A/N: I was going to wait until Sunday or Monday to publish this, because I was finally ahead. However, everyone was generous and gave me so many reviews on the last chapter, so here's the update. :)
The Christmas holiday from Hogwarts finally came and Harry soon found himself at Valahost Hall surrounded by his friends and their families. Hermione's parents had also joined them at Harry's home. Their recovery from the recent attack was nearly complete. They were as interested in magic as was Mr. Weasley in Muggles. Therefore, they spent long hours talking about differences between the wizarding and Muggle worlds.
As the Daily Prophet had predicted, Cornelius Fudge was ousted from office. The council of Department Heads had chosen a replacement for him. Lesalin Tessyth was scheduled to officially take office shortly after New Year Day. Mr. Tessyth was expected to make drastic policy changes for the Ministry.
With this all, Mr. Weasley had also received a promotion. Tessyth recognized that Mr. Weasley had been working against Voldemort with Dumbledore and other associates. Due to that fact, Tessyth appointed Mr. Weasley as the Under-Minister of Magic. The Order of the Phoenix was very pleased. Mr. Weasley would now be in a good position to advise Lesalin Tessyth. He would also be in a position to help the Order. The Order would no longer need to dodge around the Ministry because Mr. Weasley was basically number two in power.
Although he didn't carry the authority of the Minister of Magic, he would still had influence and connections, and of course, the ear of the Minister. Harry reckoned that Mr. Weasley's influence was already in place, even though he didn't take his job until the beginning of the year. Upon arriving at King's Cross on the Hogwarts train, he discovered that Platform Nine and Three-quarters was bristling with security aurors from the Ministry. From there he had been escorted in a Ministry car to Diagon Alley, from whence they portkeyed to Valahost Hall.
"This one should be helpful." Ginny commented brightly as she pulled a book on magical theory from the library shelf in Valahost Hall.
"How?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore said that you needed to develop your own brand of magic didn't he? That basically means that you have loads of power but you need to figure out how to make it work for you. Therefore, magical theory will help you understand how to make it do what you wish." Ginny explained as she flipped through the pages.
"Don't you need to learn too?"
"That's why I'm helping you. If I didn't need to learn I'd just dump all the books in front of you and let you sort them out. Instead I'm learning with you. According to this, there are a couple of ways to start out. The most commonly used way is to just strike out with your raw energy and or emotion. Basically, will power. Let's see you give a go at it."
"What am I supposed to try and do?" Harry asked in a very puzzled voice.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Really Harry. Just do anything. I don't care."
Harry raised his hand and concentrated on one of the books on the shelf. He then used his will power to pull the book towards him. It didn't work for several seconds until he finally pretended that his power was like a hand wrapping around the book. Suddenly the book zoomed towards Harry's hand and collided with it. "OUCH!" Harry yelped. He jumped up and clutched the hand.
"Is it broken?" Ginny asked, her voice full of concern. She came over and tried to take Harry's hand.
"Just leave it alone." Harry groaned, still clutching it.
"Let me see it Harry." Ginny said in a stronger voice. "I promise that I won't hurt it."
Reluctantly, Harry let go of it and Ginny gingerly took it into her hand and examined it. "Well, is it broken?" Harry asked.
"I'm afraid so Harry," Ginny answered. "Don't worry though. I think that I can fix it." Ginny wrapped her other hand around Harry's and closed her eyes. "Don't move." she instructed.
Harry let himself relax and kept his hand from moving. A warm and tickling sensation entered Harry's hand and he felt the bones mend within it. "How did you do it?"
Ginny let carefully let his hand drop and giggled. "I'm not quite sure. I only hoped that it would work. I basically directed my energy into your hand and willed it to heal."
"You mean you did that without knowing what the outcome would be?" Harry gasped. "What if you had incinerated it instead?"
"I didn't though, did I?" Ginny pointed out. "Actually, I felt as if I already knew how. It sort of came to me."
Harry nodded, "That's the same thing that happened to me, except that I didn't control it very well."
"Well, let's keep going. Lot's to learn and Voldemort isn't exactly sitting back and waiting for you to catch up."
* * * * * * *
Harry looked up from the thick book that lay on the table in front of him in the Historical Camelot Library. "I think I'll run down to the pub on the corner and grab a butter beer. I'm not getting anywhere and I need a break."
Hermione sighed and in a exasperated voice said, "Honestly Harry! This library is a cache of information. I've found nearly seven references to Lord Seilftrist already. If you don't keep studying you won't find anything more about your subject."
"I've found all there is. It's clean cut and I've explained it to you about a jillion times!" Harry said defensively.
