Bane

2623

A/N: When I went looking for a former headmaster to use in this chapter, I couldn't find one in the time frame I needed. I wanted someone in the 9th to 12th century, around the time of the Norman Invasion. In going through the list of known headmasters, I found this guy:

"An unidentified headmaster wearing a velvet cotehardy with a golden and blue belt. He had a grey beard and a green hat and a rich red cloak that dragged the ground. Under his portrait were the following words in Latin: Atatis XXXV and the inscription: Suprem (sic) Aeris regio Aquce Salsa Regio Vegetbis Pura." (according to HP Wiki)

His outfit was close to the time frame I was looking for. The problem was he didn't have a name listed. So I gave him one after my favorite monk from around the same time frame.

Also for those not knowing this: (sic) is an editing term that is used when there is a mistake within original quotations or excerpts (meaning that's how it appears in the original text).

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Chapter 22

The first thing Harry did once he had entered the headmaster's office was searching for the room or area where the faux ward-stone had been hidden.

Feeling the trail of fading magic, he headed towards a small semi-hidden door in the back of the office. Ignoring the many knick-knacks and paintings as well as the headmaster, he needed to make sure he had cut all of the lines from the false ward-stone to the node. He had to make sure the stone was dead.

"Harry, my boy? Do not go in there. . ." The headmaster tried to stop the young mage from heading into the ward-room behind his desk. However, the teen skirted around the desk, ignoring the aged headmaster.

Harry sighed with relief as he stood at the open doorway. The room was dark and cold. "Good, it's dead. That headache is over for now. Although the castle node is still unstable and full to bursting," he assured himself softly but knew he still had a lot of work to bring it back under control.

"How. . .?" Albus sputtered, overhearing the comment. "Harry, my boy? What's the meaning of this?"

Harry ignored the disapproval in the headmaster's face as he stepped around from the doorway and back around the desk.

The two Unspeakables, as well as the young auror, created chairs for themselves and the only chair left for Harry was a stiff-backed student chair in front of the desk.

"Oh. That will never do," Harry commented, frowning at the chair. He was no student to be called up to be chastised by the headmaster. In the past, he may have been willing to sit in that uncomfortable wooden, straight-backed chair, but not now.

Well, he decided to take a page out of his father's book on how to flaunt yourself. It might be fun to act out.

So with a wave of his hand, he carefully pulled magic from the overworked node. Harry knew he could siphon energy, causing it to settle down, as long as he knew what he was doing. The next thing was to clear the nodes vents to release the built-up pressure.

The wooden chair changed into a huge, wildly colored pillow bag that his father Firesong would love. Behind him were gasps as he turned, kicking one leg out, causing him to fall backwards into the waiting airy comfort. This was more like it. The node gave a slight grumble, causing those in the office to look around as it settled back down.

"What!?" Harry looked up as he settled comfortably and into their stunned looks. "I'm tired. It was rough couple of days trying to keep the castle from going sky-high, taking everything for miles around with it."

"Now, Harry…" Albus tried once more to control the situation. "It couldn't have been that bad."

:He is telling the truth.: came a male voice in everyone's mind as a large cream and orange cat hopped onto the headmaster's desk. :Or did not the ground rumblings not warn you?:

"Gentlemen, I would like to give you a little history lesson before I introduce my friend here," Harry explained. "You might as well get comfortable. Also. . ." He paused as he lifted a hand, looking sharply at Albus Dumbledore. "What I'm about to tell you is the truth. You will not like it, but then, you are not a god or Merlin. No matter what you believe. I'm not lying, it serves no purpose, and yes, it was that bad."

"Now Harry…" the headmaster again chided the young mage.

One of the unspeakable chuckled. "He has you pegged, Albus. You never take anyone's word for anything, because you know everything and they don't."

Albus opened his mouth to speak again as Harry leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"Enough!" the tired teen snapped. "I really don't care what you believe, any of you. You will just have to deal with the truth. The magic built up under the castle was ready to blow, still is, and has been for some time."

:Get on with it Harry.: came the voice again.

The young mage gave a nod to the firecat.

