Chapter 6
"What!?" Sirius gasped in absolute shock, which was a far better response than any of the other twelve could manage; their jaws were hanging open in absolute shock.
"Oh my God." Ginny was the next to find her tongue, and Snape had started to make shocked sounds in the back of his throat, and Albus's eyes suddenly narrowed as he came back to reality to realize that nearly ten seconds had passed while they had all stared through the wall at the shades. Or more correctly, the shade of Salazar Slytherin.
"Slytherin, of all people," Severus whispered, then he frowned at the see- through wall, "someone has some explaining to do; he was supposed to be a dark wizard."
"The man he killed was named Drefol Nakisen, but his son saw Fudge putting the poison in Drefol's goblet at a party." Salazar told Heron, Heron had asked the shades for help gathering information with which to blackmail the Minister. Apparently Drefol Nakisen had been Fudge's primary opponent, and an ex-auror ex-head of the Committee for the testing, and approving new spells.
"Was there anything between Fudge and Drefol besides the fight for Minister that would have made Fudge kill him?" Heron asked, he was sitting on the floor cross-legged, his palm still pressed to the hand print on the floor, the symbol burning so brightly it was still visible through his palm, the hand print on the floor steaming away the blood seeping unstoppably from his palm. But the pain did not bother him, pain was a thing of the mind, ignorable, and this was mild compared to what he'd been through.
"Yes, Fudge had an affair with Drefol's wife, who is now dead, though he actually blackmailed her into it by not killing her husband, and Fudge was being paid by the death eaters, they helped finance his campaign.well Lucius Malfoy did. Malfoy is keeping the Minister on a very firm leash by not giving any of that away." On of the elementals said, her name was Tiarith, the most powerful pyromancer ever.
"How did Drefol's wife die?" Heron asked, this was just getting worse and worse.
"Death eaters attacked Drefol's house, not knowing that Fudge was there, he pushed her in front of the killing curse to save himself." Salazar supplied.
"Does the son know about this?"
"Oh yes, naturally, he's twenty eight now, living in Hogsmead, he works the owl post office there. And yes he wants revenge." Salazar added before Heron could voice the question.
"Interesting, what kind of poison?" Heron asked.
"Norwegian Ridgeback saliva, kills in two hours by rupturing the second chamber of the heart, but it looks natural."
"Where did he get the saliva?" Heron asked storing all this away mentally.
"Shop called Venoms and Poisons, in Knockturn Alley, well known for supplying Voldemort and assassins, but no one's ever been able to prove it. No one still living anyway."
"How long does the saliva residue stay in the body?"
"Forever, but it's unrecognizable unless you know what to look for."
"What about Drefol's medical records? Do they still exist?"
"No one changed them, they're still in the Official Archives of Wizards in the United States. His last blood samples taken at death are there as well, and the person who did the autopsy is still there a well. He noticed that something didn't seem to be quite right, and he keeps record of all the dead who he thinks were murdered, his name is Samuel Rosfond." At this heron frowned, the shades could only call upon other dead people to answer the questions, not the living, how had they known about someone still alive?
"We got this from his twin brother." Salazar commented, Heron nodded and thought for a few moments.
"Anything else on Fudge?" Heron asked the shades; this time it was another elemental, Yakaer the water wizard, to reply.
"Yes, he hired an assassin to kill Ralph Weasely, Arthur's father, who was a very prominent Ministry official, head of the aurors and an ex-auror himself. He was perfectly placed to replace Fudge in the last election ten years ago, but Fudge had him killed. Same poisoning and everything, Samuel's son Nathan did that autopsy, like his father he found it a little strange, and he's willing to testify, he does all the work with murder victims for their autopsy place."
"This autopsy place, history? Location?" Heron inquired.
"Right next to the OAW (official archives of wizards) started as a family business, Samuel's father still runs it, Samuel, Nathan, and three others are the autopsy people. There's a recorder, and a few other staff members, the best autopsy place on the planet."
"What a thing to specialize in." Heron muttered, just slightly morbidly amused, *Arai would crack up at this* for that matter all the vampires would find it grotesquely amusing. "Thank you for you aid, povarilas eru aril seharulo." (shades of my brethren) he said, bowing his head briefly as he shifted to his knees and reached out to trace the rune for death with the index finger of his left hand, the right still in place upon the hand print. Heron closed his eyes and concentrated at sending the shades back to where they had come form, the runes for power glowed orange and the rune for Necromancy turned purple, the shade-summoning pattern went black. The shades seemed to glow with dark flames, then they were gone, faded away, the fire leaped around him and symbols on the floor blazed. Heron remove sent a quick wave of blood through his palm, the handprint hissed and steamed, the runes suddenly stopped glowing, the flames turned black then became regular fire. Heron shuddered as he removed his hand form the print mark.
