Hogwarts: Origins II

And folks,I am back again!!!!!!:-D Now before you read this part,lemme set some things straight.I haven't read a single HP book in my life!! So be a little gentle on me,pleaaazee,will ya? ;-) Ok.That's it from my side.Enjoy this adrenaline ride.I tried to make it fun.I at least tried.:-P

GODRIC

Zero Hour
The entire floor was crumbling.The pillars had weakened too and could not support the ceiling much longer.Huge cracks appeared almost instantaneously in the wall and the floor.
Lupin cried out in alarm,"Godric,we have to get out of here!!The roof will come crashing down any moment!"
The pillars had started to buckle,the stones in the floor started peeling away,disappearing from underneath us.The energy from the blast which had occurred a few moments earlier was slowly tearing up all the stones in the room,pulverizing them to fine dust.
I grabbed Lupin's shirt and made a run for the nearest window.
"Wait!!" Lupin's eyes grew wide in horror as we neared the window."What..What are you doing?We cannot go out of there!!!!!!"
I looked out of the window.We were several storeys up.There were tall trees in the vicinity of the tower we were in.But none of them was close enough to the window for us to make a jump for it.
"Bring out your broom!!" I bellowed to Lupin.
"Are you insane??!!" My companion's eyes seemed to pop out in disbelief."I don't have the magic required to fly it."
I glared at him.The floor around us was disappearing fast.
"We are both going to die," Lupin shrugged his shoulders in resignation and closed his eyes,his forehead furrowed in concentration,as he cast his summoning spell,"Accio!"
Seconds passed.Beads of perspiration popped out on Lupin's brow.The pillars and floors continued tearing themselves away.
"This is taking too much time," I muttered in frustration as I looked down the window.We seemed doomed to be buried alive amidst all the rubble.
Almost instantly,Lupin's sleek and shiny broomstick flew in and started floating outside the window.
"That was fast," I sneered,clutched Lupin's shirt collar and leaped for the broom.
"But I can't make it fly!!!" Lupin screamed.
My fingers of my right hand grasped the mahogany handle of Lupin's broom,while my left hand held on to Lupin.I am sure we made quite a sight.Me dangling by my arm from a floating broom and my companion hanging from my left arm,clutching on to it for dear life.
"See,the broom is still holding up," I smiled down at Lupin."Your magic is doing great!Now just make this damned stick fly,will you?"
Lupin stared up at me,his face a picture of dismay and horror."I told you,Godric,I CAN'T!"
The broom seemed to jerk up and down slightly as if on cue.I couldn't help having a sinking feeling in my stomach.And within a fraction of a second,we were hurtling downwards in a free-fall at a maddening speed. Lupin and I screamed our lungs out as we plunged into a collision course with certain death,a hundred feet below.
~~~
A day before,Morgana La Faye's lair
"And these gems will help you defeat Merlin and Arthur?" I asked Morgana skeptically.
"The gems of Cyttorak are Merlin's last line of defense against my dark magic," the dark haired,alabaster-skinned woman,seated across me, hissed."You and Lupin will retrieve them for me."
"Why Lupin?" I asked, a bit surprised."How many men does it take to steal a couple of gems?"
"Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me,Godric," Morgana sniggered."You have just been training with me for four months.Your magic isn't powerful enough for the task at hand.Yet."
"And Lupin's is?" I raised my eyebrows sardonically."That boy is just a little better than me with his spells."
"This matter is not open to discussion,Godric," she threw at me a cold stare."Tomorrow you two set forth for the tower where Merlin keeps his gems stashed away.You two really need to work together and watch each other's back.Merlin has a host of powerful beasts guarding his prized possession."
"Like what?"
"Have you heard about a mythical creature from Greek legends?," Morgana's eyes narrowed as her voice assumed an eiree timbre."Half-bull?Half-man?"
My jaw dropped."You mean the Minotaur?You mean,Merlin's magic can conjure...that?"
~~~
Thirty minutes before Zero Hour
The massively sinewed minotaur snarled as it saw us approaching the staircase it was guarding.Its bloodthirsty eyes followed our every move as we inched closer to the staircase which was to take us to the third storey of the Merlin tower.
"That thing is going to attack us any moment," Lupin warned.
"Quick,blind it," I ordered Lupin.
"What?" Lupin asked surprised.
"Pull your blinding spell.Hit his eyes.Now!!!" I barked in a raspy tone.The muscles in my shoulders tensed as Lupin chanted his spell.Seconds after Lupin completed uttering the spell,the monster staggered forward,aimlessly swinging its massive club in front of itself.The spell had worked!
