Chapter Twenty-Seven
Arthur Weasley thought to himself that Magic needed a better sense of timing. He'd been gifted with a kilt pin from the irrepressible manifestation of Magic, who'd made some snarky comments that he needed a kilt to go along with it. While that was debatable in his opinion, she had told him that the pin would alert him when he was needed and he would have to activate it to find out what he was needed for.
Said kilt pin was now dancing merrily on his belt where he had stuck the thing next to his buckle and it was causing problems for him as he sat on the toilet. A simple answer for the call of nature had turned into a new adventure for Arthur, since the kilt pin was pulling his belt out of the slackened belt loops. The now mobile belt was snaking around his ankles, the dropped pants, and his right wrist, which didn't help matters or make it any easier to read the paper he'd brought with him. Or for that matter, continue with the main purpose of being here in the first place.
"Oh, blast and damnation!"
This came after Arthur discovered that the kilt pin, which was a rather good miniature version of the Sword of Gryffindor, was possessed of a quite keen edge and a sharp point like the real Sword. It was possessed in another way too, he thought as he tried to finish what he originally came to do, get dressed again, and wash his hands without falling flat on his face. Also, to keep important parts of his body from accidentally getting shish-kebabed by a manic mini-Sword of Gryffindor. This was not the easiest thing to do, as he was finding out. Several unkind thoughts raced through his mind.
"Arthur? Are you all right, dear?" Molly's concerned voice floated up from the kitchen where she was working.
"I'm fine, Mollywobbles! I'll be right out!"
He managed to get the toilet to flush without incident, aside from his current problems. It took him a bit longer to get his pants closed up since the kilt pin was suddenly laughing at him in the middle of what he was doing. Arthur gaped at it, then renewed his struggles with an aggravated squint. He'd clearly heard a distinct chuckle, feminine at that, which didn't do much for his male vanity considering his state of undress at the time. A quick handwashing and he was out the door, still struggling with the pin. It dangled a bit loosely, since it had worked its way free from the spot Arthur had assigned it. There were several things muttered at it as he tried to smooth his work robes down while he walked to the kitchen.
"Arthur?"
Molly was looking at him with the same expression she used on the boys when she was sure they had lost their minds in some way. Ginny apparently didn't lose her mind in the same way, although he had his unspoken suspicions and knew better than to speculate. Her eyes fell on his robes near his covered belt buckle, which was twitching madly.
"Arthur, are you … all right? I haven't seen that kind of twitching since before Ginny was born." She met his eyes with a sly grin he knew well. "Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Um… it's a Ministry device, not… that," he said weakly, wondering if he was going to have to explain more and how he was going to manage that.
"Oh."
The sly grin fell and the most disappointed look shadowed her face. Arthur knew he had to do something, and quick. He tugged her into his arms and gave her the most resounding kiss he could. He put every bit of his feeling for his wife into it as he could. When he stepped back her eyes were slightly crossed.
"I need to go. I don't know what the problem is but I don't have much time to waste. I promise, I'll continue that discussion with you later. Love you, Molly!"
She moaned in frustration and Arthur decided that he would escape while he could. Opening his robe to expose the kilt pin, he tapped a finger on the hilt and disappeared. Molly looked at the now empty space. Arthur was so getting tied up for that discussion for some answers and fulfilled promises when he got back!
-===(| - |)===-
Elgon Jagmar had decided that it was time for another lesson to the masses. He'd spent time enough around this old castle to claim it as his domain, in his mind. That meant that all within its boundaries was also his to keep or dispose of as he desired. The fact that it was supposed to be a school didn't matter to him. He was here, he was owed respect, that was it. There was nothing else to discuss.
The respect was slow in coming, however, and he felt that he had to do something about reinforcing the knowledge of the natural order of things. Therefore, he had to take some direct action within his domicile and using his obvious authority. He was the sovereignty here and there would be tributes paid!
Speaking of tributes, he still hadn't found that particular blonde girl. That rankled him, since that was a particularly sweet one that deserved his personal attention again. He had been surprised twice: once on the initial encounter, and again with the gleaned word that she had recovered physically from the thoughtful and firm discipline that he had been forced to administer. A bit of blood always reinforced the lessons that he had to teach and he rarely found it necessary to reapply such corrections. In fact, they always never back-talked him after the first disciplinary measures had been taken.
