Hi everyone,
I am so sorry for the long wait. These past weeks have been a lot more hectic than I expected. Also, I'm sorry for the short chapter but I have hit a writer's block and I thought you all might like something, at least. Hopefully the next chapter will be up in the next couple of weeks, but I'm not promising anything definite. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. All the stuff you don't recognize is mine.
Enjoy
July 5, 1975- Evening
"Alright, I'm sick of this," Sean threw the book down on the table. "What the heck has this got to do with beating You-Know-Who."
"Voldemort," Hazel scathingly replied. "It's just a name, you fool. How can you lot expect to fight against him if you can't even say his name. Voldemort, Voldemort, VOLDEMORT. Say it four times fast in the middle of the night with no candles burning and what happens? Nothing. He can't magically hear you say his name and then appear. Inside these rooms we expect each of you to say Voldemort, though I would prefer you use his real name, Tom Riddle. You lot should get used to thinking about his circumstances in light of the knowledge that he was most likely manipulated into being what he is now."
Hazel took a deep breath and moved her hands off the table where she had slammed them down. She turned to Harry and nodded to him. Harry walked toward Sean's table and carefully picked up the book he had been reading, Avalon and Camelot: the Real Story, he checked the book over and carefully set it back down.
"First of all," Harry seethed, piercing Sean with a glare that made the man move as far back in his chair as possible, "if I see any of you treating the books in these chambers in such a disrespectful way again then I will personally acquaint you with some of the more interesting curses in my repertoire.
"Second, raw power is one thing, but it doesn't do much good to have the power without the knowledge. The loss of the old ways is a big part of the reason for the war we're currently in. You can't understand the workings of the war without understanding the history behind it, which includes this information. If you don't understand the reasons for a war then you will be unable to form a plausible plan to win the war.
"Third, Merlin, Morgaine, Arthur, and Robyn were the most powerful wizards and witches of their age, in both raw power and knowledge. Reading about their exploits is one of the best ways to learn ancient magic, which is alluded to and outright talked about in these history books. Likewise, Godric, Rowena, Salazar, and Helga were also the most powerful witches and wizards of their time, again in both raw power and knowledge. Books on the history of the Founders also allude to or outright discuss magic which has been lost for hundreds of years.
"These books are as old as the stories they tell. There are a number of protection and preserving spells on the books, but we still expect you to treat the books nicely. Don't slam them, don't rip out pages (there's a hex on the books that will cut you if you even try that), don't throw them on the floor, don't eat while you're reading them, don't have food or drink near them. In short, don't do something that can hurt these books. Got it?"
When no one answered the temperature in the room began to drop and wind whipped through the air. Harry's eyes narrowed at Sean and then encompassed the rest of the room.
"Got it?" he repeated through gritted teeth.
"Yes, sir," the majority of the room answered. Sean immediately nodded, not being able to speak. Instantly, the power blanketing the room was pulled back in and the temperature returned to normal. Harry turned around and sat back down. Hazel, Hermione, and Neville shared a smirk.
"Come on, everyone," Neville stood up, "it's time for supper. You can tell us about what you looked up while we're eating. Who had the topic of the special abilities of the Founders' and the Camelot Four?"
"I had Camelot," Ryan spoke up.
Frank chimed in, "I had the Founders."
"Okay, Ryan, you go first."
"Merlin was a multi-Elemental with water as his dominant element; he was a multi-Animagus with 5 known forms; a Seer; a Magives speaker; and Telekinetic. His affinities were wandless casting, spellweaving, alchemy, potions, and staff fighting.
"Morgaine was a multi-Elemental with her dominant element being air; a Shapeshifter; an Omni-beast speaker; and a Shadow-walker. Her affinities were dancing, creatures, transfigurations, and dagger fighting.
"Arthur was a multi-Elemental and his strongest was fire; a multi-Animagus with 3 known forms; a Beast Empath; a Telepath; and a Hypnotist. His affinities were mind magics, defense, sword and unarmed fighting.
"Robyn was a multi-Elemental with her dominant element being earth; a Natural Healer; an Entspeaker; and a Ghostwalker. Her affinities were plants, potions, and bow and arrows."
"Very good," Harry praised. The young boy blushed and nodded as he began to pile his plate with food.
"Okay," Hazel said, "it's your turn Frank."
"Godric was the blood heir of both Arthur and Morgaine but was magical heir of Arthur. He was a multi-Elemental with fire as the strongest element; a Shapeshifter; an Omni-beast speaker; and a Telepath. His affinities were mind magics, creatures, mosaics and sculptures, staff and unarmed fighting.
