Innovator; Chapter 17: The Entity of all Ends (Patreon)

Author’s Note: Hello my dear patron family. Here’s chapter seventeenth of Innovator. Hope you like it! Do tell how it was in the comments. Also, Chapters 1-14 are on my fanfiction and ao3 profile.

Author Out!

Less than ten chapters of INNOVATOR are left now, including the Epilogue.

“I am Talking.”

‘I am Thinking’

Spells

Death's Voice

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Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving, 

We get stronger and more resilient.

~Steve Maraboli

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INNOVATOR

-Dev Sagittarius Black

~~Chapter 17: The Entity of All Ends~~

.

‘The blessings of life sometimes seem so dreadfully worse than what they actually are,’ Achlys had lived on the mortal plane of life for more than seven centuries. It wasn’t an accomplishment if one knew where to find the people who had lived for thousands of years.

People like them simply lose their identities of what they used to be and, in its stead take on new identities as they watch empires rise and fall. Sometimes they participate in the process; other times they simply sit back and let things happen as time and destiny make way for future generations.

And some simply get tired of living with civilizations, which forces them to move away and take the mountains. They might return to the civilizations one day, but that mostly depends on their mood and the circumstances that need them.

Achlys had never, in her seven hundred and thirty-four years, dreamt of leaving the lands and taking up hermitage. It simply wasn’t what she wished for; there was a lot more to do, and there were many that needed her guidance so that the world could become a more habitable place for all.

And tonight, she was going to do one such thing. They had checked everything again and again; the Triumvirate, along with the health guild and the ICW, was supporting this. Everything was at stake now. And everyone knew that one small mishap would cost them everything.

“Master Atticus,” Achlys called out to him as she stepped into the ritual chamber. “I am assuming that all the preparations have been done and we are ready for the summoning?”

“We can never be more sure of this,” he grumbled, “Still, right now, we are as prepared as we could be.”

“That’s what we can do, Master Wenlock,” Achlys said with a serene smile. She looked throughout the ritual chamber and scanned for the most important person. She found the boy, together with Perenelle, as they stood near the head of the master control runestone that was charged with the magical power of the souls residing in The Valley of the Dead, which was beneath the Guild.

“I hope he is ready for this too,” She whispered to herself, “It won’t do well for any of us if Anubis isn’t ready for the dark days that are to come and the power that he will get to change them into better ones."

“I had a talk with him; Thales is as ready as he could be. He might not want any of this on a personal level, but one thing that the boy understands the most above anything is that he needs to do the right thing here, and out of all of us here, barring you, of course, I won’t trust anyone else who has a better sense of duty and willpower to do what it takes.”

Achlys gave another proud smile at that before she forwarded it towards Harry and Perenell, “Then, I think it is time for us to begin.”

“Anubis, I am assuming that you successfully performed the pre-ritual preparations that were required of you."

“Yes, Guildmaster, I have cleaned myself completely and am as ready as I could be for the ritual,” Harry told her.

“Are you, really?” Perenelle asked him, “How are you feeling, Harry?”

Harry shrugged and swallowed deeply, “I don’t know,” He answered honestly. “Scared, excited, and dreading the outcome as well as anticipating it, is it normal to feel that way?”

“It is,” said Perenelle with a smile, and the other two agreed. “What you are doing is exceedingly brave, and I cannot be proud of you anymore than I already am." She gave him an encouraging smile, “What you are doing is for the betterment of all of the wizarding world, something that the entire world will be grateful for.”

“I will make sure of it,” Atticus grunted, “The ICW already knows about the ritual; your headmaster too. So, if we successfully come out of this war, I will make sure that each and every single one of those bloody mongrels remembers you and what you went through for those shit stains to breathe fresh air again.”

“Atticus!” Perenelle gasped, “Must you be so crass every time you open your mouth?!”

“You can leave if it doesn’t suit your stupid taste, woman; it’s not as if we asked you to stay.

“And who will take care of the elemental placement and fusion that will take place? You? Who can’t even differentiate between gold and  pyrite?"Perenelle scoffed at him.

“THAT WAS ONE TIME!” Wenlock thundered, “And I was half drunk; call it a folly of my youth.”