Harry helped himself before continuing. "Look, it started last spring, when I was in a bad place. I had lost the last connection to my parents and I was about to be sent back to hell on earth, my magic-hating relatives. . . "

"Now Harry, you know being with your relatives . . . "

"Shut it! You meddling old man. I can and will make a magical oath that there was no love in that house! They hated everything that didn't fall into their idea of normal, including me!" Harry snapped once more at the headmaster. "Sal, if you would?"

:Gladly Harry. His prattle is starting to wear on my nerves, as well.: came the voice again.

Albus, once again, started to protest until he was stop mid-sentence. In fact, he couldn't move or speak.

Harry smiled. "Thanks Sal. Very well, since you would need the full story and we really don't have the time. I would like to introduce you to Salazaar. He's a firecat, an avatar to the god Vkandis, the sunlord of one of the gods of the refugees from the world known as Velgarth. He's the reason why you can't move or interrupt, Professor."

"Now Mr. Potter." It was the Unspeakable who chided this time.

:I was Salazaar in life. I was a babe in arms when I arrived on these shores along with my family. Growing up in these foreign lands, I met my friends, who were also refugees as well. With the blessing from whom you would call Merlin, whom we called Myddin, we four built this school.: The firecat turned to look at the Unspeakable.

:My family had already created the node of magical power under this valley, but the castle came later.

:They directed several ley lines to fill the node. Magical nodes that artificially made as this one must be monitored constantly. They could go rogue easily. More on that later.: the firecat decided to the subject at hand.

:The other founders had already moved on into the Undying Lands. I remained behind. Because the need was great, I was asked to return. I must say Harry has been a joy to teach.: came Sal's voice. He turned unblinking eyes to the headmaster. :I'm very disappointed in how badly all of our hard work in starting this school was for nothing. There are no great feats of magic, no working for the betterment of our world. Bahhh! Instead, you are all hiding like rats in the sewers. I did not help create the best school for magic to be used as your little fiefdom.:

Albus gave an offended huff as the firecat continued to stare at the headmaster. :You've turned this castle into a political science experiment. You have a potions master that is more at home in his laboratory than teaching. A ghost teaching history on only the goblin wars, ignoring the full rich history of magic and boring his students. Lastly, how many topics have been removed from the curriculum that doesn't fit with your so called Greater Good? Hmmmm?:

Albus' face grew purple with rage as the firecat kept him silent.

"Enough, Sal. We can deal with that later. We have more pressing business. The faux ward-stone," Harry interrupted, although his back was towards the hidden room, everyone knew he what he was referring to. "Thank the Star-eyed that I was able to disable Merlin's deadman switch in time. That faux stone has been causing all kinds of trouble and do NOT get me started on all of the conflicting wards. . . Who's idea was it to create that monstrosity?"

Everyone blinked, at the change in the subject.

"I was the one with three Unspeakables of my time to create that stone, young man," announced one of the portraits. "It had to be done. We could no longer access the original ward-stone chamber."

Everyone's attention was turned to one of the older portraits. He was a tall wizard wearing a velvet cotehardy with a golden and blue belt. He had a grey beard and a green hat and a rich red cloak that dragged the ground. Under his portrait were the following words in Latin: Atatis XXXV and the inscription: Suprem (sic) Aeris regio Aquce Salsa Regio Vegetbis Pura.

"What do you mean, Cadfael?" asked another portrait.

"It took us over a day to make that stone," Headmaster Cadfael informed them. "We had no choice. There was no one left to access the Stone room. All attempts to enter… failed. No one was left with the knowledge, after the Normans invaded, killing all those that had adept potential. I must know, though, how long and who helped you to disable it, young man?"

Harry sighed, rubbing face, tiredly. "It doesn't really matter. Time has no meaning when you enter a rogue node." He wasn't about to give away information on that room unless it became very, very necessary. Changing the subject, he had to make them understand just how dangerous the situation had been.

"Tell me, sir, what happens when you plug a tea kettle and place it on a warm hot plate? How long do you think the water will heated up to boiling point?"

"What pray tell what does that have to do with anything? I repeat: We could no longer access the true ward stone. There was no one left who was able to enter the chamber. Something had to be done."

