This chapter will be a deciding factor in my hits for the rest of the story. Because in this chapter I introduce religion into the story. I don't say which religion is being followed. Although I call the higher power God, I do that because Harry grew up in England where Christian is the main religion, so I figured he'd call a higher power God, rather then Allah or any other name. However, that doesn't mean it is automatically Christian. It could be Christian, Judaism or Islam. I'm not going to make any references to any of the areas that separate the three religions, like Jesus. The religion won't be a big concept in this story but will play a bigger one sometime in the future.
Chapter 27 The Believers, The Lost, The Condemned
Alpha Battalion of the Golden Knights arrived at the Nglaugo capital a day after the Death Eaters did. They would of had a battle right then and there if the Nglaugo king didn't step in and remind them that they were his guest in his kingdom. All Nglaugos spoke two languages, parseltongue and Latin. Unfortunately a lot of the Death Eaters knew Latin.
Nglaugo were strong believers in ones lineage. They had a class system set up, that most seemed happy with. And when he said most he meant the Royal Family, the Nobles and the Warrior Class. The rest were just content with their simple normal lives. Although they didn't like their poverty, they knew thins could be a lot worse, so they let it be. Another thing about the Nglaugo was that they could detect right out lies. You could fib around them, even stretch the truth, but try telling them something that was a flat out lie and you'd be caught right away.
Negotiations were going well. The Nglaugo were impressed with Harry's parseltongue but then the Death Eaters brought up the fact that Voldemort was one as well, and that way of buttering up the snake-hybrid was quickly forgotten. Then the Death Eaters brought up Voldemort being a descendant of Salazar Slytherin.
Apparently the Nglaugo basically worshiped Slytherin, who treated them a lot better then he treated Muggle-borns. They spoke of frequent visits the Hogwarts founder made to their realm and how he helped the Nglaugo advance in civilization. Harry tried using the fact that he as well was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. However, the Death Eaters knew of his bastard connection to Salazar Slytherin and were quick to bring it up to the Nglaugos. Things quickly went down from there.
"You're... you are a bastard descendant of such a great man?" the Nglaugo king demanded in parseltongue. "A stain to his name that lives, even a millennium after his death?"
"Hey, it isn't like I made him have an affair with his underage servant!" Harry shot back in the snake language.
"You dare insult the great Salazar Slytherin! We have listened to your pleads for an alliance long enough, we even allowed you to bring those that are unpure into our territory, but this shall be no longer. I still have my promise of neutrality to hold up to for the next day but after that I will allow the Death Eaters to attack you, my men might even join them!" the Death Eaters and Knights were confused as to what was being said but judging by the anger radiating off both males, they knew the Nglaugos would not be joining the Golden Knights in their battle against Voldemort.
Harry stormed out of the council chambers, his Knights rushing behind him. "What happened?"
"It seems the Nglaugo don't like illegitimate descendants of such great wizards as Salazar Slytherin. Not only that, but it appears they took up Slytherins hatred for muggle-borns and muggles. The Nglaugos will not be joining us and we have only one day to get out of here before the neutrality of the area wears off and the Death Eaters and Nglaugo warriors can attack us." Harry explained.
"What the hell did you do?" Blaise asked him, shocked.
"I didn't do anything" Harry snapped. "It isn't my fault the Nglaugo are concerned with my fucking lineage"
"We can only retreat towards the Wasteland" Neville said. "Somehow that isn't exactly something I'm looking forward too"
"No" Lessien stated firmly. "There is another way. We can escape by sea, steal a Nglaugo ship and sail out of here"
"That's great! Except I'm pretty sure none of us know how to handle a Nglaugo ship, not unless you guys have muggle speedboats around here" Harry drawled.
"I know how to captain a ship, and I'll teach you guys how to do it when we get there. But we got to leave quickly. Try to put some distance between ourselves and our enemy" Lessien stated.
"You heard her, lets get the fuck out of here." They scurried to the house provided to them by the Nglaugo king and collected all of their stuff. It was one of the few houses above ground in the whole entire city, and was designed for the use of elves and other above ground beings.
Their horses were kept in the stables in the backyard. The horses were happy there, content to chew on the plentiful grass the area had. Not only that but, even though they didn't use them, the Nglaugo took good care of the horses, grooming them daily.
They had about a weeks travel before they even reached the western coast of Grimoire Plains, according to Lessien. That meant they had to move quickly and stay alert. With the Death Eaters after them and now the Nglaugos there enemy, they would be in a lot of danger.
