Hey, sorry this took so long. First I had an accident with my computer and lost all my fanfiction files, I got most of them back but I lost about 2,000 words of this chapter at least, then I fell ill. But I'm better now and this chapter has finally been finished, though I'm still not sure I did as good as my first attempt.
Just to let you know I have never been to Albania and before attempting this chapter I had never come across the language before, so if anyone out there can speak Albanian can you please tell me whether or not I'm doing it right? I've also never been camping before or spent much time off a forest path so much of this is just guesswork, I'm sorry if I offend any of you nature-loving campers (or whatever you call yourselves).
Lastly if any of you are reading My Brother The next chapter for it is complete but the entire story is going through a large scale proofread that is almost finished. When it is finished, I will update the next chapter. Then probably have a proofread of this story followed by the others probably in order of urgency.
Please Review
Far away from anywhere
When Harry disembarked from the plane, like the flight crew, he had to convince the staff at Tirana Airport that he was 'genuinely' over eighteen years of age. When they couldn't find anything wrong with his passport, he was allowed to go collect his luggage. When no one was looking and dragged it out to the bus terminal.
Harry had deliberately put off travelling to Albania until his birthday because the age of maturity in Wizarding Albania was fifteen, allowing him to use magic in that country. He wasn't sure whether or not the Albanian Wizarding authorities would be able to track him down or not, but Harry knew that this trip would require magic and he didn't risk upsetting there ministry by flouting their bylaws.
With some effort he managed to tell the bus driver which stop he wanted to go to. The man looked highly irritated, especially when he told Harry the price in Albanian and Harry responded by giving the driver a handful of change. Despite that, Harry managed to get his ride and sat on the bus trying not to attract anyone's attention, rather difficult when a man had been shouting Albanian at him. Throughout the journey he was increasingly checking where he was in relation to the bus timetable, making sure he didn't miss it. When his stop came he signalled that he wanted off the bus.
The bus had conveniently dropped him just across the road from his hotel, which in turn was conveniently located just round the corner from the Albanian variant of Diagon Alley, Tirana Magjike Shesh (Tirana Magical Plaza). Harry didn't know if he would be recognised as the Boy-Who-Lived in Albania, but he didn't want to take any chances. So he chose to stay in a Muggle hotel.
Harry went inside and up to the receptionist. He had an Albanian phrase book and made an attempt at communicating "I have a… Unë kam një rezervim"
The woman behind the desk regarded him "Ingish?" she said.
"Uhh... Yes." Said Harry
"I Speek a little Ingish." She said helpfully
"Ah great... My Albanian is..." Harry didn't need to continue. The Woman gave him a friendly smile.
"You want to book room?"
"I have one booked." Said Harry
"Name?"
"Harry Potter."
The lady looked through a few files.
"Alright... Your room is on first floor up... I'm afraid you're a little late for dinner, but we can bring up a hot or cold sandwhich..."
Harry suddenly became conscious of how hungry he was, he'd managed to eat something in Carlisle and had a quick and tasteless snack in Heathrow before flying out but that was it.
"Um could I have a hot Cheese Sandwich?"
ORACLE2PHOENIX
The Hotel room was not overly luxurious but not overly basic. There was a shower room, a minibar, a kettle with mugs sachets of teabags, milk and packets of biscuits. There was also a bed and a desk.
When a boy not much older than Harry arrived with his sandwich and a glass of orange juice, Harry had already unloaded most of the documents and materials he'd asked Gringotts to gather for him.
While nibbling on his food, Harry skimmed through the data. The material in question was wildlife survey data for Albanian forests in the last twenty years. Harry knew that while Voldemort was in his wraith form, he possessed animals and dramatically shortened their lifespans. In the Graveyard he even mentioned that Wormtail had managed to find him by learning from the rat population that there was a place deep in the forest where rats went to die. Getting this information was not cheap. The Goblins had to first request it from the Albanian government then they had to have it translated into English so Harry could read it.
Voldemort had spent much of his exile in Albania and from what little Harry knew of him, it didn't make sense. Why Albania? Even if he couldn't hide in Britain, why flee all the way to this country, what was so special about Albania?
From the data the Goblins had given him, Harry believed he knew where Voldemort might have been hiding for much of the last 14 years. Fir of Hotova National Park, was a large forest area in the South of Albania, according to the data Harry had there were periods when the local wildlife population had inexplicably reduced, Harry further noticed that during the period of the summer of 1991 to the summer of 1992 the populations had recovered significantly only to once more go into decline and then resurge again from the summer of 1994, last year, onwards.
This was important because those dates would have been the only times Voldemort wasn't in the forest. Furthermore when Harry looked at the forest on a map of Wizarding Albania, there was a small magical settlement in the town of Përmet; about the size of Ottery St Catchpole if the map was any indication. Harry wondered if this was where Wormtail ran into Bertha Jorkins, it was near enough to the forest so it was possible.
Unfortunately there was no obvious route to the area, it was too far from Tirana to just get a bus and there was no sign of a railway or and airport nearby, so Harry would have to find out if there was any form of Magical Transport available.
Even when Harry got to Përmet he would have to come prepared, the forest looked huge and optimistically speaking it would take Harry hours to find any evidence of Voldemort. Realistically, since it was just him working on his own, it could take weeks, maybe even months. Harry was well aware of both time limits and optimistically hoping it wouldn't take more than two or three days. He absolutely refused to address the possibility that he would find nothing in the forests, or the possibility that Voldemort might never been in this forest. Wildlife patterns could be difficult to trace and Harry knew that the Albanian Muggles could have missed something or limited their research. With the recent political upheaval they suffered it wasn't outside the realms of possibility.
