My name is Jake.
We sat gathered in the barn. Everyone was silent. Harry sat by his lonesome in the corner. I caught Cassie sidling closer to him with every passing minute. Marco was lolling on a bale of hay, as he always did. Rachel leaned against the wall, scowling, with Tobias on her shoulder. Ax stood aloof from us. Hermione and Ron sat close together. Hermione was reading a book, as she would have if she were her normal self. Ginny stared blankly at the wall.
I paced the length of the barn like a caged lion. Strategies whirled through my mind, the last more insane that the first. Harry needed his magic back before he went mad. Ron and Hermione needed their memories back to comfort him. I mean, the kid couldn't even play Quidditch to get his nerves back! And Ginny… I didn't know what her problem was as of the moment.
"Anything useful in that book of yours, Hermione?" asked Marco suddenly, leaning forward.
"Huh?" she asked, not looking up.
Ron put his lips to her ear. She sat up straighter, turning her attention to him.
Harry moaned softly.
She snapped the book closed. "It might."
Now I was interested. "What do you mean, 'it might'?"
"Well, it's a book about half-wizards."
"And…?" I persisted.
"You see, half-wizards happen to very useful in situations like these. They can sense when bad things are about to happen, but they can't tell what it'll be, like a weak diviner. Not only that, but they can sense the emotions of those near them." She paused, thinking.
"Yeah, so?" asked Marco.
She ignored him and continued, "There are four types of half-wizards: earth, fire, air, and water."
"The elements," Harry interrupted. Then, apologetically, he said, "We learned about them in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor—er—Crouch told us about how, in the time of Voldemort's reign, they were used to search out Death Eaters. They're becoming more useful now.
"Fire and water half-wizards happen to very useful in battle, as they can control those elements. The Ministry is on the search for them again, Remus Lupin told me the last I saw him."
Hermione glared at him. He fell silent.
"As I was saying, half-wizards are also called by another name: sprites. I believe they're a human legend, but they might have been called nymphs in those. In fact, they've had a myriad of names: elves, nymphs, imps, fairies, etc."
Rachel cocked her head. "So you're saying that, if we had a sprite, we could come out successful?"
Hermione chewed on her lower lip. "The thing is… I think you already have a sprite."
"What?" demanded Marco, turning around this way and that.
"They're not what you think they are," she said impatiently. "They look like wizards and muggles: basically, like you and me. Note the term 'half-wizard'."
Several people started to speak at once. I held up a hand to silence them. "Are you saying that one of us is a sprite?"
"Basically."
As one, we all turned to look at Cassie.
She paled several shades.
"M-me?"
Hermione got to her feet. "You must be. Whenever one of us is feeling upset or angry, you're always there to soothe us. Before the battle, you knew something was going to go wrong."
"But… I can't be!" Cassie wailed, "I can't do magic—"
"Of course you can't," interjected Hermione. "Sprite magic is different from wizard magic. We wizards use spells and, mostly, intellect. Our magic comes from what's inside of us. Sprites use their emotions to guide them and that of their elements. Their magic comes from those around them. They use their hearts and emotions."
"Wait a moment," Harry said, coming out of the shadows. He looked no better in the light than he had in his corner. "I'm a wizard, and I use the magic inside me. Believe me, I know. But I've done magic using my emotions, too. Like when I got angry with my Aunt Marge. She blew up like a balloon. And I'm not a half-wizard."
"I know you're a wizard," Hermione said. "But you're a special, rare type of wizard. You're what we call a dryad: a wizard and a sprite. There are only a few of those. I've had the suspicion that you're one, and my books proves that. And I believe your mother may have been one, too."
"My—my mother?"
"Yes. Everyone tells you how you have your mother's eyes. Well, one mark of being a dryad is having green eyes. And not just any green eyes: ones like yours. I've never seen anyone with a color green that electric."
"Anyone else I should know about?" he asked weakly.
"You-Know-Who is one, too."
He doesn't have green eyes, interjected Tobias.
