And suddenly the entire dynamic of chapter size changes at last to my current model of 6-7k per chapter, barring prologues, hurray! Many thanks to those who reviewed, I appreciate your words very much. At long last the LotR influences will now begin to make themselves apparent, and I hope that they are as well accepted in their newer form as they were originally. ~F
Chapter One
In the House of Undol
Much to Harry's surprise, Faykan came to get him far earlier than he had expected. Only a week into the summer holidays, Harry was reading one evening from his 'A History of Magic,' text for more information about witch burning in the fourteenth century, the subject of the corresponding class' essay one night, when the now-familiar cracking sound of Dobby apparating heralded the little elf's arrival behind him.
"Master Harry, sir, your friend Mr. Undol is here to see you, sir," the elf said just seconds before the shout of Vernon Dursley was heard from below, rudely calling him downstairs.
The Dursleys had not been too thrilled about finding Dobby in their house. Aunt Petunia had almost attacked the House Elf when he first appeared at the table to serve Harry's meal on the first day back for the summer.
Uncle Vernon had tried to force Harry to keep Dobby away from them, but it to very little avail, as Dobby only did what Harry asked of him in completely strange and twisted ways. Since Harry asked Dobby to avoid his family, Dobby took to moving invisible throughout the house, which only unnerved the Dursleys more when they found out.
But at the same time he couldn't order Dobby to just do nothing, as that made the House Elf terribly depressed, so he had inevitably compromised that Dobby would help Harry with his chores, and clean the house to his heart's delight when the Dursleys were not home.
Harry went downstairs, only to find Faykan standing in the entryway, waiting for him, wearing robes of a sea-blue color which, Harry noticed, made his bright eyes even more pronounced. His best friend had a smug grin on his face, like in response to the looks of contempt and fear being sent at him from the three Dursleys.
"Hello, Harry," Faykan said as Harry descended the last step, "Hope you haven't been too bored while I was away?"
"Not really," Harry responded "just wrapping up that last of the summer work." That caused his friend's smile to widen.
"Excellent," Faykan announced, clapping his hands together once excitedly, "now we'll have the rest of the summer to do as we please."
Harry raised his eyebrows, "We're leaving so soon?" he asked, confused.
"Yes, that is unless you'd rather stay of course," Faykan said in all seriousness.
"No way!" Harry said, punching his friend in the arm for being joked with.
"Good," Faykan replied, rubbing the spot idly as he spoke, "then have Dobby pack you things. You'll only need your wand for the moment, as I want to give you the scenic route to my home."
Harry dashed back upstairs and asked Dobby politely to pack up his things, while he grabbed his wand. He turned to rejoin Faykan, and almost ran into his friend as he entered his room.
"Almost forgot," Faykan continued, as if their conversation hadn't been interrupted, and addressed the House Elf. "Dobby, you'll take Harry's things to this location." He showed Dobby a piece of parchment. The house elf studied it for a second, and then nodded affirmatively.
"Well, shall we Harry?" Faykan finally said, even as Dobby ran around the room, levitating and shrinking all of Harry belongings so they would fit comfortably into his trunk. Harry smiled as he followed his best friend back down the stairs, out the front door and down the moonlit street of Private Drive.
As they made their way down the street, Harry noticed that despite the few inches he had grown the last year, Faykan had finally caught up to him in height, and in fact was about half an inch taller than him. Harry took the time they spent walking in silence to study the changes in his friend. Not only had Faykan grown in height, but he had let his hair grow out slightly, and wore it pulled back and tied with a silver ribbon. Harry noticed that Faykan was still as thin as him, but he paid it little mind, as he considered that normal for most boys their age.
They had just turned down to Magnolia Crescent when Harry felt a funny prickling on the back of his neck; it almost felt as if they were being watched. Faykan had paused in searching for wherever he was leading Harry, and was looking around, frowning at the dimly lit street. They pulled out their wands together and lit them with a lumos spell.
Harry held is wand high, looking for the source of their discomfort, when he heard the soft padding of feet behind him. He whirled, and saw in the sudden wand light a large black dog hiding in the shadows of a back alleyway.