Despite that, Harry had evidence that Voldemort might have sought sanctuary in Fir of Hotova all he could do was follow it up, even if he hadn't he had spent a lot of time in Albania and Harry needed to learn as much as possible. He wasn't sure what he'd find, but he was convinced that there were answers somewhere in this country.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
The following morning, Harry made his way to a gloomy looking restaurant just round the corner from his hotel. Initially unsure whether this was the right place, he got confirmation that this was a magical establishment entering and having to evade trays carrying tankards of beer floating to and from a bar while others were floating in and out of the kitchen carrying food with them.
Harry went up to the bar and was greeted by an elderly man whistling to himself whilst washing some dishes.
"Excuse me?" said Harry
The man turned round "Hello? You English?" he said in a deep Albanian Accent.
"Yes? Sorry I don't speak Albanian."
"That's alright, many people who come here don't. You want to head to the square?"
"Um… where the shops are?"
"That's right, we just call it the square or sometime the plaza. You'll see for yourself, head along this corridor here and you'll reach an empty storeroom. In there is a portrait of a Vampire, press your wand against his nose and the passageway will open."
"Thanks." Said Harry "Also at some point I need to get to Përmet, is there a means of magical transport available to get there because they don't seem to have a train station?"
The man nodded "Sure, you can use the fireplace anytime." He pointed to the furnace on the far side of the room. "You can floo here anytime, this address is 'Repartit të Magjistarëve' (Guild of Mages) do you want me to write it down?"
Harry nodded looking slightly embarrassed.
The man took out a small sheet of parchment and wrote it down. "The address you want to go to in Përmet is called 'Kafene Topali' which is much easier to remember but I'll write it down for you."
"Kafene? As in café?"
"Yes, this place is a café in the settlement, people use the two floo networks to pass between there and here all the time."
"Right thank you." Said Harry
"No worries."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry easily found the portrait of the vampire. It looked rather fragile and he was bit reluctant to disturb it at first, but he took his wand and pressed against the canvas. The portrait suddenly chuckled in a typical Dracula-like manner, causing Harry to jump, then it swung back revealing a short alleyway.
On following it Harry learnt immediately why the old man referred to it as the square. Harry wondered how on Earth a huge plaza could exist in Tirana without the Muggles realising, then again they hid Hogwarts and they hid the Quidditch World cup Stadium (which was only slightly larger than this plaza). The Plaza was surrounded by three lairs of shops on one side and a huge structure Harry recognised as a local branch of Gringotts.
In the centre was a huge statue of a Witch and Wizard standing over three figures, pointing there wands down upon them. Upon moving closer he realised that the figures represented a Vampire, a hag and a werewolf, the latter of which was part way through its transformation. Harry found this highly distasteful and turned his back. These statues were just like the Fountain of Magical Brethren, the only difference was that this statue perpetrated the death of as well as the inferiority of other magical creatures. For the rest of his stay in Albania, Harry decided not to look at the miscreation.
On his first day there he mainly restricted himself to window shopping, he was expecting a trip through the woods and the main things he would need for that trip were the supplies and equipment he couldn't take on the plane. He wondered if he could get a tent like the Weasleys had at the world cup, but he knew that he couldn't keep splashing his money about like that. This trip to Albania was already costing a lot of money and there was no guarantee it would accomplish anything.
The magical area didn't have anything vaguely resembling an outdoor shop. So Harry concluded that he would have to try the Muggle world. He did however find a shop where he could get a rucksack with an undetectable extension charm, which would allow Harry trek through the forest for days after loading up enough supplies. Additionally it would allow him to take his purchases back to Britain, solving the problem of what he was to do with his stuff when he had to catch a flight home.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Back at the hotel, Harry got directions from one of the English speaking staff to the nearest outdoor shop. One of the benefits Harry found was that everything in Albania was distinctly cheaper than it was in Britain so he didn't have to worry too much about going over budget. The shop even sold tents, albeit Muggle ones. However Harry noticed the size of them and realised that it might not be possible to set up camp in the forest if the density of trees left him no space. But he did get some clothes and a sleeping bag. If he could use a tent, he would come back.
By the time he got back to his hotel room it was two o'clock in the afternoon. Harry decided that it might be a good idea to see what he was up against.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
The fireplace at the Kafene Topali flared and Harry, with his great experience of floo travel, tumbled out of the main magical transport hub in Përmet.
"Ow…" said Harry.
He lifted his face off the floor, just enough to see a small pair of pink shoes with frilly white socks. As he got himself off the floor he found that the feet were attached to a small fair haired 8-year-old girl dressed in a lime-green robe.
"Hello!" said Harry
The girl looked up at him and tilted her head "Njatjeta!" (Hello!)
Harry, unsure what to do, merely smiled and nodded at her. She giggled and ran off through a door shouting something in Albanian.
He looked around. The café was a lot smaller than the restaurant in Tirana, but it seemed like a nice and peaceful place. There was a teenage boy and girl not much older than Harry laughing and chatting at a corner table over tea and cake, an elderly couple were sitting alongside a three-year-old trying to get him to eat his soup without redistributing it all over himself and trio of young women in their twenties were talking rapidly to each other in Albanian.
On approaching the door outside Harry saw a poster that caught his eye.
Humbar! Bertha Jorkins (Missing! Bertha Jorkins)
Harry's eyes widened. "Looks like I found the right place." No one had declared Bertha dead yet, at least not in an official capacity. Her family would no doubt still be searching for answers. He really wished he could give them, with the Minister back in Britain acting the way he was they were not going to get any answers that way, but maybe Harry would find some answers on his trip here. With that thought in mind he went outside the café to see what it was like.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
The magical area of Përmet was not unlike Ottery St Catchpole in that part of the community was magical and the other was Muggle. As Harry walked out of the café and looked around he saw that the small street it was situated on was the magical area of the town. The café was lodged between a small bookshop on one side and a robe shop on the other. Across the road there was also a small grocery, which was obviously magical given that fruit and vegetables were floating out of an upper floor window and refilling the baskets outside the door.
