I won't keep you waiting any longer than needed so enjoy the story.

italics= Thoughts.

italics+bold= Telekinesis

-italics+bold- = telepathic thoughts

Disclaimer: As always I do not own Harry Potter and it makes me sad.

ENJOY!


The Druid's Quickening pt. I

There was a pregnant pause, a moment of complete silence that none of them dared to break. The moment stretched on for what felt like hours as Harry continued to stare ahead of him lost in thought. All the while, Dudley continued to take light drags from the cigarette that didn't smell like a cigarette, drinking in the blank stare of his cousin, and Harry the same. It felt so out of place for Harry to associate anyone so utterly Dursley with magic, but never the less there he sat before him, eyes glowing with some unknown light, his face framed by blond locks that Dudley had begun to grow out some time ago, his hair now reaching past his shoulders where they curled at the ends. The long winding vapors of smoke that hung around him adding to the overall aura of power he was radiating effortlessly.

'Dudley has magic'. Harry thought as a gentle breeze whispered through the circular clearing of trees rustling his already messy hair.

'Dudley has magic' Harry repeated in his mind.

'Dudley is…is a Druid…what is a Druid?' Harry thought, The same question he asked before popping into his head.

"What exactly is a Druid?" Harry asked voicing his last thought. Dudley, who had been busying himself with slowly waving his hands in front of his face disturbing the wisps of smoke looked back to him.

"Well that took me a while to answer myself. When these powers first popped up I had this freaky dream...I don't remember much about it but one word stuck in my head Druides. I looked it up, it's Latin for "The Druids". At first I didn't think much of it. Figured I just smoked some bad pot you know. But then they kept on happening. I knew they were vivid...and violent because I would wake up in the middle of the night panting and covered in sweat, but I could never remember any specific details except for that one word. I swear it drove me half starkers. I kept on searching but I couldn't find anything solid. The religious order of the Druid is mentioned in passing a lot in Celtic mythology but they never wrote anything down. It wasn't until I was in the local library of all places and I came across this book, thats when I got some solid answers. According to the Compendium" Dudley began tapping his right hand on the cover of the book lying before him. "Druids were once revered protectors of the land, they were the conduits of nature itself, able to bend it to their will. But over the years mankind began relying more and more on mathematics and science...chaos. They lost touch with nature. Druides weren't respected like they once were, so they hid away the knowledge, all their teachings completely wiped from history. It left behind a scar on the world, we call it the dark ages. ."

"Mankind's reliance on mathematics and science, it was a new way. But Druides...the book said that in all things they do the wisdom and power of Gaia herself is their...our teacher, our guide and mentor." Dudley looked up from the books' cover, which he had begun to stroke lovingly and caught Harry in a stare that would have been intense even without his eyes glowing. As it were with the blue orbs in that state he had Harry transfixed." We are true magicians because our power comes from her very veins."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Harry asked emerald green eyes staring unblinkingly into blue. Harry hung onto every word that spilled forth from Dudley's mouth as if they were the secrets of the universe and since it sounded like these Druids kept hush about their workings, in a way they were. Harry may not always be the sharpest tack in the box but he understood the gravity of what was unfolding before him, he knew without really knowing that before him sat someone, something that was rare and unique…he just needed to figure out how, and then why...like Dhelila said the decisions he made in the coming days and all that tosh.

"What do I mean?" Dudley asked looking off to the side; he seemed to be contemplating something. After a beat he looked back at Harry. "What is magic?" he finally asked with a smirk.

"What?" Harry asked sharply, snapping back to himself.

"You heard me, what is magic."

Harry glanced over at Aridian who looked back at him and gave the tiniest of nods.

"Magic is the heartbeat of life." Harry responded clearly.