Jagmar grunted to himself. He'd been mentally sidetracked with the thought of disciplining his serfs. The bond was important, since it taught what the lesser beings that was beneath him needed to know. Namely, that he was due respect and that he would take what was rightfully his. Money, blood, bodies – he would claim it all. Just like with this female serf in his sights. It wasn't that blonde one he'd been looking for, but it would do for now. If it didn't like it, then too bad. He had other uses that needed to satiated.
For now, he drew his instrument of office as the rightful holder of dominion of these lands and tested the edge. As blood trickled down the pad of his thumb, Jagmar stepped out into the open. His unoccupied hand found a thick mass of hair and yanked the tribute to the ground. The rough landing was underscored by the pained grunt and pebbles that scattered upon impact.
He took a moment to regard this one. It wasn't the one he'd been looking for, no, but close enough. The fact that this one was a bit more sizable than the blonde and had lustrous black hair worked for him. Blonde, brunette, big, small, tall, short – all the same to him. They all owed tribute to him if they drew air to breathe.
It was time for this one to render payment, with penalties for lateness.
"Halt, serf tribute. You are remiss in your tithes and your duties are to submit to me, your master!"
The flash of the blade was preceded by the terrified scream of the girl who had come out to the Black Lake to play fetch with the Giant Squid.
-===(| - |)===-
The scream cut through the air and James' eyes widened. They hadn't had a chance to get a wand for either Lily or himself, but he still had something up his sleeve.
Or antlers, as it were.
Prongs exploded out of the castle, the breath thundering out of the deep chest matching the staccato roar of his hooves tearing up the ground. The enhanced eyesight that was part of the abilities of deer quickly found the terrified face of the girl that had been unpleasantly surprised. The agony that bloomed on her face as the knife plunged down to carve into her thigh was all too easy for Prongs to see, and it pissed him off.
The antlers on his head hardened along with his resolve and he stormed toward the scene. He was intent on doing a lot of damage to whoever that was holding the knife and spilling blood.
Behind him, a werewolf streaked in pursuit of the enraged stag. The graying hair streaming in the slipstream generated by his furious passage and the now-amber eyes gleamed. He recognized the girl. Her name was Rosalie Gill, and he remembered her as one of the students that had come to see him with tears in her eyes at the end of his year as Defense Professor. She was a studious girl and had shared his addiction to chocolate. As a Hufflepuff, she knew ways to get more and was also on good terms with the house-elves, which added to her bounty of the dark goodness. Of course, she knew not to try to sway her Defense marks from him with that same chocolate, but they both knew that he appreciated her uprightness in this regard. He appreciated her obvious effort in his class as well.
Now his were-enhanced sight could see the dark hair ripped out of her scalp and the bright flares of pain in her blue-grey eyes. The blood was spurting out from the knife's laceration, and he saw that all too well, too. Her scream tore at his ears and heart, since he had a soft spot there for one of his favorite students even if she hadn't been quite as good at his subject as others. Prongs was pulling ahead slightly, but Moony was still helping him run faster. She wasn't pack, but she was still a cub in need. That was close enough in their melded thoughts for the werewolf to charge with all vicious intent.
Behind the pair, someone followed. Harry had recognized the girl too. Rosalie was a transfer student in his year that had missed the whole Chamber of Secrets hullabaloo. She was in great pain, which was obvious to him and he tore off after Moony. He knew that he couldn't match either Marauder in their current running speed – either the stag or the werewolf – but he did have a trick of his own up his sleeve. The magical power he inherited from his father's pureblooded Potter side and his mother's mundane-born Evans side had combined to equal a level higher than either alone. He drew his wand with cold eyes computing range and speed and cast a Duro on Prongs' antlers and an Arresto Momentum on Jagmar even as he was running flat-out. Then he saw the Dementors and the snarled spell left his lips.
The killer looked up after he cut trophies from the serf for its impudence. A few more disciplinary touches with his instrument of office and some spreading around of the crimson ink it provided for declarations of his will, and he was nearly finished. There wasn't much to this particular serf compared to his magnificence, but there was enough sufficient to his needs.
He'd heard something strange as the spell hit him and that something strange was unlike anything that was supposed to be a part of his dominion. Jagmar had barely looked up just as the stag slammed into him at full speed with antlers lowered. With the Arresto Momentum spell impeding his ease of movement and no time to counter it, there was no way to avoid it. With the movement of his head to look up, it prolonged what would have otherwise been an immediate kill.
