I want to thank all those that have sent me reviews for this fic. You
know, I'd work on this more and remember that I need to finish it if all
the people would review, even if it was one word it would be enough for me
to get back into writing a bit more so that you won't have to wait so long
for the next chapter. Anyways, hope you enjoy it, not going to bother with
the disclaimer cause you all know I don't own anything cept the idea of
this fic and Jared...and other things that you'll find in this chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Britain was a country with a rich and vast history. Mighty kings and rulers managed the country from large castles that stood even in this day as a legacy to their mastery of this land. One such castle sat deep within a forest, hidden from preying eyes not only by the trees, but also darker arts. Voldemort looked out of the window of the throne room at the forest that surrounded him, a snarl seemingly stuck on his face permanently. Turning on his heel, Voldemort walked down the stairway where he normally sat and stood behind his trembling servants, gaining immense pleasure from their whimpers of pain and fear. In the center of the room knelt Wormtail and the only Death Knight that had not been captured at the attack on Diagon Alley. Stopping behind Wormtail, Voldemort's soft hissing voice penetrated the silence.
"Now explain to me one more time please. Wormtail, how did Potter survive the explosion you arranged?"
Trembling visibly, Wormtail managed to stammer
"The muggles destroyed the house just like I arranged master..after I killed the muggles when they showed up for their payment I passed by the ruins to make sure everything had gone according to plan .the muggles said he wasn't in the house.they never found any remains.I don't know how he escaped!"
"Crucio."
Wormtail convulsed as the pain wracked his body, his screams echoing off the walls of the dungeons. Several minutes passed and Voldemort finally released his pitiful servant and leaned close to him. Finally after studying his pain wracked face Voldemort hissed in his ear,
"Even though it was more then a month ago, I still torture you to show you to never fail me again! Never again!"
Voldemort rose abruptly and looked at the other person waiting for his turn. The young Death Knight sat with his back straight, eyes wide open and staring at the wall. Voldemort shook his head slowly as he looked at the calm features of the Death Knight's face.
"And you Pietro, what happened to you and your brethren? I was assured by the six of you that you would bring to me the Weasley's so that I could flush out Potter after Wormtail failed!!"
Tense moments passed till the deep voice of the knight responded to Voldemort's question.
"We were about to take them when two young men arrived. Both carried Magus Blades and seemed to have full control over them. One severed Rafael's hand and managed to defeat the others in combat. I left since I knew that I would be useless to face them in combat, none of us are a match for a fully trained Wind Ranger. I would have lost and you would not have been warned that there are two Wind Rangers to oppose you."
Voldemort nodded slowly and stood and then glancing at the knight he said,
"Crucio."
Voldemort watched as the knight's muscles spasmmed but he never screamed, his resolve and determination holding in his anguish. Voldemort released the curse after a few minutes and sat in his throne, rubbing his forehead slowly.
"So, five of the knights that I trained were captured, Potter's STILL missing, the Weasley family is also missing and 2 fully trained Wind Rangers are ruining my plans. Does anyone have any good news to tell me?"
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Jared watched as the Weasley's said their goodbyes to their children. Dumbledore stood of to the side, watching the tearful separation. Jared and Harry stood by the castle doors, leaning against the walls and smiling as they saw Mrs. Weasley berating Ron
"Now Ron, behave yourself and listen to everything that Jared and Harry say! You're all our best hope for winning this war so train hard and make us proud!"
After giving all her children a last hug Dumbledore stepped forward and spoke.
"I'll expect to see most of you at the opening feast for Hogwarts. I have a few things to prepare for the school, as well as several things that Jared has asked me to prepare. I may pop in from time to time to see how you are all proceeding in your training."
Dumbledore waved his hand in the air and a glowing portal appeared. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore moved to walk through the portal but Jared stopped him with a shout.
"Albus! Wait a sec."
Jared ran over and spoke with the ancient wizard and spoke with him quietly for a few moments. Finally Albus nodded and smiled at Jared then stepped through the portal. Jared walked back to the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry and grinned.
"Well, it's set. I'll be going with you four to Hogwarts for the start of the year. Now, follow me."
As the seven youths filed after him and Harry, Hermione broke the silence and asked
"Where are we going?"
Jared flashed a smile at them and said,
"First rule for a soldier. Food first, then work,"
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Harry grinned at his friends and family, watching them eating and laughing. It was almost night, the sun was starting to fall and the fire was casting large shadows in the corners of the room. Looking down the table Harry's eyes focused on Ginny as she laughed as the antics of George and Fred. Both of them were trying to charm the salt and pepper shakers to jump on the heads of Bill and Charlie and dump their contents all over them. Looking to the side, Harry saw a large bucket of water and let an evil grin form over his face. Motioning to Jared, his brother watched as Harry lifted the bucket using his wind power that raised the bucket over the twin's heads. Jared nodded eagerly and Harry released his power, the bucket dropping on top of the two and soaking them completely. Everyone stared at the two sopping pranksters and burst out laughing. Jared stood and raised his hands, motioning for them all to settle down.
"Now that we've eaten a bit and the pranks are out of our systems now, maybe I can answer a few questions that you all have."
Ron fidgeted nervously then finally blurted out,
"So, do we need to train to get our powers or do they just come naturally to us?" Harry looked at Ron in shock and then laughed.
"Oh no Ron, you're not getting an easy way out of this. You all need a lot of training, you'll all be getting taught by Jared and myself and c couple of others."
