Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 56: The Haunted House Part 4
When Harry tried to turn the handle of the door, he noticed that this one appeared to be stuck.
Aiming his wand at the door, he muttered out loud, "Alohomora."
There was a loud clicking noise, indicating that the door had been unlocked, but when he tried to twist the handle, this one still refused to budge.
"Tsk…" Harry was truly getting annoyed. It was obvious that the entity that had taken residence in this manor didn't want him to go inside this room.
"Mister Potter, look!" The man pointed at the handle. This one had now become frozen solid, and the door was also turning into a single block of ice.
"You think this is going to stop me?" Harry channeled more magic through his wand and tapped the door. "Bombarda."
The entire door, as well as part of the wall, was blown into smithereens and flew into the studio.
Harry then made a gesture with his hand, sending the previously created ball of light inside the room.
"Oh? It's really there." His eyes were immediately drawn to a single book that was being displayed at the center of the room.
It was clearly a black tome made of some kind of leather.
"T-that's it! That's the book I saw. Please, be careful," Mister Laurent said.
Harry was about to take a step forward so he could get a better look at the book when a translucent figure appeared from the ceiling and blocked his path.
"Ahhh!" The keeper immediately panicked when he saw this ghostly entity and fell on his butt.
"Get out of my way," Harry warned the creature.
"Nooo! You must leave right now!" The ghostly entity moved her long hair out of the way, revealing a monstrous face hidden beneath. "Leave!" she screamed.
The keeper let out a loud cry before covering his face. "M-monster!"
However, Harry was not fazed by the scary appearance of the entity. "I thought you didn't want us to leave… make up your mind already."
"Leave!" she screamed again while getting closer to Harry and lifting her hands in the air in an obvious attempt to scare him off.
"That's it. I've had it with you." Harry pointed his wand at the ghost. "Umbravinco."
Black ropes manifested from his wand and wrapped around the ghostly entity, trapping it and binding it completely.
"W-what… what did you do?!" the ghost shouted. "Nooo!"
"What, you thought you couldn't be harmed because you are a ghost? You must be new at this," said Harry. "Or you never came across a wizard… I honestly don't care which one it is."
Ignoring the ghost's complaints, Harry got closer to the black tome.
His eyes opened widely in recognition. "This is it! It actually is the book I was looking for." He sounded truly excited.
Despite all the similarities, Harry had remained skeptical until this moment.
But now that he had it in front of him, he was completely sure.
He recognized the strange runic symbols engraved on the corners of the cover, as well as on the spine.
When he ran his fingers across its surface, it reacted, forming a human face on its cover, just like Mister Laurent had described.
This brought a smile to his face. "Hello there. I've been looking for you."
"Stop! It's mine!" The ghost continued to fight desperately against the restraints, but to no avail.
"Yours?" Harry glared at the ghost with suspicion. "I don't think so."
"It's mine! My husband gave it to me as a wedding present." The monstrous face of the ghost appeared to vanish, revealing a normal human face.
Now she looked like a middle-aged woman with long black hair and clear eyes.
The keeper, who had slightly recovered, moved closer to Harry and could see the face of the ghost.
"Wait… I know who this is! She is the wife of the British man who built this house. I saw a painting of her in the library."
"So her husband is the one who stole from that British noble and was forced to go into hiding." Harry recalled what Morgan had told him about the diary.
"You knew that part as well?" the keeper asked.
"It doesn't matter." Harry turned to the ghost. "So this book is the reason for your spirit to remain bound in the mortal realm. I guess that you read its contents." Even in her ghostly form, he could see the madness in her eyes.
This book was not meant for Muggles. If one of them were to read it, they would be quickly driven insane by the dark energies being emanated by it.
"It's mine! You can't take it!" The ghost repeated. "Mine!"
"Hmph!" Harry scoffed. "This tome was never yours or your husband's. This is mine, and I will, of course, take it with me."
Harry lifted the tome and held it in his hands for a moment before storing it inside his bag.
"As for you…" He turned to the ghost. "It is time for you to leave this place. You have caused more than enough trouble." His wand shone with a bright white light.
The ghost cried and fought desperately against its bonds.
"Requiescat (may she rest)." Harry uttered the enchantment to forcefully expel ghosts from the mortal realm.
Under the power of his magic, the ghost could do nothing as its existence was driven away to a very distant place, far beyond the world of the living.
As soon as the ghost disappeared, the oppressive aura that had been filling the manor… disappeared. The temperature also began to quickly rise, and all the ice in the surroundings melted away.
"Is… is it over?" Mister Laurent asked while he stared at Harry with a mixture of veneration and fear.
"Yes, it is over. And so is our deal." Harry pulled another bag of coins and handed it to the man. "I don't think you will experience any more strange phenomena in this house."
"That's… great. Ehm…" He looked at Harry.
"As for what happened here… it would be best if you didn't tell anyone," Harry suggested.
"I don't think anyone would believe me even if I did," the keeper responded.
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