"We'll ride as fast as we can for the next twenty-four hours, only taking short breaks. We need to get to that coast quickly"
Harry sat on his flying-horse stiffly, his green eyes fixed on the harbor below. Several ships, reminiscent of the fifteenth century human vessels, were docked there. Two of them were way to big. Several of them were way to small, most likely privately owned ships. However there were three of them that appeared to be just perfect for the Knights to man, well at least according to Lessien. A few Nglaugo soldiers patrolled the docks, and dozens of seamen wandered around.
A small town surrounded the harbor, with inns, blacksmiths and shipyards littered throughout the town. Soldiers patrolled through there as well. It would be tricky getting to the ships but it could be done. Especially by the Golden Knights.
On the week journey to this small town, Harry had worked on their spell accuracy and their hand-to-hand combat. Since he was still a rookie in sword fighting as well he couldn't really teach them in the art of it, but Lessien made sure they learned some good tricks.
"We'll have to wait until nightfall" he said to the twenty figures behind him. "Give us a little bit of an advantage. We'll have to move quickly. Work our way through the streets like phantoms, taking out any threat we encounter. Remember, the Nglaugos are our enemy now. So how ever you get rid of them is up to you" Although he didn't say it, they knew he was talking about killing.
None of them had killed yet, at least none of them knew if they had killed yet. When they fought someone, they didn't fight to kill and when they did put their enemy down, they didn't stop to check their pulse. And though he wasn't positive Harry had a feeling he might of killed a couple himself.
The thought of killing use to make him squeamish. After all he didn't want to die unless it was from natural causes. Why would he want to go out and kill someone if he didn't want the same thing done to him. That was why he didn't like those types of killers, who begged for their lives when they were finally caught. Its alright for them to go about killing people for the fuck of it, but when someone is going to do it to them, they cry and plead and beg like the cowards and hypocritical bastards they were.
Now though, after knowing he was going to be a killer anyway, his attitude on it seemed to lax some. He would kill, as long as it wasn't an innocent. Every Death Eater he met would no longer be able to fight for Voldemort one way or another, whether because he killed them or captured them, it didn't matter. Now the same extended to all allies of Voldemort.
Ron looked over the plans in his hands again. The Ministry had cast anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards all around Hogsmeade, leaving only one area open for the two forms of magical travel, towards the end of the town, away from Hogwarts. It was a couple of yards away from Dervish and Banges.
He had drawn up plans on how to defend Hogsmeade, well for how the Golden Knights were to defend Hogsmeade. There were two parts to Hogsmeade, the residential area and the commercial area. Most of the commercial area was on the main road that ran through the town and led to Hogwarts. Though several other stores were on side roads that branched off of that. The residential area consisted of five hundred houses, and two thousand seven hundred citizens. At the end of the first war with Voldemort, when the Dark Lord was thought dead, the population in Hogsmeade soared as British wizards and witches returned from abroad without any place to live because they sold their old houses to muggles.
Ron's plan was rather simple. One battalion would split up and go to the residential area to herd all civilians towards the passageways to Hogwarts. They would also act as defenders for the civilians incase any Death Eaters were in the area. Another battalion would split into platoons and each of the platoons would control traffic to the three passageways to Hogwarts; the Shrieking Shack, Honeydukes, and the Hogsmeade Train Station. The last battalion along with anyone else who wanted to fight, would hold off the main attack as long as they could.
Like he said, plain and simple, yet effective. He just hoped Harry liked it as well, though he knew he probably would. Harry had a good strategic mind as well, he could tell because now the chess games they play with each other could go on for several hours. He wasn't bragging or anything, but that was his gift, his strongest area of expertise, and it was an area he excelled at greatly.
When Harry had left, he had caused quite a bit of hell. No one was available to teach the D.A. so Dumbledore had been teaching it. It was interesting, the differences between Dumbledore and Harry. While both extremely powerful they were so different.
Dumbledore was benevolent, wise and gave off the image of a senile coot, but when you got him angry, it was truly a pants-wetting terrifying sight. His eyes twinkled merrily, he was fun-loving and appeared to be carefree. He spoke in riddles, knew the answer to everything and knew almost everything that went on in the school. His spells were powerful and complex. His wand arm moving fluidly and graceful. You respected him, even if you did hate his guts, because he just commanded your respect, no matter how grudgingly you gave it.