The hand print glowed gold as he removed his hand, and for a moment, in that glow, Heron was blinded, and a vision came into being before his eyes. A cave, small and damp, an elf sprawled on the cave floor, soaked in blood, Heron blinked quickly, the vision had vanished before it had become clear enough to see anything more, the fires around the circle vanished. Heron collapsed weakly to the floor, completely exhausted, his palm raw and bleeding.
Behind the wall the others had all stood as Heron sent the shades back, when Heron collapsed, something they had not anticipated, they left the room at a run, through the elegant passageway, and to the doors of the chamber.
When Heron forced himself to his feet and staggered to the doors they flew open, he moved quickly, throwing out a wall of air to stop them form entering. They were not training in necromancy yet and would not survive entering the chamber even when it was in its "inactive" state, as it was now.
Heron sat down on one of the ornate benches outside the chamber, Neville began to wrap his injured hand in white gauze bandage, the wound would not be healed by magic, it had to heal naturally.
"That as incredible Heron." Albus commented as he sat down beside Heron.
"Heron I though Salazar was.well a dark wizard?" Severus asked, Heron blinked and looked up, he'd forgotten how much they didn't know.
"He was certainly not, he was a very rare and very powerful type of elemental warrior, or mages as they were called then, the name elemental warrior is relatively new. He was a second-class water mage, third class air mage, third class fire mage, and third class earth mage." He looked around at their surprised faces. "He didn't approve of muggle born witches and wizards at all, true, and he favored pure bloods and parseltounge's, but he left Hogwarts to die after his life-mate was killed. The story of the fight between him and Godric, while they never liked each other, was invented a few centuries later, to explain the Gryffidnor-Slyhterin enmity." He explained wearily. "And now I'm going to rest and you ten, he looked to the students, are going home and you three have other things to be doing." He stood and headed back to his tower, the other departed quickly. They all had portkeys to take them home.
Heron relaxed back on his bed, massaging his aching hand, Xenrose swooped in the open window and landed on the back of a chair.
"Hey Xenrose, we're heading back to Hogwarts tomorrow girl." Xenrose whistled and glided to the bed, landing beside him and rubbing her softly feathered head against his cheek. "I'm alright, just tired." Heron assured the phoenix, rubbing his right wrist just above the bandages with his left hand, thin silvery lines spread. Sp dim they were almost invisible, Heron rubbed the silvery threads about, the fingers of his left hand glowing gold and the anti-pain and quick healing spells were spread over the entire hand by the silvery threads. The ache dulled considerably and he could feel the bleeding stop.
At that moment intense pain raced through the lighting bolt scar, Heron hissed and closed his eyes, searching for a vision of what Voldemort was doing, a dark dim picture of an elaborately decorated meeting room. A large table in the center, sixteen chairs, another room, the throne room, death eaters apparating in, two score of them, Voldemort entered the room, then left, fourteen death eaters following him. Nagini slithering after them, then two figures in black death eater robes with silver sashes appeared. They took over and Heron heard Lucius giving orders to three death eaters to go capture a few squibs. The other silver sashed figure went after the Inner Circle and Voldemort. Then darkness. Harry opened his eyes to find Xenrose peering at him curiously, the pain slowly faded from his scar.
"Nothing new, he seems to be taking it slow right now, thank goodness." He told her, and then a white falcon swooped in the window, a letter in its claws.
Dear Phoenix, Yesterday I received word that death eaters had attacked a small muggle town, killing nine people. Leaving three children orphans, my parents have decided to adopt two of them and so we went to go meet them. One of them is an eight year old girl, when I met her I felt like there was something very powerful in the room.and the way she acts, I'm quite sure that she is a war mage of some sort. I also believe the same of the other child my parents are adopting, she's only four and a half but her eyes glow a bit, and she has very keen senses, again I got the oddest feeling of power from her. I'm rather confused about what these two are.
Cho Chang
Next there was a list of direction to get to the town and where the children were staying, and their names.
