Disclaimer:
I do not pretend to own the Harry Potter world or any character within it: that right belongs to the eminent J. K. Rowling, to whom I most respectfully yield.
Neither do I pretend to be an expert on the early legends of King Arthur and the fabled Isle of Avalon. They belong to posterity and my imagination.
If, in writing, I offend someone, I apologize, but stand by my opinions. I write this solely for my own amusement and for the appreciation of my audience.
I have no money, don't sue me, I'm not worth it, and there are bigger fish to fry.
Chapter One
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger looked up from their heated discussion of Quidditch and the merits thereof, Hermione arguing that it really was just a game and the two boys insisting that it was indeed more then a simple game, but a way of life. They were on the Hogwarts Express, steaming their way into the Scottish Highlands, for another year at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Looking up, they assessed the newcomer. She was, most definitively, not a student of Hogwarts. The robe alone, a pure living white, gave that away. Besides her apparel, her face was quite unfamiliar. As fifth year students they recognized most, if not all, of the students, excepting the new first years, and of those she was not.
"No it's not taken," Harry said, always the gentleman, "Please sit down."
"Thank you," she smiled, brilliantly, transforming her rather strong features into rather pretty ones. "You don't know me, but your faces are well known to the world. I am called, Anna."
"Hermione Granger," said the only other girl in the compartment. "You're from Avalon aren't you? I recognise the habit."
"I was told that you're a clever witch Hermione," Anna gave to her the same brilliant smile she'd given Harry, "I'm glad not to be disappointed."
"You mean Avalon like King Arthur and Merlin and all that?" Ron, the youngest boy of all the redheaded Weasley's asked.
"That was a long time ago, but yes." Anna laughed, "I told Lady Raven we should have worn black. White in this school is like wearing a sign saying 'look at me'."
"Beg your pardon, but what are you doing here?" Harry asked, puzzled, "They taught us the priestess of Avalon rarely leave the island."
"Firstly, I'm not a priestess, simply a student, and secondly" she shrugged, "I'm sure you're very much aware that Hogwarts has had some hard times procuring a Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor after the debacle with the Triwizard Tournament last year." All of them nodded, reminded of the drama, the death, and the Dark Lord Voldemort's promised return, "Your headmaster, Dumbledore, asked Avalon if we could be of service. Our Lady of the Lake consulted the omens, and has allowed a coven of us to come out to Hogwarts for the year to instruct."
" 'Need shall match need and in times of trouble shall arise.." Hermione began to say.
"…Powers of purity the Goddess of good will provide / to protect her Holy Isle and force evil's demise." Anna recited, from rote, eyes closed. "You're very well versed in Druidic lore, Hermione."
"It was part of our History of Magic homework over the summer. We had to write essays on the changing face of Avalon over the ages." Harry said, "They knew you were coming, then?"
"I don't know, possibly, probably," Anna shrugged, fluidly, silk sliding over silk as her robe swished softly, "Far be for me to second guess the Lady of the Lake."
"But what are you doing here?" Ron asked, "Aren't there other people she could bother?"
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, but Anna just grinned sheepishly.
"Don't, he has a point. I was ordered by your Lady McGonagall and my Lady Raven to keep company with you this year. Apparently they think that the Lord Voldemort will be after all of you again and frankly I don't doubt them."
She spoke matter-of-factly, with a strong Scottish accent. It was somewhat of an anachronism, for historically Avalon was reported to be located off the coast of Wales, and not Scotland.
Silence filled the compartment, not only had she said You-Know-Who's name, something few wizards or witches ever did if they could possibly help it, but she treated the situation as though Voldemort was after Harry and the others to give them a gift of some kind and not kill them horribly, enslave their friends, and turn their school into a bastion for the Dark Arts.
"You are supposed to protect us?" Ron asked, incredulous.
"Yes," she agreed cheerfully, wide blue eyes twinkling, "Although from what I hear it may well be you who ends up protecting me when the fur starts to fly." She stroked the aforementioned fur of Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, companionably as he kneaded his paws on her lap and purred.
"We've all heard that people of Avalon are good, but nobody's that powerful except maybe Dumbledore." Hermione declared authoritatively, "You're hardly as old as the rest of us, and you just said that you were still a student. What are you supposed to do that the rest of us can't?"
Anna didn't respond verbally, but suddenly an overwhelming sense of power began to fill the room. Her outline blurred, like the ground blurs on a hot day when heat rises and stirs the outline of the pavement. A screaming howl of wind whistled by their compartment, and the air seemed to pulse, pregnant with waiting. Opening her blue eyes, they were backlit with a glow all their own, like a cat caught by a flashlight. She spoke then, her voice sounding as though a hundred people were chanting her words at the same time "I hold the power of Avalon for my Lady of the Lake."
All of a sudden the feeling evaporated, her voice returned to normal, and the wind stopped howling. She shuddered slightly; Harry could feel her trembling softly for she was seated on the same bench as he.
