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A Riddle To Be Solved Ch. 15
🕑 Added 2024-08-08 00:50:17 +0000 UTC“I think we finally have it down.” Lyra said as Delphi practiced an arpeggio on the grand piano.
Harriet nodded. “No time like the present, is there?”
Lyra smiled at her, reaching out to touch her furry face. “Thank you, wolfie. If it wasn't for you, I think we would have fallen apart.”
Harriet blushed. “You would have been fine. You're all brilliant.”
“And you are too.” Lyra said.
“Can you two cut it and come play this song? I'm getting really tired of this place.” Fleur called out from her spot next to Delphi on the piano.
The older girls rolled their eyes as they walked over. Fleur had Bellatrix on her lap, violet eyes peering at them as blankly as ever as they squeezed themselves in.
“Alright, remember your parts when they come in, we don't want any screw-ups.” Lyra said.
Delphi scoffed. “You two just make sure you don't screw anything up. We'll be perfect.” She smiled at her twin.
“We'll all be perfect.” Harriet said, cutting through any sibling animosity and offering them all nods of encouragement.
Even after Harriet's rudimentary piano lessons, the piece they'd been tasked with playing, Summer and Autumn, was far too complicated for any one of them to play well. After many failed attempts, they had settled on an alternate path.
They would all play simultaneously, each responsible for a section of the keyboard.
Of course, that had been fraught with its own issues, mainly the problem of all four of them trying to synchronize their playing. There had been a lot of yelling and name calling, but in the end, they'd finally managed it.
Well, Harriet hoped they had, anyways. Everyone wiggled their fingers as they spread out over the bench. Harriet swallowed, cleared her throat and then settled her fingers over the keys.
She felt nerves creeping up from her spine all the way to her fingertips. There wasn't exactly a time limit, but she didn't want to waste any more time, not when the fate of daddy and Emily was hanging in the balance.
She let out a breath and played. She let go of of everything surrounding her, let go of her self doubts and fears as she lost herself in the dulcet tones of the tune, a tune she had practiced so much it was engraved in her skull.
When she finished playing her section, Fleur picked hers up seamlessly. Harriet placed her fingers on the keys, eyes closed and ears perked up.
Lyra played, then Delphi, and then it was back to her for a scant few seconds before Lyra took over again.
The girls relaxed, falling in groove with the haunting notes coming off the grand piano. As the piece picked up in speed, they had no issue, transitioning between each other with an effortless elegance that would have left any observer flabbergasted.
Before she knew it, she was hearing Fleur play the final three notes before it was her turn to close the piece up, and with a growing smile on her face, Harriet tickled the keys.
The final note reverberated throughout the empty white space, echoing out into the nothingness. It began to dissipate, and the girls feared that nothing would happen, when the sound came rumbling back, twice as strong as before.
The girls actually had to brace themselves against the piano as the wall of sound crashed against them. They ducked their heads, and when they lifted them back up, there was a door in front of them.
It was both big and plain. The girls scrambled off the bench as they looked at the smooth brown wood in awe and relief.
“We did it!” Delphi screamed.
They all hugged Harriet, who flushed once again in embarrassment.
Let's get out of here.” Lyra said as she hoisted Bellatrix up onto her chest. Bella had her fingers tightly wrapped around the folded up folio, which Lyra took from her grasp.
“I need for her to talk already, just to see what's in her head.” Delphi said as she eyed the baby wearily.
Harriet grabbed the knob and turned it, pushing the door open.
Blinding light rushed in as they stepped out. They shielded their eyes as they walked forward. As they exited, the light suddenly vanished, and they were once again able to take in the surroundings.
The door was gone. They were standing in the middle of an all too familiar hallway, one of the many hallways of Hogwarts. But the question now was, which Hogwarts was this?
“Doesn't hurt to be cautious, I guess.” Lyra said as all four girls pulled out their wands. They stalked quietly through the castle, all of them having subconsciously agreed to head for the Great Hall.
They met no one in their path, and nothing they saw gave a hint as to exactly where they were. There were no strange decorations, no standout features, just portraits and torches, as there had always been.
By the time they reached the double doors their hearts were all beating a mile a minute. But they pushed on, wands at the ready as they entered the Great Hall.
