Disclaimer:

J.K. Rowling is the owner of Harry Potter. Stories she has written and characters that she created are not mine. I don't take credit for any of her work. I do thank her for providing such a wonderful universe to dream about and write in.

Harry Potter and the Shadow of Evil

By: Starwin

Chapter 6 – Unanswered Questions

It seemed like forever but at last the orb reached the front gates of the castle. Harry had a sinking feeling. The stone in his pocket was starting to chill and the heartbeat was quick paced. Gin was worried too. Worried because of him?

The orb of light floated through the doors as if they weren't there. Harry ran up and pushed against the doors but they would not give way. Looking between the crack Harry could see the light slowly continuing off.

Harry had to think, how had Hermione gotten outside these doors?

"Allohamora!" Harry shouted at the doors. His wand flared but they still remained locked. 'THINK!' Harry willed himself. How else could a wizard get past a locked door? Apparation? But he couldn't do that, he was underage and didn't know how, did Hermione? Then it dawned on him. He wasn't just Harry anymore he was also Talon and Phoenixes could teleport! Harry took a slow breath recalling the rigorous training Hermione had put him through.

Harry looked at his hands as his fingers came together and feathers blossomed all over his body. With a flap of his arms, Harry was airborne and circling around the small entrance space.

'Now,' Talon thought. 'How do get to out there!' As Talon imagined where he needed to go and how to get there a burst of flame spread out and he appeared outside in the night sky.

---

Quickly Talon found the orb just as it turned off the stone stairs and floated into the forest, he followed high above.

'Why is it moving so slowly?' Talon thought. The orb seemed to be taking its time so that every now and then Talon had to circle so as to stay behind it. Finally the orb came to a stop. 'This is it!' Talon thought swooping down to land right behind the orb and willing himself to become Harry again. 'I am Harry!' Talon thought and Harry felt his feet touch the ground.

The trees were lit with the dim light of the glowing orb but hadn't stopped moving, it was just moving so slowly as to appear stopped. Harry looked around. There wasn't anyone here. Harry prodded the orb with his wand and whispered. "Nox." The orb went out. Behind a tree only a few paces away, two glowing white eyes found him.

"Lumos." Harry said and his wand tip glowed with light. He held it out pointing it at the eyes. Harry had only a fleeting glimpse of a large, tiger like, beast in the shadows. It had brown fur and two long horns sprouting out of the back of its head. But Harry knew instantly.

"Hermione!" He gasped. The beast snarled and with a powerful turn that sent a spray of dirt into the air, it bolted off into the darkness. Harry was about to cast the finding spell again when something struck him. The finding spell had worked but only just, maybe because what he was following wasn't Hermione, at least not in the true sense. After all when he was Talon, he wasn't really Harry. Without thinking his wand moved and the words shot out of his mouth.

"Legilimens!" Harry shouted.

'I must run, I must hide.' Harry saw things, saw memories of a tall dark wizard towering over him, its wand pointed down ready to attack. Purple light streamed everywhere. Now he was at Ron's house and arms were snaking around him, hands groping him. The connection broke.

Harry knew he had little time to try again before she was out of range. Trying to order his thoughts, Harry concentrated on what he needed the most. 'A name Hermione, I need a name!'

"Lagialmens!" Harry roared silver light burst from his wand and rushed out into the darkness.

'No! Don't come any closer!' Hermione cried. There was a huge snake with glowing yellow eyes. Smaller snakes were pouring out of the walls and wrapping around her body and crawling inside her clothing.

'A name,' Harry willed trying to push the memory aside. 'Tell me your name, Hermione!' The memory vanished and Hermione's face appeared before him.

'Paws of course,' Hermione said with a confused look as though this was obvious. Then the connection broke. That was all Harry needed.

"Finendo!" Harry said and the orb of light burst back into existence. "Paws!" Harry said his heart racing, the heartstone starting to feel warm in his pocket again. The orb of light wasted no time, it rushed off. Harry moved full sprint after it as it darted between trees and finally broke into a clearing.

The orb slowed. Harry had been almost all over this island but he had never been here before. Ruined walls crumbled with the passage of time. A few house stood, roofless and a tower that had been broken in the middle spiraled up at the far end. Harry looked from side to side as the orb moved slowly into the ruins. A large stone wall still surrounded this place, wherever it had been.

