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Chapter 11
Explanations
Disclaimer: Do I have to do this? It depresses me to say I don't own anybody from Harry Potter. All I can claim is the plot and a couple of characters I made up off the top of my head.
AN: Ah, humor.... The next couple of chapters are, hopefully, full of little funny tidbits. After this, though, things will get serious again, as well as depressing and dark. Though I'm starting to think I was hungry when I wrote this chapter. It's a little shorter than the others, but work was a lot more demanding this week than it normally is.
Thanks to everyone that reviewed!!!!!! ^_^
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"Mm... Food!" An excited woman's voice was muffled as the gargoyle slid out of the way revealing the spiral staircase that led to the Headmaster's office.
"I'll agree," came a male voice. "It feels as if I haven't eaten in two years!"
Laughter erupted as Dumbledore, Snape and Aedyn reached the door.
"That was a bad joke, Draco," Harry was saying as they entered the office. The three men found that there was a huge table piled with food, several of the house elves scrambling back towards the kitchens. "But this is delicious."
"Yum!" Aeryn was heaping mashed potatoes on her plate. "Real food. Wonderful..." Her face held a look of complete and utter bliss for a brief moment before she dug in.
"We weren't expecting you to be here for a couple of minutes," Harry said as the three took a seat. He pointed to a book on the Headmaster's desk before he turned to his plate. "I suggest you read pages 310 to 315. That will explain this a little better."
Snape eyed the four as they ate, waiting for his turn to read the small, black book that Dumbledore had opened. It looked as though they were ravenous, almost starving.
"Sis," Aedyn said from beside him. "What did you mean by real food?"
Aeryn gave a smile and finished chewing her food. "Well, we kind of existed on magical food. Enough to keep our bodies alive, but in a kind of stasis so they didn't require the basic methods of upkeep."
"Mm. Manna," Snape said, nodding his head in a slight gesture of agreement. "Many of the patients in St. Mungo's live off it because their bodies, or in some cases their minds, will not accept real food anymore."
Marty nodded, her fork halfway up to her mouth. "But this is much better," she said as she ate the bite of meat and chewed, savoring the food.
"Harry," Dumbledore said after a few minutes. "Has all this happened?" He held up the book for them all to see it.
Harry nodded. "Pretty much. And its what we've been training for the last two years."
The Headmaster nodded thoughtfully and handed the book to Snape. The Potions Master's eyes widened as he read the passage indicated, unbelieving what it said. He reread the last couple of paragraphs.
People, like sand, drift in the waves of time. They swirl in the eddy, among the rocks and shores until they are scattered around the world. Magic is much the same way, in that it, too, has drifted from where it first was alive.
Magic is power, but it is also the advancement of all creatures towards the common goal of life. Those who cannot use Magic like the greats, such as Merlin, use remnants. This is how non-magical peoples live. They can heal themselves; speak in many languages, yet all have the same basic speech patterns. They have families, friends, lovers, children. All of them are headed in the same direction.
Those who use Magic, those who are born with the gift of using magic, have forgotten this.
Magic is power, yet it is the one thing that sustains life, which gives the encouragement to live.
Magic is power, and can corrupt even the most innocent of beings. A small child can learn to hate when refused a toy. A young man can learn to hate when rejected by their fellow. An old woman can learn to hate when abandoned by her children.
Those who cannot use Magic know this. Those who use it have forgotten this.
Magic is power, consuming everything that lies in its path if manipulated. A man will live in the darkness, refusing to acknowledge the people of the light. He will give the world a puzzle to solve, and only he holds the correct answer.
People can give their lives to either the light or the dark. Once given to the dark, their magic is a terrible thing, and the cost is the soul. Those that live in the darkness are already lost.
Magic is power, a gentle, loving touch that gives all that it can to keep its children alive and happy. It is the tender kiss given by a mother, the guiding hand of a father, and the sweetness of true love. It is the welcome found in friendship, in camaraderie, in helping others to find themselves.
Magic is many things and has a different meaning to every person that lives.
War will come.
Divisions in the world grow.
Light versus Dark. Love versus Hate. Friend versus Foe. Empathy versus Apathy.
Each will play a role in any one thing, in the same thing. They live and breathe in all things.
Magic is two sides of the same thing. It is the question and it is the answer. It can live or it can die.
War will come.
Divisions in the world grow.
Light versus Dark. Love versus Hate. Friend versus Foe. Empathy versus Apathy.
Sides will need to be chosen.
The Light must fight or the Dark will overtake the world. This must not happen.