"Exactly!" Dudley said excitedly. "Magic is the heartbeat of life, it exists in all living things connecting us all. But more importantly, the pure, raw, untamed magic of Gaia, the Great Mother runs in her very veins as her blood, those veins are what are known as lye lines and Druids can tap into that life blood" Dudley raised his hand palm to the sky as it lit with a brilliant orange flame. "We can tap into that raw magic and do amazing, impossible things." He finished reverently looking into the flame with misty eyes and a somewhat manic gleam.

"Geez Dudley its just fire, careful you don't burn yourself." Verdan snorted eying Dudley as if he had gone bonkers.

"See that green boy is where you're wrong. You've never held fire in the palm of your hands before, you don't have the connection to the magic that I have. I freaked out the first time my hand caught fire, luckily I was in the shower at the time. I tried so hard to put it out, it wasn't until I realized that my hand felt perfectly fine that I calmed down and felt it. To you this flame is just destruction but it is so much more. In the right hands…in my hands it is light and it is life…it is magic." As he said those things the flame lifted off his hand to flicker on above their heads. It slowly got bigger and brighter injecting tendrils of warmth into the biting chill that Harry had not even realized had crept upon them with the setting of the sun. Harry was so focused on Dudley's rant he did not notice his teeth chattering until they stopped. He worried that the flame was going to continue to grow but it stopped once it got to the size of a catchers mitt. Suddenly the most wondrous event occurred, small bits of the flame began to fall away and rain down on the five young men like multi-colored faerie lights. The lights dotted Harry's skin and although by all logic they should have burned him, it did not. When the sparks came in contact with his skin they faded away but left behind a warm afterglow and a pleasant tingle Harry had come to associate with magic.

"In all my life I've never known you to be so knowledgeable and genuinely passionate about anything Dudley, how did that happen?" asked Harry lifting his arms to catch more of the falling bits of magic, while the sparks continued to rain down the flame itself kept burning without fuel.

"I guess I've had a while to really process this all…Ive been able to tap this power for almost a year now...it also doesn't hurt that I'm high as fuck right now." Said Dudley dissolving into low giggles.

"Excuse me?" Tristan sputtered looking sharply at Dudley as he took another drag from the 'not' cigarette.

"Here" Dudley mumbled holding out the spliff for Tristan to take.

"As much as I would love to partake in the poisoning of my body" Tristan spat, his tone dripping with sarcasm and blatant disapproval. "I sadly cannot seeing as I am incorporeal."

"Not here you aren't. Within this circle you three." Dudley said looking to each of the three brothers in turn, "Are as real as Harry or I."

"I find that hard to believe." Tristan mumbled moodily. Dudley's only response was to once again raise the joint in offering. Halfheartedly Tristan reached for it, when he was able to take it from Dudley his stormy expression cleared to one of astonishment.

"Amazing." Tristan breathed looking at the slowly burning object in fascination.

"You really aught to listen to me more often Harry." Dudley chuckled a smug look on his face.

"How is that even possible?" Verdan asked his eyes sparkling with a hungry light.

"Because it is my desire…take a look around." Dudley urged. Harry craned his neck and drank in the scene all around him. The sparks from the still burning flame had spread beyond them falling in a large circle that went to the edge of the clearing just before it touched the trees. If that wasn't enough the sparks did not fall in just random order. Standing up Harry could see that the sparks had landed in an intricate design that reminded him of a shield he had once seen in a book in the Hogwarts library, and they five sat at it's epicenter.

"It's called a Celtic shield knot, it's generally used for protection and warding, I'm using it to cleanse this space and as a base." Although his words were whispered they rang clear within the enclosure.

"A base for what?" asked Harry sitting back down.

"A Druid's Circle, my first in fact. Ive been playing around with little things I can do so far but this is my first actual ritual. Ive been holding off on doing it because I wanted you to be apart of it...don't give me that look. You're the only other magical person I know remember. My hope is that there are others out there like me, here is where I want to start the beginnings of my coven and I want you Harry to join as my teacher and I yours."

"I think that's brilliant Dudley but why would you want me to join your coven? And what could I possibly teach you?…I'm a wizard, my magic isn't the same as yours, at least I don't think so."