Heron leaped up, if Cho had sensed something then there was definitely something there. He could already tell that Cho would be excellent at picking out untrained war mages, and he had been right. Heron went to stand in front of the mirror and called his staff to him from its place next to his bed. In minutes his disguise was finished. He looked to be about thirty; long wavy brown hair tied back, jeans and t-shirt, brown eyes, and completely muggle.
A few minutes later Heron arrived at the orphanage where the three children were, Cho's family having not yet adopted the three year old.
"Hello, my wife and I heard about the dreadful terrorist attack, as we are looking for a child to adopt I would like to meet the three survivors, I'm Rand Hasnet." He said to the young woman at the desk.
"Of course Mr. Hasnet, this way please." Heron followed the woman down a hallway, listening politely to her chatter about the children.
"Poor dears, such a terrible thing to have happen," he nodded in agreement as she opened the door.
There were two tolders sitting in a playpen. The older girl was staring blankly out the window. Heron went over to the play pen, instantly he sensed which one Cho had been talking about in her letter.
The four-year-old girl was tall for her age with pale blonde hair and odd black eyes. He could sense the power in her clearly.
"Hello there. what is her name?" he asked the woman.
"This is Kahiri, she's four and seven months, very nice little girl, quiet, a tough little one. The boy is Andy, he's one, and this is Kia." She said, nodding to the eight-year-old girl, who turned to look up at her but did not speak. "I have to go, I'll be back in a few." She left quickly, shutting the door behind her. Kia looked at Heron curiously. She was tall for an eight year old; with skin so dark it was almost a perfect black. Shiny straight black hair that was oddly silky and long, with large dark blue/purple eyes.
"Hey Kahiri, nice to meet you." Heron said with a warm smile, the little girl giggled at him. Heron turned to Kia and met her eyes squarely. Kia stiffened; Harry searched her eyes and mind, then smiled warmly, finding the power he sought.
"Who are you?" Kia whispered at him, Heron sat down on a chair beside her.
"A person, tell me Kia, were your parents a witch and wizard?" Kia jumped and he mouth opened for a moment, no sound coming out.
"Y-yes, my-my m-mom i..was." She said, shocked. Heron nodded slowly.
"Very well then Kia, I am not a wizard, I am a War Mage." Kia looked confused at this.
"What's that?"
"A special type of wizard, we have slightly different and much more powerful magic. There is very little we cannot do, we were once a powerful race, keeping peace everywhere in the world. I am the last of my kind left now, we have been slowly dying out for many years, but soon we'll be making a comeback, to fight Voldemort." Kia gaped, awed.
"Wow.why are you telling me though?" Heron grinned; she was definitely war mage material, a good war mage too. But she was in danger, he could sense it, she was lucky to still be alive, she had maybe a year and four months left, then her powers would rip themselves free and tear her, and everything near her, apart. He sighed and looked out the window, and stopped, a vision forming before his eyes.
A cave, the same small dark cave, blood splashed on he floor, an elf, battered and bleeding, lying sprawled on the damp ave floor. Soaked in blood and bleeding heavily form a head wound, his face bruised. The vision vanished.
"Because you asked and I felt you deserved an answer." Harry went back on over the to the play pen and knelt, watching the two children. He couldn't sense anything about the boy, but he was probably too young. He turned as the door opened, and in came Cho, with her parents and older brother. They gave a start at seeing Harry, but her didn't say or do anything, merely gave them a knowing look and a kind smile. Cho scrutinized him for a moment, unsure of who he really was, he gave a small smile.
"Phoenix," Cho said with a nod to him, Harry inclined his head and looked to her parents, flicking his eyes to Kahiri and then Kia, they paused then nodded.
"Kia, how would you feel if we adopted you?" Mrs. Change asked Kia, sitting down on the other chair and taking Kia's hand. Kia stared, then looked to Mr. Chang, Gary, and finally Cho, who smiled warmly at her.
"I-I.yes, sure." She seemed pleased, the family smiled happily.
"Sounds good, we'll be adopting Kahiri as well.you'll have two sisters and a brother.but he's grown already." Mr. Chang said with a smile. Kia looked delighted.
"Great.um.are you." she paused, unsure of how to ask.
"Yes we are all witches and wizards, as are you and young Kahiri hear I believe?" Mrs. Change said, asking Harry, who nodded and stood.
"Yes they both are."
