Title: Child of Quetzalcoatl
Author: TardisIsTheOnlyWaytoTravel
Setting: Sixth year. Book-compliant up until then.
Plot: On his sixteenth birthday Harry undergoes some startling changes, and new knowledge is brought to light. James Potter is not his father; Harry is not even human, but something he never imagined. Meanwhile, the Otherworld is fading, and the old magics are draining from the world. Harry enters his sixth year with carefully-guarded secrets, changing loyalties, and the emergence of his Slytherin side…
Author notes:
I despise flashbacks, among other things. Hence a brand new shiny prologue. I'm rewriting the next three chapters, as well, to give them my current level of sparkle.
CHILD OF QUETZALCOATL
PROLOGUE
Lily Potter, under the Full Body Bind and bound to an ancient, crumbling altar, could only stare in terror as the Death Eaters formed a circle around her and the Dark Lord. She couldn't believe this was happening… what were they going to do to her?
Voldemort took a step forward, and lit a candle to her right.
"I call to the East, the spirits of earth," he began. "Enter and be welcome. Watch us and guard us. Join us in our ritual."
He moved to light the candle near her head.
"I call to the South, the spirits of earth. Enter and be welcome. Watch us and guard us. Join us in our ritual."
The candle to her left was lit.
"I call to the West, the spirits of water. Enter and be welcome. Watch us and guard us. Join us in our ritual."
Finally, Voldemort moved towards her feet and lit the candle there.
"I call to the North, the spirits of air. Enter and be welcome. Watch us and guard us. Join us in our ritual."
He took a step back.
"Welcome to our circle."
A sudden wind blew through the clearing, and everyone sensed the sudden change of the magical balance. Voldemort smiled cruelly, gloatingly.
"I call upon Cernunnos, the god of the wild. Bless me with your strength and spirit," he intoned. The magic present trembled. "I call upon Cerridwen, the goddess of dark magick. Bless me with your wisdom and your magic." Again, the magic surrounding them quivered in response. "I call upon the Morrigan, the goddess of death and war. Bless me with your power and favour."
With an abrupt jerk the magic around them began to swirl, faster and faster, stretching higher and higher, until it was a vortex stretching up into the sky. Lily was barely conscious by now. The magic was too strong, too… free.
"I INVOKE ALL THOSE OF THE OTHERWORLD!" Voldemort screamed above the howl of the wind and magic. He held his hands out above Lily's stomach. "LET YOUR PRESENCE AND POWER INFUSE THIS INFANT, LET YOUR MAGIC CHANGE ITS FATE! TAKE CONTROL OF IT AS YOU WILL!"
The magic shrieked its acceptance, and suddenly the moor was still. The air was quiet and empty, only a slight tingle of excess magic remaining in testimony to what had happened.
Voldemort dismissed his Death Eaters, all but one. The dark lord and his servant gazed down upon the unconscious woman.
"Obliviate her," Voldemort commanded. "Then return her."
"Yes, my Lord," the Death Eater bowed. Lily Potter was gently lifted into his arms. As Voldemort turned to go, he never saw the Death Eater awkwardly but deftly aim at him and cast the spell that would remove all memory of this event from the Dark Lord's mind.
oo o0o oo
Rhiannon walked the Paths briskly, excitement building in her despite her attempts to contain it. The Paths were firmer, clearer, the mist dispersed… she was right, something had happened. Someone had called on them. She broke into a run.
Rhiannon slowed as she rounded the hill, taking in the sight before her. A woman sat on the grass near the path, head resting in her hands. Her clothing was black, her rumpled hair the same shade, but gleaming healthily in a way that somehow reminded those that met her of feathers. As Rhiannon approached, the woman looked up, revealing a pair of golden eyes. For a moment the two simply stared at each other.
"I thought you were gone."
The Morrigan shrugged at Rhiannon's quiet words.
"I was. But something called me back." She tilted her head back, concentrating. "Something called on me, and Cernunnos, and Cerridwen. Only for a moment, but it was enough to bring us back." It was clear that the Morrigan was, still, not quite present; her expression was confused, and almost vulnerable, quite unheard of for the Goddess of War.
Rhiannon sighed and sat down next to her.
"How are they?"
The Morrigan shook her head.
"Gone. Still lingering slightly, but gone. Whatever it was didn't need as much of them as it did me." She wrapped her arms around her legs. "I'll be gone again too, soon."
The Morrigan gazed at her seriously, and Rhiannon had to agree with her assessment. Already the Morrigan was growing transparent as she faded from existence once more, the force that had called her back no longer in need of her.
"Take care of things," the Morrigan murmured. Her voice was thin and faint. "I'm not surprised you've lasted so long, you always were different from the rest of us. You should last a while more yet."
She was almost gone. Rhiannon hurried to ask her questions.
"Were any of the others involved in whatever called you?"
"One." Her voice was barely a whisper. "He's been hiding out somewhere, his power gone but his existence maintained somehow. Sly bastard always manages to find a way around things."
"Who?" Rhiannon asked; but the other goddess had vanished. Rhiannon rested her head on her knees and wondered what would come of these events. A slender thread of hope burned in her. Not everyone had forgotten. Perhaps someone would wake them all once more.
-
END PROLOGUE