"Ah, just a dog," Faykan said, although even Harry could tell that his friend was just as surprised as he was. Turning to Harry, Faykan fished something out of his robe pocket and offered him the same parchment he had shown Dobby. "Read this," he said.
Harry took the parchment and read: 'The Treegarth of Orthanc is the home of Faykan Undol.'
Looking up at his friend in confusion, Harry raised an eyebrow, "What's this rubbish?" he asked, giving the parchment back to Faykan.
"You'll see…" Faykan said as he suddenly grabbed Harry arm and spun on his heel. The sensation for Harry was completely unexpected; like being squeezed through a tube backwards. Once the crushing sensation ended, Harry landed hard, and would have fallen over if Faykan hadn't held onto him for support.
Blinking slightly, Harry looked around to see where they were. He couldn't recognize anything, so Harry felt it safe to presume they were not in Little Whinging anymore. He and Faykan were standing in a small forest clearing, surrounded by the strangest looking, and oldest, trees Harry had ever seen. They made the ones in the forbidden forest outside Hogwarts seem tiny and insignificant. The air was close and quite warm, even for July. "Welcome to my home Harry," Faykan said and Harry turned to see him pointing westward where, over the lines of trees, Harry could barely make out a large, dark, stone tower in the shimmering moonlight.
Harry made sure to keep close to Faykan as they made their way through the dark and dense foliage toward the tower, as Harry kept hearing strange sounds echoing through the forest: grinding and crunching and many other sounds that Harry couldn't identify. After a particularly loud groan-like echo sounded, Harry cried out in surprise, "What was that?!"
Faykan paused, listening. After a moment or two, he ushered Harry ahead and quickened their pace, "Keep moving Harry, something is amiss in the forest tonight."
Harry was both worried and confused during the rest of their walk to the large tower. Faykan was silent and kept stopping suddenly when loud noises were heard in the forest, but they saw nothing. Fifteen minutes later, they entered a large clearing directly surrounding the quite massive tower.
The black stone shone in the moonlight, rising some five hundred feet into the sky. The sides were sheer, and craning his neck, Harry could see it ending in four large points at the very top.
Faykan mounted the steps up to the large double doors two at a time, Harry right behind him. He watched with interest as Faykan pulled out two solid black keys and slid them into the double lock in the center of the doors, causing them to grind slowly open.
The inside revealed a torch-lit circular chamber with several doors spaced around the walls. Harry took his time to glance around the chamber. The entire room was made of the same black stone as the outside of the tower, polished and carved in an artistic form that, to Harry, seemed far older than even the architecture of Hogwarts.
The light sources came from several large orb-like braziers posted on each side of the five double doors that fanned around the room, each burning happily with flames that warmed and lit the chamber quite well. Each pair of doors had the same design of a faded single white hand painted onto the iron-bound wood.
Faykan and Harry entered, and there were a pair of loud cracks signaling the arrival of two house elves, both wearing black robes emblazoned with the same white hand symbol on the chest. They bowed lowly to Faykan, "Welcome back, Master Faykan," they said in unison.
"Mae govannen, Tua, Mool,"Faykan said, nodding to them both, then gesturing to Harry and continuing in English, "This is Harry Potter; I would like you both to serve and assist him as you would me." The elves nodded and bowed low to Harry before popping out of sight once again.
"If you need anything Harry, feel free to call for either of them." Faykan said without turning to Harry, rather proceeding across the room at a casual pace, "Now, let me lead you to your guest room. There is something that I need to attend to, and it is late, so you might as well settle in for the night and leave questions and exploration for tomorrow."
Leading him swiftly through the main room, Faykan entered a large side room from the main chamber, which had a massive staircase that ascended upward around the perimeter of the square chamber, rising many stories up. How they managed to climb all those stairs, Harry wasn't sure, but eventually they stopped at a particular set of identical doors to all the others, and entered another chamber, far smaller than the one far below them. Directly across from the main doors that he and Faykan entered in from was a large throne-like seat, coated in the moonlight that came from a high window.
