Here's another challenge started by @dat-silvers-girl of MC! Death (because I can't write properly in English I made drawings)
Allow me to show you all the ways I thought of Candy dying, oh yes, I think about it all the time. And everytime Paula is there to witness it, poor thing.
Every death happens in Year 6
All three are because Candy tried to protect someone important
In one of them, Candy turns into a ghost along with Rowan and Ben
@lunasilvermorny Luna and Paula grieving over the death of her sisters because they have a underrated friendship I tell you
skldfjls yesterday I suddenly had an urge to turn Ash’s life upside down so here’s an AU where she’s dead, setting a few years after the Battle of Hogwarts.
challenge credits to @dat-silvers-girl
TW: blood, death
How did she end up here, wand broken, no communication and having a sword fight with Patricia Rakepick? The world was such a miraculous place, bringing her surprise after surprise.
It was supposed to be another mission: get the artifact, beat some bad guys then go home. What could have gone wrong? A certain red hair woman, of course.
“Did you stop taking sword lessons, Miss White?” Another blow. Ash could only go for defensive against Rakepick and she was still barely able to hold herself together. Did aging even affect that woman?
“Well, there wasn’t any teacher like you so I dropped out.” It was true. Indeed, she hadn’t met someone that actually pushed her beyond her own limits. Morgai could have but she was way too soft when it came to things like this, especially with Ash. Patricia, on the other hand, didn’t care. She would throw White against a werewolf pack just to study the werewolves’ attack strategy. The smile on her opponent’s face was distracting. It brought back too many memories when she was in Hogwarts. When things were...
The sword went deep, very much deeper than a human could take. Ash didn't feel anything at first but when Rakepick twisted it, the pain washed all over her body. She wanted to scream, to pull the damn thing out of her body, to give the person in front of her a piece of her mind. But she couldn't. Her body wasn't acting like hers anymore and her head was spinning. Ash didn't need to look down to see how much blood she had lost.
"Heh, I have to learn how to use a sword again." White laughed breathlessly. She was gonna die in the middle of nowhere for losing a sword fight. And here Jacob thought he was the dumbest when he put eggs into the microwave without a cover.
"You know, I gave you and Jacob a chance to side with us." Rakepick's voice sounded so far away, as if they were in two different places, speaking through a layer. "This could have been avoided."
Ash tried to laugh again but more blood came out instead. She managed to lift her head, looked at the woman in front of her. With her blurry vision, Patricia did look like Morgai, not because of the red hair but because of the aura they gave out.
"Well, finish me." Blue eyes squinted at such provoke. "I don't have the whole day laying here."
"For a woman about to die, you are calmer than I thought." Patricia commented, still having the sword inside Ash. The younger girl shrugged, or at least did something close to that. Two more minutes at least, unless Rakepick felt like pulling the sword out.
That was when she spotted the tiny black box laying on the ground. Ash seemed to notice it too, brows slightly wrinkled. There were only two people here so it was clear who owned this.
“Don't…" Too late. Patricia already opened it, revealed a sapphire ring inside. "Oh Merlin this is embarrassing."
"Who are you proposing?" Such a harmless question but Ash's face scrunched up in annoyance. It took her a few seconds to gather strength to reply.
"Penny Haywood. Blonde hair, blue eyes, good at Potions. Does it ring a bell?"
"Ah, the one you had a crush on in Hogwarts."
"Have a crush on." Ash grumbled. "It never goes away, I suppose, like you and Morgai."
Morgai White… A name that brought back more than just memories to Rakepick. She looked at the younger woman on the verge of death, then focused on the ring box on her hand. Nothing could be changed now.
"Hey, don't give that ring too her." White's threat sounded like a whisper. "I don't want Penny to end up like my aunt." Another cough, with more blood this time. "Yearning for something that's long gone."
Patricia hesitated, Ash didn't need to see to know it. It was not like she wanted to make the woman that imprisoned her brother, killed Rowan, and now killed her felt bad. She was barely conscious, rambling nonsense, though some parts of her were satisfied with the reaction.
Rakepick kneeled down next to her, holding the handle of the sword.
"I'm sorry." Her face didn't look that sad but White knew she meant it. The older woman pulled the sword out and Ash smiled as everything darkened.
.
Three days. It had been three days since Penny heard anything from Ash. She shouldn't have been worried: there were times her girlfriend disappeared for weeks, even months.
But she always calls, or sends letters. The woman sighed heavily. She should meet someone in the Ministry of Magic, to see if they had heard anything.
Opening the door, Haywood found a small box placing on the step. No name, no address, just a black ring box. She was about to leave with it when the landline phone rang. Please be Ash.
“Penny?” The voice on the other end of the line was undoubtedly Morgai. “Are you there?”
Her voice was so… strange, as if she was holding back something. “Yes, I’m here.” Penny replied, fingers squeezing the cord. She heard Morgai took a deep breath before continued.
“Penny, they…” A sob. “They found Ash’s body.”
The ring box fell to the ground. A sapphire ring, the same color as Penny’s eyes and a note written quickly.