Separate curved antlers on one side pierced both eyeballs and with a shake of the stag's head, they were ripped out and bone segments in the killer's skull were pulverized. The two optic nerves and muscles for each eyeball snapped as the tensile strength was exceeded and Jagmar went blind. Had Prongs penetrated a fraction of a millimeter more through the killer's skull, the dura mater would have been ripped to shreds. It held, although it was questionable whether that really mattered at this point.
On the other side of Prongs' rack, those antlers savaged the unlucky man's abdominal cavity. Thanks to Harry's Duro spell, the antlers cleaved through the skin, muscles, and organs without regard until one antler shattered through direct center of Elgon Jagmar's T11 vertebrae. As his spinal cord was severed there quite brutally, his legs immediately stopped working and he fell. He met the overwhelming momentum of Prongs' continued charge with the sudden deadweight of his body, to his misfortune.
As the stag had ripped the killer away from the side of the injured girl, this left her free for Remus Lupin to tend to her. A urgently quick messenger Patronus was fired off to Poppy Pomfrey to alert her to the trauma, and he started to seal up the most desperate wounds. The blood was slowing but the werewolf didn't have the level of medical training to be able to tell with confidence if it was because the wounds were closing or if the girl was bleeding out. His own wounds from the monthly transformations were different, but he knew he had to do something and the experience would help. By this time, Harry had arrived and the two of them set to work. Remus sealed the wounds and Harry drew on his muggle-raised experience to conjure tourniquets and pressure dressings.
Remus nodded to Harry and spoke.
"That's all we can do. She still has a slow pulse. I'm taking her to Madam Pomfrey!"
So saying, he gathered the pale girl in his arms and dashed off. He prayed that every bit of his werewolf strength and speed would make the difference in whether she lived or died. Harry watched him go, then turned to follow his father. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Hagrid had noticed what had happened and was running to help James as well. The half-giant was almost there. Hermione was trailing behind.
Blood soaked into the ground and cried out to the castle. From within, a centuries-old hidden charm linked to a runic array triggered. Hogwarts hummed as the ley-lines fed power into the runes.
-===(| - |)===-
Jagmar had no idea how things had changed so quickly. Somehow, he'd maintained a grip on the knife and stabbed it down while muttering an incantation. He couldn't see anything, so he missed the knife glowing as it nicked the stag's shoulder.
"Whoever you are, you might have me but take heed stranger! There will be more here to maintain my supremacy over these lands! They arrive anon to destroy those who will not bow down!" Blood cascaded from his lips as he screamed out his defiance. "Nothing, no sword nor bow nor wand nor weapon will prevail against they that approach!"
As he spat out these words then mumbled something else that Prongs couldn't catch, his upper body jerked and came free of the antlers that had killed him. It fell to the ground as rigid as his lower half was lax, and the knife fell out of his loosened hands. Prongs slung the blood from his antlers and transformed back. James watched as the knife embedded itself into the ground and wondered about its still glowing form. It should have dulled as its master died.
His eyes grew wide as the knife metamorphosed into a being taller than him. Dark blue horns curved back behind the stark white inhuman skull, with the points coming up to the corners of the mouth. Crooked fangs projected outward with rows of sharp teeth standing guard behind them. A straight nose sat between cruel blue eyes the same shade as the horns. Ragged plaits of hair hung askew but did nothing to hide the scars criss-crossing the broken surface of the skull itself.
James tried to suppress the involuntary gulp as the demon towered over him. He wasn't sure it was an actual demon, but James wasn't going to quibble over terms and just went with it. The sinewy flesh reeked of power, both physical and magical, and he could feel that same strength slamming into him even from several feet away. Spikes of bone jutted from several places on the demon's body and a quick glance downward saw talons scoring the ground where the demon stood.
James knew he was in trouble.
For some reason he shivered. It wasn't in fear, James was surprised to note, but in actual chill. There seemed to be cold descending and he looked around to see dark clouds surrounding him. They released rain that made the brightness of the Hogwarts grounds take on a gelidity unlike itself. A despair gripped James and suddenly he knew was going to happen. The demon apparently did too, but there was an amused smile on his lips.
James looked up to see the clouds disassociate into swarms of smaller than usual Dementors. The shock of seeing this stealth approach froze him to the spot and he couldn't react. The demon crossed his arms and grinned. It seemed that he wanted to see what happened with the wraiths first, almost like he was watching a play progress through the acts.