"So you ignored the warnings and tried to reconnect to the node?"

"What else could we do? What choice did we have?"

Harry, scowled at the ignorance and arrogance of wizards decide to change tactics, snapped his fingers and called out for Dobby. "Refreshments please, something light and tart, please."

Dobby popped in and snapped his fingers, and a small table with a pitcher of juice and a platter of finger foods appeared. Then the small elf popped out again.

"You could've asked for divine help!" Harry snarled, as he helped himself to a glass of juice. "At the Great Sundering when the Shin'a'in and the Tayledras split over how to deal with magic and the miles wide and deep crate that used to be their home, they called onto Her and She answered."

Headmaster Cadfael huffed. "Well, excuse me. The gods had retreated from our world and we lost much to those godless Normans!"

Harry shook his head. "Again, what happens when you plug up a tea kettle and place it on a very low fire? How long do you think the water to heated up, building steam? In time it will explode as the pressure within has no place to go! That is what was happening under our very feet, for centuries! Thank the Star-eyed! That it took centuries was a blessing. However, time's up. The explosion was only days away."

"You don't know that!" the portrait interjected.

"Actually, I do!" Harry snarled as he threw his mug at the portrait. "I was trained by a Healer Adept. Be thankful he isn't here, now. He'd rip everyone a new one and then, would just let the node explode just to teach you all a lesson for your stupidity!"

A loud snort came from the firecat. :Firesong is not one who suffers stupid people well.:

"Well, that faux stone is now dead, and all of the wards tied to it! So you have to wait until I have recovered enough to start cleaning out the wards around the castle. It is going to be years before the mess will be completely rectified!" Harry commented as he reached for a sandwich.

"But you can't! We need those wards!" shouted several portraits, even the muted Albus stood in protest.

"No, not really," Harry disagreed as he polished off the sandwich and grabbed another. "I have access to the original stone. The original wards are working, a little sluggishly, but they are fine for the moment. However, first, I need to release some more of the magic the node is holding."

"But you said it would take a healing adept to fix it? Why you?" the

Unspeakable asked with a frown.

"That's right," Harry agreed. "I'm a master-class Healer Adept, just a rank below my adopted father, Firesong. I'm well trained in dealing with nodes and ley-lines. Well, this is no heart-stone that I am used to dealing with, but still, I can fix it and clean out the ward schematics. And yes, it could take a year, maybe more."

:He will not be alone in this endeavor, myself and Keiryn are well trained in being his anchors. The problem I see is keeping everyone away from Firefox as he works.:

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The young auror realized he was way out of his league. Ward stones? Hogwarts in danger of exploding? What in Merlin's name is going on? Maybe the Ministry is right. Harry Potter was insane! He needed to be stopped.

No one was paying any attention to him as he pressed his wand to his auror badge requesting back-up. Hopefully, someone with more authority can make more sense.

The floo network in the headmaster's office flared. A voice echoed through the flames. "Aurors! What is your emergency?"

Albus frowned as he stood as the young auror also stood and gave a command code: "Charlie Foxtrot!"

"Permission to enter, Headmaster," came the voice that sounded they were coming if he liked it or not.

Albus sighed and looked over at the firecat. The cream-colored feline blinked and turned his head.

Finding his voice freed, Albus, with a put-upon air, answered, "Come on through."

The auror noted that the so called firecat was no longer seen and Harry Potter was resting in that over-sized pillow with his eyes closed.

The teen didn't seem too worried after dropping that bit of bombshell. It had to be a joke, right?

He turned his attention to the Unspeakables. They seemed to believe the teen, but it was hard to tell, with the grey hoods covering their faces.

The fireplace flared again and a team of Aurors stepped out, as well as Head Auror Pier Thickness. Now, things would be straightened out.

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A/N: Thanks to Miriam1, who suggested I use the NATO phonetic alphabet for CF, short for Cluster F*ck. And as she so aptly put it: "It's an American term, but gets the job done."

Sorry for the cliffie, yet again. Have no fear, this story in almost over. The final chapter has been written and waiting in the wings.

Until next time. – GF with special thanks for Miriam1 for her help.