A new age is coming, whether one side wins or the other. If the Light side can answer the riddle in time, all that lives will flourish. If the Dark wins, all that lives will perish.
The final battle will be upon us when the mages have spoken. The lightning mage will tell of triumph. The ice mage will tell of heartbreak. The mage of the air will tell of death. The mage of land will tell of confusion. The last mage will tell of war.
He handed the book to Aedyn and sat still, trying to get a good grasp on the information that he had just read.
The next ten minutes were filled with only the sounds of the four eating their dinner, the clink of silverware and goblets occasionally interrupted by a polite request for something to be passed around. Finally Aedyn finished reading the pages.
"Aeryn, why couldn't I hear you? And what is this about the mages?" he asked in a confused voice.
She stopped in her tracks and took a quick drink of pumpkin juice. "First, none of us quite understands what the things about the mages really means. The last mages that are known were Merlin and Morgana. Each of them had control over all the elements."
Harry nodded. "We have no clue as to whether there are two or five mages. We can tell that there are at least two from the first sentence in that last paragraph, since 'mages' is plural."
Aeryn went back to Aedyn's other question. "As to why you couldn't 'hear' me, well, I've a couple of theories. At first, and for the longest time, I thought that because the room we were in was magically sealed it stopped all thoughts coming in and out. After the excitement wore off I was pretty scared at not hearing you." She took another sip and continued in a thoughtful voice. "But when you indicated that we've only been missing for a month, and we were there for two years, the time difference would also come into play."
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. Aeryn's thoughts would be going too fast even to register, and Aedyn's were too slow."
"That's why my head hurt then, when you stepped out of the wall," Aedyn slowly said.
"No," Aeryn stated. "You see a wall there, while we see an arch. So it was probably a combination of both of my theories. My head hurt as well, but I was prepared for it. I knew that I would be hearing your thoughts soon." She turned back to her plate where a brownie sat. Plucking a nut off it and popping it in her mouth, she hummed. "Also, with the training we've been doing, stuff like that doesn't even bother us anymore."
Harry nodded. "We've learned to put up with pain, any kind of pain imaginable."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"
"Um," Draco began. "We pretty much hit each other with as many curses as possible and took it from there."
"What?!" All three men jumped in surprise.
Marty looked at them curiously. "How else are you supposed to learn to avoid a curse?" She looked at the three around the table and they all shrugged.
Dumbledore sat back in his chair and picked up the book again from where Aedyn had set it. Tapping the spine lightly, he seemed to stare off in space. "Does this mean that the four of you have become the guardians?"
They nodded.
"Yes. Three days ago, and then it took two days to put the wards back up," Harry said, pushing his plate back.
"So you were the cause of them falling in the first place," Dumbledore softly said. "How did it come to break in the first place?"
"When our souls finally knew what we were to do and were ready, with it came the magic that has been protecting Hogwarts since it was built," Harry explained. "We needed that magic to bind everything together and then we placed it back into its proper spot."
The three men looked at each other before Dumbledore nodded. "I see. It *would* take powerful magic like that."
"But where were the other guardians?" Aedyn asked.
"Here at Hogwarts," replied Draco. "They've been here all along, watching over the school. You could say that the wards were actually part of those guardians, to make it a little easier to understand. It doesn't mean that we actually have to stay here in order to protect the school or grounds."
Aeryn nodded. "We still want to do everything that we can to help. Our energy is what protects the school. We could be on the other side of the planet, and as long as there is energy in us to give, Hogwarts will be safe."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "Does that mean if you were to die, the school would become endangered?"
Harry shook his head. "The only way that would happen was if we were to willingly give up the right to protect the school. Death has no boundaries when it comes to protecting someone or something. Remember the protection my mother gave me through her death."
The headmaster nodded as the other two men sat back in surprise.
Marty sighed and slumped in her chair, breaking the tension that had grown over the last couple of minutes. "I'm stuffed," she said happily. She stretched her arms into the air before fighting off a yawn. "And tired." She rose from her spot and slowly made her way into the headmaster's chambers, weaving slightly in exhaustion.
Aeryn agreed. "I could use a pillow," she groaned. "Do I even have to leave this chair?"
Aedyn laughed. "Come on, sis. I'll help you." He stood and pulled her from the chair. He slowly dragged her to the door that led into Dumbledore's private quarters and pushed open the door. As it shut behind them, the others heard a chattering behind it, followed by Aeryn's tired voice yelling, "Circe, you can yell at me in the morning, damn it!"
