It's Friday and time for another chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Also, in this chapter, we introduce an important new character.

Thanks as always to my reviewer, the always faithful KRP. All I'll tell you is that the Fourth Fleet has Esdras covered. Don't you worry…

As for everyone else, tell me what you think! Just press the review button at the bottom and give me your opinion. I'd love to hear it. And your reviews (both good and bad) help make me a better writer. So please, review.

A note on Azkabaaner: cordes means major house, vades means minor house, corvades means royal house, and mashavades means mortal house.

And as usual, text in italics is in Azkabaaner, and I don't own HP.

Chapter 10 – A Great Weight

Esdras was nodding off in History of Magic again. Katie had long since passed out so there was really nothing left keeping the Dementor awake. The ghostly form of Professor Binns kept going on about events that he had already lived through, and in some instances, participated in. So it was a pleasant surprise when Stewart Ackerley came to collect him on orders from the lesson. The Dementor glided along behind the first year. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of being dragged from my nap?"

Stewart shrugged. "Don't know, but I wasn't about to complain when Flitwick called me out of Herbology to do this."

They wound their way through the halls of Hogwarts until finally they found their way to the staff room. Esdras stepped inside and found the other four champions, three heads of the schools, Crouch, Bagman, a curious man with strange eyes, and a rather revolting mortal female wearing lime green.

Dumbledore welcomed him in. "Esdras, thank you for joining us. We will be weighing the wands now." He indicated first the gentleman, then the woman. "Allow me to introduce Mister Ollivander from the wand store of the same name, and Miss Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet."

Esdras immediately moved to shake Ollivander's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. While the wands for my kind are outside of your scope, it is well known that for mortals, your work is without equal."

Ollivander nodded and shook his hand firmly. "Yes, I fear I will never be able to master the Dementor wand with these mortal hands."

Skeeter took the opportunity to brush Ollivander out of the way and smiled a greasy smile at Esdras. "Mister Demnin, would you mind answering a few questions for me?" She didn't give the Dementor time to answer before drawing a notepad and a bright green quill. "Do you mind if I use a Quick Quotes Quill?"

Esdras reached out and calmly snapped the quill in half, causing it to bleed acidic green on the parchment. He shook his head at Rita Skeeter and smiled slightly. "No, you many not ask me questions, or use your special quill. I am aware of your reputation and I would like to remind you that under Azkaban law, the penalty for libel against a member of the royal house is death. And in a situation like this, extradition would be immediate under the auspices of the Treaty of Edinburgh. Please keep that in mind for any articles you may feel fit to write about me."

The Dementor was pleased to see the journalist turn horribly pale before Dumbledore, smiling slightly, gathered the champions around. "Now then, since we're all here, let's begin the weighing."

Esdras shrugged. "Sir, you do remember that the shroud core of my wand makes handling of the wand impossible by mortal hands, right?"

The headmaster nodded. "Yes, Esdras, and we've been told that a special authority will be arriving from Azkaban to help with the weighing of your wand. She had some rather curious requests, though."

The Dementor arched an eyebrow. He was truly confused as to who Azkaban would send to weigh his wand, as all Dementors fabricated their own wand as part of their rise to maturity. He shrugged and watched as Ollivander busied himself casting spells with the other wands. He was smugly pleased when he found out that his guess on Fleur's heritage was correct, so pleased that he actually approached her. "I knew you were part Veela."

She looked curiously at him, blushing shyly at the fact that he initiated a conversation. "How was eet zat you were able to tell?"

Esdras decided to be tactful, even at a whisper her voice was painful. "Your voice, you sound like a Veela. And to Dementors, Veela are very easy to discern in a crowd."

She nodded and took a step closer to the Dementor, but Esdras was distracted when the door opened to admit another familiar form. He floated over to her and whispered quietly. "Katie? What are you doing here?"

Katie shrugged. "I don't know, Colin got me out of History and brought me here. He didn't say anything about why." She glared and thumped him hard on the shoulder. "Nice of you to leave me a note saying you were going somewhere. Now what's going on?"

