Looking back, Draco could hardly remember the journey. They had travelled so fast that he could barely even see where they were going. One thing he did remember was their method of travel. Etean's jet black stagecoach pulled by a dozen silver hippogriffs definitely stuck in the mind. They had walked out of the front door of the hotel and there it stood, completely ignored by everyone who passed by. It gleamed in the early morning sun. It was elegant but at the same time it was simple, a golden symbol on the door was its only identifying feature, a large stylised eagles head. Draco recognised it as the Etean family crest. He remembered the huge velvet banner bearing that same symbol decorating the entrance hall of Etean's house near Marseilles. That party seemed to have taken place decades ago, not just last summer.
No sooner had they got in and closed the door but they were off, rocketing through the morning sky without a sound except for the beating of the hippogriffs' wings. The journey had lasted no more than half an hour, a half hour of silence. Draco had questions but Etean had told him to wait till they got where they were going before asking any and Draco was in no mood to argue. The finality of the decision weighed heavily on him but he was certain that it was the right choice. He was tired of being a pawn in his father's games. At least this way he would have some control over his doom if that was what was to come. He had chosen this on his own, his father hadn't been the one to make the decision for him. He had sided with The Circle and he would have to face the consequences of his choice alone, whatever they may be.
They landed with barely a bump and stepped out onto a grassy hilltop that was still wet with the morning dew. A thick mist obscured all vision of anything over ten feet away. The air smelled fresh, almost sweet. Clearly they were in the countryside, nowhere near the city. Through the fog Draco could just about make out the shape of a small building standing on the crest of the hill. Etean headed over to the shape, Draco followed him. Behind them, the carriage moved off without a sound. As they got closer Draco could make out more of the details of the building, or what was left of it. Maybe once it had been a house but not anymore, now it was little more than a pile of bricks and moss. The only thing that remained even remotely intact was the front doorframe. Amazingly, he could see that the door itself had survived the obvious decades of neglect that the rest of the structure had suffered. Inside the building he could see that what was left of the floor was almost completely overgrown. Some animal or other had made it their home in the not too distant past judging by the bones and scraps that lay scattered about inside.
"What are we doing here?"
"We are here to begin your training Draco." Etean's tone was light, almost joking, "You remember? The Circle?"
"Yes but…here?" Etean smiled. He reached out and closed the door. He whispered something under his breath before knocking twice on the ancient, rotten boards. Draco was amazed that they didn't shatter under the blows. Etean stepped back and gestured Draco forward.
"Open it." Draco stepped forward and pushed the door, it was a lot heavier than it looked. He had to push with all his strength to even budge it. When it finally did open he stumbled forward, he found himself falling into the inky darkness that lay beyond. Etean seized him by the back of the neck and held him back. "Careful, that would have been a nasty fall."
"Thanks." Draco got his balance back and looked into the doorway. He could no longer see the inside of the building, in its place was a dark passageway. The walls and floor were stone and looked as if they had been hacked into the side of a mountain. Further in, he could see the top of a rough hewn stone staircase leading down into the gloom. Etean patted him on the back. "Lesson number one, nothing here is what it appears to be. Go on, in you go." Draco stepped forward into the passage and started down the stairs, Etean followed, closing the door behind them and plunging them into total darkness. "Careful now, I might not catch you in time again," his voice sounded really eerie in the darkness, it seemed to echo forever off the cold stone.
"I am being careful. This would be a lot easier if I had some light."
"You want light? Then get a light."
"How?"
"Are you a wizard or not Malfoy?" Draco swore under his breath, he hadn't even considered using magic. Somehow he thought that it was not the thing to do here. In the darkness he fumbled for his wand inside his robes.
"Lumos!" He said, slightly startled by the sound of his voice, it seemed louder than he had intended as he cast the spell. The end of his wand flared with a brilliant white light, it blinded him in the dark stairway. When his eyes had adjusted, he turned to look back at Etean. He looked like some sort of spectre in the harsh light of the spell. "That's…that's better isn't it?"
