Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light

Chapter 4 Kalayaana

Cornelius Fudge passed the great doors of Azkaban prison with distaste. Why must the Minister of Magic be required to make visits to Azkaban every other year? It's not like they're going to escape or be any less insane or filthy or guilty. Here's another meaningless law that needs changing... sigh but the thought of all that paperwork makes my head spin. Ah well, best get this over with. It'll be interesting to see how Potter's made out. Hope he's mad as a hatter. That would brighten my day enormously!

The short, slightly pudgy man made his way through the cold halls of Azkaban, occasionally glancing in at some of the more famous criminals. Finally he stood before the door which held Harry Potter, 'The boy who betrayed the wizarding world'. Gesturing for one of the guards to open the door, he and the aurors accompanying him made their way through the door of the small cell. The young boy lay on the floor moaning.

"Potter!! Get up!" One of the aurors went over and kicked the prone body. A yelp sounded, and the boy slowly turned to face his uninvited guests.

Fudge smirked at the blank look on the boys face. And even chuckled with the aurors next to him as Potter's eyes rolled insanely and he began babbling nonsense in a hoarse voice.

"So much for 'the savior of the wizarding world', thanks Potter, you made this trip worthwhile." Fudge smirked one more time at the pitiful sight before him and walked out the door, slamming it loudly behind him.

Harry slowly sat up and wiped the drool from his face after the sounds of footsteps faded down the hall. Smirking, he replied in a low voice "My pleasure Minister."

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Late that night, around one thirty, Harry slowly opened his eyes. Listening silently for the sounds of guards or dementors, he rose to a kneeling position. All that week, he'd been practicing his transformation so that by now, it was instantaneous. Quickly popping into his ferret form, he scampered to the food slot. Only about three inches high, the slot was barely high enough to fit a plate filled with food under. Luckily ferrets have the most insanely flexible bodies imaginable, so squeezing himself through was no problem.

Scampering down the corridor, Harry stopped once in awhile to smell the air and listen for guards or dementors. He made it down the narrow staircases and under badly hung doors until he came to the great front door. In his human form, it must have been about twelve feet high, but as a ferret it looked like a mile. Small narrow windows sat on either side of the door. Probably used at one point in time to send spells out at attackers. It was just the right size for a small rodent to squeeze through. He jumped for the ledge and missed, jumped again and caught the ledge, but slipped off. One thing to say for this form, it's not the most graceful in the world... He finally was able to catch the window and pull himself out.

He hopped and scampered over rocks and debris down to the shore of the sea. Dipping a paw in the water, he made a small squeaking sound. It was freezing!! No way am I swimming in that!! Time for Talon. With a pop he turned to his phoenix form. In between practicing his transformation speed and getting used to moving in his various forms, he'd thought up names for each animal.

For his ferret form he'd chosen the name Quist. A shortened version of the word inquisitive since ferrets were naturally curious animals. Plus he'd wanted a name as peculiar and interesting as the animal itself.

His leopard form he'd named Stealth. Normal leopards' coats were made to camouflage and with Stealth's dark-silver and black coloring, he blended into the night even better. Take that and the silent way a leopard can stalk its prey... Perfect name he'd thought.

Finally was Talon. He'd considered some type of name that referred to phoenix's musical talents or healing abilities, but nothing had sounded as right, or as masculine, as Talon.

Harry flew low over the water, not wanting his shadow to show against the moon for anyone to witness. He could sense the land drawing nearer. As soon as he'd landed on the shore, he changed back into Quist. The ministry had assigned a couple of aurors to patrol any piece of shore within sight of Azkaban. And I haven't come all this way just to be sighted by a couple of boot-licking, first year out of training jr. aurors.

He started scampering towards the forest. I wonder when Laurea will be here... there are apparition wards all around Azkaban for fifteen miles. I wonder what kind of Animagus form she has anyway. As he entered the forest, he cocked his small ears and lifted his nose to smell for predators.

He entered a clearing to wait when he heard the sound of hooves headed his way. He was awestruck when a royal unicorn stepped into the clearing. Its coat was pale gold and its mane, tail, hooves and horn were silver. Her ice-blue eyes looked amused at the dumbstruck expression on his ferret face. Then with a pop, Laurea appeared and knelt next to him, scratching him on the head.

"Aaaaawwwwww!!!! Wook at 'duh widdle fewwet!! Innee sooo pwecious!!!" Quist gave her an indignant look and bit her on the finger, softly of course. After all, it was because of her that he'd escaped in the first place. She giggled, and then spoke again. "I have an idea. No, don't change back; it'll take just a second." She picked up a dried leaf from the ground and began speaking in elfish. Curious at what she was doing, he propped his front paws up on her knee and cocked his head at the rapidly changing leaf.

"There! A ferret carrying bag!! I'll just slip it over my head, transform into Luma and you can nap on the way home!" She looked delighted at her own genius. Quist rolled his eyes, then climbed in the newly made bag and rolled up to sleep. Soon they were on their way.

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As Luma trotted into Kalayaana, she was greeted by her father, several of the elders and quite a few others who were curious about the young wizard. She gave a bow of her head to the elders, a wink to her father, and then changed back to her elven form.

"I'm assuming you got him if that wink and the bag around your neck is any indication." Her father muttered dryly. "You had a safe trip?"

"Yes very. You'll never guess his Animagus form Father." She said with a barely concealed grin as she reached into the bag for Quist. When she pulled the ferret out and cradled him on both of her arms, Quist just yawned and rolled over.

"Harry Potter!! Wake up now!" She yelled as the surrounding elves chuckled. He slowly opened one eye, glaring sleepily at being interrupted. When he finally realized that they had arrived, if ferrets could have blushed, he would have.

Hopping down from her arms, he took a split-second to change back to human form. Looking at Laurea embarrassed, he finally spoke. "Um, hi."

"Very eloquent. Harry, this is my father Soron Isilmolor and a few of the elders, all of which were part of the decision to give you the two elven gifts."

As she said this, he straightened up. "You have my eternal gratitude both for the gifts and for your belief in my innocence. As I told 'Rea when she visited, just the knowledge of someone believing me would have been enough because it gave me the will to continue living. Again, I thank you."

Laurea's father came forward. "Harry, we did not give any more than you deserved. You have been a great friend to my daughter, and it was our pleasure to give you these things. Now, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Kalayaana, the Sanctuary of Light." As he said this Harry looked behind the group that had come to meet them and gasped.

The whole city was built on the ground as well as in the trees of a great valley that stretched out before them. A waterfall fell down a cliff next to a great open-air palace and the whole city sparkled in the sunlight. Built around the trees instead of the human way of chopping them down, it was like a giant garden. He glimpsed various animals, magical and non-magical, meandering here and there among the elven population. When he finally turned back to the group, there were tears shining in his eyes.

Seeing that he was speechless, 'Rea spoke. "Come on Harry, let's go home."