"Wow!" Ron exclaimed, pale, but excited "That was scary."
"Yes," Anna replied evenly, outwardly unruffled, but still shaking slightly. "It was. That is the reason why Avalon ruled Britain for as long as we did. I am what has been called a Morgan, a conduit for the combined powers of all of Avalon at once. As far as has been recorded in the history of the Holy Isle, which is extraordinarily extensive, I assure you, no one person or group has ever been able to challenge the sheer power of Avalon united as one. It is my duty to stand between you and the powers of darkness. So as it is my duty, I will die for you, if it comes to that."
"Why?" asked Harry, confused and troubled. Too many people had died already at Voldemort's hands, his parents, for one, Cedric Diggory, and more witches and wizards beyond his counting. "Why am I so important? Why does he want me?"
"You've asked that question before haven't you Harry?" Anna said softly, "Do you expect any more answer now than you received before?"
Harry's mind jumped back to the end of his first year at Hogwarts, having just woken up from protecting the Sorcerer's Stone from the combined efforts of then-Professor Quirrell and Voldemort himself, who'd possessed the teacher bodily. Dumbledore had simply refused to answer, saying he was too young to understand fully.
"That was a long time ago," Harry argued stubbornly, "I think I'm entitled to answer now." Anna sighed, again, unhappily, but obliged him with an answer.
"Do you believe in fate, Harry Potter?"
"That we're destined to do something?"
"Not quite," Anna settled Crookshanks on her pristine white robes, heedless of the ginger cat hairs that floated from his purring body. "Do you believe that we are destined to play a role in this world that has been played out before in times prior this one?"
"Like reincarnation or something?"
"Sort of," she sifted the cat's weight, "Evil is archetypical, Harry, that is what we of Avalon believe. No matter the face or the form, each age has its epic struggle between what is right and good and what is not. All the same elements are present, even if they all aren't used or found. A face for evil and a face for good are always defined. The man known as Voldemort is the face of evil in this cycle."
"And I'm the face of good?" Harry asked.
"You never heard it from me, for as a daughter of Avalon I'm not allowed to divulge the secrets of my Lady of the Lake, but if you were to get the impression that the powers that be consider you to be so, I wouldn't dissuade you of that impression." Anna said delicately.
Bottle green met with sky blue and Harry understood what she was saying. He was destined to face the Dark Lord and, if possible, defeat him.
"What took you so long?"
She shrugged, "Missed the train the first few times 'round"
Harry grinned, amused at her flippant response, and happy that someone had finally confirmed what he'd always suspected. He wasn't a child anymore, the past few years had robbed him of that, and knowing what people expected of him was better than stumbling around blindly.
"So if Harry is the force of good, what is everybody else worrying about? Why can't we just find You-Know-Who and end it now?" Ron asked.
"All the elements aren't there yet, are they?" Hermione realized, "We have to wait until everything is set."
"And in the process danger is always present," Anna acknowledged, "Voldemort knows the cycle as well, he wants to be rid of Harry before the point of no return comes. If he does, then evil will win without the presence of good. We need to keep you alive." She addressed Harry, "I am to you what Morgan le Fey and Merlin were to Arthur, Avalon will fight at your side through me."
Harry shook his head, trying to absorb all of the information she'd given him at once. "Ohhh…"
Anna sighed, a little chagrined, "I really didn't mean to get into all this pseudo-mystical crap right now. I'm just supposed to stay with you, be friends if you'd allow it. I wasn't supposed to explain all of this to people who've never been initiated to the mysteries."
She looked about the compartment, at their faces, feeling a bit guilty, "Don't hold it against me, I just learnt of what we were up to on the trip here. It makes a whole lot more sense if you were raised listening to The Mother talking about fate and destiny and all that shit."
She hung her head, black curls obscuring her eyes, "Beyond what I just told you, Dumbledore took the time to explain to me the events of the past couple years, most of which we'd already gotten on Avalon. I'm as confused as you are about what precisely they want me to do about it, I think you've managed brilliantly all by yourselves, but nevertheless I go where my Lady commands and as she orders so am I here." Silence fell again on the compartment, punctuated by the sounds of a train moving at full speed and the compliment of passengers talking and laughing, not contemplating death and their place in the universe.
"Do you play Quidditch?" Ron asked suddenly, "We're having the devil of a time trying to convince Hermione it's worthwhile."
"I said it was ok. For a game. It's not like the world revolves around Qudditch." Hermione sassed back, "There are other things in life."
"Far be it for me to argue a lady. I play Keeper for my squad, and though it's a lovely game, there are other things in my life." Anna scratched a purring Crookshanks under his chin.
"Barking" Ron exclaimed, "Harry, honestly, help me out here."
Harry paused in his introspection; the sun outside the compartment was shining, he was heading to school with all of his friends and none of the Dursley's, and the girl sitting next to him was giving him a brilliant smile and was pretty as well as intelligent. Who cared about fate and the Dark Forces on such a lovely day?
"Really, c'mon girls…"