The Legend of Deirdre...

Adelaine stood outside the Three Broomsticks with Gavin and Seamus, waiting for the others to arrive. They had agreed to meet back here within ten minutes; they’d told Professor Malkin they were going to shop, and he seemed intent on watching them separate into little groups and walk into the stores before he headed to the Hogshead.

“Ye don’ suppose they’ve got caught up in shoppin’?” Seamus muttered irritably, his teeth chattering.

It was snowing harder than ever, and windy too. Adele refastened her cloak and pulled her hood lower. Instead of a dress, she wore comfortable dark brown breeches and black leather boots, and told Deirdre and Marigold to do the same; they were going to be prepared if there was any need to run this time.

Gavin was bouncing up and down on his toes, and Seamus stared at the ground so as to keep the snowflakes out of his eyes. The wind was dying down a bit, but it was still freezing.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” Adelaine said, trying to sound upbeat.

The plan was this: they would all head back to the cave, wands ready knowing that Renoir had probably tightened the defenses. They were going to explore the treasure and find more curious objects. Adele had her little leather-bound black book in her pocket. She’d spent the whole week studying it, and she was surer than ever that her hunch was correct.

“There they are!” Gavin announced as the others headed in their direction.

Deirdre ran quickly from the post office. She had to send a letter to her parents and it had taken longer than usual to do so. She felt bad for making them wait on her.

A few curls escaped from her braid as she ran but she finally reached the Three Broomsticks to find everyone waiting on her. Peyton's eyes settled on her when she stopped in front of them and she saw a smile out of the corner of her eye.

"Nice of ye te join us." She heard Seamus say.

"Sorry," she said, brushing snow from her breeches. "I got caught up at ta post office."

Peyton nodded. "Well, we're all here now. I guess we should head to the cave."

Adelaine’s excitement was building as the rest of the group finally arrived. Following Peyton’s suggestion, the students began to make their way to the forest, trying not to look too suspicious. Aside from small children with their parents, they were the only young people in the village today.

“So, when are ye plannin’ on tellin’ us yer hunch?” Seamus asked as they finally reached the edge of the forest.

“Yeah, your head’s been stuck in that book for days,” Gavin half-joked.

“I’ll tell you all when we reach the cave, when I find what I think I’m looking for,” she responded and continued walking.

What exactly was she looking for? There was no way to know for sure; it could be absolutely anything. But that tiara couldn’t have been the only curious object in the cave. And Deirdre said the symbol looked familiar…maybe once they figured out who the things belonged to, it would be simpler to find more of what Adele wanted to find.

“Marigold, you did bring the tiara, right?”

Adelaine watched as Peyton tried to direct a spell at the tiara, quite unsuccessfully. She then noticed Marigold’s small smile when Peyton and Asher crashed into each other. She was now surer than ever that her hunch was correct. This could go very wrong, she thought with a frown, following the others into the cave.

“Wow..’s even shinier tan oi remembered it,” Seamus said in a daze.

He was not wrong. Adelaine had never seen so many galleons in her life, which was really saying a lot; the Lord of Newcastle did not lack for money. Aside from galleons, there were jewels and trinkets and paintings. An ancient looking sculpture of an intoxicatingly beautiful young woman stood a bit further in, a pendant draped around her neck.

“So, Adele,” Peyton started eagerly. “You gonna tell us your idea now?”

“Oh, right, um,” she muttered, snapping out of her thoughts. “Well, I was thinking… it may be…. Well, I’m quite sure it is…a horcrux.”

She paused to let that sink in, but got nothing but blank stares. Pulling out her book, Adelaine sighed; she had really hoped she wouldn’t have to do this. Couldn’t any of them have sneaked into the Restricted Section every once in a while?

“A horcrux is an object that keeps you alive... But before you lads get excited,” she interrupted the grins forming on their faces. “You have to murder. Murdering rips your soul; then you take a piece of your soul and put it into the object, making a horcrux.”

“Adele, that’s...that’s really dark magic,” Gavin exclaimed, looking horrified.

“What is that book?” Asher demanded, pointing to it.

Adelaine actually felt close to tears for once, finally feeling like the 11 year old girl she was. So far at Hogwarts, no one had known about her family’s background in the dark arts, but clearly that couldn’t last. She just hoped her friends wouldn’t think she was the same way. Before she could say anything, however, her attention was drawn to that same faint humming just like it was before. She turned to Deirdre, knowing the Hufflepuff was best at offensive magic.

"Deirdre, do you know the charm Renoir used to create that buzzing in our ears?"


