DISCLAIMER: I don't own this. The plot line is mine, but most of the
characters and places and things belong to JKR, not me! Btw, Congrats to
JKR on her new baby!!!
Chapter 14: The Rescue, and some unusual advice
"This place gives me the creeps," Hermione whispered as Harry led them all down the stairs into the dungeons.
"Where is everybody?" asked Ron, looking around. They had yet to meet anyone in the Riddle's mansion.
"Don't complain, Ron," replied Hermione. "Do you really want to bump into Death Eaters?"
"No," he answered. "It's just strange; if this really is You-Know-Who's headquarters, wouldn't he have tighter security?"
"Will you two shut it back there?"Harry said, stopping. "Do you want to alert the whole place that we're here?"
Hermione bit her lip, obviously holding back a comment. Ron frowned slightly, also kept quiet. Harry started walking again, leading straight into a long narrow hallway filled with doors. Chills ran up and down his back. The corridor reminded him somewhat to the Department of Mysteries.
"Great, now where do go?" asked Ron moodily.
A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the silence in the hall. "Ginny!" gasped Ron, running to one of the doors on their right, where the scream was coming from. Hermione and Harry followed him.
Ginny was sitting on the floor in the middle of the chamber, her hands and feet magically bound. There were no windows and the walls were grimy and traces of blood could be seen on them. A semicircle of Death Eaters stood around Ginny as Voldemort himself had the girl writhing in pain in front of him.
Without a second thought, Ron lunged at one of the Death Eaters that came running to stop them. Hermione rushed to help him, while Harry immediately made for Ginny.
"So, Potter," Voldemort said bitterly as he approached him. "You've finally come to rescue the princess-in-distress. Had she not had a very special trait I'm sure you would have been three weeks too late."
Harry could feel his blood boiling. How dare he? How dare Voldemort kidnap his girlfriend and then taunt him? His jaw clenched, face contorted in concentration, he raised his hand and a fireball shot out of it, hitting the Dark Lord straight in the chest. He stumbled and fell, and was forced to roll to put out the fire in his robe. Harry grabbed Ginny, undoing the bands that held her together with an impatient wave of his hand. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"No time for that," she answered. She grabbed his hand tightly. "Ron, Hermione, RUN!" All four made a dash for the door, and they had run up the stairs before they heard Death Eaters chasing them. Harry threw a couple of fireballs back towards them, trying to stall them until the were outside the house. If they could get outside safely, then they could place shift through air.
They made it through to the main floor when a group of about five Death Eaters stopped them. Hermione turned back to run the opposite direction, but more Death Eaters had reached them. They were surrounded on all sides.
"Now what?" whispered Ron, pulling Hermione back towards him. Ginny let go of Harry's hand and closed her eyes tightly. A blinding flash of white light shone through the room. When it was gone, all twenty Death Eaters laid on the floor, Stunned. Ginny collapse Harry's arms. "Ginny?"
"Let's get out of here," she whimpered. The four of them rushed outside, knowing that they didn't have much time. More Death Eaters were probably on the way, and those that lay unconscious might wake up at any moment.
"We'll have to air place shift, and quick." Harry readjusted Ginny in his arms so that was carrying her completely. Her eyes were half closed and she had gone limp. Her robes were torn in a few places, and there was dried blood on her skin and clothing, though no traces of a cut or scar.
Hermione cast a wary look towards the mansion. "Yeah, let's go." Harry called for an east wind and their molecules separated and flew in all directions towards the pond where the salmon had led them earlier.
As soon as they were back to their normal self, Hermione shuddered. "Ugh, that has got to be the worst way to travel!"
Harry laid Ginny down gently, putting his bag under her head as a pillow. He took off his robes, staying in his uniform, and wrapped them around her now sleeping form. "It might be the worst way to travel, but it's the fastest. Wind riding is somewhat better, more like flying that anything, but people would notice."
