Harry Potter and the Fortunate Queen - Chapter 375

“Colin, please don’t say, ‘I told you so’. This is not the time,” Ginny warned through the talisman. ​​

“I wasn’t going to,” Colin retorted. “I was asking if anyone can walk that way?” He pointed at the dark lane ahead of them. “Chris, Ginny, you two are close. Try to go there.”

Chris nodded and she and Ginny tried to walk towards the lane but failed.

“Okay, everyone, do not panic,” Chris said noticing the tense mood of her friends. “It’s just like the barrier we crossed at the entrance.”

“Which was opened by Oziyat and if you guys haven’t noticed, we are very much Oziyat-less right now,” Ginny remarked looking up through the tunnel from where they landed.

“Why did they divide us? Anything but this?” Colin ran his hand through his hair looking frustrated.

“I think we will be fine,” Luna said surprising her friends. Chris, Ginny, and Colin looked at her and she smiled. “We are still here, aren’t we? This means we are capable. Capable of going through whatever this mysterious underground cave throws at us. Yeah, we are divided right now but each one of us is powerful, that’s why this place accepted us as the founders’ alternative, shouldn’t that be enough?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever said this, but Luna, you give great pep talks,” Ginny chuckled then circled the place. “Hmm. . . Alright, let’s see what can we do here. . . Nothing is happening. And there are some runes here as well. Chris read them.”

Chris was startled by the sudden order but she quickly ducked towards the wall and started to read the runes. It was a story. A story about a fountain in a garden, four pursuers and. . .

Chris froze.

“It’s the story of Fountain of Fair Fortune!”

“The children’s book story?” Ginny asked surprised. “Mom had told me the story multiple times.”

“I have read it too,” Luna dreamily looked at her side of the wall. “That was very anti-climatic, why would someone put a children’s story here, where no one could read it? And I don’t think these stories are popular among vampires.”

“What’s the story?” Colin asked looking from Chris to Ginny to Luna.

“Oh, right, Colin doesn’t know,” Ginny said. “It’s about the fountain of fair fortunate.”

Colin raised his eyebrows at Ginny and Chris chuckled.

“I’ll explain,” Chris announced. “So this fountain of fair fortunate is a fountain that grants one wish every year to one person who can find it after winning all trial and tribulations surrounding the fountain. To gain that wish every year thousands of people wait outside the maze where the fountain is located. Very few among them make it to inside. In the story, three witches and a Muggle Knight enter the maze and pass the trials only to find all of their wishes are fulfilled even before reaching the fountain. The sick witch found a cure for her illness in the maze, the witch who lost her wand in a duel discovers that she is good at potions and she doesn’t need her wand to use her magic, the third who wanted love, falls in love with the Knight and the Knight who just wanted a purpose of his life finds one. That’s the story.”

“Cool story. . . but why is it here?” Colin said after a moment.

“I think,” Chris stared at the wall and again followed her intuition. “This is a test, not a trap. We are being tested to see if we are worthy.”

“Okay . . . but what is this test? We are probably here for more than fifteen minutes and nothing has happened,” Ginny said looking around.

As soon as Chris, Luna, and Colin heard Ginny’s words through the talisman another voice vibrated around them, and a figure appeared behind Ginny.

“I was just waiting for you to figure it out first.”

Ginny whirled around holding up her wand but seeing the newcomer, she froze. Chris, Luna, and Colin had their mouth open in shock as well. In front of Ginny was . . . another Ginny.

This new Ginny looked exactly like Ginny but at the same time, Chris knew it wasn’t her best friend Ginny.

“What? Never saw yourself in the mirror?” The new Ginny or the fake Ginny asked mockingly and smirked. There was arrogance and overconfidence in the way she spoke.

“Gin, I think,” Chris tried to warn but the next second Luna’s surrounding filled with white smoke.

“Luna!” Colin and Chris screamed and again, before Chris could let out another word, she got dizzy and suddenly collapsed.

“Christina?”

Chris woke up feeling disoriented as someone called her name. She looked up and saw herself lying on a soft bed.

She was back to the Vampire Castle? What happened? Did Oziyat found a way to get in and saved them?

“Christina.”

But then the person calling her came in front of her and Chris sat up straight stunned.