“We both know what I will say now,” Perenelle smirked and watched as the Arithmancer went a bit red, whether from embarrassment or from anger; she didn’t know. But it was amusing nonetheless.

“Masters,” Achlys said, breaking the glare war between her two friends, “I think it would be better if we returned to our duties for the night. It’s the Winter Solstice now, and the witching hour is about to start in thirteen more minutes.”

The two grumbled a bit, and Harry noticed the fond smile that graced Achlys’ face. The woman loved the two Guildmasters as her actual friends and children. Even when the two usually end up bickering if they stay in each other’s company for longer than five minutes, Sometimes it takes two minutes.

“Anubis, shed your clothing completely, and step in the centre of the Summoning Circle,” Achlys instructed him. “Masters, we should take our place and make sure that everything is ready for the witching hour.”

Harry blushed hard as he looked at the members of the guild that were working inside the chamber. Some of them, like Archmaester Drauma, were checking everything once more while others were looking at him and the Guildmasters as they began their work.

The innovator gulped once to dissipate the bout of shyness and embarrassment that he was feeling. He then slowly started to peel off his clothing, which was a simple white robe and an inner vest that he had adorned after taking the bath to cleanse himself, which was required as the pre-ritual condition.

The Guildmasters went ahead and stood in their own runic circles that were made for each one of them with white ash on the black stone; Achlys stood in the transmission circle, Atticus in the conduction circle, and Perenelle in the fusion circle.

Achlys removed her own robe and wore the amethyst and amazonite head and neckwear that was used to form a link with the multiversal entity. Perenelle started instructing the members when and where to place which stones in the ritual, while Atticus performed the activation of the particular stones that were to start the ritual.

“Looking quite handsome, Harry,” Perenelle laughed when the said boy blushed, "Don’t worry, I am just teasing you, young man, but I can’t say the same for some of our younger members.”

Harry took a glance around the room and blushed even more when he noticed that the women were looking at him as if he were a juicy piece of meat. He gave pleading eyes to Perenelle, who laughed more before waving her hand.

“Must you be so vulgar, woman?” said Atticus, perfectly copying the way she had said it to him earlier, “You are scaring the poor boy.”

“It’s called lightening the atmosphere, Wenlock, something that I am sure you won’t understand.” Perenelle bit back.

“Not now, Masters,” Achlys stopped them, “And Anubis, don’t feel any form of embarrassment. The eyes of death don’t perceive the physical manifestation but the soul that has been in the realms for centuries; it won’t judge you on the way you look; it will judge you on the way you lived, and our clothes are considered a barrier when we are in the presence of such an entity. Also, if it’s any comfort, I don’t think any young eye on you is less than appreciative; take it as a good conscience, child.”

Harry took a deep breath and focused his mind. He tried his best to release all the embarrassment, stress, and anxiety that he was feeling and, in its stead, accumulated strength, power, and confidence. He squared his shoulders and relaxed his breathing before he gave a single nod and said, “I am ready.”

“And so are we,” Atticus announced from his right as he looked at his clock while pointing his wand at the master runestone of the ritual. “It’s time; let’s begin.”

And with that, he activated the stone, connecting it to the power of a thousand souls that came from The Valley of the Dead, and were circulating inside the guild.

The Guild members, Maesters and archmaesters, began the chant, and the first thing that Harry felt was a sudden rise in temperature around him. The magic thrummed around him as the runestones got activated and started channelling their power in the ritual.

Perenelle started muttering in Latin as she activated a plethora of metals around Harry. The activated metals started glowing eerily as they absorbed the power that was around them and utilised it to form a kind of golden barrier around the boy.

Achlys closed her eyes and started to meditate as she focused on her own work in the ritual. The Enlightened One slowly cut off all her senses that would connect her to the mortal world around her and started to forge a new pathway to her patron multiversal entity, Death.

“Perenelle, it’s time for stage two; the hour begins in 1 minute!” Atticus commanded as he signalled the chanting maesters to follow him into verse two.