((OOC: K so about the humming: it's only heard by Adele. It's the bracelet in the stream calling to her, which she realizes is what it must have been last time. Marigold and the others only heard it once they reached the siren last time.))

Deirdre followed behind the others, watching carefully in case something happened. She wasn't too at ease about entering a cave that her friends had been attacked in once already.

The gold around them was more than her own family held claim to as Irish nobles. But the sculpture of the woman was what caught her attention. She looked familiar to the girl. Then she realized why.

"Is ea, I remember ta spell." She mumbled. Then louder she said, "I think I know whose tiara ye found, Marigold. Te sculpture 'ere is of my namesake, Deirdre mac Daill."

The boys made their way over to see the sculpture. Her features were absolutely perfect, even carved in stone as they were.

"She's beautiful." Peyton said. Deirdre nodded.

"Beautiful enough to wage war over. Before she was born, a court druid foretold of her great beauty. Ta king, Conchobar, wanted her once she was old enough, so he took her from her family when she was born and gave her to a hag to raise in secret. One day when Deirdre had grown up to be a powerful witch herself, she told ta hag she would love a man with ebony hair, snow white skin, and lips ta color of blood. So ta hag helped her meet Naoise, a warrior in Conchobar's court, and they fell in love. Word of her existence had reached far and kingdoms went to war to gain her. While at war, ta horrid king found out about her relationship with Naoise. Not much is widely known about what happened, but the king killed Naoise and it is rumored that Deirdre killed herself or died of grief." She turned from the statue to look at them all.

Adelaine listened to Deirdre's account of the legend of her namesake, glad to have the attention taken off of her. A classic tale of tragic love affairs, but if the story was true... What could persuade someone to make a horcrux? What if the tiara wasn't the only one?

"I think -" she began, but was cut off when Marigold snapped.

Did she just hiss? Adelaine furrowed her brow. She wanted to consult the black book, but didn't want more questions about how she got it or what was in it. From what she remembered though, it didn't say anything about the effects of a horcrux.

"Marigold, stop," she said fervently as her friend wandered farther. "Let go of the tiara, it must be possessing you somehow...."

Adelaine lost her train of thought. It was that noise again; the same hum she heard last time, only now it was more of a song. She crouched down and put her head in her hands. It must have looked like she was in pain, because Seamus rushed to her side.

"Wha' is it, Adie??"

She couldn't answer; the song was drawing her in again. A thought came to her...what if the song was calling to her the way the tiara called to Marigold? What if it wasn't the siren at all?

"We need to venture on..." she said decidedly.

"Are you sure, Adele? If that siren is there - " Gavin started hesitantly.

"Deirdre, do the spell now, just on me," she insisted.

She wasn't taking no for an answer. They were closer than ever to solving this mystery. When she was certain everyone understood, she lead the way to the stream.

(OOC: Chantel, this is a chance for you to realize the pendant is a horcrux or whatever...ya know?)

Deirdre turned wide eyes on Marigold. The girl was acting stranger the longer she had the tiara. She was beginning to worry for her. And Adele seemed to be having troubles of her own when she told her to cast the spell.

"Alrigh'. Muffliato." Deirdre cast the spell on her friend and turned back to the statue to get a closer look at the pendant. Upon inspection, she saw the necklace wasn't a part of the statue, it was just hung around it's neck. It had the same knot work engraved in the silver pendant that the tiara had. She stood on her toes to look a little closer.

"Can you hear me?" A voice sounded in her ears. She backed up from it a little. "Oi, Adele? I think I found another one." Deirdre pulled on the pendant, snapping the chain it was on. She held it up for them to see. "It jus' talked te me. It has te be another horcrux."

"Don't put it on and don't listen to anything it says." Gavin warned. "These things seem dangerous."

Deirdre nodded and stuffed the necklace in her breast pocket. She followed the others to the stream. "Please, stay away from the water. It isn't safe." The young girl ignored the voice in her head and moved forward.

((I am so, so sorry this took so long!))

((OOC: Sorry it's so long, trying to fit a whole lot into one post!))

The spell had a very strange sensation when it was cast; Adele felt a wave of dizziness before the buzzing in her ears ensued. She couldn’t hear anything through it, but it looked like Deirdre was saying something to her by the statue.

“I can’t hear you, but um..” she said, probably very loudly judging by the looks she received. “Keep that pendant just in case!”