"Okay, here, Gary, stay here for a moment, we need to finish filling out the forms, Cho come on." They left the room, Harry followed a few seconds later.
"Phoenix.are they?' Cho asked once the door shut and they were halfway down the hall, Mr. And Mrs. Change turned to look at him.
"Both of them are War Mages. Kia only has another year before she will have to be trained, that's as far as it can be pushed, she's dangerous enough, but not deadly so or anything. If you do not ant to raise two War Mages.it will be painful when they leave. And Kia at least will have to leave. It takes more than one War Mage to train another, and I do not have the time, or the ability, I am a Grand Master, she is just a War Mage. She will have to go back in time for her training." He said slowly, watching their reactions closely. "You will not see her at all form nine to age twenty one.here one year will pass, twelve will pass for her. It will be the same for Kahiri to.unless by the time she needs training there enough War Mages to train her."
Mr. And Mrs. Chang paused, thinking for a few moments, they traded looks and Harry noted the strong agreement.
"We'd love to raise them anyway." Mrs. Chang said firmly, Heron smiled, relieved and pleased.
"Excellent, but Kia should not know she is a War Mage until a few days or weeks before she goes for training." They both nodded, Heron smiled again, and then became serious. "It will be best if Kia has some beginning abilities to start with, I'll arrange for a karate, fencing, and archery gym to move nearby your house and for Kia to take lessons there. Don't worry about the cost. I'll be in touch." He nodded to them all and left the orphanage.
All that night Heron stayed awake, relaxing on his couch before a fire puzzling over the vision, this was the second time he'd had it. It was bothering, this time the vision had been clearer, and unless he was greatly mistaken, through the bruises and blood, he'd recognized the distinctive, dark, almost black, brown/russet hair and elegant facial features of the royal family.
Early the next morning the owner of Tim's Self-defense Club was looking through the newspaper when he saw an add for a large building for sale, perfect for the new gym he'd been wanting to set up, and cheap too. In excellent condition, two stories, huge rooms, a gym, a large open area out back.perfect. He picked up the phone and dialed the number below the add.
The same day as Cho went back to school Kia and Kahiri moved into their new home, unaware of the plans already being made for their future.
Okay long chapter, whew I'm tired! I wrote that all in one go. Good night. Please review!
"What!?" Sirius gasped in absolute shock, which was a far better response than any of the other twelve could manage; their jaws were hanging open in absolute shock.
"Oh my God." Ginny was the next to find her tongue, and Snape had started to make shocked sounds in the back of his throat, and Albus's eyes suddenly narrowed as he came back to reality to realize that nearly ten seconds had passed while they had all stared through the wall at the shades. Or more correctly, the shade of Salazar Slytherin.
"Slytherin, of all people," Severus whispered, then he frowned at the see- through wall, "someone has some explaining to do; he was supposed to be a dark wizard."
"The man he killed was named Drefol Nakisen, but his son saw Fudge putting the poison in Drefol's goblet at a party." Salazar told Heron, Heron had asked the shades for help gathering information with which to blackmail the Minister. Apparently Drefol Nakisen had been Fudge's primary opponent, and an ex-auror ex-head of the Committee for the testing, and approving new spells.
"Was there anything between Fudge and Drefol besides the fight for Minister that would have made Fudge kill him?" Heron asked, he was sitting on the floor cross-legged, his palm still pressed to the hand print on the floor, the symbol burning so brightly it was still visible through his palm, the hand print on the floor steaming away the blood seeping unstoppably from his palm. But the pain did not bother him, pain was a thing of the mind, ignorable, and this was mild compared to what he'd been through.
"Yes, Fudge had an affair with Drefol's wife, who is now dead, though he actually blackmailed her into it by not killing her husband, and Fudge was being paid by the death eaters, they helped finance his campaign.well Lucius Malfoy did. Malfoy is keeping the Minister on a very firm leash by not giving any of that away." On of the elementals said, her name was Tiarith, the most powerful pyromancer ever.
"How did Drefol's wife die?" Heron asked, this was just getting worse and worse.
"Death eaters attacked Drefol's house, not knowing that Fudge was there, he pushed her in front of the killing curse to save himself." Salazar supplied.
"Does the son know about this?"
"Oh yes, naturally, he's twenty eight now, living in Hogsmead, he works the owl post office there. And yes he wants revenge." Salazar added before Heron could voice the question.
"Interesting, what kind of poison?" Heron asked.
