Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 74: Susan's Test of Loyalty
Amelia unlocked the door to Section D of the Museum and walked inside, soon followed by Susan and Harry.
This was a single rectangular room. There were dozens of long shelves across the walls, all of them protected behind thick glass and metallic bars.
"Here we are…now what?" Amelia asked, hoping to get this over with. Her eyes moved to her niece, who was still tightly grasped by Harry. The moment she could get those two away from each other, she would have to act quickly.
Harry pointed, not to the side shelves, but to one of the showcases that had been set throughout the middle of the room.
There were three in total, and these were obviously meant to be the main attraction.
The one pointed at by Harry was the one closest to them.
Amelia knew exactly what had been locked inside the cases. The dark knowledge contained in those books could never be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Blood Rituals, Necromancy, and… Demonology. The three most forbidden branches of magic.
"Open it." Harry pointed to the first case, the one containing the Codex Daemonium he was looking for.
Amelia glared at him.
"I told you not to waste my time." Harry grasped Susan's neck. "Do you want to see your niece scream again?"
"No…that's not necessary. I was just…trying to remember how to open this case." Amelia turned around. "They are some of the most secure containers we have… created by the Department of Mysteries."
The container had a wooden structure with four legs and a glass top so people could see inside.
All across the top wooden part were dozens of runes engraved on the case.
Amelia took a moment to think before running her wand over the runes and tapping them in a very specific pattern.
If she got it wrong, she would suffer a magical discharge, and Harry was likely to lose his patience and kill her niece, so Amelia had no choice but to really open it.
Although she had no intention of allowing Harry to leave the Ministry with something so dangerous.
The casing made a soft noise, and a moment later, the glass cover lifted into the air and moved aside.
"It's unlocked…" Amelia glared at Harry again.
"Step away from there. Oh, and you can throw your wand away now," Harry instructed.
"Now look here, I have done everything you asked. Now let my niece go!" Amelia was trying to sound intimidating, but in reality, she was terrified for Susan's well-being.
Harry smirked. "You know what?, You are very much right, Miss Bones. You have done your part, so I should do mine as well." He moved Susan's head back and whispered something into her ear while keeping his eyes on Amelia, who could no longer hide her fear.
After doing that, just as he promised, he let go of Susan and pushed her forward.
"Come here," Amelia said with urgency to her niece, and this one obeyed, practically jumping into her arms.
"Aunt Amelia!"
"Shhh… It's okay. I got you now." Amelia hugged her niece tightly with one arm while her other hand grasped her wand.
As soon as she felt that Susan was safe, Amelia turned her attention to Harry and was ready to unleash her full fury on him. "You are going to pay for this… Potter. Or whoever you are."
The smirk had not disappeared from Harry's face, and this made Amelia very uneasy. She had no idea why Harry had suddenly changed his mind and let Susan go, as he must have been aware that releasing the hostage would be like giving away his only protection.
Harry proceeded to ignore Amelia as she pointed her wand at him and approached the case, taking a peek inside.
"Yes… This is it." The book was quite large, measuring around twenty by thirty inches, and was made of some black leather.
There were no inscriptions on the cover. Just a few strange symbols that Harry recognized as the language used by some demons.
He was now sure that this was what he had been looking for.
As he reached to grab it, Amelia shouted at him to stop.
Harry did so and glanced at her with amusement, speaking in a commanding tone. "Go on. Do it."
Amelia thought he was challenging her to fire a spell at him and wondered what he was up to.
But she was completely wrong and could never have predicted what happened next.
"Urgg!" Amelia felt something hitting her stomach.
A painful sensation invaded her and made her look down.
It was then that she saw a blade poking from her stomach, being held by her own niece.
"S-Susan… what… w-what are y—ahh!" Susan pulled the knife out of her belly with a swift motion before stabbing her again.
Amelia screamed and pushed her niece away from her.
From the struggle and shock at having been attacked by her own family, Amelia lost her balance and fell on her back.
The knife buried itself further, and she screamed in agony.
She stared at her niece with incredulity. "Why?..." She didn't understand anything now.
And Susan looked as confused as her.
"I was asked to…" Susan simply answered.
"You…" Her eyes went from Susan to Harry, who was now busy taking out the giant book from the wooden case.
She clenched her teeth and fired a spell at him.
Harry didn't even need to avoid it, as Amelia was unable to aim properly and ended up hitting one of the glass-covered shelves near the back wall.
"Tsk…" Harry shook his head. "You should have stabbed her in the neck. What a useless girl you are."
"What did you do to Su–?!" Amelia began to cough blood.
Harry left the book on the floor and turned his attention to the Auror. "Since you want to know so badly… I turned your niece into my slave with a powerful artifact of my own creation."
After saying this, he fired a curse at Amelia's right hand, burning it away along with her wand.
"Ahhh!" Amelia cried.
"Now, Susan. Finish the job. Stab your aunt in the neck and kill her already. Can't you see she is suffering?"
"Aunt Amelia is suffering?... right." Susan approached Amelia and knelt beside her as this one grunted and cried from the pain.
"I'm sorry…" She grabbed hold of the knife and pulled it off her belly, making the woman scream again.
"S-Su…" Amelia had blood pouring out of her mouth. She could only watch her niece with tears in her eyes as this one buried the knife in her neck, just as Harry ordered her.
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