Fan Fiction ❯ Harry Potter and the Hero of Time ❯ The Chamber of Divination ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5-The Chamber of Divination

The room was dark when they entered, but William lit the braziers inside with his torch. The room was a good two hundred feet across, and shaped like a perfect circle. The center of the room had a number of strange devices resting on a table. The strangest objects of all, though, were five dice in a cylindrical container and a huge orb of black crystal. There was no fire burning in the mantle, and the braziers had no incense burning with the coals.

"It is a trifle messy," said William. "However, I think it is much more…tolerable than Professor Trelawney's classroom."

"A lot more tolerable, thank you," said Harry.

"You are quite welcome. Now, let's make a cursory test." William took the dice out of their container and threw them onto a flat table nearby. Everyone gathered around for a closer look, and saw five symbols. On the four white dice, the symbols of the Triforce, four bolts of lightning, six five-pointed stars, and the number ten appeared. The black die, though, had the symbol of an exploding star facing upward in place of the more sedate Triforce.

"That is most mysterious," said William. "However, we will be able to make sense of it all if we consult the book that I bought with the dice." He took a small tome off the shelf nearby and thumbed through it to the desired page. William scanned the page and then dropped it onto the table in what could be described as shock.

"What's wrong," asked Professor Dumbledore, obviously surprised.

"I don't want ter scare yer or anything," said Hagrid. "But I think this page is some doom omen." Professor Dumbledore picked up the book and read the indicated passage, about halfway down the page.

" `Only the most Dreadful Doom appears when the exploding star shows up on the black die. This doom is to be manifested as a destruction of all magical worlds, and this destruction will ravage all. The symbol of the Triforce on the white die indicates that a party from the world of Hyrule has a chance of stopping this doom. The four lightning bolts indicate that a group from Earth stands equal chance. The numbers on the remaining two dice indicate the number of trials the group must pass before meeting with the one who instigated the Dreadful Doom.

" `The best way to prevent the Dreadful Doom is to act under a Finite Temporum spell. This spell prevents aging, the addition or removal of clothes, or requiring food, beverage, or a toilet by any means mundane or arcane. Animagus or mask-related transformations are permissible, while the use of Polyjuice Potion does not occur. The ones who can move while time is stopped are those who can save the worlds of magic from the Dreadful Doom.' Well, I must say that means we are the only ones who can stop this Dreadful Doom."

"The Dreadful Doom is even worse than the Dementor's Kiss," said William, obviously much recovered. "At least with the Kiss, you cannot remember anything that happened before and soon die. The Dreadful Doom would hit your worlds with more force than the moon. All of your castles and fortresses would be thrown down, and all would be enslaved. Slavery is unspeakably evil and I am surprised that the Ministry has not yet ended it. Why, Muggle Britain outlawed slavery in 1848, a very long time ago.

"Now then, since we know our final goal of defeating Daragon, let us see the steps we must take to get there. All of you, please sit on the bench around the palantír. That is the large orb in the chamber. When you are seated, touch the palantír with both of your hands and look straight into its depths." William sat at the north end of the orb and touched it with his hands, making sure his glasses were pushed up to best aid his vision.

Everyone slowly sat down on the cushioned benches about the palantír. They touched it and looked deep into its inky depths, waiting for something to happen. Slowly, a mist appeared inside the black surface, a fog of sorts that concealed much and revealed little. Slowly the fog revealed an arched entrance to a cavern, like the entrance to Hyrule Castle's dungeons. The group saw themselves standing in front of the cavern, and then the vision changed again.

The first thing they saw was an orange eye, and then the body of the arachnid it was attached to, Gohma. Mido stood in front of Gohma, oblivious to the danger he was in from her slashing claws and poisoned fangs. After another fog, it showed Mido facing King Dodongo, a Goron's Bracelet around his right arm. A third bit of fog, and then Mido was throwing a Boomerang at Barinade, with Mikau there for backup. The fourth round of fog revealed a gigantic chess set, with the Hogwarts bunch taking the place of the black players, much as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had done years earlier.

