Chains of Despair
Hermione ran alongside Neville, though in truth neither of them knew exactly where to go to look for the wand.
"We need to find help. We don't know what could happen, we have to go to a professor," Hermione said seriously. She knew they couldn't keep running around like headless chickens, with no clear destination.
Neville nodded nervously, while in the distance the sounds of Harry and Luciel's battle echoed through the corridors.
Hermione then turned just as a red light illuminated the place. A beam shot out from the center of the castle toward the main garden, and immediately a crimson barrier began to form around them… trapping them inside.
"No, no…" Hermione murmured, understanding what that meant. They were locked in. And worst of all, she didn't know if any professor was still inside the castle. It was unlikely; after all, it was close to curfew when they had come, so surely the professors were making sure all the students had returned to their rooms before starting their nightly rounds.
"What do we do?" Neville asked desperately, while Hermione grabbed her hair, trying to think quickly.
"Hermione!" Daphne shouted as she appeared, running with Draco.
"Aunt Wanda… is she here?" Hermione asked, as if that were her last hope.
But Draco shook his head.
"We're trapped. What do we do?" Hermione repeated, growing more nervous by the second.
Draco, however, kept a serious look, scanning the corridors and calculating.
"Let's go back to the club room. I have a plan," he said firmly.
Without wasting time, the three of them followed him.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the castle, Harry had seen the red barrier rise just before stopping Luciel's sword with a single hand, the blade aimed directly at his face.
Luciel swung his other sword toward Harry's neck, but Harry ducked in time and, with a sharp movement of both hands, made red chains burst from the ground, attempting to bind him.
For a moment it worked, but Luciel's shoulder guard glowed and freed him instantly. Still, that brief distraction gave Harry the space he needed.
He closed his eyes, focusing entirely on his power. With a deep breath, he opened them again, now filled with absolute seriousness.
"If magic can't contain you…" he murmured.
Suddenly, hundreds of chains began to form: red tendrils and thick cables rising from the air and the ground, lunging at Luciel from every direction. Many disintegrated the instant they touched him, undone by the freeing power of his shoulder guards. But others managed to hold on, becoming tangible.
Luciel slashed through them one after another with his swords, but more and more kept appearing. When the real chains outnumbered the illusory ones, the shoulder guards could no longer set him free. Even if he broke some, others wrapped around him without end, until he was completely immobilized.
Harry knew it was only a matter of time before he broke free again, so he didn't waste the chance. He rushed forward and placed his hands on Luciel's head.
—
When he opened his eyes, Harry found himself in a completely white space. He quickly looked around until he spotted what he was searching for.
Luciel. Bound by thick black chains, struggling with all his strength to break free.
"I have to get out… she's in danger! Even if my life depends on it, I'll get out of here!" Luciel shouted, pulling desperately at the chains. They tightened even more, as if warning him to surrender or suffer, but he kept fighting, screaming in pain without stopping.
"Hello, President," Harry said, standing in front of him.
Luciel hadn't noticed him until then, so focused was he on breaking his restraints.
"Harry… thank God. Get me out of here. Katerina… Katerina is in danger. Please, help me!" he begged. For the first time, he showed fear, casting aside his pride, his position as president, his noble lineage. He was just a desperate boy pleading for help.
Harry quickly stepped forward, grabbed one of the chains, and together with Luciel pulled with all his strength until it broke. Then they did the same with the next one.
—
Harry opened his eyes again in the real world. Luciel also awoke, collapsing weakly to the ground, still wrapped in hundreds of chains, ropes, and roots.
With a wave of his hand, Harry released the rest of the bindings.
"I must go…" Luciel muttered, trying to stand.
But he only managed to stay up for a second before falling to his knees, exhausted. His body was battered and drained; even though Harry hadn't wanted to harm him, the enchanted objects that controlled him had demanded too much, forcing him to fight regardless of his own health.
Even so, Luciel got back up, leaning on his sword like a cane.
"Calm down and tell me what happened. You need to recover before doing anything else," Harry said firmly.
"No… there's no time. Please," Luciel replied, panic in his voice.
"Fine, I'll take you. But tell me what's going on," Harry insisted, slipping his arm under Luciel's shoulder to help him walk.
Luciel gave him a grateful look before clenching his jaw and finally speaking with seriousness:
"It's Katerina's old elf. He and another were released when her family went bankrupt… they thought it would be better for them, but it wasn't. I don't know much about the biology of house-elves; in my family we never had one. I only know that he suddenly reappeared and captured Katerina. I thought elves couldn't harm wizards… but he pointed her wand at me and then everything went dark. I don't even know where these objects came from," he pointed at the shoulder guards, still glowing with strange power. "But I have to rescue her."
Despite his pain, his voice carried unshakable determination.
As Harry listened, he began to understand.
He remembered the story of Gris and Liz: both had nearly died because of the old Dumbledore, since without a master they had no connection to a mansion. That meant they couldn't absorb magic to survive or use their powers. In that case… what happened to a free elf?
There were two possibilities.
The first: their magic would slowly drain away until they found a place to work. The problem was that few wizards would accept a free elf as a servant, since they weren't truly reliable. Not being bound to a master, they could refuse orders if they wished. It was difficult for anyone to employ them, and many died while wandering in search of a place to settle.