“Daphne? What the Hell? What are you doing here?” Chris almost shrieked.

It was indeed Daphne Greengrass, the tall, stony-faced, blonde, Slytherin girl from Harry’s year. Astoria Greengass’s older sister. Though she looked a lot older than the time Chris saw her last. She practically looked like a woman, a very stylish and posh woman with a strapped overall smooth dark green coat and neatly set hair.

Chris watched her incredulously and Daphne looked annoyed by her expression. No one spoke for a long minute, then Daphne took a deep calming breath and said,

“First, you are late for the meeting, and when I kindly came to wake you up, this is how you treat me?”

“Meeting? What meeting?” Chris repeated without the slightest understanding. She looked around the room and realized it wasn’t her room in the Vampire Castle. “Wait, are we not at the Vampire Castle?”

“Christina, I know you spend a lot of time with vampires but that doesn’t mean you are unable to recognize your own room,” Daphne furrowed her brows. “Were you working all night? Are you having another power-exhausted hallucination?”

“I — what?”

“Of course, you are,” Daphne sighed and walked to the shelf at the far end of the room. On the shelf were rows and columns of potion vials, she picked one and brought it back to Chris. “Here, drink this. You can’t show up like this at the meeting and you can’t skip it again.”

“Daphne,” Chris stood up without taking the vial from Daphne. She clutched her head remembering the last thing before she collapsed. Ginny was with that fake Ginny, Luna was surrounded by smoke, and Colin? No idea.

Chris was scared for her friends and didn’t have time for Daphne’s riddles. So the best way to know what was going on was to ask.

“What’s going on, Daphne? Where am I? What meeting? Most importantly where are Ginny, Colin, and Luna? Have you seen them and since when you call me Christina?”

“My goodness!” Daphne looked shocked. “How much power did you use Christina? This is even beyond your normal low power symptoms. You should first drink this then I can—”

“Answer the question, Daphne.” Chris snapped.

“What? What question?” Daphne snapped back. “You are asking as if you forgot everything that happened for the last two years? After the Great Master won?”

“Who won?” she turned towards Daphne.

“. . . You don’t remember? The war? The Dark Lord’s death? The Great Master’s victory? Your decision?” Daphne grimaced.

“The war? Dark Lord’s death? Riddle died? And the Great master—? Malgino? He won? What?” Chris felt like she couldn’t breathe. “And? Me? What did I do?”

“You agreed to join Him if he spares your friends,” Daphne said flatly. “Why do you think it’s just me who still talks to you? When you joined Him, Weasleys and Luna Lovegood left you because they couldn’t just accept the Great Master. They are still planning a rebellion, and that muggle-born boy Colin; he and all the muggle-borns had to go back to the muggle world. That’s the rule the Great Master made about muggles. He promised you that he wouldn’t kill them but they wouldn’t be treated like wizards or witches. They are muggles and will be treated such. The Great master made sure muggles know about us and know their place. And you agreed to it.”

“Stop this Great master nonsense, Daphne, and I would never —” Chris shouted.

“Never what?” Daphne interrupted. “It was Harry Potter, don’t you remember? He begged you to stop. He begged you to let him die rather than live in the world where the Great master ruled. But you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t let your friends die . . . and for that now the entire wizarding world is suffering. Nobody can do anything they want. If they do we have to kill them as the Great master’s loyal followers. The Great master rules the world now. Not just the wizarding world but the entire world. He is the King. Every species got two options either they join him or die. Many died and many joined him. We have no freedom anymore. We are his puppets. We have to agree to what he says right and wrong. Nobody can save us, Christina. Because of you. You were so hellbent on saving your friends that you destroyed the entire wizarding world.”

“I did not,” Chris felt her blood boiling. She was trying so hard to save the wizarding world, how could Daphne accuse her like that? “I would never destroy the wizarding world, Daphne. I would never let Malgino destroy anything!”

“So you would do anything for the greater goal? You would save the world no matter the consequences and the sacrifices?” Daphne asked in a different tone.

“Yes!” Chris yelled and felt her nails digging into her hands. “I would never let Malgino win. I will kill him before that.”

“Then I hope you win.”

A strangely familiar voice vibrated around Chris before Daphne and the room fell apart like broken glass and Chris found herself swimming through the abyss.