a cat...he couldn't stand dogs...and some nice peace and quiet.
He stretched out, reapplied his security spells he had woven into the area around him in case of someone deciding to visit his 'little hiding spot'.
Snape finished off his apple and wandlessly banished his apple to the nearest rubbish bin. He rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly where his Shadowkeeper tattoo hid under a thin, but barely noticeable concealment spell...he would had preferred a potion...but if people find concealment elixir in his office, well...he was too lazy to explain it to their simple minds. Besides, knowing what will happen, Dumbledore would probably interfere, and unfortunately, he was also one of the few people in existence who seemed to have a natural resistance against his glares. 'Dumbledore is a fool...good at surviving like goody-goody Potter...but I doubt there is any substance in their hero status. Look at Potter, waltzing in after all these years...perhaps he acted like one of ol' Voldie's loyal servants for a while to stay alive...although I doubt he is graced with any Slytherin skills of self preservation. I don't think it matters to me, he's on his side...I'm on mine. The world is not black and white after all like stupid Dumbledore thinks.'
He laced his long slender potion-master's fingers together and gazed at the clouds floating by.
'Hmm...maybe, just one more? I doubt I will grow as pitifully rotund as Longbottom...'
Looking around with a hint of paranoia, he summoned another toffee apple.
The Hogwart Council decided was having a quick meeting. Dumbledore sat down on his red and blue striped armchair in the old teacher's common room and waved for everyone's attention. He poked the slowly rotating glass coffee table with his wand, and gave a smile of delight as it was suddenly filled up by crackers and dip from the House elves.
Dumbledore frowned, "Where's Severus?"
Everyone shrugged.
"Don't worry about him sir, I'm sure he's off somewhere scaring the little children in the haunted house or something" Sirius remarked loudly.
Ron laughed, "You know that's probably true sir, he's probably practicing acting particularly menacing right now." (Somewhere, Snape nibbled daintily on his toffee apple savouring the sugary taste. He gazed pensively at the sky amusing himself with clouds which looked like three legged bunny rabbits)
Dumbledore nodded with a knowing smile, "Yes, then let us get to business shall we? We need a few people to help with the scoring and administration for the quidditch, the children races, the muggle sports...er...was it basket-hoop, leg-ball and ... tennit?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, correcting him under her breath, "Basketball, football and tennis...surely after ten or so years of organising it all..."
"Thank you Ms Granger, must be the old age getting to be then eh? Now volunteers?"
Fleur, Draco, McGonagall, Ron, Neville and Hermione raised their hands nodding.
"Now, would the rest of you please help with tonight's festivities instead? Is there anything else anyone wants to add?"
Dumbledore reached out for a cracker, then waited patiently until the spring onion dip rotated back around to him.
"Its not really relevant to the topic Albus sir, but about that symbol I found on the back of Harry's neck last time...well, actually, I just couldn't find anything about it. I had thought about it, and I'm slightly suspicious that he might have joined some other organization during the time he disappeared..." Hermione said worriedly.
"If there is no proof, don't worry about it...cheer up 'mione! I'm sure Harry's fine!" Sirius patted Hermione on the shoulder with one hand, the other attempting to juggle crackers.
"I'm sure we can investigate it further later, but for now, let us enjoy the festival!" Dumbledore stood up, brushing crumbs from his sky blue robes. The door to the meeting room swung open, Percy walked in.
"Ahh, sorry I'm late, but err...some of the stall owners are reporting sudden and mysterious disappearances of their toffee apples..."
Darkmont castle was still. Apart from the weary moans from the dungeons and holding cells downstairs, everything was fairly silent. Apart from the few enchanted candles, and apart from the fact that it was broad daylight outside, the inside of the castle is dark and damp.
A heavy wooden door creaked, casting ripples in the cold silence. Dust on the ground shifted as two booted feet stealthily stepped onto the black and green Persian rug. Across the room, another pair of feet stood up gracefully.
"Ahh, you're here my sweet."
The door closed, "Yes, of course Your Highness" It was the voice of a female.
The hollow grating chuckle of the most feared, respected and awed man on the planet gripped the room, "But you know that you, of all people shouldn't call me that"
"Doesn't matter. Does it?"
The same bemused sound, "No actually dearest, it doesn't"
A rustling of black silk, edged in gold, enchanted with blood magicks. An ivory hand stroked a serpentine ornament adorning the armrest of his chair. Faint blue-green light seeped from the ornament, melting down through the leg of the chair, gliding over the Persian rug like oil from an oil spill, the wooden floor, up the cold white walls, across the renaissance style borders on the ceiling before coming to a point in the centre of the ceiling. The light seeped into the room providing a blanket of secrecy and a shield against eavesdropping.