Harry assumed that the entire area was under a Muggle repelling charm, it was most likely that this street was the only commercial magical area in the town and that most of the magical population in Përmet lived here.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
He initially thought that in order to get to the forest, he would have to go through town. But thankfully, it seemed that the Wizarding area was located right next to the boundary. Harry merely had to leave the street and he was greeted by the imposing site of the forest: trees stretched far from one side to the other and the woods were so dense that he could only see so far past the boundary. He was right, it definitely didn't look like there would be enough space in those for a tent.
At the moment Harry was dressed in jeans, t-shirt and trainers, so he decided to try and venture into the forest a little bit. This was not like walking through a typical forest path, mainly because there was no path. Harry had walked through the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, both on and off the path. Maybe it was because all the times he'd done so, he was on the lookout for a unicorn killer, or an acromantula, or else following Hagrid to where the dragons were kept; but Harry found that it was a lot harder to trek through this forest. There were lots trees that seemed to have their branches attached to each other and when Harry cut himself trying to break through he decided it would be better to return the following day with gloves, more durable clothing and maybe a compass. The compass was mainly because Harry's sense of direction was completely nullified in the forest. The terrain was not a simple flat path one could walk over it was heavily uneven and more than once Harry nearly tripped over rocks or tree roots. Only the fact that he had forced his way through some of the sticks and branches gave him any idea how to get out.
He emerged from the forest about an hour after first entering. It was obvious that this was not going to be an easy task.
"My first time abroad and it's not exactly a relaxing holiday." Harry thought to himself. "Just remember why you're doing this Harry."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Mindful that his flight back to London was only a little over a week away, Harry decided that he would head into the forest and start his search tomorrow afternoon. The Hotel would find his long absence strange but he was paying for the room so they shouldn't care too much if he wasn't there. The Goblins had given him a number to call to arrange to extend his stay if necessary. Harry hoped that it wasn't going to be necessary. Things were changing in Britain, things that he was missing, and he also had more leads on Voldemort's past to follow up. Following those would be difficult with both Death Eaters and Dumbledore looking for him, but he couldn't just spend all his time in the mansion in Cumbria, which was partly why he chose to go to Albania, neither faction was in Albania at this time. The Death Eaters had already attacked once in Appleby and they would probably try again somewhere, Harry had a hunch that these soul avatars were key to defeating Voldemort, but he needed more information. So far all he had was conjecture he'd picked up in the Realm of Passing, he would stay in Albania longer than a week if necessary but even if there were answers here, there were probably even more in Britain so Harry couldn't stay here forever.
He walked back into the café in Përmet with the intention of using the Floo to return to Tirana. However it was now nearly four o'clock and Harry had skipped lunch shopping in Tirana, exploring the forest, even just for a short amount of time had not helped and he was now feeling very Hungry.
He brought out of his musings by a kindly Albanian man coming up and asking " A mund tju ndihmoj?" (Can I Help You?)
"Come again?" said Harry.
"Ah… you British?" said the man
"Yes, sorry I don't speak any… sorry." Said Harry awkwardly, he was going to have to get used to this.
"That's alright. I lived in England for a time I'm quite fluent. Tell me, did you by chance fall out of the Floo and fall at the feet of my daughter?"
Harry blushed "I did kinda…"
"It is unusual for us to get foreign visitors here, I certainly wasn't expecting another English person after the last one." He glanced over at the poster of Bertha Jorkins.
Harry stood silent, he wasn't sure what he should say.
"Anyway, can I help you at all?"
"Umm… can I see a menu? I missed lunch." Said Harry
"Sure."
It took one look from the Albanian menu for Harry to sigh awkwardly and ask "You don't have anything vaguely resembling tea and cake?"
"Sure, sure…"
The man sent Harry to a table and came back from the kitchen with a pot of tea and nice large slice of fruit cake. Business was slow, so the man took a break and joined Harry.
"I'm Loran Topali." Said the man
"I'm Harry." Said Harry, he deliberately left out the Potter because he didn't want to draw attention to his fame, he simply hoped no one would recognise him anyway.
"So what brings you to Albania, not the main choice of destination, even for wizards?"
Harry was not sure what to say, so he settled for a vague answer "Research, I'm seeking to learn a bit about the wildlife patterns in Fir of Hotova. I'm going to start trekking through the forest tomorrow, once I've brought specialist equip…ment…" Harry trailed off when he realised that there were a small set of dark brown eyes were peering from the slightly open kitchen door.
Loran looked at where Harry's attention was drawn. "Elira?" said the man. He began speaking to the girl in Albanian.
As she emerged from the door, Harry recognised the little girl from when he stumbled out of the Floo.
"Harry allow me to introduce you to my daughter Elira." Said Loran.
Elira Topali was an inquisitive young lady. Using her father as a translator she demanded to know things about Harry, it mainly started out with innocent little things, such as what was your favourite food? Do you like dolls?
Harry answered as best as he could, especially considering he didn't really have anything other than broken toys growing up and mainly had to help his aunt with the housework anytime he wasn't at school.
At one point she asked her father to say something which caused him to say "Elira!" In an exasperated voice. Harry was confused at first, but Elira was insistent and the father smiled apologetically at Harry "My daughter is asking, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Um…" said Harry "Not at the moment…"
Loran raised an eyebrow "Not at the moment? Something you wish to admit to?"
Harry scratched his head and looked towards to floor "Um well I'm currently… working something out with a girl I know… But right now it's the summer holidays and I haven't seen her since term finished."
Loran was about to comment when Elira began protesting in Albanian, she had not yet received an answer. Her father replied by saying something that seemed to placate Elira a bit.
"I apologise for my daughter's nosy nature." Said the man.
"That's alright, though I must admit I never expected her to ask me that question." Said Harry
The man smiled sympathetically. They continued talking for a while, eventually Loran pointed out to Elira that there were other children outside the cafe so she popped off to go and play.
"So you're planning on going into the forest?" said Loran "What would you say if I told you I don't think that's such a good idea?"
Harry glanced at the man and raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason?"