"So Jared old bean."
".what will we be doing with ourselves after this training?"
Jared grinned widely at the twins and leaned back in his chair.
"Well Fred and George, have you ever wanted to make a difference in the war?"
When the twins both nodded he clapped his hands together.
"Well that's what you'll do. We will be the rallying point for this war. Through us all people will see that Voldemort can be defeated and that it just requires that we work together We'll also be the ones that'll take on missions that would make others run in fear. This job will be very dangerous, so you all must be ready for it."
Hermione raised her hand and Jared looked at her in surprise.
"Umm, Hermione? We're not in class, you can just ask your question." Hermione blushed slightly and finally managed to get out,
"What about the ministry? Won't they know that we're using our magic outside of school?" Harry snorted and Jared shook his head in bemusement.
"Nope, the ministry will have no clue that you're using magic. There's a barrier that prevents any type of detection of that kind to get through. If that wasn't there this island wouldn't be here this day, it'd probably be destroyed or occupied by people
Hermione touched her finger to her chin for a moment then blurted out,
"You were saying that you had to be trained to use a Magus blade. I was wondering how Voldemort was able to train his Death Knights to use theirs." Jared sighed and sat back in his seat then spoke softly.
"Tom..or Voldemort, which ever you prefer, was a very special person. He was brilliant in magical arts and had a natural affinity for fighting techniques. He was also descended from the line of the original Wind Rangers. The last surviving Wind Ranger was able to find two people to help train so that they could keep the traditions of the Wind Rangers alive. One was Tom, the other was our father."
Jared paused for a moment and Harry's voice broke in, continuing the story.
"The Wind Ranger's name was Gurney Halleck. He was an amazing warrior. Cunning, resourceful and very cautious. He makes Moody look rash. From what we've been told, our father was an amazing student as well, even more adept at using his powers then Tom. Tom became jealous and tried harder and harder to overcome dad's progress, knowing that if he was stronger then him he would have very few rivals in this world when he decided to make his move."
Everyone remained silent as this new information was slowly being digested then finally Hermione broke the silence.
"But wouldn't Wind Ranger Halleck have been able to know if Voldemort was evil?"
Jared nodded slowly and rested hid hands on the table.
"Normally, yes he would have, most Mages can sense evil from people. But Tom had found some very ancient magic while looking for a way to gain immortality. He found a way to 'partition' his mind. Basically he was able to hide part of his mind from everyone else. He let all of his evil ambitions and desires go into this partition, the only thing that he retained was the need to be better than anyone else. When he reached the end of his training the partition was broken and he struck out at Halleck and killed him. Dad escaped with the help of some of the elves that were with them. Tom was fully trained, but fortunately he never remembered much." Hermione looked at Jared in confusion.
"What do you mean he never remembered much? I thought you said he was fully trained."
"Sure, he was fully trained to be an Elemental Mage but it seems that Halleck was a Mage you would never want to cross. He was always thinking that someone would try and double cross him. As soon as he knew that Tom was trying to double cross him, he cast a very ancient memory charm on Tom. It was extremely powerful and was never used since no one was able to ever remove it completely. Tom killed him in a fit of anger after that. He was able to remember that he had been trained but couldn't remember how to do anything that he had learned. Guess he's been able to remove part of the block now since we have some half trained Wind rangers running around. Hopefully the rest of the block will hold up until we can defeat him"
Bill and Charlie looked at each other then Bill cleared his throat.
"So, what exactly will we be learning?"
Harry's eyes twinkled in excitement as he stood up. Holding his hands in front of him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Something ...like this."
As those words left his mouth a column of flame jumped from the hearth into his outstretched hands. Ginny and Hermione shrieked in fright then looked at Harry dumbly when he shook with suppressed laughter. Moments later the flames fell to the ground and began to change in shape. A moment later a Griffin stood before Harry, stretching his wings and opening its beak and letting out a shriek
Harry let out a deep breath and the flame creature vanished. Bill and Charlie's eyes gleamed in amazement and they said,
"Harry, you'll be showing us how to do that?" Harry laughed softly and shook his head.
"Nope, sorry. I'm not your trainer. I'll be working with the girls mostly. Jared has the ability to train you better then I can. My talents rest with Water and Air, his with Air and Fire. We're both piss poor with Earth, so we have a special teacher for the twins."
"Really?"
"Who?"
As soon as the words left the twins mouths a gravelly voice said,
"That'll be me!" Heavy footfalls echoed through the halls as the mysterious figure stepped into the light. Harry stood and put his arm around the man and said,
"May we present Quistis, Earth Sentinel and your teacher!" Fred and George's mouths dropped as they gapped at the visage of their new teacher.
Every eye focused on Quistis and the room fell completely silent. Jared covered his mouth and coughed as he tried to hold in his laughter, Harry trying to do the same but failing miserably. Quistis looked at Harry from the corner of his eye and sighed.
"And here you said that this lot would provide a lot of entertainment for me! Look at'em, all silent and acting like someone's stunned'em!"
"Well sorry Quistis, I didn't expect you to traumatize them just by looking at them, must be the ears." Quistis slapped his hand against his forehead and shook it for a moment then sighed
"All right you lot, I know, it's amazing, I'm an Elf, a lost race, never seen something like me, right? Well knock it off! I don't like the staring, weird looks and such that come from the ears, so give it a rest will ya?"
