My self-imposed two-week deadline flew by in the blink of an eye. Both of us were extremely busy for almost the entire time, though we did find some time for leisure.
Our only distraction was the meeting with Harry. I won't recount the details, as it went pretty much the same way it did with Dumbledore. The one real difference was that Harry, as a teen, was very emotional during the whole ordeal.
I couldn't blame the kid, I would be too if I had been offered a similar opportunity. But alas, this was a favor I could only give, and never receive. His gratitude did, however, lessen significantly when I simply told him that I wouldn't be returning the cloak. We were even in my eyes, and if he didn't see it that way, it was not my problem.
We didn't waste our time at Grimmauld, and only stayed long enough for Harry to finish talking with his parents. As soon as Dumbledore, not so subtly, tried to ask us about our intentions again, we left. He was not really being malicious, more like annoying, but neither of us was in the mood to be interrogated by him.
Once we made a proper list and realized that we don't actually need that much in terms of supplies, it only took us an afternoon to get them. Things like snacks, drinks, and other foods we might not be able to find in another world were put under the stasis charm and carefully stocked.
When it was time for clothing, it was another matter entirely. On that, we spent three full days as both of us wanted to get a nice variety. Thank god for shrinking charms because without them, our house might not have been big enough.
The rest of the time was spent preparing the island. I chopped off one of the higher stone cliffs, flattening the top just enough to accommodate the whole tower of Azkaban. That took a considerable amount of time in and of itself. I had a vision of how the island would look, and I wanted everything to be perfect.
Azkaban would sit right above our treasury, with a steep path, only wide enough for one person, leading up to the doorway. The path would obviously not be for us, but for the visitors, because a new island appearing somewhere where there previously was none was bound to catch an eye.
"What do you think?" I asked Pyra once I carved the last step into the cliff.
"Honestly? Once Azkaban sits there, anybody who sees the island would think that an epitome of evil is living there." She said, sounding impressed.
"Right?! And then when they get inside, it's just us! Haha~" I laughed, already imagining the incredulous faces of anybody who might visit.
"Exactly. I'm just glad I managed to talk you down from keeping the Dementors… those things are seriously disturbing."
"But think of the atmosphere they would bring. I still think that they would be a nice finishing touch."
"No! Bad Emily!" She flicked my forehead.
"I'm not a dog…"
"Then why does it work on you?" Pyra asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No comment." I made an X with my arms.
"Hmm~ I'll stop teasing you… for now." She finished her sentence by sticking out her tongue.
"Oh, how generous of you, Queen Pyra." I teased right back.
"Yes. I am a merciful queen. No need to bow to me." She said with a mock haughtiness, but I could see a hint of a smile starting to show.
"Pft! Hahaha~" I couldn't hold it back, and burst out laughing. Pyra soon joined me.
"*Ehm* *Ehm* S-so when are you getting it? Everything is done." Pyra asked once she got her laugh under control somewhat.
"Tonight. Once midnight hits, we'll do it, and right after that, we're going to burn Nurmengard to the ground." Pyra just nodded.
"So we're leaving tomorrow? I assume you don't want to be here when the news hits."
"Yep."
"Okay, I'll just go and double-check everything." She said, pulled out a long list from somewhere, and ran back into the house.
"Huh? Where the hell was she keeping that?"
—
The day came and went, and night was soon upon them. At first, we argued about how to get there. Pyra, ever the practical person, wanted to teleport directly there, but me, being… well, me, I wanted to fly all the way there on our brooms. We bought the damn things, might as well use them.
So anyway, we teleported there right after midnight. The wet black stones, smoothened by the elements over the centuries, were glistening under the moonlight.
"Hmm~ it will need some touch-ups." I muttered.
"Yes… touch-ups…" Pyra said, looking directly at the huge chunk of a missing wall.
"Okay. Maybe a bit more than that, but nothing a little bit of magic wouldn't fix, and if it too somehow fails, there is always duct tape."
"..."
"You just don't see my genius, Pyra."
"On that, we agree." She said with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"You can bully me when we get home. Let's go." We then went up to the door leading into the prison, and like normal, polite people, knocked.
*knock* *knock*
Nothing. I guess dementors don't make for good hosts.. Oh well.
REDUCTO! and the door, plus bits of the surrounding walls, were no longer in our way.
"I wanted a bigger door anyway."
"Sure." Somehow, Pyra sounded like she didn't believe me.
"Hmpf."