"I believe that's where you're wrong Harry. You felt the same thing I did earlier…we're connected you and I. I'm not certain how and to what end but I know that the line is there. And besides even if our magic doesn't come from the same place when I'm around you I can feel Gaia's touch, when it comes to you there is something special, when it comes to you the magic is there. You, are home. I still have much to learn but I know I can only do that with your help and in return I think there are things that I can teach you." The excited gleam was back in full force as he spoke those words and with his next it darkened into a seductive smirk. "So, what do you say cousin?…won't you step into the bad side?…"

Harry didn't even try to contain the carefree laugh that erupted from watching Dudley waggle his eyebrows as he spoke the words.

"What do you guys think?" asked Harry to the other three in the circle. Tristan was the first to speak up.

"Sounds like fun."

"Are you kidding? The chance to play around with ancient unknown magic. Imagine all the things we could learn, of course I'm in."

Harry looked over to Verdan who seemed to want to take his time answering. "Well, what about you?"

"Hmm...give me a minute to think about this here. This sounds a little permanent...hmm...Oh alright...in for a penny, in for a pound I suppose…and besides I wouldn't want to miss this train wreck for all the Galleons in the world."

"Well it seems I'm all for it" Harry said brightly "So how do we do this?"

Dudley dug his left hand into his pocket and pulled out a tiny seed. Harry wanted to ask what it was for but he thought it best to just watch and see what happened. Dudley dug a small hole in the grass with two fingers, dropped the seed in then covered it back up. He then reached over and plucked the still lit joint from Tristan's hand. Above them a small part of the fire broke away to hover over the freshly planted seed. Dudley dropped the joint into the flame, which kept it suspended as it slowly turned to ash. Once it was burned away the flame fizzled out leaving behind a pentacle made of ash over the small mound.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Aridian, fascinated.

"Shhh, I need to concentrate. I've only ever done this about four other times, I'm...not very good at the big stuff and this is just on that line." Dudley chided his brow furrowing as he began to move the tips of his fingers in a slow circular motion.

"Good at wh-" began Harry but he got the answer before his question was asked. At the tip of Dudley's fingers…there was no denying it, it was a tiny pool of water that grew larger with each revolution of the young man's finger. After the seventh revolution the pool stopped growing and began to rain down on the pentacle, once the water was all gone the real spectacle began.

It was as if Harry was watching a recording of a plant growing over the course of weeks within a few seconds. When it was done growing the plant stood 1 metre tall with dark green hand shaped leaves and large fuzzy clumps growing around the stem.

"Is that…?"

"Veneficus Cannabis Sativa. Or in other words…magical weed." Said Dudley as if it were the most normal thing in the world to grow a marijuana plant in under a minute.

"Its sparkly." said Harry intelligently

"Yup, that would be the veneficus part of it. This stuff is so potent just a small dose would knock a nomag on their arse for days."

"And you would know that how exactly?" Harry asked throwing his cousin an accusatory glance. Dudley's only response was to shoot him a cheeky wink and grin.

"I need you to be quiet again, I have to concentrate." said Dudley. He brought his hand up palm facing the plant in an instant it caught completely on fire. As the magical flames consumed the plant, it began to turn black, wilt and then eventually collapsed until all that remained was the original ash pentacle. What was new however was the gigantic bubble of swirling, sparkly green smoke just above their heads.

"OK." Dudley said through gritted teeth, sweat beading on his forehead. It looked like he was holding the cloud of smoke together by sheer will. "This is going to hit you hard…take deep breaths...and hold on for the ride."

"Dudley I don't-" said Harry teeming with apprehension.

"Harry look at me." said Dudley his voice strained with the pressure of splitting his concentration. Harry tore his eyes away from the swirling green ball of smoke above the five of them and looked down catching Dudley's eye. Harry's breath caught in his throat. Dudley's blue eyes were glowing an intense cobalt, but it was more than that, they shimmered back and forth as if there was a low flame flickering just behind them. Dudley was sweating and breathing hard but his gaze remained firmly locked with Harry's.