This is set at the end of year 6, centering around the Sunken Vault. In my version of year 6 (which has yet to be written and will probably be modified as more game chapters are released), Merula and Ben have started on their own arcs back to the “center” so to speak after the death of Redacted -- Merula by acknowledging that, despite her pain, anger, and feelings of vengeance toward Rakepick, she doesn’t want any of her other companions to die; and Ben by acknowledging that, however strong he can make himself and however much he might try to protect his friends, he can’t prevent death, so he can only do his best and try to make up for his previous failings. Merula’s still quite angry and Ben’s still quite obstinate...but they both have kind of rallied around Carewyn as co-leaders of the Circle of Khanna, so I think I’ve written them quite a bit more likeable than they are currently. XD;
As for Jacob Cromwell, one thing to keep in mind for my version of Jacob specifically is that he struggled with very suicidal thoughts after losing Olivia and Duncan, when he was forced to work with R, and ESPECIALLY while losing his mind trapped in a Portrait for seven years. The one thing that kept him going was the thought of his little sister, Carewyn, and the thought that she needed him. This is something I hope to tackle at the end of year 6 during the Lakeside confrontation between Carewyn and Jacob.
And yes. This is an AU. Carewyn is not going anywhere, I promise.
TW: Murder, character death, suicidal emotions, violence.
~~~~~~~~~
“Go, Carey!” Tonks shouted, her words muffled by the Bubble Head Charm around her head.
She blasted a pair of angry Grindylows away with a blast of violent, steaming bubbles from her wand. The red hot sparks agitated the Giant Squid, and Diego, Tulip, and Barnaby swam over, counterattacking with their own Bombardment spells.
“Carewyn, go! Now!” barked Talbott, his own gruffer words similarly muffled, as he conjured ropes from his wand and yanked a Grindylow off of Penny’s back. “We’ll cover you!”
Carewyn hesitated.
“But -- ” she tried to say, but the Gillyweed she’d eaten made her words only come out as one large bubble.
Ben grabbed hold of Carewyn’s shoulder, looking from her to the stone courtyard below them. As he’d also taken Gillyweed, his words also came out as a cluster of bubbles.
“We’re running out of time,” Carewyn could see his lips mouth solemnly, holding up his wrist so that his watch (frozen on the time 8:13) was visible so as to make his point clear.
Carewyn’s jaw clenched. She knew Ben was right. The dose of Gillyweed they’d taken wouldn’t last much longer, and the Merpeople had signaled to them that they’d seen Jacob swimming down this way less than an hour ago. He’d no doubt have already reached the Vault -- and if her suspicion was right, Jacob was walking right into a trap --
Nodding decisively, Carewyn turned to Charlie and Merula, who’d both swam through the murky water to her and Ben’s side, blasting several more Grindylows away.
Like Carewyn and Ben, they had the gills and webbed feet and hands that came with ingesting Gillyweed. There hadn’t been enough for everyone in the Circle of Khanna, so the others had improvised with Bubble Head Charms. Ironically enough, the people who’d ended up eating the Gillyweed Penny had collected and saving an extra dose for the return trip were the same ones who’d gone to the Portrait Vault the previous year.
“Come on!” Carewyn said to Ben, Charlie, and Merula, even if they couldn’t properly hear her.
She swam up to Bill urgently, placing one of her webbed hands firmly against his chest.
“Stay here,” she said very sharply.
Bill’s eyes widened.
“What?!” she could see his lips mouth in horror as a large bubble burbled out of them.
“You lead!” Carewyn tried very hard to keep her words simple, since they could only come out as bubbles. “I have to go!”
“NO!” Bill’s vehement denial came out as an even larger bubble.
“Bill, please!” Carewyn shot back more frantically. She squeezed the front of his shirt anxiously. “No time! Lead them! Help me! Protect them!”
She gestured desperately to the others struggling to fend off the Giant Squid and Grindylows. Bill had to be the one to lead them -- he was the strongest of them, and Carewyn knew he was capable of leading them in her stead. He was the only one she trusted with the others’ safety.
Bill looked beside himself. As the oldest of the group, he’d always wanted to protect the others, and he’d already sort of become one of the core members of the Circle of Khanna just based on his position as their assistant teacher. But Carewyn had always been one of his closest friends -- she was like a sister to him, except that she protected and inspired him too, rather than him largely looking after her like he did his real younger siblings. She’d encouraged him with his Cursebreaking from day one, and she was always the one who helped him pick himself up when he was at his lowest point. He’d gone to every single Cursed Vault with Carewyn, and he knew this last one was going to be dangerous...the thought of his best friend going without him -- of him not being there for her, when she was clearly so scared --
Merula let out a cluster of urgent bubbles Carewyn couldn’t understand, since she wasn’t facing her properly, though Carewyn did turn around in time to see Ben add, “We have to go now!”
Charlie grabbed hold of Bill’s sleeve, his other arm looping tightly around Carewyn’s shoulders. She couldn’t make out everything what he was saying, given the amount of bubbles flooding out of his mouth, but her fellow Fireball stared his brother down with a fierce expression.
“ -- Bill -- got her -- won’t let -- to Carey -- promise!”
Bill looked from Charlie, to Ben and Merula, to Carewyn, his expression almost helpless. Traces of bubbles started to form in the corners of his eyes.
Then, clenching his jaw, the eldest Weasley boy grabbed onto both Charlie and Carewyn, cradling the backs of their ginger heads with each of his hands in a physically distant, but raw kind of hug. When he released them, his brown eyes were blazing with both determination and desperation.
“I’ll be -- right -- behind you!” he said very firmly and deliberately, to make sure they understood.
‘Please be careful,’ his expression was pleading with them.
Carewyn gave Bill her best reassuring smile and released his shirt. Then, turning on her heel in the water, she swam straight down to the sunken courtyard that she knew held the doors to the final Cursed Vault, Charlie, Ben, and Merula at her side.
