Chapter One: Doctor Chrystan's Discovery
Harry James Potter, known across the wizarding world as The Boy Who Lived - due to his surviving what should have been a fatal attack by the dark wizard Voldemort at the age of fifteen months old and on several occasions since - was having probably the best summer in his life. Up until this year, he had been required to spend at least some of his holiday with his odious relatives, the Dursley family, due to a piece of ancient magic surrounding their house that protected him from his enemies - among whom the above-mentioned dark wizard could be counted. However, after his godfather, Sirius Black had returned from 'the dead' on Harry's sixteenth birthday and been proven innocent of criminal charges that he had been imprisoned for fifteen years before, Harry was able to move into the Potter ancestral home with his godfather, his father's other best friend Remus Lupin, Sirius' cousin Nymphadora Tonks (who strangely preferred to be known by her surname) and Sirius' sometime girlfriend Leona White. And this year he was also joined by three people closer in age to himself: his eleven- year old cousin, Jamie and two third cousins, Susan and Anita Bones, who had been orphaned due to an attack on their family by Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers) about a week before Christmas.
With the three girls at the castle - known as Gryphon's Eyrie - to keep him company, the first couple of weeks of the holiday passed relatively quickly and with rather more fun than previous years had, but Harry was keenly aware that something was still missing, in fact if he were perfectly honest four or five things - or rather people - were missing: his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his girlfriend Ginny Weasley and his other two 'sidekicks' Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. However, it was his birthday in about a fortnight and he was fairly sure that Hermione and the Weasleys at least, would be coming to stay at Gryphon's Eyrie then, but he was waiting for the letter from Ginny to confirm this.
At that moment, Harry heard the swooshing sound that suggested a winged creature had flown in through the open doors leading to the balcony. Opening his eyes and sitting up, Harry confirmed that he did indeed have an avian visitor, specifically a very familiar snowy owl. "Hi Hedley," said Harry, reaching under his pillow for his wand holster. "Have you got a letter for me?"
The owl hooted in agreement and flew to Harry's outstretched arm. When he landed, Harry quickly untied the letter attached to his ankles. "Why don't you go and wait in the Owlery?" he suggested. "I'm sure Velik will give you something to eat."
Hedley hooted gratefully and took off again, swooping back out of the balcony doors. Harry slit open the envelope and removed the note within:
Dear Harry, I hope you and the others are doing fine. Things are pretty tense here, Dad, Bill and Fleur are never at home and I'm pretty sure that the twins are working for the Order too. Ron and Hermione are busy with studying and research, but as I've finished my holiday work, things are pretty dull for me, so I can't wait to come to see you on your birthday. See you soon,
Love, Ginny
----
When Harry walked into the dining room a few hours later, most of the permanent residents were present: Jamie, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Civis the hobgoblin were there, as were the Guardians Jason Draper and Corrine Anderson. Harry slid into his seat between Sirius and Jamie and turned to Remus. "How's the research going?"
"I'm not sure, Harry," the werewolf admitted with a sigh. "Rex, Leona and I have gone through about two-thirds of the scrolls in the library, but we haven't found the right one yet. I'm going to go back as soon as I've eaten to give Leona a break." he paused as Velky set a plate of food in front of him. "Rex thinks we'll be done by the end of the week."
"And if you don't find what you're looking for?" asked Harry. "What do we do then?"
"We keep looking, Harry," Remus replied calmly. "We must find it..."
"The safety of the world depends on it."
----
Everything was relatively quiet for the next couple of days, but when Corrine flew out to the spot in the mountains where Harry, Civis and the girls had flown to for a picnic, it was obvious that something was up. Harry stood up and moved to her side as he fought to catch her breath. "What's wrong, Corinne?" he asked her once she stopped panting.
"Remus and Dr Chrystan need to see you in the library immediately," she replied.
"Have they found something?" Jamie asked.
The red-haired witch shrugged, "I don't know, but they said it was urgent."
"Tell them we're on our way," Harry told her.
Corinne nodded and took off again.
"I'll clear everything up," Civis offered. "Then the rest of you can take the horses back."
Harry, who was already mounted on his stallion, Ravlin nodded and pulled Jamie up behind him and took off. The Bones sisters took only a moment to mount the dapple-grey gelding, Susurrus, and followed.
Thanks to the speed of the two Granians, it only took a few minutes to travel the ten miles back to the castle. When they landed outside the stable, Harry handed Ravlin over to Jamie and then set off for the keep at a run.
When he entered the Library, he found that several other people had joined the two scholars: Sirius, Leona White, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick, and Mad-Eye Moody. "Have you found it?" Harry asked eagerly as he moved to join them.
