Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 6: The Spirit
"One… two… THREE!"
Harry yanked up on the broom and tried like hell to hold on as it shot into the air. He saw the stands come into view and screamed, throwing his weight up and scraping over the top by an inch. He tried to slow down but the broom didn't seem to hear him. He was forced to try and control it as it careened along the ground.
All he could do was try to aim the thing like a bull in a rodeo as it bucked and vibrated at sixty miles per hour. He crashed near the dock and stumbled to his feet. He stuck the Chimera to a tree with a quick fixing charm and added a really nasty curse for anyone who tried to take it.
He dashed down the dock and stopped by the walkway up the Durmstrang ship.
"Ayauhteotl!" Harry waved his wand and a multicolor mist appeared over the walk, revealing the wards. Harry dipped his wand into each node and spun it around like a baton, watching the changing color.
It was like a combination lock, he just had to match them up… done!
Harry ran through the mist and dashed up to the back of the ship and grabbed the wheel. If his ten minutes spent reading up on magical boats was anything to go on the starter should be… somewhere?
Harry glanced from the incomprehensible mass of Victorian-looking knobs and switches on the wide control panel to the three dimensional, ships wheel attached to the middle of a gyroscope.
Bugger… wait! There were little panels above the controls. Labels… labels in German. Bugger. The only one he could read was the ship's name, in bold copperplate above the controls.
The Spirit of Njordr
"Well Spirit, just you and me." Harry put his hand on the throttle, the only control he could recognize. He pushed it forward and the ship surged away from the dock. He pushed it further and felt the wind flow through his hair. Ok, this was cool. He rounded the little cape and the stands of students came into view. Harry grinned, he reached into his robe and pulled out a leather pirate's hat.
If he was going down he could at least put on a good show.
"THAT LITTLE BASTARD! HE'S STOLEN MY BLOODY SHIP!"
"I believe I remember hearing you say he could take it out whenever he wanted Igor." Dumbledore commented airily. "I believe Harry takes that kind of thing seriously."
Harry grabbed the ships wheel and threw it forwards sharply. It rolled forward, swinging in its cradle, and the ship's nose dipped down into the water. Harry gritted his teeth as the Spirit slid down into lake. The water arched up over the top like it was sluicing over a glass ceiling. Harry forced himself to breath as the last of the sky disappeared and he was surrounded by water.
Harry tried not to think about it. He raised his head and whistled at the dark water. After a long moment a glowing shape appeared and came in close to the ship.
"Miss Myrtle," Harry waved his hat at the floating figure. "Lead the way!"
"Aye, aye!" Myrtle flew away towards the front of the ship. Harry angled the odd wheel to follow her. The darkness carried on endlessly, Harry could feel the water all around him. Harry tried to keep himself distracted , unfortunately there wasn't much there to distract him. He glanced over the ship, it wasn't that large, it was thin with a single mast. A… cutter… possibly? His reading last night hadn't been very extensive on ship identification. He'd skipped right on to the basics of steering magical ships.
Great… lot of help that had been.
The ship had four catapults, two on each side. Probably already planning a dramatic victory celebration. The rest of the ship was spotless, varnished and cleaned down to the last brass railing. Harry grinned, now he knew why Karkaroff had brought so many students when it was obvious he favored Krum. He was using them to swab the decks.
Harry raised himself up on his tiptoes and looked out past the end of the ship and past the glowing specter out in front. There was a forest of seaweed, or lake-weed maybe, stretching out in front of them. It was tall enough to arch up over the ship, Harry groaned as he saw Myrtle disappear into it.
As the ship moved into the forest the kelp (lake-kelp?) slid through the water-wards around the ship and fell onto the decks. Without the water they couldn't stay upright and fell like wet spaghetti. As the ship moved forward they slid off again just as new ones fell down. It was creepy, like the lake was trying to grab hold of the ship with slippery fingers.
A shoal of silvery fish surrounded the ship, shimmering like a rainbow. Then they changed and flickered in waves of yellow and green, rippling in bands across the shoal. Harry wondered idily whether they were magic or they were just catching the light.
Suddenly the shoal broke apart and swam away from the ship, disappearing in an instant into the darkness behind the ship.