However, the most curious feature in this room was the small pillar in the exact center of the room, raised about four or five feet off the floor. Upon it, sitting at eye level to Harry and Faykan was a black cloth covering some sort of spherical object that Harry wasn't sure was.
But Faykan led Harry through the room without a word of mention regarding the object within and up another set of rather long stairs, bypassing several more landings and finally turning down a long corridor that ended in three more pairs of double doors.
Faykan indicated the doorway on the right, "That is the main guest chamber."
He then pointed at the right doors, "This is my room, feel free to enter if you need me for anything, and that," and nodding at the last pair of doors directly ahead, he added, "leads to the terrace overlooking the forest. We're a good three hundred feet up so the view is pretty amazing, even if you can't see too much at this time of night."
Harry nodded, suddenly feeling very tired; the adrenaline from the forest was wearing off after the long climb up many, many stairs. He pushed open the right hand doors and walked into a well-lit study with a large black writing desk and several chairs. In the back was a smaller door that led to the actual bedroom, which had a large four-poster feather bed that reminded Harry somewhat of the dormitory beds at Hogwarts, except that this one much larger, and stuck to the theme of black and white. Off to the side was a bathroom, complete with a walk in shower, sink and full body mirror. Thankfully, Dobby had already brought all of Harry's possessions, so he quickly changed into a pair of his pajamas and slid into the soft linen sheets of the bed. He fell asleep immediately as his head hit the pillow.
~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~
Albus Dumbledore sat in his study, pondering over a book he had recently acquired from the depths of the great school regarding the deeper aspects of the application of Ancient Runes. He had hoped to use the knowledge in order to strengthen the wards of the school over this summer, motivated even more than before by the breakout of Sirius Black, and the inevitable coming of Dementors to Hogwarts the next school year. The Minister might be thinking that it would protect Harry specifically, but anyone with more sense and less pride would realize that this would be putting far more in danger with that action.
However, he was startled out of further thought regarding the school as one of his many silver instruments started to flash and whir. A quick glance at his shelf of his various devices told Albus quickly that Harry Potter had left Little Whinging.
Dumbledore rose quickly, the book completely forgotten, and strode to observe the movements of the instrument. It should have been able to pinpoint wherever Harry was taken and display that information for Albus to see, but it continued to spin in confusion, seeking and not finding the boy.
Wherever Harry had gone, it was shrouded by magic from anyone looking for it, either having been made unplottable or residing under a Fidelius Charm, if not both. However, even then, the tracker should have been able to pinpoint a general area that the boy was, as it did when he was whisked away to the Burrow the previous summer. Yet the spindle continued to turn, unable to find any trace of Harry's magical signature in its exceedingly long range.
Albus didn't like this new development; Harry's disappearance would weigh heavily on his mind, on top of everything else. The boy should have stayed at least three weeks at the Dursleys to ensure that the blood wards were at their strongest for the rest of the year. The horrible prospect could easily be that Sirius had already gotten to Harry, but Albus was highly doubtful that that could be the case, as the man would have been without a wand, unless he took Harry's…
Worried now, Albus ran across the room to the fireplace, and flooed for Severus, waiting impatiently as the Potion Master stepped through, looking as confused as Albus felt.
"Harry is gone from Little Winging, Severus." Albus said quickly, showing Severus the silver tracker that was keyed to Harry's magical signature.
Severus studied the instrument for a short time, and finally glanced back at Albus, "How can this be? Could it have been Black? He has no way of traveling magically or else both we and the Ministry would have been alerted…" Severus grew thoughtful for a moment, pondering the quandary.
"Unless," the Potions Master said at last, "Undol… Undol could have taken Harry; it's the only way Harry would have gone willingly. Undol has hidden him away from us, whether knowingly or not though, I cannot say…"
Albus pondered his friend's words. If indeed young Faykan had spirited Harry away from his watchful gaze, then the other boy might prove to be far more dangerous than he had suspected. Albus had allowed the young Undol boy to be close to Harry, hoping that he could use the boys' apparent friendship and brotherly love for each other to further influence them against Voldemort when the time came. To help mold Harry into a perfect weapon to use against Voldemort, but this… hopeful it was just a mistake unfortunately occurring at the worst possible time, or else Faykan was far wiser than they gave the lad credit for.