"We have indeed, Harry," Remus confirmed and indicated the piece of parchment spread out on the table. "Rex, do you mind?"
"Go ahead."
"Thank you," said Remus and bent down slightly to get a better look. "Now, it's written Ancient Latin, which I'm. a little rusty at, but I'm sure Rex will correct me if I get anything wrong?"
After receiving another nod, he continued. "The bad news is, this is the most complex ritual I have ever seen," Remus admitted. "We need to locate a magical sceptre and five magical rings, pair up each artefact with six people along very specific emotional criteria and then hold off Voldemort and his allies long enough to cast a complex, eighteen word spell."
"Can we do it?" Sirius asked.
Dr Chrystan thought for a moment before answering. "If we can locate the Sceptre and the Channelling Rings and we can find six people with the right connections and enough power to survive the ritual, then yes. If not..."
"Then we must find them," concluded Dumbledore. "Quickly and quietly so that Voldemort does not find out and move against us."
"So let's get on with it," said Harry and left.
----
Harry, Jamie and Sirius spent much of the next two weeks in the dungeon vaults which housed many the valuable jewellery, paintings, statues and other treasures that Harry's family had acquired over the centuries, and by the time Hermione, Mark, the Weasleys and some of Harry's other friends descended on Gryphon's Eyrie to celebrate the two Potters' birthdays, they had unearthed two of the rings: The Accipus Sapphire and the Fide Emerald. However, after spending the previous three days searching with no effect they decided that the sceptre and the other rings must be stored somewhere else.
Their birthday party itself was a great success featuring as it did probably the most sumptuous feast the house-elves had produced yet and the exciting Quidditch match between the 'youth team' - featuring Harry, Ron, Jamie, Ginny, and the twins - and the 'old hands' - Charlie, Sirius, Draper, Helena Weyling, Bill, and Betty Kale - which finished after four hours of intense and occasionally brutal action when Harry caught the Snitch giving the victory to the 'youth team' by a whopping two-hundred points.
The presents themselves were also more than satisfactory: Harry received the usual selection of clothes, books and sweets as well as an argentium throwing knife in a dragonhide quick-release wrist holder from Tonks and a Pocket Secrecy Sensor from Mad-Eye Moody; Jamie also received quite a few presents, almost as many as Harry, although the two presents that pleased her the most were a knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley and the Firebolt racing broom that she got from Harry.
----
The next couple of weeks passed quickly, with the students spreading their time between studying, flying out to the mountains to explore and have picnics, and - in the case of Harry, Ron, Ginny and Jamie - practicing Quidditch with help from Charlie, the twins, and Betty Kale.
Later that evening, Serina Weyling returned to the Eyrie with a package and some good news - she had broken into Malfoy Manor and removed the Sceptre of Amor from Lucius' treasury. Two days later, Bill returned from a search of the goblin antique shops in Diagon Alley with the Verus Onyx, and after a search of the Gringotts sale archives, Fleur also added the Libido Ruby to the tally.
"Only one more to go," Harry reminded the Defence Council when they joined in the Gryphon's Eyrie Library that afternoon.
"Yes, there is," agreed Dumbledore. "And I believe I know where the last one is, but we may have problems getting it."
"Why?" asked Harry. "Where is it?"
"In one of the rooms at the Department of Mysteries," Dumbledore replied. "I have tried to get them to give it up, but they won't and its security is too tight for Serina to penetrate."
"I'll get it."
"Could you, Rex?" asked Harry, hopefully.
The brawny historian smiled wolfishly. "No problemo."
----
Dr Chrystan left immediately for London and when he returned three hours later, carrying a small black box, he entered the dining room and handed it to Harry. Harry looked down at the box, then up at the librarian. "Is this what I think it is?"
"Yes, it is."
"I don't want to know how you got it. Do I?" Harry asked.
"Probably not," Dr Chrystan agreed. "I'll see you around, Harry."
"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"
"My people do not need to eat," said Dr Chrystan and left.
"Well, that answers that," said Harry. "I guess it's time to get this show on the road."
He walked over to where the two ex-Marauders were sitting chatting with Tonks and Leona and bent down to talk to them. Both men listened for a moment and then nodded to show that they agreed, when Harry moved off and slipped into his chair between Jamie and Ginny, Remus got up and headed for his study.
"What was that about?" Ginny asked him once he had finished served himself. Jamie opened her mouth to answer but a look from Harry silenced her.