"No, he doesn't, does he?" Hermione asked. "But that's only because he's changed their color to red with all those immortality spells he's put on himself. His eyes used to be green."
Oh.
"And Dumbledore is one, too."
"Dumbledore?" demanded a chorus of voices and thought-speak.
She nodded.
"But his eyes are blue," said Ron quietly.
Again, she nodded. "Blue-green, to be exact. Haven't you ever noticed that there is a shade of green in them?"
"If sprites need to have a shade of green in their eyes, then how can I be one?" asked Cassie timidly.
"Because you're a sprite. It doesn't matter what color eyes a sprite has."
"And if I'm a sprite… then what's my element?"
"Earth," replied Hermione, Marco, Rachel, and I in unison.
"It's very apparent," Hermione said. "Look at yourself! You love animals and trees: you're an ecology nut. Earth sprites often have special connections to animals. Sometimes they even have the gift of healing, and it looks like you might have that, too."
"Do dryads have elements?" asked Harry.
"Yes."
"Then which one am I?"
"Well… dryads often have a mix of elements. You seem to have a mixture of fire, air, and earth. From what I remember" —he cringed— "Phoenixes are attracted to you and you're decent on a broom, but you're also a Parsletongue. I definitely know that you dislike water, because of the Second Task…"
He cleared his throat. "And Voldemort? Dumbledore?"
"Voldemort is a mixture of fire, air, and earth, like you. And Dumbledore… well, he looks to be the most rare type of dryad there is."
"And that is…"
"He has all the elements. He's the first in two hundred years."
"No wonder he's so powerful," Ron murmured, mostly to himself.
"How come I've never sensed when something bad is about to happen before? And I've never sensed anyone's emotions before," asked Harry.
"You have… you just haven't noticed it. You know when Voldemort is going to do something, but you never know what. You know what he's feeling. Remember? Your scar hurts when something like that happens."
A far away look appeared on Harry's face as realization dawned on him. "You're right…"
"Of course I am."
"Wait a moment…" Cassie said, hugging herself, "All the times I've ever thought something was going to go wrong… and all the emotions that I've felt that aren't mine… were real?"
Hermione nodded.
Cassie looked, quite frankly, horrified. I closed the gap between us and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned against me. I felt her shaking, so I held her more tightly.
Marco opened him mouth and looked as if he might say something about it.
Rachel hit him.
His mouth snapped shut.
Ron wheeled forward. "This sprite thing will turn out useful, right? Like, if we were going out to battle and Cassie got a bad feeling about it, we would know it would go wrong and stay home? And no one would get hurt?" He met Cassie's eyes. I wondered from a moment if he were doing this to cheer her up.
Hermione nodded, shooting him a gratified look.
"I can help us to avoid people getting hurt?" Cassie asked, standing more on her own now and not leaning on me.
The two nodded.
She smiled at me to show her thanks. I removed my arm from her shoulders.
Rubbing my hands together, I asked, "Do dryads have more magic than regular wizards?"
"Yes," Hermione said slowly. "They can control their elements. Fire dryads to fire, water dryads to water, air dryads to air, earth dryads to earth."
"Would it have been taken by the Anti-Magic Ray?"
A light dawned in her head and a radiant smile lit her face. "No."
"Then I can…" Harry said, trailing off. A grin was spreading across his face. He began to look better than he had in days.
"Yes, you can. Of course, you'd need to be trained up a bit."
"And I'm very glad you'll be doing that for him," I said, giving Hermione a very significant look.
She opened her mouth to protest. Ron elbowed her lightly. She closed her mouth, pulling her lips tight.
"Hermione, you have to train him to the best of your ability. You know him. He's a natural at spells." I winced when I realized what I had said. Then, recovering, I said, "We can't have him running to battle unprepared. If he can use his elements as well as his ability to morph, he'll get his magic in no time."
I didn't add that she would also regain her memory.
Ron tugged on her sleeve. She looked down at him. "You should. No one deserves to live life without his magic," he said, very quietly.