He followed the light as it moved. Suddenly it went out and the glowing eyes became apparent. He had to make her understand that she was Hermione, but how? How had she helped him come back? He couldn't really recall.

Thinking of only one way to reach her Harry held out his wand.

"Lagialmens!" He shouted for the third time that night. The silver light glowed brighter than before and Harry appeared in a room with nothing but Paws and himself. They eyed each other for a longtime then to Harry's surprise Paws spoke in Hermione's voice.

"What do you want?" Paws said. "Please don't hurt me!" Harry felt sad, how could Hermione ever think he would hurt her?

"I am here to help." Harry said moving towards her. She took a few steps back, but Harry continued to move towards her, his pace slow but steady.

"It's me, Harry." Harry said. Hermione didn't seem to recognize him. Finally he was close enough to touch her. Kneeling down he ran a hand along her head. She let out a purr of affection and nuzzled his chest. "Come back to me Hermione." Harry said pleadingly.

Suddenly she began to shrink. The fur absorbed back into her skin and the horns retracted. Her bushy hair was pressed against his arms as she sank into them. The ruins around them came back into view. Hermione was asleep in his arms.

Harry was too tired to think. He didn't know how to get them back up to the castle. He wrapped his arms tighter around Hermione's sleeping form and leaned against the wall thinking, 'just a quick nap.'

---

It took Harry awhile to realize where exactly he was. It took even longer to realize why exactly he was there. But it took only a moment when he looked down at Hermione, still asleep in his arms, to know this was exactly where he needed to be.

Gently he shook her awake. She let out a huge yawn then looked up at him with sleepy eyes. It seemed to take her a moment to realize where she was as well.

Hermione let out a little cough. When Harry still remained motionless she said.

"You can let go now," with a smile. Embarrassed Harry quickly released her. She sat up and stretched her arms wide.

"I'm sorry." Harry said looking away. Hermione turned to stare at him.

"Sorry, sorry for what? Sorry for saving me and staying with me through the cold night? Harry you honestly need to have more self-esteem!" Harry still felt awkward so he stood up and took a few steps away.

Harry placed his hand over the heartstone in his pocket it felt warm and the heartbeat was soothing.

Hermione stood and brushed herself off.

"Well!" She said looking around. "We did it Harry! At first I wouldn't have thought it was possible but we did it!" Harry looked at her blankly as if to say 'we did what?' Hermione rolled her eyes. "Were animagus now! Magical animagus! Harry, no one in a longtime has become a magical animagus!" Harry nodded absently.

"We did cut it a bit close though." Hermione continued uneasily. "I mean if you hadn't come and found me last night I would still be wondering the woods as a Kasar."

"As a what?" Harry asked blankly.

"Ohhh, a Kasar Harry!" Hermione said with a dreamy gleam in her eyes. "It's a tiger like animal with amazing speed. At night they have the ability to turn completely invisible and to pass through solid objects. Some Kasar can even become invisible during the day!" Harry fought back a sudden burst of laughter as he remembered what Hermione looked like.

"Hermione," Harry said trying to keep his mouth working around the laughter. "You know you have horns right?" She shot him a furious look as, unable to control it any longer he fell over laughing.

---

It had taken a while for Harry's spurts of laughter to subside. Every time he thought they had stopped Hermione appeared in his mind with horns and a cat's face.

Hermione had finally given up trying to get a word in and instead had taken to looking around the ruins. When at last Harry had stopped laughing and was once again in control of his body he joined her.

"This has to be it!" Hermione said as they wondered around one of the houses. The roof had long ago dissolved away due to the passage of time. But the stone walls still stood in fair condition. "In the chest," Hermione murmured to herself.

Harry didn't see any chest in here. In fact there wasn't much anything in the house at all.

"Oh, what did the stone say again?" Hermione thought aloud as she paced around the room. Then she looked at Harry, 'how was he supposed to know?' Harry thought.

"Of course." Hermione said pulling out her wand. "Accio Stones!" There was a long pause and then a moment latter the two half's they had already found whooshed in through the open roof.

Deftly Hermione caught the zooming stones. She looked at them, her eyes focused.

"In the light of, the reflection, in the house of stone, under, behind, the chest of, something…" Hermione said as rotated the stones. "This doesn't make any sense. It's not a map to anything." Harry sighed. It felt like they were close. But nothing Hermione said made sense to him.