"For several years now the forest creatures have been…"
"Dying?" said Harry "I know, I'm here to research that."
"Yes but these deaths… they were quite horrible. I've seen wildcats, lynxes and wolves acting very sickly. They look as if the life force has been drained out them. But last year…" He glanced sadly at the poster of Bertha Jorkins.
Harry looked thoughtful "Since she went missing have there been any more animal deaths?"
Loran looked a bit surprised "Um… well… now that you mention it… no one has mentioned finding any since then… they've been going on for years though well…"
"Except for a brief time three or four years ago?" said Harry
The man looked at Harry "How did you… What's going on?"
"I got some wildlife statistics from the Albanian government. Well actually they were translated thanks to some very nice and not altogether cheap specialists at Gringotts, but they show wildlife patterns in the last twenty years here." Said Harry
"What are you doing here, you're not here to investigate wildlife."
"I am." Said Harry "But I am doing other things to."
"Other things?"
"I'm looking for some answers, and I think I might find them in the forest."
"What answers?" said Loran suspiciously
Harry smiled "If I knew, I wouldn't need to come all the way out here to investigate."
Harry paid for his afternoon snack and then left, mentioning that he'd stop by for breakfast in the morning before heading into Hotova.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry spent much the rest of the day packing supplies for his excursion into the forest. He was heavily relieved that he had managed to get a rucksack that had an undetectable extension charm. He didn't know how the hotel would take to him carrying large amounts of food and water into his room.
By his reckoning, Harry had about enough food for five days in the wild. More if he managed to cook, which he wasn't overly confident about.
Harry went downstairs to have dinner in the hotel restaurant. Because of his young age and the fact that he was dressed for trekking through the forest, he was now the subject of numerous funny looks from the other guests, but he was getting used to it. The magical world strangely enough, for once was treating him more normally than the Muggle. It was an odd turnabout.
Back in the room, convinced he had all the extra food, clothes and other items he might need, Harry looked out a map of the forest. This particular one showed the prevalence of hills that Harry would have to transgress. This immediately highlighted a problem because it would be difficult enough to head into a dense forest but to head uphill as well was going to cause all kinds of problems. Looking at the map Harry decided, especially since he didn't know which way he was going, it would be best to simply go around most of the hills and search for signs of magic. He plotted a rough route that went around various hills on the map.
The Route in question would theoretically take Harry deep into the woods and back to Përmet, eventually. Unfortunately he had absolutely no practical experience in what he was about to do. This route in question could take several hours or it could take a week. The route in question was about miles and miles in length, but the fact that he was going to have to force his way through the trees, this was inevitably going to be a slow trek.
One advantage Harry had for this journey was his wand. Between Severing Charms and Cutting Curses he could force his way through much more easily.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry tumbled out of the Floo into Kafene Topali. As he got up off the floor he was not entirely unsurprised to see Elira sitting waiting for him. She seemed very excited at the prospect of seeing him again, which perplexed Harry to no end because she couldn't even communicate to him without her Dad.
Elira patted the table she was sitting at, indicating Harry should join her. To which he obliged.
Loran noticed Harry go sit where his daughter was waiting.
"Hello again, what can I get you?"
Harry spent an enjoyable breakfast with Loran and his daughter, in which they asked what his immediate plans were. They were both a bit surprised when Harry revealed he was planning to spend several nights at least inside the woods, reasoning that it was the only way he could conduct a thorough enough search.
Elira said something to her father.
"Elira asks will you come back here soon?" said Loran.
Harry looked thoughtful "I'm not entirely sure. It might take me a few hours to trek through this route or it might take a week, I've never done this before. I'm guessing it will take me three days, if so I'll head back here. I don't think I can quite take spending two or three weeks their continuously. So I'll return to Tirana and here now and then to get a good meal and some sleep in a proper bed."
Loran looked at Harry with a mixture of concern and confusion "Well good luck out there with whatever it is you're doing."
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry stood on the edge of the forest and looked around. There was a hill to the left of him and if possible he wanted to keep it in sight at all times whilst in the forest, that way he could use it as a landmark so he would always know roughly where he was in relation to Përmet. He then found the hill on the map. According to it, if Harry entered the forest from where he was, he would inevitably be facing an uphill route. But according to the map, the gradient between two of the hills was not as steep so he opted to try heading that way. Harry just hoped that Voldemort's hiding place, wherever it was, was not up a steep hill.
Put simply Harry had a long and tiring quest ahead of him.
"Well I guess I'd better start then." Said Harry to himself.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
"Circumdactos!" incanted Harry for what felt like the thousandth time. His cutting curse severed the branches and twigs in front of him. After several hours he must have forced his way through several miles of foliage. But Harry had no precise way of knowing how far he'd travelled and because the forest was so dense he couldn't keep an eye on the hill so he wasn't even sure where exactly he was in relation to Përmet. The only comfort he had was the Four-Point spell. Thanks to that he knew he was heading roughly south-east.
Another spell he was using was a basic diagnostic charm. Learning how to use one of these properly would take some of the best wizards months if not years of intensive study and practical experience. Harry however had a very simple use for this charm.
"Cerno Enodo!" incanted Harry. A white light lit up on his wand tip. He waved it around himself but nothing changed.
The spell was designed to detect traces of magic and change colour when they were detected. The problems were that with Harry's current skill it had a short range of about 1000 meters and also Harry could only do a basic charm meaning that it was harder to detect magic that had been skilfully concealed or masked.
After hours and hours of travelling it was starting to get darker and Harry had to cast a Lumos spell in order to keep moving. Eventually he gave way to hunger and found a spot where he could set up camp for the night. He cast a few basic warding charms to keep any wildlife from approaching his position as well as one that was designed to redirect any rainfall away from his position.
That done he set about preparing something to eat. He pulled out a tin of soup from his rucksack and emptied the contents into a pan. He then took out a jam jar and a tripod stand, normally used to prop up implements over a fire in Potions class. He placed the pan on top of the stand and then used his wand to incant a flame into the jam jar. Following the use of engorgio and reducio, he access to a magical campfire that did not require wood to burn.
Sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag proved to be a little awkward at first, while he did get used to it he still found himself missing the hotel bed in Tirana. Even the setup he had in the cupboard under the stairs four years ago was more comfortable.
Harry kept the fire in the jam jar going all night, it was a good way to keep warm. But its presence reminded him horribly of Hermione and how he had last parted with her and Ron. He really hoped that his friendship with the two of them could be patched up, but at the same time he was still really angry that they had sought to distract him while Dumbledore could rummage through his stuff.
Despite all that though Harry had to reflect on where he was. He was in a forest in Albania, several thousand miles from the war in Britain. He wondered how everyone was doing, had there been any more attacks? Had anyone even noticed he was out of the country? Was Sirius now with Madam Bones arranging his freedom? Was Cornelius Fudge out of office?
Harry had no way of knowing the answer to these questions. Dobby, though magically linked to Harry, was not connected beyond Britain. Hedwig could fly to Albania because Harry knew she'd flown further in the past but even she would take weeks to reach a place this far from home. The same went for any owls sent by the Ministry. The only contact Harry had was a phone number he could use to call the goblins and alter his travel arrangements. He truly was far away from anywhere he had ever previously been.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry spent three more days trekking through the woods before he emerged from the trees. He had deliberately been travelling in a route roughly the shape of a semi-circle in the hope that he would both enter from and emerge at Përmet. He always knew that his ability to track his own movements was going to be limited, but it didn't make things any less irritating when he found himself at the side of a road where a sign indicated that Përmet was 16km away.
It took Harry several hours before he reached Përmet and his feet were absolutely aching. He wondered if it would be possible to get a broom in Tirana Magjike Shesh, he couldn't take his own broom to Albania because Muggle trunks were considerably smaller than the Wizarding equivalent and Harry didn't want to draw attention to himself by carrying his Firebolt through Heathrow.
On reflection though, having a broom would make things considerably easier. He didn't think he would accomplish much by flying over the forest, he believed that he had to visually inspect the forest floor and the density of the trees made that far too difficult to accomplish on the back of a broom. Still, every three days or so he could merely mount his broom and fly directly back to Përmet and save the hassle of walking all the way back on the side of the road.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Before entering Kafene Topali, Harry cast a basic cleaning charm on himself. He still looked like he'd spent three days in the bush but at least he wouldn't scare of Loran's customers with his smell.
"Harry!" cried out Elira happily, despite how messy the boy looked "Ma ka marë malli për ty." (I missed you.)
Harry was a little shocked when the young girl hugged him round the middle.
Over by the counter, Loran smiled at the scene. "Forgive Elira, she was worried about you. Did you finding what you were look for?" he attempted in English.
"Um no." said Harry. He hadn't found any trace of Voldemort. He was now beginning to understand why the Aurors and Dumbledore had never found him despite knowing to look in Albania. It must have taken Pettigrew weeks, even with the help of the rats, and Harry had no idea how long it took Professor Quirrell. The man was on a gap year when he found Voldemort, he could have spent that entire time looking for him.
Elira forcibly guided Harry to take a seat in the corner of the café and handed him a menu into his hand.
"Baba!" (Daddy!) she demanded of her dad. "Baba!" (Daddy!)
"Elira. Qetësohem!" (Elira. Calm down!) said Loran good naturidly. He looked to Harry "What can I get you this time."
Harry hadn't origionally planned to eat here, but since both Elira and Loran were so insistant he couldn't say no. So he ordered a baked potato.
After he finished the young Albanian girl didn't want him to leave, but Harry was exhausted and badly needed to get to his hotel bed in Tirrana.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
After a long sleep and nearly an hour in the shower, Harry looked over a map of the Fir of Hotova forest. He knew roughly where he had been trekking but he was well aware that he was effectively looking for a needle in a haystack.
"The search is actually much harder than that." Said Harry in response to that thought.
Glancing over the map, he noticed the terrain makerers indicated the presence of hills in the forest. But Harry didn't need a map to know that though. The hills were easily visibile from Përmet. During his search through the forest Harry had tried to avoid going uphill mainly because he didn't know how treacherous the route would be. But he had to investigate different parts of the forest and the only way of doing that would be to go over the hills.
But before he set foot in the forest again, Harry was going to have to get a broom.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
After a quick look, Harry found a quidditch shop in the magical plaza. Upon entering he found different broom models on display lining the walls, much like guitars would in an instrument shop. There was also a Firebolt on display in a glass caseing at the back of the shop, but Harry was not going to buy another of those. He was not looking to enter a Quidditch match whilst in Albania, he merely wanted a means of transport out fo the forest.
At least that was the logic he entered the shop with, find something simple, practical and cheap like a Comet or a Cleansweep. But upon looking over the different makes he found one which he simply could not overlook. Without a blemish on its body or a mark out of place the broom had obviously never been used. The price was heavbily discounted, not that Harry was surprised. There were of course many newer and superior models on the market but this make still had a place in Harry's heart that could likely never be shifted.
He lifted the model off the shelf and walked over to the counter. A few minutes later he left as the owner of a brand new Nimbus 2000.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
The following day, Harry emerged out of the Floo in Përmet with his usual level of grace and once more said hello to Loran's floor.
Elira wasn't in the café at the moment and Loran was really busy. So Harry said a quick hello and goodbye before departing. In days, weeks, months and even years to come he would wonder how events would have played out had he stayed a little longer.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry was now officially irritated.
"Cerno Enodo!" He incanted for what felt like the thousandth time. He turned round and pointed his wand back the way he came and the white tip on the end of his wand once more turned red indicating the presence of magic.
