Chapter 19 - The Traitor

The sounds of screaming students were all too familiar from my nightmares. Ominis and I ran through the halls and towards the Great Hall. My bare feet ached against the cold pebble stones, and I could see smoke flowing through a hole in the roof of the building in front of us. As we clambered through the entrance hall students were coughing and their clothes were full of soot and dust. The professors and some of the older students were ushering the others out of the Great Hall, Natty was amongst them.

"Natty! What happened?"

She had a cut over her eyebrow, and she looked worse for wear.

"There was some sort of explosion, the entire ceiling in the Great Hall has collapsed."

My heart sank at her words. I scanned around for the familiar faces of my friends. I saw Garreth comforting Imelda in his arms by the stairs.

"Where is Poppy?" I asked in a strained voice. Natty was directing younger students away from the doors.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her. The professors are inside trying to remove some of the gravel, there are students still trapped beneath it."

Ominis was tending to a fifth years' wounds as we spoke. Fear burned within me. I couldn't see Poppy amongst the crowd. Without a moment's hesitation I hurried into the Great Hall. I could hear Ominis and Natty shouting at me to come back and that it wasn't safe. I didn't care, I needed to know Poppy was ok. The Great Hall was barely recognisable, it was full of smoke and ash and there was debris everywhere. I could see Professor Weasley and Professor Sharp enchanting debris to levitate as they pulled out students from the rubble. The hole in the ceiling was so huge that you could see the night sky outside, the enchanted ceiling was no more. I kept scanning the faces of the students climbing out from the debris, their faces covered in cuts, bruises, and dust. I started to shake and scream out for Poppy as I made my way through. I was pulling at rocks at a nearby pile shouting her name when a hand grabbed my shoulder. It was Oliver, he too was covered in dust, but he looked otherwise unharmed.

"Riley, you need to come with me. It's Poppy, she needs your help."

My eyes widened and I immediately followed Oliver out of the Great Hall through the rear where there were less students. My heart was pounding, I kept imagining Poppy's petite face with her eyes vacant beneath rubble. Student's cries were still echoing around the walls and the sinister voice was laughing in my head, almost as if it was enjoying all this pain. My head was throbbing with a headache the voice was so loud. I was panting heavily and didn't even realise Oliver was leading us beneath the school. "Where is Poppy? Why are leaving the Great Hall?" Oliver picked up the pace and I had to break into a run to keep up with him.

"Oliver! Slow down, where are you taking us?"

He shouted back at me without stopping, "She was down below the school when the explosion happened, we have to hurry before it's too late."

His words didn't make sense, what would Poppy be doing here? I realised Oliver was leading us towards the Map Chamber entrance and as we neared the corridor with the Map Chamber door I yelled.

"Stop running Oliver! Why would Poppy be down here?"

He ignored me and continued running. An uneasy feeling filled my gut, I didn't want to continue running after Oliver, but if he was the last to see Poppy, I had no choice. Oliver had stopped right in front of the Map Chamber doors. How did he even know they were here? I eventually caught up to him, I was panting and looked around for any sign of my friend.

"I'm not going to ask you again Oliver. Where is Poppy?" He turned to face me, and he had wicked grin on his face.

"Revelio."

He waved his wand and Poppy appeared from beneath a disillusion charm, her mouth gagged, and her hands bound. My eyes widened at the scene as Oliver made his way behind Poppy, gripping from her behind as he pointed the wand at her neck.

"What the hell are you doing Oliver?" His wicked grin grew, and it made me feel nauseous.

"What needs to be done, I need you to open the doors to the Map Chamber."

I started to panic, all of this had happened so fast.

"Let's just take a breath here. Let Poppy go and we can talk about this."

I had my hands up trying to calm Oliver down. I realised in a moment of fear that I didn't even have my wand on me anymore, I must've dropped it as I was pulling the rubble away in the Great Hall. "There's nothing to talk about, it's quite simple. Open the door or I will kill Poppy Sweeting."

Poppy's eyes were wide open and alert, she no longer had the docile look she had had the past few weeks. I could she had been crying as tear marks stained her face and it looked like her lip was cut open.

"Please don't hurt her."

Poppy started to wriggle against Oliver, and he swished his wand as he enacted a non-verbal curse on her. I didn't need to hear the curse to know what he was doing to her. Poppy was wriggling in pain and the scream resonated even through her gag. Oliver held onto her as her body convulsed as the Cruciatus curse pulsated through her.

"Stop it! Please! I will do whatever you ask, just please stop it!"

I screamed at him, and tears had formed in my eyes. His curse ceased and he motioned to the door. Poppy was almost lifeless in his arms and her head was drooping to the side.

"The door, open it now."