Many heads turned their way. There were dozens and dozens of small, round tables, all of them occupied by witches, both old and young.
At the center of the room, on the raised platform that usually held the head table, sat a golden throne carved in the shape of a serpent. Sitting upon that throne was a tall, voluptuous woman with long, dark red hair and crimson eyes. Her skin was an unnatural, chalky white, her nose small enough that at first glance it might appear to not exist at all.
On the woman's lap was a boy, looking no older than thirteen. He had raven hair and emerald green eyes that shone bright behind a pair of glasses. Said boy's cock was out for all to see, being stroked by the woman.
Or at least it had been, until the girls had interrupted the proceedings.
“And who exactly might you be?” Lady Voldemort asked as she paused her stroking of her baby boy's shaft, though she did not make a move to tuck him back into his pants.
Used to such public displays of sexuality, the girls boldly walked deeper into the room.
“I'll question them, mistress!” A wild haired witch yelled from one of the tables.
“Simmer down, Bella. Our guests will answer to me, at this very moment.”
The girls bowed their heads as Harriet stepped up, her lupine features and furry body drawing many intrigued looks.
“Lady Voldemort.” It was a bit of a stab in the dark, but considering who she was looking at, it wasn't much of one. “We need your help. Our daddy is in danger, he's under attack, and we think those who attacked him might try to go after you next.”
Gasps were heard across the hall as a blonde witch scoffed. “There is no one on this earth who would dare go against our mistress!”
“They're not of this earth.” Lyra said ominously.
Voldemort's eyes narrowed at that as Harry cupped his hands and whispered rapidly into her ear.
“And who is this father of yours, girls?”
“Harry Gaunt.”
…
“How much longer?” Harry J. asked in an annoyed tone, his fingers drumming on the table.
“It'll just take a little bit more, sir.” The young technician said as he sat across from him. Between them, a strange machine was rapidly spinning a small vial of blood.
“If I had invented it, it would have worked already. And it'd look a lot sleeker than this boxy piece of crap.” Harry said.
The machine dinged and hissed as a small roll of paper began to slowly print out from the side, making Harry groan. “Paper? Really? You couldn't make the read out a screen?”
The man's mouth turned into a thin line as he tore the paper out from the machine, holding the long slip between both hands as he read it out.
“You were correct sir. I've never seen something quite like this, your being was subtly altered at a cellular level, it has increased your lust twelve-fold while lowering your inhibitions in kind.”
Harry J. nodded along. “What else?”
The man shook his head. “Nothing else, sir. Besides that, your magical systems all seem normal, and your body is not being impacted in any other way.”
Harry J. snorted. “I see.”
“We could get started on the cleansing now, sir. It'd only take two sessions to clear this curse from your bloodstream.” The technician said.
Harry J. looked at the man as if he were an idiot. “Cleanse? Why would I want that cleansed? You can go now.” He shooed him away.
The man bowed his head as he grabbed his big, clunky machine. Harry watched on in disdain as the man had to carry it by hand, not being skilled enough to figure out a way to pair with the magitek software without ruining the sensitive internals.
When the door shut behind him, Harry chuckled, glancing at the snow-globe on his desk.
“That's all you had for me? Make me hornier?” He grabbed the snow-globe and tossed it up in the air before catching it.
“Nothing else? No withering curse? No madness? Nothing that would at least have made me sweat? What? Did you think I would get so caught up in my lust that I'd slowly unravel? Well. You're wrong.”
He grabbed his phone and opened up his favored social media app. It only took two scrolls for the algorithm to bless him with what he wanted, a video of a girl who had turned herself into a tiger dancing seductively, flipping her short skirt for the camera and giving enticing flashes of her round little bum under her long tail.
Two things stood out for Harry in this video, which already had five million likes. First, the girl had gone a bit further in her feralizing journey than Lara had: she was fully covered in fur, her face almost fully tiger-like, her hands fully turned into paws. She was a full-on hybrid. The second thing was that this girl was young, younger than Lara. Barely twelve, by his estimation.
He went to work, going to her profile and sending her a private message. Barely a minute passed before the girl answered, gushing about being texted by the Harry J. Potter.
He grinned as he easily sweet talked the girl. He would have Lara and Hermione pick her up and bring her in later tonight.