"Harry, do you see the chalice in front of you?” Perenelle asked the boy, who looked at the golden chalice that was marked with runes inside it. “Pick it up and draw the ‘ankh’ on your palm with the ritual daggers that will be given to you; pour your blood into it; and fill the challice till the runes turn red.”

Harry took the golden dagger that Perenelle summoned from outside his ritual circle, and he only hesitated for a moment before he sliced his palm in the crude shape of the ‘ankh’ and winced when pain erupted from the ruptured area. Still, he placed his bleeding hand over the chalice and watched as his blood poured into it.

By the time the runes turned red, Harry started to feel dizzy with the blood loss, and the pain increased to almost unbearable levels as the boy gritted his teeth and doubled over. Similarly, Achlys eyes scrunched tightly, and her jaws clenched as if she were experiencing Harry’s pain too.

“Atticus! They are-”

“On It!” The Arithmancer said this and changed the activated rune stones. Perenelle, too, levitated a bowl of melting gold and carefully poured it around Harry’s ritual circle. Once the annulus was formed, the gold glowed brightly before settling as a simple ring around Harry, periodically glowing every three seconds.

Harry gasped in relief, and Achlys sighed as both of them escaped from their labours.

“Are you alright, Harry?” Perenelle asked worriedly, and when Harry nodded, she shook her head. “Then release all of your magic in the chalice. Saturate it to the brim till all the runes on it are activated; you have to use all your Runes of Potentia for this.”

Harry remembered that the Guildmaster had asked him not to use his Runes of Potentia and now he understood why. Harry took the blood-filled chalice in his hands and started releasing all of his magic in it. His hair started moving in waves as if under a gentle breeze, and his eyes started glowing silver as he released his magic in the chalice.

“It’s time,” Atticus muttered, signalling for the members to bring forth each of the three hallows. They were placed in a box of black velvet and placed around Harry in a trigram. Said boy kept pouring more and more of his magic into it; already having drained two of his Runes, he activated the third and fourth ones that were on his knees and kept filling the chalice.

“Proceed to stage three!” Atticus announced, and immediately the maesters changed the chant as the castle started to tremble from the power that was circulating within it.

Suddenly Achlys stiffened, and a green aura started to originate from the woman’s frail body. It swirled around her and kept flicking around the Enlightened One.

Perenelle immediately activated all the amazoite and amethyst crystals, and she started chanting hymns in Greek that powered the crystals around them.

Harry started to sweat profusely as he felt the last Rune in the centre of his chest draining the last of its power inside the chalice, while said artefact didn’t show a single sign of being activated. Fear gripped him as he was worried about the chalice. What if his magical power wasn’t enough to activate the chalice? What if the entire ritual got botched just because he was incompetent?

Harry shook his head to rid himself of the insidious thoughts and forced almost every last drop of his magic into the chalice. His head was feeling dizzy now, and he could feel his body slowly going slack. Still, he kept filling the chalice and grunted when the last of his magic was poured into it.

No, he won’t fail it. He will succeed in the ritual; he will overcome the hurdle. Harry swallowed hard; there was only one way now. The boy screamed as he connected the last of his fleeting magic to his life force and started to pour it into the chalice.

“Oh no…” Perenelle gasped when she saw Harry’s magic change from his usual silver to red. She knew that Harry had three levels of power within him, thanks to the Runes of Potentia, the silver was the primary level, the golden was the secondary level, and the black was the tertiary level.

Red meant that the boy had exhausted his reserves and was now using his life force to sustain them. She winced when the person she considered her son screamed in agony. A drop of tear rolled down her cheek as she saw the excruciating pain the boy was in.

She vowed then and there that if the boy would accept it, she would give him her most cherished artefact, something that would help him live a happy and healthy life for a few centuries. She wanted him to accept the stone.

The moment Harry’s life force entered the chalice, the chalice trembled a bit before blinding golden light bathed the entirety of the ritual chamber. Many were forced to shield their eyes from it.

Harry panted heavily as he cut off the connection and controlled himself so that he didn’t fall face first on the stone ground beneath him. The Chalice glowed brightly, each of its runes activated and bathing the fluid inside it into a golden aura. Slowly turning the blood into something akin to liquid gold.

