A/N: I do not own Harry Potter and I sure ain't makin' no money on this gig. Harry and his canon characters belong to JK Rowlings, Scholastic and Warner Brothers. Charles however is all MINE :-)! I apologize for any translation errors or stepping on anyone's culture. Those goofs are mine. Please enjoy. Thanks to all who have reviewed and the story alerts!
Star was cleaning the already immaculate cottage on Thursday evening when the DEWW (Distance Early Warning Ward) clanged. She immediately apparated to the point where she could see who was coming up the path. There were two men walking together. Star recognized them both immediately and popped over to meet them.
"Hello young Star" said the older man without turning around. He was very old but not frail. There was a power radiating from him that even Vernon Dursley would have been able to sense. Star always thought that Grandfather was as powerful as Dumbledore if not more so. She however trusted Joshua Stormchaser much more than she did Dumbledore. Grandfather, she always thought of him that way, had never talked to her like he was wiser and more intelligent than she, nor had he ever misled her. He always treated her like she was one of the forest spirits, with respect and friendship. The other man was of course Edward Stormchaser, Joshua's grandson, and Charles's blood brother.
"Hello Star," said Ed, "Nice to see you are in charge. I would be worried if Yoh nah (Bear) was leading this show. Is he here or are they still training?"
"Master Charles is training my Master Harry with Mr. Sirius Black. They all is going to be here on Friday evenings or Saturday in the mornings. I is glad you is here. I thinks Master Harry needs all the help he can get. He has a bad wizard after him. That bad wizard kills my Master James and Miss Lily," Star said, her eyes shining with tears. She was clearly worried about Voldemort and had every reason to be.
"Young Star, we will help your Harry to become what is needed to fight this ah yoh who he sss dee ah sss gah yuh (Death Man). As Yoh nah (bear) is our family, so is young Harry. We have declared war on Voldemort because of harm he has caused our family. So we have taken the Warrior's Path, to bring the war to him. I do not think that he will enjoy it."
"Mr. Ed, Master Charles is not telling me that Grandfather was coming. I am glad. You two are too young to know as much. Grandfather is better." And with that she led them through the inner wards to the cottage. She immediately enlarged the cottage on the inside to have two more bedrooms. "You is sleeping in with Master Charles Mr. Ed and Grandfather has this room to himself," Star showed the two men where to put their heavy packs.
"Well, I guess I know where I stand," said Ed smiling at the elf who was looking worshiping at his grandfather.
On Friday, Star was enjoying cooking an American breakfast for the two Stormchaser's. She had just finished serving the two, when she heard Miss Hermione call her. "I is going to get Master Harry's best friends to help him. I be back!" And she disappeared.
"Well, Pops, looks like we have the beginnings of quite a merry little band starting up. Do you think Voldemort has a clue about how bad this is going to go for him?" Ed asked his grandfather.
"Megalomaniacs usually don't. He thinks he is invincible. I wonder if Yoh nah has figured out why the idiot thinks that. I have an educated guess as to why, but I will wait until Yoh nah comes back. I think I will add a little juice to the wards. It can't hurt one bit," the old man said as he finished his breakfast.
Star popped into where Hermione had called her from and was very surprised. They were in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. Star looked at the three people standing in front of her. "How did you get here Miss Hermione? Mr. Ron? Is your family here too?" asked the elf warily, as close to stern as a house elf will get.
"Star, I took the liberty of helping Hermione and Ron to have, let us say, an easier time of getting out of the house to help Harry. When you see Charles, would you please tell him, I await his convenience to assist him in the ah…extraction that we talked about." Dumbledore politely told the elf.
"Professor, I will tells Master Charles. Would you like me to comes or Hedwig to lets you know?" asked Star.
"Oh, whichever is best for all of you." Albus said. "Now, you two mind Charles and please remember to write your mother regularly Mr. Weasley. I don't want Molly to be upset with either of us." Ron and Hermione thanked Dumbledore for helping them to get out, grabbed their bags, each took one of Star's hands and disappeared from sight.
