Enchanting Melodies (HP SI)

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10 May 1995, Azkaban

Both Harry and Voldemort stared at the being in horror as he spoke up, "I said you were a clever one. Ekrizdis, at your service. You have no idea how glad I am that you're here." Well, shit. Why did Harry have to be right about this? Maybe there was an innocent explanation for what happened? Who was he kidding, this guy had evil written all over him. Yeah, this definitely wasn't going to end well

A thousand thoughts raced across Harry's head as he stared at the man before him. Like, why did he give them access to Solomon's magic system? Well, it was obviously intended for Voldemort, but there was no reason why Ekrizdis would use an area-of-effect spell to grant the insight necessary to use Solomon's magic system. And it was a magical system. It was just so different, so overpowered, that it had to be considered a system of its own.

But why did Ekrizdis reveal his true identity and how much of what he said was a lie?

He definitely wouldn't have revealed himself without having gotten what he wanted. The question was what the man achieved. While Harry was doing his best to analyse the situation, Voldemort became more confrontational, and pointed his wand at the former Dark Lord, "Ekrizdis is dead."

"Oh, am I really hurting your sensibilities, boy? Believe it or not, there are other ways to achieve immortality without ripping away at your soul as you have. Do you have any idea what awaits you when your miserable existence is gone? Nothing. You will not have the luxury of an afterlife; you will not reincarnate. You will spend an eternity in the void, until your very ego, whatever consciousness you have left, succumbs to madness and fades away, and after that, the energy that makes up your soul will dissipate into nothing. That is the fate that awaits those who are foolish enough to rupture their souls."

"I will not die," the heir of Slytherin growled.

Ekrizdis' answer was a laugh, "Everyone dies. What is a century, a thousand years, compared to eternity? Our sun will fade, our planet will be destroyed, and the universe will eventually succumb to nothingness. Solomon's Grimoire holds wonders of magic beyond anything you can imagine, but there is nothing that can stop the inevitability of death. Delay it, perhaps, but never stop it. Even if you ascend to godhood, you will die. For everything that has a beginning must have an end."

That last statement felt like a fundamental law of the universe, and it rang like a pulse of magic. An absolute truth of existence. The dark wizard's face softened slightly, "You will not find what you seek in the Grimoire. Perhaps, in time, you will learn not to fear the inevitable. I sincerely hope you'll live for long enough to understand that."

Harry turned towards the abomination and spoke up clearly, "Why did you do all of this? Why all the trickery?"

The abomination spoke up, a smile growing on his face, "Ah, the clever one. Who would have thought that the child would be the hardest to deceive? And yet, this intelligence will not be rewarded. Quite tragic, if I say so myself. The truth is that I gave you the foundation of Solomon's magic for one simple reason. Because we made a deal."

And just like that, everything clicked, and Harry paled. A deal. That was what this whole mess was about. Aid for Solomon's Magic. His new perception of magic allowed Harry to realize that this exchange was binding, only they didn't know it was at the time. The magic was hidden through layers of Solomon's own magic. They hadn't realized that they were being bound.

Harry had never agreed to a deal, he knew that for a fact. He was always careful with that. It was something that he unconsciously did the moment he knew that Fey had once roamed the Earth. Still, he never expected it to be possible to be bound without even knowing it. Oaths and Vows were like chains on your very beings. No one could just ignore their presence, but people got used to it over time.

However, Voldemort did agree, and he was now bound to help Ekrizdis. Thankfully, Harry, himself, wasn't involved at all, and that made him even more wary.

There was also the fact that Ekrizdis gave them only the foundation of Solomon's magic, but not the research or the knowledge. It would take centuries for them to ever catch up to someone using the Grimoire, thus, they weren't threats to him.

It all reeked of manipulation, but the main question was why? Why did Ekrizdis need someone to help? He had all the knowledge of Solomon at his fingertips, everything he could ever hope for. Even if he needed some patsy, he could have just left Azkaban at any time and found a power-hungry idiot and tricked him into serving him.

Unless…

Unless he couldn't leave.

Harry gave the man a blank look, "This is your prison."

"It was," Ekrizdis replied, "When I opened the breach, I never expected to meet so much opposition. I could make a connection without too many problems, but I couldn't create an active breach. Something always closed it, some external force, or perhaps the will of the world itself. I never quite figure it out. So, I resorted to desperate measures. I needed an enormous amount of energy to open a stable breach. I was desperate and alone. I shouldn't have been so hasty or arrogant, but I cannot change the past. Not anymore. I kidnapped hundreds of peasants, mostly just criminals, bandits, and people who would have been put to the sword anyway. I put them in these cells and sacrificed them all to open the breach. It was tragic, but it was necessary. Or at least, I thought it was. How many lives would I save by destroying the Light and Dark? It would have been worth it in the long run. And it worked perfectly. I sealed the ley lines to avoid any sort of contamination from the breach, and the sacrifices were more than enough to maintain the breach for a good while. All that remained was that I hunt down the Champions of Light and Dark. They were barely in their teens, children really. I was so close."

