Harry came back to conscience with a massive groan. He tried opening his eyes but his head had a massive splitting headache and things certainly weren't better with other body parts. His whole body was aching and hurt. And thus he just stayed down on the ground, with his eyes close and softly groaning from the pain.
Harry started wondering what had happened, did he fall from some stairs and lost conscience?
For some reason he had some picture of him standing in a cave talking through his head with a dragon in his mind. Surely this had to be some weird trick his brain played with him due to his fall or something.
In a distant distance he heard a chuckle, which sounded very familiar to him. Yet he couldn't get around what it was. It was nagging him as it was on the tip of his tongue.
Moments passed with Harry still laying on the ground, slowly working through the pain while trying to remember why the chuckle sounded so familiar.
Then it shot through his mind! Dragon! Cave! Speaker! He remembered it all again, the chuckle belonged to Veraxes! He shot up with his upper body into a sitting position. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, immediately his body reacted to the fast movement and he started vomiting on the floor.
Groaning he lied down again and started wondering why this was happening to him. First his parents abandoning him and now him violently ill in a cave, probably in the presence of a dragon….. Life must surely hate him….
Then a voice, he recognized as Veraxes', boomed in his head, "Now now, young one. Magic has bestowed a gift on you, that few have possessed and many have wanted. Nothing wonderful has ever come easy"
Harry groaned as the headache returned in full force. Veraxes' voice in his head isn't very good for a headache "Voice… Loud… Headache…"
Harry, still keeping his eyes closed, could hear massive movements close by. Moments later he could feel a warm breath washing over him. His head cleared massively from the headache and he could feel the aches and pain lessening in his body.
He opened his eyes and the first thing he could see was a massive golden eye, part of a blue dragon head, staring at him.
He wondered what caused his pain to lessen.
"Dragon breath can heal young one. Dragons can push out magic trough their breath that can help heal wounds and pains. But not everything is curable through magic. Remember that carefully young one and don't take magical healing for granted"
He just nodded and began thinking about the events just before his black out. Veraxes told him about his ability, the mental talking with dragons. How he had to help the dragons and they would help him.
Harry began to realise in childish glee, having the help of all dragons in the world really is a gift! Dragons are huge! Nobody would dare to mess with him now! He could show his parents that he's better than Gerard!
But like most childish dreams this one was cut off too, and rather harshly at that.
A loud growl could be heard through the cave. So loud that the cave started to shake.
"Your gift is not something used for revenge young one! It was given to you to better the world! You're responsible for an entire magical race! You cannot give into petty thoughts!"
His internal feeling of glee of besting his brother quickly turned into shame, he did give into to his feelings and forgot about other things. He was responsible for others, it's selfish to think about his own problems. Even though they still hurt.. badly
Veraxes heard a soft voice in his own mind filled with shame "Sorry"
"I forgive you young one. You are still just a child who has to learn. And luckily learn you shall."
"You will help me?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Of course I will help you young one, we are bonded. Our future is together." Veraxes replied
Harry couldn't help but look around him and wonder if they would stay in this cave. Living in a cave is exciting, in the nature on your own with nobody to tell you what to do. But he doesn't have any survival skills. he can cook, but he can't make a fire. Of course with a dragon he wouldn't need to make a fire. But still it shows how hard living in the nature would be for them and that they would encounter plenty of problems along the way. It showed how badly thought out Harry's plan of running away was.
Veraxes caught onto his thoughts "There is a castle in France young one. It's called Château de dragons and it's the ancestral seat of the Speakers."
He turned and looked at Veraxes with awe "I have a castle!?"
Veraxes chuckled "You have young one, it was built by the first speaker millennia ago. It's filled with ancient artefacts and tomes filled with knowledge, left by the other Speakers for if they are ever needed by their successors. We will use it to train you for whatever your destiny will be young one"
Harry nodded and smiled at his blue companion, remembered again by the word 'we' that he isn't alone anymore.
But then he started thinking, at Hogwarts they got teachers helping them in learning the magic. Not only telling them about the theory behind the magic but also helping them how to do spells and curses. Dragons aren't wizards, so how will Veraxes learn him to use magic?