Either way, Albus needed to find a way to tighten his grip on the free spirited boys, or they world would suffer for it. Harry was safest at the Dursleys until the Blood wards were charged, and there was nowhere else on the planet that ought to be for that time.
Yet, thinking about the other black-haired boy, Albus remember clearly the words that he had snatched from Faykan's mind only the previous year: 'The sleeper must be awakened, or the world will fall.'
Albus realized the meaning with a start. Undol must have his own plans for Harry, and had determined that the boy was this sleeper to be awakened, and this act was the first in a series of undermining efforts to turn the boy to his agenda. So it would seem that Faykan would fight against Albus just a readily as Voldemort over the future of the Wizarding World. Unfortunate indeed…
"You must find them, Severus," Albus said slowly, mind already working on how to curb the young man who thought himself wiser than the defeater of Grindlewald, "Before the school year begins if you can. Otherwise we need to formulate a plan against Undol and his machinations. For the greater good, Harry must fulfill the prophecy…"
"Honestly Albus," Severus complained, "Now you're making me look after these boys like a nursemaid. Isn't it bad enough that I must teach the brats as well as spy on the Dark Lord for you?"
"Severus…." Albus repeated, showing that it was not a request. The Potion Master sighed heavily, and nodded.
~~Sina tea kirma : This is a line break~~
Harry awoke to the pleasant warmth of morning sunlight pouring from the small window in his room. He sat up, stretching his arms and shoulders before grabbing his glasses from the bedside table.
Harry had just had the best night of sleep he could remember in a long time, even compared to those at Hogwarts. After a refreshing shower, Harry walking back into the bedroom wrapped in a luxurious towel. Dobby, or one of Faykan's house elves, must have known he had awoken, because a set of his day robes were laid out for him on the corner of the bed.
The fact that it was his only set in emerald green came as no surprise to Harry. Faykan had been the one to place the order for his non school robes for the last two years during their trips to Diagon Alley, and had made sure that they were specifically tailored for Harry to bring out his eyes.
Shaking his head slightly at the amusing memory, Harry pulled the clothing on and stepped out into the hallway, looking around at the corridor of various bedrooms in the early morning light. The doors on his right were open, leading to the large balcony, and the smell of food was wafting down the corridor from there.
Following his stomach, Harry stepped through the open doors, and gasped. The view was amazing, better than even Faykan had given it credit for. Harry could see over the tops of trees in all directions for a several miles, breaking off to long green plains one way and rising up into large snowcapped mountains the other.
Harry's stomach growled just then, bringing his attention back to his immediate vicinity. There were two chairs positioned on either end of a small table piled high with eggs, bacon, and sausages. Two goblets sat next to a pitcher of clear water. As Harry sat down one of Faykan's elves apparated nearby, and immediately started piling food into a plate for Harry, as well as filling one of the goblets with water.
"Um, where's Faykan?" Harry asked hesitantly. He still didn't know how to address house elves very well.
"Master is taking a walk in the forest Harry, Sir." The elf replied formally, pushing the plate towards Harry, "Master asked Tua to make sure Harry Sir, is being fed and clothed before he returned so they could spend the day together." Tua added with a sheepish grin. Clearly the small creature was somewhat pleased that she didn't have to take care of dressing Harry as well as feeding him. Even these creatures could be embarrassed apparently.
"Well, thanks," Harry said, picking up his utensils and starting to cut into the sausages. The elf simply smiled and disapparated away, leaving Harry to his food and his thoughts. The food reminded Harry of the feasts at Hogwarts, and he guessed that there might be house elves that cooked at the school as well, which when he thought about it, made complete sense, seeing as they had so many people to feed multiple times a day.
By the time Harry was finishing his second plate of food, as Tua came back and refilled it after he finished the first time; he spotted movement on the edge of the forest.
