Chapter 10: Protections
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter and am in no way associated with J K Rowling or Warner Brothers.
Erfolg was the first to wake the next morning bright and early. Amber stirred at his movement.
"What time is it?" She asked with a yawn.
Erfolg looked down at his watch. "A quarter to seven. I wouldn't mind seeing the sunrise dismorning."
"Sure." Amber said.
"Can we come?" came from three different voices from behind the two dragons.
Erfolg and Amber shared a look.
"I suppose it won't hurt, we can fill Daphne and Tracey in on details that they are missing." Amber said.
Erfolg nodded in agreement.
"Sounds fine to me." Daphne said.
"Me two." Tracey agreed.
"I always liked the cool morning myself." Minerva replied smiling.
"Alright then, but I want to get something to eat before we head out, I'm starving." Amber said.
"Well in that case follow me." Minerva said.
They walked out and almost stepped on a sleeping Dumbledore right outside the portrait. Quietly they all stepped over him making sure not to wake the sleeping professor. Together they quietly made their way down towards the kitchens. When they got there they were asked by odd little elf-like creatures what they wanted to eat.
The five however had not forgotten last nights events and were not about to eat anything without testing it first.
"Did you cook the feast last night?" Erfolg asked.
"Yes. We always cook the meals here." one of the elves said.
"And you know exactly what goes into each and every piece of food?" Amber asked.
"Yes." another elf said.
"Then tell me, why we had to go hungry last night due to loyalty potions being detected in almost everyone's food in the hall last night!" Erfolg said in a dangerous voice.
"We can't." one elf started.
"Then you will tell me!" Minerva ordered. "I am deputy head mistress and the rules state that you are not allowed to keep secrets from me regarding the well being of students and staff!"
"We were ordered by the headmaster to put those vile potions in the food of everyone except himself, Professor Snape, and that of Ronald Weasley." the elf said with disgust as he shuddered at the memory, "We were forbidden to alert anyone last night."
"Well as deputy headmistress I am ordering you to not follow anymore of the headmaster's orders." Minerva said, "As deputy headmistress I am placing the headmaster on probation for the next year as the school policy states."
"Does that include any orders regarding you five dismorning?" another elf asked.
"Yes." Minerva said, "What did he order you to do?"
"Same as last night except just on you five today." the elf said.
"Is the food tampered with yet?" Erfolg asked.
"No." the elf said.
"We'll see won't we." Erfolg said testily.
Together Amber and Erfolg cast the same draconic spell over all the food that was in the kitchens. Thankfully none of the orange glow turned red.
"I apologise for not trusting you, but when it comes to our safety we were not willing to go on your word alone." Erfolg said.
"We understand, and took no pleasure in doing it last night." the little elf said.
"Do you have the potion yet?" Amber asked.
"Yes, it is over there." another elf said, pointing to a large container.
Amber took great pleasure in destroying the container with her fire much to the awe of Daphne and Tracey.
"Alright, so what do you want to eat?" the elves asked eagerly, trying to make up for the previous night's events.
After a bit of discussion they decided on bacon sandwiches with a bottle of water each. When the meal was all packed and checked again it was now twenty past seven.
Together they headed to the grounds and found a secluded place overlooking the forbidden forest. Erfolg and Amber put up privacy wards, anti-apparition wards, anti-portkey wards, and collision wards.
"Well let's start with what we can do with protecting the three of you when we aren't around." Amber started.
"Are you thinking of that ritual that I was telling you about the other night?" Erfolg asked.
"The very same." Amber said.
"What does it do?" Daphne asked.
"It changes what species you are." Erfolg said.
"You mean we would become dragons?" Tracey asked curiously.
"Yes." Amber said, "But you would become our species of dragon, which has the unique ability of transforming into a human form using draconic magic which would be the first thing we would show you. However, this is completely up to you and if you don't want to go through with it then that is up to you. It won't change our opinions of you in the slightest."
"The reason why I am allowing this as an option is that it is going to get extremely dangerous around us soon." Erfolg said with a heavy sigh.
"What do you mean by dangerous?" Minerva asked.
"Voldemort is still out there somewhere, very close, possibly in the forbidden forest." Erfolg explained.
"I thought he died the night your parents died." Tracey said.
"He was defeated not killed." Erfolg said, "It's impossible to kill him right now."
"He made things called horcruxes." Amber explained.
Minerva's face instantly hardened, "That bastard!" she whispered.
"We don't know how many there are." Erfolg said quietly, "But knowing him it's probably going to be a lot."
Minerva nodded nervously.
"Could someone explain to us what these horcrux things are?" Tracey and Daphne asked simultaneously.
Minerva was still in shock so it was left to Erfolg to explain. "They are some of the darkest magic that exists in this world. It requires a dark ritual to bind a part of the user's soul to an object by murdering someone. As long as they exist he can't be killed and will be in some sort of spirit form."
"That's horrible!" Daphne exclaimed. Tracey was nodding her head in agreement.
"As you can imagine this is going to create a very dangerous situation for us all. We all know that death eaters got away and we don't know the depth of corruption in the government yet. This is why I suggest this ritual. It will allow you to use draconic magic with training and allow you to transform yourselves between draconic and human form." Amber said.
"We also have potential enemies that should supposedly be on our side." Erfolg said.
Not a word was said in response to that statement as everyone knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Are there any dangers?" Tracey asked finally.
"Other than a few momentary light burns from the ritual then no." Erfolg said, "These won't harm you though."
"I'll do it on one condition." Daphne said. Erfolg nodded for her to continue. "That I be allowed to accompany you two whenever you go up against Voldemort and his allies." Daphne said with Minerva and Tracey nodding as well.
Erfolg nodded his acceptance. "I will allow it on one condition of my own. However, none of us will be going on these missions until we are fully trained and able to use the skills we are going to show you without even having to think about doing it. It has to be second nature. As fast as Amber and I are, we wouldn't be much of a match against Voldemort right now if he did show up."
Everyone nodded their acceptance of these conditions.
"Well we might as well get started right now." Erfolg said.
In an instant there was a swirling pillar of flame and the five of them had vanished.
A/N: Next chapter will contain the ritual. I know in the books that they start lessons the following day, but in my opinion it makes for more sense to allow the first years time to find their way around the castle and the years above first year to do some practice spellwork since they aren't allowed to do magic at home while underage. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review it really does help.