Everyone finally broke out of their staring and fidgeted a little more in their seats, not knowing what to say. Jared saw how uncomfortable they were and said,
"When I said that dad escaped with the help of elves, I didn't mean house elves. Quistis is a High Elf, one of a large colony that actually lives on the island. They helped to teach me what I needed to know to use my powers. The actually have one of the largest libraries in the world here and it has a sorts of stuff to help with training Elemental Mages. Yes Hermione, you can use the library whenever you want."
Harry chuckled when Hermione gave Jared a big hug and squealed like a little girl that just got sweets.
'Never thought I'd see anyone so happy about going to a library."
"Ok, time to sleep you lot, we got a lot to do tomorrow and this is a lot to take in. Wander around a bit and find a room that you like, it'll be the one you use while you're here. We've only got a month till you have to go back to Hogwarts and we need you to all have the basics of your powers. We'll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning."
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Ginny slowly opened her door and crept down the hallway. Night time was always too long for the youngest Weasley. Ever since Ginny had been in the Chamber of Secrets her sleep had always been plagued by disturbing dreams and many a sleepless night. Most nights Ginny would sit on the couch in the family room with a book to pass the time, but since she was in the Citadel she thought a little exploration was in order.
'Besides, you never know what you'll find. Maybe this is the way to the kitchen, I could use a snack."
Makes her way down the hall Ginny stopped, her heart pounding as a strange sound echoed along the hallway. Looking around the corner Ginny sees Jared leaning against the wall, a metal coin on the ground before him turning in an endless circle. Just as Ginny was about to turn around and leave, Jared's voice broke the silence.
"Ginny, want to join me? I could use some company." Ginny flushed a bit, wondering how he knew she had even been there since he hadn't looked up. Ginny walked out into the open, watching as the coin sped up slightly. Sitting beside Jared Ginny watched as the coin began to pick up speed and finally broke the silence again.
"How are you doing that?"
Jared looked up and flashed a smile at the young girl.
"Wind power. Like I said before, most Wind Rangers didn't have very good control over their abilities. It was either a small breeze, or a raging tornado. I've worked a long time to try and get my powers down to a science and I think I'm almost there. It took me two years of hard practice to even do this for a short time without causing the coin to blow away." Raising his hand slightly, Ginny felt a slight breeze pick up and the coin lifted off the ground, hovering in the air and still spinning
"Will I be able to do something like that?"
Jared looked at Ginny and shook his head and the coin dropped into his hand.
"No, something more like this." As Jared finished his sentence, Ginny gasped as she saw water start flowing through the air towards Jared's out stretched hand and formed a perfect replica of the coin. A moment later the air around the water coin crackled and dropped into Jared's palm. Jared glanced at Ginny from the corner of his eye and tossed the coin at her. Ginny grabbed it from the air and nearly dropped it in shock.
"It's so cold!" Jared chuckled and nodded
"Sage Ice. If anyone other then a Water sage touched it they'd have frostbitten fingers by now. I can teach you to do that and much more." Leaning back Jared closed his eyes and pulled his magus blade from his belt and spun it nimbly across the back of his hand.
"So Ginny, why are you up so late? You have a long day tomorrow. Remember, training."
Ginny bit her lip and clenched her fists.
"Can't sleep.actually, I never sleep well, not since.
"The Chamber of Secrets." Ginny looked at Jared in shock and her mouth dropped open
"Harry told me about what happened to you. I had a feeling that was what caused you to be here tonight."
"And what about you? Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Harry."
"Harry?"
Jared nodded slowly and motioned with his head towards the closed door beside him.
"You're not the only one with bad dreams. First week here he nearly gave me a heat attack when he had a nightmare. The screaming had me thinking that someone was killing him. I burst into his room with my magus blade and saw him thrashing around the bed. I grabbed onto him and held him till he woke up. He just started crying and wouldn't let go.I couldn't leave him like that so I stayed with him all night. Most nights since then, either I stay with him in the room or outside the door, just in case he needs me." Jared's eyes drooped down and his head fell forward. He caught himself and stood abruptly, shaking his head and stretching his arms. Ginny stood and rested her hand on Jared's arm.
"Jared, I don't think he'd want you to not sleep just to help him like this." Jared nodded and he sighed.
"I just feel so guilty! I mean, my life was no picnic, but I could have been there with him, I could have helped him all those times he was in trouble! He's been through so much, much more then anyone as young as us should ever go through!"
Jared wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sighed. Ginny came closer and pulled Jared into a hug and held him. Jared stiffened for a moment then returned the hug, burying his face into Ginny's neck. After a few minutes he pulled back and smiled.
"Thanks. Sorry I kinda broke down there, it's been hard, for the both of us. I mean, finding out you have a brother is a big shock. You can't just get over not being with him for the last 16 years in a month. Thanks Ginny, I guess I needed that hug."
Ginny blushed brightly and Jared chuckled. Releasing the Ginny, Jared slid down the wall and sat on the stone floor again. Leaning his head against the stone wall, his breathing slowed and finally he drifted off to sleep. Ginny smiled as she watched the grim expression leave his face.
"Accio blanket."
As soon as the blanket arrived Ginny covered Jared with it and kissed his cheek. Brushing some of his hair from his face, Ginny smiled.
'He looks so much like Harry and acts so much like he does. I wish they both didn't have to go through any of this, that they were just normal kids like everyone else, worrying about acne and girls.'
Ginny rose and headed back to her room, knowing that the morning was coming and she and the others would need their sleep, since things would only get more difficult from here on in.
