Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and her various corporate partners. Keldorn Firecam is owned by BioWare, Atari, or whoever it is that owns the rights to Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn these days, although I have taken several liberties with his character. I own nothing, and I am making no profit by my little ventures into the shadowy realms of fanfiction. I do so purely for enjoyment. I would, however, like to thank JKR for allowing us all to play in her sandbox.
Harry Potter and the Knight of the Radiant Heart
XX
The next day Harry Potter had a spring in his step as he went about his duties. He had a bright smile on his face as he diligently focused on his reading, he tapped his feet and twirled his tools as he groomed Buckbeak, and he even whistled a jaunty tune as he shoveled manure out of the stables. Now, as he was covered in protective gear and sparring with Neville, he couldn't help but punctuate his movements with little shouts of victory.
Neville lunged forward with his wooden sword in an attack that Harry met with his own blade moving into contre sixte. He started his riposte, but Neville met it with his shield.
Neville Longbottom had taken to the sword like a fish to water. While Harry was still further along than his fellow Gryffindor, Neville was quickly catching up.
The sound of wood striking against wood, punctuated by the occasional laugh from Harry filled the air as the two young men continued their duel.
Most of the students, including the Weasleys, had departed on the train that morning for Christmas break, but a few stragglers had stayed behind. Neville jokingly said that he couldn't to take two weeks off from sword work while Harry would still be training. He wouldn't let Harry gain such an advantage.
Neville shifted into quarte before thrusting at Harry's face. Harry responded by bringing his shield up to block the attack, but the move resulted in obscuring his field of vision. He realized his error almost a second too late, but managed to leap back in time to avoid Neville's swipe at his knees.
Hermione had stayed at the castle as well. Harry was overjoyed at this of course, but internally couldn't help but feel a little guilty about it. No matter what she told him, he knew that she had stayed just to be with him for the holidays. The problem was that squires apparently didn't get extended breaks from their training. He might not have any classes over the next two weeks, but that just meant his time was filled with more studying of the Summa Philosophiae, exercise, menial labor, and training.
Idle hands were the play things of the Darkness according to Keldorn.
While Harry was slightly off-balance, Neville pressed his attack with a series of quick, lateral slashes that had Harry back-peddling and on the defensive.
Harry had argued with Hermione, trying to get her to spend the break with her parents, but she was having none of it. She insisted that her parents would be fine and that she would rather spend Christmas with her newly-minted boyfriend. He didn't understand how she could be so dismissive of spending time with her parents, but earlier that very morning, Hermione shut Harry up and decisively won the argument with a long, heated kiss.
Hermione fought dirty.
Harry didn't mind.
While Neville was pressing his advantage, Harry switched gears and stood his ground. Caught unaware, Neville's next attack swung wide, and Harry used the opening to step in close and throw his weight into bashing his shield against his opponent's. Neville stumbled backwards and Harry lunged for the center of his opponent's chest.
"Ha ha!" Harry exclaimed as his attack struck home.
"Halt!" Keldorn cried. The two wizards straightened and turned to face their instructor.
"Harry," the knight continued, "that was a smart move at the end, but be more careful of your footing. Do not leap - when your feet are off the ground you are helpless. Mr. Longbottom, do not over-commit your forward momentum. You were right to press your advantage, but you over-extended yourself."
Harry and Neville both nodded at the advice given to them before turning to face each other once more.
"Now, again," Keldorn said and the two wizards shifted into their ready positions. "En garde. Begin!"
Harry feinted right and then disengaged Neville's parry, continuing the attack. But Neville wasn't so easily fooled and countered the move. The two combatants circled each other for a moment, neither wanting to initiate the next move. Harry decided to spice things up and began lightly bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet while he lowered his guard, changing the tempo of the bout.
"Come on, Nev," he taunted, deciding to try and get in his opponent's head a little bit, "whatcha got?"
Neville responded with a quick forward attack, just as Harry was hoping. He dropped low, extending his sword in a coup d'arrêt, hoping Neville's forward momentum would carry him into the blade. Neville parried with a circular motion, ending with his sword in octave and locking the two blades in a bind. He then surprised Harry by bringing the edge of his shield down sharply against Harry's sword a few inches above the cross-guard.
The sword fell to the floor with a clatter.