Harry was mischievous, knowledgeable and calculating. His face showing the image of a strong, capable, fun loving leader but his eyes showed a weary and sad life that has seen way too much. Getting Harry angry, truly angry, was like a cold object moving up your spine, causing you to shiver. His spells were quick and simple; his arm quick and simple as well. He was confident and also commanded respect, just not to the level Dumbledore did. Many underestimated Harry, thought him weak and volatile, only those that have seen him, really seen him, truly understand and respect him.
Ron always wondered if Dumbledore was like Harry when he was young. Or if Harry would become like Dumbledore when he grew older. But they just seemed so different from each other.
The war was still going slowly, which was odd, but welcomed. A few Death Eater raids on muggle-borns was the biggest things that had happened. Though the magical creatures on Voldemort's side had been causing some trouble with the muggles.
The sudden disappearance of Malcolm Alodie and his money did cause quite a stir in the gossip section. No one but a few humans and the goblins of Gringotts knew of a vault that just opened up, containing the same amount that disappeared from the Alodie family vaults. The owners of the vault, the Golden Knights, were now the riches people in the world.
Voldemort was pissed that his main funding was gone, add to that the fact that he still had no idea where Bellatrix was and you had one pissed off Dark Lord. Dumbledore had sworn Snape to secrecy on anything he heard concerning Bellatrix Lestrange since the Department of Mysteries and the fact that Harry was an expecting father. Both matters were very delicate, and the issue of Harry's child was surely an advantage Voldemort would love to flaunt.
When Harry disappeared, the junior Death Eaters in Hogwarts thought it was the perfect time to strike out. Dozens of students had gone to the headmaster or Ron himself talking about how they were asked to join the Death Eaters. Ron himself saw Malfoy trying to recruit two Ravenclaws. Three or four duels a day broke out between students from light sided families and students from known dark sided families. Terry Boot and Theodore Nott had engaged in a duel so vicious, thirty-two other students had become involved.
Though Dumbledore knew who a lot of junior Death Eaters were in the school he couldn't do anything about it. None of them had the Dark Mark and all recruiting expeditions never mentioned anything to do with Voldemort or his Death Eaters explicitly. The Golden Knights on the other hand marked down every junior Death Eater they knew of. There was fifty-seven of them. That meant sixteen percent of the student population was Death Eaters or Death Eater sympathizers. Well sixteen percent of the student population was KNOWN Death Eaters or Death Eater sympathizers. There could always be more, and there probably was. Out of those fifty-seven, thirty-nine were Slytherins, eleven were Ravenclaws, five were Hufflepuffs and two were Gryffindors.
Ron and Susan, both in charge of the remaining Golden Knights had decided to alternate between spell casting and physical training during practice sessions. They were all getting a lot better at dueling, even Vitriol was impressed when he happened to come upon one of their training sessions.
The goblins had been working in over time while Harry was gone. They contacted every goblin community in the world and told them of the war and of their alliance with Harry, getting nothing but positive feedback and offers of support. They had dozens of wizards and witches around the world willing to help Harry out in the war. Harry would need to talk to them when he got back, because no one knew what he wanted or anything
To make matters a lot better Hermione, Su Li, and Ernie MacMillan had just finished their magical maturity. Their powers at each increased, some more then others. Most children and teens had the same amount of power while growing up, though there was always one that was extremely powerful, like Harry, who had more power then others, even at an early age. During the magical maturation their magic grew to three-quarters of what it would become later on in life when it reached their limit.
The techniques Harry had showed him, and then the rest of the Golden Knights, had opened up the passage more so that during their magical maturation there power would increase by a lot more then normal. The last quarter of power is slowly reached by the witch or wizard, taking a hundred or so years to do so.
If someone had a power level of 100, then at the age of eleven their power would be fifteen, which was the minimum for children at that age. By the time they started magical maturation their power level would be twenty-three. After magical maturation their power level would increase to seventy-five. Then every couple of years their power would grow by one. If someone had a power level of fifteen, then they wouldn't go through magical maturation because their body wouldn't gain any more power in their life.
Most wizards and witches didn't live old enough to reach their full power. Usually the older a magical person, the stronger their magic. They're just too old to really put up a fight or move quickly. Two percent are in the area of a Squib. Sixty percent of magical person are in the magical power range of wizards/witches, hence why the power level got its name, because most witches and wizards had that level of power. Twenty-five percent are at the level of Sorcerer/Sorceress, ten percent were Warlocks, two-point nine percent were Mages and the last point-one percent were Overlords.
Harry stuck his wand into the back of the Nglaugo and thought 'Stupefy.' The red glow of the stunner didn't light up the street as it would usually do because it went straight from the wand into the snake-human hybrid. Another Nglaugo soldier fell to the left of him.