"I need you to do this with me cuzzo...it may not be the exact same, but we're magic...I don't know what that really means yet...I just want to find out. And I can only do that with your help." Dudley grunted and his intense gaze broke from Harry's back to the smoke ball that was wobbling around the edges. Giving it his full attention Dudley kept the smoke contained and swirling. In those few seconds Harry made eye contact with each of his brothers, they each gave their consent in their own ways with facial expressions. It was almost like telepathy between what were essentially magical doppelgängers of himself.

"Penny in the air." said Harry squaring his shoulders.

Dudley grinned crookedly and before Harry could turn his head back towards it a large tendril of smoke reached out and attached itself over his mouth and nose forcing him to breath in the deep earthy scent. It was cool and tingled as it went down Harry's nose and throat. He could feel it tingling throughout his lungs. Harry only had enough time to think that this wasn't so bad before he was physically knocked over by an intense bout of vertigo. With his back on the grass Harry looked up to the inky black sky and he could feel his pupils dilate until he was sure that there was barely any green left. With this new sight the world opened up to him. He could see beyond the glare of the city lights at the hundreds, maybe thousands of little dots strewn across the night sky.

"Dudley this is amazing." Tristan said in some direction, Harry wasn't sure which direction. He ran his hands in the grass beneath him and he felt the little heartbeat of magic inside each and every blade helping it grow, beyond the grass he felt the soil rich and dense with its promise of new life, he felt the earthworms making their way through it loosening it. He felt the roots of the trees drinking in nutrients growing stronger by the second, minute, hour, day, year, decade, century, and millennia. He saw their past and future all within the span of a milli-second.

Harry's head began to hurt a bit and he heard a barely there whisper of a song. Beneath the soil and the worms and all other manner of creatures he felt something deep down pulsating…like a heartbeat. It was stationary and flowing at the same time, it felt ancient and ageless simultaneously. Harry knew without having to be told that what he felt was a lye line and he was humbled by the enormity of its power because he was also aware that it connected with other lines and ran throughout the entire planet…through the earth…Gaia. Sensing that much power, the power of a planet scared him and at the same time excited him (and made blood rush to certain parts of his anatomy) in ways that should make him blush with shame yet he didn't because he knew that it was raw and natural.

The pounding in his head slowly but steadily subsided and evened out to nothing. The whispering went away. When he was sure he had a decent grip on his head Harry sat up to find that Tristan, Aridian, and Verdan were doing the same, their eyes were glowing a brilliant emerald green. Dudley was sitting off to the side with an easy smile on his face. Harry watched as he and his four companions inhaled the last of the smoke.

"How do you all feel" asked Dudley inhaling the last of his smoke tendril.

"I feel strong." Tristan replied flexing the muscles beneath his yellow robes.

"I can...I can sense everything. Its amazing." Came Aridian's breathy response as he looked around himself his hands delicately probing the air around him smiling.

"I am so fucking…horny." Verdan ground out fisting his hands into the blades of grass beneath him. Tristan and Aridian dissolved into fits of laughter upon his pronouncement. "I'm bloody serious you guys I can feel the power from that lye line washing over me and it's making my blood boil." He carried on closing his eyes and biting down on his bottom lip.

Dudley quirked an eyebrow and shot his cousin a bemused look. "Got a thing for power Harry?"

Harry had the decency to blush. "Its not something I like to admit." He mumbled. Memories of Luna and Ginny dueling with each other during a demonstration at a D.A. meeting the school year before pushed its way to the front of his mind. The immense look of concentration on both of their faces, the intense groans they each let out as they threw hexes that were getting more and more violent the longer they kept going dancing around the magically protected ring the Room had created until Hermione had shoved Harry rolling her eyes to remind him that this was suppose to be a basic demo of dueling form. Harry cleared his throat smoothly and the blush on his face receded some.