The female trudged across the plush carpet, and helped herself to a glass of wine. Red sweet smelling liquid tumbled out of the rectangular glass bottle. She surveyed the red liquid thoughtfully, "The potion...still not done?"
"No...problems."
"I see, so Severus left did he?"
"He's a foolish traitor, he will be paid his due next time..."
"How about..."
"No, I'm not letting you try either...we had this discussion before. "
"I could..."
"NO, you shall not..." Red eyes flashed, Voldemort stood up, his chair knocked to the side.
Silence. Her head bowed begging for forgiveness, "I'm sorry, Your Highness"
The black silk calmed, swirling around as its owner turned to gaze almost pensively out of a large window. The sparkling lights glittered ironically brightly below in the elaborate nebula of the biggest dark city.
"I do not sacrifice the life of my Most Trusted."
Lee Jordan was up in the commentary stands again, doing what he does best...
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls, Hags and Veelas, werewolves, vampires, house-elves, muggles and magicians alike, and welcome to the 20th annual quiddich tournament!"
Loud hearty cheers replied him from the crowd.
"Now, there are 6 teams entering this year, including the defending champions...THE GRIFFINS!"
Gold and red flags flapped all around, Harry, watching from an unseen vantage point had a sudden sense of déjà vu.
"The other teams include:
GRIFFINS
SNAKES AND LADDERS
SWISH AND FLICK
BADGERS
LEMON DROPS
...and the newest team...err...the SHADOWPOPPETS?"
Harry slammed his fist against his forehead, 'It was supposed to be the "Shadowpuppets"...first it was Venom who wanted to call us the 'Shadowpuppets'...I thought that was bad...but this is worse". He had asked Balatro to sign them up...but seems like the snake can't spell.
"Problems?"
Harry spun around, hand instinctively up ready to defend himself. But seeing who the stalker was, he relaxed, composed himself then turned back to gaze at the hubbub of fun and laughter.
"Venom"
"Want some lunch?" Venom handed him a sandwich, he took it without a thought and nibbled on it.
"It's so strange...the joy and happiness seems so close. I couldn't feel it for ten years...." He took another bite.
"...and still...I can't feel it. Somehow they destroyed it to the core..."
A faint hissing sound alerted them to the appearance of the third member of their party.
"Let's start."
Aye, Aye...Capt'n
A/N: For the sake of public and my own impatience...this chapter is not properly edited. Feel free to point out any serious boo boos I have committed in this chapter. Otherwise, all responses welcome...hmm...I've just realised that my writing style seemed to change...is it just me?
...on second thoughts...fine, is down...
I guess this has to wait a while...shame...
Perhaps while I'm waiting, I'll give you a short piece of amusement for your enjoyment my dear readers (My beta, Xiera, likes this...so she says...)
CHAPTER ONE: REJECTED VERSIONIn a dark dark cell, in a dark dark prison, on a dark dark island surrounded by a dark dark sea. Harry Potter stares out hollowly at the full moon outside his tiny window.
"Why me? Why did they betray me so?"
His cracked glasses lay covered in dust on the cold stone floor. Slow haunting music from a cello played for $2 an hour in the background.
"How come? Don't they trust me? O Woe is me!!"
A dementor swoops in between the cells, some of the other prisoners shriek insanely and back away, the creature's darkness tainting their thoughts. The dementor stopped suddenly, and its robes forgot that the dementor supposedly had a body for an instant as it flapped like a curtain inches above the ground. The cello music was abandoned for a 'cheery' version of Darth Vader's theme on the bagpipes.
"HELLO ALL!"
Harry's fevered emerald gaze turned to the dementor, he never heard a dementor speak before, its ethereal voice seemed to defy the universal law of eardrums.
"DID SOMEONE ORDER A PIZZA?"
The dementor took out a pizza box from under his robes, "IT'S A...YIKES! WHAT IDIOT PUTS ANCHOVIES ON PIZZAS THESE DAYS!?"
If cloaks could frown disgustedly, this one did.
Harry snapped out of his moaning and groaning, "If you don't want it, I'll have it..."
"HMMM..." A skeletal claw reached out from under their robes and plucked an anchovy from the pizza.
"HEY, THEY'RE NOT HALF BAD!"