"Wind riding? Place shifting?" Ron frowned. "You know, everyone always says that most of the Paxturus powers were useless tricks."
"Yeah, well, my useless tricks seems to have saved your sister's life," Harry spat out angrily.
"You know that's not what I meant-"
"No, I don't know what you mean, Ron. But if it's anything like what everyone else says, then I'm not interested in hearing your opinion."
"Hey-"
"Boys, stop!" Hermione exclaimed. "Ginny needs sleep. She's suffering from a power drain. She needs lots of rest and conserve her energy so her power will come back. Besides, you're arguing is pointless. Ron, Harry is a bit on the defensive. And Harry, Ron didn't mean anything bad by it, and you know both support you in absolutely anything. So calm down."
"You're right. We need to figure out what to do for tonight," said Harry sitting down next to her and Ginny.
"Well, we can't move Ginny. It might be too risky. We might have to camp out for tonight, then head back to Hogwarts," Hermione suggested.
"But we can't stay here, what if they find us?" Ron pointed out.
"They won't," Harry said simply.
"Why are you so confident about that?"
"I just put up shields around this place about a foot thick. They won't be getting through," explained Harry.
"That was a good idea," admitted Ron. "So we'll camp out here, then travel by water again?"
"Unless you want to travel by air and get there faster." Harry looked pointedly at Hermione. She turned pale at the prospect, "No, you won't ever get me to do that again."
Ron and Harry laughed a bit at Hermione's expense. Hermione transfigured some rocks into blanket for all of them, and Harry was able to make small fire. Jenny had told him that fire magic was extremely advanced and he needed to know to use all the other element control magic, especially water.
It had to be about three in the morning when Harry woke up to Ron's scream. "Ron, what is it?"
"Look!" Ron pointed to the edge of the pond, where a woman, or actually something that looked like a woman, was swimming. Instead of skin, the girl had water, and her hair was made of algae. She was as transparent as a ghost, and Harry recognized her to be Kath, Jenny's Undine friend.
"Kath, what are you doing here?" he asked, walking closer to the pond. Undines couldn't leave water, or they would disappear and become rain, which, according to Kath, was not very fun.
"I was looking for you, Harry," she answered, turning her aqua eyes towards him. She swam to shore, but stayed inside the water, allowing fish to swim through her.
"Me? Why were you looking for me?"
"Jennifer is very worried about you. She said there was an order looking for you and your friends," her unblinking stare, which reminded them of Luna's gaze, turned to Ron and Hermione, now awake and alert.
"We're fine, Kath-"
"The girl isn't," a squeaky voice, one Harry had never heard before, interrupted. He saw where it was coming from immediately. A fairy fluttered by, sprinkling them all with her sparkling dust. "The one with the red hair. She has no power left."
"A fairy!" Kath clapped her watery hands, splashing Ron in the process.
"Harry Potter, honor to meet you. I'm Aya," the tiny fairy said. She smiled widely at Harry, showing pearly teeth. Her wings were a deep, dark green, and she wore a tight emerald bodice with a loose skirt. Her skin was tanned and her eyes and hair were the blackest black Harry had ever seen. She would've been competition for a veela, had she not been only about two inches tall.
"Aya, Aya, what a pretty name," giggled Kath.
Aya nodded towards Kath and turned back to Harry. "Ginny is immortal. Should you move her it would not harm her, don't you think?"
"That's true," Hermione said slowly.
"She must be taken to Hogwarts," a male voice said. This time Harry knew to look into the fire, where an orange salamander he had seen earlier resided, Lauro. "I'm sorry to say that your healing skills are not yet refined, Harry. Jennifer seems determined on teaching you how to battle rather than cure."
"On Dumbledore's orders, no doubt," Kath put in.
"He wants to find you both and make sure you're all right," a new voice said. Harry swore he heard Ron moan, "Not another one," but ignored him, and focused his attention of the Sylph that materialized in front of them. "Harry, I'm so happy that I could finally talk to you. I was appointed your guardian long ago, at the time of your birth. I'm Acantha."