Harry almost panicked. He was disarmed and caught in a crouch. He threw his body to the right, avoiding Neville's follow-through attack, and rolled back to his feet. But the move had taken him several feet away from his weapon and left him with only his shield.
He cursed under his breath as Neville advanced. Blows began to rain down upon Harry's shield as he frantically tried to dodge. Neville kept himself positioned between Harry and his lost weapon, skillfully cutting off Harry's desperate attempts to regain his sword.
At a loss for what to do, Harry decided to gamble. With a shout, he threw his shield at his opponent and followed directly after, diving at Neville with hope of wrestling him to the ground.
Neville, however, stood his ground, and Harry's dive stopped rather abruptly as his face smashed into Neville's shield.
Harry groaned, lying flat on his back, and looked up through watery eyes to see Neville standing above him with his sword at his throat.
"Halt," Keldorn sighed.
Harry slowly picked himself up and then removed his helmet. He touched his nose and looked at his fingers and finding them stained bright red. His hand went back to pinch his tender nose to try and stem the flow of blood.
"Mr. Longbottom," the knight began, "well done. You took excellent advantage of your opponent's ill-conceived actions and did not allow him to regain his balance.
"Harry," he continued with a slight bit of heat entering his voice, "how many times do I have to tell you to stop relying on that stop-hit? The coup d'arrêt may work well to surprise a novice, but using it against any opponent with even a modicum of experience will simply leave you exposed and defenseless. Do you understand me?"
Harry swallowed before responding, fingers still pinching his nose shut.
"Bes, sir."
Keldorn sighed.
"Is your nose broken?"
"I don' dink so."
"That's enough for today. Neville, you are welcome to train with my squire again tomorrow after breakfast. Harry, once you stop bleeding, I want one hundred sit-ups to help you remember to hold on to your weapon."
"Bes, sir."
"Sorry about your nose, Harry," Neville said somewhat shyly as he removed his equipment.
"Don' borry abou' id, Nev," he replied.
Later, as Harry counted out his sit-ups, he wondered if his face was turning black and blue. Maybe he could wring some sympathy out of Hermione if it did…
He smiled as he continued his exercises.
OoOoO
OoOoO
Harry Potter awoke bright and early on Christmas morning. He glanced at the foot of his bed to see several wrapped packages awaiting him. He threw off his covers and put on his bathrobe before grabbing his presents and making his way down to the common room.
Harry smiled as he sat down on the sofa in front of the fire. Keldorn had given him his gift the night before – a day off from training and service. He lounged in front of the warm flames in contentment. He had almost forgotten what having free time was like.
Eventually, Hermione emerged from the girl's dormitory, wrapped in a fluffy, red and gold robe, her wild hair all over the place, and her arms laden with gifts.
Harry leapt to his feet with a grin.
"Happy Christmas, Hermione!"
"Happy Christmas, Harry!" she said before gently setting her presents down on the coffee table and then enveloping the young wizard in a tight hug.
"Now then," she said, pulling back from him, "let's get to the presents!"
"Don't I get a good morning kiss?" Harry asked.
"What makes you think you deserve one?"
"Well, I am your boyfriend, and it is Christmas after all."
"Fine," she grumbled good-naturedly, "I suppose I will acquiesce to just one." With that she gave Harry a quick, light peck on the lips before settling down on the couch.
"That's it?!"
"Harry Potter! You should know better by now than to come between a Granger and her presents on Christmas morning!"
"Fine," he gave in, "but I expect more afterwards."
"We'll see about that, mister."
They spent the next half-hour opening the various packages that they had received from their friends. They both got new jumpers from Mrs. Weasley, as well as chocolates from Ron. Among other things, Harry received a large box of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes from Fred and George, and Hermione got a fancy new quill from Ginny. They saved their presents for each other for last.
Harry gave Hermione a thick tome entitled Nuances in Numerology as well as a necklace with a small blue gem suspended from a delicate silver chain. She seemed very pleased with her gifts, although Harry couldn't really tell if she was happier about the necklace or the book. Probably the book.
Hermione in turn gave Harry two gifts. The first was a framed picture of the two of them dancing and smiling happily at each other. It was obviously taken during Slughorn's Christmas party.
"Do you like it?" she nervously asked.