"Sirius, Remus, Leona and I have been working with the rest of the Defence Council to unearth a spell that will give us a chance to defeat Voldemort," Harry told her. "Unfortunately, the only spell we could find is incredibly old and complex and requires six mystic foci and some very specific magical bonds to work."
"And that box contains one of the foci?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, the last one," Harry confirmed. "Now all I have to do is figure out who should join me in the ritual."
"Join you?"
"Yes, the spell needs the magical power of six people to work," Harry told her. "I think that most of them will be wizards but I'll need at least one witch because of the nature of one of the bonds." Here he paused. "I've asked Remus to contact Albus, Hagrid, your mum and dad, and if he can spare the time, Mad-Eye Moody. I want everyone in the auditorium at midnight. I'm going to do the ritual then."
Both girls looked a little nervous at this prospect, but agreed to spread the word.
A/N: Sorry to end the first chapter on a cliff-hanger, but I haven't got very much of the first half planned out so I'm taking it slow with what I have got so that I don't come to a grinding halt after a couple of chapters and spend a month or two trying to pull everything back to together. Which has happened to me before! However, I do have Chapter Two (and maybe Chapter Three) planned out in my head so they probably won't take much more than a week to ten days each to write. On another note, I'd like to thank everyone for the support and encouragement I received while writing Harry Potter and the Torch of Caelum and I hope that you will all enjoy the sequel as much as you did it. I would also like to address a few points that were raised in reviews posted after I 'went to press' with the last chapter of ToC: dancer24 over at GryffindorTower.Net wanted to know what religions were influenced by the Caelumi, well the answer to that is double- sided - most of them and none of them. It is my personal view that there are enough common threads in most religions (with the possible exception of the folk religions like those of Native Americans) that they may have actually came about due to contact with the same supreme deity and his (or her) entourage, and that the differences in peoples circumstances, psychology etc. meant that they viewed 'God' in different ways (a good example of this actually happening would be the different views about who Jesus was that are held by Jews, Muslims and Christians); and Dearc Aillse of FanFiction.Net wants to know what happened to Lord Aduro Deunatus and whether he is, as Harry suggested, also Dr Rex Chrystan, while I am not going to say whether he is or not, I will say that there is a very suggestive clue near the end of this chapter. I'll try and get Chapter Two up as quickly as possible, but don't expect before next week. As always, please review (on FF.Net or by email), especially if you have any questions.
Harry James Potter, known across the wizarding world as The Boy Who Lived - due to his surviving what should have been a fatal attack by the dark wizard Voldemort at the age of fifteen months old and on several occasions since - was having probably the best summer in his life. Up until this year, he had been required to spend at least some of his holiday with his odious relatives, the Dursley family, due to a piece of ancient magic surrounding their house that protected him from his enemies - among whom the above-mentioned dark wizard could be counted. However, after his godfather, Sirius Black had returned from 'the dead' on Harry's sixteenth birthday and been proven innocent of criminal charges that he had been imprisoned for fifteen years before, Harry was able to move into the Potter ancestral home with his godfather, his father's other best friend Remus Lupin, Sirius' cousin Nymphadora Tonks (who strangely preferred to be known by her surname) and Sirius' sometime girlfriend Leona White. And this year he was also joined by three people closer in age to himself: his eleven- year old cousin, Jamie and two third cousins, Susan and Anita Bones, who had been orphaned due to an attack on their family by Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers) about a week before Christmas.
With the three girls at the castle - known as Gryphon's Eyrie - to keep him company, the first couple of weeks of the holiday passed relatively quickly and with rather more fun than previous years had, but Harry was keenly aware that something was still missing, in fact if he were perfectly honest four or five things - or rather people - were missing: his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his girlfriend Ginny Weasley and his other two 'sidekicks' Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. However, it was his birthday in about a fortnight and he was fairly sure that Hermione and the Weasleys at least, would be coming to stay at Gryphon's Eyrie then, but he was waiting for the letter from Ginny to confirm this.
At that moment, Harry heard the swooshing sound that suggested a winged creature had flown in through the open doors leading to the balcony. Opening his eyes and sitting up, Harry confirmed that he did indeed have an avian visitor, specifically a very familiar snowy owl. "Hi Hedley," said Harry, reaching under his pillow for his wand holster. "Have you got a letter for me?"
The owl hooted in agreement and flew to Harry's outstretched arm. When he landed, Harry quickly untied the letter attached to his ankles. "Why don't you go and wait in the Owlery?" he suggested. "I'm sure Velik will give you something to eat."
