Harry Potter and the Quest for Merlin's Wand

Chapter Thirteen - The Chalice Well

Everyone got out of bed early the next morning, Ron, Harry, George and Hermione took a little longer as they were stiff and sore from their escapade with the gargoyles. Harry realised that the gargoyles would be useful allies if it came down to a fight with the Malfoy family. Everyone piled into the Girl's tent for breakfast as it was the only one tidy enough to use. The boys lived by the maxim, use the bin for rubbish only when the floor is full. Ron was trying to talk and eat a piece of toast at the same time, which resulted in a spray of crumbs flying out of his mouth and disgusted looks from Hermione and Ginny who were sitting next to him.

Hermione was reading a guide book, "Harry, you don't need all of us to find a druid today, do you?"

"No, I don't think so, what are you planning to do?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was talking to Angelina and Ginny and we realised that we're half way through our holiday and we haven't visited any of the tourist attractions."

"Fine, I'll go druid hunting with Ron and George, don't blame us if you miss out on all the fun."

The girls ate their breakfast quickly as they wanted to visit the Glastonbury Tor early. It was suggested, in the guide book, that if you climb the Tor when it is misty you could experience for yourself what it would have been like when Glastonbury was an island called the Isle of Glass. Afterwards they intended to visit the Chalice Well. which was conveniently close by.

The boys had to discover what the druids knew about Merlin's wand; due to their stubborn reluctance to record their chronicles, they had to talk to a druid in person rather than read a convenient book. Unfortunately the previous day had been their last one at the Festival. The boys' first task was to find the their meeting place to ask for an audience with the Head Druid.

As they walked across the field, Ginny and Hermione were chatting away leaving Angelina to walk behind them. She was thinking about her relationship with George. They'd grown closer in the last week; when he returned from the Cathedral the previous night, he kissed her and it wasn't just a peck on the cheek. Angelina thought something might have developed between her and Fred after they went to the Yule Ball, as a couple, but they stayed friends. She really liked George a lot but she wanted to take things slowly as he needed time and space to deal with his grief.

She caught up with the other girls, "This is one of those times when you wish you'd joined a Gym."

Hermione laughed, "Having spent so long recently travelling around with Harry and Ron, I should be able to manage a short walk up a hill."

They both looked around to find that Ginny was half way up the hill already.

"Ginny have some respect for us older witches, walk a bit slower," shouted Angelina.

When they had climbed three quarters of the way up, they all had to rest and catch their breath, even Ginny.

"See grasshopper. slow and steady wins the race."

When they finally reached the top, they stood for a moment to take in their surroundings. The mist was swirling around, wrapping itself around St Michael's tower. Occasionally, through the mist, they could see glimpses of green verdant fields and majestic trees.

The girls were entranced by the incredible atmosphere and level of magic they could feel from the ancient site. Hermione already knew that this site had been used for rituals from the Old Religion. Hermione and Ginny started to shiver. The temperature had dropped noticeably and Hermione started to feel lightheaded and sick. She had only felt like this once before at Nearly Headless Nick's party.

Angelina started to feel tense and the hackles rose on the back of her neck. Ginny and Hermione were staring into the mist as though someone had hypnotized them.

"Girls are you okay?"

Neither girl responded to her question. She walked over to Ginny and realised that she was in a trance. She stared into the swirling mist to identify anything that could have caused this strange reaction. The air started to crackle with magic as strange figures emerged from the mist.

There was a procession headed by an old man with long grey hair wearing white robes, who looked remarkably like Professor Dumbledore. Behind him was a stretcher carried by more men in white robes. They were walking slowly and carefully as though the person on the stretcher was seriously wounded.. Angelina didn't bother trying to try to interact with them as she realised that she was looking at a scene from the past, her best guess was, Merlin bringing Arthur to Avalon for treatment.

Suddenly, Hermione came out of her trance and walked over to Angelina,

"Why are three witches from the sisterhood visiting this ancient place of worship today."

The words came from Hermione's mouth but it didn't sound like her, she examined the younger witch carefully, then she noticed that her pupil had turned pitch-black.

"Who are you?" asked Angelina calmly, although she was really terrified she didn't show it.

"Has my fame dimmed over the years, that you do not know the name Morgan-Le-Fay."

Angelina was stunned, she knew instinctively that she had to focus on getting the spirit of this powerful witch to leave Hermione's body quickly.

"Why are you here now? Was it because of that," she asked pointing at the scene still unfolding in front of them.

"The power to allow you to see into the past is being drawn from that one," she explained, pointing at Ginny.

Angelina looked at Fred and George's baby sister in a new light, "What's so special about Ginny?"

Hermione/Morgan looked at her in surprise, "What is her full given name?"

"I think it's Ginevra."

Morgan hissed, "Of course, the game has started; Guinevere has returned, where's Arthur and Merlin?"

After that crazy outburst, she disappeared, leaving Hermione totally dazed and confused. She went to ask Angelina what had happened; the older girl shook her head and pointed at Ginny. The youngest witch had no recollection of what had passed. She wandered over to the other girls, feeling really drained but blamed it on getting out of bed so early.

They walked down the hill in the direction of the Sacred Well. When they arrived at the Gatehouse, Angelina paid for the tickets as a treat for the two girls, Ginny was like a little sister, which was the reason for her anxiety about what had just happened. She wanted to talk to George urgently about their strange encounters at the top of the Tor.

Their first stop was the Healing Pool, they were surprised by the colour of the water, which was a rich red colour due to the iron in the water. They sat on the bench and absorbed the peace and tranquility; after everything that had happened to them during the previous week, it was a welcome relief. As Angelina was the only one who was conscious throughout their whole recent encounter, she found it very hard to relax.