"Nice to meet you, but would I need a celestial guardian?" he asked her.
"Oh, well, a guardian is given to children who have the potential of being Paxturus, to hide any accidental magic, and for protection."
"So you were the one that helped me to escape Dudley and his gang that time in school, you helped me get on the roof to escape them?"
"That was me," Acantha replied proudly.
"Show off," Aya said under her breath. Acantha turned her pale eyes towards the tiny fairy with raised eyebrows.
"No offense Acantha, but now is not the time for this," said Lauro.
"I suppose you're right," she said. "Harry, get your friends to the school, and take Ginevra straight towards Jennifer for healing. Then go to Dumbledore and tell him his plan will not succeed."
"Not without killing either or Ginevra, at any rate," warned Lauro.
"Or both," added Aya.
"You're too powerful Harry. Add Ginny's powers and not only will you kill Tom Riddle, but you will die with him," Kath cautioned.
Harry sank down next to Ginny. "Maybe I am supposed to do just that."
"No, my love. The prophecy was clear. 'Neither may live while the other survives.' In order for one of you to live, the other must die. But neither of you can die unless it's at the other's hands," explained the Sylph.
"That was confusing," Kath frowned.
"Well, it wasn't meant for you to understand," she replied coldly.
Little Aya shook her head at the Sylph and the Undine. "What Acantha is trying to say Harry, is that you were meant for great things. You have to survive, and with Ginny's powers, your body won't be able to take it. You will explode from its magnitude. I'm actually surprised she hasn't."
"And without her powers to sustain her, Ginevra will die," reasoned Lauro. "Dumbledore's plan would work, if you had a different power donor. If he still adamant in using a power transfer to defeat the Dark Lord, he must use someone else. A baby would be convenient, but too risky. A child would not give you enough power."
"Besides, you're too powerful on your own. Like the insect said," said Kath.
Lauro laughed. "Who are you calling an insect, water plant?" shrieked Aya.
"I believe she was referring to you," Acantha added unnecessarily.
"That's it!" Aya yelled, making a move for Acantha. Lauro and Kath, mortal enemies, started to argue in a different language, unrecognizable to Harry. He frowned as he remembered that Jenny had told them of the constant competition between elemental beings. They were always looking to be favored by the Paxturus, who they considered their leaders.
"That's enough!" he yelled. "All four of you, I appreciate your help and advice. Kath, if you would please go tell Jenny that we are on our way back to Hogwarts," The Undine nodded, and with a final glare at the other three beings, she disappeared into the water. Harry turned to the Salamander. "Lauro, please make sure the fire goes out after we leave." Lauro nodded and went back into the flames. "Aya, Acantha, thank you for your help. If you would please fly above us to make sure we get to Hogwarts safely." The two agreed, and flew towards the pond.
Harry sighed. He knew the elements were hard to control, and he considered himself lucky that they listened to a mere beginner like him. He picked up Ginny in his arms, being extra careful, and turned to Hermione and Ron. "Mione, transfigure those rocks back. Ron, get my bag, please, and let's go."
A/N: Okay, let me explain a couple things: - Harry's knowledge seems to have increased a lot in these past two chapters. Well, he has been studying for a month, and he had three extra weeks in which Ginny was missing to learn a few more things. Determined to learn all he could to help his girlfriend, Harry skipped classes to study with Jenny. - I'm Wiccan. I absolutely love to work with elemental magic because it's easy, it brings fast results, and it's fun. It doesn't take a lot of energy out of you, but it's tricky to control the elementals, which are fairies and gnomes for Earth, sylphs for Air, salamanders for fire, and undines for water. Each Witch has her own visual of what they look like; the ones above are mine.
I always knew I wanted Harry to talk to one of the elementals, and as I was writing this chapter, a thought came to me: Why don't I have him talk to all of them? So I did. I hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know by leaving a review.
