Hey everybody. I know it's been a while.... but I've been gone on a loong trip, and I've been working on a physics paper. So-
Without further ado!
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter Five
The Last Day at Hogwarts
Outside Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, fourth day of classes.
All nine of them- every hero, villian, madman, or just plain ordinary child- stared at the thing before them in complete silence. Not even Malfoy, after his first exclamation, found any words to express their awe at the sight before them.
Floating gently off the ground, hovering slightly, was the airship Excelsior, a mighty weapon donated by Durmstrang to Hogwarts following a very urgent letter Dumbledore sent by the most private and circuitious of routes to Durmstrang's Headmaster. Dumbledore had wanted to ask for the Bleak Anchor, but knew that he had not a snowball's chance in hell of getting the ship, so he asked for their second-best ship, the Excelsior. Truth be told, Durmstrang's Headmaster had been happy to get rid of it; hovering beside the other airships in Durmstrang's harbor, the Excelsior's shining coat made the other ships look rather bad. It especially made the Bleak Anchor, which in reality was quite possibly the most powerful ship in existence, look horrible- it resembled an old junker next to the shinier, newer airship. The art of airship making was an extremely rare and relatively new art, barely three hundred years old, and it was changing all the time. The Excelsior was barely eight years old.
The ship's right side was facing the group, so they all got a good profile glimpse of the craft. The craft's rear was a bulge, aiming outwards, which contained the Goblin-made engines (Goblins had invented airships and owned all the patents) and Wizard-enchanted spells that allowed the ship to partially defy gravity. This part was black, with several panels covering where the engine thrusters would be when the ship took off. The massive middle of the ship was made like a great pentagon, with the top "point" aiming straight up so that the bottom of the craft was flat. Coming out from the point aimed towards them was a great blade, curving backwards and then forward like the tusks of some ancient mammoth, ending in two split tips that ended in spear points. In contrast to the shining silver of the midsection, this wing was jet black. It's tips seemed almost to smile malevolently at them as they looked at it.
The front of the craft was the same silver as the midsection, but this was the one part obviously made for speed- it sloped down in a cone shape, tapering to a stop a considerable distance away. The Wizards at Durmstrang had engraved it with a corkscrew shape, making the ship appear as if it was spinning even though it was at rest. Two small grey barrels, almost invisible in the glare from the ship, aimed innocuously forward from beneath the nose cone- most of the group never even saw them, though Hermione did, and it confirmed her suspicions. This was either a warship, or someone was having fun putting fake cannons on the front of the ship.
Either way, the ship looked extremely high-tech, and when the nine finally recovered from their initial awe, they immediately began wondering about it. Eventually some of them turned to Dumbledore, who'd stood by the side of the door which led back into Hogwarts (a door all the children had left without even realizing it) and smiled the entire time while the former students stared at the ship.
" Hey Dumbledore!" Parvati said. " What is this thing?"
" An airship," Dumbledore said, smiling.
" I've heard of these," Hermione said. " They're made by Goblins..."
Malfoy almost interrupted her, hoping to slide in a snide comment on Know-It-All Granger, but he was too interested in what she was going to say to bother with the insults at the moment. Maybe later he would pick on the brown-haired annoyance.
" They were invented in the last Goblin-Wizard war," Hermione went on. " Goblins used them to ferry troops and drop bombs on Wizard strongholds. The Battle of Haste-Farthings was won by only two of these ships, against over four hundred Wizard troops..." She trailed off, and then looked at Dumbledore. " Dumbledore, how did you get one of these ships? The Goblins have only ever given out three, and all of those were to Durmstrang fifty years ago as a gift for protecting Gringotts from a group of thieves! There's no way you could ever have gotten one of these unless you..." She stopped.
" I assure you, Miss Granger, that I have not performed any illegal activities of any sort to gain this ship," Dumbledore said, smiling. " I've never worked under shadowy motives, and don't plan to start anytime soon." Harry thought that this last part was bullshit- he knew Dumbledore well enough to say that he had participated in his share of shadowy activities under shadowy motives at certain times- but that was rather beside the point. " The Goblins have, indeed, only ever given out three airships: the Crying Night, the Port Storm, and the Bleak Anchor. All three of those ships are now sitting safely in Durmstrang's harbor. However, Durmstrang has been doing something that isn't in the history books you have read, Miss Granger. That something is this: building airships. They've completed ten of them." Dumbledore nodded towards the ship. " This is the last one they completed. It's name is the Excelsior, as I've said already, and it is a marvel of Goblin technology and Wizard ingenuity. It is a most excellent ship, and a fitting steed for your journey."