'In the light of the reflection? In the house of stone behind the chest of… something?' Harry pondered, it just didn't make any sense.

Hermione was reading it again to herself.

"Blast it," She said at last dropping the stones to the ground. "It's broken in just the wrong parts."

"What'da you mean?" Asked Harry as he walked over and picked up the stones from the ground, the strange writhing still making no sense to him. Hermione let out a sigh and pointed to the runes around the outside of the stone.

"Depending on what symbols come first, the symbols after can mean different things." She took one of the halves from Harry and pointed at the first rune, it was broken missing part of what the rune looked like in full. "This rune could be any part of any number of words or meanings," She pointed at the next symbol.

"The only words that really make sense for it, with this rune following, are the words: light, reflection, sky, water, sun or Si, the first letter in the alphabet. But," Hermione added. "That doesn't really fit, how can something be in the sky or the reflection or a single letter?" Something popped into Harry's head and Hermione must have caught it too.

"The Moonwell." Harry said. Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "But there wasn't anything in the Moonwell." Harry said thinking about what had happened. "Just our memories and I can't see how that's related." Hermione read the other stone again.

"Harry," She said a smile spreading across her face. "There was something in the Moonwell, something that we came back with that we didn't have before we went there!" Harry couldn't imagine what she was talking about. They hadn't even comeback with water dripping off them. "Thisss Harry!" She said holding up the other stone. "This is what we got from the Moonwell, the first stone." Harry was confused. Hermione shook the stone, as if shaking it would help Harry better understand what she meant.

"But that means, that these halves each tell where the other part is." Hermione frowned. "Nether tell where the center part is!" Hermione rubbed her face in frustration.

Hermione snatched the stone out of Harry's hands and pushed the two halves together again looking for something, anything. Willing her eyes to find the connection, the answer that they must possesses but seemed to lack.

Harry looked over her shoulder trying to will his eyes to read the unreadable.

"Hermione," Harry asked tentatively. "What do these lower markings say?" Harry asked pointing at the smaller runes closer to the center of the oddly shaped stone. Hermione looked down at them and thought for a moment.

"They don't say anything." She said after a longtime of thought. "They aren't words their, numbers sort of."

"A combination lock?" Harry asked thinking of one of the muggle devices that his Uncle had used to lock him in his room with. Hermione rotated the stone again.

"Maybe, they are out of order." She looked around and found the remains of what might have once been a stone stove. She set the stone on top of it. "This number is one," She said pressing the smaller rune. As she did it glowed for a moment and then went out. Hermione gasped. Her eyes flickered around the stone. And suddenly she realized.

"It's a puzzle Harry!" She cried. "The numbers correspond to the placement of these runes in the alphabet!" Quickly she began to tap the runes in a seemingly random order as she tapped each one the small rune and the large rune above glowed and remained glowing. Finally only one rune remained unlit. She cast a glance at Harry.

"This is the last number," Hermione said her finger hovering over it. Harry nodded. Gently she tapped it, the stone shivered. Harry and Hermione backed away as a bright yellow glow enveloped the two halves.

Harry's heart was racing. After a longtime the stone's glow faded and a single round stone sat whole on top of the stove. Cautiously Harry and Hermione approached it. The runes around the outside had vanished and words now ringed the stone.

"Speak now its name, and enter." The stone read. In the center was an engraving of a sword with a dragon behind it. Hermione lifted the stone from the table, it was cold to the touch.

"Take hold." Hermione said with a smile. Harry gave her a quizzical glance and grabbed the edge of the stone disk. "Excalibur!" Hermione shouted. For a moment, nothing happened, then from some place behind his navel Harry felt like a hook was pulling him and the ruined building around them vanished.

---

When Harry's feet at last touched the ground he quickly let got of the disk.

"It's a port key!" Harry said out of breath. Hermione was standing brushing herself off.

"Well it's more than just a port key. It's a crypto-nix, a sort of wizard puzzle." Hermione said setting the round stone down on the ground. "They are very rare and very hard to make."

"And that one," a voice spoke up, "was particularly difficult to create." Harry pulled out his wand, taking in his surroundings for the first time. They were in some kind of a cave with perfectly arched walls. Many stalactites and stalagmites were along the walls but the center of the cave seemed to be completely clear of them.