"I love it," he replied. "That was one of the best nights of my life. Now, I'll always remember it with this."
Harry unwrapped the second gift to find a small leather pouch with a drawstring.
"It's a mokeskin pouch," Hermione explained as Harry inspected it. "It's enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm, so it has a larger than normal carrying capacity and also so that only the owner can retrieve whatever is placed inside. Mokeskin itself shrinks whenever a stranger begins looking for it, so it's impossible to steal it."
"Hermione, this is great! How much can fit inside?"
"Quite a bit, I believe."
"You're the best."
They spent the next couple of hours happily cuddling together in front of the fire.
OoOoO
OoOoO
Later that morning, Harry and Hermione decided to go for a walk around the grounds. So they bundled themselves into their warmest clothes, their new jumpers, and their winter cloaks before heading out into the cold.
There was about a foot of snow covering the ground; most of it had fallen over the course of the previous two days. Harry and Hermione simply smiled as they made their way through it hand in hand.
Eventually they decided to pay a visit to Buckbeak and Aristotle, their hippogriffs from their riding class. As they made their way over to the enclosure, they noticed that the creatures had left the warmth of their barn to wander in their snow-covered pen.
Before they got much closer, a loud voice startled the two teenagers.
"Merry Christmas, Harry! Hermione!"
They turned to see Hagrid approaching them from the other side of the barn.
"Hagrid," they replied together, "Happy Christmas!"
"Wha're yeh two doin' out in the cold?"
"We just thought we'd pay a visit to Books and Buckbeak before the feast," Hermione responded.
"Well, good on yeh fer tha'," the half-giant said. "Those two've def'nitely taken a shinin' to yeh."
The three friends approached the fences together. Harry and Hermione entered the enclosure while Hagrid remained outside. They came to Buckbeak first. When they bowed to the graceful creature, it immediately returned the gesture, but they were taken aback when the entire herd of hippogriffs bowed as well.
"Hagrid?" Hermione asked, turning to the gamekeeper, "Why are they all acting like that?"
"Heh," he replied, "don' yeh worry yehrself, now, Hermione. Tain't really nuthin' yeh've done. Rather, it's our Beaky there. He's been pushin' his weight around a bit lately. Think he musta fixed himself as the alpha o' this here group. The rest o' them seem ter be followin' his direction enough."
"Is that right, Buckbeak?" Harry asked as he approached the animal in question and gave him an affectionate pat on the side of the neck. Buckbeak chirped and nodded in response before straightening up as if to put himself on display.
"Yes, yes," Harry said with an amused smile, "You're very magnificent. I'm happy that the rest of the herd has finally recognized it too." Buckbeak continued to preen under Harry's attention.
Hermione laughed before she felt a nudge from behind.
"Books!" she exclaimed, turning to see her hippogriff.
The creature snapped its beak and tossed its head, looking away from her.
"Oh, don't be like that. I was just looking for you. You know I love you best."
"You love him best, huh?" Harry asked her over his shoulder.
"Jealous?" she replied to Harry as Aristotle gave in to her ministrations.
Harry and Hermione spent a little while with Hagrid and their favorite hippogriffs before bidding them farewell and heading back to the castle to get ready for the Christmas feast.
When they arrived in the great hall later on, they saw the place had been once again transformed for the occasion. Twelve tall Christmas trees lined the back wall, and decorations hung from every conceivable surface. Live fairies flitted about the room, bringing their bright, multicolored lights wherever they went. There was one long table in the middle of the hall decked out in festive decorations and Christmas crackers and laden with food. Most of the staff that had remained in the castle for the holidays was already seated including Dumbledore, Firecam, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and Hagrid, as well as Neville and several of the other students that were around. Harry and Hermione greeted everyone at large before finding seats across from Keldorn and McGonagall.
"Well," the Deputy Headmistress began, "if it isn't my two lions coming to join us at last. Merry Christmas, you two."
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione replied for them both.
Dumbledore rose to his feet and tapped a spoon against his crystal goblet, gathering everyone's attention.
"It is wonderful to have you all here at this merry occasion," he said. "Let us enjoy this time together in celebration. Merry Christmas! Tuck in!"