"Well…" she said begrudgingly, "Fine. I'll do it."
I grinned at Ron. When Hermione had her back to him, he winked.
Shades of his old self, I thought wryly.
"Once he's trained up, are we going to kick some serious Yeerk butt?" Rachel, of course.
Marco's eyebrows shot up. "What else are we going to do with them? Play strip poker?"
"Strip poker?" she demanded.
He grinned. "I wouldn't mind—"
"Shut it, Marco. Just… shut it."
"Zipping the lip," he replied humbly.
Tobias cocked his head. With an almighty flap of his wings, he rose from his perch on Rachel's shoulder to the rafters. He observed the road outside with his amazing, bird-of-prey sight.
Cassie's dad is about two minutes off. Ax, wizards, I suggest we go.
"On it," Harry said, sliding out of the barn with a grin on his face.
Hermione grabbed the back of Ron's wheelchair and shoved him out of the barn, followed by the silent Ginny. On the way out, she caught Marco's eye. He grinned suavely. She stuck her tongue out at him.
Two minutes later, Cassie's dad entered the barn. He saw us all lazily sprawled across the barn and grinned. "Too hot to do anything else, huh?"
Cassie smiled at her father. She held a baby raccoon the crook of her arm and was nursing it with a small bottle. "Yeah."
"Thanks for doing that. I was afraid I would have to. Mom called me on the way home. Dinner will be ready in about two hours. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."
"Thanks, Dad," she said. He winked at her, but then his eyes traveled along the extent of the barn and found Hermione's book… which she had forgotten.
"What's this?" he asked, picking it up.
My face drained of all color. I swallowed noisily and took it from him. He continued to stare at the cover.
"I've never seen any of you reading before," he said slowly. "At least, not here."
"It was mine," said a new voice from the doorway.
If it were possible, I went paler. Harry stood in the doorway. He was wearing a T-shirt and designer jeans, the ones Rachel had picked out for him. Untied shoes that seemed to be a size too large shuffled into the barn. "I was just on my way out and I forgot it…" he said in his flawless American accent.
"Who're you?" Cassie's dad asked.
He grinned at me. "Henry Granger. I go to the school across town. See, I just moved in here from New York. I met Jake and Cassie at the mall and they invited me over here." He pointed to the book. "I have to read a book and do a report on it. Cassie's read it before and she offered to help me."
Cassie, catching on quickly, took a step forward. "Yeah. He's just a friend of ours. I forgot to tell you about him. He left before you came home, but I guess he forgot his book."
"Oh," Cassie's dad said, handing the book over. "Nice to meet you."
Harry took the outstretched hand. "And you. Bye."
And, without further ado, he left.
Cassie's dad left the barn with a wave.
I promptly turned to the others. "I'm going to kill him."
"Well, you'll have to wait your turn," Marco said helpfully. "Voldemort wants to kill him, too. It'll be a little while before you get your chance."
"Not funny, Marco," growled Rachel.
He grinned and averted his eyes.
I turned on heel and walked quickly out the door. "If he was caught… I'm going to kill him…"
"Jake…" Cassie said, pattering after me.
Marco shot her a grin. "Don't worry, Cassie. If Harry gets really mad at Jake, he'll just blow up like a balloon."
I rolled my eyes. The others ran after me, laughing.
I'm going to kill him!
A/N: Yes! I finished! But… it's the nicest day of the year. It's eighty degrees out for cripe's sake. WHAT AM I DOING INSIDE? Oh. Yeah. I've been stuck in here all day… ::mumble mumble::
But anyway, hope you liked it. ::grins:: And everything falls into place. First, sorry this took so long. Second, I'm sorry there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter. I had to explain everything.
Excuses: School. The research paper I had (which I aced, by the way). My homework. Literary Society (book club, for all those who can't tell). My original fiction (now 156 pages long. Whoot!). I'll try to get the next chapter up more quickly!!
Stay tuned for "Chapter 14: Dryad-in-Training (Harry)"!!