Harry glanced at Hermione and then took a step forward, there was no one here but them.

"Hello, who's there?" Hermione called suddenly. Harry shot her a furious look. What the hell was she doing she was giving away their location! Harry was just about to hiss for her to be quiet when a very elderly looking wizard stepped out from behind one of the pillars of stone.

He smiled at them. His bread was so long that it touched the ground and a floppy blue hat sat atop his head. His face, though very wrinkled, had a kindly look about it. When he spoke his voice seemed to have a soothing quality to it.

"It has been such a longtime since anyone has come to visit that I seem to have forgotten my manners." The old man said. "I am…"

"Merlin!" Hermione gasped. Harry felt his eyes go wide, it couldn't be, it wasn't possible he would be thousands of years old!

"No dear child." The wizard said with a twinkle in his eye. "I am the memory of Merlin, left here as guardian and truth sayer to all those that would come after my time. And I dare say it has been a longtime." The old man stretched and as he did Harry noticed he wasn't fully solid, not ghost like, but not tangible ether.

Both Harry and Hermione stood speechless. They were in the presence of the memory of the greatest wizard to ever live!

"I find that many of my guests have a lot of questions but that they are often too befuddled to know where to start. So I would suggest that we have a cup of tea perhaps before we continue."

With a flick of his hand a table, chairs, tea and biscuits appeared in front of them. Merlin moved to one of the chairs and waited expectantly for Hermione to sit first.

She seemed to regain a bit of her sense and nodding uncertainly moved and sat. Merlin looked over at Harry who, at present, looked like he would much rather stand.

After a long moment, Harry approached uneasily and sat down.

"I am sure you have questions and as you have worked very hard to get here. I will of course be more than happy to answer them." Merlin said as he filled Hermione's cup and then Harry's.

"How did we get here, to Avalon I mean?" Hermione asked. "Really?" Merlin beamed at her.

"That would be the doing of Elsea." Merlin said pressing his hands together.

"But she voted against me staying!" Harry said confused. "Why would she have brought me here and then wanted to get rid of me?" Merlin smiled knowingly.

"Let's just say the threads of love work in funny ways." Harry wasn't sure what to make of the answer but Hermione coughed into her tea with an obvious blurt of laughter. "However," Merlin said handing a napkin to Hermione, who took it as gracefully as possible, "I don't think you came here to ask about that." Merlin fixed Harry with a gaze that he had only gotten from Dumbledore. An all knowing unweaving stair that felt as if he was looking into Harry's very soul.

"Why did you let Voldemort take forbidden magic from Avalon? Why didn't you stop him?" Harry said angry. Merlin's eye's seemed to shine as though he could feel Harry's anger.

"I see." Merlin said, his eyes now fixed upon the scar. "So that is the source of your rage." Harry's anger was fueled by the old wizard changing the subject. Merlin broke his gaze with Harry and looked over at Hermione offering her more tea.

Harry felt like he had been released from a powerful crushing charm as Merlin looked away.

"No, I am fine, thank you." Hermione said holding up a hand.

"I am just a memory Harry, I am no more real than a dream." Merline said not looking back at Harry.

'You obviously haven't seen any of my dreams lately.' Harry thought.

"I cannot leave this room, beyond these walls I do not exist. But there is something more important you need to know, something you need to understand." Merlin said, still not looking back at Harry. Harry could feel his temper rise, last year Dumbledore had done the same thing, refuse to look at Harry. "I see in your eyes the same gleam for power that I saw in Tom's."

'What!' Harry's mind reeled his anger vanishing. 'He is comparing me to Voldemort!' Harry felt afraid. A wave of panic had just rushed over him. It was the thing he feared most, that he was like Voldemort.

"You mistake my words." Merlin said, his eyes finally returning to Harry. "It is the same gleam not because you want the power yourself but because it was the power Tom wanted." Harry didn't understand.

"Perhaps a history lesson would be in order." Merlin stood, as did Harry and Hermione, the table vanished. Merlin led them down the cave towards a hallway that seemed to be made of golden light. The stone changed and the rock smoothed becoming walls of gold.

At last Merlin stopped before an elaborate painting. Upon it was a great battle. Two wizards stood opposite each other with hands full of fire. The sky shook and the earth split in a great fissure.