This was not unnatural, Përmet had a magical community and should register on a detection spell. But Harry's skill level dictated that it was still within a kilometre of his position, which confused him to no end. He had been walking for several hours now, he knew this because the sun was starting to set and it was lunch time when he re-entered the forest. By now he should have stopped to eat but he was so sure that he was not making enough progress he forced his way further and further through the forest. Still his spell told him he had not gotten more than a kilometre from Përmet.
"Reducto!" Harry incanted in frustration, blasting over a tree in front of him.
As Harry wandered further in his confusion mounted. His wand could still detect magic behind him, despite the fact that he was heading uphill. The specific hill he'd chosen to climb was supposed to be a few miles from Përmet. If that was the case then Harry shouldn't be detecting the village behind him. Therefore he had to assume that he was climbing the wrong hill.
Growling in frustration and not actually sure how he could have gotten so lost, Harry began walking/climbing the peak. Heading through dense trees was difficult enough as it was, heading up a steep hill posed all sorts of new problems. Harry found himself getting more and more exhausted as a result of the extra effort required. He was just contemplating whether he should stop and set up camp when he was faced with an absolutely torrential downpour of rain.
This in itself caused a new problem. As the rain fell, the earth beneath Harry's feet began to squelch and slip down towards the foot of the hill. Harry didn't know how dangerous this could get, but he didn't want to get buried in a mud-slide so he kept heading to the top of the hill, reasoning that there was no mud to fall on him up there.
It took Harry far longer than he would have liked to get to the summit. All the while rain poured down his face like he was standing under a power shower and soaked through his clothing to the skin. Every few minutes or so Harry would cast a drying charm on himself, but he had yet to master the ability to sustain one continuously, so each charm, though helpful, was only temporary.
When Harry got near the top of the hill he found a rock face that offered some basic shelter from both the mud as well as the rain. After Harry cast a few camping wards he had the only dry spot for miles around, also for good measure he cast a hardening charm "Duro!" on the rock face to prevent the running water and mud causing them to collapse on him.
However, his detection spell still indicated a magical presence within a Kilometre in the direction he came from.
This didn't make any sense, upon looking out over the hills, he could see Përmet illuminated by the lighting in the buildings and it was clearly a lot more than a kilometre away. In fact it was clearly miles away. What could he possibly be detecting?
Suddenly Harry got the answer to that question.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Several hours earlier!
Elira was heading back home after spending the day playing with Muggle children in the park. She liked playing with Muggle children, she had to as there were no magical children her age. But whenever she interacted with non-magicals she had to be careful not to reveal anything about the Wizarding World, so there was always a sense of relief when she left them and didn't have to worry about violating the Statute of Secrecy. Her Daddy told her often what happens to children who break the secrecy law.
Just as she approached the street where her father's café was situated, she saw the cute older boy Harry walk out and head towards the forest. Elira wished she had been just a couple of minutes earlier, then she could have greeted Harry again, and maybe had another sandwich with him. But he was just there. If she hurried she could greet him.
She followed him to forest edge where she saw him carve through the trees. At first by forcing his way through the branches but as he entered a bit further she saw him use magic. Elira was excited by this, she had never seen this sort of magic used before and decided it couldn't hurt to look a bit more. Besides she had wondered what he got up to in these woods and she wanted to be a part of it, the fact that she couldn't directly communicate with him not all that relevant in her mind.
It was probably after the first few minutes inside the forest that she began to wonder if this was such a good idea. As a few branches scratched against her skin she regretted not wearing longer clothes. It was a hot day and she had gone out to play in the park with muggle children, so she was in shorts and a t-shirt, leaving most of the skin on her limbs open to attack by loose branches.
She was in the forest nearly an hour when she realised that she might not be able to find her way back. But she still took comfort in the presence of Harry up ahead, even if he didn't know she was there, at least she hoped he didn't. A few times she thought he noticed her, he kept turning around and point his wand, the tip of which flashed red whenever directed at her.
When it got to the stage when the sun was going down, it suddenly dawned on her that she should have been home hours ago and her Father was going to be really angry. She had stayed out this late only once, after getting caught up playing with some girls in Përmet she went round to one of their houses to play some more and her father was really worried. When she got home late he was absolutely furious, yelled at her and sent her to her room without supper. It took him a while to forgive her for that, she was now really worried about what he would say when she got back. She realised that she had to get back now.
Elira summoned up the courage to call out to Harry and ask him for help but that courage died when in apparent anger Harry blasted over a tree with a Reductor Curse. This was not a side of the Harry Elira had seen before, he seemed sweet and gentle normally but now he looked increasingly frustrated. With no knowledge of how to get back home and now fearing to approach Harry, Elira's mind reasoned that it was probably best if she kept on following him at a distance.
But as he started climbing the hill it became harder and harder for her to keep up. Then it began to rain, water pelted her bare exposed skin and the thin material that made up her clothes offered little protection against the torrent of water falling from the sky. Additionally, the rainfall was so strong that water was streaming down the hill, dragging mud and soil with it. Elira felt her trainers cake with mud and her toes goes numb with the cold invasion of water, the rest of her feet following pretty quickly.
To make matters worse, Harry appeared to be picking up his pace. So much so that Elira lost him and had to keep climbing the hill and following the path he'd carved through the forest. But the hill became harder and harder to climb and it got to the stage where Elira was having maintain a firm grasp of nearby trees in order to keep herself upright. Eventually at one point she lost her footing.
"AH!" she screamed as she fell back and found herself unwillingly rolling down the hill. During this accident her body scraped along the forest floor and her skin grazed against rocks, twigs and tree roots. After a few seconds of falling Elira' body impacted a tree, which in turn stopped her descent. Elira cried as most of her body felt ached both from this fall and amalgamation of cuts and bruises that coated exposed skin during the trek.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
Harry heard a scream further down his self-crated trail. He wasn't alone in the forest. Thoughts of Death Eaters and Dumbledore's spies tracking him to Albania went through his head. He trained his wand over the direction he just came from and carefully made his way towards the source of the scream.