It wasn’t near as cold in the cave as it was outside, so Adelaine shrugged off her cloak and set it safely by a pile of jewels. Now down to her boots, breeches, vest, and tunic she felt much safer; she’d be able to run if needed, without tripping over her cloak. Checking to make sure the others were behind her, she lead the way to the siren, unaffected by it’s song.  Ten minutes in, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Seamus came up beside her. Uh oh… she thought grimly. He was walking faster than normal, followed closely by the other lads. They must be getting close.

“Wait, wait, wait,” she muttered fervently, jogging to get ahead of them.

They quickened their pace, in a trance, and she broke into a run. What was the spell Renoir used? It was on the tip of her tongue when she reached the stream, well ahead of everyone else. And there it was…just as strangely beautiful as she remembered, the siren raised an eyebrow and ran her fingers through silky white hair, albino from a lifetime in the cave. She knew Adele wasn’t affected by the song. Just as she bared her teeth and prepared to lunge, Adelaine remembered the spell..

“Duro!” she shouted. With a flick of her wand, the siren turned to stone. She turned the wand on herself and said, “Finite Incantatum.”

Now able to hear, she turned to the others. The boys were scratching their heads, confused. Before she could ask how they were, however, she heard it again. The song - Deirdre’s song.

“This way!”

Adele plunged into the stream and lit her wand immediately. It was nearly impossible to see. The stream lead two ways: to the right, a lit passage with a small stone path imbedded in the middle; to the left, a small dark and narrow passage, with no rocks to safely walk on and it was barely high enough to stand up straight. She knew she’d hate herself for it, but the song was pulling her this way....she turned left.

“Adie, ye can’ be serious!” Seamus said, following her anyway.

“I am, though, this is the right way,” she said, trudging through the current.

The small group continued through the passage, Gavin and Seamus (being the tallest) ducking slightly. The song got louder and louder. Before long, Adele stepped on something. She dipped her wand into the stream to light up the water. It was a small, ruby bracelet, and it was singing to her. Reaching down, she picked it up and studied it. The rubies were twisted and shaped to form the same Celtic knots that the tiara and pendant had. That’s curious.. A shout broke her thoughts.

Deirdre tried her best with the kappas but before she knew it they were defeated. Go further. You've nearly found me. The pendant told her. "Oi, everybody. Follow me, I think I know what's ahead."

She waited for the others to get close before moving further down the stream. The closer they got to the end, the more the pendant spoke to her and she knew it must be getting worse for the other girls as well. When they reached the end, she couldn't believe that the Celtic beauty of legend was standing before them.

Adelaine could not believe her eyes. They came to a dead end of sorts. A blue lagoon, sparkling with white sand; the walls of the hollow were made of crystal, etched with Celtic symbols, that seemed to give off it’s own light. Here and there were large, flat crystal boulders, and on one of them stood the legend herself…Deirdre. She had long, wavy black hair, ice blue eyes, and lips red as a rose. No wonder everyone in Ireland had wanted to marry her.

“Clever children, you found me,” she said with a smile, her voice echoing.

“Aye, we have,” Asher spoke up boldly with his wand at the ready, the smartest of all of them at the moment. “Now which of your horcruxes is your true personality?”

“Right, are we dealing with the evil of the tiara,” Gavin chimed in. “The manipulation of the bracelet, or the matronly nature of the pendant?”

Deirdre (the original one) studied them shrewdly for a moment, sizing them up. She turned away then and dipped her feet in the water, humming a song. At that moment, Adele knew that if she wanted to, Deirdre could bewitch them all in a heartbeat and do away with them. But that didn’t seem to be her plan.

“A very, very long time ago I was as young and carefree as all of you,” she began, lazily braiding then unbraiding her hair. “I fell in love, but another was jealous. He was a powerful wizard, and he captured me. He froze my magic and threatened me; said he would kill the man I loved if I didn’t do what he said. Naïve as I was, I believed him and made three horcruxes. I’ll spare you the details of those three deaths.”

She paused and Adelaine stepped forward hesitantly. “And…..what happened then?”

“He killed him anyway and hid all my horcruxes. His revenge was that I’d have to spend an eternity in my grief.”

“That’s a terrible fate, my lady,” Gavin gallantly said. “But, the horcruxes are all here.. Why haven’t you destroyed them?”

“Don’t you think I would if I knew how?” she snapped, causing a miniature whirlpool around them for a second. “You children ought not wander where you aren’t wanted. Renoir and Ellington are searching for a way to destroy the horcruxes. Go now, leave me in peace!”

The whirlpool started again, and the group tore away from it and ran back the way they came.