After the fifth round of fog, it showed Link taking on Phantom Ganon to rescue Saria. Then, Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Viktor played a variation of Quidditch against seven Death Eaters in green. Link and Darunia fought Volvagia with Darmani's help, then Link and Mikau took on Morpha. Link, Impa, and Sheik took on Bongo-Bongo, and then there was a logic puzzle for Hermione to solve. After some Iron Knuckles and Twinrova, Harry and Viktor worked together to solve a gigantic hedge maze.

The last few images were frighteningly familiar to Link-Odolwa, Goht, Gyorg, Twinmold, and Majora's Mask. Then the images faded, and all was silent in the room for several long moments.

"That is what we have to do," asked Kafei, holding onto his frightened wife. "Where do Anju and I come into this mess?"

"Kafei," said Alzeroth. "You and Link will have a replication of Sakon's hideout to run through before we can reach Twinmold, and Anju will be working with the medical staff. Guru-Guru, the Song of Storms your organ grinder plays will slow Iron Knuckles in their tracks. Lulu, you and the Indigo-go's will team with Mikau to play the New Wave Bossa Nova so we can reach Gyorg. Link of the Gorons, you will help Darmani take on Goht. Romani, Malon, you will also be working with the medical staff. Shiro, you will be our scout, and will report to me directly."

"Hagrid," said William. "Would you please go down to the stables and make sure all of the horses are ready. Malon, Romani, if you would please go help him?" The half-giant and two Hylian ladies nodded, and then went down to the stables on the far side of the orchards. While the others walked slowly down to the bottom floor and then across the grounds, they fit a bit, bridle, and saddle to every horse except one. That one had silver-gray fur and tossed his head about wildly.

"Ah, you've met Shadowfax," said William, leading the others into the stables. "He is a finicky horse, and will allow no person to fit bit or bridle to him. Riding a horse bareback is a lot more comfortable for the steed, and Shadowfax is faster without it. He is on loan from a very respectable wizard that was once known throughout Britain."

"Gandalf," said Professor Dumbledore. "You borrowed Shadowfax from Gandalf, though how you reached the Blessed Realm is beyond me."

"The Blessed Realm is one of the first places I was able to travel to, Professor. It is a lot closer to Elsewhere than one might think, considering it was once on Earth."

"What are you talking about?"

"Link, we are just discussing where I got my horse. The Blessed Realm is another dimension, and you can find out about it by reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, a great author on Earth who died twenty-seven years ago."

"Just forget I asked, I do not want any more dimensions thrown into the mix."

"Noted. Now, as you can see, I have brought several various horses, including Epona, and I have some ponies for the Kokiri. I have also bred some tame Dodongos the Gorons are encouraged to ride."

"We're going to that cave entrance on horses," asked Saria. "I'm allergic to horses, and I'm not sure that I could stay on even a pony for long."

"Don't worry about it," Mido said. "I've got some herbs that will suppress your allergies for a while if you chew them up and swallow them. They are bitter, but they should help you stay on your mount, Saria." The Kokiri took a few herbs from the Lost Woods out of his pocket and handed them to Saria. She chewed them, making a wry face at the bitter taste of the herbs, but swallowed all of them and stopped sneezing.

"Thanks a bunch, Mido," Saria said, hugging him. Mido was a little embarrassed, especially in front of Link and Zelda, so he broke off the hug as quickly as was decent. Link gave him a small smile, and Mido smiled back. It was hard to believe that he, Mido, was glad Link supported him. Soon enough, everyone had mounted and rode off to the southeast, closer to a range of mountains. Drakan was waiting for them, and he was not going to like this unexpected interruption to his plans for universal domination.

Note: Yes, I know, there are plenty of timelines where Link and Saria are an item. That's impossible in my timeline due to various rules-pedophilia is wrong, and Link didn't hit puberty till age 13 or so. And Link and Mido made their peace a long while back. And yes, I couldn't resist, Gandalf has to come along.