"Norwegian Ridgeback saliva, kills in two hours by rupturing the second chamber of the heart, but it looks natural."
"Where did he get the saliva?" Heron asked storing all this away mentally.
"Shop called Venoms and Poisons, in Knockturn Alley, well known for supplying Voldemort and assassins, but no one's ever been able to prove it. No one still living anyway."
"How long does the saliva residue stay in the body?"
"Forever, but it's unrecognizable unless you know what to look for."
"What about Drefol's medical records? Do they still exist?"
"No one changed them, they're still in the Official Archives of Wizards in the United States. His last blood samples taken at death are there as well, and the person who did the autopsy is still there a well. He noticed that something didn't seem to be quite right, and he keeps record of all the dead who he thinks were murdered, his name is Samuel Rosfond." At this heron frowned, the shades could only call upon other dead people to answer the questions, not the living, how had they known about someone still alive?
"We got this from his twin brother." Salazar commented, Heron nodded and thought for a few moments.
"Anything else on Fudge?" Heron asked the shades; this time it was another elemental, Yakaer the water wizard, to reply.
"Yes, he hired an assassin to kill Ralph Weasely, Arthur's father, who was a very prominent Ministry official, head of the aurors and an ex-auror himself. He was perfectly placed to replace Fudge in the last election ten years ago, but Fudge had him killed. Same poisoning and everything, Samuel's son Nathan did that autopsy, like his father he found it a little strange, and he's willing to testify, he does all the work with murder victims for their autopsy place."
"This autopsy place, history? Location?" Heron inquired.
"Right next to the OAW (official archives of wizards) started as a family business, Samuel's father still runs it, Samuel, Nathan, and three others are the autopsy people. There's a recorder, and a few other staff members, the best autopsy place on the planet."
"What a thing to specialize in." Heron muttered, just slightly morbidly amused, *Arai would crack up at this* for that matter all the vampires would find it grotesquely amusing. "Thank you for you aid, povarilas eru aril seharulo." (shades of my brethren) he said, bowing his head briefly as he shifted to his knees and reached out to trace the rune for death with the index finger of his left hand, the right still in place upon the hand print. Heron closed his eyes and concentrated at sending the shades back to where they had come form, the runes for power glowed orange and the rune for Necromancy turned purple, the shade-summoning pattern went black. The shades seemed to glow with dark flames, then they were gone, faded away, the fire leaped around him and symbols on the floor blazed. Heron remove sent a quick wave of blood through his palm, the handprint hissed and steamed, the runes suddenly stopped glowing, the flames turned black then became regular fire. Heron shuddered as he removed his hand form the print mark.
The hand print glowed gold as he removed his hand, and for a moment, in that glow, Heron was blinded, and a vision came into being before his eyes. A cave, small and damp, an elf sprawled on the cave floor, soaked in blood, Heron blinked quickly, the vision had vanished before it had become clear enough to see anything more, the fires around the circle vanished. Heron collapsed weakly to the floor, completely exhausted, his palm raw and bleeding.
Behind the wall the others had all stood as Heron sent the shades back, when Heron collapsed, something they had not anticipated, they left the room at a run, through the elegant passageway, and to the doors of the chamber.
When Heron forced himself to his feet and staggered to the doors they flew open, he moved quickly, throwing out a wall of air to stop them form entering. They were not training in necromancy yet and would not survive entering the chamber even when it was in its "inactive" state, as it was now.
Heron sat down on one of the ornate benches outside the chamber, Neville began to wrap his injured hand in white gauze bandage, the wound would not be healed by magic, it had to heal naturally.
"That as incredible Heron." Albus commented as he sat down beside Heron.
"Heron I though Salazar was.well a dark wizard?" Severus asked, Heron blinked and looked up, he'd forgotten how much they didn't know.
"He was certainly not, he was a very rare and very powerful type of elemental warrior, or mages as they were called then, the name elemental warrior is relatively new. He was a second-class water mage, third class air mage, third class fire mage, and third class earth mage." He looked around at their surprised faces. "He didn't approve of muggle born witches and wizards at all, true, and he favored pure bloods and parseltounge's, but he left Hogwarts to die after his life-mate was killed. The story of the fight between him and Godric, while they never liked each other, was invented a few centuries later, to explain the Gryffidnor-Slyhterin enmity." He explained wearily. "And now I'm going to rest and you ten, he looked to the students, are going home and you three have other things to be doing." He stood and headed back to his tower, the other departed quickly. They all had portkeys to take them home.