They had been moving through the streets of the little village for ten minutes already and were almost at the docks. Harry himself had already knocked out thirteen Nglaugo soldiers as they patrolled the streets.
"Enemy human in the..." the loud hissing was cut off quicky but the damage was done. Several lights flickered on in nearby houses and the streets were better illuminated. Harry could make out three more guards between him and the start of the docks, where another ten guards were.
"Fuck stealth! Move quickly!" he yelled out. His voice echoed throughout the once quiet town. Flashes of light met his orders and Harry could faintly hear the pounding of feet. He and Lessien, the other Nglaugo enemy on the street with him, broke out in a run. "Expello! Flamen! Expelliarmus!" The two soldiers hit by the banishers flew through the large window of a tavern. Harry had to dive out of the way at the sword that came soaring at him from the third one.
Lessien let out her own spell which put down the now unarmed soldier. They were almost at the dock when several well placed Reductor Curses sent the guards on the dock flying through the air, some landing in the water, others landing with thuds on the dirt road. Black cloaked figures streaked out from several directions, all heading to the wooden planks that led to a dozen or so ships.
Harry counted nineteen of them and sighed with relief that all his Knights had made it. Lessien led them to a relatively small ship and jumped onboard. All of the sailors and captain were probably at the tavern getting drunk because no one was onboard.
She started yelling out orders on what to do when Harry saw a score of slithering figures making their way towards them. He quickly pointed his wand at the wooden planks of the dock, "Incendio!" the spurt of flames landed on the dock and spread quickly. The flames raced from one end of the dock to the other, growing in size as it went.
Two Cutting Charms slashed the ropes that tied them to the dock and soon they were away from the raging fire Harry had started. The Knights let out whoops of joy as they sailed away, the nights breeze bringing them away from the burning dock and shook up town.
Lessien expertly guided the ship to the docking space they would be leaving the ship at. The Knights inexpertly fumbled around with the ropes to get the ship tied up and to bring the sail down.
They were near the border of the Rolling Hills of Chiron and the Sion Tundra. Several Centaurs came trotting their way, curious as to who would land on their shores. As the Knights got off the ship hostile looks came upon the Centaurs faces. It appeared humans were hated everywhere they went.
When Harry and then Lessien came down the looks of hostility passed. The Centaurs new of the alliance with Harry Potter and Wild Elves and Centaurs have always been good friends, both more in touch with nature then any other beings.
"We have been told you would be traveling through our lands, looking for more allies" one of the male Centaurs said. "Have you succeeded?"
"The Wild Elves and Dwarves will fight beside the light sided humans, Centaurs and Goblins. The Nglaugo on the other hand are our enemies and ally themselves with the Dark Elves and the dark sided humans" Harry answered. "I would appreciate it if you spread the message of the Nglaugo joining the enemy. I don't want any of my allies falling prey to a ambush because they thought they could trust those slithering bastards" The male Centaur nodded before galloping off.
Harry noticed that the grass underneath him was frosty. Luckily the Golden Knight armor regulated the temperature inside the armor, making it feel like a cool 70 degrees Fahrenheit. He noticed Lessien shiver in the cold weather, wearing clothing suitable for the moderate temperature of the Wild Elf forest. He cast a Heating Charm on her and she nodded her thanks.
"The Ice People have been waiting for you" one of the female Centaurs quipped. "Arrived at the border last night, they knew you would arrive sometime today" She pointed over to the north of them, where a large group of figures stood.
"Thank you" Harry said. He led the Golden Knights and the female Wild Elf to the grouping of figures, who as they got closer and closer, turned out to be extremely pale human-look-alikes with white hair and light grey eyes.
Twenty soldiers wearing white chest plates and thick white pants with swords at their waist, stood around two men. One was old and wrinkled, the other middle aged and muscular.
The middle aged man walked towards Harry. "We know why you come Harry Potter" Harry opened his mouth. "The Ice People have discussed it for a week and have decided to join you." Again Harry opened his mouth to speak. "We cannot survive for long in hot temperatures and will only be of assistance in areas higher then the 45 degree latitude line in the winter and higher then the 30 degree latitude line in the summer(both north and south)."
Harry harumphed and went to talk again only to be denied for a third time. "I thought I should also let you know that the Tylashians have joined with the Dark Elves, Nglaugo and this Lord Voldemort. None of the portals are really safe anymore, especially the ones in their territories so it would be wise to post a watch over them during the times they would open. As for the one opened year round, it would be best to watch it...year round.