~*~
The underwater courtyard was a spooky place. It was sparse and seemingly endless, dotted with the cracked pillars of some long-abandoned stone pavilion. Algae and moss encroached upon the ruins from all sides -- it was the only life seemingly brave enough to broach the water surrounding the empty stone urns and the intricately tiled mosaic floor. Creepiest of all were the countless statues that littered the sea floor -- dozens of stone fish, grindylows, mermaids, and other underwater life that seemed to have been petrified while trying to swim away.
Carewyn followed the lines of statues with her eyes, back to what they’d been running away from -- and at the back of the Courtyard, she saw a broken stone staircase leading up to a set of double doors not unlike the ones on the other Cursed Vaults.
She waved her arm to get the others’ attention, pointed ahead, and then kicked off through the water, leading them toward the doors.
These doors were unusual from the off-set, for they seemed to be connected to nothing. They merely stood on their own, with nothing but a stone archway over the doors’ frame. It was like the walls and structure it had been a part of had been wiped away.
Ben immediately swam over to the door and tried to yank it open by its door handle. When it didn’t open, he shot several different colored lines of bubbles at it, likely Alohomora and Bombarda.
Merula shook her head.
“Don’t bother!” she mouthed deliberately through a stream of bubbles. “It must -- be like -- the door -- in the -- Portrait Vault!”
She looked at Carewyn.
“Well?” she mouthed through another clump of bubbles. “Any bright ideas?”
Carewyn thought she knew.
Glancing from Merula to Charlie, she slipped the key that Sickleworth had found in the Red Cap’s hole and given to her the previous year. She swam up beside Ben and brushed aside some of the algae covering the door’s knocker, to find a rusted, ornate keyhole.
With a deep breath, Carewyn slipped the coral key into the iron keyhole and with some difficulty turned it.
The door gave a great, booming CLICK. The sound gave a profound ripple through the water, and both doors were abruptly flung open, white light pouring out of them. It was so bright that it was impossible to see anything beyond -- but the lake water Carewyn and her friends swam in seemed to be magically warded away from the archway, rather than flowing through it. It was almost as if the light and water were two similarly charged magnets pushing back against each other.
Carewyn swallowed back the lump that had formed in her throat and looked over at the others.
All three of her companions looked paler than she’d ever seen them. Even Ben, who that entire year had acted so puffed-up and fearless, was unable to hide the trembling hand at his side.
A rush of pity washing over her, Carewyn reached out and took Ben’s hand. The Gryffindor looked down at Carewyn, startled.
“Together?” she asked him. Even though she tried to keep her voice strong, she knew Ben wouldn’t have been able to hear it properly, and it couldn’t disguise how pale she was.
Her restrained fear in her face and the support Carewyn showed despite it, however, made Ben’s eyes soften visibly. He squeezed her hand very tightly, pressing their shoulders together as he rested his head on top of hers in a strange, abridged sort of hug. Then Ben pulled away, looking down at his first real friend with a smile warmer and braver than she’d ever seen on his face.
“Until the end,” he mouthed through a cluster of bubbles.
Carewyn smiled more fully, her blue eyes sparkling. Charlie smiled at Ben too, and he reached out and took his dormmate’s other hand. Carewyn then turned to Merula on her other side and extended a hand to her.
Merula looked from Carewyn’s hand to up at her face and, with an oddly tentative expression, reached out and took it. Once the two were holding hands, Merula gave Carewyn a very tiny smile.
“Let’s do this, Cromwell,” she mouthed.
And the four swam right into the light.
~*~
As soon as they’d crossed the threshold, the group found themselves landing on their feet on the floor of a perfectly dry room. Carewyn felt her gills contorting and flaring with pain, unable to take in the flood of oxygen.
Thinking quickly, she blinked through the spots pounding at her eyes and took the potion Penny had brewed to undo Gillyweed’s effects out of her light gray “Glam Cursebreaker” robes. She splashed a drop of it on her tongue, before quickly hurrying to do the same for the others.
“Charlie, here -- “ she wheezed, as her gills began to slowly seal up and she found it easier to breathe again. “Ben -- Merula, open your mouth, come on -- ”
Her friends gasped for air as Carewyn looked up at the room they’d entered.
This Vault was not like the others. It was a lot bigger, with sea-green-tinted glass walls and clusters of even more stone statues concealing its true size. Unlike the ones outside the Vault, though, these statues were human. Many were dressed in flowing robes and, like the petrified victims outside, looked terrified and were frozen mid-step as if running for the door. One statue in particular caught Carewyn’s eye.
It was the statue of a very pretty girl who looked only about a year older than Percy. Her petrified short hair flapped freely behind her like a stone cape and she had the largest, most striking eyes Carewyn had ever seen. Most notably of all, however, was the tie around the neck of her loose collared shirt.
‘She was a Hogwarts student,’ Carewyn realized.
Judging by the slightly outdated bell-bottom jeans, jellies, and open vest she was wearing, this girl had to have been petrified between eight to ten years ago...
A murky memory rippled over Carewyn’s mind -- the face of the Grey Lady, talking about her brother and his friends...
Carewyn’s eyes widened upon the pretty statue.
“Olivia Green,” she breathed sadly.
“CAREWYN!”
Carewyn and the others all looked up.
Running through the field of statues toward them was a young man with long, curly dark hair and dressed in bright scarlet dress robes.
“Jacob!” Carewyn cried in relief.
She ran to him. Jacob seized hold of her, looking terrified.
“Pip, you’ve got to get out of here -- !”
“Jacob, you’re walking into a trap,” Carewyn said urgently. “R’s here -- they’re going to sacrifice you in order to unlock -- ”
“CROMWELL -- !”