Heron relaxed back on his bed, massaging his aching hand, Xenrose swooped in the open window and landed on the back of a chair.
"Hey Xenrose, we're heading back to Hogwarts tomorrow girl." Xenrose whistled and glided to the bed, landing beside him and rubbing her softly feathered head against his cheek. "I'm alright, just tired." Heron assured the phoenix, rubbing his right wrist just above the bandages with his left hand, thin silvery lines spread. Sp dim they were almost invisible, Heron rubbed the silvery threads about, the fingers of his left hand glowing gold and the anti-pain and quick healing spells were spread over the entire hand by the silvery threads. The ache dulled considerably and he could feel the bleeding stop.
At that moment intense pain raced through the lighting bolt scar, Heron hissed and closed his eyes, searching for a vision of what Voldemort was doing, a dark dim picture of an elaborately decorated meeting room. A large table in the center, sixteen chairs, another room, the throne room, death eaters apparating in, two score of them, Voldemort entered the room, then left, fourteen death eaters following him. Nagini slithering after them, then two figures in black death eater robes with silver sashes appeared. They took over and Heron heard Lucius giving orders to three death eaters to go capture a few squibs. The other silver sashed figure went after the Inner Circle and Voldemort. Then darkness. Harry opened his eyes to find Xenrose peering at him curiously, the pain slowly faded from his scar.
"Nothing new, he seems to be taking it slow right now, thank goodness." He told her, and then a white falcon swooped in the window, a letter in its claws.
Dear Phoenix, Yesterday I received word that death eaters had attacked a small muggle town, killing nine people. Leaving three children orphans, my parents have decided to adopt two of them and so we went to go meet them. One of them is an eight year old girl, when I met her I felt like there was something very powerful in the room.and the way she acts, I'm quite sure that she is a war mage of some sort. I also believe the same of the other child my parents are adopting, she's only four and a half but her eyes glow a bit, and she has very keen senses, again I got the oddest feeling of power from her. I'm rather confused about what these two are.
Cho Chang
Next there was a list of direction to get to the town and where the children were staying, and their names.
Heron leaped up, if Cho had sensed something then there was definitely something there. He could already tell that Cho would be excellent at picking out untrained war mages, and he had been right. Heron went to stand in front of the mirror and called his staff to him from its place next to his bed. In minutes his disguise was finished. He looked to be about thirty; long wavy brown hair tied back, jeans and t-shirt, brown eyes, and completely muggle.
A few minutes later Heron arrived at the orphanage where the three children were, Cho's family having not yet adopted the three year old.
"Hello, my wife and I heard about the dreadful terrorist attack, as we are looking for a child to adopt I would like to meet the three survivors, I'm Rand Hasnet." He said to the young woman at the desk.
"Of course Mr. Hasnet, this way please." Heron followed the woman down a hallway, listening politely to her chatter about the children.
"Poor dears, such a terrible thing to have happen," he nodded in agreement as she opened the door.
There were two tolders sitting in a playpen. The older girl was staring blankly out the window. Heron went over to the play pen, instantly he sensed which one Cho had been talking about in her letter.
The four-year-old girl was tall for her age with pale blonde hair and odd black eyes. He could sense the power in her clearly.
"Hello there. what is her name?" he asked the woman.
"This is Kahiri, she's four and seven months, very nice little girl, quiet, a tough little one. The boy is Andy, he's one, and this is Kia." She said, nodding to the eight-year-old girl, who turned to look up at her but did not speak. "I have to go, I'll be back in a few." She left quickly, shutting the door behind her. Kia looked at Heron curiously. She was tall for an eight year old; with skin so dark it was almost a perfect black. Shiny straight black hair that was oddly silky and long, with large dark blue/purple eyes.
"Hey Kahiri, nice to meet you." Heron said with a warm smile, the little girl giggled at him. Heron turned to Kia and met her eyes squarely. Kia stiffened; Harry searched her eyes and mind, then smiled warmly, finding the power he sought.
"Who are you?" Kia whispered at him, Heron sat down on a chair beside her.
"A person, tell me Kia, were your parents a witch and wizard?" Kia jumped and he mouth opened for a moment, no sound coming out.
"Y-yes, my-my m-mom i..was." She said, shocked. Heron nodded slowly.