He received another text from his messaging app. It was one of his workers from the other universe, a simple text to tell him that the servers were up and running at full capacity.
Harry grinned as he jumped from his seat and planted the snow globe on the desk, twirling with glee as he cracked his neck.
“All you did was give me a gift, you primitive copy. I'll enjoy all this newfound lust, and it wont even put a dent in my productivity.”
He chuckled to himself as he walked off. With the servers now up and running, using the ambient magic of an entire world, he would be able to work on his new project in earnest.
His new project. His ultimate project. A project that, once completed, would etch his name onto eternity.
There was one final enemy that needed to be defeated.
…
…Lucky Harry's world…
“...get up, come on, daddy!”
Harry's eyes fluttered open. The distinct nastiness that a long, deep sleep left in his throat making itself know.
He slowly registered his surroundings. His same bed, same room, unchanged over the past few decades, and at the foot was a vision of red headed beauty.
It wasn't Ginny. She was younger, slimmer and taller, with emerald eyes that immediately caught one's attention.
“...Lily?” He asked hoarsely.
His daughter laughed, such a melodic tune that stirred something deep within him.
“Its not like you to sleep in like this, daddy.” His daughter said in a lightly mocking tone.
Harry shook his head as he blinked away the cobwebs in his head. “What time is it?”
“It's ten.” Lily said. “Ms. Harper flooed to check in on you, she said she put you down for a sick day.”
“Sick day? No! I need to-”
He froze as Lily put a hand on his leg. There was an entire duvet between her hand and his bare skin, and yet he burned as if she had touched him directly.
“Dad, its fine. Everyone knows how hard you work, one day off wont hurt you.”
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat as Lily finally lifted her hand off of him. “Your mother?”
“Mum left with aunt Angie. I think they're going to do one of their old quidditch workouts. She said something about needing to get back in shape to keep up with you…” Lily's cheeks flushed in embarrassment as it dawned on her what her mother had been getting at. Harry diverted his gaze, exerting all his willpower on a losing battle against his growing erection.
He cleared his throat. “...and your brothers?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Al went back to his dragons this morning. James is doing whatever James does.” She then shot him a smile that set his soul ablaze. “It's just you and me today, daddy. I'm going to go make us a late breakfast, and then you're going to cuddle me while we watch tv. Just like old times.”
Harry's throat went dry as his daughter turned and left the room, leaving him wrestling with the monster that was growing inside of him. He couldn't… he shouldn't do what kept running through his head. The graphic, explicit images did not stop, and as much willpower as he had, Harry felt he was fighting a losing battle against the growing hunger that he felt.
…
The girls sat around quietly, each staring off into nothingness as they waited for the verdict of the woman in the center of the room.
They were in the headmaster's office, or headmistress in this case. They had been here for a half hour now, mostly in deep silence, as Lady Voldemort conferred with her lieutenants: Bellatrix, Narcissa, Amelia and Andromeda.
And along with them, closest to the ruler of all she surveyed, was Harry Potter.
They talked in hushed voices, privacy charms preventing the girls from making out anything of what they'd spoken.
Finally, there was a break in the monotony. Lady Voldemort lifted hear head, and the veil of secrecy around them broke.
She held her hand out. “Give me the book.”
It was a command, not a request. The girls looked nervously at each other, but Lyra handed the folio over to her nonetheless.
The Dark Lady looked at it, rifling through the pages before showing them to Harry.
“What do you think, my love?”
The young boy, who up to this point had looked more like a pet than a person, now had some determination coloring his teenaged face. “I can see it, mommy.”
Voldemort smiled as she looked at the girls, noting their curious looks. “My baby boy is quite special, and has revealed a particular talent for one obscure field of magic. Music.”
Harry dipped his head in embarrassment as Voldemort ruffled his hair lovingly. “Not only can my Harry play your pieces, he can create new ones. With this, we can travel between dimensions easily.”
“So you'll help us?” Harriet said.
Voldemort chuckled darkly. “I am obligated to do so. Magic is an ancient, primal force. And even someone as I, who had gone beyond most others in exploring its limits, knows there are things that cannot be disturbed. I owe your father a debt, and it must be repaid.”
“Plus, its the right thing to do.” Harry said meekly.