It happened so fast that Carewyn never even had a chance to react to Merula’s scream.
In an instant, a flare of green light had shot across the room, right over Jacob’s shoulder and straight into Carewyn’s forehead, just over her right eye.
Carewyn’s head flinched back and she froze, her blue eyes very wide upon her brother’s face. Jacob stared into her eyes, his entire frame shaking as he saw the light leave them --
“No -- no!”
Carewyn collapsed into Jacob’s arms, her head falling slack against his chest.
“CAREY!” screamed Charlie.
He and Merula both lunged forward. Ben, who did not immediately move, was the only one clear-headed enough to see the swath of dark red sweeping out of the shadows to encircle them.
“PROTEGO MAXIMA!” Ben bellowed.
His shield formed around him, Charlie, Merula, and Jacob like a giant, golden-white bubble, shielding them from the multicolored spells that assaulted them from all sides.
Charlie reached Jacob at last. He seized the back of Carewyn’s light gray robes, bringing a hand up to her neck to try to lift her head.
“Carey -- !”
Charlie’s breath hitched in his throat.
Her blue eyes stared up at him, but they didn’t see him. There was no consciousness or life there -- it was like she was looking right through him...or, rather, like she wasn’t looking through those glassy eyes at all.
Charlie’s wide eyes flooded with tears.
“No...no...”
Merula seized Carewyn’s shoulders, her face filled with desperation as she tried to shake her.
“Cromwell, don’t you dare -- don’t you DARE! Not now!”
Her pink eyes were flooding with tears as her voice rose angrily.
“We made it, Cromwell! This was the last one! The last Vault! And now you’re backing out?! You can’t go down like this, you coward! Come back! COME BACK, YOU -- !”
She was overcome with grief. She clung onto her old rival’s shoulders like it was all she knew how to do, gnashing her teeth and sobbing helplessly.
Ben was frozen where he stood, his wand hand shaking as he tried desperately to maintain the shield over their heads as more violent, colorful spells were lasted at them. He couldn’t let the shield fall -- he had to protect them -- had to protect his --
The memory of Carewyn talking to Charlie in the Hog’s Head in fifth year rippled over his mind.
“I know it’s going to be dangerous in there…but I’ll do whatever I have to, to protect you.”
Yet Carewyn hadn’t even gotten the chance to fight back -- she didn’t even get the chance to go down fighting, the way she should have -- the way she would’ve deserved --
Two lines of tears leaked out of Ben’s eyes and he clenched his jaw in a frantic attempt not to break down.
Charlie had buried his face into Carewyn’s long hair to hide the guilty, grief-stricken tears streaming down his face.
He’d promised Bill -- he’d promised that he wouldn’t let anything happen to Carewyn -- he’d failed her -- failed Bill -- it was all his --
Shaking worst of any of them, however, was Jacob. He held his younger sister like she was a doll, his expression almost as lifeless as Carewyn’s. The color in his face and the light in his eyes were also gone, even as his whole body was rattled with quaking, tear-less shudders. His hands clutched at Carewyn’s back, and his empty eyes trailed over her ghostly white face.
“Morning, Pippa!” Jacob’s own voice as a boy echoed over and over again in his ears. “Sing us a song, Pippa!”
“ACK!”
Ben was thrown roughly off his feet when his powerful shield came crashing down under the weight of the spells barraging it. There was an unpleasant snap as he collided with the floor, and he gave a choked yelp of pain -- one of the bones in his leg had fractured.
All at once, Jacob, Charlie, Merula, and Ben were surrounded by an endless wall of dark scarlet robes.
Out of the wall came a trio of figures, also dressed in dark scarlet hoods, though the one in the center had intricate black trim on theirs.
“Fetch the corpse,” he instructed the figure to his right.
Merula leapt to her feet.
“Over my dead body!” she snarled.
Standing over Jacob, Charlie, and Carewyn’s body, she started blasting spells at the figure who’d approached. The hooded figure, however, was clearly very talented, judging by how they blocked every one of Merula’s spells with methodical precision. Once they’d gotten close enough, they blasted Merula off her feet, throwing her back into one of the stone statues, which shattered under her weight.
“We weren’t intending to kill all of you -- at least not right away,” said the figure very coolly as they raised their wand. “But you did say ‘over your dead body,’ so I suppose I can oblige -- ”
“Confringo!”
Out of nowhere, a light blue blast of magic slammed straight into the figure’s chest with a loud BAM. The force of the Blasting Curse was so strong that it slammed the figure to the ground in an unconscious, bloodied heap.
Ben shakily got up, standing on his injured leg with amazing resilience despite the pain he was clearly in.
“Get back!” he hissed at the group of hooded figures.
The Leader, however, merely chuckled.
“Ah -- this was the one you used the Imperius Curse on, wasn’t it, Blaise? A rather feisty pawn, I must say -- a bit like Duncan Ashe.”
Jacob’s whole body gave a horrible lurch at the sound of Duncan’s name, though his hollow eyes never left Carewyn’s lifeless face.
One of the robed figures in the background mumbled something to the leader, sounding almost hesitant. The leader shot the voice’s owner a look over his shoulder.
“We needed a sacrifice to enter the Vault -- the ‘ultimate price.’ And since Jacob Cromwell was the one who tried to open the column in this Vault, it was he that needed to pay up.”
Charlie’s eyes widened, his expression contorting with horror, fury, and pain.
“It wasn’t Jacob’s life you wanted,” he whispered. “You weren’t luring him here -- you were luring...”
