Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Settling In
8/12/05 - 8/23/05
"Children, I welcome all of you to the Forbidden Island of Mesonia." Roslyn smiled softly as the group of children began to whisper in soft, hushed tones that were brimming with both fear and dread. "For the next seven years, no one will set foot off this Island without permission."
"You can't do that!" a pale girl cried shrilly as tears rolled down her cheeks. "My Mama and Papa will find me and then you'll all pay for kidnapping me! They'll never forgive you! They're auroras!" she added, hopping the last statement was enough to scare her kidnappers into releasing her.
"You're welcome to leave at will." interrupted Sheena, pointing to the set of double oak doors behind the girl. "Well? Why are you still here? Leave!"
The little girl didn't need to be told twice before she was bolting out the door, screaming, "Mama! Papa!"
"Sheena," Roslyn whispered exasperatedly. "Did you really have to do that?"
"Anyone else who doesn't want to stay is allowed to leave too." Sheena continued, ignoring Roslyn.
Ten seconds later, only 5 out of the 11 original Chosen Ones remained rooted to their spots. They looked expectantly up the winding staircase, where Sheena watched them with carefully hidden surprise.
"Aren't you going to go home and cry to your parents?" Sheena sneered, ruining her grandmotherly image (not that she had much of one to begin with).
"I don't have a home and I don't need my parents." Harry answered, pushing himself off the east wall he had been leaning casually against. Taking a few steps towards the staircase, he continued, "I want to stay and learn all you have offered to me two weeks ago."
D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y
Harry groggily opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but immediately moaned in pain when his whole body protested against his action. "Water…" he croaked as the room spun around him in never-ending circles. When a cup was gently placed against his lips, he quickly snatched the offered cup and greedily finished the water in three, large gulps.
"You poor thing," someone whispered before another cup was placed to his lips. "Drink this. It'll make you feel better."
Even though his mind was screaming danger, Harry found himself downing the potion without much protest. The effects were instantaneous - the room stopped spinning and everything came into clearer focus.
"Don't try to talk too much. You screamed your lungs out earlier - most do, mind you. So, let us do the talking. You just shake or nod your head, okay dear?"
Harry slowly nodded his head.
"I'm Fatima, the resident Healer - or in other words, Potions and Medical Specialist." she smiled gently before motioning to an elderly woman behind her. "That's Roslyn. The one holding you is Simon."
Harry's cheeks tinted a slight pink as he mentally berated himself for not noticing something as obvious as sitting on someone's lap. "Sorry," Harry murmured as he tried to wiggle out of Simon's grasps. Instead of releasing him, like Harry had thought he would, Simon tightened his grip around Harry's lithe frame.
"It's all right, my boy." laughed Simon. "I like holding you. It gives me a sense of what it would feel like if I had a grandchild."
"More like great-great-great grandchild." smirked Roslyn. "You'll be 359 in a few months."
Harry gaped at Roslyn in disbelief, but quickly clamped his mouth shut when he realized that he probably resembled a fish out of the water. Harry allowed a wry grin to grace his lips as he realized that everyone did indeed look old, if not ancient - almost antique.
"Don't look so shocked, dear." smiled Fatima. "As I was saying, Roslyn and Simon are the resident Protectors - Defense and Ward Specialists. To the right," she waved to a scowling and grumbling old man, "we have Lyon." Then, motioning to a woman in the far left of the room, she whispered, "And our Deputy Leader, Sheena. Those two are our resident Warriors - Combat and Dark Arts Specialists."
Soaking in as much information as he could, Harry slowly nodded his head to show that he understood.
"The pain you suffered earlier, dear," Fatima continued, "was for a reason. Do you remember what happened?"
Harry grimaced slightly and nodded his head. He doubted he would be forgetting that memory any time soon.
"You are one of the twelve Chosen Ones of this generation. Every 50 years, twelve Chosen Ones are…well, chosen…to carry on the knowledge, power, and legacy of the Dragon Riders. We," Fatima motioned to her companions, "are the remaining Chosen Ones from 350 years ago - we are Generation 56. Your generation is Generation 63. In all honesty, we should be retired and the last generation should be the ones training you, but a traitor in our midst wiped out almost all the Dragon Riders from existence - 92 Dragon Riders from 9 different generation died that day along with their families, which adds up to a total body count of over 300.
"The remaining members of G-54 and G-55 were wiped out. From my generation, 6 of us survived, but not without sustaining heavy injuries. No one survived from G-57 through G-61. The traitor came from G-62, the generation before yours. 9 Dragon Riders from G-62 were killed. The remaining 3 were the traitors." finished Fatima, who's eyes were brimming with unshed tears.
