The Old Ways
Chapter 3
"Bane believed his camp to be somewhere in the next valley." Dumbledore told the assembled team. Trudging along behind the old man (who was surprisingly fit) through the lush forest were Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Remus Lupin.
"I still find it difficult to believe that the centaur came to the castle, Headmaster." Snape said. Dumbledore merely smiled and, pointing his wand tip toward himself, levitated his own body up onto the next ridge.
When the other Professors and Lupin had gained purchase on the ledge next to him, he replied, "I believe they were finally tired of a wizard living among them. They are fiercely protective of their forest, as you know."
"First time a centaur's ever been useful, if you ask me." Snape grunted. McGonagall glared at him.
"I believe, Severus, had it been any other wizard they would have attempted to kill him. The stars tell them that Harry would live beyond such an encounter, however. Or perhaps they know how important he is in our society and don't wish to draw our anger." Dumbledore answered smoothly. "They wanted him out of their forest and so told those who would remove him."
The team stood along the topmost ridge at last, facing down into a valley. A large, rocky hill, equally large as the one they were on stood in front of them, the drop between was easily several hundred meters. There could be no slipping on these slopes.
"They say he lives here?" McGonagall asked, eyes wide. From their vantage point they could see the lake and just barely make out the turrets of Hogwarts castle in the distance.
"It is said he lives under the hill. It is also said that fierce serpents guard this valley with their lives. Predators dare not enter any longer." Dumbledore whispered, his wand out. "Be on your guard, Professors."
It was McGonagall who saw the faint frown on the Headmaster's face. She had seen him face far greater dangers than a few snakes and meet them sans trepidation.
"Albus?" She asked quietly. "What is it?"
Dumbledore's frown immediately vanished, a small quirk some smile taking its place. "I was just remembering something strange the centaur said. He told me that predators no longer come to this valley," Dumbledore repeated, then he continued in a confused whisper, "but the wolves, they come and go as they please."
In the end, Dumbledore did have to fend off a few rather impressively large snakes. He accomplished the feat with jolts of electricity jumping from his wand, attacking the serpents. The snakes were startled but slithered away unscathed. Dumbledore halted the group with an abrupt motion of his hands. He was staring at the forest valley floor with something akin to amusement.
"We must be getting close." Remus guessed, his acute eyes swept the forest floor for more dangers, his wand was out and ready.
"Indeed I believe we are, Remus." Dumbledore confirmed. "Now we must work on the wards."
Snape scoffed audibly, drawing the attention of the team. His wand was weaving in and out of the air in front of him, silent detection spells prodding at the surrounding area. "I feel no wards, and I doubt Potter could create any of strength."
Dumbledore only smiled. "I believe you are looking for the wrong kind of wards, Severus."
And when Snape strode forward confidently, a sneer on his face, he was thrown backwards through the air. He landed with a strangled cry in a thick bush of nettles. He promptly burnt the bush away with his wand.
"Revelius!" Dumbledore incanted, sweeping the area with his wand. To everyone's surprise but Dumbledore's, thick white lines appeared on the forest floor.
"Age lines." Dumbledore pronounced with glee. "A page from my own book, I believe."
"N.E.W.T. charms." Snape scoffed, rejoining the group. "He hopes to keep the Dark Lord out with a school boy's spells!"
"Why so many age lines?" Remus asked in confusion, ignoring Snape, who was healing his wounds from the thorned bush with his wand.
"He is ensuring that only a person of his own age can access his camp, I believe." Dumbledore replied. From several paces away McGonagall called out to them. "Look here!"
When the group joined her she pointed out two straight lines, two meters apart, that lead through the valley. "The other lines were curved, these are straight." She stated with puzzlement. Dumbledore swept his wand again, forcing more lines to reveal themselves. True enough, two curved lines joined the end of the straight ones.
"It's a maze." Remus whispered. Dumbledore smiled. "Indeed."
"But Albus, what use is a maze if some of the lines can be crossed?" McGonagall asked. Then a look of understanding alighted her face. "Oh, I see."
"I don't." Remus spoke up, unembarrassed. Dumbledore obliged him with an explanation. "As Professor McGonagall rightly realized, the maze would be a weaker defense if some of the age lines could be crossed. That only tells us that the lines probably can't be crossed at all. Chances are that young Harry set them at an impossible age. Something no human could ever cross." He explained with a brilliant smile.
Snape scoffed at the pride on the old man's face. "Can you not dispel them?" He asked incredulously.
Dumbledore hesitated. "There could be... unseen consequences. I think it best we try to walk in Harry's footsteps for now before we invite trouble."
For once Snape held his tongue, only nodding once.
"I'll go." Remus volunteered. He stepped past McGonagall, who had her wand at the ready to catch him if he were to be thrown off his feet. And when Remus stepped between the white lines, the most surprising thing yet happened.
The maze began to move.
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Harry was in the middle of cooking lunch when it happened.
Massster! Came an urgent his. Massster! Wizards approach!
Harry halted immediately. Did you see them? He hissed.
Massster... there are four. An ancient wizard leads them. One smells of the dark. The witch is not fully human, and a dark man that smells of boomslang.
Do not attack them. Harry hissed reassuringly. Tell the others the same. Go. He commanded. And then he paid the snake no more attention as he gathered his many rolled scrolls of notes and drawings from his desk and began packing them away in his trunk.
They couldn't know he was an animagus. He didn't want them to know that he could apparate. He took the books down off his shelf and stashed them as well. When all his books and notes of questionable nature were packed away, he shrunk the trunk down and put it in his pocket.
The wards fell.
Harry knew it would take a bit of time to locate the entrance and then, he presumed, Dumbledore would have to enlarge the opening. As it was, it was getting harder for even Harry to squeeze through, having grown a bit over the months.
With a resigned curse in parseltongue Harry pulled a butterbeer from his stash (he went into Hogsmeade again just after learning to apparate) and sat back down at his desk, waiting for the inevitable.
The butterbeer was warm but a cooling charm put it in order. The light of wands started to filter down the tunnel.
"Back here!" Harry called out, directing them. His voice sounded foreign to him, a side effect of disuse. Over the last months he'd had nobody to talk to, with Hedwig being in the owlery at Hogwarts. The only speaking he'd done over the summer was in parseltongue.
In those last seconds before his minders found him, Harry decided he didn't much care for hiding out anymore. He had accomplished what he set out to do - even more, and summer was coming to a close as it was.
It was time to go back to Hogwarts.
"Hello, Harry." The kind voice of Dumbledore greeted him. Harry met the old man's eyes with a smile, tipped his butterbeer in recognition, and greeted him back.
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Authors Note: A quick explanation about the name of the story. 'The Old Ways' is a referance to how things used to be back in the time of Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor. In Harry's time such ways have been forgotten. Voldemort will remind them by waging war the old way (and you'll see how) and, to fight him, Harry will have to learn the old ways himself. The point of all of this... my favorite part of Harry Potter is the 'timeless feel' to it all. The castle, the scenery, the quills and parchment grins. I'm trying to take the 'modern wizarding world' in the books and revert it back to the days when dragons roamed free and so on. The only limit of this story will be the imagination.
Thanks for reading!