“The most valuable thing in Jacob’s life,” the Leader said very crisply. “We thought that one of his best friends might do the trick...but even with Duncan Ashe’s body, the Sunken Vault’s column would not open, since the other Vaults had been opened out of order. So we needed someone to reopen the Vaults for us -- someone with Legilimency and a vested interest in breaking the curses...Jacob was already getting rebellious at that point, so he was out of the question. Even if we threatened his family’s lives, we knew he would turn on us the instant he found out what price had to be paid. And the treasure in that Vault is one I’ve chased for quite some time -- I have no intention of losing it now.”
The Leader raised his wand, pointing it right at Jacob.
“Imperi -- ”
But before the Imperius Curse could land, a blast of black magic collided with the Leader’s hand.
The Leader screamed in agony as his hand was wrenched backwards, snapping the bones of his wrist with a horrible CRACK.
Jacob straightened up, releasing Carewyn so that Charlie alone was holding her. The red-haired Gryffindor looked up at Jacob -- but what he saw was even more terrifying than the hoard that surrounded them.
Jacob’s wide blue eyes had lost all trace of light or humanity. Their pupils were as small and black as pitch, devoid of all consciousness or sanity, as if the young wizard had been possessed by some horrific beast.
Jacob raised his wand high, and the black magic around the Leader’s hand hoisted the man up into the air, right off his feet. Then, in an instant, it tore into the Leader’s flesh, ripping his wand arm right off as if the man were made of paper, and threw him to the ground.
All at once the mass of scarlet robes devolved around Jacob. Blasts of red, yellow, black, and white raged, missing Charlie and Carewyn’s body by mere inches.
“PROTEGO MAXIMA!”
Ben stumbled over to the others, holding his wand aloft to stabilize the Shield Charm around them. On the other side, Jacob cut down the scarlet-robed figures one by one with unmatched, untamed ferocity, his dark, empty eyes consumed with rage.
Merula stared at Carewyn’s older brother through the clear shield, her posture shrinking as she hunched in on herself, closer to Charlie.
“He’s...he’s gone mad,” she whispered. She was visibly shaken.
Charlie clung to Carewyn’s prone frame that bit more tightly, as if subconsciously wanting to shield her from the sight.
Jacob Cromwell had gone mad -- mad with grief.
~*~
Bill swam down to the underwater courtyard as fast as he could, the rest of the Circle just behind him. At the back of the courtyard was a open set of double doors with bright white light pouring out of it.
Bill could feel his gills starting to seal up -- he’d either have to swim up to the surface and put on a Bubble Head Charm very quickly, or he’d have to hope there was air inside the Sunken Vault --
“Come on!” he urged the others on, and though his words came out as a large bubble, he was able to beckon them to follow after him as he headed for the bright light.
Bill gasped for air when his feet met the floor. He brought a hand up to his neck, feeling his gills sealing up.
‘That was close,’ he thought.
Then the eldest Weasley caught a strange sound -- a familiar voice.
“Jacob, wait -- wait -- !”
Rakepick?
All sense forgotten, Bill dashed forward, toward the source of the sound.
“DOLORE ARDERE!” roared a young man’s voice. “DISCUTIO MAXIMA!”
“JACOB!”
Up ahead, Bill could see Patricia Rakepick and Jacob Cromwell hotly engaged in battle. Rakepick was on the defensive, with Jacob lashing out at her violently.
“I never meant for this to happen!” Rakepick said, sounding more frightened and fragile than Bill had ever heard her sound before. “I wouldn’t have hurt her -- I never would’ve -- !”
“AVADA KEDAVRA!”
Jacob’s acid green Killing Curse missed Rakepick’s ear by inches.
Bill dashed forward, raising his wand and pointing it at Rakepick.
“STUPEFY!”
Because Rakepick was so focused on Jacob, she couldn’t react fast enough to avoid Bill’s scarlet spell before it collided with her shoulder. The ex-professor froze up and, her eyes rolling closed, she collapsed, Stunned.
Although Rakepick had fallen, however, Jacob hadn’t lowered his wand. Instead he moved as if to grab her, raising his wand as it lit up with dangerous violet sparks.
“Hey!”
Bill grabbed Jacob’s shoulders, shoving him away from Rakepick and holding him back so he couldn’t get closer.
“It’s over!” he urged Jacob. “She’s down!”
It was only as Bill was holding Jacob that he noticed the countless bodies strewn across the floor.
Jacob yanked and shoved against Bill’s grip like some mad dog.
“LET ME GO! LET GO OF ME, I’LL KILL HER -- I’LL KILL HER, FOR WHAT THEY -- !”
“Take it easy!” Bill reproached him sharply. “Calm down -- ”
“Bill!”
Bill looked up over the raging Jacob’s frame and his heart leapt.
“Charlie! Thank goodness -- ”
As soon as the word left his throat, however, he saw the thick tear tracks on Charlie’s face -- on Ben’s...Merula’s...
Bill’s eyes widened.
“Carey...where’s Carey?”
Charlie looked up at his brother, guilt staining his face. Then his eyes again filled with tears as he stepped backward, bent down, and scooped something up off the ground, carrying it over with some difficulty.
It was Carewyn. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping, but her face was whiter than a sheet and her frame was motionless and limp in Charlie’s arms.
Bill’s heart spasmed horribly in his chest.
“NO!”
He shook his head desperately, his eyes shooting to Ben, to Merula, to Charlie -- but none of them could give him the comfort he sought.