Peering down, Harry saw the small figure of Faykan making his way slowly through the gaps in the trees. He seemed to be taking his time, and kept turning as if talking with someone else, but Harry couldn't see anyone with Faykan. When Faykan made it to the edge of the tree line, he looked up at the tower, saw Harry on the balcony, and lifted his hand in greeting. Harry waved in return, and watched as Faykan turned back toward the forest for a few extra seconds, and finally made his way into the tower.
"Morning Harry," Faykan said sometime later as he walked out onto the balcony and snatched a piece of bacon from Harry's third plate, popping it into his mouth.
"Morning," Harry replied, smiling as he picked up his goblet of water and took a long drink. The flavor was unlike anything he had ever had before, and Harry paused and pulled the cup away from his face, looking at the water in surprise. He could have sworn that it had an earthy-rich taste, but he couldn't see anything in the water that could have changed the flavor.
Glancing up at Faykan, Harry saw that his friend was watching him closely while eating through his own plate of eggs, "It's not poisonous, if you're wondering," he said teasingly after swallowing his current mouthful. Harry stuck out his tongue in reply, and took another long swallow of the water, relishing the cool and surprisingly filling drink.
Together they just sat there for a long while, long after their meal was concluded and Tua came to collect the leftovers and dished. Harry watched the wind as it played out over the treetops, while Faykan seemed to be deep in thought.
Harry was about to ask what the other boy had planned for them to do, when Faykan suddenly stood, departing for a few minutes, before returning with a genuine hand-held harp. Without even a word of explanation, Faykan strummed the instrument once, testing it for tune, and sat back down, looking out over the trees as he began to play.
The music was haunting in its beauty, Faykan's fingers dancing across the strings for several long moments before the boy's voice added to the mixture, singing in the language that Harry had no hope of understanding, but nevertheless appreciated the noble bearing that the language presented.
"A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren peena míriel, o menal aglar elenath!" the song rose gently, as though addressing some far away person or being, wafting across the tress and echoing in the wind.
"Na-chaered palan-díriel, o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos," the tune dipped, seeing to grow earthy itself, but not in a dirty or muddied way, and Harry had some impression of the land itself within the tones, even if he couldn't understand the words.
"le linnathon nef aear, sí nef aearon!" If Harry had thought that the song was high before, it paled as the pitch seemed to spike, as thought seeming to pierce even the sky toward the clouds far above them.
"A Elbereth Glithoniel, o menel palan-díriel," Harry recognized the sounds of the song repeating a small section, and if he were to guess, he'd have said it was a name of some sort, perhaps the addressee of the song.
"Le nallon sí di'nguruthos!" And somehow, the song so full of life nad happiness took a turn toward sadness and grief, evoking such emotion that Harry wasn't sure where the almost mourning thoughts arose from.
"A tiro nin, Fanuilos!" and the song ended, drifting away like a plea on the wind, even as Faykan placed a hand against the strings to silence them, looking out across the wide lands that his home was situated near, looking far older and more weary than Harry had imagined that anyone could possibly be.
Harry was about ask what the words had meant, but just then a large brown barn owl came soaring over the forest toward where the two boys sat, landed on the handrail on the balcony, and extended a newspaper in its beak to Faykan, who took it and produced a Knut from his robes for the tiny pouch attached to the bird's leg. Faykan unfolded the paper, and sighed audibly, finally tossing it aside, onto the table in favor of returning his harp from whence it had come. Harry leaned over to read the top headline:
BLACK STILL AT LARGE
'Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.
"We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."
Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.
"Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it-who'd believe him if he did?"
While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse.'
Harry looked into the shadowed eyes of Sirius Black, the only part of the sunken face that seemed alive. Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one.
"He murdered thirteen people?" Harry asked, sitting up and looking to Faykan, who had just returned from within the tower.
"So the Ministry says at least…" Faykan replied, looking troubled. "But the thing they don't bother mentioning, Harry, is that they sent Black straight to Azkaban without a trial, so he could possibly be innocent. Not that they'll ever change their mind about it…" He sighed again, a deep sorrowful sound, and finally turned to Harry, a small smile on his face.
"But enough about the Ministry and Sirius Black, we've got almost two months of activity to plan out. So, what would you like to do first?"