Anger charged inside of me, I glared at Oliver as I walked slowly towards the door. I knew what he was after, the repository within the Map Chamber, the source of power Isidora Morganach had created from all the pain she had extracted. I wasn't sure how he knew of it, or even how he learnt of its location. I had so many questions, but right now my only focus was getting Poppy out of harm's way. I looked away from Poppy and focused my eyes on the door. The sinister voice was buzzing in my ears now. I placed my palm on the door and felt the ancient magic flow through my fingertips and into the door's lock mechanism. The door started to shimmer in a silver glow and the lock released and the doors swung open slowly.

"You go first." Oliver gestured for me to lead, his wand still pointed at Poppy's neck.

I walked slowly through the doors and could hear Oliver following close behind, almost having to drag Poppy along. I knew where we were heading, I didn't need to ask. It was still a walk beneath the Chamber to get to the caverns that held the repository. I decided to use the time to try and distract Oliver whilst I came up with a plan to get Poppy out of here.

"Who are you?" Oliver let out a laugh at my question.

"We've actually met before. Granted you wouldn't recognise me as my face was covered at the time, but you demonstrated exactly who you were that night in the Forbidden Forest."

Then it clicked. I remember there was a young wizard being initiated that night into The Blackhand. He appeared to be quite nervous, but that didn't stop him from attempting to torture that muggle woman. "You're part of the Blackhand? You were being initiated that night."

I could hear Poppy stirring and I turned to look at her.

"Eyes forward!" I looked forward again as he spoke, "Yes, that was me, I've come a long way since then. Madam Towe bestowed upon me a very important mission. Seeing that I was already a Hogwarts student it made sense for me to be chosen. I recognised you immediately in the forest, you really shouldn't be flaunting your power so carelessly Riley." His words made me grind my teeth.

"How much further until we reach the repository?" We started to make our way down the cavern, and I could hear the humming voice began to intensify.

"We are almost there. How did you learn of the repository and its location?"

I was eager for answers, and I needed to try and distract Oliver.

"The Blackhand are very resourceful, you should be more careful who you confide in."

The only people that knew of the repository were Ominis, Sebastian and the professors. The professors wouldn't be involved. If they were they would be here instead of Oliver.

"You caused the explosion in the Great Hall?" I could hear Oliver straining as Poppy started to fight against him.

"Cease your efforts stupid girl! Yes of course that was me, I needed a distraction for the professors and to get you alone and away from Gaunt."

His response made me realise the only way Oliver and The Blackhand could've learnt of the repository was from Sebastian.

"It was Sebastian, wasn't it? He told you?" Oliver let out a laugh.

"I suppose you could say that. It's not as if he had much of a choice. We first attempted to torture information out of him, but he wouldn't submit. Eventually a combination of Veritaserum and Imperio gave us the answers we needed. It was quite fortunate that we captured him soon after you revealed the ancient magic."

My mind was racing. Sebastian was captured and tortured. If they had done so soon after the incident in the Forbidden Forest, it meant that Sebastian had been their captive since Christmas. Oh gods.

"Where is Sebastian? What have you done with him?" The ground started to turn to gravel, which meant that we weren't far from the repository now, and my bare feet started to ache. I could see it's light humming over the boulders that blocked its view from our path.

"He's still our prisoner, we thought he might prove useful, and he did in fact. When he started to receive letters from Gaunt and yourself, we forced him to respond so as not to raise suspicion."

The sinister voice was loud in my head I struggled to hear Oliver over it.

"And Poppy? Why did you need to involve her in this?"

Poppy was mumbling beneath her gag and Oliver continued to drag her.

"I needed to get close to you, understand your routine, Poppy was the obvious choice. I used Imperio on her to tell me everything she knew about you. She's been my little puppet these past few months, she's been quite the good little puppet, except for that incident where she tried to give you her Sneakoscope disguised as a gift. I compelled her not tell you anything, she tried to warn you in other ways, but luckily, I intervened. Her last little job was to be used as collateral for this very moment. Your friends have made you weak Riley Dagworth. Now enough talk! Where is the repository?"

Oliver's question was answered as we turned the corner and the repository came into view, but I was not prepared for what we saw.

When I had contained the repository last year it glowed in a silver light and floated peacefully in the cavern. It was not the same. It now radiated in streaks of red and black and pulsated as we got closer to it. The sinister voice I had been hearing, was coming from the repository itself, it hummed with excitement as we approached. It sounded like Ranrok, but more unholy and sinful. Terror filled my veins as I looked upon the terrifying power source, I don't know how it had evolved into this horrific presence. Ranrok had initially consumed the repository's power and it released from him when I had defeated him. The voice was so familiar, it was as if a part of Ranrok had also been contained in the repository now, corrupting the power within. I managed to tear my eyes away from it and glance back at Oliver and Poppy. Oliver's face was consumed by the sight in front of him, his eyes flashed with greed. Poppy's face looked pale and terrified, her fear brought me out of my own paralytic fear.

"There, you have what you came for. Now release Poppy."

Oliver's grip slightly loosened on Poppy, still staring in awe at the repository.