Voldemort laughed once again as she rained kisses down on her boy. She was joined by the other women, who all huddled around Harry and kissed and groped him, rubbing their bodies against him.
Lyra cleared her throat, and Voldemort looked at them with lust filled eyes.
“Of course. Bellatrix, find a room for our guests while we work out the… kinks in our plan.” As she spoke, Harry moaned while on either side of him, Narcissa and Amelia buried their tongues into his ear.
Bellatrix pouted, but she followed her mistress’ orders, leading the girls out of the room as they heard things get steamy behind them.
The girls walked in silence as they trailed behind the witch's long, wild curls. Fleur, who was carrying their own baby Bella, glanced between the child and the woman, curiosity getting the better of her.
“Excuse me, missis Bellatrix.”
Bellatrix's eye twitched. “Yes?”
“Were you this weird as a baby too?”
“Fleur!” Harriet snapped as the girl held up baby Bella to her older self. The baby stared right at her counterpart, who actually shivered before looking away.
Bellatrix scratched under her chin as she got an thoughtful expression on her face. “Bella's mind's been a little loopy ever since Azkaban… but I remember my dearest mother saying I was an ickle little spawn of satan.” She smiled proudly at that. “But I remember my baby portraits, I couldn't stop moving… this little Bella creeps me out.” She glared at her baby self, who stared back impassively until older Bella broke off eye contact.
After being dropped off in a room, the girls all settled on a bed. There was a strange tenseness in the air. They couldn't relax, not fully, not when Emily and Daddy were in grave danger.
Fleur and Delphi were staring at Bellatrix, thoughtful looks on their faces. “I really wish she could talk. She's gotta have some freaky power.” Delphi said.
“Remember, she was the one that turned Harriet into a wolfie.” Fleur said.
Harriet and Lyra looked on. Both girls observing the baby as well. Wondering what secrets the strange child held.
…
…Lucky Harry's World…
“Dad, what do you think? Frozen or Inside Out?”
Harry grunted, his mind elsewhere as his daughter slipped into the sofa next to him.
Lily had made them a wonderful brunch. His baby girl was an amazing cook. Really, there was nothing Lily wasn't brilliant at. They'd mostly eaten in silence, though, as Harry was in a constant battle with his runaway thoughts.
Lily frowned slightly. She looked so cute, so adorable when she did that.
“Daddy, are you ok? You've been really quiet this morning.”
Harry coughed. “I'm sorry, baby, I just… I have a lot on my mind.”
Lily brought out the puppy dog eyes. “You're working yourself too hard, daddy. You're almost as bad as Aunt Hermione.” She scooted over, wrapping both arms around him as she pulled him into a hug.
Harry stiffened as his daughter's nubile body pressed against him. Lily was wearing an oversized t-shirt (not her brother’s, but one of his, he thought with pride), and the shape of her molded itself onto him. Harry was blasted by the mental image of what lay underneath: a supple young teenage body, with only a pair of knickers as additional cover.
“Daddy?”
He'd gone off again.
“I'm sorry, baby. I guess I have overworked myself a little bit.” He forced a chuckle as he ran his hands through Lily's auburn hair. His gorgeous daughter leaned into his touch.
“I want you to relax, daddy. No thinking about work or the future or dark wizards.”
Harry sighed, giving his daughter a hesitant smile. “I'll try… for you, baby. How about we watch Little Mermaid?”
Lily's eyes lit up with glee. “That's a great idea, daddy!”
Little Mermaid was Lily's favorite movie going back to when she'd been a small child. Harry had always called her his little Ariel. Hell, during one embarrassing incident that Lily refused to ever bring up, she'd managed to use a modified form of gillyweed to partially turn herself into a mermaid for her thirteenth birthday.
Harry may not be a literal tech-wizard like his more assholish counterpart, but they'd had a television in the home since the kids had been young, and things like muggle films and music had slowly began to seep into the highly stagnant and insular wizarding society. It was one of the things the traditionalists constantly loved to bash Hermione with, that she'd turned their children into a bunch of muggles that no longer valued wizarding culture.
Lily messed around with the vcr - or dvd player- Harry had never been too good at figuring which was which - and soon her favorite movie was playing.