"As you probably realized, Dragon Riders aren't completely human in the sense that we are stronger and smarter than wizards." whispered Roslyn. "The pain you felt earlier meant that your power and potential as a Dragon Rider had been unlocked."
"Even if it is against your will, we will train you." Fatima whispered. "However, the training will be more successful if you cooperate. We aren't giving you a choice in the matter - we will give you proper training with or without your consent."
"The training is long and hard, but it will be worth your while when you reap the benefits. Since you're not being given much of a choice anyway, why not make it easier on yourself and just accept what you are and what you can become?"
"Think about it." agreed Roslyn as Simon gently released Harry. "Don't make things any more difficult than they already are. That's all we ask."
"Why are you even talking to him? He'll probably turn out like those bloody traitors!" snarled Lyon as he stormed out of the room, but not before adding, "Mark my words, you will regret training him!"
"Forgive Lyon," whispered Fatima. "Lyon lost his whole family to the traitors. He's slightly…unstable."
D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y
"Like you said, since I'll be trained either way, with or without my consent, I don't see why I have to make my own life difficult by stopping the inevitable." Harry replied, causing the other four to gasp.
"You mean you lied when you told us we could leave at will?" asked a tall boy with shoulder length, black hair. "Why did you lie?"
"I didn't lie, boy." hissed Sheena, eyes blazing slightly.
"The name's Aaron."
"Like I said, Aaron," she spat, "I did not lie. Everyone is allowed to leave at will, but actually getting off this island is another story. In case your wondering, this island is large - larger than possible imagination. The Illusionary Forest, a never-ending and ever-changing maze, surrounds this castle (and yes, this is a castle). Even if you somehow knew the way out of the maze, I doubt any one of you would make it out in one piece - dangerous, dark creatures lurk in every corner of the forest. Even then, if you did make out of the forest alive, strong wards enclose the entire island in a protective barrier, making it nearly impossible to leave this island. This is not including the obvious fact that this island is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by the ocean, which obviously houses more than enough creatures to devour you in seconds."
"Then why did you…?" Aaron trailed off.
"Since those who left obviously have no desire to stay," explained Harry, "and will probably attempt to escape at one point or another, it would be easier on all of us if they tried to escape now and learn from the very beginning that freedom is hopeless."
"Lyon, Fatima, and Simon will ensure that everyone comes back in one piece by supper." assured Roslyn. "But I better brief everyone on our history and goals - of course, Harry already knows all this." she smiled kindly before diving into the long-winded explanation of their history.
Two hours, 56 interruptions, 47 questions, and 23 shouts of quiet later, everyone was left in an uncomfortable silence. After what seemed like ages, a red-head finally broke the suffocating silence by asking, "Does this mean we weren't abducted by aliens?" he asked innocently.
"No, I'm afraid not." smiled Roslyn, humoring the red-head.
"Dang, I was really looking forward to being a test subject!" he smirked before turning to his peers. "Since we'll be stuck together for the next six to seven years, I think we better give each other our names. After all, we can't very go around calling each other, 'Hey, you, boy, girl, idiot, dunderhead, stupid, and etcetera' for the next seven years, right? The name's Trey." "Aaron - pleasure to be stuck with you guys." he smiled.
"Shan," grinned a lithe boy with short, spiked obsidian hair and chocolate brown eyes. "Might as well make the best of this situation." he agreed. "Plus, the deal doesn't sound to bad. I mean it's free room, free food, and free lessons."
"That's one way to look at it." laughed Aaron before turning his attention to his last two peers, who had yet to introduce themselves. Shifting his attention to Harry, he held out his hand and silently urged Harry to give them his name.
"Harry," he answered, deciding to leave out his last name. Shaking the offered hand, he allowed a small smile to grace his lips.
"Hi," the remaining girl squeaked as she shyly tugged on her waist length, blond hair. "I'm Emily." she murmured before quickly blushing a dark shade of red.
"Don't worry, I don't bite." laughed Trey as Roslyn slowly descended the stairs.
"It's supper," announced Roslyn, "please follow me into the dinning room. The rest of your peers will join you shortly after we have treated their injuries and briefed them on our history and goals."
"Great," cheered Trey, "I'm starving."
Harry silently agreed as his stomach rumbled slightly. Slowly trailing after Roslyn, he silently memorized the passage from the Front Hall to the Dining Room. Even though he had been here for a little over two weeks, waiting for his peers to wake up, he had never once left the safety of the infirmary.