If nothing else, it seemed to James like the demon was grading the actions of the mini-Dementors. It made an odd kind of sense, considering that they stood on the grounds of a school. The rustiness he felt was compounded by the problems he was having, and James stood rooted to the spot. The demon didn't seem to notice that, but regarded everything else just like Professor McGonagall did during practicals. It was irritatingly familiar.
The cry of 'Expecto Patronum' from somewhere behind him broke James from his torpor. He looked behind him to see Harry racing toward him with a silvery mass spilling from the tip of his wand and and an angry set to his face. To his surprise, he could see a huge stag lowering his antlers and charging forward to soon far outstrip his master. James heard a similar cry from farther back and very soon a fairly large otter joined the stag. The Patronus pair worked together and the Dementors were soon in agony with some crumpled on the ground.
Harry's actions with the surprisingly corporeal Patronus stunned James, even as his son called forth another stag. The two stags and the otter bounded though the despair of Dementors, ripping the ghastly cloaks to shreds. The screams of the vanquished wraiths echoed through the air, and James was shocked at the reaction from the demon.
The demon was applauding.
"Well then. I didn't expect such entertainment. Those things deserve to be put down, as I'm sure you'll agree. Outstanding work! I'm not on the faculty here, so instead of an 'O,' I'll just say outstanding."
James heard the demon's evaluation in disbelief. What was this?
"Now, that just leaves you and me, runt."
The deep voice drew James' attention back to the demon. James put himself on guard and watched as the demon proceeded to scribe a fiery circle around them to keep out anyone who tried to help.
"Oh look here." The demon pointed to a nonexistent wrist watch as the singsong voice continued. "Time to die."
A roar of battle filled his ears as the demon charged.
-===(| - |)===-
Arthur materialized in a rather stark room with a table and three chairs. There wasn't anyone else around and he was a bit put out. Why call him if there wasn't going to be anyone else here – wherever 'here' was. There wasn't anything in here to pass the time, since tapping the handle of the mini-Sword did nothing and there didn't seem to be a door in the room.
Another swirl of motion interrupted his thoughts as Billy appeared in the corner Arthur had shown up in and toppled to the ground. He was missing his trousers, his shirt, both shoes and a sock. What looked a bit like strawberry jam and crumbled toast was all over his chest and stomach. Arthur rushed over to drag him out of the corner and help him up.
"Billy? What the hell happened to you?"
"I was getting dressed before breakfast when that cup started jerking around like a demented rabbit! I grabbed it to try to figure out what was going on and found myself here!"
Arthur paused. Maybe he should keep his experience with this phenomena to himself. He wondered if Fionn was about to show up. Another look at poor Billy and he wondered what condition the other man was going to be in when he showed up. Sure enough, there was a commotion from the apparent arrival corner of the room.
"Arthur? Billy? What's going on?"
Arthur looked to see Fionn standing there fully dressed and calm as you please if a bit perplexed. There were no messes on his clothes, no rumples, and his face was freshly shaved. His hair was combed and he looked ready for whatever the day would bring him. A stately snake pin adorned his lapel, with the head of the snake looking around with amused interest. Arthur shrugged.
Fionn looked behind Arthur.
"Faith and begorrah, Billy, you look like you was dragged through a knothole backwards! Are you all right, lad?"
Arthur did his very best not to laugh. He started to answer for the poor benighted Billy when a musical chord announced the arrival of their personal manifestation of Magic. She looked around at everyone.
"No time to explain. We have somewhere to be! Everyone grab hold!"
Arthur was wondering what to hold onto and took the safe choice of one of her shoulders. Fionn shrugged and took the other. Billy was struggling to catch up when Magic yanked him into her arms and threw him off balance again. He landed with his face on her stomach and they all disappeared.
The echo of "Oooo Billy, I like, but we don't have time to play!" echoed in the now-empty room.
-===(| - |)===-
The Auror training James had undergone under Mad-Eye Moody – specifically, the hand-to-hand combat – was helping him hold his own, if only physically. The demon seemed quite impressed and applauded his efforts, even after being thrown six times in a row. It didn't seem to affect the sinister being one bit, aside from the physical appearances of bruises that slowly disappeared.
"Why are you here?" James puffed, trying to stall to get a moment to recover.
"No particular reason, aside from being released."