-----------------------------------------
Ginny was right that things would get hectic for the new Elemental Mages. As the days flew past, they were taught a multitude of new skills; Wandless Magic, various defensive and offensive spells, hand to hand combat, weapons skills, several powers that all Elemental Mages shared and finally powers that were specific to each element.
While Ron, Bill and Charlie used air currents and heat to fly, Hermione, Ginny and the twins were learning to travel through water and the earth. Obstacle courses were organized to have them work together as a team, playing off of each others abilities and maximizing their chances for success. At all time Jared and Harry were around, giving pointers and criticizing. They visited with the elves often and learned their language and magic. Everyone studied several hours each day in the library on the topics that interested them most, be it potions, Dark Arts, or in Hermione's case everything. Hermione had even gone so far as to move her room to the library so that she could always have the book on hand that she wanted.
As the weeks rolled past, each of the new mages were changing mentally and physically. Many of them had grown between four to eight inches and had become very well defined. Hermione and Ginny were filling out nicely, their bodies becoming very curvy and toned from all the exercise and work they were doing and becoming a distraction for all of the males in their little group. Finally the weeks had passed and it was time for Harry, Jared, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to leave for Hogwarts.
-----------------------------------
Hermione yawned as the first rays of sunlight peaked over the horizon. Looking out the open window she saw a multitude of brightly colored birds fly by and she smiled.
'This place is amazing, I wonder what else that Island has in store for us.'
Rising up, Hermione stretched and pulled on her clothes she had laid out the night before. Yawning, Hermione was just about to step out of her room when she heard a loud yelling coming from down the hall. Moments later a crashing sound was heard, followed by Harry screaming,
"JUST WAIT TILL I GET YOU! I'LL BE AN ONLY CHILD AGAIN!"
Running out of her room, Hermione nearly collapsed in uncontrollable laughter when she looked at Harry.
His hair was pink. Bright...neon...pink.
Jared grinned from ear to ear as he hovered in the air, laughing hysterically. Harry shot a death glare at his brother and Jared's laughter trailed off to a light chuckle.
"Aw, didn't Harry like his wake up call?"
Harry glared at his brother and waved a hand at him, a blast of air slamming him against the wall. Jared dropped to the ground in a crouch and then dove at his brother and threw a right hook at his chin. Harry stepped back and slammed his palm into Jared's back, sending him towards the ground. Jared rolled forward and landed back on his feet and smiled at his brother.
"You know you'll never beat me in hand to hand combat bro."
"And you know you can never match my magical powers."
Both brothers stared at each other for several long moments then burst out laughing. Harry threw his arm around Jared's shoulder and sighed. Looking a Hermione's slack jaw expression, Harry smiled and nodded in Hermione's direction
"Well, guess we should wake the troops. Hey Hermione, ready to head back to Hogwarts?"
The brothers turned the corner and left Hermione wondering what exactly happened between the two of them. Suddenly Harry's statement penetrated her tired mind and Hermione epped, running back to her room to get her things back.
It was time to go back to Hogwarts
-------------------------
The castle was in an uproar. Hermione was racing from room to room, looking for anything that she had forgotten, Ron was bouncing from foot to foot, Ginny looked at the stairs as if expecting someone. Moments later Harry ran down the steps and stopped in front of his friends.
"So how are we getting to get to Kings Cross?"
Jared suddenly appeared behind Ginny and Hermione and said,
"Well, Harry, Me and Ron will be flying, you two will go by port key." Hermione jumped away in surprise from Jared while Ginny laughed at her friend's reaction. Jared grinned and tossed a large coin to Hermione and Ginny and said as they were disappearing,
"Don't worry, we'll see you soon!"
Hermione and Ginny appeared in the alleyway beside King's Cross. Leaning out of the alley way the two witches slipped into the large crowd and made their way to the portal for the Hogwarts express. As the two of them passed through the barrier, both young girls smiled at the sight before them. Students were milling around the red engine, some saying good bye to parents, others talking animatedly with friends and others still looking around nervously.
"Hermione! Ginny!" Both witches turned around to the new voice and broke into wide smiles as Neville ran up to them. Neville stopped in shock as soon as he got a good look at Hermione and Ginny and blushed fiercely. Hermione sighed and smiled at Neville. Ginny merely shook with held in laughter as Hermione walked beside Neville.
"Neville! You look amazing! What have you been up to this summer?"
Neville blushed a little and rested a hand on the back of his head. It looked like he had lost a lot of the extra weight he had and toned up a bit. His hair was cut short and spiked, giving him a more daring appearance.
"My uncle is a squib. He joined the military and decided that I needed some work this summer to get me into shape after hearing about our little 'expedition' to the Ministry of Magic at the end of last year. I've been training with him all summer long, guess it did some good eh?"
Hermione nodded and the three chatted for a few moments until Neville looked around for someone.
"Hey, where are Harry and Ron?"
Hermione bit her lower lip and looked at the clock
'10:55.where are those three?!?"
"I'm sure that they'll be along soon Neville, let's find a compartment, alright?" The three Gryffindor's entered the train and found an empty compartment. They all looked anxiously outside the window for their missing friends but as the train started to pull out of the station they still hadn't seen them and a very pissed of Hermione and Ginny were thinking the same thing.
'WHERE THE HELL ARE THOSE THREE?!?!?!"
Well, there's Chapter 3. Where the hell are those three? Will there be more Elemental Mages? What do you think Jared will do to Snape and Malfoy when he sees them? Stay tuned and find out, LOL.