Bill began to shake horribly, his hands clenching and unclenching over what they were holding -- what was he holding? He didn’t even know --
Carewyn dead -- Carewyn gone...it was too horrible for him to comprehend. How did it happen? How could it happen? Was it Rakepick? Had she -- !?
He wasn’t there -- he couldn’t --
Bill looked down at his hands, still clutching onto Jacob Cromwell’s shoulders.
That’s right -- he’d been holding onto Carewyn’s brother --
Jacob had stopped fighting against Bill’s grip. It was as if Bill asking about Carewyn had shot him out of his vengeful trance -- he’d abruptly gone slack, his shoulders quaking as he stared around at the unconscious and dead bodies littering the floor of the Vault, his eyes moving over them while barely seeing them.
Bill inhaled shakily, failing to fight back the tears overtaking his vision.
“...Jacob...you...”
Jacob peeled himself out of Bill’s hold, turning very precariously on his heel so that he was facing the others. Merula, Ben, and Charlie all flinched back as Jacob moved over to them, stopping in front of Charlie. He brought his hand up under Carewyn’s head and gently cradled it as he bent over her, resting his head on her chest.
“...Is...all right with the world, Pippa?”
His question was choked and broken -- a shadow of the cocky, confident voice he usually had.
But of course it was...for without Carewyn -- the one person who had been the little flare of light that could always beat back his darkest despair -- Jacob Cromwell was nothing but a shadow.
The incantation echoed off the walls of the Vault. Green lit up the darkness as it made it's way towards Jacob...
"BHAIYA, MOVE!!!"
But the spell never made its mark. Jacob felt a push to his shoulder moving him out of the way.
And when he came to, he had to face what he feared most for years. His scream rang out.
"SARAHI!!!"
...................
Ok first of all: THIS IS AN AU. Even if life and death is a choice at the end of the game, Sarahi will live, okay?? I won't let Canon Sarahi die (again)!
I have no self control. Sometimes I wanna draw angst. So I drew the Sarahi dies AU.
I mean, I could start this as a Dead!MC challenge if anyone wants to do it? I doubt it but I'd like to see other people's too. Whether it is canon or AU.
So, I’ve been seeing this challenge from accounts I follow (which I think was started by @dat-silvers-girl), and while I don’t intend on writing a fic revolving around that AU, I thought I might share the ideas I had as I was thinking about this challenge (and listening to some death scene soundtrack music... Most particularly that one)
Anyway, Alice’s killer would be Rakepick. Cliché, you say? Maybe, but no one in Alice’s family is into dark magic, and my other option is even more cliché... (It’s Rasputin, okay. Anastasia came out when I was a kid and I really loved that movie, and the real story of Rasputin’s death is intriguing to say the least, so yeah...) Anyway, the location of her death would be the last Cursed Vault. I flirted with the idea of the Battle of Hogwarts, but as the story I have for her around that particular battle is pretty much set in stone, I didn’t want to play with it.
So, Alice is basically wandering the last vault alone, as her friends got stuck behind a wall or something (think booby trap). As she wanders, she sees statues depicting various sea monsters. She finally enters the room where the last artefact is. She approaches it, and as she extends her hand to grab, a spell hits it, and she feels a shooting pain in her hand. She looks behind her and see Rakepick. A duel ensues. Rakepick is on the offensive, while Alice mostly uses Protego. Alice may have the potential to become a very powerful witch (which might explain why R is so intent on eliminating a teenager), but she’s still just seventeen, so the best she can do against Rakepick is to defend herself and not let her guards down.
While Alice is alone battling Rakepick, the rest of her friend are trying their best to get through the wall. They finally decide to use Depulso, even if it might be risky. It slowly cracks the wall open, and Charlie is the first to get through.
Rakepick notices the necklace Alice is wearing, which has a small medallion with a tree on it. She realizes she’s wearing it as a reminder of Rowan. She smirks and starts taunting Alice about how she can’t even protect her friends.
At that moment, Charlie enters the room. Rakepick sees him and aims her wand at him. He doesn’t notice, but Alice does. She runs towards him and pushes him out of the way just as a green light hits her and projects her body against the wall behind her. Her body falls to the ground, lifeless.
Now, for what happens to Rakepick next, I have two options. The first one is that Charlie is thrown into a rage after seeing his girlfriend murdered and uses Fiendfyre (which takes the shape of a dragon, of course) and burns Rakepick to a crisp. He’s actually surprise he knew that curse and was able to control it.
Second option is that Rakepick disapparates, which seems to be her thing after killing someone. Unbeknownst to his friends, Charlie keeps track of her and one day, after locating her, he borrows a dragon he has trained from the reserve where he works, finds her, and burns her to a crisp.
Basically, both options end with Charlie burning Rakepick to a crisp.
So, eventually, all the friends arrive and see what happened. A funeral takes place, and there is a magical portrait of Alice painted by Badeea, which she considers the best portrait she ever painted. Her friends are a bit taken aback by how much the portrait acts the same way Alice did and that they can have conversations with it.
The portrait is hung near the ones of Sir Cadogan and Merlin. When Charlie goes back to Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard tournament, he goes and see it and chats with it, feeling like he’s actually talking to the real Alice. He thinks about taking it with him, but Dumbledore is all like “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” So he leaves it at Hogwarts until after Dumbledore’s death because he doesn’t know what will happen to Hogwarts now that Voldemort is back and Dumbledore is dead.
Started by my friend @dat-silvers-girl who drew a gut-wrenching picture to kick off the challenge, I’m going to add on with an ultimatum that’s going to send my MC into a void. Sorry not sorry?
This will be closely based on the universe developed in Etched, Engraved, Everlasting.