D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y
The Dining Hall was massive and could easily fit up to hundreds of people. Three, long, oak table stretched from one end of the room to the other. Comfy, red-cushioned chairs lined the tables, where the students promptly seated themselves. Immediately, exotic foods from various countries began to pop onto the table - Trey wasted no time in helping himself to large heaps of mashed potato, turkey, fish, and beef.
Harry picked at his small helping of roast beef as he replayed the past weeks' events in his mind. The events were both strange and unexpected, but not exactly unappreciated. Harry decided with a small sigh that he did indeed look forward to the next seven years here - after all, it was better than what he had at home. "The only downside," Harry thought to himself as he took a small bite of his dinner, "is…wait, there isn't a downside." Here, he had everything he had ever dreamed of. Well, everything but his parents, but it wasn't like he had his parents back home anyway. They despised him - everyone did.
"Hey, aren't you going to eat?" asked Aaron as he shoved a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. "Lighten up Harry, the next seven years can't be THAT bad." he smiled before shifting his attention back to his Shan, who was rambling on about racecars.
"This is my chance to start over and live the life I've always wanted. So what if I don't have a family? I never had one before anyway - I have nothing to lose, but a whole lot to gain." Harry whispered to himself, catching Aaron's attention.
"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." he grinned. "Want to talk about it? I mean, we're on a stranded island - can't really spread any secrets anyway."
"It's nothing," Harry answered offhandedly before digging into his dinner. From now on, he was going to live his own life. He was going to do everything he wanted. He was going to be Harry - just Harry, not Harry Potter. Never a Potter.
Half-way through dinner, the rest of their peers stumbled into the dining room. Some looked like they had spent their life in hell - everyone was disheveled, bruised, and bandaged. They slowly filled the seats closest to the dining room doors and began scooping food onto their plates. A pregnant pause followed as Trey tried to hide his snicker. He failed and burst out laughing, causing his peers to glare at him.
"You look like mummies!" he laughed before an apple was shoved into his mouth.
"Trey, more eating and less talking before someone decides to tear you limb from limb." Aaron wisely suggested. Even though Trey tried to tone down his laughter, snickers could still be heard in between bites of his apple.
For the first time in many years, Harry truly believed that he belonged. He wasn't sure if he would ever be as outspoken or social as the others (with being locked in the house for the better of his short life), but he was willing to try.
Harry snapped his eyes to the head of the table when Sheena abruptly stood up. "I hope you have all enjoyed your stay thus far," she sneered, "but it is time to turn in for bed. But before I show you to your rooms, Roslyn will brief everyone on what's going to take place first thing tomorrow morning."
Sheena sat back down, allowing the spotlight to be directed to Roslyn. "I'm sorry to those who have sustained injuries today," she began apologetically, which was followed by several large sniffs and sobs, "but life must go on. Am I right to assume that everyone knows the futileness of trying to escape?"
"Yes," the mummified students whispered in unison.
"I know some of you miss your families, but I would advise you to leave behind your sentimentalities. From now on, the only family that you will ever need to know or have are the ones in this castle. I know I'm asking a lot from some of you, but you will understand very soon that no one, not even your own parents, can understand you as much as we can. Now, enough of this - you will understand what I mean soon enough."
"Classes, Roslyn, the classes." Fatima whispered when Roslyn looked like she was struggling to remember what to say next.
"Oh yes, the classes!" laughed Roslyn. "You will have classes Monday - Friday and the classes will vary each day. For example, you might have Transfiguration and Potions on Monday, but Combat and Dark Arts on the following Monday. We'll let you know your schedule every morning at breakfast. But before we start classes, we have to sort you into one of the three fields of magic."
Harry's interest piqued as Roslyn tried to quiet the whispers and exited chatters. Once everyone had calmed down, Roslyn continued with a broad grin.
"The Warriors are the first branch. They specialize in the Dark Arts, Combat, Transfiguration, Charms, and Strategy. On Saturday and Sunday, they will take Advance DR Dark Arts, Combat, Transfiguration, Charms, and Strategy with Sheena and Lyon. In times of war, the Warriors are the ones who lead the troops into battle and fend of enemies. Warriors are well-versed in the Dark Arts and have the ability to cast the Unforgivable Curses with ease. If the Warrior holds tremendous power, it is rumored that they have the ability to cleave mountains in half and cause volcanic eruptions. It is said that only one Warrior in history has been able to accomplish that, but died shortly after from magical exhaustion.