"Long ago there was a Dark Wizard named Tromeldov." Merlin began as he spoke the figures in the painting began to move acting out his words. "For many years we did battle with each other. Until one day Tromeldov fell by my hand.

"His evil, however, would not be destroyed. Death was not its final resting place." Harry watched as the man in the painting clad in dark robes opposite Merlin crumpled to the ground. Dark clouds covered the sky above. "He was reborn from his hatred. My inability to foresee this cost countless lives, but one can never predict the future. Even the best laid plans of the brightest wizards are not always successful." The man who had been slain stood again, more menacing than before. "Acts of evil will not destroy evil. Killing will not remove it. It will only make it stronger, its thirst for power greater.

"It seemed that nothing could be done. Even if I battled this evil for the rest of my life it would endure beyond my time." Merlin moved forward to the next painting. Upon the canvas stood Oberon twelve shinning wings spread out behind him.

"It was at last in the darkest hour that Oberon found a way to seal this evil, to hide it in a light so bright that it could never escape." In Oberon's hands was a light that glowed as bright as the sun. "The light was hidden on Avalon and protected by the Seraphim who live here.

"But again, I should have known that such evil would not remain hidden forever. Slowly the shadow corrupted the light that sealed it and the small flicker of darkness was all Tom Riddle needed to see to know the reason he had come to Avalon." The next picture was of a dead Seraphim. A long bladed sword priced though its chest, its blood poured out onto the floor. Other Seraphim around it wept as Tom Riddle stood over it holding a ball of darkness.

"On that day Tom Riddle ceased to be. His power enhanced by the oldest and darkest evil. He fashioned a new name, Lord Voldemort." There were no more painting beyond that. The hallway ended into a large golden door.

"This is where I leave you, beyond this door is the tomb of King Arthur, your last stop on your journey through Avalon." And with a bow the memory of Merlin vanished.

---

Harry took a deep breath and looked over at Hermione. Her face was tense. Harry placed his hands against the door and pushed gently. The door was heavy and moved slowly scraping against the stone floor.

Light poured out from the open doorway and Harry could see nothing but golden white light. As the room slowly came into focus Harry could make out bright white walls of stone rising high into the air.

Extravagant stain glass windows were set in each wall and golden light flowed in from them. Four great pillars sat just off the walls and held high above them a dome with a golden sun placed in its center.

In the middle of the room was a pit with stairs leading down on all sides and in the middle of the pit was a rectangular shaped tomb. Atop the tomb was what looked like a man carved in stone. He held in his hands a sword, which unlike the carving, was real. Harry took a few steps into the room, his eyes fixed on the incredible carving and the shimmering sword that seemed to draw all light in the room to it.

Hermione gasped. Harry couldn't blame her, it was incredible. The room was truly breath taking. Hermione's hand shot out past Harry's ear, her finger pointing as something past the tomb on the other side of the room.

Harry squinted, the light made it hard to see anything except the tomb.

Against the back wall where Hermione's finger was pointed Harry could make out a shadow of a person, sitting. Cautiously Harry moved further into the room, Hermione trailing close behind him. They moved around the outside of the pit and over to the person against the back wall.

Harry felt his eyes widen in shock, Hermione let out a cry of surprise.

The person had many bandages wrapped around his, some stained red with blood. His arm was in a sling. Upon his back two of his four wings were gray and lifeless the other two shown a dull white even in the brilliant light flooding the room.

Harry knew who this person was, he was not a person at all, he was a Seraphim.

"Solaris," Hermione said softly and then glanced at Harry.

A shriek erupted from behind them.

Instinct taking over Harry pulled his wand and turned to face the direction the cry had come from.

Running from the door, a look of panic and terror upon her face was Elsea. In one hand she clasped fresh bandaged and in the other what looked like a silver flask.

"What are you doing!" She cried rushing toward them. "Leave him alone!"

'Attack, kill her now!' a voice in Harry's head hissed. He ignored it. It shouted louder. 'What are you waiting for? She is coming to kill you!' Harry pointed his wand at her and she froze terror and rage in her eyes.

"That is enough," came a raspy voice from behind Harry. Harry looked back to see Solaris, one eye open, glaring at him.

Hermione put a hand on Harry's outstretched arm and he lowered his wand. 'What had come over him?'

Elsea, moved slowly finally reached Solaris' side.