They appeared in front of a cottage high in the mountains. Hermione thought that it didn't look like they had gone too far from Hogwarts, but she didn't say anything to Ron about it. As they walked up the house, they noticed two men sitting on the porch, which considering the fact that the cottage had a porch was strange. Most houses in Britain didn't have porches. The two men stood and came out to meet the teens.
"Hello Ron and Hermione. I am Ed Stormchaser, Charles is my brother. This is our Grandfather, Joshua Stormchaser. We are here to help Harry and my brother. "
"Hi Mr. Stormchasers, sirs. Where is Harry?" Hermione was wasting no time. She had some words to share with that young man.
The elder Stormchaser laughed, "I like a woman who doesn't beat around the bush. May I call you Hermione, dear?" Hermione nodded looking at who she realized was her first honest to God Native American. "Thank you. I imagine that you have a few things to say to Harry. Since there seems to be a pile of Stormchasers around these parts, won't you and Ron please call me Grandfather?"
"Thank you sir," said Ron finally speaking. He was worried about Harry, being around all of these foreign people. Was his best friend really safe? Was he really safe? What in the world had he gotten himself into? Really, Hermione was getting as bad as Harry about leaping before she looked.
At the end of their twenty five days in a week, the three wizards were ready to head home. They were tired of eating their own cooking and Charles felt that Harry was strong enough to get rid of that Horcrux. There may not be any need to wait another week. The boy was something else. Every spell Charles or Sirius had taught him, he had absorbed like a sponge. It was like he had a fire inside of him to learn everything that he could. The anger that almost consumed him earlier in the summer had been utilized to power his thirst for knowledge. But the young man never got arrogant about how much he knew, he just worried about how much he didn't know. He was a teacher's dream student.
Between the two older wizards, there was also a subtle competition to learn as many of the other's spells as possible. This way everyone was learning. And the three men had become fast friends. Sirius felt like he had a family again. Something he hadn't had since James and Lily had died. The haunted, dead look that Azkaban had given his eyes was finally gone. He looked again like the laughing man in the wedding picture that Harry had first seen him in, just tougher.
Harry had worked very hard the past twenty five days to learn and grow as much as possible. He also did a lot of thinking. He realized that his anger at Ron and Hermione earlier in the summer had been caused by several things. First, he was just plain pissed off at the world to start with. He was feeling sorry for himself and the way his life totally sucked most of the time. Next, he was hurt that they were together without him. It was the first time that Hermione had done that. Ron of course had deserted Harry last year, but Hermione never had. When he thought about it though, he knew that this wasn't Hermione's idea. She would never cut him off like this. It wasn't her choice. So he wasn't pissed at Ron or Hermione about that particular thing anymore.
Then he realized that he was also angry because he felt so guilty for Cedric's death. Between Sirius and Charles, they had helped him work through that. The two men had helped him to know now that it was solely Voldemort's fault that Cedric had died, not his. He had not had any control over it. Once he got that straight, he figured out the last reason he had been so pissed at his two friends. He was jealous, not just hurt that Hermione was with Ron. He realized that what he felt for Cho was just a crush, but there wasn't any depth to the feeling for the beautiful girl. Hermione was his best friend. She was the one that always helped him to figure out his problems if he would let her. Her brilliant mind always amazed him. Her heart and courage were so fierce that it almost seemed as if she were some ancient Amazon warrior. She was the very first person he ever remembered showing him unconditional affection. There was never any doubt about how she cared about him. She was his anchor; she was what kept him sane when she wasn't driving him crazy. Cho was pretty but Hermione was beautiful from the inside out.
He knew that Ron had some sort of attraction, feelings, or whatever he wanted to call it for Hermione besides being a friend, but in this, Harry wasn't going to share with Ron. He was going to make sure that his anchor was securely attached to him, nobody else. Not even Ron. He would write to Hermione as soon as he got back to the cottage and could send Hedwig out. He was looking forward to hearing from her. And Ron too.
As the three walked up to the cottage on Friday evening, Harry immediately noticed the porch seemed to have a lot more beings on it than one house elf. He stopped walking and looked at Charles.