Veraxes heard his musings through their link and immediately answered "We won't be alone young one. A large magical wave was created by our bonding and if my suspicions are correct, all the dragons and dragon kin around the world will know that there is a new Speaker. We will probably be greeted by the Wise Dragons when we arrive at the castle"
"What magical wave? I didn't feel anything? And who are the Wise Dragons?" Harry asked him
"You passed out when the bond was completed and didn't feel the large magical wave bursting out from us. I was still conscious and could feel the wave. The wave gave me, even when I knew about your existence already, a feeling that told me that a Speaker had returned. Surely the others felt the wave and now know of your existence young one. the Wise Dragons are probably travelling to the castle as we speak, trusting that the Speaker will go to his new home."
He took a moment of silence and continued;
"The Wise Dragons, young one, are our leaders in the world and every region of the world has one dragon representing us young one. Our closest dragon kin, large serpents and wyverns have representatives that are part of the Wise Dragons. In time of emergencies the Wise Dragons gather and act the role of our rulers."
"And they are waiting for us?" Harry asked for confirmation
"I think so yes young one"
Harry's face lit up. Even tough not long ago he was dead terrified of dragons, he now was super excited to meet more of them.
"What are we waiting for then!? Let's go!" Harry squealed in excitement and already starting to walk out of the cave, only to be stopped by the grumbling of his stomach.
"oh" he softly said "I forgot all about eating" and he started chuckling softly
"I can smell food in your little bag young one. Eat first and we will leave" Veraxes said in an amused voice
Harry grabbed his bag and sat down on a rock close to Veraxes. While eating a sandwich he realised another thing; "How are we going to get to France!?" He asked Veraxes and he just gave him a very amused look
"Young one…. Dragons can fly" and Veraxes started chuckling after seeing Harry face palming
"I'm so dumb sometimes…" he moaned.
10 minutes later they were ready to leave.
After some instructions from Veraxes on how to mount him and where to hold him while in flight, they left the cave. Veraxes lied down and Harry climbed up his side and seated himself behind one of the spikes on Veraxes' back and started holding it tight.
Veraxes stood up to full height and spread his wings. After some fast steps, many flaps with his wings and one last huge jump, they started climbing into the air. Harry twisted and turned while trying to watch his surrounding becoming smaller and smaller as much as he could while still holding the spike for dear life.
While the ascension in the air is very shaky, where Harry had to hold on tight to not fall off. The flight once they were on the correct height above the clouds was very relaxing. Veraxes slowed the flapping of his wings and started to glide more through the air.
Harry just closed his eyes and started to enjoy the flow of air into his face. For some reason, being up so far in the air gave him a relaxed feeling.
Veraxes told him that the flight would take them around 3 hours to reach Château de dragons in South-East France, and thus Harry asked him to tell him more about the speakers.
"The first speaker emerged in ancient Egypt young one. A large serpent infested the Nile and the Egyptians thought the serpent was Apophis, a demon from Egyptian legend, and fled in terror. Ancient Egypt was on the brink of destruction, due to the lack of food coming from the fields surrounding the Nile."
"An unknown man arrived near where the serpent lived on a day and claimed that he heard about their struggle and that he could speak to serpents. The Egyptians were so desperate that they decided to believe him and guided him to the serpent. The man talked to the serpent and learned why the serpent came to the Nile. He had lost his own territory to other serpents and was driven away by them and he fled to Egypt. The man convinced the serpent to leave the Nile and travel with him to the north, to the sea at the end of the Nile"
"They travelled with each other around , what now is known as the Mediterranean sea. During the journey they formed a friendship and actually bonded together. Just like us. They discovered after the bonding that the man was able to talk to other species close to the serpents, while before the bonding he could only talk to large serpents and snakes."
"So wait! The first speaker was actually a parselmouth and after bonding to a serpent he grew the ability to talk to dragons!?" Harry asked with a feeling of fear. He was taught that parselmouth is dark magic and that all parselmouths were dark wizards. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was the primary example of a dark wizard with parselmouth abilities he was taught by his parents.