Love Amalia
Chapter 14: The Rescue, and some unusual advice
"This place gives me the creeps," Hermione whispered as Harry led them all down the stairs into the dungeons.
"Where is everybody?" asked Ron, looking around. They had yet to meet anyone in the Riddle's mansion.
"Don't complain, Ron," replied Hermione. "Do you really want to bump into Death Eaters?"
"No," he answered. "It's just strange; if this really is You-Know-Who's headquarters, wouldn't he have tighter security?"
"Will you two shut it back there?"Harry said, stopping. "Do you want to alert the whole place that we're here?"
Hermione bit her lip, obviously holding back a comment. Ron frowned slightly, also kept quiet. Harry started walking again, leading straight into a long narrow hallway filled with doors. Chills ran up and down his back. The corridor reminded him somewhat to the Department of Mysteries.
"Great, now where do go?" asked Ron moodily.
A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the silence in the hall. "Ginny!" gasped Ron, running to one of the doors on their right, where the scream was coming from. Hermione and Harry followed him.
Ginny was sitting on the floor in the middle of the chamber, her hands and feet magically bound. There were no windows and the walls were grimy and traces of blood could be seen on them. A semicircle of Death Eaters stood around Ginny as Voldemort himself had the girl writhing in pain in front of him.
Without a second thought, Ron lunged at one of the Death Eaters that came running to stop them. Hermione rushed to help him, while Harry immediately made for Ginny.
"So, Potter," Voldemort said bitterly as he approached him. "You've finally come to rescue the princess-in-distress. Had she not had a very special trait I'm sure you would have been three weeks too late."
Harry could feel his blood boiling. How dare he? How dare Voldemort kidnap his girlfriend and then taunt him? His jaw clenched, face contorted in concentration, he raised his hand and a fireball shot out of it, hitting the Dark Lord straight in the chest. He stumbled and fell, and was forced to roll to put out the fire in his robe. Harry grabbed Ginny, undoing the bands that held her together with an impatient wave of his hand. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"No time for that," she answered. She grabbed his hand tightly. "Ron, Hermione, RUN!" All four made a dash for the door, and they had run up the stairs before they heard Death Eaters chasing them. Harry threw a couple of fireballs back towards them, trying to stall them until the were outside the house. If they could get outside safely, then they could place shift through air.
They made it through to the main floor when a group of about five Death Eaters stopped them. Hermione turned back to run the opposite direction, but more Death Eaters had reached them. They were surrounded on all sides.
"Now what?" whispered Ron, pulling Hermione back towards him. Ginny let go of Harry's hand and closed her eyes tightly. A blinding flash of white light shone through the room. When it was gone, all twenty Death Eaters laid on the floor, Stunned. Ginny collapse Harry's arms. "Ginny?"
"Let's get out of here," she whimpered. The four of them rushed outside, knowing that they didn't have much time. More Death Eaters were probably on the way, and those that lay unconscious might wake up at any moment.
"We'll have to air place shift, and quick." Harry readjusted Ginny in his arms so that was carrying her completely. Her eyes were half closed and she had gone limp. Her robes were torn in a few places, and there was dried blood on her skin and clothing, though no traces of a cut or scar.
Hermione cast a wary look towards the mansion. "Yeah, let's go." Harry called for an east wind and their molecules separated and flew in all directions towards the pond where the salmon had led them earlier.
As soon as they were back to their normal self, Hermione shuddered. "Ugh, that has got to be the worst way to travel!"
Harry laid Ginny down gently, putting his bag under her head as a pillow. He took off his robes, staying in his uniform, and wrapped them around her now sleeping form. "It might be the worst way to travel, but it's the fastest. Wind riding is somewhat better, more like flying that anything, but people would notice."
"Wind riding? Place shifting?" Ron frowned. "You know, everyone always says that most of the Paxturus powers were useless tricks."