"Indeed. Come on, we have a long way to go." They continued slowly down the steps, they were very steep and roughly cut from the stone. A couple of times Draco had to hastily grab for purchase on the wall to prevent him from plunging down into the darkness. The stairway seemed to go on forever.
"What is this place?"
"A conduit. This passage connects the world outside to the world inside."
"Inside what?"
"Inside The Circle of course. This is the way in, one of them anyway."
"The Circle is a place? I thought it was just what you…people called yourselves."
"It is, but we need somewhere to meet don't we? A place we can gather in private."
"And that's where we're going?"
"Yes, the meeting place also serves as our academy. It is where all new members are trained."
"So…what should I be expecting at the bottom of this?"
"It's hard to say, I doubt it will be what you think it will be. I know it isn't what I thought it would be when I first came here."
"When did you first come here?"
"Years ago. I was five at the time." At this Draco stopped and turned to look at Etean.
"Five? As in five years old?"
"Yes I was five when I was brought within The Circle, what of it?"
"Nothing it's just…wasn't that…" his voice trailed off into the darkness when he saw the look on Etean's face.
"Wasn't that what Malfoy? Oh I see, you think that that was too young an age for me to enter? Or is it that you think you are too old to begin as you are?"
"No that's not it I…I was just…I mean I don't know. How old are most people when they are 'brought in'?" Etean seemed irritated, a hint of frustration crept into his voice.
"Different ages, each one has their own time. We chose only the strong and only when they are ready. Now we had better be going, or else we'll never get there." Draco turned and continued down the stairs. It was a few minutes before Etean spoke again. "In a way you're right, I was young. The youngest wizard ever initiated in the history of The Circle. I was always gifted. I'm told I was what you could call a prodigy. The Council decided that I should be initiated early to prevent me from straying, to keep the skills I had from going to my head. Hah, they did that alright." He was silent for a minute more. "Maybe I was too young I don't know. But that's how it was."
They continued down in silence, eventually the stairway ended and they came to a stone platform. The stone was different here, whoever had carved it had apparently taken more time over this part than he had on the stairs. Every surface of the stone had been smoothed and polished, almost to a mirror finish. In the light of his wand, Draco could see himself reflected on the walls. There was a single black door opposite the end of the stairs. Etean stepped up to it and opened it with a shove. Draco moved to pass through but Etean stopped him.
"Draco Malfoy, you are about to enter The Circle. Through here there is no turn, no chance to retreat. Our rules of tradition dictate that I give you this one last chance to turn back. Once through here, you will be bound to The Circle and to its fate. Do you understand?"
"I do." Draco tried to make his voice sound confident, he didn't do a very good job of it. Apparently satisfied, Etean stepped through the door and beckoned for Draco to follow him. With a moment's hesitation, Draco stepped into the room. The door behind him slammed shut with a deafening boom. Draco extinguished his wand as he looked around, there was light enough for him not to need it. The room they had entered was large and circular, maybe twenty feet across with a high ceiling. The floor and walls were made of flat polished stone like that of the platform outside. There was one other closed door leading out of the room. It was heavy and black and was barred shut. Three pillars were set into the floor at equal intervals. They started off straight then curled over, winding their way up to frame a large glowing crystal in the centre of the ceiling. That crystal was the source of the strangely eerie illumination in the room. The light made the room seem sinister, it made Draco shiver. He reached out to touch the nearest pillar, like the walls and floor the surface of the pillars was flat and polished. The entire room was covered in countless glyphs and symbols of every size. They were set into the walls, the floor, and the pillars, everywhere. No space was wasted, every inch covered in interlocking shapes and patterns so complex and intricate that the walls seemed to move and pulse as Draco's eyes tried to follow them. Etean moved into the centre of the room and turned to face Draco.
"Draco Malfoy. You are now a part of The Circle, though not yet a member. You must prove yourself before you can be awarded that privilege and be trusted with our secrets. From this moment on, your life is for The Circle above all things. Its fate will bind your fate. Its wishes shall outweigh yours. What it needs, you will provide, when it commands, you shall obey. If it says to run, you run, if it says to hide you hide, if it says to fight you fight, if it says to kill you kill, if it says to die…you die." Etean's face was hard and set. There was no doubting that he was being deadly serious. Draco swallowed hard and nodded.