Ron chuckled, "You have a point Harry. Personally, no matter how much new material there is, I find that I need a small breather as well. I'll go with you. Would you like to come Ginny?"
"I don't think so," Ginny declined. "Despite the fact that I've found everything I need, I find Lord Seilftrist fascinating and would rather study with Hermione."
Ron rolled his eyes, "Suit yourself then."
Harry and Ron stood up from their chairs and walked out. "Have you found anything interesting?" Harry asked.
"Not really," Ron said. "It's just history to me. I get the impression from the historical accounts that back before Arthur, Camelot wasn't exactly the seat of power unlike it was during Arthurian times. It was close and certainly had influence though."
"Where was the seat of power then?" Harry asked as they exited the library and made their way down the stone steps to the street.
"The general direction of your little castle," Ron answered. "I'm not sure how close it was though. The city was named Tescaster."
Harry turned as they walked and looked at a retreating back. I could swear I've seen that person before, Harry thought to himself. Probably just my imagination. "So it all happened in Tescaster then," Harry said to Ron.
Ron nodded, "I suppose so."
"What happened to Tescaster? Why isn't it still there?"
Ron shrugged, "That's the funny thing. The book I read that talked about Tescaster said that shortly after the death of an influential lord or rather ruler, it mysteriously burned down. The fire could not be stopped no matter what effort the people put into stopping it. Everything but the stone buildings burned to ashes. No one died in the fire or lost anything of value because the fire burned so slowly."
"The book must be talking about Seilftrist." Harry mused. "The fire burned slowly then? They surely should have been able to put the fire out."
"That's what the people decided too. They should have been able to put the fire out quickly, under normal circumstances. They then decided that Tescaster was cursed and they left it to be overgrown by the forest. The author of the book claims that the stone ruins are still there. He can't confirm it though. The coward was too afraid to go and look." Ron explained as they approached the pub on the corner.
"Why would he be afraid of some old ruins?" Harry inquired as he scanned the crowd for any other faces that might be familiar.
They entered and quickly got their butter beer from the main bar and grabbed a table in the corner. "Apparently, after the forest overgrew the ruins of Tescaster, it became haunted."
"I thought that the Shrieking Shack was the only haunted house in all of Britain." Harry countered as he opened the bottle.
Ron quickly took a gulp from his bottle. "It's not the ruins that are haunted mate. It's the forest around the ruins. Things have a way of happening around the place. One person reported that things would happen, just small accidents or something. Almost like small warning. As they got closer and closer to the ruins, the accidents became more lethal and deadly."
"Has anyone ever been in the ruins?" Harry asked.
Ron shook his head, "Nope. One fellow from the Department of Mysteries decided to investigate. He had some super-powerful amulet that he had constructed to prevent the mysterious power from making things happen. He got within sight of the stone ruins. No description is available because once he got there, whatever power that was haunting the place struck out with full force and basically obliviated his mind. Since then the place has been classified as high dangerous."
"It sounds like he wasn't a very strong wizard if something was able to do that to his mind," Harry commented. "He should have been able to protect it from an outside source. Why did they allow him to do it?"
"Because he claimed to have certain advantages," Ron replied dryly. "Supposedly he was descended from some eighteenth century Dark lord and because of that he would have certain hereditary advantages against something that was so obviously Dark magic. That's what the Ministry claimed anyway. The book claims that the only reason the Ministry allowed him to do so was because he had a small amount of substance or material that could resist the power haunting the forest. They placed it within the amulet and it seemed to work."
"What happened to the amulet he had?" Harry asked eagerly.
Ron shrugged again, "No one knows. They reckon that it's still in the forest somewhere. Either that or destroyed."
"It would be interesting to go and see Tescaster." Harry said.
Ron snorted, "There's only one problem though. We don't have a magic amulet to allow us to get anywhere near the place."
"Maybe Hermione could come up with something. Have you told her all of this yet?"
"Not yet. She's too much into Lord Seilftrist. I reckon she'll know all of his eating habits by sundown." Ron said wryly.
Harry snickered. "You're probably right Ron. You still like her though, don't you?"
Ron blushed. "Well, sort of."
They stood up and left heading back for the library where they had left Hermione and Ginny. On they way they bantered casually about various things.
When they arrived back at the library they found Hermione in a fit. "I've been so stupid! It's been under my nose practically the whole time!"
"What?" Ron asked.
"The answer of course! All I could ever want to know about Lord Seilftrist has been so close all along." Hermione answered.
"How has it been so close?" Ron asked in an exasperated voice. "What is it all about?"
Ginny laughed, held out a big book to Ron and pointed to a specific line.
Fariney Seilftrist- (Lieutenant to the High Lord of Phoenix)
Lord of the Royal House of Valahost.