The food was delicious as always and soon the sound of laughter filled the air, punctuated occasionally by one of the loud, wizarding Christmas crackers. Harry and Hermione pulled one together and from inside appeared a rather well-made, black bowler hat. Hermione immediately placed it on Harry's head.
"Beautiful!" she exclaimed, "I think it suits you wonderfully!"
"I don't think so, Hermione," Harry replied as he removed the offending article.
"Nonsense," McGonagall interjected, "I think she's right. You young wizards today don't pay nearly enough attention to your appearance as you should. It's only right for a young man such as yourself to wear a proper hat."
"As my squire," Keldorn added, turning to McGonagall, "I could, of course, order him to wear the hat. That is, if you so wish it, Madam."
Harry was gob-smacked at being teased by both his mentor and his usually stern head of house.
"You wouldn't," was all he could manage to say in response.
"It would help cover up this mop," Hermione teased as she ruffled Harry's perpetually messy hair.
Eventually, after everyone's belly was full and the eggnog had been passed around twice, Keldorn rose from his seat.
"Harry," the paladin began, "once you are finished here, I must ask you to stop by my quarters. It will not take long."
"Yes, sir," he replied automatically.
The old knight glanced at Hermione before turning back to Harry. "Miss Granger may accompany you, if you so wish." He then turned to the rest of the table. "I'm afraid that I must now bid you all goodnight. Any more feasting would simply be too much for my constitution. Thank you for including me in this wonderful celebration. Merry Christmas!" And with a short crisp bow directed at McGonagall and another to Dumbledore, Keldorn strode out of the great hall.
"I wonder what he wants," Hermione mused aloud.
"No idea," Harry replied. "He told me that I had today off."
"I guess we'll find out together then."
A few moments later, Dumbledore grabbed their attention.
"Tell me, Harry, how are things progressing with Sir Keldorn?"
"Well so far, I think," he replied.
"That is good to hear. You have been able to keep up with your work from your remaining classes?"
"Yes, sir."
"And the strain has not been too much for you? I know that our good paladin has been working you rather hard."
"No, sir. I'm fine."
"Good. I trust that you will let me know if it becomes too much for you."
"Okay."
"Miss Granger," the Headmaster continued, turning to the young witch, "I also hope that you will let me know if Harry begins overextending himself."
"Of course, sir," she replied.
"Excellent. Now, I'm afraid that I too must retire. I'm not as young as I used to be after all."
OoOoO
OoOoO
Later that evening, Harry and Hermione stood before the door to Keldorn's office. Harry knocked.
"Enter," came the gruff voice of the knight from the other side.
The two teens entered the office and found Sr. Keldorn Firecam coming around from behind his desk, a small stream of smoke trailing from the pipe in his hand.
"Good. You're here," he said. "I have something for you, Harry."
"But you already gave me the day off as a Christmas present," Harry answered.
"Ah, this is not meant as a 'Christmas present,' per se, although you may think of it as such if you wish. No, I arranged for this as soon as you entered my service. It has just now been completed."
With that, Keldorn gestured for Harry to look over at his own desk in the corner of the room.
Harry, with Hermione in tow, walked over to the desk and found a large, wooden box, and with a glance at his mentor, he pried off the top. Inside he found a long shirt made of tiny metal rings, a jacket made out of black, padded cloth, a long, blue, sleeveless tunic, and a wide leather belt. He looked up at the knight with a wordless question in his eyes.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "this is armor! Sir Firecam had your own armor made for you!"
"Indeed," said the knight. "Normally, a squire would arm himself in this simple manner as soon as he was accepted into a paladin's service. However, as such things are not readily available in this world, I had to have these custom made for you. Thus the delay."
"Try it on, Harry," Hermione said with excitement, "I want to see how you look!"
"Go on," the knight encouraged.
Harry shrugged out of his Gryffindor robe before picking up the metal shirt.
"No," said Keldorn as he moved over to assist. "First you must put on the gambeson." Keldorn reached into the box and lifted out the padded jacket. "It will keep the heavy armor from chaffing against your skin."
Harry took the gambeson from Keldorn and tried it on. Hermione came over and helped him do up the ties on the front.
"You will find that the sleeves of your gambeson contain a sheath for your wand," said the knight. "This is an innovation on my part, but the Deputy Headmistress assures me that carrying your wand in such a manner is rather common among the Aurors."