"Yeah, well, my useless tricks seems to have saved your sister's life," Harry spat out angrily.
"You know that's not what I meant-"
"No, I don't know what you mean, Ron. But if it's anything like what everyone else says, then I'm not interested in hearing your opinion."
"Hey-"
"Boys, stop!" Hermione exclaimed. "Ginny needs sleep. She's suffering from a power drain. She needs lots of rest and conserve her energy so her power will come back. Besides, you're arguing is pointless. Ron, Harry is a bit on the defensive. And Harry, Ron didn't mean anything bad by it, and you know both support you in absolutely anything. So calm down."
"You're right. We need to figure out what to do for tonight," said Harry sitting down next to her and Ginny.
"Well, we can't move Ginny. It might be too risky. We might have to camp out for tonight, then head back to Hogwarts," Hermione suggested.
"But we can't stay here, what if they find us?" Ron pointed out.
"They won't," Harry said simply.
"Why are you so confident about that?"
"I just put up shields around this place about a foot thick. They won't be getting through," explained Harry.
"That was a good idea," admitted Ron. "So we'll camp out here, then travel by water again?"
"Unless you want to travel by air and get there faster." Harry looked pointedly at Hermione. She turned pale at the prospect, "No, you won't ever get me to do that again."
Ron and Harry laughed a bit at Hermione's expense. Hermione transfigured some rocks into blanket for all of them, and Harry was able to make small fire. Jenny had told him that fire magic was extremely advanced and he needed to know to use all the other element control magic, especially water.
It had to be about three in the morning when Harry woke up to Ron's scream. "Ron, what is it?"
"Look!" Ron pointed to the edge of the pond, where a woman, or actually something that looked like a woman, was swimming. Instead of skin, the girl had water, and her hair was made of algae. She was as transparent as a ghost, and Harry recognized her to be Kath, Jenny's Undine friend.
"Kath, what are you doing here?" he asked, walking closer to the pond. Undines couldn't leave water, or they would disappear and become rain, which, according to Kath, was not very fun.
"I was looking for you, Harry," she answered, turning her aqua eyes towards him. She swam to shore, but stayed inside the water, allowing fish to swim through her.
"Me? Why were you looking for me?"
"Jennifer is very worried about you. She said there was an order looking for you and your friends," her unblinking stare, which reminded them of Luna's gaze, turned to Ron and Hermione, now awake and alert.
"We're fine, Kath-"
"The girl isn't," a squeaky voice, one Harry had never heard before, interrupted. He saw where it was coming from immediately. A fairy fluttered by, sprinkling them all with her sparkling dust. "The one with the red hair. She has no power left."
"A fairy!" Kath clapped her watery hands, splashing Ron in the process.
"Harry Potter, honor to meet you. I'm Aya," the tiny fairy said. She smiled widely at Harry, showing pearly teeth. Her wings were a deep, dark green, and she wore a tight emerald bodice with a loose skirt. Her skin was tanned and her eyes and hair were the blackest black Harry had ever seen. She would've been competition for a veela, had she not been only about two inches tall.
"Aya, Aya, what a pretty name," giggled Kath.
Aya nodded towards Kath and turned back to Harry. "Ginny is immortal. Should you move her it would not harm her, don't you think?"
"That's true," Hermione said slowly.
"She must be taken to Hogwarts," a male voice said. This time Harry knew to look into the fire, where an orange salamander he had seen earlier resided, Lauro. "I'm sorry to say that your healing skills are not yet refined, Harry. Jennifer seems determined on teaching you how to battle rather than cure."
"On Dumbledore's orders, no doubt," Kath put in.
"He wants to find you both and make sure you're all right," a new voice said. Harry swore he heard Ron moan, "Not another one," but ignored him, and focused his attention of the Sylph that materialized in front of them. "Harry, I'm so happy that I could finally talk to you. I was appointed your guardian long ago, at the time of your birth. I'm Acantha."