The older wizard was smiling and said "Surprise! Thought you might like some company in your training. So I invited Ron and Hermione to come. Hope that was ok with you."
The look on the young man's face was answer enough. He dropped his pack and ran to the porch. Hermione flew off and Harry caught her, spinning her around. Ron's jaw dropped. Harry kept an arm around Hermione as he pulled Ron into a one armed bear hug. He was so glad to see his best friends.
Charles and Sirius walked up to the porch. As soon as Charles could see who the fourth human was, he smiled and respectively said "Oh see yoh Ay knee se (Hello Grandfather)!"
The old man stepped up to hug the taller wizard, "Oh see yoh Yoh nah (Hello Bear). You doing well?"
"Yes, Grandfather. I did not expect to see you here. I though Ed would come alone sir."
"As I was telling these young ones, we Stormchasers have declared war on Voldemort. We are on the Warrior's Path. Thought that there was a bit of fight left in this old warrior. Against this foe, you need all the help you can get."
"Grandfather, you are most welcome. There is more than a bit of fight left in you. Voldemort's chances just took a severe drop. Let me introduce you to Harry." Charles led the old man to his nephew who was still hanging on his friends, laughing and talking, not having noticed the older men's conversations.
"Joshua Stormchaser, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is my, and I suppose that makes him yours too, Grandfather." Harry turned loose of his friends and shook hands with Joshua. The elder wizard did something that nobody else had ever done when they had been introduced to Harry; he never looked at the scar on the teen's forehead.
He smiled and said "Harry, please as I have already asked your friends, please call me Grandfather. That would make me very happy. Now you must come and tell me everything this big Bear has been teaching you. I want to make sure he has done right by you."
"Sir, can I please introduce you to my Godfather, Sirius Black?" Sirius and the old man shook hands. Joshua looked deep into Sirius's eyes.
"You must be James's friend, Padfoot, right?"
"Yes sir. I heard James talk about the time that he met you. He was very impressed with the things that you showed him. I am glad you are on our side. I was scared to death of you when we were young. I used to think that James had pulled my leg about some of it, but after spending these last days with Charles here, I know that every bit of it is true, since you were the one that taught him. I am feeling much better about our chances as every day passes."
Charles got everyone's attention. "Ok, let's get settled and have some supper. We have a lot to talk about this evening. So everyone come on inside." Star had a delicious meal ready and everyone had a pleasant time talking and laughing together. Even Ron began to relax around the Americans. The food helped calm one of his worries.
After supper was eaten and the dishes cleared away, everyone joined Charles by the fire. It was cool enough in the evenings to warrant one and everyone got comfortable. Charles began the briefing.
"Ok, most of you don't know it but Harry had been having nightmares and dreams about a long corridor earlier this summer. I discovered that they were being fed to him from an outside source. He hasn't had one since the first night here, have you Harry?"
"No sir, not since you taught me how to build the wall," said the young man.
"I will be showing you Ron and Hermione both how to protect your mind from others. It is called…"
"Occlumency," said Hermione.
"I told you she was a genius," Harry said smiling.
"And so you were right son. Correct in one Hermione, so far it has worked. Though I am surprised at how tough Harry's wall is. Harry's abilities are usually surprising though." Star just smiled quietly, not saying a word. "We have a very serious problem. I have discussed this with Dumbledore and we have come to a conclusion. The reason that Voldemort didn't die when the AK rebounded on him, was he had an insurance policy. He had discovered how to make a Horcrux." The elder Stormchaser gasped and a hard look came over his face. It was as he has thought then.
"What is a Horcrux Mr. Charles?" Hermione asked. "I have never read about that before." Harry knew that to mean that, Horcruxs (or was it Horcrui?) were not in any normal book, mundane or magical. Because if it were mentioned, Hermione would have read about it and would remember it.
"A Horcrux is a most evil spell. A wizard will place a bit his soul into an object for safe keeping. They get the soul fragment by murdering another human being. To murder another fractures your soul because taking a human life is terrible thing even if it is self defense or in battle. But murder is what fractures the soul. By having the Horcrux, if the wizard's body is destroyed, his soul will not die. As Harry saw last spring, you can get another body. You kids have seen one before."