"Very well then Kia, I am not a wizard, I am a War Mage." Kia looked confused at this.
"What's that?"
"A special type of wizard, we have slightly different and much more powerful magic. There is very little we cannot do, we were once a powerful race, keeping peace everywhere in the world. I am the last of my kind left now, we have been slowly dying out for many years, but soon we'll be making a comeback, to fight Voldemort." Kia gaped, awed.
"Wow.why are you telling me though?" Heron grinned; she was definitely war mage material, a good war mage too. But she was in danger, he could sense it, she was lucky to still be alive, she had maybe a year and four months left, then her powers would rip themselves free and tear her, and everything near her, apart. He sighed and looked out the window, and stopped, a vision forming before his eyes.
A cave, the same small dark cave, blood splashed on he floor, an elf, battered and bleeding, lying sprawled on the damp ave floor. Soaked in blood and bleeding heavily form a head wound, his face bruised. The vision vanished.
"Because you asked and I felt you deserved an answer." Harry went back on over the to the play pen and knelt, watching the two children. He couldn't sense anything about the boy, but he was probably too young. He turned as the door opened, and in came Cho, with her parents and older brother. They gave a start at seeing Harry, but her didn't say or do anything, merely gave them a knowing look and a kind smile. Cho scrutinized him for a moment, unsure of who he really was, he gave a small smile.
"Phoenix," Cho said with a nod to him, Harry inclined his head and looked to her parents, flicking his eyes to Kahiri and then Kia, they paused then nodded.
"Kia, how would you feel if we adopted you?" Mrs. Change asked Kia, sitting down on the other chair and taking Kia's hand. Kia stared, then looked to Mr. Chang, Gary, and finally Cho, who smiled warmly at her.
"I-I.yes, sure." She seemed pleased, the family smiled happily.
"Sounds good, we'll be adopting Kahiri as well.you'll have two sisters and a brother.but he's grown already." Mr. Chang said with a smile. Kia looked delighted.
"Great.um.are you." she paused, unsure of how to ask.
"Yes we are all witches and wizards, as are you and young Kahiri hear I believe?" Mrs. Change said, asking Harry, who nodded and stood.
"Yes they both are."
"Okay, here, Gary, stay here for a moment, we need to finish filling out the forms, Cho come on." They left the room, Harry followed a few seconds later.
"Phoenix.are they?' Cho asked once the door shut and they were halfway down the hall, Mr. And Mrs. Change turned to look at him.
"Both of them are War Mages. Kia only has another year before she will have to be trained, that's as far as it can be pushed, she's dangerous enough, but not deadly so or anything. If you do not ant to raise two War Mages.it will be painful when they leave. And Kia at least will have to leave. It takes more than one War Mage to train another, and I do not have the time, or the ability, I am a Grand Master, she is just a War Mage. She will have to go back in time for her training." He said slowly, watching their reactions closely. "You will not see her at all form nine to age twenty one.here one year will pass, twelve will pass for her. It will be the same for Kahiri to.unless by the time she needs training there enough War Mages to train her."
Mr. And Mrs. Chang paused, thinking for a few moments, they traded looks and Harry noted the strong agreement.
"We'd love to raise them anyway." Mrs. Chang said firmly, Heron smiled, relieved and pleased.
"Excellent, but Kia should not know she is a War Mage until a few days or weeks before she goes for training." They both nodded, Heron smiled again, and then became serious. "It will be best if Kia has some beginning abilities to start with, I'll arrange for a karate, fencing, and archery gym to move nearby your house and for Kia to take lessons there. Don't worry about the cost. I'll be in touch." He nodded to them all and left the orphanage.
All that night Heron stayed awake, relaxing on his couch before a fire puzzling over the vision, this was the second time he'd had it. It was bothering, this time the vision had been clearer, and unless he was greatly mistaken, through the bruises and blood, he'd recognized the distinctive, dark, almost black, brown/russet hair and elegant facial features of the royal family.
Early the next morning the owner of Tim's Self-defense Club was looking through the newspaper when he saw an add for a large building for sale, perfect for the new gym he'd been wanting to set up, and cheap too. In excellent condition, two stories, huge rooms, a gym, a large open area out back.perfect. He picked up the phone and dialed the number below the add.
The same day as Cho went back to school Kia and Kahiri moved into their new home, unaware of the plans already being made for their future.
Okay long chapter, whew I'm tired! I wrote that all in one go. Good night. Please review!