Harry inspected his sleeves and quickly found the aforementioned built-in wand sheaths.
"Next comes the hauberk," Keldorn said as he handed over the shirt of metal rings.
Harry lifted it over his head and settled it on his shoulders. It took him a few moments to struggle into the armor. The chainmail reached down to just above his knees but was divided below the waist in the front and the back to allow for a full range of motion. It had two full-length sleeves to cover his arms. It was really heavy - he could feel the weight of the armor bearing down on his shoulders.
"Next is your surcoat," said Keldorn.
The lightweight, blue cloth slipped easily over Harry's head and covered most of the chainmail. Only the metal on Harry's arms was left exposed. Like the hauberk, it was divided below the waist. Harry noticed that it was the same shade of blue that Keldorn always wore.
"Your belt."
Harry fastened the wide, black leather belt around his waist. Keldorn shook his head and readjusted it to his liking. Surprisingly, once it was settled, merely having the belt around his waist seemed to take some of the weight of the chainmail off his shoulders.
"And finally," said Keldorn, "this." The knight's hands went to his own belt and removed a long dagger. I was in a black, leather sheath with scrollwork done in silver along the sides. He handed the it to Harry.
Harry carefully unsheathed the blade and inspected it. It was very bright, as if it had been polished to perfection. It was light in his hand, weighing next to nothing. There was a small, red jewel worked into the pommel. But more than anything else, Harry's impression of the weapon came from what he thought to be a slight humming that emanated from within it.
"This dagger is a weapon of the Light. It was given to me when I was a squire by my master. Now it is yours. Take good care of it and it will serve you well."
Harry looked up at his mentor and nodded his head.
"I will."
Keldorn then helped him attach the sheath to his belt.
"Well," Harry said as he turned to Hermione, "what do you think?"
"I think you look rather dashing," she replied with a smile as she slowly walked around him, inspecting his new look. "My own knight in shining armor."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Keldorn said. "In any event, you will keep these items in good repair and remember to keep the hauberk free of rust. You will begin dressing in this manner every day starting tomorrow. I think you will soon find wearing this to be a rather heavy burden, especially in the first few weeks."
Harry's smile faltered slightly at that comment.
"Carrying the extra weight will prove difficult, especially during your exercises, but I trust you will manage. It will build your strength."
"Yes, sir."
"That is all for now," Keldorn said by way of dismissal. "You may return to your day off."
The two teens turned to the door, but before leaving, Harry looked back to his mentor.
"Thank you, sir."
"Wear it with honor, Harry. That is the only thanks I need."
With that they left and made their way to Gryffindor Tower.
As they were walking, Hermione took Harry's hand with a small giggle.
"What?" he asked.
"Well… it's just… you make quite a bit of noise now, walking through the hallways," she said with a smile. "I'll always know when you're coming now. Kind of like putting a bell on Crookshanks."
"Funny," he replied. But as he walked, he paid a bit more attention to the noise he was making. Hermione was right. The chainmail did jostle and jingle quite a bit.
"Good thing we're not trying to sneak about the castle quite as much this year," he eventually said.
"Yes it is."
"I'm surprised actually," Harry continued with a grin, "that you haven't been hounding me to break more rules like you normally do."
"Harry Potter!" Hermione exclaimed in indignation, "I do not hound you to break rules!"
"Okay, Miss let's-brew-polyjuice-in-the-girl's-loo."
She responded by slapping him on the shoulder.
"Ouch," she said while shaking her hand. "That hurts."
Harry just laughed.
Once in the common room, Hermione began inspecting Harry's new apparel much more closely.
"Are you still there under all those layers?" she joked as she prodded him here and there.
Harry laughed in response.
"I suppose I better think twice before I hit you on the shoulder again. I might break my hand."
"That you better."
"That's okay. I know plenty of hexes."
"I'll show you a hex!" Harry replied before leaping at Hermione. The young witch shrieked as she ran from him. Harry caught her after a few playful moments and wrapped his arms around her in a tender embrace.
"You do feel nice and strong in this though," she said. "I feel very safe in your metal-covered arms."
"I'm glad," he replied before leaning in for a kiss.
"Merry Christmas, Harry."
"Merry Christmas, Hermione."
AN: Thanks for the reviews! And thanks for reading!