"Away." He said with a wave as she began to change his bandages. "For too long have I rested down here." Solaris pushed himself up against the wall. Harry could see flickers of pain on his face as he worked to rise.

"We thought you were dead!" Hermione cried as Solaris made the last struggle to his feet.

"I nearly was. It is my fault that you almost died in the Seas of Avalon. It was my weakness that almost cost you your lives. I should be dead, for I have failed again." Solaris said. Now that he was standing, even with the bandages on, he seemed invincible as if nothing had happened. "Yet I live on, and I have promises to keep." His eye's fell uncomfortably on Harry.

"Your time on Avalon is over, we will depart immediately." Solaris announced and slowly as though each step took all of his strength he began to walk toward the door.

"But my Lord you are not strong enough to leave Avalon yet!" Elsea cried. Solaris stopped.

"Do not call me that," Solaris said his voice pained. "I am no ones lord." He resumed his movement towards the door. When finally he reached it he turned to look back at Elsea, Hermione and Harry all still standing where he had left them.

"There is nothing more for you on Avalon." Solaris said his voice calm. Hermione looked at Harry. Harry looked at Solaris and taking a deep breath walked towards him.

"Elsea, I forbid you to tell Oberon of my return." Elsea nodded uncertainly. Casting a glance at Harry and then Hermione Solaris turned and led the way in broken steps back to the port key.

---

The sun was setting as Harry and Hermione followed Solaris along the shore. The wind had turned ice cold. Harry wasn't sure where they were going, or how Solaris planed to leave. Surely he wasn't fit to fly if he could barley walk!

Abruptly Solaris turned and headed down to the waters edge.

'They weren't going to swim away from Avalon?' Harry thought suddenly.

But as they reached the water a boat seemed to appear. It sat there as if it had been there all along, though Harry could swear it wasn't there a moment ago.

The boat was made of tan colored wood and was long but not very wide. It looked like it might hold four or five people all sitting in a row.

Solaris helped Hermione into the boat then held his hand out to help Harry in. As Harry's foot touched the bottom of the boat a booming voice broke the silence that seemed to have pressed down upon them.

"You flee once more from the shores of Avalon, my son." Harry turned to see Oberon standing in the sand, his wings out stretched and glowing. The wind danced about his head so that his white hair streamed out behind him.

"I have failed in my tasks a second time, I have returned to Avalon defeated, Oberon." Solaris said his voice filled with sadness.

"It was not your fault then and it is not your fault now. I knew of your return. I waited hoping you would come back to me, to Avalon." And for the first time Harry could see a look of sadness in Oberon's eyes.

"But it is not my home any longer," Solaris said. "And I have promises to keep." Solaris turned back to Harry and with a gentle push helped him the rest of the way into the boat. "When at last my task is done, I will return." Solaris said turning back to Oberon and giving him a deep bow.

"Mr. Harry Potter," Oberon said, his eyes falling on Harry. "A debt long owed is repaid this night. By my will I free you, Solaris, of the chains of Avalon. Go where you will."

Solaris took a deep breath and Harry was sure there was a gleam of happiness in his eyes. Then turning back to the boat he pushed it with one arm out into the ocean and took a few steps in the water before landed kneeling in the boat.

They were moving at a steady pace away from the island. Oberon still stood on the shore watching as they drifted away. He held his hand high in the air and said something Harry did not quite catch.

Solaris held his hand in the air as well and whispered.

"Good bye, father. And thank you."

Authors Notes:

And thus is the end of the story…

Nah I am just messing with you, LOTS more to come!

Congratulations for finishing chapter 6 you are now eligible to receive a grand prize.

Note: all muggles not eligible to receive grand prize, void everywhere.

This is a chapter that hits a lot of important points very quickly. Originally two chapters, I combined into one with the removal an incredibly long, boring and ultimately far too revealing segment of exposition. However, don't worry you aren't missing anything important that wont be revealed latter.

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS. I have set it to take anonymous reviews as I guess I didn't check everything carefully enough.

I now have a proofreader on my side, he is very slow though so most chapters will only receive improvements after they have been posted for a while. That being said, Chapter 1 has been re-re-reproofed. The over all idea remains the same but much of the sentence structure and thought complexes that didn't flow very well have been corrected to fit much better.

However no new material has been added and not rereading chapter 1 will not detract from your overall experience of the story.