"Who's there?" He demanded. "Show yourself!"
He cautiously climbed down the hill and quickly discovered that it was not Death Eaters or nosy Dumbledore lackeys.
"Elira?" said Harry.
The 8-year-old girl he met in Përmet was lying on to ground with cuts and bruises all over her body.
"Elira?" said Harry again, loud enough to get her attention.
She looked up at the source of the voice and upon seeing Harry's shocked expression burst out crying.
"Elira what are you doing… ARGH! What am I doing you've no idea what I'm saying. Damn it!" He forcibly punched a tree in frustration. It became obvious that his detection spell was not malfunctioning or detecting magic in Përmet. Elira must have been following him from the boundary, and he had completely failed to notice.
Elira for her part noticed Harry seemed to be angry, probably with her and curled herself up in despair.
Harry now regretted punching the tree. His fingers felt sore and there was now a nasty looking cut just behind his knuckles. He then took note that Elira was crying and she was clearly very scared and his heart melted.
"Elira?" he said softly "It's going to be ok." He placed a hand on the back of her shoulder and noticed that she was both cold and wet. In his adrenaline rush, Harry forgot that it was still raining and that the poor girl unlike him was not dressed for it and did not have the benefit of regular drying charms.
Harry tried to coax her up, but she was determined to stay curled up in a ball.
"Elira, please." He said again.
By this stage his own clothes were beginning to soak through again, so Harry, feeling a little awkward, crouched down, manoeuvred his hands under her form and picked her up.
As Elira felt her form being lifted from the ground she relaxed her posture to allow Harry to cradle her. Once he was standing upright with her, she turned and clamped her arms tightly around him.
Harry was a bit surprised at this, but then he understood. She was scared. He had been 8-years-old once before and he had been scared before. But when he grew up, their was never anyone to comfort him or tell him everything was going to be alright, because he didn't have an older person to care about him. But Elira did.
"It's alright." Said Harry "I'll look after you, come on." The words Harry said were largely irrelevant, but he spoke them softly and kindly to his friend and she began to calm down a little just from the mere comfort of his voice and the warmth of his body.
Harry carried her back up the hill to his camping area. He placed her on the ground and quickly cast a drying charm on her clothes and trainers. As he sat down next to her she once more threw her arms around him, refusing to let go. This made Harry's attempts at unpacking rather awkward. But he was able to distract Elira by showing her Hermione's technique for keeping warm outside.
Harry placed the jam jar on the ground before them and incanted "Incendio!" inside. "Engorgio!" the flame inside flared and both of them could feel the warmth coming from the glass.
Harry looked Elira over. Her clothes were torn in places and she was coated with cuts and bruises. Harry cast a quick reparo to repair her shorts and t-shirt then he pulled a spare flannel out of his rucksack as well as the first aid kit. Using his wand he wetted the cloth and used it on Elira to clean her cuts, much to her personal surprise.
"Stay!" said Harry holding her arm firmly as she flinched away from the wet cloth. He dabbed it on each of her cuts and wiped the blood off her skin. When preparing for his trip back in England he had tried researching basic healing spells only to find that there were none. All healing spells with the exception of Episkey, a basic spell that fixed broken bones and minor fractures, required coaching and performing most of them without a licence was illegal. Thankfully, after ten years of living with Dudley Dursley and four years of being Harry Potter at Hogwarts, Harry knew how to deal with this sort of thing without magic.
Once Harry had finished cleaning her up, he looked out two more jam jars and got two more fires going. He also looked out two tins of soup and held them up to Elira, indicating she should pick one.
Elira pondered the decision for a few seconds then tapped one of his hands. Harry emptied each tin into a separate pan then placed them on tripod stands above the flaming jam jars. While the soup was boiling, Harry pulled out one of his jumpers and coaxed Elira into putting it on.
When the soup was ready, Elira rapidly ate up everything Harry gave her.
"What am I going to do with you?" said Harry, despite the fact she couldn't understand him. "I can't take you back right now, not in this." He indicated the rain and the howling winds. Walking back through the forest would be very dangerous given the current weather and while he was aware of the existence of various charms that would allow him to carefully fly through downpour and the wild winds, Harry did not actually know what they were called never mind how to cast or incant them.
Elira for her part smiled at him and rested her head against his body.
"Your father's probably going to be worried sick about you." Said Harry. "I wonder if I can contact him? Let him know you're alright."
Unfortunately that wasn't really an option. He didn't even have Hedwig to send a letter. When he was staying back in Cumberland, Harry had considered buying a mobile phone but Muggle technology was so incompatible with magic that such a device would not work in Hogwarts, Diagon Alley or his even Grandparents house. Whilst in Cumberland, Harry had used the Floo to speak with Madam Bones but there was no such thing as a portable Floo, so that option was out. Then there was also the Patronus Charm, Remus had told him once it could be used to communicate short messages, but Harry had no idea how to use the Patronus in that manner.
"I suppose I could give it a try though?" said Harry out loud.
He raised his wand and allowed thoughts of his parents to fill his mind.
"Expecto Patronum!"
If Elira loved Harry's demonstration of putting fire into glass jars, then words could not describe how she felt about the silver stag that Harry cast. She leapt to her feet rather clumsily and went over to try and pet the creature.
Harry laughed as despite the fact that she couldn't physically touch him she continually passed her hands through him while laughing. The stag in response tried to rub his head against her producing similar results.
After a while Harry decided enough was enough "Elira." He said and patted the spot on the ground next to him.
She received the message and sat down next to him.
"Ok Prongs." Said Harry. "Can you go to Loran and tell him: Elira's safe with me, but it's not safe to travel right now in this weather and we'll be back tomorrow."
The Patronus fluctuated and then vanished and Harry felt the magic die.
Harry blinked, "Why didn't that work?" he thought "Oh that's right, it needs to be really short, less than ten words."
Harry raised his wand again, and thought about the Patronus seeking out Loran "Elira safe… Weather preventing travel… be back tomorrow… Harry… Expecto Patronum!"