It was then that Harry noticed that it wasn’t just the chalice that was floating; the three hallows of death were floating too, each of them rotating lazily on their own axis with a green aura around them.

Everyone was mesmerised by the power and grandeur of the ritual; the chamber was shaking violently, yet none of the maesters stopped the chanting. Others were too enraptured, as they were probably witnessing an event that would never happen again.

Suddenly the entire chamber stopped shaking; it was again calm as always, and people would have assumed the ritual didn’t succeed if not for the sudden dip in temperature around them. They started to tremble, and their breath came out as translucent vapors.

“Highmaster..?” One of them asked only to be silenced immediately by Atticus; the man didn’t even look at the person because his eyes were now entirely fixed on Achlys. He knew what was coming.

Achlys slowly opened her eyes, but this time they weren’t the usual black pupils that greeted everyone; no, her entire eye was glowing with an opaque green light that seemed to swirl in her with power. The Enlightened One opened her mouth to speak as her eyes focused on the panting and tired form of Harry Potter.

So we meet again...

Harry looked at his Guildmaster and slowly straightened up. He knew that it wasn’t the Guildmaster anymore; she was inside, yes. But this was not her. This voice belonged to their patron entity.

“Death,” Harry greeted and ignored all the gasps around him. The Maesters had stopped their chant, and everyone was looking at the exchange with saucer-wide eyes.

When you joined us, I told you that you would get a boon and that you would know how to attain it.

“I didn’t do this for the boon; I did this because-”

It was the right thing to do? Sure, you did. Death’s voice was thick with sarcasm, You never even wanted the powers, did you, Anubis? It never crossed your mind what you would be able to do with my powers.

Harry frowned at that. “No, it did. There was a thought of using your powers for my personal benefit,” He told honestly, because there were moments when he thought of the utter majesty of the powers of death; he could simply end the lives of all of his childhood tormentors. The people who had made his life a living hell when he was a child.

Then why didn’t you?

“Because I know I will get my chance soon, I will destroy all of them one day, but for that day to come. They need to survive the coming ones,” He told the entity, completely honest with each of his words.

Achlys smiled.

You are quite vicious, Anubis. But just like the god that blessed you with his name, you are a thinker and have measured thoughts without being biassed by the frivolous and trivial activities of mortality. But are you ready to accept my powers?

“I am as ready as I could ever be,” Harry said solemnly. “I know not to be affected by the allure of your power and to only use it when it is needed.”

That you might know, but I never said about the future, Anubis; I meant the past you lived in as Harry Potter.

Harry gulped. He knew that there were acts where he had not done the right thing and chosen the easy pathway. But it wasn’t his fault; he had to do and ignore certain things to survive. Survival was his priority back then, and it was hard to do so if he always did the right thing when he had no power to sustain the world on his own.

Fret not, Anubis; if you fail, then I will leave.

“And what if I pass?” Harry asked the entity, who gave a sinister grin.

We shall come to that if you pass, Anubis. For now, though...

Harry immediately stiffened when he felt a certain chill in his mind as Achlys closed her eyes and started moving her head frantically in every direction.

“What is happening to her?” Harry asked Atticus as they saw Achlys go through a rapid series of movements and then stop all movements with half-closed eyes.

“Your past is being read and judged,” Atticus explained. “She never explained anything to us, but she did explain this one thing: ‘The Entity of all Ends judges you from the beginning of your life’. So, I am assuming that is what is going on right now.”

You would be assuming correct…Atticus, son of House Wenlock, The entity interrupted him. And I have judged your past, Anubis.

Harry gulped; the tone of the entity was neutral, something that neither gave him hope nor did it deny its help.

You have suffered a great loss, Anubis. No child, in any of the planes or dimensions, should go through what you have gone through. I am surprised you are still helping others and not simply going after your perpetrators to free their souls from the confines of mortality.

“I would have, but I have some other plans for them,” Harry growled as he thought of his perpetrators. “Each of them will get their due; I won’t leave any of them.”

While seeking revenge, one digs two graves—one for their enemies and one for themselves. Always keep that in mind.

Harry nodded. He knew that what he was planning for each of the ten families might come back to bite him in the ass later, but that was something that he could deal with by refining his plans once more.