"It is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen, although much larger than I had anticipated." I could see the cogs turning in his head as he spoke.

"How do you intend to leave with it? You cannot Dissaparate out of Hogwarts." I was trying to stall him. Where was Ominis? Surely, he would've noticed when I didn't return from the Great Hall.

"You are so ignorant Riley. The explosion I caused will warrant an emergency visit from the Ministry of Magic, causing all Apparition rules to cease immediately within Hogwarts."

I was out of ideas. I was at the mercy of Oliver and if he would keep his word. I saw a shadow flicker near the boulders by the path we walked down, and I saw a faint outline of Ominis. Oh Ominis! He had followed us down the caverns under a disillusionment charm. Oliver didn't notice, he was too fixated on the repository. I just needed Oliver to release Poppy before I made my move.

Poppy's gag had come lose from her mouth, her eyes met mine and she gave me a silent exchange. My eyes flashed in agreement. Within a moment she bit down hard on Oliver's arm, and he yelped in pain. He instinctively let her go and slapped her so hard across the face that she fell back a few feet. Ominis revealed himself and immediately ran to retrieve Poppy.

This was it. I didn't have my wand, but I didn't need it. I summoned so much power from within me and directed my ancient magic at Oliver with all my force. I heard him yell "Protego," but it only partly shielded him from my blow, sending him flying backwards. The blast ricocheted off his shield and straight towards the repository and it caused the encasing to crack. The cavern rumbled and the ground shook as the repository's cracks expanded. Ominis had laid Poppy by the boulders and had made his way towards me.

"Riley! Are you ok?"

I stared up in panic as the repository encasing started to dismantle and fall to the ground. A disturbing and dark laugh filled the cavern as the power was released once more, floating freely above us.

"Riley, we need to get out of-" Ominis was interrupted by a blast that hit in him in the chest sending him flying across the cavern. He fell to the ground and groaned as he slid a few feet away. Oliver had recovered and now had his wand pointed at me. I was in shock but what I had just done, I had released this evil magic after fighting so hard with Fig to contain it, and it was more powerful than before. I had failed him.

"You are beyond foolish Riley Dagworth, now you will pay. AVADA KEDRAVA!"

With a swift arm movement Oliver redirected his wand at Poppy who was standing near the path. A green light engulfed her, and she was forced backwards against a boulder with the curse, her lifeless body limped to the floor.

Time slowed down as I stood there watching the scene unfold. My breath hitched as I saw the light drain from my friends' beautiful brown eyes. I was lost for words, I just stared at her still body across the cavern. The silence was interrupted by a familiar demonic voice.

"So much pain. So much anguish. Take your revenge. Make him suffer."

I felt the corrupted power float down upon me and enter my chest. I felt a burning hot sensation as it entered my skin and it enveloped itself within and I could feel the power radiating through my fingertips and ablaze in my eyes. It felt seductive and painful at the same time.

"Take satisfaction in your vengeance, make him wish he were dead."

Time returned to its normal pace, and I turned to face Oliver Wright. His face was filled with terror as he looked upon me. I raised my arm and imagined gripping his neck with all my force. He dropped his wand and grasped at his neck, he began to choke. I moved slowly towards him, tightening my imaginary grip around his neck and he began to levitate. Anger, grief, sadness, all of it was fuelling my desire to hurt him, to make him feel the most unimaginable pain. His face started to turn a shade of purple from the lack of airflow and blood started to spill out of every part of his face.

"Mercy, please" Oliver managed to squeak out.

"Riley stop!" I could hear Ominis' voice as if he were a distant memory in my mind.

"Kill him!"

I let the temptation take over and I enclosed my hand into a tight fist causing Oliver's neck to break instantly. I let his limp body fall to the floor and it hit the ground with a thump. I heard a voice laugh within my head and I felt its power resonate within me.

It felt irresistible.

So much power.

I don't know how long I stood there with my eyes closed, breathing in the smell of power and death. I was awoken by a gentle hand touching my arm.

"Riley?"

Ominis stood in front of me, his face was filled with shock, his voice was barely a whisper.

"Ominis?"

He slowly held both my hands, but I could smell his fear.

"Come back to me, come back."

The voice inside of me quietened and I felt the power subside within me, returning to a peaceful slumber.

"Ominis, I don't know what-"

I couldn't finish my sentence. I knew what I had done. I closed my eyes and the tears streamed down my face. I almost collapsed to my knees, but Ominis caught me. He held me in his arms as I sobbed. I lifted my head and saw Poppy's body. I immediately pushed off Ominis and struggled to her. I collapsed near her and held her, lifting her head to mine.

"Poppy, please wake up!" I could hear Ominis' footsteps approach me and he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"She's gone Riley."

I whimpered at his words and wept as I rocked my friend's body, as if she were a baby that I was trying to comfort. A baby that would never wake.