Harry Potter and the Serpent Items: Part 20

Powel growled as he called the Shadows forward, trapping the pair of them in a world that only they could see, borrowing an idea he’d seen in his host’s memories to create a giant chess board which formed with the two players in place of the Kings.

“Unoriginal.” The part of Voldemort currently resting inside the Guardian of the Millennium Items snorted, unimpressed by the game before him. At least until the pieces not only came to life, but the knight’s horses leapt off of their pedestals, which faded from the scene before the horses’ hooves hit the ground, and the other pieces started talking amongst themselves as they stepped off of their platforms and onto the board.

“Slightly more impressive.” Voldemort corrected himself as he took in the pieces around him which seemed to be acting fearful towards him, while Powel’s pieces were guarding the young man stood amongst the black pieces.

“You have first move, Voldemort. Just remember that this is a Shadow Game, if you attack me you’ll pay the price.” Powel said with a slight growl in his tone, feeling weird putting the dark lord in charge of the white pieces considering the modern day attitude towards darkness being evil, while light was good. There had been no such nonsense in his day, but his host’s thoughts and feelings had begun tainting his own from the moment that he had started using Harry’s body as his own and looking through Harry’s memories and that was how the boy had been taught.

Once Powel had managed to finally have a proper conversation with the boy for more than a few moments he planned on making sure that Harry started to understand shades of grey much better but until that time he had to work with what he had.

Voldemort, amused that the spirit of the Bracer, who had less right to be in Harry’s mind then he did, had the audacity to challenge him, ordered a pawn forward two spaces and, trembling as it did so, the pawn walked forward.

“Your turn, ghost.” Voldemort sneered. Powel didn’t rise to it. Much better people had come up with much better insults over the years and ‘ghost’ wasn’t even an insult coming from a warped creature like the one in control of the intruder’s form. He would much rather be a ghost than a twisted wreck of a soul.

Not that Powel was certain that what he was facing was a full soul. Not from what he had sensed every time he had stumbled past the creature’s door on his way back to bed and especially considering the fact that Powel had already run into a fragment of the soul he was supposedly fighting, the quarter soul that had been bound to the diary had been a threat and it had only, supposedly, recently learnt of the powers of the Serpent Items, unlike this fragment in front of him.

As he directed the pawn opposite the one Voldemort had moved, he wondered just how many ways Voldemort had split his soul, for it was possible that the person in front of him was just an eighth of Voldemort’s soul or less. If it was then obviously Shadi was pathetic or had incredibly low mental defences, for it should never have been able to take control of a strong, healthy mind.

“I have a name.” Powel informed the spirit who was considering his next move, “See if you can work it out.”

Voldemort ordered one of his knights forward, the blue armoured knight on the back of his huge purple horse leapt over the heads of the pieces in front of it and landed on the right square.

“I don’t need to work it out.” Voldemort said, beginning to feel woozy and cursing his lack of a Shadow Item that would willingly work for him, “You come from the Bracer and you have to be the rightful owner of a Shadow Item for it to work for you. Other than Potter only one person has ever held it.” He gestured for Powel to continue his move as he spoke, “That same person was found soulless after a battle involving the Blood Mages that the Founders had so much trouble with.”

Powel blinked at him, confused, then informed the Bishop on his right hand side that he wanted him to move. “How do you know that?” Powel demanded, confused considering that there was no way anyone living would have remembered that long ago.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve run into a Shadow Spirit.” Voldemort’s reply shocked both host and spirit, and the pair stared at the spirit of the Dark Lord with identical expressions of surprise.  “I’ve met two of the Founders.”

Suddenly Powel felt concern from his young host. It took him a moment to realise why but then it hit him. Luna carried a Serpent Item, inside of which was the spirit of Helga Hufflepuff, and Luna was Harry’s friend.

“Which two?” Powel asked carefully, surprised by his own concern for Harry’s friend.