Now, your character and your past might not be true, but your motive has always been right, and the results of your labour have been utilised for the betterment of the world. The entity grinned again. So tell me, Anubis, what do you need my powers for?

And Harry told the entity everything, from the Ancient Prophecy of Destruction given seven centuries ago to the Crevice in creation and the entire Army of Damnation that was about to come to the lands of the living in a few months.

Hmmm….The death of Tom Marvolo is the way to seal the Crevice, but mind you. This needs to be done before the Crevice becomes large enough to let even one of the punished ones pass through. Because if they do, then even Tom Marvolo’s death won’t be able to push the incoming army back.

“What?” Harry’s eyes widened at that, “I thought Voldemort’s death would seal the crevice."

It will, yes. Death nodded, But if, let’s say, five souls entered the Land of the Living and then the Crevice was sealed, Then no more of the punished ones will enter the lands, but the ones who have already entered will have to be searched till the ends of this planet and sent back to the realm forcefully.

Harry gulped at that. This would mean that if the Army of Damnation passed half-way through the Crevice, and then the Crevice was closed by killing Voldemort, then more souls wouldn’t enter, but the ones that had entered would have to be tracked down and destroyed. A more tedious task, that’s for sure.

You will also need to train for at least one year to be able to use even a small amount of my powers.

“But we don’t have that long a time,” Harry told the entity, “The Crevice will be open in six months at most.”

You won’t be able to use my powers in less than a year, chosen one; you will need to train your mortal self to use the powers of someone like me. Still plan on using my powers, Anubis?

Harry gulped at that. He knew that the powers of Death were no joke; he knew that the entity wasn’t kidding when it came to training in the usage of the powers of a multiversal entity. But he was determined to see this end; he pledged to himself that he would train every single moment from now on and live for only one goal: Voldemort’s end and sealing the Crevice before the Army could come through it.

I see you have made up your mind, Anubis. The entity smiled before its grin turned sinister. Then all left was the sacrifice and the essence of the one I had to focus on.

Atticus immediately summoned the red crystal ball that was kept in the corner of the chamber; it was the same red crystal that had Voldemort’s soul piece trapped inside it. He levitated it towards the entity that held the Crystal and frowned at it.

There are two of my children inside it; which one?

“The one with the darker aura,” Harry told, "Is the soul piece of Voldemort or Tom Riddle.”

The entity hummed and shook its head within Achlys body. Why would mortals foolishly attempt to cheat me with these filthy tricks is beyond my understanding. One must understand that one simply cannot escape me forever, for I am the truth that everyone has to accept one day or another. It looked at Perenelle and smiled when she stiffened, One day, I will claim each and every single one of my wayward children.

But for now...

Death snapped its fingers, and the soul of Tom Riddle was pulled out of the crystal. It screamed when it felt the cold grasp of the entity and tried to free itself, but in the end, the entity didn’t let it escape, and the soul piece vanished with a puff of black smoke.

Death hummed once more before it looked at Harry, Now, what are you willing to sacrifice, Anubis? The entity grinned, Remember, the sacrifice must be of equal power to the powers bestowed upon you.

Harry bowed as he pointed to the four floating objects: “My magic, my blood, a small amount of my life force, and of course, your three gifts to mankind,” He pointed to each of them, “They are all yours.”

Death’s eyes widened when it saw the hallows that it had given to mankind. More to the three practitioners of its magic who had sacrificed a hundred souls each in its name to attain a single one of those artifacts.

The entity snapped its fingers once, and each of the artefacts vanished while the chalice was drained to the last drop and the now empty container fell to the ground.

You will be the last one who will be able to use my gifts, Anubis. And with you, the gifts will also return to my realm. The entity snapped its fingers once again, and Harry screamed in pain when he felt something being burned in his back.

And now it's time to forge the connection….I need a pathway of souls, for I cannot step into the mortal realms myself; the souls will have to act as my connection to you during the exchange.

The entity closed its eyes once more and muttered something. It was all silent, and everyone was looking around fearfully to see what was going to happen now. One could never be careful with an insidious and conniving entity like Death.

Let’s see what you are made of, Anubis.