"Young one, magic is not dark nor light. It's how you use the magic that makes you dark or light. A dark wizard uses magic for evil purposes. A light wizard uses magic for light purposes. They might not see it like that themselves, but in essence magic is magic young one. Never let them tell you that the magic you use is dark or light." Veraxes explained calmly to the clearly destressed young wizard. "Parselmouths just speak the language of snakes young one, nothing more nothing less. It's because snakes represent evil that parselmouth is viewed as dark magic"
"Oh, so He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a dark wizard because he used his magic and parselmouth for evil purposes and not because the magic he used was dark?"
"Exactly young one."
It was silent for some moments before Veraxes continued his story
"The speaker and the serpent decided to settle in an area near, what we now know as the Alps, in South-East France. In that time and age, the alps was home to many dragons, serpents and snakes and he started to experiment and write down his findings on his abilities with help of the dragons and their kin. The man realised that his ability was very unique and that his findings had to be protected and preserved for any other speakers that would exist after him. So he, with help of the dragons and their kin, started to construct a castle."
"This castle was never named but due to the huge amount of dragons and their kin in the area visiting the castle, the habitants nearby started referring to the castle as Castle Dragon and from that date the castle was known as Castle of the Dragons. We nowadays refer to the castle in French."
"Why French?" Harry asked
"I- have no idea. Probably because it sounds cool" And Harry and Veraxes started chuckling.
Veraxes continued "The many speakers who came after the first one, were guided to the castle upon the discovery of their ability and lived and were trained there. In their lifetimes they improved the castle and started adding magical protections beside the dragons who were living in it and guarding it. The knowledge they accumulated, they wrote down in tomes, for their successors to read and study."
"Believe me young one, that with the help of us and the vast knowledge available to you at the castle, you will become the man you are needed to become for your destiny." Veraxes finished
It remained silent after that, with Harry retreating far into his own thoughts. He felt that he was given a real gift, something extraordinary, something that he should nurture.
The longer Harry was thinking the more he felt out of touch with his past life. His parents abandoned him, while the dragons and the former Speakers were starting to take care of him now.
He was leaving his past as a Potter behind and was starting a new one. It startled him. He felt that with every beat of Veraxes' wings carrying him to South-East France, he was becoming someone else, someone who didn't carried the name Harry Potter.
Harry Potter was becoming someone new, someone better.
2 hours later, Harry spotted a castle on a cliff on the horizon. With every second passing, the castle became bigger and Harry started seeing more details. The castle was absolutely huge! It was built with 2 outer walls, with one massive courtyard inside of it. A large keep was inside of the courtyard.
A/N: For the mental picture, search the castle Carcassonne in google and imagine that build on a cliff but without the houses and such
In the cliff Harry spotted numerous holes, Veraxes told him that those holes were for the dragons. Speaking of the dragons, Harry spotted a couple flying around the castle as if they were spotting for something.
One of the dragons spotted them and flew out to meet them. And Harry started to panic
"Veraxes what do we do?" he asked nervously
"Calm young one, he will sense you when he comes closer. You don't have to worry. Be polite and yourself and remember what we rehearsed" Veraxes soothingly replied
As if on cue the dragon who came closer, faltered one wing beat as if he was in shock. He regained his rhythm and shot out a roar in triumph and excitement. Veraxes gave out his own roar in reply, drawing the attention of the other dragons near the castle. The dragon lowered his speed and swept around Veraxes and Harry when they reached each other in the air and started flying beside them in the direction of the castle.
A different voice than Veraxes' boomed in Harry's head "I am honoured to greet you Speaker and his bonded. I am Balerion. Wise Master of Africa and at your service"
"Greetings Balerion, I am Harry Potter and this is my bonded Veraxes" Harry replied
They arrived at the castle and Veraxes and Balerion swept down and were greeted by a gathering of creatures.
Harry, still seated on Veraxes, clearly spotted the 7 dragons (Balerion included), but aside of them he saw what he suspected were large serpents, snakes and a wyvern.
One of the dragons stepped forward "Greetings Speaker, I am Zalerion and we are honoured to meet you. We are the Wise Masters of our kind and we are gathered here to help you in your training and destiny"
Harry just looked at them all in awe, they were so huge! Even the snakes were massive, atleast several meters long! And the magic they spread, he could feel it. It spread around them like a heavy blanket, enveloping Harry, filling him with warmth.