---
We have your brother held hostage at the location of the final Cursed Vault. Meet us there now, or say goodbye to your beloved hope forever.
-R
The words of the last message sent by R echoed in Clara’s mind, ringing like the echoes of wet footsteps she took over the dry stone floor, her teeth set in a grit as she held her wand in front of her. She could hear her sister’s shoes squeak beside her on her right, with Merula mumbling death threats on her left. Not the best choice of company, but everyone else was already staying behind to fend off the Grindylows and merpeople in the lake. She could only hope that they’d hold out before they got back.
“...have you this time, I swear,” Merula was saying now, her voice rising with every word she spat.
“Save your breath for the Vault,” Clara commanded quietly. “We don’t have much time.”
“Yeah? I don’t have much patience.”
“Clara’s right. Save it,” little Em snapped softly, her wand light sputtering a bit before regaining power. “The last thing we need is another argument to tax us out before the final battle.”
“Wherever this final battle is supposed to take place,” Clara grumbled, pushing the wet hair out of her eyes. “This place is like a labyrinth. Jacob’s prison chamber could be anywhere.”
“You’re honestly such an idiot,” Merula snickered softly, shifting her grip so her wand laid in her palm. “Point Me.”
The wand spun round and round like the needle of a compass, and for a moment Clara stood, mesmerized, before it snapped into position--heading northwest.
“This way,” Merula said, leading the two sisters through another corridor lined with the same stone material like all the other corridors they’ve walked in thus far. It was a miracle that none of them started to feel the effects of pneumonia yet.
After what felt like another eternity, the corridor opened out into a wide, circular, dimly lit stone chamber. Clara’s eyes widened at the sight--the windows that were placed equidistantly on the walls, the golden column that she grew so used to seeing. This had to be the Vault Chamber--but where was Jacob?
“This is the Cursed Vault?” little Em whispered in awe. “Whoa.”
“Yeah. It’s the last one,” Clara confirmed with a nod. “But where’s--”
“He’s here,” Merula said, pointing over to a body slumping against the wall on their left. “Come on.”
In no time at all, the three of them crossed the room to Jacob’s side, and upon seeing his condition Clara couldn’t help but cringe. Jacob was badly injured from the waist down--his legs were locked in perpendicular angles, completely paralyzed, and there was a bleeding gash about the size of a rose on his left inner thigh. His arms were bound to his sides and behind his back with ropes, and his mouth was gagged with a handkerchief of silk.
“Oh no,” little Em murmured, taking out a knife and proceeding to cut the ropes. “Jacob, who did this to you?”
“Why, I did, of course.”
The three of them immediately turned to see the last person they ever wanted to see approach them--hair of hellfire, eyes gleaming with a frosty demeanour, her expression pointed as she glared at them.
“Rakepick,” Clara growled, rising to her feet with her wand raised. “You did this to my brother?!”
“Honestly, Miss Lin. You really are as stupid as we were lead to think,” Rakepick purred, withdrawing her wand from her cloak. “I should have known that you’d do anything to save your brother and his well-being without thinking twice about your...friends.”
The hairs on Clara’s neck stood up, a chill running down her spine as she heard the last word said so uncertainly. Surely she and Merula were still not friends...and it was best not to spill out her true relationship between herself and little Em.
“Whatever happened to Rowan was done on her own will,” Clara spat. “Now answer my question--did you do this to my brother?”
Rakepick only chuckled, the rich laugh stirring a volcano in the pit of Clara’s stomach. “I’m not surprised you wanted to know. Very well--yes, I did this, on R’s orders.”
“Just so you could lure me here?”
“Dear, it’s not just about luring you here,” Rakepick drawled. “Look at the column there--the treasures that lie in the final Cursed Vault. Wouldn’t it be something to take it and walk away without sparing another thought about your brother’s reputation, your friends’ trust? You could start a life of glory. You could join us.”
“Join you? All this time you were working with the enemy--”
“All so you could join our ranks.”
No way. There must have been some sort of lie embedded in those words. Clara glanced over at Merula, who blanched at the sight of her former mentor, completely at a loss for words. Little Em was too busy working on the restraints binding their brother to notice.
“Your brother was a failure--simply a tool for us to use, but disposable after. How eager he was to think he’d get anywhere with us!” Rakepick scoffed, shaking her head. “I thought the same about you too, at first...but your strength has proven rather intriguing to me, Miss Lin.”
“Jacob and I may have our differences but we both agree on one thing--having anything to do with R directly is a mistake.” She shook her head. “No. I refuse.”
“Surely you don’t want to know the real reason you’re in this position?” Rakepick asked. “The real reason you’re standing here, in the face of danger, with your brother so close and yet so far?”
“Save it, Rakepick. If I do want to hear the truth, I’d rather hear it from someone I trust,” Clara finally said, then shouted, “Stupefy!”
“Petrificus Totalus!” Rakepick called out as she ducked from the jinx, waving her wand at Clara. She managed to dodge the blow, and it accidentally hit Merula who fell to the ground like a cardboard doll.
“Oh no you don’t!” Clara roared. “Depulso!”
“Flagrante!”
“Immobulus!”
“Impedimenta!”
Spell after spell was fired in the vicinity, jets of every colour flying through the room at the duelists locked in a careful dance. Clara could feel the beads of sweat emerge through her pores now, sticking with the lake water that still clung her robes to her skin, and she clenched her fists in an effort not to feel the burn of leaking tears through her eyes. She was so focused on the enemy in front of her that she didn’t even hear Jacob stir, now released from the binds, until little Em shouted, “I got it!”