Some of them screamed, while others gasped in surprise and shock when they saw what the entity had done. Souls, the ones that were in the graves of The Valley of Dead, were coming out of the ceiling, the floor, and the walls of the chamber. They came into being and started floating in the chamber in a haphazard direction.

“Start the last phase!!” Atticus screamed and activated the last stage of the runestones as all of the souls merged to form a bridge from Death to Harry.

Harry and Achlys, both screamed in pain when the transmission of Death began. The entire building shook, and cracks appeared in the floor and walls. Some of the members started to panic and ran away from the chamber when the shaking didn’t stop.

Perenelle knew that the ritual wouldn't last long if the souls powering the Master Runestone were all consumed during the transmission. She released her magic and let it flow into the Master Runestone of the ritual to stabilise it long enough for the transmission to be completed.

“Perenelle, what are you doing!” Atticus screamed loudly, but Perenelle just looked at the ongoing transmission and the runestone. It only took a moment for Atticus to understand, and he too joined her as they started to fill the void that was left by the sudden lack of magic powering the ritual.

Other archmaesters and maesters also joined in stabilising the master runestone and kept on chanting the last stages of the ritual hymns as everyone else ran out of the chamber because they knew that the ceiling was about to fall anytime now.

Suddenly there was a blast of magic from Harry that blinded them all for a few seconds. The backlash threw each one of the remaining ones to the periphery of the chamber, and the ceiling gave way as it fell.

Perenelle rubbed her forehead as she slowly got up from the floor. She shook her head to rid herself of the dizziness and looked around the chamber. The entire thing was destroyed; the ceiling had fallen down, and Perenell could see the shafts of morning light that were piercing the ever-present thunder clouds that were over the guild.

“HARRY!!” She screamed when she remembered that the boy was in the centre of the chamber when the ceiling had fallen. She got up hurriedly and winced when she felt the ache in her back and legs.

“Ventus Maxima!” The dust that was floating in the chamber and obscuring her vision was pushed away, and the living Flamel looked at the centre of the chamber. She sighed in relief at what she saw.

Both Harry and Achlys were safe. They were both sleeping inside a translucent hemisphere that had protected both of them from the falling ceiling and kept both of them safe. She noticed that Harry’s body was giving off a soft green and silver glow, while Achlys had aged almost a hundred years and was looking no more than a shrivelled corpse.

But both of them were breathing as their chests rose and fell in a slow rhythm. Perenelle saw Atticus grumble a bit and threaten the members of the health guild as they tried to help everyone who was injured. She smiled at the grumpy old man, without whom the ritual wouldn’t have ended successfully.

Oh yes, the ritual was complete, and it was a success.

.

Draco Malfoy looked around himself once more; the corridor was empty. He internally cheered at being successful in fending off his two bodyguards and his needy girlfriend, who was starting to annoy him with all the Yule Ball talk.

Honestly, couldn’t the girl see that he was busy doing an important task for the Dark Lord? Couldn’t she understand that he wasn’t interested in stupid balls? They had attended many grand balls during their childhood, so why go through all this fuss? Draco could never understand how her mind worked.

He shook his head as he tried to focus more on the task at hand. He checked around himself again before he started walking down the seventh-floor corridor, searching for the tapestry of a man trying to teach dance to a bunch of trolls.

According to the Dark Lord, this is where the door was, and he needed to get to the door to retrieve the artefact that his lord had tasked him to fetch.

The Malfoy heir still couldn’t believe that his father was foolish enough to misplace such an important gift from the Dark Lord. Still, Draco took his father’s downfall in stride because if it wasn’t for his father’s failure regarding the prized artefact, then Draco knew he would have had to wait for a really long time to get the honour of being marked and even longer to sit on the table of the Inner Circle.

“It seems like this is the place,” Draco muttered when he saw the aforementioned tapestry. He turned to look at the large expanse of wall in front of him and checked the entire corridor once more to see if there was anyone following him.

No one. Not a single soul.

The Malfoy heir gave a satisfied nod as he started walking in front of the wall, thinking of a place to hide things. After the third round, Draco felt a shift in the air around him as the wall slowly started to morph into a huge door.

