The Wizards of the Djinn
A/N; Hi, I'm back, I hope to have chapters more rapidly written, but I will have to concentrate on Stone Tower more because that is the one people seem to be picking apart and coming after me with glares over. I will try to keep any effect from that from getting into my other stories.
Chapter 5; Training Begins
Cave near Hogsmeade; 10th November 1996
"So tell me again why I have to listen to you rather than have Carver teach me all of this?" Harry grunted as he hastily threw up a shield using the normal 'Protego.'
"Firstly little Harry," drawled Luke in a bored tone as he swaggered forwards towards Harry after his last thrown detonation, "as Carver and I have explained, he is working on your inside and doesn't have time to train you and adjust your body in the little time that we have. And secondly as impressive as it would be to Wizards to throw up a shielding charm both wandlessly and wordlessly it is completely useless to our spells as you well know!"
In an instant Luke was replaced by Bartimaeus as he switched forms to become a stone gargoyle that he preferred in a battle and before Harry could react and weave a better shield he was blown backwards by a bolt of lightning from Bartimaeus' hand.
Harry's eyes clouded over with pain as the lingering charge sparked around his torso and he groaned from his position on the floor of the cave in Hogsmeade. He accepted Bartimaeus' offered hand, or more precisely claws, in an effort to reach his feet and soon stood swaying slightly on his feet clinging to the knowledge that his exhaustion was only an effect of Bartimaeus' spells and that it would wear off soon.
Over the last few weeks Harry had been training hard, with Carver slowly but effectively changing him from within to accept the massive amounts of the Demon magic that was his potential to hold. The Power that the Dark Lord knew not, he had realised quickly. Luke had been teaching him the spells that could be wielded by this new or more precisely old magic and Harry thought confidently that even without Carvers help he could probably out duel everyone in Hogwarts except maybe Albus, Minerva, Snape and Flitwick, but knew that it would only be a matter of time before he could manage that as well.
He settled down onto the bed as he felt his energy return to him and Luke took up a seat near the head of the bed.
"Right Harry, its time I really taught you the ins and outs of summoning my kind."
"What about those I summoned before?" Harry interrupted thinking of Jellever and the others that had aided in his escape ploy at Azkaban.
"They were loyal Djinn, ones that will not fight against you, we already knew they were loyal and therefore could summon them to you without risk to yourself and without a proper summoning circle since that would have been impossible in that prison." Luke explained.
"Now," he continued, "There are only a few species of Demons as you call us. The lowest levels are the Imps. They are the most basic kind that any modern day Wizard can destroy with their spells. There are different ranks of them, the lower ones being no more than expendable spies without any real sentient thought and the higher ranking ones being no more than bait or targets. They might come in useful for taking a few hits though because as you know some of your kind's spells can cause us harm and you don't really want to waste a loyal or non-loyal Djinn, Afrit or Marid to a Killing Curse which would kill us."
Harry nodded to show he was taking it in so Luke continued, "In the final war, the Wizards of the Djinn had at least two or three Imps at hand around them hidden from view in case they needed to be used. It was awful to see them all bickering between themselves whenever the damn Wizards met up in any large numbers.
"The next rank up are the Djinni, the main body, even though in our dimension they are fifty imps to one Djinni the Djinni are the most versatile. You can't use a Marid or Afrit to do anything subtle because they reek of magic and any accomplished Wizard can sense them. Djinni however are very good at doing tasks for you, like I did in spying in Hogwarts, so we have the best of the lower Imps and the best of the Afrits. We are good in a fight and good out of one too if you understand."
"I get it, that's why you are the main group, because you always were summoned?"
"That's right, it's also another reason I am training you. I have a lot more experience in fighting than Carver because he is young and I am used to fighting." Luke smirked, and Harry picked up a mental laugh from Carver and the short sentence that followed.
"Carver wants me to remind you that he could still beat you in a fight with ease."
Luke laughed nervously, "Only because my spells would bounce off of him like they were nothing. Which brings us to the higher levels I believe? The Afrits are next, they are split into only two groups. Elemental and non-elemental although each group still has its ranks of power. Jellever was a very powerful member of the Fire Elemental Afrits and it was only that which allowed him to fool Voldermort into not noticing him. Anything with less power than him wouldn't have been able to mask the magic that they reek of as I proved against that Headmaster of yours."