Esdras grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I thought I'd be back before you woke up…" He turned around and they both watched as Ollivander made wine pour from the tip of Harry's wand. "It's the weighing of the wands. Apparently, they have a way to weigh my wand, but they're waiting for someone from Azkaban. I have no idea who they'd bring."

It was a few moments more before his answer came. The door opened slowly, and two dozen Dementors, all with wands drawn, entered the room and gently corralled all the mortals but Katie against the far wall, facing them towards the stone. More Dementor guards entered the room and from their position, it was obvious that they were guarding someone, as even more stood out in the hall with their backs to the room. Esdras took note of the insignia on their cloaks and tensed. "No…it can't be. She shouldn't even be off the island."

Katie whispered quietly. "Who is it?"

Esdras, the rightful king of all Dementors took his natural form and slowly dropped to his knees as the guards parted to reveal a Dementress carrying a small cloaked bundle. Katie followed suit, figuring that if the king knelt, so should a mere mortal. The Dementor king lowered his hooded head to the cold stone floor and spoke quietly. "The guards wear the insignia of the First Infantry; they are assigned to protect the seer. They escort the Oracle of Azkaban."

Katie watched as the Dementress floated forward towards Esdras. A soft voice emanated from the cloak. "Hail Demnin, god of death."

Esdras never moved, but his voice came clearly from his hood. "The Oracle has again mistaken me for that which I am not. Behold the mere Esdras Tarsus corvades Demnin. How may I serve you, great Oracle?"

The Oracle bowed. "The mortals have called us to weigh your wand, as is their custom. The prophecies indicated that the time was right to leave the island, so it was done." Her attention changed from Esdras to Katie. "You are the mortal who coexists so perfectly among our kind. Rise, my child."

Katie, with no fear, rose to face the Oracle. Esdras rose with her and placed an arm across her chest. His voice was quiet and desperate. "Katie, no mortal has ever touched the Oracle. The penalty for such is death, and I will have to enforce it…"

The Oracle brushed the admiral aside. "The prophecies have shown that she will be the first, and that she will survive. Will you go against the prophecies, Lord Demnin?"

Esdras bowed and stepped back. "No, great Oracle."

Nodding, the Dementress floated forward and extended the small, cloaked bundle to Katie. She looked on with confusion. "I don't understand…" The bundle found its way into her arms and Katie adjusted it to hold it better, as she did so, the hood of the cloak slipped, and Katie could see the face of a small Dementress child, a mere cloakling. But instead of empty black eye sockets, this cloakling had pure white sockets. Suddenly, Katie understood. "The cloakling is the Oracle."

The small child reached up and touched her face, and Katie's world suddenly disappeared, transformed into a black nightscape, with shining silver forms and pitch black regions. A small voice echoed in her ears. "See the world through the eyes of a Dementor, Katherine Elizabeth mashavades Bell. See the world through Esdras' eyes. Help me with my task."

Esdras watched with fear and awe as the beautiful, chocolate brown eyes of his girlfriend disappeared, the brown iris and white sclera fading to pitch black. Katie spoke with a distant voice. "This is how you see, my love? The world, it looks so different." She paused to look at the child. "What is the Oracle?"

He slowly floated to Katie, speaking quietly. "The Oracle is the only Dementor capable of prophecy. She is a true seer and a contact telepath. Her birth name is Kara cordes Grim; our Admiral Grim is her many-great-grandnephew. The Oracle was born 1519 years ago and will never grow any larger than she is right now. She is also blind, you can tell from her white eye sockets. She is the greatest treasure of Azkaban."

The voice filled Katie's ears again, and she found herself speaking the words. "The god of death is too kind. He makes the Oracle into something she is not. Please, let me weigh your wand." Esdras drew his wand and held it out; he was not surprised when Katie's hand actually touched it, and then held it. The link with the Oracle imbued the mortal with powers equal to that of a Dementor. "A wand of foreign Hemlock, a distant tree for a distant family. Fifteen inches, unyielding but eternally fair and graceful, a dual core of dragon heartstring and royal shroud. It is a powerful wand for a powerful Dementor, truly a royal wand." She raised the wand and a light brighter than the sun emanated from the tip, washing out all color in the room and casting deep shadows behind the Dementor guards. After a moment, she lowered it and held it back to the stunned Esdras.