"I don't think its anything to be ashamed of. There's nothing wrong with admiring power, The Compendium actually encourages it." said Dudley smiling down at the book eyes still glowing.

"Not to be a wet blanket or nothin but how does getting us junked up on über weed get us into your little club?" asked Verdan

"Join hands." said Dudley

"What are we going to sing Kumbayah?"

"Just shut it and do as I say"

"Yes Master Druid." Verdan quipped sarcastically saluting Dudley with his middle finger then grabbing hold of Aridian then Harry's hand. Once all five hands were joined Harry gasped at the jolt that went through the entire circle. It was different from the gentle rush of magic from the line below them. It grounded him while keeping him floating in the euphoric wash of power. He could feel them all as if he were them. The tense energy in Tristan's corded muscles itching to be released, the dizzying buzz of information that was bouncing before his eyes being sorted and locked away by Aridian's mind, the the maddening dark hunger of Verdan's power hungry libido; if he were not sitting already that alone would have brought him to his knees. Then there was Dudley, he gave off an aura of calm serenity. Underneath that however Harry could feel the expanse of emptiness that filled his entire being. He sensed something else about each of the young men sitting around him in the center of this Celtic shield knot...which was glowing even brighter radiating the pawer Harry was awash in. Something that warmed him from the pit of his stomach and spread outward. They all felt familiar like family.

-We are family.- Harry thought.

-Yes we are Harry- came the sound of Dudley's voice inside his head.

There was a strange twinge of unease that quickly passed. This was what he had always wanted. What he had lost when Sirius died. What Ron and all his other friends had, a real family that wouldn't shun him for possessing magic because they knew what it was like. Granted Dudley wouldn't have been his first choice but he was in no position to be picky, Harry smiled.

He wasn't alone anymore.


The next day dawned to a change in Privet Drive. Though the residents would not be able to explain it and dare not say it out loud for fear of being labeled as strange or irritatingly cheery (because Lord knows how annoying those people can be), but there was a certain magic in the air. The sun shone just that much brighter, the leaves on the trees and the identical lawns were full green and lush, and the flowers of the numerous gardens bolstered vibrant colors. The gentle breeze that swept through the neighborhood elicited a sweet calming effect that put the residents in a good mood, all that is except the occupants of #4.

It was to a dense awkwardness that Harry entered as he made his way into the kitchen of number four. Since his birthday the Dursleys had taken to making their own breakfasts and generally ignoring Harry's presence except when they ordered him to complete whatever menial task required his attention. Dudley was in his regular seat attempting to eat his meager helping of fried eggs and bacon and watch the telly at the same time. Due to all the weight that he had dropped so quickly Aunt Petunia had lifted Dudley's diet and forced all his favorite foods on him at every meal to prevent her 'ickle diddykins' from wasting away. Dudley had gladly accepted the return to old habits but in moderation since he liked not taking up so much space. Aunt Petunia meanwhile, was fiddling with the bit of grapefruit she still had left on her plate throwing little comments to Vernon who was hidden behind the headline of today's newspaper and making appropriately timed grunts in response to Petunia's attempts to coax him into a conversation. When Harry sat down with his own plate of breakfast (Dudley had taken to leaving him some in the frying pan) Petunia stopped mid comment to throw him a wary glance, Dudley looked up to smile at Harry then went back to watching an old re-run of The Crystal Maze.

"I spoke to Lawrence and Dietra Evans the other day" said Petunia lightly.

"Oh, how are they holding up?" Vernon asked putting down the newspaper to look at his wife.

"Just barely, its been over two months and they still haven't found little Mark. Dietra, the poor dear was a right mess, wracked with grief she was." Petunia tutted shaking her head consolingly.

"That's a shame." grunted Vernon.

"Mark Evans?" asked Dudley looking to his mother and father.