"Oh, that can't be good." Harry looked around desperately for what they were running from. Out ahead Myrtle had disappeared into the gloom. A shadow passed over the ship, moving fast through the water. Harry's eyes flicked up but it had already disappeared into the seaweed. "Bugger…"
Harry's hand moved to the throttle and he pushed it forward sharply, the ship surged forward. Hopefully away from the thing. Something green flashed through the kelp to the left, keeping pace. Harry hit the throttle harder and the wheel began to vibrate. He held on grimly as the weeds shot past faster and faster. The green thing kept pace, swinging closer through the underwater jungle. Suddenly it jerked towards him, Harry swung the wheel wildly but the green thing kept coming. It shot through the wards and slapped down onto the decks.
Harry slammed the throttle back, bringing the ship to a stop and stepped out from behind the steering column. The green thing straightened up, dripping, it looked like a weird horse standing up on its hind legs, standing at least eight feet tall. It's arms ended in claws instead of hooves, giant three fingered claws. It's horse head… no more like a muzzly dog… was covered in lank hair, like it was part of the seaweed.
"Are you a Grindylow or a Kelpie?" Harry backed away from the thing as it stomped towards him. "Or maybe a Kappa? God I wish I'd paid attention to Lupin."
The thing lifted it's head and brayed, showing Harry that it's teeth were sharp, serrated fangs.
"Stupefy!" Harry jabbed his wand at the thing, the spell flew out and impacted into it's chest. It didn't even flinch. Instead it screeched and lunged towards him like a bull, Harry rolled out of the way and it crashed into the floor in a mass of flailing wet limbs.
"If I knew what you were I could fight you!" Harry yelled in frustration as the thing lurched to its feet and came after him at a run. Harry spun and fled off the back deck, dashing out of reach of the creatures flailing claws. He put the mast between him and it. It lurched left, Harry matched it. It turned right, Harry matched it again and it screeched like a banshee.
"Acerbus cus…" Harry bit back on the last word. If he went to dark magic and they found out he was out of the tournament. Harry looked the creature over, heavily muscled forearms and torso, ribs like armored ridges, thin legs… Thin legs on hooves.
"Ferio!" Harry aimed at the hooves and they slid on the wet wood. The creature went down again, crashing headfirst into the floor. It scrambled up again, it's feet slipping like a cat on linoleum, and hissed. A moment later it was down on all fours, it's claws scraping on the deck.
"Clever bastard." Harry jumped backwards as it bounded towards him. He had to duck under it's swiping claws as it tried to take his head off. A moment later he felt his back hit wood, he was out of room.
The thing reared up triumphantly, bringing an arm back to deliver the final blow.
"Accio!" Harry aimed under the thing's arm at the shinning throttle. The Spirit shot forward, throwing both Harry and the thing off their feet. The creature dropped onto one of the catapults, its head resting on the cradle.
"Diffindo!" Harry aimed at the rope holding the catapult down and it snapped up, bringing the creatures head with it. There was a hideous crack and the creature's neck twisted back. It stumbled backwards and dropped to the floor, it's limbs flailing. Harry watched as it shook then grew still, it's head pointing gruesomely backwards.
"Whatever you are you're dead now." Harry stumbled back to the wheel and pulled the throttle back to a more reasonable speed. Myrtle had disappeared, Harry whistled again but she didn't rematerialize. Oh great… wait…
There was a screechy warbling sound coming out of the water. It sounded like the song from the egg. Harry spun the wheel to the right to follow the sound and pushed the throttle forward. The Spirit kept on sliding through the black water, except it wasn't as black now. Harry left the controls and went to the side.
Ahead and down there were lights appearing out of the murk. Little lights moving, flickering, some arranged in lines. The lights followed a pattern, laid out along promenades or grouped in clumps near buildings. A city, a city underwater. Harry spun the wheel forward and the Spirit began to descend.
Figures swam up to meet the ship as it floated down, figures with grey, scaly skin and fishes tails.
"Mermaids?" Harry glanced at the mythical creatures keeping pace with him. Several of them were carrying mean looking weaponry and had weird tribal tattoos standing out in red against their pale grey skin. They didn't look like the Disney kind of mermaid, not unless they upped the rating.
Harry aimed for the biggest concentration of lights, in the middle of the city. There was some kind of town square, hundreds of the fish people were clustered around something in the middle. Harry swung the ship around to get a better look.
There were three human figures tied up with thick, kelpy ropes to a boulder in the center of the square and an open space where it looked like another figure had been. Harry squinted, trying to identify them through the murk. Two he didn't recognize but the third jumped out at him, her blond hair making a dandelion crown around her head, Susan Bones.