“Hufflepuff,” Voldemort answered, “Who was possessing Lovegood’s wife...” And that made more sense than him having a run in with Luna considering that the Dark Lord had been dead over a decade, long before Luna had inherited the Serpent Comb, “And the Greatest of the Hogwarts Four, Salazar Slytherin.”

If Powel had ever needed proof that the boy in the Chamber was the same person as the spirit now possessing Shadi, that was it. ‘The Greatest of the Hogwarts Four’ had been said in exactly the same way, in exactly the same tone. That wasn’t what Powel wanted to know.

“How?” He asked as the two players took turns moving their pieces, with Powel castling himself at the first available opportunity.

“Hufflepuff and her precious host challenged me during the war. I won but Hufflepuff left her host an out that allowed her to escape with the Comb. Once I’m done with you that will be my next stop.” Voldemort snapped, finding it harder and harder to resist the pull of the Shadows, with every breath feeling like he was walking on nails and every thought slow, like his mind was trying to drag them out of a lake.

With Voldemort struggling to concentrate on the game, Powel was in a position to win in just three more turns. This was a relief to the spirit of the Bracer, who was tired from his earlier game and was finding it difficult to keep his guard up the entire time even though he was expecting Voldemort to try and cheat any second. 

“And Slytherin?” Powel asked as he moved one of his pieces into position, “Check by the way.”

Voldemort glowered at the black queen, who was glaring back at him and moved one square backwards, putting himself out of check.

Powel chuckled, having expected it, and moved another piece into position. “Check again.”

Voldemort glowered as he looked around, his head pounding and his body about ready to give up on him, realising that he was caught. He couldn’t move without putting himself in check except to one square and if he moved there the next turn it would be checkmate.

There was one answer though. The host he had taken had picked up the wand of the man that Powel had gamed earlier and that same wand was sat in his back pocket.

He drew it and pointed it at the spirit of the Bracer, casting before the other player could react.

“Avada Kedava!”

Powel started moving far too late, but luckily for both him and Harry, the Pawn whose square was in front of him threw himself in the way, protecting the ‘King’ from attack just as it was supposed.

Powel drew Harry’s wand, the Game’s magic already shifting and turning against the one who had broken the rules as the white pieces retreated and the black ones turned on Voldemort, drawing weapons and give Voldemort looks that would have killed him if it had been possible for looks to kill.

“You cheated.” Powel growled, the Bracer glowing and the golden serpent resting on his brow once more as the Shadow practically begged to be allowed to feast on the soul of the cheat. Powel saw no reason not to allow them to do so either as it would free both his host and the intruder from the evil man’s influence, “And for that there’s a Penalty.”

“You dare judge me?” Voldemort demanded, though he looked much less imposing when he was shaking with the effort to stay upright, the only reason he had survived this long being the fact that while the Millennium Items wouldn’t protect him, they had been willing to shield his host and he had been drawing what little magic he could from that protection. “Me? Lord Voldemort?”

“You’re nothing, a pathetic little ant who aspires to a rather hypocritical form of rule.” Powel snarled back, “And you’re done. Penalty Game!”

With those words the black pieces attacked Voldemort who bellowed in agony and anger as the pieces started to destroy him completely. It was at point Powel took himself and his host, who had steadily grown quieter and sleepier as the game had gone on until he’d eventually just toppled over in the corridor, out of the Shadow Realm.

Both Ron and the intruder were staring at him as he blinked and slowly came to himself in the real world.

“The bloody hell was that?” Ron demanded, having entered the room as Powel had launched the game and not seen any of it.

“You,” Powel glowered at Shadi, ignoring Ron’s question, “Stay the hell away from me and from my host. We have done nothing wrong and your little trip through our mind nearly cost us everything.”

“If you stay away from the Millennium It...”

“No, no deals. No bargains.” Powel shook his head, furious, “You stay the hell away from us or I’ll do to you what I did to Voldemort. I don’t care what kind of game you’re running or what plans you have, but leave us out of it.”

Shadi considered him for a moment longer then nodded, “I owe you a debt, so I will retreat, for now. But I warn you, should your path cross with that of the Pharaoh, you and I will meet again.”