“And what is this?” Rakepick said, turning now to the young Hufflepuff student now rising to her feet--somehow, despite the sweat shining on her forehead and her hair now resembling a wild bird’s nest, her breathing was still well controlled. “Is this another Lin? My, my--all the eggs in the viper’s nest!”
“What does it matter if I am?” little Em cried. “Don’t I have as much right to care about Jacob as Clara does?”
Rakepick didn’t respond. She eyed the youngest Lin with her evil glare, a wicked grin spreading as she raised her wand again. “Just like your sister, huh? Brave enough to go after your brother--and stupid enough to fall into a trap. If one Lin isn’t enough, wait until R hears of the day I rid of all three!”
“No!” Jacob’s choked voice was not enough to catch anyone’s attention. “No!”
“Crucio!”
A shot of red snaked its way towards little Em, who suddenly let out an unearthly screech as it hit her square in the chest--she crumpled now to the ground, writhing in agony, hands clutching at her hair unaware of the flowers that began to fall. The curse was enough to break the petrification over Merula, and she shot up to a sitting position, eyes widening at the sight of little Em being put under the Cruciatus Curse.
“No...” she murmured, crawling over to Clara who was frozen to the spot, unable to register anything except for the screams that bounced around. “You evil little--”
“STOP!” Jacob finally managed to shout, stumbling his way now to little Em who was biting her lip so hard in an attempt not to scream.
“STAY PUT OR SHE DIES!”
“YOU WOULDN’T!”
But Rakepick was faster. Just as Clara took a step towards her siblings, Rakepick suddenly appeared at her side, trapping her wrist in a death grip and forcing her to look into her eyes--those cold, calculating cerulean eyes that Clara could never shake from her nightmares.
“Try me,” Rakepick murmured. “Join me, or watch just how much I can hurt your family.”
“You will never get in the way of our happy family again,” Clara hissed. “I would never allow it.”
“So be it.”
Faster than a viper sinking her teeth into her prey, Rakepick drew out an elegant dagger from her belt and plunged it deep into Clara’s side.
“NO!”
Jacob’s eyes tore from his youngest sister to see his second sister curling into the blade that stuck at her hip--she collapsed now to the floor, but Rakepick wasn’t done. She took out the knife and in one swoosh of her cloak pinned Clara to the floor, where she then stabbed her hard into the chest.
Clara never had the chance to scream, but little Em did. As the last of the Cruciatus Curse wore off, she watched in horror as, in her waking moments, her sister succumbed to the fatal wounds in her chest, her breathing growing shallower until it died altogether.
“No.” Jacob murmured--with what little strength he could muster, he crawled over to his sister’s side, cradling his sister’s head in his lap.
Merula glanced at the dagger now, dripping with Clara’s blood to the floor, before glaring at Rakepick and brandishing her wand. “You bitch!” she finally screamed at her former mentor. “Avada Kedavra!”
Not even the satisfaction of ending Rakepick with the killing curse was enough to bring peace to Merula. Even with Rakepick’s death--the death she finally delivered--she knew there was a horrible price to pay, even if she wouldn’t admit she wanted to pay it at all. As insufferable as she was, at least Clara was there sometimes. She wasn’t all that bad. Now she would never get the chance to tell her that.
And as she looked back at Jacob and little Em, she knew that the pain she felt was nothing compared to how they felt. Tears burned at the brim as she went over to them, kneeling down beside the corpse of her peer.
“Go,” she murmured to it. “Go join your tree twin.”
---
After the final battle and the death of Clara Xing-Hui Lin, everyone was rendered shocked. The aftermath rang with an effect much worse than the Statue Curse could give. The curse was broken, but at the cost of their dearest friend’s life--their leader’s life.
Jacob and Em would never feel at peace again. Merula was admitted to an asylum and never returned for her seventh year.
The world turned upside down...and not for the better.
So first things first, excuse the drawing I’m still pretty new at it all.
Here’s my attempt at @carewyncromwell Future MC challenge!
and it’s also kind of the Dead!MC Challenge by @dat-silvers-girl
Paisley does end up dying. I added her patronus laying on top of her to make things more sad (sorry)
I’m going to put the facts under because of abuse mentions and other awful things
- Originally I was going to have Paisley die when she’s 15 but I’m changing it to either 16 or 17 now.
- She dies a horrible death which is quite painful
-(ABUSE MENTION) So what happens is that her family finds out that she has been seeing disowned family members since her first year (Andromeda and Sirius). Her father tortures her with the cruciatus curse then whips her until the back of her body is torn up. They throw her in the dungeon underneath the manor and she dies almost a full day later (alone).
I saw the Dead!MC Challenge AU by @dat-silvers-girl and I just 😭 can't even bring myself to write a thing for it. But, I can summarize:
If Wendy died young, it would be during the Battle of Hogwarts. It would be fighting side by side with her husband, protecting a small group of children. She would take a killing curse intended for someone else. Her killer would be one of her uncles. He never intended to kill her, he never intended to hurt her at all. He never wanted any of this life as a death eater, but his wife and brothers-in-law demanded it of him. This would be his punishment - a horrifying 'accident' that could never be fixed. He should have known she would choose Ben’s life over her own. Her uncle wouldn't be able to hug her, to apologize, to fix it with episkey and a sweet treat like he could when she was small.
Wendy would die, taking the good news of her second pregnancy - fresh from that morning - with her. The only other person in the world that knew would be Tonks. She would leave behind a broken, loving husband, and a little daughter.