Harry had no idea what there even was to do, "Um, maybe you could start by showing me around?" he ventured tentatively.
"Of course," Faykan said, jumping to his feet, and pulling Harry to his feet, the pair of boys set off down the twists of the tower, exploring it from the kitchens and potion lab in the bottom basement, all the way up through the many guest rooms and studies and museums, to the flat platform on the roof that was set between the four spike-like mounts.
Faykan there took the time to point out the major landmarks and places around the tower grounds that he said Harry might find interesting, namely, a large river about a mile southward that he called 'The Isen,' and the wide plains beyond it that was call the Westford, which Harry found strange, as they traveled further east of where the tower stood.
"How would we get over there, Fay?" Harry asked, as he was rather interested on where they actually were, and was eager to go traveling around the area.
"We ride of course…" Faykan said absently, as if Harry ought to have guessed the answer already.
"Ride?" Harry said, choking. He had never even seen a horse in person before in his life, let alone actually ridden one. Faykan turned to him, frowning slightly as he realized this.
"Well, unless you'd rather walk the entire distance…" he said, taking Harry by the arm and slowly pulling him back toward the stairs that led back into the tower, "don't worry, I'll teach you how to ride, and the horses here are very gentle with new riders."
As Faykan and Harry walked down to the forest edge, Harry wondering the whole time where the horses they were going to ride even were, as he did not see any sort of stables from their vantage point on the tower. Personally, he was hoping that Faykan had been teasing him, as Harry was terrified of having to ride, positively sure he was going to fall off and be injured or else make a fool of himself.
He started when Faykan let out a piercing whistle, and echoing out from the trees a responding whinny came. Harry turned toward the edge of the forest, just in time to see two majestic horses emerge. They were the most amazing animals he had ever seen this close. They were large; one having a black-grey coat with white legs and the other was white with a dark colored face.
Faykan walked forward and patted the black horse's head and murmuring soothing words in its ears as it leaned down to nuzzle him. Harry wanted to edge away, nervous at having to sit on top of such a large creature, when he felt a nose nudge the side of his head. Harry jumped, spinning around to find that the black-faced horse had snuck around behind him, and was looking at him with its large brown eyes, almost reassuringly. The horse nudged him again, before slowly trotting over to a bent tree that Harry figured he could use to climb up to the same level as the horse's back.
"You better go over to her," Faykan said, "Arstafas will keep pestering you until you follow her instructions." Harry turned to see his best friend already mounted on the black horse. "Don't worry," Faykan urged, "the Mearas are very gentle and intelligent, isn't that right Cáfscipe?" he added, patting his steed between the ears, which twitched in an affectionate way as he touched them.
Not convinced, but seeing no way out of this, Harry slowly walked over to the tree and walked halfway up it, until his waist was level with Arstafas' back. The horse then edged over until she was right next to Harry, allowing him to swing a leg over her and ease his weight onto her back.
Arstafas, seeming to sense Harry's agitation at being so far off the ground, edged away gently from the tree, and walked slowly to where Faykan waited atop Cáfscipe. Harry caught Faykan watching his progress with a smirk, and quickly focused on staying on the horse, trying to match the bouncing gait as Arstafas trotted after Faykan's mount into the forest.
"You ready to quicken our pace, Harry?" Faykan called back to him after a short time. Harry was most definitely not ready, and tightened his hold on his horse's mane, leaning forward slightly to ease the pressure on his lower body as the she quickened her pace. Soon, Harry found a pattern in the movements of the body beneath him and finally was able to stop his entire body bouncing with every step Arstafas took.
Almost a half hour later, Harry could see the trees thinning out as he and Faykan exited the forest and came to the banks of a wide lazy river. Arstafas edged up beside Faykan's horse, and Harry could see Faykan smiling at his progress of learning to ride.
Faykan slid off Cáfscipe and helped Harry dismount as well. "Welcome to the fords of Isen, Harry." Faykan said waving his arms wide to indicate the river. Harry glanced around at the wide expanse and saw Faykan grin at him again, before he started to pull his robe off over his head. Faykan stripped down to his pants and, with another quick glance at Harry, dove headfirst into the water, which clearly was deeper than its name implied. He resurfaced moments later, tossing the hair out of his face.