"There's got to be another reason."
"There is, of course."
"And you're not saying?"
"No."
"I need to know."
"Get used to disappointment."
The demon seemed to be amused.
"What's so funny?"
"I've been waiting for a long time to say that."
"What?"
-===(| - |)===-
Albus Dumbledore looked up as Arthur Weasley and two men and a scantily-clad young woman phased into being in front of his desk. The younger man seemed to be wrapped around the woman, if quite awkwardly. He jumped up with the Elder Wand in his hand, and Arthur held his hands out.
"Albus, relax! There's no problem here!"
"Arthur? What's going on here?"
"If I knew, I could tell you."
The young woman grinned. She released the younger man, who sank to the floor with a whine. Dumbledore clearly heard her whisper, "Sorry, Billy, I'll make it up to you later. You'll really like it," before she stood upright.
"Hi, Albie. I'd stay and explain, but there's things I really need you to help with outside by the Black Lake. Don't dawdle. Bring Fawkes."
The phoenix woke up at the sound of his name to see a familiar face. He cheeped at the woman, who smiled, rubbed his head, and kissed his beak.
"Oh, hello, Fawkes! Who's a pretty boy?" The woman turned back to Dumbledore and continued on. "The Giant Squid is upset and it always takes me a while to calm the poor dear down after a magical event like this. Toodles!"
She disappeared with a flash and a musical chime. It took a moment for Arthur to speak. He looked at the elderly wizard to try to explain but there was another question on his mind to get answered first."
"What did she mean by 'Albie?'"
-===(| - |)===-
"I suppose we have nothing else to say to each other."
"I suppose not, human. I have places…"
He was interrupted by a roar of impotent rage at the edge of the flame circle. The demon looked over with a casualness that James envied.
"Huh. We have an audience, but they'll never get through. Barriers are barriers for a reason."
"I can understand that, but since you won't say who you are, then tell me why you want to kill me."
"I suppose I can do that. I was trapped in that knife for centuries, fed only by blood and the occasional whetting oil. I developed a taste for one and a need for the other thanks to my long confinement. My servant was quite happy to feed my tastes but not so much my need."
"Whetting oil?" The question was out before James could stop it.
"Yes. I believe humans use something called prune juice for the same purpose, whatever that is."
James had to bite his tongue and pay attention to his companion's position within the circle. There were several yelps of pain from the edge and the demon grinned.
"Sucks to be them right now. Did I say that right? Current lingo is so confusing sometimes and it changes so quickly. How do you keep up?"
"It's not easy." James was thinking that himself considering some of the things he'd overheard the Hogwarts younger year students say that clashed with his late seventies lingo. He wasn't going to admit that to someone trying to kill him.
"Enough, human." The demon turned to face him when a commotion at the fiery circle distracted him. "Now what?"
James looked to see Harry bull through the fire without a mark on him. The demon raised a sculpted eyebrow.
"Impressive."
Harry zipped to his father's side and shoved a wand into his hand.
"Hermione's. If you know what's good for you, don't snap it. If you know what's good for me, don't lose it," he muttered to James. "It might or might not work, but better than nothing."
"Gotcha."
They stood side by side to see the demon eyeing them. The frown on his face was thoughtful and presently he nodded at the pair.
"Huh. You must share blood. No one else could have gotten through, and come to think of it I believe I see a slight resemblance. Whatever. You humans really look all alike to me anyway."
There wasn't anything else, as the demon suddenly sprang forward. Harry threw a massive Bombarda spell that shoved the demon down. He shook his head and glanced at the younger wizard.
"Impressive."
Hermione's wand seemed to evaluate James as it wasn't quite made for the Transfiguration he was excellent at, but it seemed to understand who he was and what need he possessed. As James felt the wand acquiesce to his need, his hand snapped up and threw piercing hexes, bone breakers, Glacios, and a Defodio normally used to dig holes in the ground.
Beside him, Harry was whipping out spells at a speed that unnerved James a bit. The same bone breakers, a Patronus, an Obliviate sandwiched between two Obscuros and three or four Reductos. The words flowed from his lips in a snarled spell chain and James could see his son's eyes illuminate as Harry's magical core answered the call for power. Several rocks hovered, split themselves down the middle and slammed into the demon's head as he staggered back.
Damn, son. You got your mother's temper. I hope you don't get mad at me anytime soon, James thought.
