Harry Potter and the Dragon's Lair
CHAPTER 2: Captors, Finders, Whatever They Are
Harry opened his eyes but regretted it instantly when a bright sun shone directly into his eyes.
He rolled over to hide his face from the blazing sphere. He opened his eyes again to see the grass being pulled up by a mouth.
He leaped back and took in his surroundings. He was sitting in a clearing half-surrounded by four horses; white, chestnut, black, and dapple-gray. There was a crackling sound to his left, which turned out to a campfire. Two people were talking in hushed tones and it hit Harry that he was not in England anymore.
Harry lay back down quickly hoping the people who set him by the fire wouldn't notice his awakening. He racked his brain for some reasonable cause of all this. Harry replayed the memory back in his head.
He finished gardening for Aunt Petunia and was about to enter the house when suddenly there was a flash of light. It didn't make sense- wait he grabbed a tree for support while he rested. But that did not help in any way.
He heard a branch crack and he instinctively reached to his pocket for is wand, his eyes widened when he realized his wand was not there.
Harry tried to listen to the conversation by the campfire so he could at least figure out who his captors were.
"I don't like it. They came way to close than what was safe, Kele." A musical female voice said.
"Althea, if I told you once I told you a hundred of times. They are not interested in our party. We should be to blame if anything, we are camped practically next to their territory!", replied a humorous male voice.
"You sound like Zeroun."
"The guy wasn't half-bad, a little neurotic, but in that family, it's hereditary."
"Kele!" the sound of something hitting fabric was heard
"Hey, it's the truth, and I don't say anything behind her back I wouldn't say to her face."
"I hope you mean Atty."
"Who else?"
"That ninny or old bat."
"Ebony would just bat her eyelashes and laugh and Ecthal, well, who knows what she would do?
"Probably hex you like she did Erid."
"Oooo. No thanks, I like the way I look just fine and dandy."
"I'll go check the trail to see if they found us."
Harry heard the rustle of leaves and a loud pop and whine from the campfire. Harry wondered who was pursuing his captors, and wondered if he should hope if they should be caught. Harry shivered and thought that it was quite cold for the noon. The man, Kele, who stayed must have saw him shiver because he heard footsteps come toward him and felt a warm cloak cover him. Harry tried not to trust his captors, but he did give them points for at least caring. He stiffened slightly when he heard footsteps in the clearing again.
"Look what I found." Announced Althea.
The sound of tiny clicks of metal ebbed from the campfire.
"So they are gone then?" Kele asked.
"No one leaves something like that on the road and walks away, even if it is to bait a trap."
"No kidding. Now that we know Trespassers won't be giving us any problems, where are Troy and Diedra?"
"You don't want to here my suggestion."
"Okay Althea, other than Troy inviting the Trespasser over here for lunch after being caught kissing Deidra, what happened to them?"
"Oh I'd say they were caught by wolves and their bones are now making an interesting floor mat in some cave." A new voice said as footsteps and a yelp of surprise were heard in the clearing.
"Troy, don't do that again!" Kele growled.
"Calm down Kele, and put that away. We have enough problems as it is." Said a female voice, huskier than the other.
"Hey, uh. Who's the kid?" asked Troy walking near Harry, who tensed slightly not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.
"The reason we're out here." Kele replied, still ticked.
"You mean the Council sent us to round up a scrawny, little boy?" Troy half stated.
Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in anger. Silently cursing Dudley and his diet he resumed his listening.
"Troy you half-wit! Take a look at his clothes, he is not from around here!"
Harry strained his ears trying to hear some soft whisper of an explanation but the only sounds were the crackling of the campfire and the horses grinding the soft grass with their teeth.
"Run that by me again, I thought I must have heard you say he is a foreigner." Troy said softly.
"He did." The other female that must be the aforementioned Deidra said.
"That's impossible! The portals were shut off 1000 years ago! The transporters were all destroyed 500 years ago! And above all, the council didn't summon him!" Troy shriek-whispered to the group.
"Be quiet you cracked-brained ninny! If the Trespassers here us we won't exactly have time to converse the topic of the youth's existence." Althea harshly whispered.
Harry's mind was going a mile a minute. Portals, transporters, foreigner, people who do not have a lot of contact with the outside world. It was enough to make him scared. At least they didn't know he was awake.
"How long has he been sleeping?" Troy asked.
"Two hours. We'll have to wake him up if he doesn't open his eyes before high noon, I am not traveling in the dark with Trespassers on my heals." Althea said.
A wave of silence passed over the camp.
Harry wondered if anyone knew he was missing. They might notice when Petunia comes outside to see what is taking so long and then discovers he wasn't there. She'll be mad.
There was almost a Voldemort feeling about these Trespassers. Harry wondered if they would find them, but what would happen next? His mind hurt with all the different possibilities there were each one as likely as the next. Harry decided to boil it down to the basics:
1) He was completely clueless of his surroundings, bad for escape
2) He was at least partially expected, might want to wait for answers
Harry decided to listen to the current conversation to figure out what was going on.