For a little while, Harry was able to relax as the familiar opening scenes of the movie played out.
That all went to shit when Lily rested her bare legs on his lap.
His breath hitched as he bit the inside of his cheeks. He clenched his fists under the cushion as his knee jerk reaction was to go to that old mainstay that he'd never quite been able to master: occlumency.
Clear your mind. Just clear your mind. Empty your mind of all thoughts.
Lily's gasp shattered his tenuous grasp on his thoughts in an instant. Harry immediately knew why she'd gasped, too, it was obvious.
Lily's foot was resting over his raging hard erection. Harry looked down in horror, wishing with everything in his soul that he could will it away. Not that it would make a difference, the damage was already done.
Dread flooded his bloodstream as his eyes slowly dragged upward, independent of his will, as they forced him to face the reality that he'd so wished to avoid.
Lily was red faced, both hands on her cheeks as she looked positively mortified. Harry wished he could just die at that precise moment.
“Lily, honey, I… I'm sorry…” Harry croaked out. He thought about pushing her foot off of his cock, which refused to go down even as his entire body filled with panic, but he felt that that would make it worse, somehow.
“D-Daddy…” Lily glanced back down at his crotch as her breath quickened, and then she did something that nearly gave Harry a heart attack.
Her toes curled around his shaft. She gave his cock a squeeze.
“Its so big!” Her mouth was hanging open, and while Harry's stomach was twisting into ever-growing knots, his brain registered how her tongue slid across her plum lips.
“Did I do that to you, daddy?”
“L-Lily?” Harry stuttered out as his daughter's legs slid off of him, slowly and torturously, as she twisted her body around until she was on her knees.
“Daddy, did your thing get like that because of me?” She was crawling up to him now, her face getting dangerously close to his crotch.
Harry tried backing away, but his back quickly bumped up against the armrest, and Lily continued to crawl up to him as Ariel cooed about the wonders of the surface world in the background.
“Lily, I-I'm sorry baby. Its just… I couldn't avoid it,”
Lily's emerald eyes seemed to brighten at that. “You couldn't help it, daddy? I never thought you'd feel the same way.”
“Feel the same way?”
She nuzzled her face against his inner thigh. He should have jumped off the sofa. He should have ran, but he didn't.
“Do you know why I've never had a boyfriend, daddy? Because I keep comparing all the boys to you, and none of them match up.” She frowned cutely as she kissed right below the opening of his boxers. Harry choked on his spit.
“Even Al and James are just worse versions of you. Mum ruined them. It makes me worry that she ruined me too, she diluted the you in me.”
“Lily, this is insane!”
Lily wasn't listening. “But I made you hard, daddy. It means that I am good enough for you.” She ducked her head inside the gap in his boxers, burrowing inside as she took a big whiff of his manly aroma.
Harry was sweating, he was despairing, and worst of all, he was weak.
Lily reached out and wrapped her hand around his cock through his boxers, and he knew he was lost.
He was a decent man. Had always been. Had always prided himself in never losing his integrity, never slipping and sliding like he'd seen so many of his colleagues from the war, who'd slowly let the trappings of power corrupt them. Harry may not have been the greatest wizard of all time, but he was a rock, he had never been seduced away from his path, not even by the Elder Wand.
Except, of course, that Elder Wand was currently sitting on his nightstand. It had been for days.
Even as a distant corner of his mind screamed into the void for him to stop, Harry was pushing his boxers down to free his cock. His baby girl wasted no time, her hands wrapped around naked flesh as she gripped his shaft like she were wielding a sword.
“Wow.” She leaned ever so closer, and Harry's traitorous cock chose that moment to spurt a few shots of clear pre-cum. Most ran down his shaft and onto her hand, but one particular spurt splashed against Lily's face, right onto her cheek.
Time stopped for Harry as he watched his daughter reach up with fingers already soiled in pre-cum to touch at the gunk on her cheek. She looked so innocent, so filled with child-like wonder as she contemplated her hand.
She closed her eyes and leaned in to lick it up as if it were the most delectable of sweets. When he saw Lily's pink tongue reach out and actually scoop it up, something within him broke.
“Gods, Lily!” His hand shot up to grip the back of her head, bunching up her auburn hair as he forced her face onto her palm, making her swallow the pre-cum in one gulp.