"Yes popkin, the one that lives over on Wisteria walk, weren't you two friends?" she asked sweetly as she scooped out some grapefruit with a spoon.

"Not exactly." mumbled Dudley looking down at his plate. Not exactly was right in Harry's opinion, Dudley and his gang of friends had taken to beating up on the younger kids in the surrounding neighborhood and Mark had been one of their regulars. it seemed along with his connection to Gaia, Dudley had gone and grown a conscience.

'magic indeed'. thought Harry.

Dudley threw a quick glare at him which Harry raised an eyebrow at.

"Well his disappearance has the authorities baffled. All they were able to find other than the mutilated remains of his dog was a shoe. From the looks of the poor beast they were attacked by some sort of wild animal while they were out walking but none of the blood in the area was human so there's a chance he might still be alive out there somewhere." silence rang through the kitchen once again.

"Have they considered that this is all just one gigantic prank?" asked Vernon sighing heavily as he folded the newspaper down onto the table.

"What are you on about Vernon?" asked Petunia looking at her husband intensely.

"Who's to say that little Evans brat isn't trying to pull one over on his parents. Making those decent hard working people worry themselves half to death just for a few chuckles with his vagabond friends" said Vernon gruffly.

"Vernon! That's an absolutely horrid thing to say. You've met the family before, a child of good folks like that would never be so heartless." said Petunia

"Yes well it doesn't always matter how decent the parents are, sometimes...the child is nothing but a disappointment." said Vernon slowly. Even though it was not said and Vernon never looked his way, everyone at the table knew that the comment was meant for Dudley whose ears burned a bright red as he hung his head in shame. Harry felt a sharp stab of pity for Dudley's plight.

"Oh Vernon." Petunia breathed her voice hitching as she held back a sob. She looked over to Dudley in time to see a single teardrop fall from his lashes and hit the now empty plate below. Petunia made to rush over and comfort her son but before she could fully rise from her seat Vernon jumped up.

"Dear me look at the time. Best be off or I'll be late for work." Vernon wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Petunia darling." he said as he made his way from the table. "Boy! make sure you get those chores in the yard done before I get home or you'll be sorry." And with that he was out of the kitchen into the adjoining hallway and out the front door.

Harry, Petunia and Dudley sat in silence. After a beat Petunia silently began to clear the table of dishes. Dudley kept his head bowed in shame, Vernon had not even acknowledged his presence. As Petunia turned her back to wash the dishes in the sink Dudley's shoulders began to tremble with the effort of keeping his tears silent. Staring blankly ahead of him Harry's pity slowly turned to sorrow.

'How could he ignore his own son...say something so hurtful.' thought Harry as Dudley brought his head down to rest upon his folded arms still holding back sobs.

'Saying those hurtful things just because Dudley loves differently.'

Harry heard sobbing and looked up to see his aunt with her back still turned to them holding her hand over her mouth shaking with tears, she began washing again as if nothing was wrong but Harry could tell her tears had not subsided.

'As if he's so wonderful... As if he's so fucking perfect...who the hell does he think he is. That bastard! He'll pay FOR DOING THAT TO ME!...wait...what?'

CRASH

The sound of a glass breaking snapped Harry out of the increasingly furious thoughts that were running through his head. He looked up to see his aunt desperately clutching the remains of the plate she had smashed against the counter top.

'Something's not right here.' Harry thought, and that's when he felt it. The tingle, the one that told him that magic was in the air. It felt different from the other times, it was hostile and it felt like it was trying to invade him, trying to fill him with it's rage. Harry looked over to his cousin to see that his silent sobs had subsided he now sat unmoving as if frozen.

"Dudley" said Harry slowly, beginning to get worried.

CRASH. Petunia had broken another plate. "DAMN HIM!" she yelled.