"Rowena was the blood heir of Merlin and Morgaine but was the magical heir of Morgaine. She was a multi-Elemental with air as her dominant element; a multi-Animagus with 4 known forms; a Seer; an Avcant speaker; and an Astral-walker (someone who can project their soul away from their bodies). Her affinities were divinations, transfigurations, dancing, and bows and arrows.
"Salazar was the blood heir of Merlin and Robyn but the magical heir of Merlin. He was a multi-Elemental with his dominant one being water; an Empathic Legilimens; a Playwright; and an Invisible-man (someone who can become invisible). His affinities were with emotion magics, potions, alchemy, wandless, and sword fighting.
"Helga was the blood heir of Arthur and Robyn but the magical heir of Robyn. She was a multi-Elemental with Earth as her strongest; a multi-Animagus with 3 known forms; a Zaldire (someone who can jump into others dreams); an Entspeaker; and a Hypnotist. Her affinities were plants, music, defense, dagger and short sword fighting.
"All four of them were Oculvers, which are people who can see magic."
Hermione nodded and said, "All of the Camelot Four were also Oculvers. Well done, both of you. Based on what you all now know about the Camelot Four and the Founders, who do you think we are primary heirs of?"
"Remember we are each primary heirs of one of the Camelot Four and one of the Founders," Neville piped in.
Everyone looked around, trying to see who would make the first guess. Finally, John spoke up.
"Well, I'm absolutely certain that Neville is the primary heir of Helga, but I'm going to guess Morgaine for the other. Harry would be Godric and Arthur. Hazel would be Rowena and Merlin. Hermione I guess would be Salazar and Robyn."
All four teens snorted, Neville replied, "You're right that I am the heir of Helga, but everything else is wrong. Anyone else care to guess?"
"I think that Harry is the heir of Rowena," James spoke up. "It would fit with his reaction earlier this morning."
"Actually, all of us were quite angry that Sean would treat such a valuable book that way. Many of these books are the only copies of those tomes that exist. The copying spell was only placed on the Pisa library, not on the library here. Therefore, any book that is first placed in the library here will not automatically be copied into the Pisa library. However, you are correct, Harry is the heir of Rowena," Hazel answered. "Want to try your hand at the rest of us?"
James shook his head.
"That's alright. You lot haven't really known us that long, but we expect you to be able to take a guess by the end of this week," Neville assured. "We expect everyone to make a guess by the end of this week. Right now, we're teaching you about the histories and learning the differences between ours and yours. We're also going to continue going over memories with you.
"We feel that the memories we showed you today are shocking enough for some of you that we will not show anymore until tomorrow. Tomorrow we will cover up through our first year of school and possibly more. However, we are also going to start you on some of the conditioning exercises tomorrow. You have the rest of the evening as free time. Wake up call tomorrow will be at 4:00 am, we will bodily drag you out of bed if we have to and there will be no naps tomorrow, so I suggest you get plenty of sleep," Neville explained.
"James, Sirius, and Remus, you three will have special conditioning exercises for the flying lessons. Come with us and we'll start those now. If anyone else is interested in the flying lessons then feel free to come along," Harry ordered.
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"Ugh," James moaned.
Sirius plopped onto his part of the large mattress still set out in the Great Room for den.
"I know," Sirius moaned.
"That has to be the hardest I've ever worked at flying, and that wasn't even as long as a real Quidditch practice or game," Remus complained.
"This type of flying is a lot harder than flying for Quidditch," Hazel amusedly stated.
Harry grinned, "And you lot need to get showers before bed, Hazel and I are already done. What have you been doing?"
The three boys groaned and drug themselves out of their beds. They came back about half an hour later. Clean and dressed in pajamas, the boys dropped into their beds and immediately fell asleep, even though it was only 8:30 pm.
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"Mnhmm," a number of the group groaned and rolled over when they heard the alarm chime. Three more times the alarm chimed, by the last a couple of people had covered their heads with pillows.
The four teens exchanged a grin, each one pulling out their wands. Hazel shot feathers from her wand, directing them to tickle the victims. She added a charm to cover their hands in shaving cream and waited. A few seconds later ten people were snapping open their eyes as they smothered their faces with shaving cream.
Harry shot water at the ones with pillows covering their heads and enjoyed the sight of people jumping up and yelping from the cold. Hermione spelled gongs and bells to hover by some of their ears and go off as loudly as possible, while Neville charmed pajamas to itch and lightly bite at them until they got up.
The four teens and the eight oldest adults dissolved into laughter at the spectacle, attracting the attention of the other three who were already up and in the kitchen.
"Come on, up, up, the lot of you," Lucy pestered. "It is time to do exercises, then breakfast, then more memories."