"I understand."
"Good, then I see no reason for us not to begin. Stand here." He moved off to the side, vacating the centre spot. As he did a ring of glyphs on the floor started to glow. Draco didn't move. "Step into the ring!" His voice rang with the same melody that it had on their first meeting as he repeated the command, Draco obeyed. Etean walked over to one of the stone pillars. At his touch a pattern of glyphs in the shape of an eye ignited on the stone. He turned. "Raise your wand! Point it here." Again Draco obeyed. Etean moved away from the eye before he continued. Draco turned his head to follow him. "Eyes front!" he snapped, "Now, you remember I told you that we must make you strong before you could master what we teach here?"
"Yes."
"This is where we will do just that. When I command you will repeat an incantation and we shall begin. To stop it, you need only lower your wand. Your sole goal in this is to keep your wand up for as long as you can. Do you understand?"
"Y…yes I do."
"Good, then repeat after me…Avalarus!"
"A…Avalarus!"
For a moment nothing happened, the eye didn't respond. Then a burst of energy shot out of it and hit Draco square in the chest. It was pain like he had never felt before, his body writhed and convulsed in agony. He felt as if his skin were being slowly burned off while at the same time, someone was tearing at his insides with razor sharp claws. The room vanished, he forgot where he was, he couldn't remember who he was, all he could feel was the pain. All he knew was the pain. Then darkness took him. A single moment of blissful peace. He felt something cold wash over him and he came to his senses. He was lying on the floor looking up at Etean.
"Pathetic, is that the best you can do Malfoy?"
"P…pain." It was little more than a whisper. Etean knelt down beside him.
"What did you say?"
"Pain!" It was louder this time, almost a shout but not quite. "It hurt's!"
"Of course it hurts Malfoy what did you think? It would tickle?" Etean didn't wait for his answer. He stood up and pulled Draco upright. "Again, and do better this time!"
"Again? I'm not doing that again, what are you trying to do? Kill me?"
"Actually Malfoy, I am trying to help you. Again!"
"No, fuck this! I am not doing that again." Draco turned to leave. He got half way through the turn when he froze, unable to move. He felt as if he were dreaming, he saw himself turn back to the eye and raise his wand. He couldn't stop himself, he couldn't move his hand. His eyes, he could move his eyes, he looked at Etean. His arm was outstretched, pointing at Draco. His eyes shone as he stared at him. He spoke, his voice changed again, it now had the more sinister melody.
"I told you we would have to do this the hard way Malfoy. It seems I was right. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Draco couldn't answer. He looked back to the eye, and saw his wand was pointed right at it. He felt his mouth open. He drew a breath to cast the spell, all his will was bent against it but it was no use.
"Avalarus!" He bellowed louder than before. Again there was a moment of silence then the pain came again.
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Draco lost track of how long they continued. Each time Etean would force him to recite the incantation, each time the eye would blast him, and each time the pain would overwhelm him only for Etean to revive him and start all over again. All the while, a strange buzzing noise filled Draco's head. The sound was incessant, like a swarm of angry bees was trapped inside his skull. The noise grew louder and louder each time Draco woke up after passing out until it had grown so loud that the noise alone was almost as painful as the energy from the eye. Draco wanted it to stop; he would have given anything for it to stop. But it didn't, Etean carried on without as much as a word. Draco wasn't even able to beg him to stop, he couldn't even plead for mercy, Etean's will was too strong, it overpowered him.
Finally it was over, with one last, terrible burst of pain from the eye darkness took him and this time Etean allowed him to sleep. Draco slipped into a dark dreamless void. The buzzing faded into a gentle white noise in the background as he slept.
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Draco opened his eyes and sat up. The noise was gone but the pain wasn't, every part of him ached. Despite the hours of sleep he was exhausted. He was shaking all over. He turned and sat on the edge of the cot he was lying on and lowered his head into his hands, trying desperately not to throw up.