"Nice to meet you, but would I need a celestial guardian?" he asked her.
"Oh, well, a guardian is given to children who have the potential of being Paxturus, to hide any accidental magic, and for protection."
"So you were the one that helped me to escape Dudley and his gang that time in school, you helped me get on the roof to escape them?"
"That was me," Acantha replied proudly.
"Show off," Aya said under her breath. Acantha turned her pale eyes towards the tiny fairy with raised eyebrows.
"No offense Acantha, but now is not the time for this," said Lauro.
"I suppose you're right," she said. "Harry, get your friends to the school, and take Ginevra straight towards Jennifer for healing. Then go to Dumbledore and tell him his plan will not succeed."
"Not without killing either or Ginevra, at any rate," warned Lauro.
"Or both," added Aya.
"You're too powerful Harry. Add Ginny's powers and not only will you kill Tom Riddle, but you will die with him," Kath cautioned.
Harry sank down next to Ginny. "Maybe I am supposed to do just that."
"No, my love. The prophecy was clear. 'Neither may live while the other survives.' In order for one of you to live, the other must die. But neither of you can die unless it's at the other's hands," explained the Sylph.
"That was confusing," Kath frowned.
"Well, it wasn't meant for you to understand," she replied coldly.
Little Aya shook her head at the Sylph and the Undine. "What Acantha is trying to say Harry, is that you were meant for great things. You have to survive, and with Ginny's powers, your body won't be able to take it. You will explode from its magnitude. I'm actually surprised she hasn't."
"And without her powers to sustain her, Ginevra will die," reasoned Lauro. "Dumbledore's plan would work, if you had a different power donor. If he still adamant in using a power transfer to defeat the Dark Lord, he must use someone else. A baby would be convenient, but too risky. A child would not give you enough power."
"Besides, you're too powerful on your own. Like the insect said," said Kath.
Lauro laughed. "Who are you calling an insect, water plant?" shrieked Aya.
"I believe she was referring to you," Acantha added unnecessarily.
"That's it!" Aya yelled, making a move for Acantha. Lauro and Kath, mortal enemies, started to argue in a different language, unrecognizable to Harry. He frowned as he remembered that Jenny had told them of the constant competition between elemental beings. They were always looking to be favored by the Paxturus, who they considered their leaders.
"That's enough!" he yelled. "All four of you, I appreciate your help and advice. Kath, if you would please go tell Jenny that we are on our way back to Hogwarts," The Undine nodded, and with a final glare at the other three beings, she disappeared into the water. Harry turned to the Salamander. "Lauro, please make sure the fire goes out after we leave." Lauro nodded and went back into the flames. "Aya, Acantha, thank you for your help. If you would please fly above us to make sure we get to Hogwarts safely." The two agreed, and flew towards the pond.
Harry sighed. He knew the elements were hard to control, and he considered himself lucky that they listened to a mere beginner like him. He picked up Ginny in his arms, being extra careful, and turned to Hermione and Ron. "Mione, transfigure those rocks back. Ron, get my bag, please, and let's go."
A/N: Okay, let me explain a couple things: - Harry's knowledge seems to have increased a lot in these past two chapters. Well, he has been studying for a month, and he had three extra weeks in which Ginny was missing to learn a few more things. Determined to learn all he could to help his girlfriend, Harry skipped classes to study with Jenny. - I'm Wiccan. I absolutely love to work with elemental magic because it's easy, it brings fast results, and it's fun. It doesn't take a lot of energy out of you, but it's tricky to control the elementals, which are fairies and gnomes for Earth, sylphs for Air, salamanders for fire, and undines for water. Each Witch has her own visual of what they look like; the ones above are mine.
I always knew I wanted Harry to talk to one of the elementals, and as I was writing this chapter, a thought came to me: Why don't I have him talk to all of them? So I did. I hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know by leaving a review.
Love Amalia