The demon sat down heavily with a whuff of expelled air. Potter père et fils stopped as cruel laughter filled the air.
"He's laughing," Harry muttered.
"Yeah, he's up to something," James replied as he moved away from Harry. He was pleased to see that Harry creeped the other way around to cover the demon from another angle.
The demon snorted another chuckled.
"Well, shove a stick up my arse and call me a scarecrow. I'm a bit rusty, looks like, and I do suppose I'll have to drag out some things I haven't done in a long time."
Harry shot a look at James, who shrugged. This didn't sound good.
The demon got to his feet easily, the signs of the fight fading away in seconds as the rocks fell to the ground. The clawed hands shot to each side, extending downward to the ground. Harry heard a liquid chant start in a language he'd never heard and he saw that James was frowning.
"Dad, this doesn't sound good."
"No, it doesn't. I'll start transfiguring a thick stone wall. You dig us out a foxhole, quick!"
They set to work, wands flashing. James summoned the rock shards that Harry had used and duplicated them before using them to grow a forbidding stone wall around them. This had the unfortunate effect of reflecting the heat of the fiery ring back toward them and soon their robes stuck to them. The chanting rose steadily and they could feel the power building. Harry glanced over his shoulder past the line of fire and saw Hagrid clutching his head and Hermione struggling to stay upright.
"Done!" Harry called.
"Right behind you, son," James said as he put some finishing touches on the wall. They jumped into the hole and Harry conjured a thick metal shield over them as they landed. It overlapped the hole and they heard it thump to the ground. James nodded.
"Good thinking. If that wall gets blasted into bits that shield will hopefully protect us from getting ripped up."
"Might want some cooling charms to fight the heat from that fire."
"Another good idea," James mumbled as he threw up some charms and conjured a bluebell flame for light. They listened as the demon got to the end of whatever he was chanting and shouted out a ringing exhortation. The stomp on the ground accompanying the crackle of magic was easily heard as the wall was shattered soon after… then silence.
A few moments went by with more silence. James looked over at Harry.
"What happened?"
"How should I know? I'm stuck in this hole just like you are."
"Should we look?"
"Maybe. Too bad we don't have a periscope."
"A what?"
Harry didn't bother replying, since he was trying to conjure a very rough periscope. It didn't look the best, but Harry did the best that he could.
"Lift the edge of the shield for me. Just enough to poke the top of this out."
James nodded and cast a levitation spell on the shield. It was fairly heavy with some rock resting on it and to move it caused sweat to pop out on his forehead. Harry managed to get just enough of his scope up and saw the demon sprawled out on ground, headless. A steaming ichor seeped from the stump. There was a slight glow as it pooled around the body.
"Dad. He lost his head."
"I don't doubt it, not with all that magic. Watch out – something like that is hard to put down."
"No… I mean he literally lost his head. He's been decapitated somehow."
"What?"
"If we can get out of here, you'll see."
"Let's be careful. It might be a trick."
It took a moment, but the shield was shoved to the side. Both Potters had to dodge sections of the wall that took that opportunity to fall into the convenient hole. James was cursing the rock that clipped his ankle as it came down, but it at least made climbing out of the hole easier.
Sure enough, the demon was dead.
"What killed him?" Harry's voice was filled with confusion.
"Don't know. Don't argue with it."
"I'm not, but if it's something else to fight I'd rather know that now and be ready instead of getting blindsided."
"I can't argue with that. I was running out of ideas with that demon anyway."
They looked around. The ring of fire was still blazing, although it had change color to match the bluebell flame they had left in the hole. There was no heat coming from it anymore, but there was still a barrier to it. They looked at each other.
"Now what?"
"No idea."
There was a shout from the other side.
"Harry!"
Harry perked up.
"Hermione?! Can you hear me?"
"Yes! Hagrid's here, and he's hurt! Are you both okay?"
"Yes, we're fine, if confused. The demon is dead, but we're trying to find a way out of this."
"Does…"
She was interrupted. There was a fanfare of some kind from the direction of the castle and James was shocked to see another being appear from nowhere. Wind kicked up from somewhere and James and Harry both heard Lily's voice join Hermione's. Neither knew when she had arrived but since they couldn't see through the flames it was understandable.
"Well son, it looks like we're going to be busy."
"I think so too, dad. If anything, we could use some help."