" You mean we get to ride in it?!?" Parvati said. " That's great!" She was almost bouncing where she stood.
Ron nodded. " I'm echoing the sentiment! Bloody perfect!" A great big grin spread across his face.
Harry smirked. " I'll give you credit, Dumbledore- this is the best damn trick I've seen in years. Good work." Then he smiled, and years and years of icy coldness dropped off his face in a glance. Then his face returned to its former somber aspect, to the face he had worn every day after Sirius' death. " Now, where exactly do we go? I've read pretty far into Slytherin's notes, but I've yet to find where a single Spirit is hidden..."
Dumbledore shook his head. " Slytherin was a sly old man, and even while writing the notes, he knew that someone might find the book someday. So he never wrote down directly where he hid the Spirits. Instead, he employed a method called "Ghost Quill." Ghost Quill is performed by writing with ink that has been mixed with both a dragon's and a gryphon's blood. The mixing of the two opposing creatures causes the ink to slip outside reality, and the words become invisible as a side effect.The method allows one to write completely outside the bounds of ordinary reality, and entire books have been written with this method. The method causes the book and the words written to be partially 'unreal', and henceforth they do not affect that which is around them. You've actually read over Slytherin's notes on the Spirits, but you didn't see them. To make words written in Ghost Quill appear, you must put a drop of Manticore poison on the spot where the words were originally written. Here, let me see the journal." Harry handed it over, and Dumbledore slipped a small vial out of his pocket. It was filled with a purple liquid, and the glass bottle was topped by a stopper made of charcoal. When Dumbledore opened the bottle, everyone there heard something sigh... it may have been the wind blowing through the trees, but it sounded like a dying woman's last sighing breath. Dumbledore opened the journal, and poured a single drop of the purple fluid on the top of one of the pages. The drop hit, splashed, bubbled, sighed again- and then dissappeared.
The page changed right before their eyes. There was no subtle shift, no gradual change- just one second, the words were not there, and the next they were. Dumbledore handed the book back to Harry and recapped the Manticore posion.
" Manticore poison works by substituting itself for the body's natural organs," Dumbledore said. " It carries this property with it into the magical realms, where it naturally replaces whatever it hits. When I put that drop on the page, it found the hidden words and replaced them with itself, henceforth drawing the words out of unreality and placing them squarely here. In the nowhere that is the darkness that surrounds our world, there is now one drop of Manticore poison floating around from the surface of that paper." Following this strange announcement, Dumbledore leaned over and said, " I believe that should tell you where the Spirit of the Brave is located..."
Harry looked down, and the others gathered about him, until nine pairs of eyes (and a single pair of ancient ones) looked at the page. Surprising everyone, Dumbledore began to read the words inscribed upon the page.
(BREAK: Had to insert these, damn QuickEdit is being a bitch again)
"Even A Serpent", The Spirit of the Brave
Here I shall record, in Ghost Quill, the powers and location of the Brave Spirit. I chose to hide it first for one reason- it is easily the most visible and noticeable of the spirits, and I do not wish to draw attention to myself after I begin my journey in earnest. Since I cannot go far with this spirit without attracting too much attention, I shall head north- to Loch Ness in Scotland. There I shall place this Spirit. It is far enough away from Hogwarts that no one will suspect our involvement with it, and close enough that I can get there quickly and easily. My flying carpet will prove itself most valuable, I believe, before this journey is through.
First, allow me to say this: without a Wizard to act as Host, each Spirit merely looks like a floating orb of light. Oddly, the color is different for each Spirit- and I do not remember us every saying we would color-coordinate these things. A quick sketch:
Brave: White Color
Raging: Black Color
Proud: Red Color
Dreaming: Light Blue Color
Steadfast: Dark Blue Color
Changeling: Purple Color
Lost: Shifting mix of blues and blacks; the blues are streaks that seem to be going "down" the blackness of the rest of the sphere
Seeking: Brown Color
Wounded: Grey Color
I'm not for sure what these colors mean, but I can assume that each color represents the attributes scheduled within. Brave is "pure", so it's color is White. The Raging is an evil, foul thing, so it's color is black. The others are just as obviously fitting, in some ways if not in others.
