Laughing Fountain: They don't want him to know because they think that Voldemort will start playing with his mind again and Sirius or someone else might really get killed this time. And I can't halp it with the 'said'..lol!!

Timra: Yeah poor them!

Miss Piratess: Thanks!! When are you going to update???

Chapter 23 - Burly, The Troll King

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Nothing Harry." Remus replied and pulled Sirius away from the others. "What are you trying to prove?" he asked Sirius.

"I'm not trying to prove anything! I just feel sorry for Harry that's all! I want him to know the truth!" Sirius replied as he pulled his arm away from Remus.

"He isn't supposed to know yet Sirius! Can't you wait a little?"

"It's been over a month and the boy can't get the stupid idea of my death out of his mind!" Sirius snapped.

"He will know at the end! But we can't risk it now! Please Sirius, let us reach the Swamp peacefully." Remus said in a calm voice.

"Are you two going to talk forever?" Wolf called. "We don't have much time you know!"

"We're coming!" Remus said and turned to Sirius. "Promise that you won't tell Harry that you're alive."

"I'm sorry Moony, but I won't. I won't tell him anything but I'm not promising anything either." Sirius said and joined the others.

Remus sighed and followed him.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked Remus.

"He just feels nervous, that's all." Remus replied.

Ron gave Remus a suspecting look. He knew that Remus didn't tell the truth and he was hiding something that concerned William. It seemed that they knew each other for a long time and not just a couple of hours. Ron needed to find out about everything about William, but how? He didn't know.

Sirius kept muttering curses at Remus as they all kept walking. He wanted to tell Harry everything, but he also feared that Voldemort might somehow know about him. He didn't know what would Voldemort's benefit be from knowing that he's alive, but since Dumbledore and Snow White have instructed him to keep his mouth shut, he decided to do so. Although, he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep his mouth shut.

Virginia was humming a song as they walked and she suddenly froze in her tracks as she noticed a campus not so far from them.

"Wolf?" she called.

"What is it honey?"

"Do you see what I see?"

Wolf looked at the direction where Virginia was looking and he scratched his temple violently.

"Cripes! This isn't good." He said.

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"A troll." Wolf said.

"But aren't everyone in the kingdoms supposed to be sleeping?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but huff-puff! This must be their new king!" Wolf said.

"Do you think it's one of Relish's children?" Virginia asked.

"Who's Relish?" Sirius asked and Ron glared at him.

"Isn't he supposed to know already?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"Yeah, if he really is Wendell's brother." Harry replied.

"Relish was the king of trolls." Wolf said. "He was killed by the Evil Queen. He had three children who were as stupid as a rabbit!"

"So I think one of them has become their ruler." Virginia said. "This one looks like a male. It's either Burly or Bluebell."

"Weird names." Muttered Ron.

"Tell me about it!" Sirius said.

"I think we should continue walking. We can avoid him if he would come our way." Wolf said.

"We can just hex him or something." Ron said.

"This isn't time for your games Weasley." Snape said.

"I didn't want to…"

"Do not argue with me Weasley." Snape said before Ron could continue what he wanted to say.

Ron growled at Snape and turned to look at the troll. Wolf scratched his temple while he was thinking of a way to keep him away from them. Even if they were more than he was, the troll would possibly be able to kill one of them.

They started walking again and kept close to each other. Harry and Ron kept their hands close to their wands as they saw Remus and Snape do the same.

As they approached the troll, Virginia let out a gasp. "It's Burly!"

"Stay close to me." Wolf told her and she nodded.

Burly the troll was that eldest son of Relish, the troll king. He was a bit smarter than his sister and brother, but that didn't make a huge difference. Trolls were known to be stupid and all they thought of was leather and shoes.

Burly saw the group approaching and he took out a dagger out of his pocket. Wolf growled when he saw Burly heading straight at their direction and his eyes flashed yellow for a moment.

"You!" Burly said as he saw Wolf and Virginia with the group. "I bet you did this to the kingdoms!"

"Wait a minute!" Virginia said. "We didn't do anything!"

"Why are you here anyway?" Wolf asked.

"I'm trying to find the person who made all of my people fall into a sleep!" Burly said.