"I'm so chilled out, I don't want to move," commented Hermione as she stretched out.

"I know what you mean," agreed Ginny, "But there's still a lot to see."

They tried drinking the water from the Lions Head and promptly spat it out.

Angelina voiced her opinion strongly, "That's disgusting, it's like drinking blood and I'm a witch not a vampire,"

They were still laughing as they walked across the Cress Field towards the well. All three young women were enjoying the beautiful scenery and the calmness that seemed to have settled over them. They explored the Seven Bowls Flow Form and Vesica Piscis Pool following the stone paths and admiring the beautiful flowers in the garden. At the waterfall they sat contentedly listening to the running water.

Their final place to visit was the Wellhead itself, as they neared the heart of the garden, they all stopped.

"Can you feel that?" asked Hermione.

"I'm glad you said something, that buzz is starting to make my teeth vibrate," answered Ginny.

Angelina noticed something peculiar, "Ginny, are you okay, your hair is starting to float?"

Ginny tried to smooth her hair down, "There must be an electric storm brewing, I am sensitive to static electricity."

As they got closer to the Well, Ginny started to feel light headed. Hermione stayed with her while Angelina ran back to get her a bottle of water. Hermione wished that she had the ingredients for a calming draught. She turned her back on Ginny for a few minutes because she was distracted by a noise behind her, when she turned back, Ginny had gone.

She searched for her frantically until she bumped into Angelina,

"Ginny's gone!" shouted Hermione.

"What do you mean gone, I've only been away for a couple of minutes?"

Hermione was getting really upset, "I turned away for a couple of seconds and she disappeared, I can't find her."

"I'll help you look for her, she can't have gone far." said Angelina confidently.

Ginny had heard someone calling her name, she needed to find them. She found the wellhead itself and sat down because it was peaceful and soothing. She looked up when she heard someone singing, with a pure, haunting, voice.

"Hello Guinevere, are you well, you look a little distracted?"

There was a stunningly beautiful woman sitting at the side of the well, who wasn't solid - she seemed to be fashioned from the mist.

"My name is Ginny not Guinevere, who are you?"

"I've been known by many names over the years, you can call me Lady."

"Lady, why do you think my name is Guinevere? Are you one of the Fay?"

"You do ask a lot of questions child, yes, I am one of the Fay."

"You don't look like a fairy," said Ginny rudely.

"Well you don't look like a witch but you are one."

"You haven't answered my question about my name."

"Your name is another version of Guinevere. I see that you have found Arthur in this life, the two of you always find each other in every reincarnation."

"Lady, you're giving me a headache and you seriously need to stay off the mushrooms they're not doing you any good."

The Fay disappeared as Hermione and Angelina crashed through the trees into the glade.

"Ginny, where have you been, we've been looking for you everywhere, you've scared Hermione to death."

They both rushed up to the younger witch, who looked pale and ill, she was visibly shaking.

Angelina took charge, "Let's get you back to the Camp site, you can change into your pyjamas and we'll get you into bed with a herbal tea. I think you've had enough excitement for one day."

She took hold of Ginny's hand and disapparated.

Chapter 14 - Where are the druids?

The Boys were looking forward to a day playing detectives. After they had finally devoured everything on the breakfast table, they went to the Croaking Frog for a second visit. They needed to find out where the Druids held their meetings so they could ask the Head Druid about Merlin's wand.

They arrived at the derelict cottage however something was wrong, The door of the cottage was hanging off.

"You both wait out here and I'll see what's going on, if it's safe I'll call you," said George trying to take the lead.

Ron looked at him as though he'd gone mad "Forget that, we fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, we're not going to let you go in there alone without us to back you up."

Harry nodded at every point Ron made, "Let's go," he said, walking towards the cottage.

There was nobody inside the house, the rocking chair was strewn around the room in pieces. The traces of magic were everywhere. Harry took out his wand and tried to open the portal to the cafe itself - nothing happened.

Ron suggested they use the Partis Temporus spell. George stood back and waved his wand, there was a small bang, which left the inside of the cafe visible through the wall of the cottage.

Lucius Malfoy was standing in the middle of the room pointing his wand at a group of terrified customers. A terrified wizard was sitting in a chair right next to him, shaking with fear. There were three bodies lying on the floor which looked like victims of the Full Body-Bind curse.

"Ah Potter, the delinquent boy wizard, Draco said you were hanging around like a bad smell!"

"All of your family cast a dark cloud over anywhere you visit, Malfoy!"

George stepped in front of Harry, "Let these people go, none of them know anything about the druids."

"It's a good job nobody cares about what you think, you're only a Weasley," sneered Lucius Malfoy, now stay out of my way, I've got work to do."

He was using a Legilimency Spell to sift through the memories of everyone in the cafe to find the location of the druids.

All of the boys took out their wands and pointed them straight at him.

"You may not be worried about George but the three of us together can hurt you," threatened Harry.

Malfoy looked straight at the three young men, "I've finished here, so I will leave. I'll see you again soon boys and there will be a reckoning."

Then he disapparated! For the remainder of the day, Harry, George and Ron worked hard repairing the cafe and making sure the customers were okay.

They were worn out when they returned to the campsite but pleased with their efforts, even though they were no closer to finding the druids.

Angelina went to see George as soon as he returned and recounted everything that had happened to them during the day. He rushed around to the girl's tent to check on Ginny straight away. He stood in the doorway of her room with Angelina watching her sleep.

"She looks quite peaceful now." commented George.

"Hermione and I have only just stopped her shivering."

"We'll decide what to do next at breakfast tomorrow, we may as well let them get a good night's sleep before we drop this bombshell."