Sorry it took so long, like I said I'm going through a rough time in my life right now so I didn't have much desire to do this for a while. Hopefully the next bit will be out sooner.
Chapter 3
Britain was a country with a rich and vast history. Mighty kings and rulers managed the country from large castles that stood even in this day as a legacy to their mastery of this land. One such castle sat deep within a forest, hidden from preying eyes not only by the trees, but also darker arts. Voldemort looked out of the window of the throne room at the forest that surrounded him, a snarl seemingly stuck on his face permanently. Turning on his heel, Voldemort walked down the stairway where he normally sat and stood behind his trembling servants, gaining immense pleasure from their whimpers of pain and fear. In the center of the room knelt Wormtail and the only Death Knight that had not been captured at the attack on Diagon Alley. Stopping behind Wormtail, Voldemort's soft hissing voice penetrated the silence.
"Now explain to me one more time please. Wormtail, how did Potter survive the explosion you arranged?"
Trembling visibly, Wormtail managed to stammer
"The muggles destroyed the house just like I arranged master..after I killed the muggles when they showed up for their payment I passed by the ruins to make sure everything had gone according to plan .the muggles said he wasn't in the house.they never found any remains.I don't know how he escaped!"
"Crucio."
Wormtail convulsed as the pain wracked his body, his screams echoing off the walls of the dungeons. Several minutes passed and Voldemort finally released his pitiful servant and leaned close to him. Finally after studying his pain wracked face Voldemort hissed in his ear,
"Even though it was more then a month ago, I still torture you to show you to never fail me again! Never again!"
Voldemort rose abruptly and looked at the other person waiting for his turn. The young Death Knight sat with his back straight, eyes wide open and staring at the wall. Voldemort shook his head slowly as he looked at the calm features of the Death Knight's face.
"And you Pietro, what happened to you and your brethren? I was assured by the six of you that you would bring to me the Weasley's so that I could flush out Potter after Wormtail failed!!"
Tense moments passed till the deep voice of the knight responded to Voldemort's question.
"We were about to take them when two young men arrived. Both carried Magus Blades and seemed to have full control over them. One severed Rafael's hand and managed to defeat the others in combat. I left since I knew that I would be useless to face them in combat, none of us are a match for a fully trained Wind Ranger. I would have lost and you would not have been warned that there are two Wind Rangers to oppose you."
Voldemort nodded slowly and stood and then glancing at the knight he said,
"Crucio."
Voldemort watched as the knight's muscles spasmmed but he never screamed, his resolve and determination holding in his anguish. Voldemort released the curse after a few minutes and sat in his throne, rubbing his forehead slowly.
"So, five of the knights that I trained were captured, Potter's STILL missing, the Weasley family is also missing and 2 fully trained Wind Rangers are ruining my plans. Does anyone have any good news to tell me?"
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Jared watched as the Weasley's said their goodbyes to their children. Dumbledore stood of to the side, watching the tearful separation. Jared and Harry stood by the castle doors, leaning against the walls and smiling as they saw Mrs. Weasley berating Ron
"Now Ron, behave yourself and listen to everything that Jared and Harry say! You're all our best hope for winning this war so train hard and make us proud!"
After giving all her children a last hug Dumbledore stepped forward and spoke.
"I'll expect to see most of you at the opening feast for Hogwarts. I have a few things to prepare for the school, as well as several things that Jared has asked me to prepare. I may pop in from time to time to see how you are all proceeding in your training."
Dumbledore waved his hand in the air and a glowing portal appeared. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore moved to walk through the portal but Jared stopped him with a shout.
"Albus! Wait a sec."
Jared ran over and spoke with the ancient wizard and spoke with him quietly for a few moments. Finally Albus nodded and smiled at Jared then stepped through the portal. Jared walked back to the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry and grinned.
"Well, it's set. I'll be going with you four to Hogwarts for the start of the year. Now, follow me."
As the seven youths filed after him and Harry, Hermione broke the silence and asked
"Where are we going?"
Jared flashed a smile at them and said,
"First rule for a soldier. Food first, then work,"
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Harry grinned at his friends and family, watching them eating and laughing. It was almost night, the sun was starting to fall and the fire was casting large shadows in the corners of the room. Looking down the table Harry's eyes focused on Ginny as she laughed as the antics of George and Fred. Both of them were trying to charm the salt and pepper shakers to jump on the heads of Bill and Charlie and dump their contents all over them. Looking to the side, Harry saw a large bucket of water and let an evil grin form over his face. Motioning to Jared, his brother watched as Harry lifted the bucket using his wind power that raised the bucket over the twin's heads. Jared nodded eagerly and Harry released his power, the bucket dropping on top of the two and soaking them completely. Everyone stared at the two sopping pranksters and burst out laughing. Jared stood and raised his hands, motioning for them all to settle down.
"Now that we've eaten a bit and the pranks are out of our systems now, maybe I can answer a few questions that you all have."
Ron fidgeted nervously then finally blurted out,
"So, do we need to train to get our powers or do they just come naturally to us?" Harry looked at Ron in shock and then laughed.
"Oh no Ron, you're not getting an easy way out of this. You all need a lot of training, you'll all be getting taught by Jared and myself and c couple of others."
"So Jared old bean."
".what will we be doing with ourselves after this training?"
Jared grinned widely at the twins and leaned back in his chair.