Hedley hooted gratefully and took off again, swooping back out of the balcony doors. Harry slit open the envelope and removed the note within:
Dear Harry, I hope you and the others are doing fine. Things are pretty tense here, Dad, Bill and Fleur are never at home and I'm pretty sure that the twins are working for the Order too. Ron and Hermione are busy with studying and research, but as I've finished my holiday work, things are pretty dull for me, so I can't wait to come to see you on your birthday. See you soon,
Love, Ginny
----
When Harry walked into the dining room a few hours later, most of the permanent residents were present: Jamie, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Civis the hobgoblin were there, as were the Guardians Jason Draper and Corrine Anderson. Harry slid into his seat between Sirius and Jamie and turned to Remus. "How's the research going?"
"I'm not sure, Harry," the werewolf admitted with a sigh. "Rex, Leona and I have gone through about two-thirds of the scrolls in the library, but we haven't found the right one yet. I'm going to go back as soon as I've eaten to give Leona a break." he paused as Velky set a plate of food in front of him. "Rex thinks we'll be done by the end of the week."
"And if you don't find what you're looking for?" asked Harry. "What do we do then?"
"We keep looking, Harry," Remus replied calmly. "We must find it..."
"The safety of the world depends on it."
----
Everything was relatively quiet for the next couple of days, but when Corrine flew out to the spot in the mountains where Harry, Civis and the girls had flown to for a picnic, it was obvious that something was up. Harry stood up and moved to her side as he fought to catch her breath. "What's wrong, Corinne?" he asked her once she stopped panting.
"Remus and Dr Chrystan need to see you in the library immediately," she replied.
"Have they found something?" Jamie asked.
The red-haired witch shrugged, "I don't know, but they said it was urgent."
"Tell them we're on our way," Harry told her.
Corinne nodded and took off again.
"I'll clear everything up," Civis offered. "Then the rest of you can take the horses back."
Harry, who was already mounted on his stallion, Ravlin nodded and pulled Jamie up behind him and took off. The Bones sisters took only a moment to mount the dapple-grey gelding, Susurrus, and followed.
Thanks to the speed of the two Granians, it only took a few minutes to travel the ten miles back to the castle. When they landed outside the stable, Harry handed Ravlin over to Jamie and then set off for the keep at a run.
When he entered the Library, he found that several other people had joined the two scholars: Sirius, Leona White, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick, and Mad-Eye Moody. "Have you found it?" Harry asked eagerly as he moved to join them.
"We have indeed, Harry," Remus confirmed and indicated the piece of parchment spread out on the table. "Rex, do you mind?"
"Go ahead."
"Thank you," said Remus and bent down slightly to get a better look. "Now, it's written Ancient Latin, which I'm. a little rusty at, but I'm sure Rex will correct me if I get anything wrong?"
After receiving another nod, he continued. "The bad news is, this is the most complex ritual I have ever seen," Remus admitted. "We need to locate a magical sceptre and five magical rings, pair up each artefact with six people along very specific emotional criteria and then hold off Voldemort and his allies long enough to cast a complex, eighteen word spell."
"Can we do it?" Sirius asked.
Dr Chrystan thought for a moment before answering. "If we can locate the Sceptre and the Channelling Rings and we can find six people with the right connections and enough power to survive the ritual, then yes. If not..."
"Then we must find them," concluded Dumbledore. "Quickly and quietly so that Voldemort does not find out and move against us."
"So let's get on with it," said Harry and left.
----
Harry, Jamie and Sirius spent much of the next two weeks in the dungeon vaults which housed many the valuable jewellery, paintings, statues and other treasures that Harry's family had acquired over the centuries, and by the time Hermione, Mark, the Weasleys and some of Harry's other friends descended on Gryphon's Eyrie to celebrate the two Potters' birthdays, they had unearthed two of the rings: The Accipus Sapphire and the Fide Emerald. However, after spending the previous three days searching with no effect they decided that the sceptre and the other rings must be stored somewhere else.
Their birthday party itself was a great success featuring as it did probably the most sumptuous feast the house-elves had produced yet and the exciting Quidditch match between the 'youth team' - featuring Harry, Ron, Jamie, Ginny, and the twins - and the 'old hands' - Charlie, Sirius, Draper, Helena Weyling, Bill, and Betty Kale - which finished after four hours of intense and occasionally brutal action when Harry caught the Snitch giving the victory to the 'youth team' by a whopping two-hundred points.
The presents themselves were also more than satisfactory: Harry received the usual selection of clothes, books and sweets as well as an argentium throwing knife in a dragonhide quick-release wrist holder from Tonks and a Pocket Secrecy Sensor from Mad-Eye Moody; Jamie also received quite a few presents, almost as many as Harry, although the two presents that pleased her the most were a knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley and the Firebolt racing broom that she got from Harry.