All those who were asleep began to gather themselves. A couple of the adults were picking up clothes to change into when Neville and Hermione stopped them.
"Hold up. We need to clean all of you off, so stand still," Neville ordered. With a flick of their wands, the four teens cleaned everyone up.
Hermione added, "Also, we're going to transfigure your clothes for the exercise part. Most of you will not have the style of clothes that we prefer you to use for training. Thus, we will transfigure your clothes until we can go out to buy you some."
With another flick of their wands, the four teens transfigured everyone's clothes into loose workout pants (similar to karate gi pants), and loose t-shirts. The four teens headed down one of the hallways, everyone else following them.
"Okay," Hazel began, "these warm-up exercises will help accomplish a number of things. They will increase your flexibility, stretch your muscles so you don't get cramps, and increase your heart rate a bit to increase blood flow throughout your body."
"Please follow our examples, two of us will face you and two of us will face the same way as you. Follow whichever of the two will be easiest for you," Harry said as he began to jog in place a bit.
Halfway through the exercises, Kalliope spoke up, "I don't see how these exercises are going to help us be better Aurors."
"I thought I demonstrated that adequately enough this morning," Hazel raised her eyebrow.
"How do these exercises have anything to do with what you did to Sean this morning?" Kalliope skeptically asked. "I could have done that."
"Really?" Neville disbelievingly asked. "Well, then dodge. Stupefy."
Kalliope tried to dodge but was unable to twist far enough away. She fell to the ground with a muffled thump, courtesy of the cushioning charm Hermione had tossed at the floor in her area. Harry 'enervated' her and she stood up.
"You didn't have to demonstrate it that way, Nev," Harry was slightly scolding the other boy.
"No, I didn't have to, but she never would have seen the usefulness of the flexibility, agility, and speed training exercises if it wasn't demonstrated in a personal way. You know that her tone of voice clearly indicated that even if we had done that to someone else she wouldn't have seen the necessity of these exercises for herself."
"And they are necessary. Your boss is Mr. Potter. He agreed to the training, which means he is also doing the exercises. He probably has a number of doubts about the usefulness of these exercises right now as well, but he isn't complaining, so you lot ought to be able to hold your tongue and wait until we've really had a chance to train you before saying this stuff is pointless. It is only the first day, after all, and we're not starting the full training today, just getting the proper warm-up exercises down," Hermione added.
"Anyway, it's time for breakfast now," Hazel interrupted. "Come on, all of you."
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The group all sat around the couches and mattresses for another few hours of memory viewing. Everyone was tired and sore from the exercises earlier, and full from breakfast. They settled in to see some more memories.
"This is from my point of view," Hazel explained. "Harry and I are about 5 in this; it was spring of our first year of school."
An image of a small forest clearing came into view. Tall trees circled the clearing, creating a canopy of limbs and leaves above it. The undergrowth was so thick that an adult would have trouble getting into the clearing. Three children were gathered in a hollow in the base of one of the trees.
"Many people are unable to do more than a weak 'Incendio' or door opening spell with wandless magic. Therefore, many people do not see the use in learning how to cast wandlessly. However, if one began to work at casting wandlessly at a young age and continued to practice through puberty (when your magic is growing along with your body), they will be able to achieve much more wandlessly. Also, continual practice will condition your body to handle the wandless magic and allow you to cast stronger spells. This book will give a practical guide to how to practice and increase your wandless magic abilities."
"The first step to doing wandless magic is to find your magical core. The process to find the magical core includes a fair bit of meditation and searching. It can take anywhere from one week to one year to find one's magical core. Many people will achieve this step only to quit at the next step.
"Once someone has found their magical core, they must pull a string of that magic to their hands or another spot on the body that can be used to channel magic into the atmosphere. Hands are the easiest places to do this from but the heart, head, and feet may also be used. You must practice holding that string of magic in place, which can be very taxing, to allow magic to easily flow out of your body. After you are able to hold the string of magic in place for at least one hour without exhausting yourself, you are ready to start casting the weakest spells wandlessly.
"To effectively increase your ability to handle wandless magic, begin by using only the 'Wingardium Leviosa' spell. Cast it for as long as you can without exhausting yourself. Depending on your magical reserve that may be anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes when you first begin. Do this ten times in a row, then rest or do physical conditioning for at least one hour. Repeat the exercise four more times for a total of five times a day. Slowly increase the amount of time you hold the spell and the weight of the object you are lifting as you begin to tire less and less when you cast it.