"Get on with it. I'd like to start repairing this place as soon as possible." Pyra just rolled her eyes at my antics.
"Yeah, yeah… INFERNUM MORS!" Of course, I used that spell. It was my favorite, mostly because I really didn't want to waste my time by going from cell to cell, killing one prisoner at a time. This way, the fiery snake only had to fly through the prison, and in the process, burn every being in sight. Dementors included.
"Ah, we're done. Got a nice power boost from all of those prisoners. Must have been those Death Eaters." I exclaimed once I felt that my spell had stopped burning things.
"Nice, simple and efficient. Look, the fire even disinfected the place. At least we don't have to do it." I said to Pyra while we slowly walked to the top. I made it a point to look into each cell, just in case my spell missed something, however unlikely it was, but, like I thought, there was nothing, not even bones.
"Getting kinda morbid here, Emily."
"Hmm~ eh." I just shrugged.
"Right… eh." She shrugged too.
"I think that once we knock down some of these walls and get a proper lighting installed, these floors would make for quite spacious rooms." I said to Pyra, who was looking around the floors too.
"I thought we would live at the top."
"The two of us will, but what if we find some new friends along the way? I don't want them near our bedroom. Thank you very much."
"True. Though I think we can discuss it in more detail once we get it to the island." We continued ascending to the top, and once we finally got there, both of us flew high up into the air. Now came the slightly complicated part. Getting Azkaban to the island.
"Okay, get a safe distance from me. I'm going to burn the sea around the island." This was what I came up with. Using one of the abilities of Ryujin Jakka, the fortress blaze, I would surround Azkaban with super-hot flames, create a portal right above the top, and then Wirgandum Leviosa it to our home. Simple.
"Reduce all creation to ash, Ryujin Jakka!" With my Zanpakuto in one hand and with my wand in the other, I readied myself.
"Fortress Blaze!" With the swing of my sword, a great fire immediately started enveloping the entire island. At first, the sea was fighting back, but by the time the gargantuan fiery dome manifested completely, the only sign that there ever was a sea around here was the faint sound of water boiling and hissing.
"Porta Mundus!" I swirled my wand above my head in a big circle, creating the portal leading directly to the place we set aside for the prison on our island. This was somewhat difficult, given the fact that I was also focusing on using my Zanpakuto to maintain the fiery dome. Precisely controlling two sources of energy seemed to be my limit at the moment, mentally at least. I couldn't focus on anything else, which was why I told Pyra to get away. I didn't want to harm my girl by accident.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" After pouring all my might into the spell, the island itself started shaking. The loud snaps of the rocks as they separated from each other were deafening, reminding me of thunderbolts.
Then with one mighty push from my magic, the whole of Azkaban was slowly lifted and started floating into the portal. Once it was all the way there, I dispelled the dome, the sea came rushing into the void I created and formed a giant circular wave that immediately shot up high into the sky, directly into my portal. Oops.
"PYRA! YOU CAN COME BACK!" I yelled out into the sea.
"You know, hearing about how you wanted to do it was one thing, but seeing it? Now, that was something else entirely." Pyra said when she flew back to me.
"Thanks. It gave me a small headache, though." I immediately complained about the minor discomfort.
"My poor little Emily. How about I give you a massage once you're done leveling Nurmengard?" The mere mention of a massage made my mood immediately soar. Pyra's touch was magical.
"No take backsies! Let's go, chop chop." I shouted with way too much enthusiasm and opened a portal directly in front of Grindelwald's prison. The fortress was very small, consisting only of a one tower accompanied by a one-story building. But the view of the Alps was extraordinary. The snowy peaks reflected moonlight and shone like beacons for the whole world to see.
"Infernum Mors." I overpowered the spell as much as I was able to and waved my wand in the prison's vague direction. The spell came out bigger, fiercer, and hotter than ever before and swallowed the fortress whole. I had to overpower it. Nurmengard had probably the strongest set of protections I've ever encountered in this world, second only to Hogwarts. Only the best for a man like Gellert.
"Bloody hell! Voldemort was a small fry compared to him. How did he manage to lose the war?" I exclaimed in disbelief when the influx of new knowledge entered my brain. Grindelwald was in an entirely different league.
"Dumbledore."
"Pft. That's your explanation? Really?" I said with a snort and a roll of my eyes.
"Do you actually want to hear the long story?"
"Nah."
"Thought so~"
"Well, we're done here. Soo… the massage?"