"DUDLEY. STOP!" Harry yelled shaking his cousin. Dudley lifted his head and all the hairs on the back of Harry's head stood on end. Dudley's face was contorted in a dark scowl and his eyes were ablaze with blue fire radiating heat that distorted the air around his head. The tingle was becoming more pronounced to the point of almost painful. The air smelled of ozone and the temperature in the kitchen began to rise.

"DUDLEY!."

SLAP!

Dudley blinked rapidly, his eyes returning to normal and the tingle receding. He brought his hand up to touch his rapidly reddening cheek where Harry's hand had hit him. He looked over to Harry with sad eyes.

"I'm so-" began Dudley.

"You don't have to say it...I know."

"Oh goodness me. Look at this mess. I honestly don't know what's come over me. Dudley sweetheart out of the kitchen I don't want you accidentally cutting yourself on all this glass."


Twenty minutes later found Harry and Dudley back in the clearing by the playground sitting in silence. Harry studied Dudley as he kept his eyes planted on the book before him doing his best to ignore his cousin's insistent leer. Finally he let out a sigh closing the book and meeting Harry's eye.

-what?- came Dudley's voice.

-you know what.- Harry responded in kind. Since the ritual the previous night the ability to speak to each other telepathically had developed. It was some magical side effect of the Coven bond. Learning how to block each other out became a necessity when Verdan started intentionally fantasizing.

-I really don't, so why not just come out with it.-

-How were you able to influence our emotions back there?-

-I don't know. That's the first time something like that has ever happened before-

-So what has happened before?-

-as far as mentally, the most I've ever been able to do is listen in on patches of people's thoughts. It's happened a few times on different levels of painful while I was in school and then once when you first got back from Higswart-

-Hogwarts, Dudley-

-I've heard it both ways-.

-Anything else?-asked Harry rolling his eyes.

-Like what?-

-I'm sure I don't know Dudley, they're your powers-

-Other than the little things I've been able to do with the elements I don't really know much about my powers-

-You've had magic for almost a year now right?-

-Yea so?-

-So, that was over a year ago...what have you been doing all this time, sitting on your hands?-

-NO- came the suddenly angry voice of Dudley through the link. -For the past year I've been goin half mad with dreams I don't even get to remember. Hopped up on any pain pills I could get my hands on...anything to dull the pain of hundreds of voices talking in my head. Almost burning the science labs down-

-Excuse me?-

-Long story, back to the point Ive been doing all that and coming to terms with the fact that I'm not a freak. Or have you forgotten who I was raised by?-

-Damn...I'm an idiot-

-No, you just can't imagine the world through anyone's eyes but your own...not everyone spent most of their lives looking for the magic in everything. I was quite happy with the normal, and mundane before all this happened, course that ain't no picnic either.-

-Hehe, and now look at ya. You're practically the magic man. Making it rain with the blink of an eye. Starting forest fires with a snap of your fingers, and growing highly illegal magical narcotics with a wiggle of your nose. That's as far away from mundane as you can get...my how you've grown.-

The two magical beings fell over laughing at that statement. After a few minutes they sat back up with wide grins on their faces.

"He was a fuckin wanker for saying that about you though." Harry finally spoke breaking a lull in the light mood.

"Yea I know. I get that he's just set in his ways..but it still hurt you know."

"Hey I'd be worried if it didn't. You can be downright terrifying when the magic runs away with you ya know. It's a good thing Im considered an adult in the magical world or I might have been expelled for that little display."

"That's something I don't get." said Dudley

"What?"

"You said you've been emancipated in your world, you've come into all this money, and you've now got more places to live than you really even need."

Harry grew still. He knew where Dudley was getting at. "Yea. So?"

"So...why are you still here? I know its not for the company."

"You're right it not...I'm still here because you all are still my family, no matter how I feel about it and with Lord Moldyshorts out there I'm the only thing keeping you all safe."

"That blood protection thing?" asked Dudley.

"Exactly." said Harry. "Once I no longer call this place home that protection is gone and you and your family are sitting ducks."