"And before you can speak I want to let you know that the portal in the Rolling Hills of Chiron opens near the border of the United States and Canada, in an area known as the Great Plains (Canadian Prairies). I believe in northern Montana. Since the Great Plains (Canadian Prairies) has the largest populations of Centaurs it seemed like a good idea. The two portals in the Sion Tundra open up on Antarctica and Sisimiut, Greenland. I recommend taking the Sion Tundra portal to Greenland"
"How do you know what I am going to ask before I even speak it?' Harry asked.
"Secrets are divulged to friends and trustees, which you are neither" the middle aged man said. Harry nodded his head. He could accept that, after all he had dozens of secrets many didn't know about and even a handful that no one but himself knew about.
"When do the portals open? I have lost track of time" Harry asked.
"One day" the man answered quickly. "We can reach the portal to Greenland in two"
They had been walking for several hours and somehow Harry found himself next to the old, wrinkled Ice Person, the elder of the race, at the back of the group. The elder leaned heavily on an ice cane he carried in his left hand. His eyes should more knowledge then even Dumbledore's possessed.
"Do you believe in a higher power Harry?" the elder asked.
"You mean like God sir?" Harry asked confused.
"Yes. I believe that is what most of you humans call it" the elder murmured.
"I never really though about it" Harry answered.
"That is a typical human answer, and an answer only a human can give." Cold grey eyes looked into sparkling green. "Beings like us Ice People, the Elves, the Centaurs, etc. don't just hate humans because of the War of Humanity. For some reason, God, as you call it, favors you humans above all other of its creations. You have all been blessed with the gift of indifference towards it. You don't have to believe in and worship God in order to get into the afterlife, or as you humans call it, heaven. You just have to live a good life.
"But it isn't like that for the rest of us. All the humanoid" the elder said the word with distaste, as he made quotes in the air, showing that it wasn't his word "beings are divided into three different groups. The Believers, the Lost and the Condemned. The Believers believe in god. We worship it, show it the respect it deserves and try to live in its image. The Lost do not have God in their lives. Because of this they feel such a feeling of emptiness and loneliness in their lives that it is sometimes painful to go on. And the Condemned, well they were once part of the Lost but instead of finding God again, they found Lucifer, the devil, Satan, what ever you want to call it.
"The Condemned have all been banished from Grimoire Realm, for not even the Dark Elves accept their presence. The Condemned can be identified because they begin to look evil. It is hard to explain, but you'll know what I mean if you see them. You know some of the Condemned." Harry looked at the man with a confused look on his face. "How do you think House Elves came to be? Long ago they were actual elves who have turned away from God and towards Lucifer. Instead of banishing them, the other elves locked away their main power, disfigured them and cast them to the world of man. They do not do that now of course, but that is how House Elves came to be"
Harry thought of Dobby, he didn't seem like the type of House Elf who worshiped Lucifer. "Are the House Elves still condemned?" Harry asked.
"Not all of them. Children aren't born into the Condemned, but they can become so through the influence of their parents. It is hard to no longer be Condemned, for one must perform an act so pure, that it cast Lucifer from their souls. The Condemned always go to hell, the Believers go if they still perform evil deeds, like murdering the young. The Lost usually go to hell, unless they live a truly good life." the elder explained.
It was a confusing concept and was hard for Harry to understand.
"But what about that statue outside, surely that wasn't God?" Harry questioned.
"No, that was Leni. He is what we call a Guardian. A being sent by God to protect and guide the rest of us. Several of the muggle gods of old were actually guardians. Zeus and Hera may of been a wizard and a witch, and Apollo an aphthartos but Ares, Athena and Artemis were all Guardians."
"But what does this has to do with me? Why am I being told this?" Harry asked.
"Because one day you'll need to know." the elder replied.
"Wha...what?" Harry was beyond confused now.
"You know what a Seer is right Harry?" Harry nodded his head. Of course he knew what a Seer was. His life was dictated by a prophecy made by a crack-head Seer, who faked being one for most of her life, with the only exceptions being the three minutes it took her to make two prophecies. "Well I am a Diviner, a very weak Diviner and Diviners are weak Seers. Seers make prophecies and can tell you the different paths of your future, for no future is ever set. Diviners have feelings, urges that things are going to happen. They don't know why, they don't know how, they don't even know when or where, but they know something is going to happen. And I know that you, will need to know the information I just gave you"
The old man walked a little bit faster then Harry, leaving him alone in the rear.