The Wise Masters were still looking at him, while he was blinking and watching them in awe like he was in a candy store as a 5 year old. Veraxes grew tired of the silence and arched his back, causing him to wake up from his stupor by the heavy shaking.
Harry quickly apologised "I'm sorry Wise Masters, it's just that you all make a very impressive gathering." He heard various voices chuckling in his mind, the deep booming voices he knew were the dragons and the slissing high laughs he was sure were the snakes.
"I am Harry Potter and this is my bonded Veraxes." This caused a pandemonium. The various serpents and snakes recoiled in surprise and the dragons gave voices of shock.
The same dragon who addressed him recovered quickly from his surprise and boomed loudly "ENOUGH!" At once all noises drowned.
"Forgive us speaker, but your name and that of your brothers is famous amongst dragons and our kin. Even we heard about that Halloween night in 1981"
This was the second time in 10 minutes that his name caused a massive reaction and Harry grew curious and even a little afraid.
"w-what?" Harry stuttered
Zalerion spoke up "There is this prophesy young Speaker. Speaking about a boy being born at the end of the 7th month of the year. He would be marked as the equal of a dark lord and have the power to vanquish that dark lord. The boy would poses a power that the dark lord doesn't know and it cites that either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives"
Harry just looked at the dragon in confusion "So what does that have to do with me?"
Another dragon stepped up and said "I am Zadrag, Wise Master of Europe young Speaker."
"We believe young Speaker, that this prophesy is talking about you and the dark lord Voldemort. And we believe that Lord Voldemort is not dead"
"H-How? Everybody says he is died! T-that Gerard killed him!"
"He is not dead young Speaker, not yet. He cheated death somehow, we have felt his presence several times in Europe. Somehow he has lingered on while losing his body. But we don't know how and we don't know how to defeat him."
Harry paled "S-so what's that supposed to mean for me?"
"Speaker" Balerion spoke up "You must defeat Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort is the strongest Dark Lord in history. If you fail to kill the Dark Lord, which can happen according the prophesy, then many people and creatures will die. Even we the dragons cannot hold him if he is not killed and is allowed to grow in power. Many people will die… Many dragons will die or be enslaved young Speaker."
"Remember young one, you have a duty in protecting the dragons. Lord Voldemort is a threat to our kind. He sees pureblood wizards as superior to everything, above all other magical beings like dragons, even other wizards" Veraxes softly spoke to him
Harry just nodded "O-okay I will do it"
"Good young one, I am proud of you. I know that the prospect of defeating a Dark Lord weighs heavily on your shoulders. But thousands of innocent people and creatures will die if we don't stop him"
Harry nodded. He understood that he had to help his brother defeat the dark lord to save many innocents and help the dragons. But he learned on his flight to France, that he didn't want to continue be Harry Potter. That he wanted to be someone else, the new him.
"Do it young one" Veraxes softly told him
Harry looked up and gazed deeply into Veraxes' eyes and he saw him nod, telling him that he supported him and understood him. Harry smiled to him and nodded back to him and turned to speak to the Wise Masters.
"Is there a way to change your birth and name through magic?"
The Wise Masters all just stared at him.
Getting no initial response Harry added "Harry Potter is the old me, the abandoned boy that ran away. I want to change into the new me, the Speaker me, with a new name that will appear when identification magic is used. I want if that is possible, all traces vanished that link me to the Potters. I want to become the new me, the Speaker me, with dragons as family…."
"The new me who has a family that cares" He softly added, with tears in the corner of his eyes.
The Wise Masters turned and looked at each other and they nodded all in agreement. In front of them is a little boy, that is desperate in leaving behind his old life and beginning his new one with a fresh start. They couldn't refuse him that closure.
Balerion turned to Harry and looked at him softly "It is possible that some kind of ritual or magic exists that can do that. We will help you find it and help you change your identity young Speaker"
For the first time the Wise Masters saw a smile on Harry Potter's face that radiated brighter than the sun… No sorry…. On Artemis Ladon's face
A/N: Next we are going to make a huge time skip past all the training and get the show on the road. For all people who were looking forward to that, I will look back on it in further chapters through flashbacks and what not.