"The Protectors are the second branch. They specialize in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Combat, Charms, Wards, and Ancient Runes. On Saturday and Sunday, they will take Advance DR Defense Against the Dart Arts, Wards, and Ancient Runes with me and Simon. They will take Advance DR Combat and Charms with the Warriors, which is headed by Sheena and Lyon. In times of war, the Protectors are the ones who aide the helpless and defend our fort. Protectors are well-versed in Defense Against the Dark Arts and with diligent practice, they will be able to throw off the Imperius and Cruciatus Curse. Some of the more powerful Protectors in history have been known to successfully shield themselves against the Killing Curse. It is rumored that Protectors with tremendous power can cut through dimensions and even create their own. However, as of now, no Protector in history has ever successfully cut through dimension without forfeiting their own life. Different dimensions will be taught to everyone during History and Ethnics.
"Healers are the third and final branch. Compared to the amount of Dragon Riders who become either Warriors or Protectors, only a handful of Dragon Riders become Healers. There has never been more than two Healers in a single generation. Anyway, Healers specialize in Potions, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and of course, Healing. On Saturday and Sunday, they will take Advance DR Potions, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Healing with Fatima. During times of war, Healers stay within the fortress to encourage and heal injured soldiers. Healers, with practice, can heal everything short of poison, troubles of the heart, and death. Accomplished Healers can heal external injuries with a mere thought and internal injuries with a small touch. The first Healer in history has been noted for saving a whole army from the brink of death...but at the cost of her own life. It is rumored that Healers may have the ability to revive the dead, but as of now, that theory has never been proven true."
"Those are the three fields of magic." stated Sheena as Roslyn sat back down. "All of you will be sorted into one of these three fields tomorrow. I wouldn't worry to much, because the magic chooses you…not the other way. You will be given a potion tomorrow that will evaluate your magical core and tell us which is your magical field."
"That aside," continued Fatima, "everyone will take Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Dark Arts, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Wards, Ancient Runes, and all that. However, on Saturdays and Sundays, Advance classes will be offered to you depending on your magical field. For example, I am knowledgeable in every subject and even though I don't specialize in Charms, my abilities are still far above those of an average wizard.
"Now you must all be wondering why there are magical fields and Advance classes if you will be taught everything anyway, right? Well, you're partially correct, but you must understand that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, Warriors will find that they are unable to heal beyond small scratches and Healers unable to kill or torture. We will make sure that you are adequate in all classes, but Warriors will find that the Dark Arts comes naturally to them and Protectors will find Defense Against the Dark Arts to be simple. The strongest difference is between the Warriors and the Healers. Protectors are in between the two and find that they will be able to relate to both a Warrior and a Healer. The Advance classes are only for your chosen field. These Advance classes will go above and beyond what will be taught in class. What you learn in these Advance classes cannot be found in books or learned from anywhere else. Regular classes from Monday through Friday are the same classes a NEWTS student would take at Hogwarts. But we are not wizards, we are Dragon Riders and that is why we have Advance Classes. We would give everyone Advance classes in every subject, but Healers will fail in Advance Dark Arts as a Warrior would fail in Advance Healing. The Advance Classes you take will all depend on your power and your magical core."
"All right, that's enough. I'm sure everything will become clearer as we progress." interrupted Roslyn. "Now, boys follow Lyon and Simon. Girls followed Fatima and I. We'll show you to your rooms."
Harry slowly followed Simon and Lyon out of the Dining Hall, his mind swirling between the three magical fields. Even though Sheena said the magic chose them, Harry couldn't help but wish that he would either be a Warrior or a Protector. Even though each field had their own strengths and weaknesses, Harry strongly doubted he would enjoy healing.
"Here's your room." Lyon snorted gruffly as he shoved Harry into one of the dark chambers. Before Harry had a chance to reply, the oak doors were slammed shut.
Blinking in the dark, Harry exasperatedly raised his hand and murmured, "Lumos." A bright light erupted from his hand, lighting the whole room, which left Harry gaping in awe. The room was easily three times the size of his bedroom and was lavishly furnished with silver and green tapestries. Walking over to his king-sized bed, Harry gently plopped onto the soft mattress and grabbed one of the many large, fluffy pillows.
Harry smiled softly before whispering, "Nox." The lights went out and he slowly allowed his eyes to drift shut. His dreams that night were filled with magic and classes - his family being the farthest thing from his mind.
D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y
TBC
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