“Daddy!” Lily moaned with glee as he applied pressure to the back of her head, pulling her hair tight and taut. “Daddy, please! I love it when you take charge!”
Now completely lost to his base urges, Harry happily obliged, roughly forcing his teenage daughter's head into a collision course with his cock. He was so scatterbrained, he missed, and his cock ended up mashing against Lily's jaw before his daughter readjusted and welcomed him into her wide open mouth.
Harry moaned loudly as his virgin daughter swallowed as much of his cock as she could manage. She gobbled him up eagerly, until his head hit the back of her throat and a wet gurgling sound made his balls twitch.
Lily looked up at him with watery green eyes. He could see the movie just on the edge of his peripheral vision, a symbol of her childhood, as she silently begged him to do what he wanted to her mouth.
Harry pulled his hips back and pistoned forward, hard, fucking his daughter's throat with abandon.
Lily placed her hands on his thighs, not once daring to apply pressure. She did not try to force him back as he fucked her mouth, cock sloshing in and out as it came out coated in a new layer of slobber with each thrust.
It was the most incredible experience of his life, and the longer he burned the image of his baby girl being violated by his cock, he knew there was no going back for him.
The incorruptible hero had fallen.
Harry roared as he steamed on through, hips becoming a blur as he raped his daughter's face. Finally, he pushed deep into her throat, his entire cock sinking right past her poor gag reflex as Lily's eyes rolled and she reflexively struggled against him.
But there was no stopping Harry, and her lips were forced to wrap around the very root of his crotch as his cock exploded inside of her throat.
He watched as Lily's throat, already bulging with his cock, rhythmically moved as she gulped down his semen.
In what felt like another planet, Ariel was singing.
Harry pulled out of Lily's throat, nowhere near satisfied as he grabbed at her and flipped her over onto her back.
“I'm yours, daddy!” She exclaimed hoarsely as Harry lifted the oversized shirt, his shirt, just enough to expose her tight, virginal slit.
Harry smacked his cock onto her pussy lips, a dribble of cum splattering onto her crotch as Harry slid his cock along her slit.
“Lily!” He grunted, a mindless beast with a single goal in mind: to spear his daughter and claim her virginity for himself.
There was no wasted movement. He lined himself up, pushed against her entrance, and with a swift snap of his hips, he slammed home into her.
“DADDY!” Lily squealed, wrapping her arms around him as Harry pierced through her maidenhood and filled her pussy up completely. He felt a triumph greater than defeating Voldemort as he claimed his daughter for himself.
He didn't give her a respite, didn't give her a chance to adjust, he thrust into her hard and fast, pounding out her pussy to mark it fully and completely as his.
He fucked Lily right through the movie, losing track of time, losing sense of himself.
When he next came to was when he heard a gasp that did not originate from his daughter, who had long since been fucked senseless.
Ginny was by the door, hand over her mouth.
“Harry! How could yo-”
Harry stared his wife down as he grunted, emptying himself in Lily's pussy with not an inkling of regret.
“Come over here and clean her up.” He ordered.
Ginny's eyes went wide, but she complied, walking over to get a better view of how her husband had fucked her daughter senseless.
Harry groped her ass when she got close and Ginny quivered. She had no idea what was going on, but she was bending over her daughter's raw pussy, where a stream of thick white seed was pouring out.
…
The girls found themselves in the great hall once more, witness to the strangest concert any of them had ever seen.
Mothers and daughters were seated together. Ophelia Greengrass and her two girls were next to Primrose Parkinson and her Pansy, who were next to Susan and Amelia Bones. From her throne, Lady Voldemort looked on with pride.
In the middle of it all, standing on a raised platform and wearing a dress shirt but no pants, Harry Potter played the flute.
It was admittedly a hauntingly beautiful tune, and the boy played much better than they had. He was a natural, gliding through the notes with his eyes closed as the entire room became enraptured by the power of the music.
When he finished playing, the mothers and daughters stood up into uproarious applause. But the girls remained seated, they had their eyes on the prize.
A doorway had materialized behind the boy.
…
Lyra stepped out onto the other side and the hairs on her arm immediately stood on end.
This was her home. And yet, something was fundamentally wrong.