"Well Fred and George, have you ever wanted to make a difference in the war?"
When the twins both nodded he clapped his hands together.
"Well that's what you'll do. We will be the rallying point for this war. Through us all people will see that Voldemort can be defeated and that it just requires that we work together We'll also be the ones that'll take on missions that would make others run in fear. This job will be very dangerous, so you all must be ready for it."
Hermione raised her hand and Jared looked at her in surprise.
"Umm, Hermione? We're not in class, you can just ask your question." Hermione blushed slightly and finally managed to get out,
"What about the ministry? Won't they know that we're using our magic outside of school?" Harry snorted and Jared shook his head in bemusement.
"Nope, the ministry will have no clue that you're using magic. There's a barrier that prevents any type of detection of that kind to get through. If that wasn't there this island wouldn't be here this day, it'd probably be destroyed or occupied by people
Hermione touched her finger to her chin for a moment then blurted out,
"You were saying that you had to be trained to use a Magus blade. I was wondering how Voldemort was able to train his Death Knights to use theirs." Jared sighed and sat back in his seat then spoke softly.
"Tom..or Voldemort, which ever you prefer, was a very special person. He was brilliant in magical arts and had a natural affinity for fighting techniques. He was also descended from the line of the original Wind Rangers. The last surviving Wind Ranger was able to find two people to help train so that they could keep the traditions of the Wind Rangers alive. One was Tom, the other was our father."
Jared paused for a moment and Harry's voice broke in, continuing the story.
"The Wind Ranger's name was Gurney Halleck. He was an amazing warrior. Cunning, resourceful and very cautious. He makes Moody look rash. From what we've been told, our father was an amazing student as well, even more adept at using his powers then Tom. Tom became jealous and tried harder and harder to overcome dad's progress, knowing that if he was stronger then him he would have very few rivals in this world when he decided to make his move."
Everyone remained silent as this new information was slowly being digested then finally Hermione broke the silence.
"But wouldn't Wind Ranger Halleck have been able to know if Voldemort was evil?"
Jared nodded slowly and rested hid hands on the table.
"Normally, yes he would have, most Mages can sense evil from people. But Tom had found some very ancient magic while looking for a way to gain immortality. He found a way to 'partition' his mind. Basically he was able to hide part of his mind from everyone else. He let all of his evil ambitions and desires go into this partition, the only thing that he retained was the need to be better than anyone else. When he reached the end of his training the partition was broken and he struck out at Halleck and killed him. Dad escaped with the help of some of the elves that were with them. Tom was fully trained, but fortunately he never remembered much." Hermione looked at Jared in confusion.
"What do you mean he never remembered much? I thought you said he was fully trained."
"Sure, he was fully trained to be an Elemental Mage but it seems that Halleck was a Mage you would never want to cross. He was always thinking that someone would try and double cross him. As soon as he knew that Tom was trying to double cross him, he cast a very ancient memory charm on Tom. It was extremely powerful and was never used since no one was able to ever remove it completely. Tom killed him in a fit of anger after that. He was able to remember that he had been trained but couldn't remember how to do anything that he had learned. Guess he's been able to remove part of the block now since we have some half trained Wind rangers running around. Hopefully the rest of the block will hold up until we can defeat him"
Bill and Charlie looked at each other then Bill cleared his throat.
"So, what exactly will we be learning?"
Harry's eyes twinkled in excitement as he stood up. Holding his hands in front of him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Something ...like this."
As those words left his mouth a column of flame jumped from the hearth into his outstretched hands. Ginny and Hermione shrieked in fright then looked at Harry dumbly when he shook with suppressed laughter. Moments later the flames fell to the ground and began to change in shape. A moment later a Griffin stood before Harry, stretching his wings and opening its beak and letting out a shriek
Harry let out a deep breath and the flame creature vanished. Bill and Charlie's eyes gleamed in amazement and they said,
"Harry, you'll be showing us how to do that?" Harry laughed softly and shook his head.
"Nope, sorry. I'm not your trainer. I'll be working with the girls mostly. Jared has the ability to train you better then I can. My talents rest with Water and Air, his with Air and Fire. We're both piss poor with Earth, so we have a special teacher for the twins."
"Really?"
"Who?"
As soon as the words left the twins mouths a gravelly voice said,
"That'll be me!" Heavy footfalls echoed through the halls as the mysterious figure stepped into the light. Harry stood and put his arm around the man and said,
"May we present Quistis, Earth Sentinel and your teacher!" Fred and George's mouths dropped as they gapped at the visage of their new teacher.
Every eye focused on Quistis and the room fell completely silent. Jared covered his mouth and coughed as he tried to hold in his laughter, Harry trying to do the same but failing miserably. Quistis looked at Harry from the corner of his eye and sighed.
"And here you said that this lot would provide a lot of entertainment for me! Look at'em, all silent and acting like someone's stunned'em!"
"Well sorry Quistis, I didn't expect you to traumatize them just by looking at them, must be the ears." Quistis slapped his hand against his forehead and shook it for a moment then sighed
"All right you lot, I know, it's amazing, I'm an Elf, a lost race, never seen something like me, right? Well knock it off! I don't like the staring, weird looks and such that come from the ears, so give it a rest will ya?"
Everyone finally broke out of their staring and fidgeted a little more in their seats, not knowing what to say. Jared saw how uncomfortable they were and said,
"When I said that dad escaped with the help of elves, I didn't mean house elves. Quistis is a High Elf, one of a large colony that actually lives on the island. They helped to teach me what I needed to know to use my powers. The actually have one of the largest libraries in the world here and it has a sorts of stuff to help with training Elemental Mages. Yes Hermione, you can use the library whenever you want."