Harry cursed as he realized he couldn't actually get the ship down to them without crushing them in the process. He stuck an arm through the ward, wand outstretched.
"Relashio!" The ropes around Susan released and she drifted free away from the stone. "Accio!" Harry aimed again and her body changed direction and came shooting towards him. The moment she fell through the wards she began spluttering and looking around in shock.
"Harry where the hell… are we on a ship?"
"No, it's your imagination." Harry pulled her to her feet. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I think…" Susan looked herself over. "Dumbledore said we wouldn't wake up until we reached the surface."
"Ward must have screwed with it." Harry shrugged and hurried back to the controls. He lifted the ship away from the square and sent it off the way he'd came as quickly as he could.
"What the hell is that!"
"What…?" Harry looked where Susan was pointing. "Oh… Dead Kappa."
"That's not a Kappa!" Susan said, her voice high with shock. "Kappa's are about this tall." She put her hand at her shoulder to demonstrate.
"Ok… It's a tall Kappa? It ate lots of spinach? Is this really the most important thing happening right now?"
Susan shook her head then frowned and pointed ahead of them.
"And what's that?" She was pointing at a moving, eel like shape in the dark beyond the bow.
"What's… damn it!" Harry whirled the wheel to avoid it but they were already too close. It splashed through the wards and landed on the deck. Harry ran up, wand outstretched and ready for a fight, then burst out laughing. "You look ridiculous!"
"This isn't funny Potter." Malfoy canceled his bubblehead charm, dragged a clump of seaweed off his head and threw it at Harry, who dodged easily. Beside him Pansy was waking up and staring blearily at her surroundings. The eel thing looked like it was made of shadows and seemed to dissolving into the floor now that it was out of the water. Malfoy watched it disappear and cursed. "Do you know how long it'll take to make another one of them?"
"Not my fault." Harry shrugged.
"You ran into me!"
"Yeah well… um…" Harry paused, trying to think of any way in which it was not his fault. Malfoy saved him the trouble.
"What the hell is that!"
"Spinach Kappa."
"Are you crazy Potter that's clearly a Kelpie!"
"Well if you knew the answer why did you ask?"
"I was wondering why a Kelpie with a broken neck was decomposing on the deck of your sh…" Malfoy looked around, seeming to take in his surroundings for the first time. "YOU STOLE A SHIP!"
"Technically it's not theft, it's piracy."
"Potter you-"
"Guys!" Susan interrupted. "Shouldn't someone be steering?"
Harry looked at the unattended control panel then back at Malfoy. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Girls," Harry shrugged. "Always complaining."
Harry grinned at Susan's outraged expression and trotted up the ships wheel. But as he got there a glowing figure materialized out of the blackness behind them.
"Harry You have to get out of here!" Myrtle yelled, her whole ectoplasmic body vibrating in fear.
"Myrtle where did you-"
"Harry just go!" Myrtle screamed, glancing back behind her. "It's the giant squid!"
Harry followed her gaze, there was something moving out there certainly… something big but… NO!
Harry jerked the wheel just in time as a massive fleshy tentacle came out of nowhere and crashed through the railing, raking the deck to Harry's left.
"Get bellow!" Harry yelled to his passengers as he threw the throttle to full. The ship surged forward just as another arm tried to grab at the mast. Harry saw a massive eye through the darkness to the left, giant and red and bloodshot and staring right at him. Harry jerked the wheel down and the Spirit rose past the monster, the eye disappearing into the murk. Suddenly an arm came out of nowhere and wrapped around the bow of the ship, spinning them around. Harry drew his wand but before he could use it a bolt of silver light impacted the tentacle and it flailed away, smoking.
Harry saw Malfoy stumble away from the front of the ship and dash towards him.
"What the hell is going on!"
"Giant squid!" Harry yelled back.
"I know that! I mean this!" Malfoy waved at the complicated control panel. "Do you even know how to pilot this ship?"
"No."
"You idiot!" Malfoy swung himself in front of the controls. His hands began flying over the weird knows and buttons, including all the ones Harry hadn't had the guts to touch. "You could have killed us all!"
"I don't recall inviting you on board the good ship squid-bait!"
"Shut up and do as I say." Malfoy ordered, still working at the controls. A moment later Harry felt a surge of power from the ship. They jumped forward, Harry could even see light ahead.