"So how did you find him?" Toy asked. Harry assumed they were talking about him.
"Fell right out of the sky he did. I thought he was one of the Eagle folk, but believe it or not, he bounced." Kele said amused.
Had Harry been awake he would have looked like a bug-eyed fish. He, Harry Potter, fell out of the sky and bounced. Draco would die laughing, but then again, after that ferret incident, he shouldn't talk.
"Of course I wanted to see if he was okay. Amazingly he was, though his leg looked a little bent, but Althea healed that." Kele continued.
Harry resisted the urge to move his leg to find out if what they said was true.
Suddenly out of the blue Deidra asked, "Was he armed?"
After a pause Althea said, "He had a polished stick that shot sparks when I touched it but other than that, nothing."
Harry now knew that there was magical talent here but that they never saw a wand before. Which brought him back to the ever-persisting question: Where is he?
"Should we wake him up now?" Kele suggested.
"I'd leave him, give him thirty minutes. If he sleeps now he won't pass out on the trip." Deidra said flatly.
"Or in a fight." Troy said pointblank.
"You think they'll attack?" Althea asked.
"If you saw the Trespassers with this kid you would be curious and stop them, right?" Kele said.
"Yes, but Trespassers don't stop you, ask who is with you, interrogate the kid, then let you go on your merry little way. They stop you, ask who is with you, and then drive a knife through your heart." Troy said sarcastically.
"No, no, no. That's not Trespasser style, they ram the knife through your back or behead you, depends on the mood their in." Deidra said darkly.
"So how are we getting out of here?" Troy asked.
"The Wilder Path" Althea said matter-of-factly.
Somebody groaned.
"Isn't that the one with the-" Troy started to say but Kele interrupted.
"Yes. That one, but they say the troll died."
Harry was confused by now. The group he was with wasn't a group of Muggles, they knew what a troll was. But how could they be magical if they didn't know what a wand was?
Harry decided that now would be the best time to 'wake up' and ask. Harry rolled over to his other side to face the campfire but still away from the sun then opened his eyes.
The first thing he said was, "Where am I?"
The group jumped realizing he was awake.
For the first time Harry actually looked at his captors, or finders, or whatever they were.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, yeah...
Beware of the sadistic squirrels!
-TDDA
~~
~~
CHAPTER 2: Captors, Finders, Whatever They Are
Harry opened his eyes but regretted it instantly when a bright sun shone directly into his eyes.
He rolled over to hide his face from the blazing sphere. He opened his eyes again to see the grass being pulled up by a mouth.
He leaped back and took in his surroundings. He was sitting in a clearing half-surrounded by four horses; white, chestnut, black, and dapple-gray. There was a crackling sound to his left, which turned out to a campfire. Two people were talking in hushed tones and it hit Harry that he was not in England anymore.
Harry lay back down quickly hoping the people who set him by the fire wouldn't notice his awakening. He racked his brain for some reasonable cause of all this. Harry replayed the memory back in his head.
He finished gardening for Aunt Petunia and was about to enter the house when suddenly there was a flash of light. It didn't make sense- wait he grabbed a tree for support while he rested. But that did not help in any way.
He heard a branch crack and he instinctively reached to his pocket for is wand, his eyes widened when he realized his wand was not there.
Harry tried to listen to the conversation by the campfire so he could at least figure out who his captors were.
"I don't like it. They came way to close than what was safe, Kele." A musical female voice said.
"Althea, if I told you once I told you a hundred of times. They are not interested in our party. We should be to blame if anything, we are camped practically next to their territory!", replied a humorous male voice.
"You sound like Zeroun."
"The guy wasn't half-bad, a little neurotic, but in that family, it's hereditary."
"Kele!" the sound of something hitting fabric was heard
"Hey, it's the truth, and I don't say anything behind her back I wouldn't say to her face."
"I hope you mean Atty."
"Who else?"
"That ninny or old bat."
"Ebony would just bat her eyelashes and laugh and Ecthal, well, who knows what she would do?
"Probably hex you like she did Erid."
"Oooo. No thanks, I like the way I look just fine and dandy."
"I'll go check the trail to see if they found us."
Harry heard the rustle of leaves and a loud pop and whine from the campfire. Harry wondered who was pursuing his captors, and wondered if he should hope if they should be caught. Harry shivered and thought that it was quite cold for the noon. The man, Kele, who stayed must have saw him shiver because he heard footsteps come toward him and felt a warm cloak cover him. Harry tried not to trust his captors, but he did give them points for at least caring. He stiffened slightly when he heard footsteps in the clearing again.
"Look what I found." Announced Althea.
The sound of tiny clicks of metal ebbed from the campfire.