"Bull's eye,Lupin," I turned briefly to congratulate my companion, before I unsheathed my sword and charged at the savage mythical mayhem.Hearing my fast footsteps on the cobbled floor,the blind Minotaur swung its deadly horns at me. I jumped back just in time to escape being pierced by them.Guessing where I might be,the bull-headed abomination immediately brought its spiked club down on me with massive force.I side-stepped, but not fast enough.One of the spikes punctured my trousers and lacerated the skin of my leg. I grit my teeth in pain and hacked at the Minotaur's knee with all my strength.The beast bellowed in anguish and I quickly slashed at its stomach.The 7 foot hulking creature slouched,momentarily paralyzed by the shock from the injury.Ignoring the burning in my leg,I dashed to the back of the savage brute and leaped on its back.Grabbing the Minotaur by its shoulder,I ran my sword through its throat.
~~~
The day before,Morgana La Faye's lair
"Anything else I should be worried about?" I asked Morgana,forcing a grin,trying to sound unperturbed at the mention of the Minotaur."Taking a  bull by its horns can't be that much of a problem,now can it?"

Truth was- I could already visualize the Minotaur snapping my body into two.

"My crystal ball tells me there is a giant carnivorous scorpion on the third storey," Morgana's lips curled up in a sarcastic sneer."But I am sure you will be able to squash that under your foot too,won't you Godric?"
"A giant....what?" I gulped.
Things just kept getting better and better.
~~~
Fifteen minutes before Zero Hour
Green slimy fluids oozed out of the gashes my sword had made in the mammoth scorpion's hairy body.The behemoth insect had a volume almost three times that of a mere human.I ducked and rolled to escape the clutches of its lobster like pincers which were sharp enough to crush a wooden pillar.From my crouched position,I looked up,trying to find a soft spot to attack in the monster's under-side.
Instead, to my horror,I saw its prodigious sting coming down on me like a falling oak tree.
"Watch out,Godric!!!!!" Lupin cried out in a horrified tone.Then he started chanting something which seemed to me like a "slowing down" spell.And sure enough,the scorpion's sting had its descent slowed down.The insect's movements became more sluggish.
I used my thighs to jump up as high as I could and grabbed its descending tail with both my arms.The tail swung,carrying me along with it.Both my feet were off the ground now and the distance between me and the stone floor increased as the scorpion moved its tail upwards and side-wards. I held my breath as the tail swung inwards towards the trunk of the monstrosity.As the colossal tail hovered above the immense insect's head,with me still hanging from it,I decided to seize the opportunity.I used all my might and weight to pull the sting downwards towards the scorpion's head,impaling it with its very own sting.
~~~
Morgana La Faye's lair
"And the gems will be on the fifth storey of the tower?" I questioned Morgana."So supposing we get past the minotaur and the scorpion,we just grab the gems and leave?"
"The gems should have a last line of defense protecting them," Morgana's forehead furrowed."But the gems' magic is blocking the magic of my crystal ball.I cannot tell you what you will face when you reach the gems.But I'm confident that crafty old Merlin will keep some ace up his sleeve."
"Looks like we have to find out on our own then," I remarked,more to myself,than to Morgana.
~~~
Five minutes before Zero Hour
"An acromantula??!!!!!She never said it would be a spider the size of an elephant!!!" I screamed in terrified frustration as we stared at the gigantic spider's shiny eyes.It had eight eyes arranged in three rows. The bottom row consisted of four small eyes, the middle row had two very large eyes, and the top row had two medium-sized eyes. I knew an acromantula depended on its excellent eyesight to hunt. They also possess an acute sense of touch.Which meant the vibration of every footstep I and Lupin took could be felt by the spider as if it were a minor earthquake.
"You reached this far for the stones," the spider roared."Impressive!Too bad it was all in vain.Your presence and your flesh will merely serve to satiate my hunger for tonight!"
A giant flesh-eating spider that talked,oh joy!!
"Lupin,I can see those stones up against that wall.Grab them!" I commanded.
Lupin inched slowly towards where the gem stones were kept and put them one by one into his bag,fearfully looking up at the spider every now and then.
"You amuse me,human," the acromantula growled."None of you are making it out of here alive.You might as well leave Merlin's stones where they are."
"Merlin sure has strange taste in pets," I commented sarcastically."Lupin,you got any spell to put this overgrown web-spinner in its place?"
The spider was covered in thick black hair, with a leg span that reached up to fifteen feet. I looked at its giant fangs and wondered, how many live animals or its own dead kin,those fangs had feasted on.