When the door was completely formed, Draco took one last look around the corridor to check for anyone before he finally opened the large doors and stepped inside the room.

What he saw took his breath away.

He was standing in a room the size of a large cathedral, whose high windows were sending shafts of light down upon what looked like a city with towering walls, built of what Draco knew must be objects hidden by generations of Hogwarts inhabitants.

There were pieces of broken furniture littered around the room and thousands and thousands of books, parchments, and scrolls, no doubt banned, graffitied, or stolen. Chipped bottles of congealed potions, hats, jewels, several rusting swords, cloaks, and a bloodstained axe.

Draco shook his head again. This place was like a slum for artifacts. One might consider it a hidden gem mine especially if they were either a Ravenclaw or a poor beggar living off of thrown pennies in the streets of Diagon.

Fortunately, Draco was neither. Therefore, he scrunched his face at the rotten old and mouldy smell that wafted around him as he started to move deeper in the absolute town of useless artefacts. He knew where it was that he came here for, and the Malfoy heir wanted nothing more than to get it and move out of the room as fast as possible.

Draco searched for some time before he finally found it. Perched on top of a bust wearing a dusty old wig, Draco found the tarnished diadem that he had been tasked by the Dark Lord to retrieve.

The blonde winced when he felt the wave of compulsion that hit him, telling him to wear the Diadem, something that the Dark Lord had specifically warned him against. Draco strengthened his mental shields, and even then he knew that he would fall to the compulsion sooner if he didn’t do something about it.

Cautiously, Draco raised his wand at the Diadem and said, “Wingardium Leviosa." The diadem trembled a bit before it was levitated from the bust and gently placed into the curse-resistant leather bag that his aunt Bellatrix had provided him with.

Even though he had not held the diadem, Draco could still feel the dark magic and power that rolled off of the artifact. He was just glad that it was all over now and released his shields when he felt the compulsion to be suppressed. Now all that was left to do was wait till the Yule Ball for the holidays to begin and then take this back to the Dark Lord.

Draco gave a proud smile. He thought of how the Dark Lord would pat his back and praise him before giving him his second task. He could feel his excitement at the thought of being included in the inner circle so easily.

He opened the giant doors again and stepped outside into the seventh-floor corridor. Unfortunately, in his small bout of happiness and excitement, the Malfoy heir had forgotten to check his surroundings. Something that he would curse himself for the rest of his measly stay at Hogwarts because, as soon as he stepped outside the room, the last thing he had seen was a bright flash of red, and his world turned black.

“Do you think he will be alright?" Angelique asked out loud as she placed her wand inside the holster and looked at the other girl.

Daphne smirked, “Oh, don’t worry about that. I doubt that a simple fall would be that painful; after all, he has to be ready for what’s coming for him  later." The Greengrass heiress said with a small glint in her eyes something that didn’t settle well with the French diva.

"Please, Daphne, don’t do anything that we both have to regret later,” Beaufort begged the girl, “I didn’t get away from cursing one heiress just to get caught for cursing another one.”

“Then you wouldn’t have any qualms about taking Malfoy back into the room and tying him up, would you?” Daphne smirked at the French diva, who shook her head in disappointment, “I just don’t want either one of us to be caught; I don’t care about what you do with Malfoy.”

Daphne waved the other girl off, “Don’t worry about useless things; take this freak inside, and I’ll join you soon.”

“I thought you would be joining?”

Daphne hummed, “I will. I am more interested in what he is hiding in that bag. I am assuming that the sole reason Malfoy came back yesterday was to get that thing, whatever it is.”

“Suit yourself." Angelique flicked her wand at the prone form of Draco Malfoy and levitated him back inside the room, momentarily stopping when she saw the bag. She knew she had seen similar markings before; she just couldn’t remember where.

Daphne picked up the leather bag and opened it. She winced at the wave of dark magic that erupted from within the bag and peered inside. Her eyes glazed over when the heavy wave of compulsive magic assaulted her mind as she looked at the artefact inside the bag.

“A Tiara…?”

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Ending note: There you have it fellas, chapter Seventeen of Innovator, hope you liked it.

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With regards,
Dev Black