"The diary?" Hermione asked. Charles cut his eyes at Harry, smiling slightly.
"Yes honey, the diary. That is why poor little Ginny didn't have a chance. She was possessed by Voldemort himself. It took a basilisk fang full of venom to destroy it. Horcruxs are difficult to destroy, especially if you don't want to destroy what they are hiding in. The night that Snake breath went to the Potters, Dumbledore and I think he was going to use Harry's death to make a 7th one. Yes, a 7th one. According to Dumbledore, Riddle was fixated on the number 7 as being the most magical. So we think seven have been created."
"He created one that night, even with being hit with the killing curse?" Hermione asked.
"Once again, we are trying to make educated guesses here, so what we think happened is that since this is a long and difficult spell, Riddle had everything done up to the point of the murder that was needed. So when the AK hit him, he lost his body and so lost control of the spell. It went right on ahead and made a Horcrux."
"In what?" asked Ron quietly, not really wanting to know but scared of not knowing.
"Me," said Harry slowly. "That is why this scar never fades isn't it? That is why I have this mental thing going on with him. That son of a bitch!" Harry growled the last. "We have got to get this thing out of me! As long as I am joined with that bastard, he could control me. He could possess me like he did Ginny," Harry was getting more upset with every passing moment.
"Harry, stop! If he could do it, he would have done it already," Hermione grasped the young man's arm and gently shook it. "Look at me, we will figure out how to get this thing out of you. I know that Mr. Charles and Professor Dumbledore are already working on it. And you know that I won't quit either."
"Mate, neither will I. I know I quit on you before, but not this time. I am here for you." Ron looked Harry straight in the eye when he said this. Harry knew that his friend meant what he said.
"My young warriors, we will take care of this. Charles, you will ask Professor Dumbledore to meet us at the place I am sure you already have ready tomorrow. The ritual must be done in the sunlight, the brighter, the better. Sirius, Ron and Hermione you will also be with us on this. We have to get the evil an doe nuh doe (spirit) out of Harry. It will take a three prong attack. Charles and Ed will be the removers, Dumbledore and I will destroy it once it is free from Harry, and you three have the most important job. You have to keep Harry here; you have to anchor him in this world. Without you, this will not work. Are you willing?" Grandfather asked looking at the younger wizards.
"Of course sir, we are not going to let Harry go anywhere we can't follow." Sirius said with a fierce look on his face. "I am not going to lose you boy!"
"We aren't either!" said Hermione with tears in her eyes as Ron nodded his head in agreement. Harry just looked at everyone, he was so overcome with emotion at the love that every one of his friends had for him, he couldn't say anything for a bit.
After he got himself under control, he said "I will go through this only, and I mean only, if you can assure me that all of you will be safe. I can't let anything happen to any of you either because of me. I couldn't live with it if something did." Charles, Ed and Joshua assured Harry that he was the one in danger in this situation, not any of them.
"Ok, I guess we need to get some rest if we can. Harry, you and Ron can bunked together as Star has decided that Grandfather and Hermione are the only ones to rate their own quarters."
Charles sent Star with a note to Dumbledore asking him to meet them in the morning at the special place Charles had found for the ritual. The answer was swift in coming back. Of course he would be there.
Everyone went to their rooms and lay down on the bunks. Nobody went to sleep, except Grandfather. He knew he needed all the rest he could get before the dawn. He hoped that Dumbledore lived up to his reputation. Because to get Harry through this alive, it was going to take every supreme mage they could get their hands on. And whatever else Dumbledore might be accused of, being a run of the mill magician was not one of them. Of course, Joshua Stormchaser was nah woe tee dah nah wah gah way och way ouy(medicine war chief). Grandfather thought that between the two of them, they should be able to get the job done. With the raw energy of the young ones, the ancient lines of magic within these mountains that felt so familiar to him, yes, he felt that all of them would be able to get it done.