Harry chuckled when Hermione gave Jared a big hug and squealed like a little girl that just got sweets.
'Never thought I'd see anyone so happy about going to a library."
"Ok, time to sleep you lot, we got a lot to do tomorrow and this is a lot to take in. Wander around a bit and find a room that you like, it'll be the one you use while you're here. We've only got a month till you have to go back to Hogwarts and we need you to all have the basics of your powers. We'll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning."
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Ginny slowly opened her door and crept down the hallway. Night time was always too long for the youngest Weasley. Ever since Ginny had been in the Chamber of Secrets her sleep had always been plagued by disturbing dreams and many a sleepless night. Most nights Ginny would sit on the couch in the family room with a book to pass the time, but since she was in the Citadel she thought a little exploration was in order.
'Besides, you never know what you'll find. Maybe this is the way to the kitchen, I could use a snack."
Makes her way down the hall Ginny stopped, her heart pounding as a strange sound echoed along the hallway. Looking around the corner Ginny sees Jared leaning against the wall, a metal coin on the ground before him turning in an endless circle. Just as Ginny was about to turn around and leave, Jared's voice broke the silence.
"Ginny, want to join me? I could use some company." Ginny flushed a bit, wondering how he knew she had even been there since he hadn't looked up. Ginny walked out into the open, watching as the coin sped up slightly. Sitting beside Jared Ginny watched as the coin began to pick up speed and finally broke the silence again.
"How are you doing that?"
Jared looked up and flashed a smile at the young girl.
"Wind power. Like I said before, most Wind Rangers didn't have very good control over their abilities. It was either a small breeze, or a raging tornado. I've worked a long time to try and get my powers down to a science and I think I'm almost there. It took me two years of hard practice to even do this for a short time without causing the coin to blow away." Raising his hand slightly, Ginny felt a slight breeze pick up and the coin lifted off the ground, hovering in the air and still spinning
"Will I be able to do something like that?"
Jared looked at Ginny and shook his head and the coin dropped into his hand.
"No, something more like this." As Jared finished his sentence, Ginny gasped as she saw water start flowing through the air towards Jared's out stretched hand and formed a perfect replica of the coin. A moment later the air around the water coin crackled and dropped into Jared's palm. Jared glanced at Ginny from the corner of his eye and tossed the coin at her. Ginny grabbed it from the air and nearly dropped it in shock.
"It's so cold!" Jared chuckled and nodded
"Sage Ice. If anyone other then a Water sage touched it they'd have frostbitten fingers by now. I can teach you to do that and much more." Leaning back Jared closed his eyes and pulled his magus blade from his belt and spun it nimbly across the back of his hand.
"So Ginny, why are you up so late? You have a long day tomorrow. Remember, training."
Ginny bit her lip and clenched her fists.
"Can't sleep.actually, I never sleep well, not since.
"The Chamber of Secrets." Ginny looked at Jared in shock and her mouth dropped open
"Harry told me about what happened to you. I had a feeling that was what caused you to be here tonight."
"And what about you? Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Harry."
"Harry?"
Jared nodded slowly and motioned with his head towards the closed door beside him.
"You're not the only one with bad dreams. First week here he nearly gave me a heat attack when he had a nightmare. The screaming had me thinking that someone was killing him. I burst into his room with my magus blade and saw him thrashing around the bed. I grabbed onto him and held him till he woke up. He just started crying and wouldn't let go.I couldn't leave him like that so I stayed with him all night. Most nights since then, either I stay with him in the room or outside the door, just in case he needs me." Jared's eyes drooped down and his head fell forward. He caught himself and stood abruptly, shaking his head and stretching his arms. Ginny stood and rested her hand on Jared's arm.
"Jared, I don't think he'd want you to not sleep just to help him like this." Jared nodded and he sighed.
"I just feel so guilty! I mean, my life was no picnic, but I could have been there with him, I could have helped him all those times he was in trouble! He's been through so much, much more then anyone as young as us should ever go through!"
Jared wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sighed. Ginny came closer and pulled Jared into a hug and held him. Jared stiffened for a moment then returned the hug, burying his face into Ginny's neck. After a few minutes he pulled back and smiled.
"Thanks. Sorry I kinda broke down there, it's been hard, for the both of us. I mean, finding out you have a brother is a big shock. You can't just get over not being with him for the last 16 years in a month. Thanks Ginny, I guess I needed that hug."
Ginny blushed brightly and Jared chuckled. Releasing the Ginny, Jared slid down the wall and sat on the stone floor again. Leaning his head against the stone wall, his breathing slowed and finally he drifted off to sleep. Ginny smiled as she watched the grim expression leave his face.
"Accio blanket."
As soon as the blanket arrived Ginny covered Jared with it and kissed his cheek. Brushing some of his hair from his face, Ginny smiled.
'He looks so much like Harry and acts so much like he does. I wish they both didn't have to go through any of this, that they were just normal kids like everyone else, worrying about acne and girls.'
Ginny rose and headed back to her room, knowing that the morning was coming and she and the others would need their sleep, since things would only get more difficult from here on in.
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Ginny was right that things would get hectic for the new Elemental Mages. As the days flew past, they were taught a multitude of new skills; Wandless Magic, various defensive and offensive spells, hand to hand combat, weapons skills, several powers that all Elemental Mages shared and finally powers that were specific to each element.