The three at the table still laughed, although Marty's laughter was tired. She slowly pushed her chair back and stood. Turning to Dumbledore, she said, "I'll sleep on the couch, if that's all right? I don't want to have to bother with making a new bed."
He nodded and waved her in the back rooms. "Yes. I don't think you'll quite fit on that bed we used to have." When she had disappeared as well, he turned to Harry and Draco.
"What about us, sir?" asked Harry. "I don't think that our roommates will recognize us."
"Yes.... That is a problem." Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle as he looked towards Snape. "Severus, I believe I have a job for you."
Snape growled. "No, Albus. Whatever it is I'm not doing it."
Draco smirked as Harry laughed. The Headmaster's pale blue eyes lit up as a chuckle slipped past his lips. "It won't take long, Severus. All you need to do is alert the house elves to ready the second guest room in my quarters. That is all I need you to do."
The Potions Master gave the other three a dark look before shoving himself out of his chair. "Very well, Albus." He stalked over to the door and wrenched it open.
Dumbledore's voice stopped him as he crossed the threshold. "Yes, and make sure that they bring Harry and Draco some clothes and other necessities with them."
Another dark look was thrown into the room as heavy footsteps that sounded remarkably like frustrated stomps went down the staircase.
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Harry was just getting ready for bed when he heard a shout come from the next room. He hurried over to it and found the room enveloped in a soft, yellow glow that was brighter in the middle than at the edges.
Behind him he heard Draco as he arrived from the small bathroom that served the guest bedrooms.
"What's going on?" Aeryn and Aedyn poked their heads out of the door as a scream came from the room where Harry and Draco stood.
"Marty?" Harry took a step into the room and was almost overwhelmed at the intense feeling of magic surrounding him. It felt familiar, yet so uncontrollable that he felt he was in a whirlwind.
He went in further, instinctively knowing that the others were just behind him. The glow grew brighter as another scream erupted from the middle of it, followed by a strong shockwave that almost knocked him off his feet.
"Marty?" He called again, and this time he heard a soft whimper of pain.
Harry was almost in the middle of the glow when he tripped over something. Blindly reaching out, he recognized the shape his hands touched. "Marty!"
The woman on the floor didn't respond as another shockwave shot out through the room.
"Wake up, Marty!"
Harry felt a presence next to him. By the feel of it, it was Draco. "Help me get her on the bed."
They were halfway there when the glow suddenly disappeared, leaving them all blinded by the darkness that followed in its wake. When Harry could see again, and Marty was safely resting on the narrow bed, he looked at the others.
"What was that?"
The three blonds shook their heads.
"Don't look at me," Draco finally said. "We should asked Dumbledore about it."
"What should you ask me?" A voice from the doorway spoke.
The four of them whipped their heads around very fast to find the headmaster in a strange looking nightgown and cap.
"Granddad," Aeryn began. "Marty... she was..." She took a deep breath, but Aedyn continued,
"She was in this glowing ball."
"Hm." Dumbledore looked at all of them. "What color was it?"
"Yellow," Harry answered.
The pale blue eyes twinkled, briefly a little more than usual, before going back. "I believe that it's called a surge."
"Surge?" Aedyn asked.
"Oh!" Aeryn looked at them. "Is it anything like an electrical surge, where all of a sudden there's this big burst of energy?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Except in this case, I have the idea that Marty's body is trying to adjust the reality of her magic. The reason why it's so intense is that she has many years to catch up on. I'm rather surprised that it's taken so long for this to happen."
"Why?" Draco asked.
Four confused faces looked at Dumbledore as he formulated an answer.
"When everything started, you aged to Aeryn's age, correct?"
She, Harry, and Draco nodded.
"Well then, Marty did as well. However, she had yet to use much of her power at all, whereas you, Harry and Draco, were almost to the point where you are, or would have if this hadn't had happened. She has had to gain twenty years worth a magic in a short time, and her body doesn't know what to do with it."
Draco nodded. "I think I see what you're talking about. The moment we stepped into real time again, our bodies went back to normal. Because of this, our magic started to flow in their regular patters. But, since Marty was too young to use her magic before, she has to catch up."
"That makes sense," Aeryn said.
Dumbledore looked from the four standing to the one on the bed. "I suggest you get a good nights sleep, and we can discuss this in the morning."
Harry nodded, suddenly a lot more tired than he had felt even ten minutes ago. Together, he and Draco made it to the room they had been given for the night. He wished the other man a good night and knew nothing more for the rest of the night.
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A/N: Sorry about the prophecy. I guess I was feeling a little... strange.