The Stag re-emerged from Harry's wand and galloped out into the rain in the direction of Përmet.
"I hope that worked." Said Harry.
Elira began protesting at the Stag not hanging around. But by this point the food was ready, so Harry looked out a loaf of bread, broke it up into pieces and gave some for Elira to have with her soup.
After a few minutes Harry felt his Patronus fade away in the distance. So he summoned it back out of his wand to distract Elira. Though his search had essentially been messed up by Elira's intrusion, Harry was glad for the company. With the exception of Dobby and Hedwig he had essentially been operating alone as he made his plans against Voldemort and the Ministry.
Harry wondered what Ron and Hermione were up to. Despite his continued anger at them for what happened on the train home, he still cared about them and he still wanted them in his life. Then there was Ginny. He was wondering whether he should have kissed her. It felt right, and he still smiled at the memory, but he wasn't sure what he had done to any chance of a relationship by kissing her and then having Dobby send her straight back. Harry also wondered if the twins, Ron or any of the rest of her family were aware of what he'd done. While he had managed to solidify his trust with Fred and George, Harry had never talked to them about his feelings for their sister. He wondered if Ginny had spoken to them, or even Mrs Weasley.
"No, Mrs Weasley is unlikely. She'll be fighting to keep her children out of the war. If I was still inside Dumbledore's influence she'd probably be in charge of keeping me ignorant and occupied. I wonder what she's got Ron, Ginny and the twins doing? Maybe Hermione is with them too."
"Harry?" said Elira yawned drawing him out of his musings "Ndihem i përgjumur." (I feel sleepy.)
Harry had no idea what she just said, but she barely able to keep her eyes open and her head was dropping. "Time for bed?" said Harry.
Harry unfortunately only packed one sleeping bag, as he was not planning on camping in company. There was no question that Elira was going to be using it tonight though. Before he passed it on to her, he attempted the Duplication Charm, but the duplicate he conjured only lasted four seconds before fading out of existence.
"Top of your class there Harry." He grumbled to himself, while he was talking he coaxed Elira into the bedding and pulled up the zip. "And I'm the one who's supposed to defeat Voldemort."
Elira suddenly shrieked in shock, which in turn cause Harry to flinch. Her eyes were wide open looking at Harry as if he'd just breathed fire.
"Oh?" said Harry "You recognise that name. Guess even Albanians fear Voldemort."
Elira shrieked again. Harry had spent the last four years scolding witches, wizards both young and old for fearing that name. But it was a bit hard to scold an eight-year-old girl who didn't speak English for that fear, especially when she starts crying.
"Elira, no please. I'm sorry." Said Harry.
Unfortunately, Elira had no idea what Harry was saying and the kindness behind his words was obviously not going to be enough. So against his general nature, Harry initiated a hug. He lifted her upper body of the ground and embraced her.
"I'm sorry, no one has ever cried when I say that before." Said Harry sincerely.
After a few minutes Elira calmed down enough to force her arms out of the bag and around Harry, Which had the added effect of forcing him to lie on the ground next to her. Harry felt a little guilty for making her upset again so he was content to just lie on the earthy floor until she felt better. What he failed to take into account was the fact that his warm body in the forest served as an excellent makeshift pillow.
"Elira?" said Harry. But she didn't respond, and he could just here her steady breathing over the sound of the rainfall. Using his wand, he summoned a rug from his rucksack and rolled up another woolly jumper to use as a pillow. He felt remarkably protective of Elira, maybe it was just because she was in scary unfamiliar surroundings and needing comfort or maybe it was because despite being so very far from home Harry was about to be caught up in a war and the innocence of this child gave him a peaceful feeling. Whatever the reason, Harry really hoped that Loran would forgive him for not noticing her sooner.
"I really should have realised that I was being followed by a magical person. I wonder if Elira will like flying?" thought Harry.
ORACLE2PHOENIX
As it turned out, Elira did like flying.
The rain had stopped by the following morning, so Harry cancelled out the protective wards, packed up his stuff then looked out his brand new Nimbus 2000, smiling as he did so. Immediately he encountered a problem, he had never flown a broom with a passenger before. The closest he had come was when he and Hermione flew together on the back of Buckbeak the Hippogriff. On that occasion Harry had ridden up front while his friend clung onto him for dear life. Elira seemed much less nervous than Hermione though, so Harry had her sit in front of him.
As the two of them took off out of the forest and into the air, Harry decided that this was probably a good choice, with his arms on either side her there was more chance Harry could catch Elira before she fell off at any point. Since they were flying during daylight where Muggles could see them, Harry had to put a disillusionment charm over the both of them. It was difficult, he hadn't practiced it because he thought he would use his cloak while flying, but the cloak could not effectively cover both of them and the broom so after several tries he and his transparent little friend were successfully disillusioned in the air.
Knowing how worried her father would doubtlessly be, Harry flew off in the direction of Përmet. But then something caught his eye and he stopped.
"Shush." Said Harry to Elira, then he pointed at what caught his eye and she grinned, realising that her adventure with Harry was not over just yet.
While Elira had thoughts of more adventures, Harry now was absolutely sure he had found a promising lead. He steered his broom to follow who he had noticed. It was odd to see him in Albania and Harry had no idea what he was doing here. But given whom he was, it wasn't that unlikely for him to be involved in Voldemort.
I used to hate giving cliff-hangers, now I understand the thrill of them and of being evil. See if you can guess who Harry has spotted.
Also as you review, which I hope you do, can you tell me what personally attracts you to the idea of Dumbledore bashing. I'm not entirely sure what it is that makes it so appealing, I'm actually wondering if a lot of the appeal is homophobia, or maybe it's just a general hatred of smart people. Whatever, I want to know your thoughts. So please review.
Also review the chapter please.
Thank you, and hello those of you who answered my "Long Live Hedwig" comment in the last chapter.