----
The next couple of weeks passed quickly, with the students spreading their time between studying, flying out to the mountains to explore and have picnics, and - in the case of Harry, Ron, Ginny and Jamie - practicing Quidditch with help from Charlie, the twins, and Betty Kale.
Later that evening, Serina Weyling returned to the Eyrie with a package and some good news - she had broken into Malfoy Manor and removed the Sceptre of Amor from Lucius' treasury. Two days later, Bill returned from a search of the goblin antique shops in Diagon Alley with the Verus Onyx, and after a search of the Gringotts sale archives, Fleur also added the Libido Ruby to the tally.
"Only one more to go," Harry reminded the Defence Council when they joined in the Gryphon's Eyrie Library that afternoon.
"Yes, there is," agreed Dumbledore. "And I believe I know where the last one is, but we may have problems getting it."
"Why?" asked Harry. "Where is it?"
"In one of the rooms at the Department of Mysteries," Dumbledore replied. "I have tried to get them to give it up, but they won't and its security is too tight for Serina to penetrate."
"I'll get it."
"Could you, Rex?" asked Harry, hopefully.
The brawny historian smiled wolfishly. "No problemo."
----
Dr Chrystan left immediately for London and when he returned three hours later, carrying a small black box, he entered the dining room and handed it to Harry. Harry looked down at the box, then up at the librarian. "Is this what I think it is?"
"Yes, it is."
"I don't want to know how you got it. Do I?" Harry asked.
"Probably not," Dr Chrystan agreed. "I'll see you around, Harry."
"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"
"My people do not need to eat," said Dr Chrystan and left.
"Well, that answers that," said Harry. "I guess it's time to get this show on the road."
He walked over to where the two ex-Marauders were sitting chatting with Tonks and Leona and bent down to talk to them. Both men listened for a moment and then nodded to show that they agreed, when Harry moved off and slipped into his chair between Jamie and Ginny, Remus got up and headed for his study.
"What was that about?" Ginny asked him once he had finished served himself. Jamie opened her mouth to answer but a look from Harry silenced her.
"Sirius, Remus, Leona and I have been working with the rest of the Defence Council to unearth a spell that will give us a chance to defeat Voldemort," Harry told her. "Unfortunately, the only spell we could find is incredibly old and complex and requires six mystic foci and some very specific magical bonds to work."
"And that box contains one of the foci?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, the last one," Harry confirmed. "Now all I have to do is figure out who should join me in the ritual."
"Join you?"
"Yes, the spell needs the magical power of six people to work," Harry told her. "I think that most of them will be wizards but I'll need at least one witch because of the nature of one of the bonds." Here he paused. "I've asked Remus to contact Albus, Hagrid, your mum and dad, and if he can spare the time, Mad-Eye Moody. I want everyone in the auditorium at midnight. I'm going to do the ritual then."
Both girls looked a little nervous at this prospect, but agreed to spread the word.
A/N: Sorry to end the first chapter on a cliff-hanger, but I haven't got very much of the first half planned out so I'm taking it slow with what I have got so that I don't come to a grinding halt after a couple of chapters and spend a month or two trying to pull everything back to together. Which has happened to me before! However, I do have Chapter Two (and maybe Chapter Three) planned out in my head so they probably won't take much more than a week to ten days each to write. On another note, I'd like to thank everyone for the support and encouragement I received while writing Harry Potter and the Torch of Caelum and I hope that you will all enjoy the sequel as much as you did it. I would also like to address a few points that were raised in reviews posted after I 'went to press' with the last chapter of ToC: dancer24 over at GryffindorTower.Net wanted to know what religions were influenced by the Caelumi, well the answer to that is double- sided - most of them and none of them. It is my personal view that there are enough common threads in most religions (with the possible exception of the folk religions like those of Native Americans) that they may have actually came about due to contact with the same supreme deity and his (or her) entourage, and that the differences in peoples circumstances, psychology etc. meant that they viewed 'God' in different ways (a good example of this actually happening would be the different views about who Jesus was that are held by Jews, Muslims and Christians); and Dearc Aillse of FanFiction.Net wants to know what happened to Lord Aduro Deunatus and whether he is, as Harry suggested, also Dr Rex Chrystan, while I am not going to say whether he is or not, I will say that there is a very suggestive clue near the end of this chapter. I'll try and get Chapter Two up as quickly as possible, but don't expect before next week. As always, please review (on FF.Net or by email), especially if you have any questions.