The second option was even worse: suicide. Some elves, unable to find a place to absorb magic or a master to serve, chose to end their lives. Harry had wanted to investigate further on that subject, but when he asked Gris, his own house-elf, Gris refused to answer.
He only said: "It is for the good of the elves… and of the magical world."
Harry helped Luciel move forward, all the while thinking about the reasons that could have driven an elf to kidnap his former mistress and dare to attack wizards.
…
They reached the main garden, and Harry's eyes widened in surprise.
Students lay unconscious all over the place, their wands floating gently above them. Even a professor was among the fallen.
Harry let go of Luciel, who was now able to stand on his own, and went over to Terry, the closest one. He placed a hand on his neck, checking his pulse.
"Unconscious," he confirmed with a sigh.
He looked around and recognized several faces: Ronald Weasley, his sister Ginny, the students they had interviewed during that strange detective tournament. All were unconscious… and their wands floated over them, pointing toward the sky.
"Katerina!" Luciel cried in despair. He staggered toward the center of the garden where, in front of the fountain donated by Nicolas Flamel, Katerina was trapped in another red barrier. Above her floated Harry's own wand, while black chains bound her at the four cardinal points: north, south, east, and west.
Harry examined the ground. Among the unconscious students were precisely carved runes, and he noticed that their bodies were arranged in perfect circles. It was a magic circle.
"Luciel…" Katerina said, her face filled with worry. Yet when she saw him, she seemed to calm a little. Both placed their hands on the barrier, unable to truly touch, but still feeling each other's warmth through the magical surface.
Harry glanced at them briefly and then stepped toward Terry's wand, reaching out his hand. The moment he touched it, a spark of electricity repelled him.
"No… you can't touch it," came a trembling voice.
Harry and Luciel turned instantly. Sword in hand, Luciel pointed toward the source of the voice, while Harry watched cautiously.
A house-elf stepped out from behind a beam. His gaze was nervous, almost pitiful.
"It's… it's done. Kre finished it. The red wand… it's powerful. It was the last one Kre needed. Though it's frightening… Kre can use it thanks to the chains he was given. Kre… Kre succeeded," the elf stammered.
Luciel tightened his grip on his sword, ready to leap at him, but Harry raised his hand to stop him.
"And what exactly are you trying to do with them?" Harry asked coldly.
The elf clutched his head, as if answering caused him pain.
"They… will die. Kre is sorry, Kre cannot save them. But it is for the good… for the good. Kre will pay for his crime… but Kre must do it," he said in anguish.
Harry frowned.
"You would kill the students? For what purpose?" he asked while slipping his hand into his magic bag and discreetly sprinkling some liquid onto the ground.
"Kre is sorry… Kre didn't want to. But Kre needs to save her. She is all Kre has left," the elf murmured, hugging his head in despair. Then he lifted his face, this time with unshakable seriousness.
"Kre will not allow you to stop anything!" he shouted, snapping his fingers.
The floating wands turned toward Harry. The nearest one fired at the ground, opening a hole beneath his feet.
Harry reacted instantly, hovering with the magic of chaos. But dozens of wands fired whips of energy that wrapped around his limbs. He was about to free himself when the elf snapped his fingers again, and a root emerged from the hole, wrapping around him and shoving him downward. The opening closed just as Harry passed through, dragging with him the liquid he had spilled on the ground.
"Harry!" Luciel shouted.
Furiously, he grabbed his sword and activated his boots, dashing like lightning toward the elf.
But Kre snapped his fingers again. Luciel's boots, shoulder guards, and gloves flew off his body, and he crashed to the ground defenseless.
Another snap, and branches rose from the earth, trapping him. They forced him to his knees, hands bound behind his back, his mouth covered by a root.
"Kre is sorry… but Kre must do this," the elf muttered as he walked toward Katerina.
"Kre… please don't do this. You don't have to kill anyone. If it was for your freedom… please, at least don't hurt them," Katerina pleaded, her usual stoic expression replaced by a look of supplication.
Kre looked at her with a mix of guilt and sorrow. Then he snapped his fingers, and something appeared beside her.
It was a little elf-girl, dressed in pretty clothes, asleep inside a crystal.
"Kre does not resent you, mistress. You did it to save Kre and his wife. But Kre must do this, Kre must save his little daughter… so she does not die like her mother. Mistress Katerina can care for her. She will not be free, she will have magic. Kre will give everything for her," he said tenderly, caressing the crystal that held the child, who looked no older than five or six.
"I'm sorry, mistress… but Kre cannot lose his family again."
Katerina's eyes widened in shock, finally understanding the reason behind it all.
"Even if it costs the lives of the students in this school?" she asked seriously.
"Yes," Kre answered, firm.
"I'm sorry… but we cannot allow that," a voice rang out.
The elf spun around in surprise. Draco and the others were approaching with determined looks, and behind them marched dozens of golems, each at least a meter tall.
They raised their swords, standing ready for battle.
"Where did Harry go?" he asked.
Meanwhile, the ground where Harry had been buried trembled before bursting into a red light. From that hole, Harry rose calmly, suspended by the magic of chaos, until he stood once more upon the earth.
"Well… you certainly took your time," he said with a serene look, addressing his friends.