"How do you feel?" Etean's voice hit him like bolt of lightening. His head snapped up and he looked up to see him sitting casually by one of the pillars, directly opposite him. Rage boiled up within him, he wanted to strangle Etean with his bare hands. He stood up to rush at him but he was too unsteady, his body wouldn't co-operate. Instead of charging at Etean, he found himself wobbling about, staggering to his right in a desperate attempt to catch hold of the nearer pillar so he could remain upright. He glared at Etean but it was a while before he managed to speak.
"I'm going to kill you." He sounded hoarse, his throat was dry. The image of Etean swam in and out of focus as he looked at him. He shook his head, trying to clear it to no avail. Etean stood up and walked toward him but stopped short. He remained standing once again in the centre of the room. He looked at Draco. His face was set, showing no trace of his emotions.
"Are you? I don't suppose I blame you. That was a hard lesson, but I have already apologised for having to do it. It was for your own good I assure you."
"My own good? How was that…that…" Draco stopped mid sentence, he bent double and heaved as he lost the battle to control his stomach. As he wretched, he fought desperately not to fall to his knees, he didn't want to show defeat to this bastard. It took a few moments for him to recover himself. He straightened and looked back at Etean. "You tortured me!" His voice was a throaty rasp. "How was that for my own good?"
"I had to Draco. I knew from the moment we met in your room that I would have to. You were too defiant to do it any other way. The pain was necessary to break your spirit, to open your mind to what I was trying to teach you."
"Teach me? You haven't even tried to teach me anything except what kind of person you really are and how much you enjoy hurting people." Etean looked at him, his expression still blank.
"Is that so? Well, if that's what you truly believe Malfoy, then come on." He stood upright and extended his arms wide.
"What?"
"When you first woke up you wanted to attack me. If you believe that all I am doing is torturing you for fun, then you better do it. Attack me now. I give you your chance. If you don't, you will not be given another." Draco stood up, adrenaline surged though him and he moved, charging straight at Etean, his hands outstretched to seize his throat. He was inches away from him when Etean vanished, he hadn't seen him move, he just wasn't there anymore. Finding himself over balanced, Draco tumbled over and went sprawling on the floor.
"Oh come on, you can do better than that, I thought you were going to kill me." The voice came from behind him. Draco shot up, still running on pure rage, he turned to see Etean standing by a pillar on the far side of the room. Again he charged and again, Etean didn't move as he approached. Again he was within an inch of him before Etean moved. This time, Draco saw him move. He moved fast, so fast all Draco saw was a blur flash past him. Draco started to turn to follow the blur when he collided with the pillar. Pain exploded in his left shoulder as it hit the stone. Draco slid to his knees, howling in pain. He looked up to see Etean; again standing on the opposite side of the room, his expression hadn't changed.
"I see you are never going to catch me like this. Here, how about we even the odds." He raised his arm and tossed Draco's wand to him. It skittered to a halt inches from Draco's knee. Without thinking, he snatched it up and rose, advancing once again on Etean.
"Let's see you dodge this…Crucio!" Draco bellowed the unforgivable curse as loud as he could. There was a burst of red light as the spell left his wand and flew straight at Etean. Draco watched as it shot at him, then something strange happened, the spell seemed to slow in mid air until it was barely creeping along. Etean looked past it, he looked right at him and smiled.
"OK!" He stepped aside before the spell hit, it continued on through the now empty air and struck the wall behind him as he stepped back to the same spot he had started from. Draco's mouth hung open, he couldn't believe his eyes.
"What? How did you do that?" he stammered, his anger momentarily forgotten.
"You tell me." Etean took a step forward and drew his hand back across his chest. Draco saw the energy begin to sparkle on his fingertips. His hand came forward and released a ball of red light, hurling it at Draco.