"But something stopped you. I'm guessing someone didn't like what you did. One of the Champions' mentors, perhaps," Harry stated.

"I wish it was a mage but, no, boy, what stopped me was the Grimoire itself. Who would have thought that the damn book would develop a form of sentience? Who would have thought that it would object to what I was trying to achieve? I realized that it had a form of sentience when it refused to reveal more of its secrets after the massacre. But I never would have guessed that it would have been capable of casting magic. It was very subtle. I failed to notice it until it was too late. It was a very slow curse, binding my very soul to this place, forcing me to stay until the breach was closed until my life's work was gone. It almost got what it wanted. After all, I was only a man bound to a cavern doing his best to keep his dream alive. Even as the world itself wanted to close the breach, I refused. I wouldn't be cowed when I had sacrificed so much."

He looked regretful for a fraction of a second before continuing, "I had no other choice. I couldn't exactly get enough magic there without it being corrupted, and I needed energy to keep the breach open. I was running out of time, so, I used my golems, my wraiths, my weapons against the Light and Dark, capable of absorbing life force and setting them free. I used the life force they absorbed to keep the breach open. But that energy needed someone to direct it, someone capable enough to keep the delicate balance. I needed a replacement, someone that would be bound in my place, as I hunt down the Light and Dark. I needed someone who could understand magic enough to keep the corruption from spreading. And so, I waited for someone to find me for centuries."

"Until we came," Harry realized.

"Until you came," the man agreed, "You have no idea how glad I am that you're here. You will be able to take the mantle, to keep the breach open until I fulfil my purpose. And when the Light and Dark finally disappear, when Nidhogg sets his eyes on them, I would close the breach and set you free once more. And so, Lord Voldemort, I have fulfilled my side of our agreement and now it's time for you to return the favour. You can aid me by taking my place, by taking my curse, to stay here with Solomon's Grimoire, maintaining the breach until the breach closes."

Harry felt a pulse of magic and understood the command for what it was. It was enforcing the verbal contract that they had made. Immediately, Voldemort fell to the floor and started to writhe in obvious agony, but without a single yell of pain.

The former Dark Lord spoke up gently, "I truly am sorry. It hurts, but I cannot abandon my purpose. Hopefully, I will be done soon, and you'll be free once more."

Harry gave Ekrizdis a pleading look, "What about the consequences of the breach? What about the corrupted mess that has invaded this island? The breach is obviously not as stable as you'd have liked."

"Whoever released the ley lines is responsible for that, not me. If you hadn't come to free me, then it was likely that the world would have ended somewhere in the next decade. Don't worry, I will be sealing off the ley lines to stop the infection from spreading and stabilize the breach properly, before hunting down the Champions properly."

"Or you could have closed the breach, let things go. Are you really willing to let the entire world burn for no reason? Defeating the Light and Dark is meaningless if there's no one left to enjoy this victory."

For the first time, anger appeared on the monster's face, "You expect me to throw away everything I sacrificed, everything I worked for? And for what? For some ungrateful mortals that look at me and see an abomination. Do you think I care about their pitiful little lives? No, I'm doing this for me, and me alone."

Harry couldn't help but feel unsettled by the man's response. It was very ironic how similar all three of them were. Voldemort, Ekrizdis, and Harry wanted to destroy the Light and Dark at all costs. All of them were very powerful wielders of magic, prodigies, even. But looking at the two other mages, Harry couldn't help but feel pity. They were so alone, so empty, so broken, and Harry could see a twisted mirror of himself in them. They were so consumed by their goal that they never really lived. Who would ever consider killing hundreds of people to be an appropriate sacrifice for anything? They reminded him of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and that thought shook him to the core.

They were all the same, weren't they? Everyone had an idea about what the world should be, and they were willing to burn the world down if it meant that they would be one step closer to making their vision a reality. Was that how they were all doomed to become, monsters who pretended that what they did was for some grand vision? Harry refused to follow that path.

The young wizard had one last question on his lips, "Why are you telling me any of this? You could have just left. Why bother telling us information that might harm you?"

His answer was a sad smile, "You don't get it, do you? You will do nothing because you can do nothing. You will both be trapped here in my stead. I thought that the least I owe you is an explanation."

While Harry had been speaking for so long, he'd been preparing a trap, a rune matrix, folded in non-Euclidean space, folded in a way that only his new magical insight allowed. He had thought that he had mastered space magic, but he now realized that he barely scratched the surface.

It didn't technically make sense from an outsider's perspective. The runes covered the entirety of the cavern and yet could also fit in the palm of his hands. It had been tricky to deal with, but it essentially would create a subspace of infinite space around Ekrizdis. It wouldn't let him move and yet would make him untouchable, a binding with pure space. He was pretty proud of that one.