They had decided she would be the one to accompany Lady Voldemort and her Harry. The boy, fully clothed now, was under his invisibility cloak, and Lady Voldemort never let him stray more than half a foot from her. Voldemort had used a powerful disillusionment charm on Lyra and herself, not that it made the girl feel any more safe.
Voldemort had cast a privacy bubble around the trio, but even so, when she spoke, Lyra was sure that those two Potters would descend upon them.
“This castle is bare.”
As she said it, Lyra noticed it. The portraits and suits of armor were gone, leaving nothing but bare stone hallways in their wake.
“The magic here feels wrong, mommy.” Harry said from under his cloak. “It doesn't have a song.”
Lyra couldn't see Voldemort, but she imagined Emily in her place, and how her lips would have formed into a thin line. “It wasn't always like this, was it, girl?”
Lyra shook her head before remembering they couldn't see her. “N-No. Its like someone stripped the life from everything.”
She had held out some thin hope. Hope that daddy was fine and simply couldn't find them. That had been completely shattered.
“What is this?”
Following the direction of Voldemort's voice led Lyra towards a window. Harry must have seen out of it at the same time as her, because his gasp was simultaneous with her own.
Black boxes. And endless farm of large, black boxes infinitely stretched out into nothing. Under the harsh orange glare of the setting sun, there had never been a more distressing sight.
Her greenhouses. The Forbidden Forest. The Lake.
It was all gone. Replaced by rows upon rows of lifeless monoliths that hummed with a duldrum that made Lyra feel as if she were drowning.
“This is despicable magic.” Voldemort hissed. “It is neither dark nor light. It is lifeless, it is magic stripped of every single ounce of spirit. Magic turned commodity.”
Lyra's ears were drumming. She wanted to get out of here. This was her home, and she wanted nothing more than to run away and never return.
Several tiny figures caught her eye near the castle gates. She squinted down, recognizing Minerva and Walburga talking to someone on the other side.
“Harry.” Voldemort said, having caught sight of them as well. “Bring them to me.”
“Yes, mommy.”
Lyra tensed as she heard the notes of the flute begin to waft out the window.
“Isn't this a bit risky?”
Voldemort scoffed. “My Harry can make it so his music reaches only the ears that he chooses. Regardless, don't you feel it, girl? The very air here suffocates powerful magic. It wishes to devour it. Nothing more powerful that a stunning charm can be cast in such conditions.”
Lyra understood now why she felt such pressure on her chest. It was like she was inside a machine, a space not meant for living beings to inhabit.
She saw the two women stiffen as they turned and left the third person alone at the gates.
In minutes, Lyra's heart clenched once more as she saw Minerva and her mother. They were foggy eyed, under Harry's control, but the women looked harried and their faces gaunt. They had suffered greatly.
“What has happened to this place?” Voldemort asked them.
Minerva blinked slowly as the distant sound of Harry's flute played in her ear.
“He calls it a server farm. It drains magic from the environment. He funnels it to his world.”
“He?”
“Harry Potter.” Walburga said.
“What about daddy?” Lyra piped up, desperate for hope, for any inkling of light.
Both women's faces contorted as they struggled with their emotions. Lyra heard little Harry's tune intensify until the women finally settled down.
“He has him trapped. He took him to his world. He said he would never escape his prison.”
Lyra despaired while Voldemort pushed on. “Prison?” She wished she could use legilimency on them, but the crushing thrum of the machines was too much.
“A snowglobe.” Walburga said.
Voldemort quirked an eyebrow but pushed on. “And what of my counterpart? The so called Emily Gaunt?”
“She is to be executed.”
“Executed?!”
…
When the doorway re-appeared in the center of the great hall, it was mostly empty. The girls had been accompanied in their vigil by Bellatrix and her niece Nymphadora.
Lyra was stone faced and pale as she walked out through the door. Harry looked determined, and Voldemort had a hand on the young girl's shoulder as she looked to her subordinates.
“Bellatrix, Nymphadora, ready the others. We have a scant few hours to make preparations.”
“Preparations, mistress?” Bellatrix's voice went up several octaves as it burgeoned with glee.
Voldemort nodded, sparing the girls a glance. “Indeed. We must prepare an invasion force. My execution is at hand, and I do not wish to be late.”