"We are doing the same." Remus said.

"They are here with you! This witch is the source of problems in the kingdoms! She has killed my father and then she killed the queen! You'll pay for it!" Burly said and jumped forward at Virginia.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape said and Burly's dagger flew out of his hand. He looked at Snape with a shock.

"Stupefy!" Harry said and Burly fell to the ground motionless before he could act.

"Nice work Harry!" Ron said.

"Thanks." Virginia said and turned to look at Burly. "That was close."

"It was nothing." Harry said with a smile.

"Let's go now." Sirius said. "We don't have much time!"

"We can't just leave him here." Virginia said.

"Of course we can!" Wolf said. "Huff-puff! He tried to kill you Virginia!"

"Still, we can't leave him like this!" Virginia replied and turned to Harry. "Is he dead?"

"No, he's stunned." Harry replied.

"If he's the ruler of the trolls now, maybe he should know about the meeting." Sirius said.

"And he should be there!" Virginia added. "Harry, is there a way to bring him back to life?"

"Yes, but I think it would be dangerous to do that." Harry replied.

"We should tie him up first." Remus said and pointed his wand at Burly. "Incarcerous!" Ropes came out of the wand and wrapped themselves around Burly's body.

"Wow!" Wolf muttered.

"Ennervate!" Harry said and Burly opened his eyes.

"Suck an elf!" he cursed as he felt himself tied with ropes. "Get these ropes off me!"

"Yeah, right!" Virginia said.

"You dirty witch!" Burly snapped. "I'll kill you once I get free!"

"Shut up and listen troll!" Snape said.

Burly didn't see who was speaking to him as Snape was standing above his head, and Burly's eyes were fixed on Virginia. He looked around and saw some new faces that he has never seen before.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" he asked.

"That's none of your business." Virginia said. "Now listen to me carefully. You already know that a spell has been cast on the kingdoms, and everyone is asleep, except for the rulers of each kingdom. So I assume you're the new king of trolls?"

"Yes." Burly replied.

"I see. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we already know who did this and we're going after him. And there's a meeting being planned for the rulers of each kingdom. They will be gathering at King Wendell's palace."

"So what?"

"Since you are the ruler of the Third Kingdom, I must inform you that you are also welcomed to join that meeting."

"No way!" Wolf said.

"He has the right to do so, Wolf." Virginia said and turned back to Burly. "Now, are you going to the meeting?"

"What if I don't?" Burly asked.

"We'll just leave you here and go." Wolf said.

"I'll go!" Burly said, fearing to be left tied up in the middle of no-where. "Just untie me first."

"Do you promise to leave at once, and without harming any one of us?" Virginia asked.

"Yeah! I do! Oh suck an elf! Hurry up and untie me!" Burly said.

Virginia looked at Remus and nodded. Remus pointed his wand at Burly and muttered another spell that made the ropes disappear. Burly stood up happily and adjusted the crown on his head.

"I'll get my revenge after all of this is over." He said as he looked at Virginia. Wolf, however, stood in front of Virginia as to protect her and growled at Burly with yellow eyes. Burly left them and walked in the direction that led to Wendell's castle.

The road to the Swamp was clear and silent. There was no sign of living people around. Everyone felt tired now. They have been walking for hours without a rest. The encounter with Burly was their first actual stop, but it wasn't enough to have a rest from a day long walk.

Wolf kept sniffing the air as they walked but he couldn't smell anything strange. It seemed like no one has ever passed this way for a long time. Suddenly, he finally caught a scent. It was a week smell, but it was familiar.

"Huff-puff!" Wolf gasped and smiled.

"What is it Wolf?" Virginia asked.

"I can smell your scent Virginia."

"Of course you can! I'm right here with you!"

"No, it's not that. You and Tony came through this way about a month ago!" Wolf said.

"And what does that have to do with us?" Snape asked.
"They walked this way when they were heading to the Swamp!" Wolf said.

"Is it strong?" Remus asked. "Can you use it to get us there quickly?"

"It's not strong, but it might help." Wolf replied. "Let's go…" he sniffed again. "This way!" he followed the scent and everyone followed him.