The Dementor took his wand back anxiously. Although he trusted the Oracle explicitly, he was still uncomfortable with the whole situation. "And now the Oracle will restore my Katie to me?"

Katie nodded, but paused before handing the cloakling back. The Oracle spoke gently to her, filling her mind with the words. "A great adventure awaits you, queen of Azkaban, and good fortune will bring you a long life and a longer legacy. This is the prophecy of the Oracle of Azkaban, heed it well."

The Oracle removed her hand from Katie's face and Katie managed to hand the cloakling off to the Dementress before she collapsed into Esdras' arms.

Katie woke up an hour later in the Hospital Wing to the smiling face of Esdras and a pitcher of hot chocolate. He smiled softly and handed her a cup. "Welcome back. You'll need to drink this. The Oracle may be over 1500 years old, but she is still just a cloakling. She can't control when she feeds. She has returned to Azkaban but asked for your forgiveness before she left."

The mortal nodded and took the cup, letting the chocolate warm her and negate the effects that the Dementress child had on her. She closed her eyes and spoke slowly. "The Oracle gave me a prophecy; she told me it was a prophecy. She called me the queen of Azkaban, and said that I would have a long life and long legacy."

Esdras smiled and took her hand, a dark grey blush across his face. "The Oracle is wise. If she says that you will have a long life and legacy, then it will be so."

Katie blushed as well. "But what about the queen of Azkaban part?"

Esdras shook his head. "There will be time to worry about that later." He looked down and pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet, happy for a change of subject. "Did you get a chance to see the paper this morning?"

She shook her head. "No, I was too busy revising my potions essay. Why, what does it say?"

The Dementor held it out for her; already she could read the headline. "Goblet of Fire selects Five, Dementors Determine Cause." Esdras grinned happily. "The Daily Prophet printed it exactly as we wrote it. It's very favorable."

Katie smiled and began to read the article. She laughed when she came to a specific line. "Admiral Demnin of the Fourth Fleet, selected as champion due to the Goblet malfunction called the incident 'a disturbing situation, but both Mr. Potter and I will compete while supporting Cedric Diggory as best we can.'" She looked curiously at him. "When did you say that, Esdras?"

He shook his head. "I didn't, Stephanie Trieste wrote the article, but it does sound like something I'd say, doesn't it." He grinned. "You met Stephanie the other day, she was with Aaron."

Katie nodded. "She seemed very nice."

The Dementor nodded and waved to Madame Pomfrey, who promptly began the walk down to Katie's bed. "Well, let's get you out of here, shall we?"

Hogsmeade always cheered up Esdras. The shining little town was always bustling with activity and the chances to visit it were few and far between for a student at Hogwarts. This year was particularly interesting because the students and residents of Hogsmeade had company, Dementors from the town of New Demnin would occasionally float by, clutching small baskets as they went from store to store.

So it was that every so often, Esdras would return a sharp salute and Katie would smile and greet the guard officer with a kind word. Esdras was especially pleased to see a particular pair of Dementors wandering through town; the Dementress trailing a thin wisp of fog behind her. He dragged Katie over to meet them. "Katie mashavades Bell, this is Captain Veras vades Maul of the Eighth Infantry and his wife Kayla. Kayla is due to give birth any day now, right?"

The Dementress nodded happily and spoke with an excited whisper. "Yes, Lord Admiral. Doctor Transom has said that the cloakling is due sometime within the next week." She placed a hand over her distended abdomen and wrapped her other arm around her husband. "We are so excited."

Esdras smiled and held a hand out. At Kayla's nod, he placed it on her abdomen and felt the smooth gliding motions of the cloakling as it floated within its mother's womb. With his other hand, he pulled Katie's hand to join his. Her eyes went wide as she felt the unborn child's motions. The mortal smiled. "Do you know yet if it is a boy or a girl?"

The young mother shook her head. "No, we wish for it to be a surprise." She turned to face Esdras. "My Lord, while you are here. Veras and I were wondering if you would come and bless the cloakling when it is born."