Huh... this last paragraph really details the problem, doesn't it? We didn't mean to give these things colors, but here they are, glowing in my bag as I write this journal atop my flying carpet, heading towards the Loch where I will deposit one of them. We didn't mean to give them so much power- but I can feel it now, trembling my bones, power so great that it doesn't touch that snake-thing in my mind that has always said 'take it" whenever I am near strength but rather reaches deeper and touches that part of all of us that is scared to touch fire. Yes. That is what I feel like. I feel like a small child, next to some great and incredible warmth, wanting to touch that great warmth but knowing that it will consume me if I do. That torment, at least, is gone from me; for the first time in years I live free of the greed that has driven me on all my life. My greed died with those students of Hogwarts who my blindness killed. My greed died... with her...
Bah. I'm not here to soliloquize on the fate of someone whose name has been struck from every book in England and France. I'm here to speak of the Brave. Here I shall write what little I know of these Spirits, these flames I am so scared to touch... it isn't much, because only someone who has used one of these Spirits can tell you everything about it, but it might be enough to get future generations started.
First off, the Brave is the Spirit of Love. It is the Spirit of Courage. It is the Spirit of the Knight. Someone who wields the Brave shines, because the force of light itself is held within them. Someone wielding the Brave is someone who stands out in a crowd, for they are head and shoulders above the rest. Of all the Spirits, only one is truly, truly Good, in all senses of the word- and that one is the Brave.
The Brave is not a Spirit for the weak; because, like all true acts of Good, it is a staggering thing and almost impossible to comprehend in any way save that of the "gut" instinct, or as I like to call it, soul instinct. The Brave is powerful, but it has this one weakness: it is so consumed with doing what it believes is right that it will forge on regardless of what the truth is. Someone under the Brave may be hard to bring around.
One last thing- the Brave is a beacon. As I have said before, I am hiding it first. The reason is simple- all the Spirits emit auras that shine on the magical sphere like Wizards on a Goblin Mage-Radar. I am quite powerful, and most of these Spirits are easy to hide. The Brave, however, refuses to be hidden. I can no more block its power than I could dim the sun by putting my fingers on it. So I must hide it first, and place it in deep and dark places, so that its' light will become dim and faint. If I can complete the spell I am working on, then it won't matter how bright the Brave becomes... but if I should fail, then what I do now must hold.
So, you who read this and seek the Spirits, remember this: If you have enemies, they will find you so long as you hold the Brave in your grasp, unless you find a way to hide it so that it is dim and dark.
I am at the Loch now, and I see the kelpie below the surface, in the form of a sea serpent, catching fish and harassing the local Muggles for fun. I send a call to it, to clear the waters so I can come down. The kelpie, a male named Seshlo, chuckles when it hears my voice in its mind. He and I are old friends. He raises up and lets out a bellowing roar, and the Muggles nearby take one look at him and haul ass for the nearest hills. The monster of the Loch has been nothing but a whispered story up until now, and to see the legend come alive is more then they can bear. The first smile in weeks touches my lips. I lower myself to the shore.
And why are you here? Seshlo thinks to me, bringing his coiling body to the shore, where I sit and wait with my bag of nightmare tricks. He raises his head high in the air and looks down at me, but the look on his serpentine face is that of a smile- or as much of one as a serpent can manage, anyway. (What brings the powerful Headmaster of Slytherin, Second House of mighty Hogwarts, here to my humble domain?) He chuckles again. Seshlo has always been a ham.
The smile leaves my lips. (I am Headmaster no longer, Seshlo,) I tell him. (I... have done something dishonorable, and lost my position.)
Seshlo's eyes, feet above my head, grow colder and sharper all at once. (What have you done, Salazar?) he says, tongue flicking. (I knew you were greedy but... what have you done?)
(I allowed a student to become powerful when I should not have,) I say. (She slew several other students. I left Hogwarts after that.)