It was the strangest sensation Draco had ever felt. The world seemed to glow, every surface was on fire. He couldn't see Etean anymore, in his place was a blinding ball of white light. His senses increased further; he could feel the walls of the room around him as if he were touching them, he could sense the rock beneath his feet, the cold stone that had never seen the light of the sun. He could feel the insects in earth above and around him burrowing and slithering in their little holes and he could feel a great power surrounding him, a power that had could scarcely believe was real, yet he was certain that it was. He was nearly lost in that power before it faded away as his attention was drawn in, focused nearer at hand. The skin behind his ears tingled as something in his mind contracted. That's how it felt, like a muscle contracting, just in his mind. His eyes moved and locked onto the spell as it flew threw the air, everything else faded as he focused on the danger. He could feel it; he knew what it was and what it could do to him. Just as before, the spell seemed to slow down in the air, but this time it didn't surprise or confuse him, he could feel the world shift and change around him, it made sense that magic now travelled at this speed. He didn't know how but it did. As it approached, he stepped aside and watched it fly slowly past. He stared at it, taking notice of how it was beautiful and horrible at the same time, with countless strands of raw magic woven into a ball of pure pain. When it had passed and he was out of danger he felt his mind relax, the world shifted again, the spell accelerated behind him and detonated against the wall. The world faded back to normal, the sensation passed. Draco had to fight for breath, he was very dizzy.
"So you've learned nothing since you came here eh?" The smile remained on Etean's face. Now that the moment had passed, Draco was confused again, what had actually happened?
"What? You mean I did that?"
"Yes, the second time anyway. The first time I did it. I'm actually impressed Malfoy, most don't manage it on their first attempt."
"Manage what? What did I do?" Etean paused, thinking.
"This is going to be a little difficult to explain accurately without confusing you." He paused again, and closed his eyes in thought. "OK, think of it like this. Magic as you understand it is an active force. It is a weapon, a tool to be called on and directed to do what you want it to do. That's what happens when you do a spell, yes?"
"Yes, of course, everyone knows that. It's the first thing they teach us in school."
"Right well…that's not right. Not completely anyway. Magic is a tool and it can be used like that but that description doesn't define it completely. I told you before about the elemental magic that forged the universe before it shattered and dispersed itself through time, remember?"
"Yes. But you said you didn't believe that."
"No, that's not what I said, but it doesn't matter what I believe, the truth is magic is everywhere. It exists in you because you're a wizard. That is one kind of magic, the kind that you…that all wizards generate. But there is another type of magic, a type that exists as a part of nature itself. That magic is harder for us to see. In fact we can't see it at all, but its there, and it's powerful, very powerful."
"How do you know that if you can't see it?"
"We know because it has to be there. It is the only explanation that accounts for all that we have observed in the world. We can see what it does, how it affects us. You saw it a minute ago."
"I don't follow." Etean paused to think again before he continued.
"OK, try it like this. When you do a spell, you focus a part of your magic and release it. When you do it interacts with the magic in the world around you. It creates waves in the magic in the air, ripples of energy that spread out as your spell pushes through. Do you follow me so far?"
"I think so, waves and ripples."
"Yes now, you are in the world, so am I so these ripples must affect us right? We're like boats on the ocean, bobbing on the waves."
"That makes sense I guess."
"Right. Now, you were born sensitive to magic, so was every wizard. These ripples in the fabric of magic have affected you always. All your life, from the time you were an infant and even now those ripples have hit you, you've being knocked and bounced around by them constantly."
"Wait, if they are affecting me now, tossing me about, how come I don't feel them? How did I never notice?"
"Of course you didn't, but they were always there. That's the point you see. They were and still are a constant factor in your life. Your body, your mind just got used to them and stopped noticing. It was the only way your mind knew to cope with the chaos of the world. It's like how a sailor stops being seasick anymore once he's gotten his sea legs."
"OK, I get that, so I've gotten used to them. But I still don't follow about how I did what I just did."
"What you went through, what I put you through last night opened your mind and allowed it to change." He gestured around him to the walls and the countless glyphs. "These are not just for decoration, together they form complex and powerful spells that can alter the mind and force it to revert to an earlier configuration. A similar configuration to the way it was just after you were born, before you had adjusted. A configuration in which you are able to notice the ripples around you again. But your mind has to be ready to let them do their work. The pain that the eye caused broke down your defences so that the magic could rebuild your senses and it seems they were successful."