Dudley was silent in thought as he looked off in the distance stroking the cover of The Compendium in his lap. He broke out in a wide grin soon after.

"What if I took over the job of protecting the family?"

"What's that now?" asked Harry confused.

"Look I'm a Druid now. I know how to do magic that literally no one else can...I could protect them." said Dudley his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"I'll admit you can do some pretty cool things Dud. But we're talking about fully grown wizards with years of experience practicing magic. While it was pretty cool, you had a hard time holding together a ball of smoke. These people throw out torture curses like it's candy on Halloween. If they attack you might be able to take down a few with a couple fire balls, but eventually they will out maneuver you."

"So then help me get better, get stronger."

"How?"

"There are some sick spells and enchantments in here for protection, warding and more importantly battle. I could do them but I would need more power."

"And how exactly would you get this power?"

"There is a ritual in here that every Druid must perform in order to unlock their full potential connection to Gaia...I'm a bit old to be performing it since it's something that is done around the age of eight or nine but once I do i'll be able to tap into the lye line fully. I could use the line that runs beneath this park to take up the stead once your protection falls in a year and in the mean time I'll practice and get better. If they do manage to get past the protections I'll be able to hold them off long enough to run away if not wipe the floor with them"

"I don't know Dudley. Are you sure you want to do that. I'm not doubting the power of Gaia or anything... I mean its the power of the whole bleeding planet..its just..."

"I want to, besides I'm going to do the ritual anyway, might as well put that power to good use." Dudley said smugly.

"Alright then. How do we do this?"

"Well" Dudley began, leafing through the Compendium until he found the page he was looking for. "A talisman must be chosen, that will be blessed within the witch's circle within the druid's circle on the night of a full moon which is in two weeks. I can take care of the talisman. That just leaves the matter of the circle and the potion. Now I'll need the help of your counter parts to build the circle."

"How would that work?"

"Once the circle has been cast I have to invite the four guardians of the earth into my circle to witness and bless my passing. Water, Air, Earth and Fire. You four must serve as vessels for the guardians...Oh don't give me that look do you honestly think Gaia would allow any harm to come to her conduits?"

"OK what else. what was that about a potion?"

"Yea. Its actually more of a tonic that must be brewed by the one performing the ritual and drunk everyday for seven days prior to the night. The tonic purifies the drinker so that Gaia's power can run freely through them. Some of the ingredients on this list we've got in the kitchen at home so I can grow them myself but some of these herbs I've never even heard of, I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"That's alright, we'll just take a trip over to Diagon Alley. I need to go over a few things with my accountant. We'll pick up those ingredients while we're there. Let me have a look."

Dudley handed over the Compendium. Harry scanned the page and did a double take. He looked over the words again a frown growing on his features as he took them in.

"What? do you not recognize any of those ingredients?" asked Dudley taking in his cousin's expression.

"Dudley look at this and tell me what you see." said Harry placing the book down on the grass and pointing to a random line.

"Lower the heat and add the strips of gillyweed in a counter clockwise motion...what am I suppose to be seeing?"

"You understood that completely? The words are sitting right there in plain old English?"

"Besides the fact that I have no idea what gillyweed is yes. Stop being a bleedin wanker and get to the point, what's the matter?" said Dudley getting frustrated.

"Because Dud, from what I can tell" said Harry flipping through the book quickly and taking in the words. "every single word of this entire book is written in Runes."

"Oh" said Dudley looking down at the book then back to Harry. "What the bloody hell are runes?"


A/N: Alrighty then, there's chapter seven. I was suffering through a serious case of writer's block because I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to scrap this entire chapter and start from scratch or keep on with the tweaking. Barring any great emergency the second part of this chapter will be posted within the next two to three days, so keep an eye out for that. Just as a heads up Im only going to be keeping the original A Great Destiny About Him up until maybe one or two chapters past the rewritten ones. Hope you guys like what Im putting out. Review! Please!

-Aubrey