Harry gave him a doubtful look, "I didn't make a deal with you. There's no reason for me to stay exactly."

"Not all prisons are physical, boy. I assure you that you will not leave this cavern without my agreement. I can't have you warning the Light and Dark of my coming, can I?"

Well, that certainly sounded ominous, didn't it? That seemed like a good enough time to activate his trap. Perhaps if Ekrizdis found himself bound once more, he could be blackmailed or something. Honestly, he was running out of ideas. The man was obviously insane. Like seriously, who the fuck invited a fucking Eldritch being, a devourer of realms, into the world. This was a man who would quite willingly let the world burn.

And there's a good chance that it would burn. Overpowered magic or not, there was a chance that Dumbledore and Grindelwald would be able to kill him, meaning that Harry would be trapped here forever. At least, until the breach becomes unstable again and Nidhogg devours the material realm. Yeah, he needed to get out of this place.

Fucking Voldemort. How that man is what remains of Tom Riddle, Harry had no idea. The boy had been charming, and powerful, and definitely wouldn't have been foolish enough to do anything like this, even if he was as desperate. Then again, Tom Riddle did rip out his own soul as a teenager, so he wasn't exactly a pillar of common sense.

Of course, right as the trap was about to activate, the rune matrix shattered like glass and Ekrizdis raised an eyebrow, "Well, that was very impressive. You've barely had minutes with my magic and came up with this. Don't worry, I won't bind you to this place. I don't need to, after all. See, have a look."

Turned towards Ekrizdis, only to find himself outside the cavern. There was a familiar golden shield surrounding them, staving off Nidhogg's influence. This didn't feel like space manipulation. Harry spread his senses, trying to understand how he got there, only to gasp, and fall to the ground.

Everything felt off like the world itself was tilted. He couldn't breathe. It was someone who had turned off his Arcane Hearing. No, it was still there, just wrong. What was going on? He palmed his wand and tried to cast any magic, but everything felt wrong.

He glared at Ekrizdis, "What did you do?"

"Nothing. As I said, not all prisons are physicals. We're just outside the cavern, where my spell that grants you the perception over magic has failed. You just lost your ability to use Solomon's magic, nothing more. But that's not it, is it? Everything just feels greyer, magic is so bland and tasteless. That's because nothing will ever compare to what you felt inside the cave. I know you will not leave because you will always crave the insight. You will always return of your own free will."

Harry pointed his wand at Ekrizdis, his hand shaking, "I could kill you now."

"Perhaps you could," the man answered, visibly amused, "But even in the very unlikely scenario where you achieve this fear, it still wouldn't change anything, would it? You'll still return to the cavern, craving your new magic. I wonder how long you'll hold out before you snap. Don't feel so bad. You were always going to be bound here. I just needed someone to agree to take my place. Your companion might have agreed to my deal in his greed and fear, but if he hadn't, I would have tortured you all until one of you snapped. This certainly is more pleasant, isn't it? It certainly was the most merciful way to bind you to this place."

"You're a monster, Ekrizdis," Harry gritted out. 

"I am. I never denied it. That doesn't mean that my actions have no great purpose. And please stop pointing that thing at me. I don't think you could cast any magic anymore, so it's barely more than a stick in your hands. Don't worry, once I'm done, I'll let make my spell permanent and you'll be allowed to leave, capable of using Solomon's magic anywhere."

He was right, Harry didn't think he could cast any magic. The way he would manipulate magic just felt empty, so inefficient. It was like someone who was used to the modern world being forced to build a house with his bare hands or trying to read a book while only knowing a single letter.

Everything felt so imprecise, so wrong. It felt more like a psychological block stopping him from casting everything than any form of magic. Every part of Harry urged him to return to the cavern, to get back to a place where the world made sense once more.

But he also knew that if he went back, he would never leave. Harry felt the wand in his hand warm up. The resurrection stone, as well as the cloak, pulsed in, and reassured him. It filled the oppressing silence with something of its own.

His crest warmed up, and Harry felt his own magic click once more. It didn't stop the feeling that something was missing, that his magic felt inefficient and incomplete, but it wasn't the main thought inside him.

After all, what was magic in front of Death?

Harry looked straight at his opponent and spoke up, "No."

Ekrizdis' smile turned condescending, "No?"

"Very close but no. It was all very neat, very organized, and certainly very clever, but you made a mistake. You could have walked out of here without any opposition and gone on your suicide mission to confront the Light and Dark Champions on your own."

"And what mistake is that?"

Harry grinned, "You really should have made sure that I couldn't leave the cave. There is such thing as being too clever."

And just like that, Harry used all the Hallows at once, using his very soul to activate them, letting his crest take over.

The young wizard enjoyed the shocked look on Ekrizdis' face as their surroundings were consumed by a gigantic wave of shadows.

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AN: I tried something a bit new with this, and I hope I pulled it off. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.