A/N at end of chapter
Chapter Five
His things were packed; his trunk was near the door ready to go, Hedwigs cage tied securely to the top. Hedwig was still delivering the letter to Sirius, but he expected her to arrive before tomorrow afternoon. Harry sat down at the edge of his bed brow furrowed as he thought. Something wasn't right. He could feel it, every sense was screaming alarm, but he didn't know what to be fearful of.
Harry became unusually aware of how big his room seemed with everything packed away. Nervously, he stood and walked towards the window. The sun was still shining; it would be a long wait until nighttime. Harry spun on his heel and walked toward his bed, paused in front of it, and turned to the door.
What is wrong! He yelled in his head. That nagging feeling wouldn't leave, it was wearing on his nerves. Unable to stand the pressing feeling of his room, Harry opened his door and headed toward the staircase. Voices made him pause.
He could hear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley talking in hushed voices. Harry crept toward the stairs, peering down them hoping to hear some of their conversation. His eyes widened when he saw a third person in front of them.
A man in black robes, hands clasped behind his back, and a hood covering his features.
***
The woodland floor was littered with dried needles from pines. Kori inhaled deeply as she followed the worn path to the gate, her hands brushing against the rough bark of the trees as she passed. She loved the wilderness, the simplicity of the surroundings and the simple way of life to live in it. She still lived in the cottage her and her grandmother had moved into a year before, after her grandmother left she had no where else to go.
Kori looked up as she neared the portal, noticing that the surface was in disarray. She approached it slowly, studying the form of it, the way it looked so much like a sea in the middle of a storm. A few feet away she stopped, watching closely as shapes appeared and disappeared to quickly to figure out what they were. Kori mentally shrugged and looked up to check the place of the sun. She was going to be a bit late in meeting Diana.
"Korona." A voice stated evenly.
Startled, Kori looked back to the portal to see the familiar angular face of Diana.
"I was suppose to meet you." Kori said, but Diana took no notice of it. The elf stepped away from the gate her golden eyes wide as she looked around her.
* "Domitai," Diana breathed; Kori's eyebrows raised.
"Come again?" Kori asked.
"My language." Diana said, finally looking at her.
"What does that mean?" Kori asked.
"Beautiful." Diana answered with a quick smile.
"Oh, yes, it's been a while since you've been in the mortal realm."
"Yes."
"Yea, well, why are you..um...here?"
"Hmm?" Diana asked, her eyes again wandering around the surrounding forest.
"Why did you come here? I thought I was suppose to go to you." Kori explained.
"I have to get you to school." Diana smiled. Kori gave her a dumbstruck look.
"I could have just gone!" Kori exclaimed. Diana laughed.
"Could you have talked to me on your way to school?" Diana asked, but turned and moved back through the portal. Kori remained standing in her spot, unsure of whether to follow or stay put. She didn't wait long, though, because Diana reappeared two white horses following and a beautiful blue gray
hawk perched on her gloved fist.
** "This is Merlin," Diana said, approaching Kori.
"Oh." was all Kori was able to manage as she gazed at the bird admiringly.
"Remember that pendant I gave you?" Diana asked, handing Kori a leather pouch.
"Yes, I have it." Kori said, pulling it out from under her shirt, she glanced at it, it was made of silver, cut with perfect design of a hawk in midflight.
"Merlin is connected to that pendant. You can call him from anywhere using that," Diana explained. She nodded at the Merlin hawk on her fist. "And in time you as well as others will be able to speak to him."
"Speak to him?" Kori asked, her face screwing up in disbelief.
Diana smirked. She raised her fist above her head and Merlin took off, landing on the branch of a tree near the clearing.
"What do you mean speak to him?" Kori repeated. Diana turned to the white horses, which stood patiently behind her.
"These are horses from my realm." Diana said, ignoring Kori's question. "They are faster than your horses, with quite a bit of magic in them. I thought you'd like to ride one."
"You sure can turn the topic of a conversation," Kori snorted but slowly approached the horses. "They are beautiful."
"We must go." Diana said, and grabbed the base of the mane of one, with a quick movement, swung herself onto the horse. Kori stood numbly by her horse, staring up at Diana, who now looked down at her. "Go on, get up on it."
"I've never ridden a horse before." Kori stammered.
"It's not hard, you will learn as you ride. The first part to learning is to mount the horse." Diana said amused.
"It won't...hurt me?" Kori asked. At those words, her horse whinnied softly which could have passed as a chuckle, and slowly knelt down.
"She's deciding to help you out." Diana chuckled and winked.
Kori seated her self as best she could and clung to the horse's mane as it stood.
"Are you ready?" she heard Diana's voice ask. She couldn't see her since her face was buried in the horse's neck.
"Yes." came Kori's muffled groan. She felt her body lurch as they began to move. Kori only gritted her teeth and closed her eyes more tightly.
***
Harry skittered backwards away from the staircase, bumping into the wall behind him. The trio downstairs didn't hear, and continued in their hushed voices.
"A death eater." Harry breathed. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the wall. Calm down, he thought to himself.
"He should be upstairs in his room." Mr. Dursley's voice rang out.
A/N: this chapter took a while because I just finished a report so I could concentrate on the other chapters. I got crap for reviews, shame on you! Heh, well review peeps, make my day.
*- Domitai is the elvish word for beautiful. You guys don't know the language so when it is spoken it will be translated in the A/N.
**- Merlin is the hawk described in story. Merlin is the breed of the Merlin Falcon so the name Merlin fits, cool eh? Oh and yes hawks and
Falcons are similar so sometimes he might be described as falcon or hawk.