His tongue flicks the air again, while he muses on this. (Who?) he says. (Not... DeGray?) he asks, remembering the slip of a girl I'd brought to him a year ago. Ellen had always loved kelpies, and a chance to visit one of the oldest ones had made her happy for a week. Seshlo had even let her ride on his back, and she'd loved every minute of it. I remember standing on the beach, watching, feeling paranoid that Seshlo would drop her, and then laughing at myself for acting like a father to her. I'd found it funny, at the time, to think of myself as a father to Ellen.
I blink back tears.
(So.) Seshlo says. It is all he needs to say; my face has told him everything. (Why are you here, old friend?) he says, and it cheers me, slightly, to know that he will not desert me despite what I've done.
(I must hide something,) I say. (We... the other Headmasters and I, we've created something. Something new. Something dangerous. I have to hide at least one part of it here. Can you help me?)
Seshlo closes his eyes and his tongue flicks out while he thinks. (Show it to me.) He opens his eyes and lowers his head to look at me more closely.
I take out the glowing orb of white light that is the Spirit of the Brave. He looks at the light, and turns his head sideways, to look at it better. For long minutes, neither of us say anything- the light of the Spirit seems to tell us everything we need to know.
Finally, Seshlo nods his head- a human gesture, one he is putting out for my benefit; among kelpies, a wink of the left eye followed by a wink of the right eye is the physical symbol for "yes". (I will do it,) he says. (I shall hide this thing for you. What is its name?)
I blink, caught unawares by this question, then nod. (It is the Spirit of the Brave. Can you hide it? It shines so... I fear that it will be discovered unless put in a black and bleak place.)
And here is the thing that makes me wonder most about what arrogance possessed me and the other Headmasters when we created these things, the arrogance that made us so blind to what the Spirits really mean. Seshlo laughed when I said that, actually laughed- not rolling-on-floor type laughter, but laughter nonetheless.
(Don't you know the nature of light?) he says, taking the ball into his mouth and turning to dive beneath the waves. (It can only shine when it is in darkness.)
As I pull out on my flying carpet, I take Seshlo's words with me.
(BREAK)
When the last echoes of Dumbledore's words died away, Harry shut the book slowly and placed it into a pocket of his robes. Turning to the others, he said, " Loch Ness... that's where the Spirit of Bravery is hidden."
" Loch Ness..." Ron said. " The kelpie there, I thought her name was Nessie?"
" That's only what Muggles call her," Hermione said. " Her real name is Ternlio. She is female, but that's about all the Muggles got right. She's Seshlo's great great granddaughter."
" Oh," Ron said.
" Know-It-All Granger," Malfoy said, sniggering in the back.
Before Dumbledore, Harry, or anyone could reply, Ernie surprised them all by breaking out laughing. " Yes she is!" he cried out, slapping Malfoy on the back. " And thank the gods for it!"
Laughter erupted out of the group (with the exception of Malfoy, who was busy glaring at Ernie and rubbing his shoulder). When it had quieted down, Dumbledore looked at them and nodded.
" You must head for Loch Ness at all speed," he said. " Voldemort has no idea that the Spirits even exist, but he is no fool, and he's keeping up with the movements of almost everything in England. Soon enough, he will be aware of you. When he is, he will stop at nothing to kill all of you- especially you, Harry. So, be on your guard." He nodded towards them, then turned and began walking back to the door. " I leave you with only these words- trust Fate."
And with that, Dumbledore walked through the door and disappeared.
Left to their own, the group naturally turned to the one person there who had experience in these matters- Harry Potter. When they turned to him, he looked them each in the eye and said, " Well, let's get going, then. I want to see inside this ship..."
Parvati, released from Dumbledore's sobering gaze, actually jumped in the air in joy. " Yes! Let's get on it!"
Seamus chuckled next to her. " Well, someone's happy."
Parvati, however, was already going towards the ship. Shaking his head, Seamus hoisted his spear and followed her. The others filed off onto the ship, oohing and aweing at times as they managed to get a closer look at the ship. As they headed towards it, a door opened in the side, and a small walkway extended out, plates of metal sliding out of each other to form a path. The figure who stepped down let out a happy laugh that sounded like a yelp and said, " I can't believe it! It's damn good to see you again, Harry!"
Harry stopped dead in his tracks and shouted, " Lupin?!?"
-R and R please!