Harry's thoughts lingered on Albus for a few seconds before Luke continued. "If you want an army they are very useful and the more powerful Wizards of the Djinn would use them for personal protection against attackers as they are feared by all other demons for their power. I would think several times about attacking one.
"The non-elemental Afrits are no longer at our summons however, there were two branches. The Shadow Afrits became bound to the Earth and became what you call Dementors whilst the Light Afrits became what you call Phoenixes and hid in your realm alongside your people and whilst they were here they turned into more pleasant demons. I was once on the wrong end of a light Demon and they were most unpleasant though most only were nasty under charges from even nastier Masters."
"So Fawkes is a Demon?" Harry whispered in pure shock.
Luke only laughed before nodding, "Remember though that they have become much pleasanter beings since they were bound by the sky."
"Who bound the non-elemental Afrits?"
"It was your ancestor that did it, after the Wizards of the Hand won the war the non-elemental Demons tried to turn on the Wizards, both old and new and a spell was cast to keep them from returning to the Demon realm. But maybe you should find time at some point to talk to Fawkes."
"Won't he try to kill me or something?"
"I doubt it, like I said the Light Afrits have changed, probably twisted by the magic of those they served. They served the light whilst the Dementors are surrounded in evil and hate and have turned evil."
"I see," was Harry's only reply.
"The Marid's are the highest level, they are beyond anything. No one wizard could ever summon one. The last time they were used was in Britain's domination of what you now call Europe. The Prime Minister at the time brought hundreds of the most powerful Wizards in the Empire together and managed to summon two Alpha Marids and four Beta Marids. I saw the summoning, the price was great, the six Marids took the life of twelve of the Wizards to sustain themselves in the human realm and it took six hours for the fifty remaining Wizards to subdue them enough to give them their charge."
"What were they made to do?"
"Their charge was to destroy one of the greatest cities on Earth. The British were pushing East through what is now Germany but the Country of Atlantis was providing support to the beaten Resistance. The six Marids were to stop the country from helping by wiping out its main city. The devastation was complete, the six Marids completely wiped out the city in a battle that took a full three days.
You have that Power! Harry almost screamed in his mind at Carver, fear laced through his mind as the image of an evil Carver slaughtering armies of thousands and pillaging Cities of Great. He started to hyperventilate at the thought and ignored Luke's hands that settled on his shoulders trying to snap him out of it.
Suddenly Harry's mind went blank and Harry found himself in a black space that he recognised as his mind. Across from him stood a boy his own age with bottomless black eyes and silver hair, pale features and dressed completely the same as Harry was. In Muggle clothes; Black jeans, Black long-sleeved roll neck t-shirt and a long length black trench coat that one of his loyal Djinn had brought for him his first night here.
"Harry you have to calm down right now!"
"Carver!" Harry recognised the voice even if he had never met the boy in front of him before. He was still panicked and couldn't think of anything else to say.
"I'm serious Harry you have to control yourself and your magic. It's building up and if you try to use it against me it could try to separate us and that would kill us both!"
Still Harry said nothing, he could still hear Luke's voice trying to get him to snap out of it and dimly heard a crack from the outside world and heard Luke's shout of pain.
"Harry! Stop it!" Harry turned his attention back to Carver who had moved and was now only a metre in front of him. "You magic's out of control, if you don't stop it you'll hurt someone or you'll kill someone!"
Harry suddenly realised what had happened, his magic had snapped out at Luke.
"Oh Merlin…Luke?" He whispered. He concentrated on calming down.
"You know I would never hurt you Harry, no matter what Marids have done in the past, my family are not like them. I have their power but that doesn't make me evil. You have their power too but that doesn't mean that you are evil either. Remember what Luke said earlier, he can't defend against an Alpha Marid, no one can, and you'll end up killing him without realising it. You need to breath and return to the outside and then pull your magic back in. You also need to trust me to be inside you, that's why you have lost control. Trust me Harry!"