Faykan swam backward a few strokes, deeper into the river and called out, "Come on Harry, the water is great." Harry sighed, knowing that telling Faykan that he couldn't swim would not be a good enough excuse, and pulled his clothes off. Instead of diving in like Faykan however, Harry waded slowly into the river, becoming accustomed to the temperature of the water gradually.
Harry was certain that Faykan was watching him while he attempted to swim a few strokes, and knew he was going about it completely wrong when Faykan swam over to help. "Here, let's try this," Faykan said as he placed his hands under Harry's chest and stomach, supporting Harry's body with his arms and setting him horizontally at the top of the water so that Harry could practice the correct arm and leg movements with Faykan's verbal coaching.
Nearly an hour of practice later, Harry had finally managed to learn the proper technique and was able to swim on his own. He and Faykan swam side by side for several lengths, Faykan giving Harry final bits of instruction when they heard the distinctive crack of apparition and turned to see both of Faykan's elves and Dobby waiting for them on the bank near their clothes.
The two boys waded out of the river just as the three house elves were setting out a large blanket on the sunlit grass. Dobby handed Harry a large towel to dry himself while Faykan simply cast a wandless drying charm on himself. Faykan then spoke a long quick stream of elvish and both of his robed elves vanished with a pair of loud cracks, only to reappear moments later carrying a large basket of food between them.
"Could anyone learn to speak like that?" Harry asked, finally thinking he might get to ask some of the many burning questions he had for Faykan as he dried his hair.
"Of course," Faykan answered, "Are you asking for me to teach you?"
"I don't know," Harry replied playfully, "Are you offering?"
Faykan smiled as he bit into a sandwich that the elves had brought. He chewed thoughtfully for a bit, swallowed and finally said, "Sure, but not just yet. Let's wait till it's closer to your birthday."
Harry nodded and took a sandwich for himself from the wonderful lunch that the house elves had prepared for them. This allowed him to gather his thoughts for what he wanted to ask his best friend, but there so many things that he wasn't sure where to start.
After drinking some more of the rich, earth tasting water, he finally settled on at least one important question. "So, Fay," he started, hesitant to actually get the words out.
Faykan had already laid back on the warm grass, and opened one eye to look at him from his relaxed position, "Hmm?" he responded.
"What is all of this?" Harry asked, gesturing around the forest and river around then, but implying the tower, "Why do you live here of all places? Weren't you living with Ms. Figg?"
"Ah, yes, that…" Faykan said, sounding as though he had hoped that those details would have been forgotten. "I was just living with her until I was old enough to take my inheritance from my parent's will… which includes the tower and all the land round about…"
"Oh…" Harry replied, immediately regretting asking at all. He knew that Faykan's parents were dead, just as his were, and it wasn't a topic that he wished to pry too far into.
As though sensing his disquiet, Faykan continued, "It feels good to finally be back here, at the place my family has protected for generations, preserving the museums and relics for countless ages of the earth."
"Relics of what?" Harry mused aloud, his interest piqued.
"A History that time has all but forgotten…" Faykan said. "My family are the caretakers of this place, and I will continue in the tradition until it is time for me to pass it on as well. It's good for me, I think, to be around the things that they prized so very much."
Harry grew quiet again, thinking of his own parents, and the few items and memories that he had regarding them. The cloak that was his fathers of course, as well as the picture album that Hagrid had given him two years ago was among the only items he had. Even the memory of seeing his family in the Mirror of Erised was a fond one, but only memories nonetheless.
After they had finished, the house elves had whisked away the remains of food and the blanket, and Faykan and Harry rode back to the tower together on Cáfscipe, as Arstafas had wandered off somewhere into the forest and did not return.
They then spent the rest of the day, and much time for the next several days afterward practicing magical dueling, as Faykan told Harry that they could use magic freely in and around his house without the Ministry ever being the wise, as they were shielded by powerful defensive magic that blocked all traces that Faykan himself did not permit from entering.