"Once you are able to cast the spell on something that weighs at least 6 stones, you may advance to the next strongest spell. Currently, that spell is 'Alohomora'. Continue practicing with the Levitation spell and start the process anew with 'Alohomora'. Continue with this process until you can cast the 'Alohomora' spell 100 times in a row without tiring (as this opens doors it cannot be held for extended periods of times but casting it over and over again until you tire works just as well). Add more spells as you master the ones you have done."
Hazel read from a book. Harry nodded and immediately cast a 'Lumos' spell which created three balls of soft light. The balls hovered over each of the children.
"Alright," the third little boy began, "You two have read a lot of the books. Also, our teacher, Ms. Honey, has told you what subjects are learned in the older years. She has even given you books on some of the advanced subjects. Don't you think it's time to find a place for us to go and make a plan for getting out of my 'parents' house?"
Hazel regarded her cousin. He was bigger than Harry and Hazel. He was obviously more well-fed, but he was not a large boy. Dirty blonde hair topped his stocky frame. Being average height made him much taller than the two other children, who were much too small for their age.
"Aidan and I talked about living out here," Hazel began. "We wouldn't have to pay for anything and there is a stream nearby that is perfect for drinking. It feeds into that pool which would be perfect for bathing in. We can gather all of the greens, some veggies, fruits, and berries from the plant life around here. Small animals and things are fairly easy to hunt most of the time, that way we can save our money for when we really need it. We know how to make our own clothes from deer skins and larger rabbit skins. We would only have to think of a place we could build some sort of shelter."
The tree above the group began to rustle and almost seemed to move. Harry (Aidan), Hazel (Alex), and their cousin, David, immediately darted out of the hollow they were in. A minute later it became apparent that the tree had moved. It was further back than it had been. A beautiful, but strange creature stepped out of the tree. It appeared to be human like but looked distinctly like a miniature version of the tree it had stepped out of. The being was male. He carefully bent and sat in front of the children.
"Hello, little ones," the tree-man lethargically said. "My name is Stormroot. I have been watching and protecting you while you meet in my glade, young warriors. I can make tree houses for you in this clearing. You may remain in these trees as long as you like little Elves. The forest under my command will always protect you and those you call friends or family."
"That sounds good, but," Hazel hesitated and then quietly asked, "what are you?"
"Oh, dear, I had forgot that most of the human magic ones have lost knowledge of us," the tree-man muttered. "I am a Druid, a male tree-spirit. Dryads are female tree-spirits. Ziafis are female air-spirits while Zephyrs are male air-spirits. Sirens are female water-spirits, while Shamans are male water-spirits."
All three children minutely nodded when they had processed his explanation. Hazel quietly spoke up again, "Um, how can you make a tree house, sir?"
"Oh, I can simply direct the trees to grow their branches in specific ways so that a tree house will be formed. The trees can also bend their existing branches a bit for certain things. It will take a while for the tree houses to be finished, but they should be done by your summer break."
"Okay, do you know of all the different things we'll need?" Hazel queried.
"Yes, child," The Druid spirit smiled at her. "I know all of the things you need to live comfortably. I would also suggest you bring a small television and VCR with you. I may not like the inventions over much, but you can use your magic to make them work without the wires and things most people use and they allow you to see different educational things. TV can allow you to explore things like anatomy and such better than books can. Continue with how you have been learning things and try to make copies of every book you can from the town and school libraries.
"You are learning very quickly, little warriors, soon you will come into your Elven magic and some true Elves will come for you. I would contact them now, but all the Druid and Dryad trees that used to live near me have either been killed or have moved away. Going too far from my tree can be hazardous and takes a long time. I do not wish to leave you three for so long; therefore it will be easier to wait for your Elven magic to awaken."
"Okay," Hazel hesitantly replied, obviously trying to process everything she had learned.
The scene faded out and then coalesced back into the same clearing.
"This is still my point of view, but it is at the end of the school year, when we officially moved into the place," Hazel explained.
The clearing was radically different from the last image. Branches in the trees were curved and grown so closely together that they made nice floors. Other branches jutted out to make beds, tables, chairs, shelves, and all sorts of other furniture items.
Books already covered a majority of the bookshelves on the 'living room' platform. Fluffy mats and beanbag like chairs were included on this platform. Branches jutted out in a circle and cloth was stretched across them to make large disk chairs.
A bucket stood in one corner of a platform that looked an awful lot like a half bath with a sink and cabinet. The bucket was covered with a fitted and nicely finished wooden lid. Toothbrushes and toothpaste were in a clear plastic storage box. Towels and washcloths were folded in a large cubicle next to the sink.