All the way through Carver's speech Harry had concentrated on his words and knew he did trust his Guardian. He closed his eyes and when he opened them he was back in the cave again and there was no sight of the black eyed boy that was Carver. Harry gasped as he looked around. His magic had withdrawn into him but the cave was cracked and crumbling.
"Luke!" Harry yelled as he saw the boy curled up on the floor against the far wall. Harry ran over to him and grabbed his friend's shoulders and pulled him onto his back. White eyes looked back at him in pain and Harry saw the smoke rising from Luke's clothes where he had blasted him across the cave. Luke groaned and stared into Harry's eyes. "Merlin Luke, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Please forgive me?"
"It's not your fault Harry, you lost control. There is nothing to forgive!" Luke replied slowly, obviously in pain.
Harry was about to argue on but the ceiling gave a sudden groan. Harry! You need to get out of there! The whole hill's going to collapse and you really don't want to be in there!
Harry knelt in shock that his magic had managed to pull down a hill or even a small mountain but was pulled out of his thoughts by another groan and then a horribly loud roar that shock the cave. Harry grabbed Luke and hoisted the boy into his arms and ignoring the fact that his Magic fuelled his strength and speed he sprinted for the cave opening and made it outside just as the cave collapsed into itself.
Keep going Harry, the whole things coming down and there are already people on the way, they sensed that blast." Carver's warning rang in Harry's ears and he turned to sprint down the path towards the Forbidden Forest.
Hogwarts
The students were all sitting down and eating, happily chatting to each other. Albus watched along with Minerva as Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger sat picking at their food along with several other students from all houses. He knew what they were distracted with. The escape of Harry from the Aurors and the possible proof of his innocence had stunned many. Albus was more wary than most though. He along with the Order knew through Severus that Voldermort had been nowhere near Azkaban that night and even though Severus could find out no information about Harry's innocence or guilt he trusted his spy enough to know that it wasn't Voldermort there.
So was Harry guilty or not? Only time would tell.
He moved his glance to the side as his charms professor mentioned something about the seventh years that he taught but was cut off as the roof of the hall suddenly flashed a bright red and the sound of grating stone was heard.
Albus was instantly on his feet along with most of the teachers who knew what it meant. The wards had reacted to something outside of the school grounds and recognised it as a threat. The red flash was a warning of a powerful magical explosion of some kind that had touched the sensory wards and the grating stone had been the many moving doors of stone that had moved to seal off Hogwarts corridors and doors to prevent intrusion.
"Students!" Albus called over the panicked sounds of the students who, like so many times before, quieted instantly. "Hogwarts has only activated precautionary measures so we are in no immediate danger. All students are to remain here, Miss Chang and Mr. Davis, you are in charge. Professors please follow me outside."
The group of teachers quickly moved out of the Hall doors and towards the main doors that were covered in stone which shifted only when Albus put his wand against it and spoke his name.
Outside looked as ordinary as on any other day or the year. There were clouds that proved to the onlooker that it was indeed November.
"It seems to be a false alarm." Minerva voiced, but her voice made it clear she didn't really believe that.
"It was real Minerva, I felt the blast of Magic with my own senses." The headmaster directed his gaze at Severus to see his nod of agreement knowing that the spy had felt it also.
Before anyone could voice an opinion though a great rumbling was heard across the forbidden forest and they all spun around to look over at the hills in time to see the closest hill crumble in on itself.
"Dear Merlin!" Whispered Minerva in shock at the sight. Most of the other professors were stunned at the sight.
It was Severus who recovered the fastest after the mini-earthquake had stopped. "What has the power to do something like that, Albus?"
Albus sighed, "I fear we have made a mistake in thinking Harry had changed so much from the boy we knew. We should have checked the places he knew Sirius to have hidden."
"Albus! You can't mean that that was Harry!" Severus was shocked.
"I know of few people that have that potential Severus, and I am here and I doubt Voldermort would waste effort on destroying a hill."
"What do you want us to do then?" was Flitwick's contribution.
"We must search him out." Albus nodded his agreement to Minerva's statement and they started their search plans.
Thanks for all the reviews, I don't really have anything to add here but I hope everyone doesn't mind slow chapters for a while. The next chapter is done more or less but I will wait for a while before uploading it to see what people think of this one.