Faykan also started teaching Harry the basics of sword combat, allowing him to borrow one of the many bladed weapons that were housed in his several drawing rooms. Harry had been nervous at first, but under careful prompting from Faykan, he had selected a light one-handed sword to use, which Faykan said was called Hadhafang, and was of ancient elvish make, very similar to his own Glamdring.
Harry also spent a lot of time in the tower's library, pouring over all the books he could read, since there were many that were written in languages that he could not recognize. Faykan also took to reading some of these other books to Harry, on his request, and Harry enjoyed hearing the tales of the past ages. Professor Binns' lessons had never gone earlier than the middle ages, therefore all this knowledge was new and very exciting, even more so because Faykan was a very good story teller.
Among the various tales that he listened two, Harry felt drawn primarily to the one that Faykan called the Lay of Eärendil, also known as the mariner. There were many parallels that Harry felt between himself and the ancient man, their loss of parentage at a young age, being thrust into the unknown, among many other trials that he was facing and the ancient hero had faced.
But his absolute favorite part was the tale of how Eärendil took one of the ancient jewels, the Silmaril, into the heavens aboard his ship Vingilot, where it became the star Gil-Estel, which was honored with the name of the great man. Remembering what Faykan had told him the previous year, some nights he would recall the story in his mind, while pondering over the Phial that he had received, the light within sparkling like a star that it was said to reflect the light of.
The way Faykan spoke of these people however, Harry could tell that his best friend knew far more than the books had to tell, as he would add his own details, possibly embellishments for Harry's sake, but he wasn't so sure. There was a confidence and certainty that Faykan possessed that ventured no room for doubt in his additions to the tales, and he went to great lengths to explain the pedigrees of the people, how Noble Eärendil had descended from the greatest of the houses of Men and Elves.
But if anything, Faykan seemed more fascinated with Elwing, the wife of Eärendil, who the granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien, the great heroes of the First Age, who each came from even greater forebears, Beren from the legendary house of Bëor, while Lúthien was the daughter of a king of the elves and a Maia, which as far as Harry could understand, was some sort of angelic being beyond the understanding of mortals of the present days.
Somehow, even with the great amount of detail that Faykan told the stories with, Harry still felt that there was even more that his friend was withholding from him, not that he had any sort of proof that that was the case.
Mae govannen, Tua, Mool : Greetings, Helper, Servant
A Elbereth Gilthoniel, silivren peena míriel, o menal aglar elenath! : O Elbereth Glithoniel (Starkindler), white-glittering, slanting down sparkling like a jewel, the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel, o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos, : Having gazed far away, from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth, to thee, Everwhite,
le linnathon nef aear, sí nef aearon! : I will sing, on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Ocean.
A Elbereth Glithoniel, o menel palan-díriel, : O Elbereth Glithoniel (Starkindler), from heaven gazing afar,
Le nallon sí di'nguruthos! : to thee I cry now beneath the shadow of death!
A tiro nin, Fanuilos! : O look towards me, Everwhite!
Potential Spoilers Ahead, You Have Been Warned!
So, initially I had thought to changed the names of Faykan's House Elves, as they seemed rather uninspired and dull, but I realized that that was the nature of House Elf names, so it actually fit better that way. I did however change the names of the horses to actual elven names for Maras, which the fun fact is that they are supposed to be descended from Shadowfax, or some other of the lords of horses.
I added more detail on the structure of Orthanc, as I felt that I had oversimplified it the first go around, and did not give enough detail to the sheer size of the tower.
NEW DUMBLEDORE SECTION! well, not really... this was actually the first official one, after the small snippet in his office in book 2, and the start of actually writing from his perspective, but I did expand on it a fair amount, connecting it back to the previous sections and his line of actually liking Faykan, and only now starting to wonder if he might be a threat to their safety with his control over Harry.
Added in another poem of Tolkien, which fits with Faykan's proclivity for song. Also, finally Harry starts asking Faykan questions about himself, starting with Ms. Figg. and leading into Faykan's falsified life, pre-reveal.
Great things are happening, thanks for reading! see you next time! ~F