"There is the Cruciatus curse," Lupin replied,his face twisted in a paroxysm of fear."Causes immense pain.But I cannot summon it."
"What?Why?" I cried out incredulously.
"In order to summon it,I must possess a deep desire to cause the victim pain,"Lupin uttered,his voice now shaky."Morgana can do it.But I don't think I ever can."
"You are not qualified for this kind of job then," I muttered.
It was all upto me now.I took a deep breath and then I proceeded to summon the Local Earthquake spell as Morgana had taught us.An earthquake would send a vibration-sensitive acromantula into sensory overload,thus paralyzing it.
At least,that was the plan!
Just as my spell finished,the spider's pincers started producing a clicking sound.My spell seemed to be working!An acromantula's pincers click when the beast is agitated or excited.
The eight legs of the spider stood rooted to the floor as everything started jarring violently around us.Lupin quickly sprinted to by my side,the stones in his bag.
The entire floor was crumbling.The pillars had weakened too and could not support the ceiling much longer.Huge cracks appeared almost instantaneously in the wall and the floor.
Lupin cried out in alarm,"Godric,we have to get out of here!!The roof will come crashing down any moment!"
~~~ ~~~  ~~~~
"Make this cursed broom fly,you blasted fool," I cursed at Lupin as we hurtled downwards to our deaths at a break-neck speed.
"Wingardium Leviosa!!!!!!!" Lupin shouted his lungs out."If this doesn't work,we're dead!!!!!!!"
And just like magic,the broom stopped in mid-air.
Lupin had done it!!!!!I heaved a sigh of relief.I pulled him up by his shirt collar until his hands grasped the broom's handle too.
But our respite was short-lived.
The broom, instead of free-falling, now swooped downwards in an arc at an alarming velocity.We were already three storeys down.The ground was just two storeys away.The broom,however,seemed hell-bent on crash-landing us to the earth.
"We are going to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" Lupin howled.
"Mother,father,I love you!"I couldn't help shrieking myself."I am so sorry I could never get you the diamond necklace you always wanted,mother.Or the jewelled scabbard father always craved for!!"
"We should never have signed up for this!!!!" Lupid squealed as the broom sweeped closer to the ground,downwards and forward,its speed showing no signs of breaking.
The ground was just ten feet away.I decided to jump.I hit the ground hard and immediately started rolling forward to break the impact of my fall.My shirt tore.My torn leg started burning with excruciating
pain.My shoulders and arms bruised themselves too.
But I would live to fight another day!
As I pulled myself to my feet and dusted myself,I could see Lupin had landed several yards away.
I jogged to where he lay sprawled on the marshy ground.To my utter amazement,he was still breathing!
"Lupin,thank goodness!!" I smiled a smile of relief."You made it!What did you do?Your broom suddenly decided to spare your life,is it?"
"I cast a slowing down spell on it," Lupin smiled weakly. The same spell he had used against the scorpion!!He must have used it at the last moment to slow down the broom just enough to land without critically injuring himself.
"Well done,you cunning ass!!!!" I grinned widely as I extended my hand to Lupin."Here help yourself up."
"I think you'll have to carry me to the horses," Lupin grunted in pain as I pulled him up."I think I broke my leg."
~~~
Morgana's lair
"Phase one of our plan comes to a successful closure," Morgana purred satisfactorily."I am quite pleased with your performance,Godric.I think this little feat just made you move to the top of the class."
"My gratitude,Morgana," I answered."But I was curious.You have the gems in your possession.Now what?"
"Now we begin the next chapter of my plan," the sorceress smiled mysteriously."Merlin and my magic are roughly equal now.But only one hindrance remains."
"What's that?"
"I need someone who is a ParselMouth," Morgana summarily replied.
"Snake-tongue?" I asked, a bit taken aback."Why do you need that?"
"Because Merlin is one.He can command all snake like creatures with it.Giving him an advantage he can exploit strategically.And it is an ability I can never come to possess."
"Why so?" My curiosity grew.
"Only someone who shares Merlin's blood can be a ParselMouth," Morgana looked away from me as she uttered these words."As far as I know,Merlin is the only ParselMouth in existence." And she turned towards me again."But should fate choose to make us come across another,we have to seize the opportunity.Turn him or her into one of our own.Do you understand,Godric?"
"Yes,Morgana."
"Good," Morgana's sphynx-like smile was back."With the gems of Cyttorak and a ParselMouth by my side,nothing can stand between me and Arthur's throne."
Her eyes flared wickedly as she hissed the final words,"Not even Merlin."


To be continued?