"Port!"
Looked like daylight…
"Steer to port!"
Harry jerked to life in time to jam the wheel to the left just as a massive shape appeared in the water in front of them. Harry registered a parrot-like beak and flailing tentacles before they slid past and hit the surface.
The ship broached through the surface like a whale, shedding water in great sheets. Harry clung on to try to retain some semblance of control. They hit back into the lake with a massive plume of spray, a moment later the giant squid exploded out of the lake nearby, it instantly spun around and headed for them.
"Hard starboard!"
Harry complied and soon they were racing away from the thing. Harry looked ahead and swore.
"Malfoy there's a cliff!"
"I know, keep going." Malfoy was bent over the controls.
"We're gonna hit it!"
"What's the matter Potter?" Malfoy glanced up grinning. "Thought you liked this sort of thing?"
"I really hate you Draco." Harry gritted his teeth and aimed the ship directly at the cliff. Behind them the squid was keeping pace just a few meters behind. "Malfoy…"
"Not yet." Malfoy's hand was hovering over a big red button.
"Malfoy…!"
"Not yet!"
Harry could see seagull nest in the cliff face. Another hundred meters. He could see seagulls. Another hundred meters. He could see eggs!
"NOW!" Malfoy smashed the button as Harry steered furiously to the side. He could hear the anchor chains rolling out and felt a loud crash as the ship came to a stop. A moment later the squid shot past, a meter away from their starboard hull.
There was another crash and the seagulls took flight, a giant flock of white leaving the cliff. The giant squid surfaced, right next to the cliff, its eyes were rolling listlessly and it's arms floated uselessly behind it.
"Knocked itself out." Harry grinned and stumbled over to the rail. "Knocked itself cold on the cliff." Harry sighed in relief.
"Thanks Malfoy, I really-"
"Harry?" Harry turned around, instead of Malfoy he saw Susan standing there. "He's gone."
"Gone? What do you mean…" Harry followed her pointing finger. "… Son of a bitch!"
Malfoy was surfing away over the water on a disk of light, Pansy clumped by his feet.
"We need to catch him up!" Harry turned to the steering wheel but stopped. The steering wheel was incased in ice. "Son of a bitch!"
"We could just swim for it Harry." Susan suggested, shrugging. "We wouldn't win but at least we'd finish."
"I refuse to lose to that backstabbing bastard!" Harry cast around for another way to get back to the starting line. There had to be a way, there had to be… ah!
"No! Harry NO!" Susan yelled as she saw what he was looking at. "No way in hell!"
"Come on!" Harry said laughing as he pulled her over onto the catapult's cradle. "What could go wrong?"
"Are you crazy! No Harry!"
Harry grinned, and cut the cable.
They shot into the air. Harry could feel the pressure of the acceleration everywhere, he could see the beach approaching fast, too fast. He raised his wand against the wind and yelled the first spell he could think of.
"Eizuckerpeitsche!"
CRUNCH!
Harry tried to breath as his stomach spun in circles. He opened his eyes to see walls of crackly white. Susan was in his arms, holding him tight around the waist with her head buried in his robes.
"It's ok." Harry whispered. "We've landed now."
"We've…?" Susan poked her head up and looked around. She still looked a little frazzled, her eyes darting every direction. "What did we land in?"
"Meringue."
"Meringue?"
"Yes."
"Oh…" She was breathing heavily and still hadn't let go of his waist. "Harry?"
"Yes."
"Never do that to me again."
"Ok." Harry smiled. "I promise I'll never shoot you out of a catapult into a pile of meringue again."
"This isn't funny." Susan said angrily, her face flushing red.
"You see me laughing?"
She was still breathing heavily, her hair falling around her face, her brown eyes staring into his, her flushed lips were so close…
Hermione jumped up in shock as Harry impacted into the giant mound of meringue that had appeared on the beach. A moment later the crowd was rushing from the stands, towards the white mountain. Out in front was a blond woman, yelling at the top of her voice.
Susan Bones' mother? Hermione guessed.
The crowd reached the meringue and Mrs Bones began digging into it madly.
"Susan! Are you in there? Susan!" She was pulling off huge chunks, rapidly burrowing into the middle of the mound.
"Susan! Are you Ok? Can you hear me Su… HARRY POTTER WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
Harry's response went down in Hogwarts history.
"I am snogging your daughter, what does it LOOK LIKE I'm doing!?"