While Ron, Bill and Charlie used air currents and heat to fly, Hermione, Ginny and the twins were learning to travel through water and the earth. Obstacle courses were organized to have them work together as a team, playing off of each others abilities and maximizing their chances for success. At all time Jared and Harry were around, giving pointers and criticizing. They visited with the elves often and learned their language and magic. Everyone studied several hours each day in the library on the topics that interested them most, be it potions, Dark Arts, or in Hermione's case everything. Hermione had even gone so far as to move her room to the library so that she could always have the book on hand that she wanted.
As the weeks rolled past, each of the new mages were changing mentally and physically. Many of them had grown between four to eight inches and had become very well defined. Hermione and Ginny were filling out nicely, their bodies becoming very curvy and toned from all the exercise and work they were doing and becoming a distraction for all of the males in their little group. Finally the weeks had passed and it was time for Harry, Jared, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to leave for Hogwarts.
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Hermione yawned as the first rays of sunlight peaked over the horizon. Looking out the open window she saw a multitude of brightly colored birds fly by and she smiled.
'This place is amazing, I wonder what else that Island has in store for us.'
Rising up, Hermione stretched and pulled on her clothes she had laid out the night before. Yawning, Hermione was just about to step out of her room when she heard a loud yelling coming from down the hall. Moments later a crashing sound was heard, followed by Harry screaming,
"JUST WAIT TILL I GET YOU! I'LL BE AN ONLY CHILD AGAIN!"
Running out of her room, Hermione nearly collapsed in uncontrollable laughter when she looked at Harry.
His hair was pink. Bright...neon...pink.
Jared grinned from ear to ear as he hovered in the air, laughing hysterically. Harry shot a death glare at his brother and Jared's laughter trailed off to a light chuckle.
"Aw, didn't Harry like his wake up call?"
Harry glared at his brother and waved a hand at him, a blast of air slamming him against the wall. Jared dropped to the ground in a crouch and then dove at his brother and threw a right hook at his chin. Harry stepped back and slammed his palm into Jared's back, sending him towards the ground. Jared rolled forward and landed back on his feet and smiled at his brother.
"You know you'll never beat me in hand to hand combat bro."
"And you know you can never match my magical powers."
Both brothers stared at each other for several long moments then burst out laughing. Harry threw his arm around Jared's shoulder and sighed. Looking a Hermione's slack jaw expression, Harry smiled and nodded in Hermione's direction
"Well, guess we should wake the troops. Hey Hermione, ready to head back to Hogwarts?"
The brothers turned the corner and left Hermione wondering what exactly happened between the two of them. Suddenly Harry's statement penetrated her tired mind and Hermione epped, running back to her room to get her things back.
It was time to go back to Hogwarts
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The castle was in an uproar. Hermione was racing from room to room, looking for anything that she had forgotten, Ron was bouncing from foot to foot, Ginny looked at the stairs as if expecting someone. Moments later Harry ran down the steps and stopped in front of his friends.
"So how are we getting to get to Kings Cross?"
Jared suddenly appeared behind Ginny and Hermione and said,
"Well, Harry, Me and Ron will be flying, you two will go by port key." Hermione jumped away in surprise from Jared while Ginny laughed at her friend's reaction. Jared grinned and tossed a large coin to Hermione and Ginny and said as they were disappearing,
"Don't worry, we'll see you soon!"
Hermione and Ginny appeared in the alleyway beside King's Cross. Leaning out of the alley way the two witches slipped into the large crowd and made their way to the portal for the Hogwarts express. As the two of them passed through the barrier, both young girls smiled at the sight before them. Students were milling around the red engine, some saying good bye to parents, others talking animatedly with friends and others still looking around nervously.
"Hermione! Ginny!" Both witches turned around to the new voice and broke into wide smiles as Neville ran up to them. Neville stopped in shock as soon as he got a good look at Hermione and Ginny and blushed fiercely. Hermione sighed and smiled at Neville. Ginny merely shook with held in laughter as Hermione walked beside Neville.
"Neville! You look amazing! What have you been up to this summer?"
Neville blushed a little and rested a hand on the back of his head. It looked like he had lost a lot of the extra weight he had and toned up a bit. His hair was cut short and spiked, giving him a more daring appearance.
"My uncle is a squib. He joined the military and decided that I needed some work this summer to get me into shape after hearing about our little 'expedition' to the Ministry of Magic at the end of last year. I've been training with him all summer long, guess it did some good eh?"
Hermione nodded and the three chatted for a few moments until Neville looked around for someone.
"Hey, where are Harry and Ron?"
Hermione bit her lower lip and looked at the clock
'10:55.where are those three?!?"
"I'm sure that they'll be along soon Neville, let's find a compartment, alright?" The three Gryffindor's entered the train and found an empty compartment. They all looked anxiously outside the window for their missing friends but as the train started to pull out of the station they still hadn't seen them and a very pissed of Hermione and Ginny were thinking the same thing.
'WHERE THE HELL ARE THOSE THREE?!?!?!"
Well, there's Chapter 3. Where the hell are those three? Will there be more Elemental Mages? What do you think Jared will do to Snape and Malfoy when he sees them? Stay tuned and find out, LOL.
Sorry it took so long, like I said I'm going through a rough time in my life right now so I didn't have much desire to do this for a while. Hopefully the next bit will be out sooner.