"That doesn't make sense, if what you say is true, why don't I feel them now? I don't feel any different."
"But you did, you did feel different when I attacked you just now?"
"Well…I felt…" Draco searched for a word to describe how he had felt but all he could come up with was, "strange!"
"Yes, it is a strange sensation the first time the mind opens. But it happened."
"Yes but how did it happen? How did I do it without realising it?"
"Instinct! It always starts with instinct. The instinct for self preservation is the most powerful force in the human mind. Your subconscious mind sensed danger and reacted. Before you might have attempted to duck or dodge though I doubt you would have been able to get out of the way. This time, your mind in its new configuration found it had a new weapon at its disposal…time. Magic can alter time, it can make it flash past or drag it out. Your subconscious mind sensed that you needed more time for the rest of your reflexes to act to save you and so it gave you more time. Your mind pushed out, created ripples of your own and caused the magic around you to slow the passing of time. Once that was done, you stepped aside. Then, when the threat had passed, your mind settled and time reverted to normal."
"My mind did all that? How? I don't remember doing it."
"Why would you? Your mind does thousands of things every second that you aren't consciously aware of, they just happen because you need them to. Your mind takes very good care of you in ways you wouldn't even imagine." Etean turned and walked back to the pillar. "Tell me, what did you feel? Describe it as best you can."
"It was…weird. I could see things, things that weren't there."
"What kind of things?"
"Well, you for a start."
"Me? I was standing here the whole time."
"I know, but you looked…different. You were…glowing."
"Really? Why do you think that was?"
"I don't know. You are the one who is supposed to have the answers here."
"True, I guess I am. What you saw was me, but you saw more than me, you saw my abatile."
"Your what?"
"Abatile, it's a word from a language that is long dead. A tongue that survives now only within The Circle. Loosely translated it means my aura."
"And what is your aura?"
"Ha! There are millions of muggles in the world who would kill to know the answer to that question. But whatever they think it means, what I mean by it is that you saw my impression, the effect that I have on the magical world. Every wizard makes an impression, some larger, some smaller. You saw mine."
"And you could see mine?"
"Yes, I can see it even now, I have seen it since we first met."
"You can see it now? You can see it all the time? How?"
"Patience, we'll get to that. You still have a lot to learn, last night was only the beginning. So…are you ready to start again?" He touched the stone surface of the pillar and the eye appeared once more. Draco paled at the sight of it.
"Will…will I be able to dodge that?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because if you could, it would serve no purpose. You must learn to endure it. It is through pain that your mind opens. Only with your mind open can you be taught all that The Circle knows. Only then will your senses grow and your abilities increase."
"Increase how? I can already stop time, what else can these…these ripples allow me do?"
"First the ripples do not allow you do anything, they are merely the means through which you sense the magical forces around you, how you know it is there and what it's doing. And second you cannot stop time, no one can do that, you merely slowed it down, temporarily. Even so, you cannot yet do it consciously. It is not a power you can use at will. As such it is little use to you. But to answer your question, there really is no limit to what you can do. Once you conquer your fear, once you can fully, consciously feel and understand the world around you…" Etean stepped into the centre of the room, the ring of glyphs returned. He faced the eye and raised his hand.
"Avalarus!" The energy bolt hit him, brighter than Draco remembered it, but Etean didn't cry out or scream, he didn't so much as wince. He turned, still engulfed in the eye's power and faced Draco. His eyes showed no pain, no fear, just calm confidence. After a minute he lowered his hand. The eye went out, the energy faded.
"Once you do that Draco, you will be able to do anything!" he stepped back, vacating the circle and motioned for Draco to step forward and take his place.
A/N: Just thought it was about time that I said hi. This is my first fanfic, its just a story I thought up while reading HPAOTP, believe me we have a long way to go. I hope you all like it.
Thanks to my reviewers – it seems that there are a few of you out there who are as twisted as me. Just kidding, thanks guys. Keep reading and I'll keep writing.