The Dementor sighed and nodded slowly. "I cannot refuse the request of a mother with child. It shall be done." Kayla took the admiral's hand in her own and tried to kneel, but Esdras was quick to stop her. "You need not obey custom at the sake of your health, or the child's."

Kayla nodded and joined hands with her husband. "A thousand blessings be upon the royal house, Lord Esdras."

Esdras smiled. "And a thousand blessings be upon this growing loyal house."

The Mauls floated off, leaving Katie and Esdras in the low hanging fog that had gathered while they had paused to speak. Katie guided Esdras towards the Three Broomsticks. She looked curiously to him. "What was with the fog?"

The Dementor smiled. "The act of growing a cloakling requires a lot of energy for a Dementress. In addition to feeding on souls and Patroni, a pregnant Dementress will extract heat from her surroundings; the extremely cold air around her produces fog. It's all perfectly normal."

The mortal shook her head and laughed to herself about the many differences in Dementor physiology. "I've always heard that new mother's had a certain glow about them. I'm surprised to see that it's the same for Dementors."

Esdras laughed out loud. "That's because ichor production increases as the child nears birth. She's glowing because she has more ichor than her supersolenoid can handle."

Katie laughed again as they reached the door of the Three Broomsticks. However, they were both halted at the sound of a scream coming from farther up the High Street. Mixed curses in English and Azkabaaner floated down the street. Esdras spared a second to look at Katie before the pair rushed towards the commotion.

Farther down the High Street, in front of Zonko's, Captain Maul, with wand drawn and cloak flaring, stood protectively in front of Kayla. He was staring down a mortal who stood just as protectively in front of his equally pregnant wife, his own wand drawn to face the Dementor. The low fog added an ominous quality to the standoff. Esdras rushed between the two, calling out orders. "Veras, stand down. Stand down now!"

Maul shook his head. "He drew his wand first, he threatened Kayla! I will defend her!"

Katie had meanwhile taken up a similar position, standing in front of the mortal. "Sir, please relax, he won't hurt you."

The mortal glared at her. "The hell he won't. His kind is all the same, they'll kill you as soon as look at you!"

Esdras shifted forms, taking his Dementor form and turning to face the mortal. "Please sir, stand down. Veras is protecting his wife. You can see that she is pregnant…like your own wife."

The mortal stared quietly for a moment. "A…pregnant Dementor?"

Katie nodded. "A Dementress. She is great with child, due to give birth in a week's time. Surely you cannot blame him for protecting her, as you have your own wife?"

Esdras turned quickly to face Veras Maul. "Veras, look at the woman he is protecting. She is pregnant; you can see the child growing within her."

The Dementor narrowed his hood and peered around the mortals. The captain, like the admiral, was able to see a second, smaller glowing form within the woman. "A pregnant mortal looks like that? How odd…"

The admiral nodded. "Odd, yes, but he is protecting her as you are protecting Kayla. Try to understand…"

The Dementor captain lowered his wand, and Esdras was pleased to see that the mortal followed suit. He spoke softly, with Katie echoing his sentiment in English. "See the similarities between our kinds? We protect that which we love from perceived danger. If we are to live together, we must understand each other."

Veras nodded, and after conferring with Kayla, produced a small package from the basket she carried. He floated forward and presented it to the mortal. Esdras translated the words that the captain spoke. "Here is a cloak for your cloakling. It will keep them safe and dry. Peace be upon your family."

The mortal was hesitant to accept the gift, but finally did so at the insistence of his wife, who held out a similar bundle. Katie translated for the mortal as he spoke. "This is a blanket for your child." He hesitated, but finally smiled. "Peace be upon your family, as well."

Esdras and Katie stepped back and watched as the two families of differing species observed each other. The Dementor admiral looked around and saw the crowd that had formed in the gathering mist. He called out quickly. "Alright, then, nothing to see here. Carry on about your business. Get moving. That's right."

The crowd dispersed and the fight averted, Katie returned to his side, a look of relief on her face. "That could have ended in tragedy."

Esdras nodded. "But it didn't. And that's sign enough that there is hope for mortals and Dementors to live in harmony." He looked on as Veras, with the mother's nod of approval, tentatively placed his hand on the mortal female's stomach and smiled. "Perhaps there is more than just a hope…"