Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author's notes-
Chapter 160: The Voice
Harry clenched his left arm as a wave of intense pain invaded him. Tendrils of black ink moved across his skin, breaking it apart and forming intricate marks on its surface.
He was accustomed to feeling pain by now. He could break a few bones, and his facial expression would barely change. He could withstand the effects of the Cruciatus Curse without screaming, but this... this was a different type of pain.
The brand was not just being engraved into his flesh and bones but also his very own soul, tearing it asunder and changing it.
'I had hoped but… I didn't get rid of this damn thing, it followed me here… attached to my very being.' Harry lamented.
The pain continued to increase until Harry could not help but scream out loud.
"Harry!" Daphne exclaimed, alarmed. She had never seen him like this before. No matter how difficult the situation got, Harry always maintained his poise.
"What's wrong with him?" Selene asked, not understanding what was happening. The demon had not even touched him so he couldn't have been injured.
From where Sebastian was standing, he saw a brand appear on Harry's arm. It started on his left shoulder and continued to grow across the surface of his skin, forming an intricate shape.
The demonic centipede noticed the change in Harry and suddenly became very interested in him.
Its yellow eyes opened widely, as did its mouth. The tendrils inside it moved around very fast as the demon made a guttural noise and approached Harry.
"Stop!" Daphne yelled at the demon, afraid it wanted to hurt Harry.
"Stay away from him!" She took out her wand and pointed it at the creature.
The infernal gate started to ripple again and changed color towards a golden tone.
The family glanced at it, expecting with dread to see a new demon trying to make their way into their home.
But instead...the only thing coming out of the gate was a soft voice...the voice began to speak in a bizarre language they could not identify.
"What is that?!" Sebastian shouted.
The sounds coming out of the gate were piercing into his mind and bypassing all his mental defenses with no effort.
What he was hearing were not words, but there was a hidden meaning there that he was unable to understand.
"Get out of my head!" He shouted.
The centipede demon switched its attitude immediately after hearing that voice. Its curiosity was then replaced by shock and then...anger.
The centipede demon glanced at Harry with its intense yellow eyes and hissed at him.
Not even a second later, the demon lunged with its human arms at Harry, as it was trying to grab him.
"Dobby, now!" Harry shouted the command to his elf.
The little house-elf did not hesitate after hearing the order and threw the shining potion he had been holding in his hands, as his Master had instructed him before coming into the Greengrass residence.
The potion impacted Harry, the demon, and the gate. The glass container shattered into a hundred pieces, and a wave of blinding light rushed out, filling the room completely.
They all heard the demon let out a blood-curdling scream but were unable to see anything.
The light prevented them from seeing but did not hurt them in any way. In fact, they all felt warm and protected under its embrace.
This event only lasted for about ten seconds, and then… there was absolute silence.
As their vision returned to normal, they did not hear the demon or the strange voice again.
When they were finally able to see again, the hideous creature was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the infernal gate.
They only saw Harry, kneeling on the ground next to the stone platform, which was now cracked in half.
Daphne ran to his side while her parents tried to make sense of the situation.
Harry was still clutching his left arm and looked to be in deep pain.
"Are you hurt?" Daphne looked at him up and down but could not find any visible injuries. "We have some strong healing potions; I can bring you some."
"No… just need a moment…" Harry breathed with difficulty. "I'll be fine."
"Is it over? Is it really gone?" asked Sebastian while clutching his head.
"What was that?!" That presence peeking thought the infernal gate had been trying to enter his mind. In a way, it had been a lot more terrifying than the Centipede demon.
"Yes… the demon is gone, and the gate is closed. You are all...safe."
"Master Harry!" Dobby looked at him with concern.
"I'm okay, Dobby… you did a good job back there." Harry gave the elf deserved praise before he glanced back at Sebastian.
"You should go check on your daughter."
The Lord gasped. So many terrifying things had happened in the last few minutes that for a moment, he had forgotten why they were doing this in the first place.
Both parents ran to Astoria's bed to get a close look at her.
"She is breathing," Selene noticed with relief… she was alive.
Some color had returned to her skin; she was still pale but now looked more natural at least.
"She looks much better now!" Sebastian said with a smile.
"Hmm…" Astoria moaned, and her eyes moved.
"She is waking up!" Selene exclaimed.
Daphne stood up after hearing this and ran to the bed. "Astoria!" she called.
"Mmmm." Astoria opened her silver eyes with some difficulty and glanced at her family. "Good… good morning…."
The family cried tears of happiness and relief.
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