Padding already covered the beds and animal skin blankets covered the mattresses. Branches formed railing around the bed. Cloth stretched from the railings to the bed frame to keep the children from rolling off of the beds at night. A number of different clothing outfits made of animal skins, leaves, wool, cotton, rucksack, and linen were folded in the few cubicles designated for clothes. Only a few sets of shoes were set on the floor under the clothes cubicles. Heavier clothing and blankets were also in one large cubicle.
A small 19" (about 48 cm) TV sat on top of one shelf with a VCR on the shelf right below it. Three, beanbag like, chairs were grouped on that platform. Another shelf held a variety of videos. A small table was off to one side of the platform. The shelves near it held a large amount of craft items, art items, and different types of paper.
One platform held an electric piano, a small violin, and a homemade flute. Shelves held books of music. Branches formed a bench in front of the piano and fluffy looking mats were arranged on the floor.
The last platform held all sorts of food that did not have to be refrigerated. This platform had a bench like outcropping of branches close enough to the floor that the three children could sit on the floor while eating.
Each platform was connected to the other by either branch or rope bridges. Ropes hung down from most of the platforms.
The branches above the clearing were now thick enough to provide excellent shelter against rain and other elements. However, there were branches closer to the tree house level that worked as thatch like roofs.
The three children were climbing up the three different trees that made the bedrooms, which were grouped next to each other. Small stubs of branches and almost unnoticeable hollows in the trees allowed the children to quickly climb. Large, homemade knapsacks were on each child's back, each sack filled to almost overflowing.
"Well, we're finally out of there for good," David said. "Thank you for helping me."
"Why wouldn't we?" Hazel asked, a truly baffled expression gracing her face.
The scene faded out again.
"This next memory is a few years later. It is when we first met the Elves and were taken to the Elven realms. It is also from my point of view," Harry clarified.
The scene faded into a copse of trees in the forest. The three children were wrestling with each other. Harry and Hazel broke off to wrestle only with each other, while including wandless magic in their fight. Suddenly, the three children froze and whipped their heads in one direction, apparently having heard something.
Four obviously adult Elves carefully emerged from the trees. One of them was dark skinned. (Zatiar sucked in a breath for she obviously recognized her older counterpart). Another was fairly tan while the other two were fair-skinned. The dark skinned one was the only lady. All three had long hair and pointed ears. They moved with an inhuman grace, completely at ease with themselves and their connections with nature. The expressions on their faces were a strange mix of understanding, concern, and wariness. These four Elves knew, more than others, what three children living alone in the woods meant about their previous 'caretakers'.
The dark skinned lady Elf kneeled down to be closer to the children's level.
"Hello children. My name is Zatiar, but you may call me Zata if you wish," the lady Elf gave them a small smile and then turned to gesture to her three companions. "The blonde over there is Master Abutun, the reddish-brown one is Master Ihoum, and the dirty blonde is Abuon."
"We are here because the two of you," Zata pointed to Harry and Hazel, "have enough Elven blood in you for that heritage to surface on its own. You have been using some Elven magic in the past couple weeks. It took us a while to find you."
Hazel had positioned herself in front of the two little boys, therefore Zata had been addressing her. Hazel looked at her curiously, and guardedly, "Stormroot said some Elves would come when we started using Elven magic, but I didn't think we had. What do you want?"
"You didn't know you were because children who are part-Elf begin to use Elven magic unconsciously when they are anywhere from 8-12 years old. It is the instinctual magic that lets animals and dark creatures in the area know that you are an Elf. That sort of change in a child's magic is usually picked up on by the more intelligent creatures and eventually travels to creatures who can tell adult Elves.
"We want to help you learn about your Elven heritage and to give you a home where the adults are the ones doing the worrying, as it should be. Will you give us that chance?" Zata quietly said, and all four of the adult Elves seemed to be holding their breath.
The two boys turned to each other and just stared at each other for a few moments. Harry then turned to his sister and tapped her twice on her left shoulder. She tilted her head slightly to the left and regarded all four of the adults. The next second the adults each shifted suddenly and looked at Hazel more curiously. Hazel gave a curt nod.
"Okay, we'll give you a chance," Hazel gestured for Harry and David to lead. They started walking and Hazel gestured for the adults to follow. She brought up the rear as the little procession strode through the forest to the children's tree-house.
They quickly entered the clearing where the tree lofts made up their house. The adults were looking curiously around at the different things on the loft and the different trails leading to and from the clearing. They were impressed with the trails because it would be very hard for someone to pick out where the trails were.
When Stormroot stepped out of his tree in order to say farewell to the children, the Elven adults stared, wide eyed.
"Don't
drop your jaws now, young Masters and Mistress Elf," Stormroot
amusedly addressed them. "I am quite sure I can't be the only
Druid you have seen in your lives."
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