HP/LOTM: Visionary - 443

Chapter 443: The Mind Dragon’s Projection, A Linked Soul

“We can’t just sit here and wait to die. Is there anything we can do?” Hermione shouted.

Harry plunged his hand into the bag with the Extension Charm, rummaging frantically for anything that could get them out of this mess.

His fingers hit a familiar cover.

“Aiden’s book?” Harry froze for a split second.

“What good is that bloody thing?” Ron snatched the book and hurled it down into the lower hall.

A green curse struck the book in mid-air.

“Ow, that hurts. Which bastard did that?” A clear, pleasant teenage voice suddenly rose in all of their minds.

“Aiden?” all three blurted out.

They whipped their heads around, searching the corners, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

The book that had hit the floor erupted with thick grey fog, surging straight towards the Ukrainian Ironbelly.
The dragon’s scales, pale from years underground, were quickly stained by the grey. Its pupils shifted, slowly filling with amber and deep blue.
The grey-white dragon lifted its head.
And spoke.

“Ron Weasley, you’re finished. I’m telling you right now!”

“Move, get on it!” Hermione reacted first.
She raised her wand and fired a Reductor Curse.
The railing in front of her shattered into pieces. Hermione vaulted over without hesitation and landed on the dragon’s back.

Aiden let out a long, rumbling breath, turning his head toward the stream of security wizards rushing in from the side.

Then he exhaled.

A wide cone of flame blasted out. The guards scattered behind pillars, too afraid to stand in the open gaps, not if they fancied becoming charcoal.

But the mental spike threaded through the flames was not something stone could stop. The brute force of mind power pierced their spirits and dropped them into a baby-deep sleep.

“Hold on tight. We’re getting out!” Aiden called back.

“Relashio!” Hermione snapped.

The chains behind Aiden clattered loose, falling away, and the three of them clung on as the dragon began to climb upward.

In the main hall of Gringotts, the goblins at the far edge heard the commotion below and looked up towards the first vault gate.

Then a dragon smashed through the gate and the floor together, roaring as it thrust its head into the hall.

The oversight wizards fled instantly.

The goblins, with their counters set so high, had to scramble down and were far too slow.

“Hmph. Goblins,” the dragon said, contempt thick in his eyes.

He opened his mouth again.

This time there was no fire.

Yet a storm swept the hall.

Raging mind power surged out and snuffed the goblins’ already fragile inner light like candles in the wind.

Aiden closed his mouth, nodded in satisfaction, then shattered Gringotts’ glass dome and flung his wings wide, flying into the distance.

“Cool,” Ron breathed. “I really want to learn this turning-into-a-dragon magic.”

“You can,” Aiden replied casually, somehow finding the spare breath. “Start by learning the prerequisite Essence Transmutation Charm. I gave you a book for it last Christmas. It should still be wedged under the front-left corner of your bed.”

“You’re exposing me again,” Ron grumbled, thumping Aiden’s back. “Just you wait. When we get back, I’m actually learning it this time!”

Aiden carried them over London, then headed for the Scottish Highlands.

Plenty of wizards tried to track them.

But tracking a Visionary?

No chance. They were gone in an instant.

One bad report after another reached Tom, until she finally snapped and began slaughtering her way through Gringotts.

“What do we do now?” Ron asked.

“We’ve got two Horcruxes left,” Harry said, staring at Aiden as he flew. “But we don’t know where to look.”

“Go back to Hogsmeade,” Aiden said. His voice grew heavy, almost solemn.
“Find Ethan. Have him take you to Edmond. The final battle is drawing near.”

Then he added quietly, “And one more thing. My time’s up. You lot, do your best. Heh.”

The dragon turned his head and gave the three of them a wink.

“Huh?” They still had not processed it when grey fog started pouring off the Ukrainian Ironbelly’s body.

In an instant, the dragon reverted back to its original white. It lost lift and dropped towards the lake below.

“Aaaah!”

Three young wizards fell through the sky, their screams echoing between mountains and water.

The dragon, now fully awake again, flapped its wings and flew off on its own.

Splash!

They hit the freezing lake and went under.

That shock, that extreme surge of emotion, snapped Harry into his connection with Voldemort’s mind.

He saw Tom carving through Gringotts, killing witches, wizards, and goblins alike until the floor ran slick with blood.

Barefoot, she walked through the red pool as if it were nothing.

“Another one has fallen into his hands. We’ll be harmed. I need to hide you, my friend,” Tom hissed to a great snake in Parseltongue.

The Malfoys bowed their heads, not daring to look at her. Bellatrix watched Tom with worship in her eyes.

“Bella. Gather them,” Tom barked. “A full search. Use the Imperius Curse on those lazy fools. Put them completely under control!”

Her sharp voice rang through Gringotts.

It rang through Harry’s skull too, sharp as a blade.

“Urgh!” Harry clutched his forehead. “She’s about to start hunting us.”

“You let her into your mind again. That’s too dangerous,” Hermione said urgently, already digging clean clothes out of the bag.

“It’s not something I can control,” Harry said, yanking off his soaked things with shaking hands. “And if I don’t see it, we won’t know they’ve started the hunt.”

The temperature in Britain was brutal. After freezing lake water, if they did not change immediately, they would be ill within the hour.

They Apparated to Hogsmeade, only to find it locked down tight. Tom had concentrated half her forces here.

The three of them could only dodge and hide, inching their way towards the Hog’s Head.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Harry through the Invisibility Cloak.

Three spells snapped in at the same instant, firing towards the person behind them.

“Fire,” Ethan said, speaking a single word.
Magic turned his will into a spell. Ghostly blue flame flashed, and all three curses were burned away in a blink.

“Oi, was that really necessary?” Ethan drawled.

“Hmph. If you don’t have Aiden’s recognisability, don’t copy his disappearing act,” Ron muttered. “Or one day you’ll get hexed, and we won’t even pretend to be sad.”

Ethan laughed. “Stop being so harsh. I brought you a very good friend. Want to see?”

“Death Eaters are closing in!” Hermione, at the front, spotted them approaching.

They were nearly in range. Green light flickered on the wand tips.

Then a powerful surge of magic exploded behind the Death Eaters.

A golden clock, enormous and half-transparent, rose slowly into existence. Ripples of space and time passed softly through their bodies, freezing them mid-step like insects caught in amber.