Harry cast his Patronus toward the castle, but Prongs bounced off the flame wall. The stag stared at Harry, affronted. A snort and some pawing at the ground came before the stag glanced at the newcomer.
If a Patronus could show surprise, they could tell right away. The stag bowed to the newcomer, who returned the bow and motioned to the side. It was a gentle gesture, not commanding or brusque and the Patronus nodded.
"What the hell?"
"Don't ask me, dad. I don't have a clue."
The winds blew harder as the stag faded away along with the flames. They heard a gasp behind them. Harry glanced back to see several of Madam Pomfrey's interns tending to Hagrid, and both Hermione and Lily running toward them. He could see that Rosalie was no longer there and hoped that she had gotten help in the castle.
Harry turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with his father. The two similar expressions were hard and piercing, not to mention gauging - one emerald, one hazel. Both looked for weak spots and places to attack. The figure seemed unconcerned and even non-threatening as they searched.
"There is no danger here any longer." The figure nudged the body at his feet, as if to give an example. "The Spirit and Magics of Hogwarts has called me forth to answer the need you carry. What would you have?" The deep voice rang out from everywhere and nowhere. It resonated and to Hermione it reminded her of some of the radio announcers from old newscasts she'd heard in history classes before Hogwarts.
"What?" Harry was confused.
Nobody else understood either. The same voice answered him.
"What would you have for this quest you have taken to yourselves? Your party is strong, but still lacking. Your goal awaits you, but are you truly prepared?"
Harry glanced back at Hermione, who stood up. She frowned.
"If we are lacking something, then it stands to reason that we must be completed!"
The figure seemed to still for a moment.
"True. Clear your minds and I will discern what you need based on the goal I see within your minds."
"What?"
This time it was James who spoke, exactly as Harry had done a moment ago. There wasn't enough time for the foursome to decide anything else before they suffered a collective blinding headache. Everyone collapsed, shaking their heads. James was muttering curses, which was followed by both Lily and Hermione slapping him on the arm. He looked at them, the betrayed look on his face bringing a small smile to Harry's face even as he grimaced in pain. He had barely managed to hold onto his tongue.
"I see now what you require. Behold."
Before them, a portal shimmered into being. Harry and Hermione both thought it looked very familiar. It was soon bright enough that they had to squint and hold their hands up against the light. A massive figure was thrown out and landed with a grunt and some not quite heard curses. The lights surrounding it faded as portal snapped shut with a crack that had everyone groan as their ears popped. The group sat up to see what or who it was, since they were curious. The figure was shrouded in mists that had appeared in the magically charged air and nobody was in a good position to get a good glimpse. To be fair to all, no one could get up easily and everyone relaxed for a bit.
The figure struggled to his feet. It was evident that this person was too big to be a female, and the slowly dissipating mists prevented anyone from seeing anything other than it was a man. He didn't seem to have noticed, since the landing on the stone circle had raised some impressive bruises and the attendant pain had caught his attention.
"Of all the Merlin be damned things to happen, I had to find myself dropped on a cold rock! How the hell did that happen and where the hell am I anyway?"
The group still on the ground jumped to their feet, the headaches and other pains forgotten in their shock at the sound of the voice. James was the fastest. He exploded to his feet and ran to the man. He grabbed the man to spin him around. Everyone's eyes went wide when they saw his face. Hermione's hand went to her mouth in shock.
It was Sirius Black. His eyes widened as much as everyone else had already as he focused in front of him. He ran his fingers through his hair, the few gray strands present winkling as they moved.
"Prongs? What the hell is going on here?"
There was really no answer that anyone could give him in their shock. He was dressed in the same atrocious pinstriped coat and black trousers that Harry had last seen him in before he fell through the Veil. There was the waist chain, lightly jingling away even though something that small shouldn't be and everyone was sure Sirius would have charmed it to do that. He wore the same boots.
Seeing him brought more tears to Harry's eyes and Hermione wasn't far off. Sirius noticed and broke away from James to engulf Harry in a hug.
"It's okay, Pup. I'm here."
It was only the presence of Hermione burrowing in for her own hug that kept Harry from breaking down again. He couldn't speak for the lump in his throat and it seemed that Hermione had the same issue.
Sirius looked over Harry's shoulder. His mouth dropped open and Harry suddenly had to hold him up for a moment.
"Lily?"
Harry eased out of his godfather's embrace.
"Hello, Padfoot. There's been some changes happening around here lately."