"So they are gone then?" Kele asked.
"No one leaves something like that on the road and walks away, even if it is to bait a trap."
"No kidding. Now that we know Trespassers won't be giving us any problems, where are Troy and Diedra?"
"You don't want to here my suggestion."
"Okay Althea, other than Troy inviting the Trespasser over here for lunch after being caught kissing Deidra, what happened to them?"
"Oh I'd say they were caught by wolves and their bones are now making an interesting floor mat in some cave." A new voice said as footsteps and a yelp of surprise were heard in the clearing.
"Troy, don't do that again!" Kele growled.
"Calm down Kele, and put that away. We have enough problems as it is." Said a female voice, huskier than the other.
"Hey, uh. Who's the kid?" asked Troy walking near Harry, who tensed slightly not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.
"The reason we're out here." Kele replied, still ticked.
"You mean the Council sent us to round up a scrawny, little boy?" Troy half stated.
Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in anger. Silently cursing Dudley and his diet he resumed his listening.
"Troy you half-wit! Take a look at his clothes, he is not from around here!"
Harry strained his ears trying to hear some soft whisper of an explanation but the only sounds were the crackling of the campfire and the horses grinding the soft grass with their teeth.
"Run that by me again, I thought I must have heard you say he is a foreigner." Troy said softly.
"He did." The other female that must be the aforementioned Deidra said.
"That's impossible! The portals were shut off 1000 years ago! The transporters were all destroyed 500 years ago! And above all, the council didn't summon him!" Troy shriek-whispered to the group.
"Be quiet you cracked-brained ninny! If the Trespassers here us we won't exactly have time to converse the topic of the youth's existence." Althea harshly whispered.
Harry's mind was going a mile a minute. Portals, transporters, foreigner, people who do not have a lot of contact with the outside world. It was enough to make him scared. At least they didn't know he was awake.
"How long has he been sleeping?" Troy asked.
"Two hours. We'll have to wake him up if he doesn't open his eyes before high noon, I am not traveling in the dark with Trespassers on my heals." Althea said.
A wave of silence passed over the camp.
Harry wondered if anyone knew he was missing. They might notice when Petunia comes outside to see what is taking so long and then discovers he wasn't there. She'll be mad.
There was almost a Voldemort feeling about these Trespassers. Harry wondered if they would find them, but what would happen next? His mind hurt with all the different possibilities there were each one as likely as the next. Harry decided to boil it down to the basics:
1) He was completely clueless of his surroundings, bad for escape
2) He was at least partially expected, might want to wait for answers
Harry decided to listen to the current conversation to figure out what was going on.
"So how did you find him?" Toy asked. Harry assumed they were talking about him.
"Fell right out of the sky he did. I thought he was one of the Eagle folk, but believe it or not, he bounced." Kele said amused.
Had Harry been awake he would have looked like a bug-eyed fish. He, Harry Potter, fell out of the sky and bounced. Draco would die laughing, but then again, after that ferret incident, he shouldn't talk.
"Of course I wanted to see if he was okay. Amazingly he was, though his leg looked a little bent, but Althea healed that." Kele continued.
Harry resisted the urge to move his leg to find out if what they said was true.
Suddenly out of the blue Deidra asked, "Was he armed?"
After a pause Althea said, "He had a polished stick that shot sparks when I touched it but other than that, nothing."
Harry now knew that there was magical talent here but that they never saw a wand before. Which brought him back to the ever-persisting question: Where is he?
"Should we wake him up now?" Kele suggested.
"I'd leave him, give him thirty minutes. If he sleeps now he won't pass out on the trip." Deidra said flatly.
"Or in a fight." Troy said pointblank.
"You think they'll attack?" Althea asked.
"If you saw the Trespassers with this kid you would be curious and stop them, right?" Kele said.
"Yes, but Trespassers don't stop you, ask who is with you, interrogate the kid, then let you go on your merry little way. They stop you, ask who is with you, and then drive a knife through your heart." Troy said sarcastically.
"No, no, no. That's not Trespasser style, they ram the knife through your back or behead you, depends on the mood their in." Deidra said darkly.
"So how are we getting out of here?" Troy asked.
"The Wilder Path" Althea said matter-of-factly.
Somebody groaned.
"Isn't that the one with the-" Troy started to say but Kele interrupted.
"Yes. That one, but they say the troll died."
Harry was confused by now. The group he was with wasn't a group of Muggles, they knew what a troll was. But how could they be magical if they didn't know what a wand was?
Harry decided that now would be the best time to 'wake up' and ask. Harry rolled over to his other side to face the campfire but still away from the sun then opened his eyes.
The first thing he said was, "Where am I?"
The group jumped realizing he was awake.
For the first time Harry actually looked at his captors, or finders, or whatever they were.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, yeah...
Beware of the sadistic squirrels!
-TDDA
~~
~~