Bane
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Snow and recovering from the holidays.
Disclaimer : See chapter 1. Reviews are welcomed, flames are not.
The definition of a heart-stone is from Valdemar Wiki
:Mindspeak.:
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Chapter 23
Firefox plopped onto his bed in the Ravenclaw Tower, exhausted. The ensuing meeting with the aurors, Unspeakables, and Albus had erupted into a giant shouting match, with the Unspeakables winning.
Winky popped in with a tray, breaking into his tired musings. "Here, Master Firefox. Eat before you sleep."
He sighed as he sat up. "Thank you, Winky."
His mind was still on the meeting he had just left, where he had tried to relax in his over-sized bean bag dozing, listening to the argument erupting around him. He only answered when he had been spoken to. His answers were not what they wanted to hear, which set off everyone, again.
Whatever was decided didn't matter to him. He had too much work to worry about wizard politics.
However, his final comment floored everyone: "I did try to warn everyone about the danger, and like everyone living in the Wizarding World watched as Albus Dumbledore stuck his fingers in his ears while singing a silly song while treating everyone as if they were a baby wearing diapers."
After shocking everyone into silence, he stood and stretched.
"Now Harry, it isn't like that," Albus chided once more, proving the teen's point.
"Fine. Don't believe me, then," Firefox yawned loudly. "I'm going to bed. I still have to deal with an unstable node."
As he walked out, the bean bag dissipated, to the astonishment of those left behind.
He was still curious about who actually won the argument after he had left, but not enough to return.
:Don't worry, Harry,: came Sal's voice in the back of his mind. :They are still arguing. You need to get some rest.:
:I wondered where you went to.:
:Someone has to keep an eye on that lot. Children! One and all.:
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An Unspeakable was waiting for Harry to finally make an appearance two days after the meeting in the headmaster's office. The young mage had been holed up in his room, sleeping and recovering from the nearly rogue node. Sal and the house-elves had been his eyes and ears, reporting what was happening in the castle.
The Unspeakables decided to allow the students back into the castle, after the reassuring the Minister, the school board, and the parents it was safe to do so.
"Ahh, Mr. Potter, a word?" the Unspeakable asked as he stepped out of the shadows as the teen made his way to the ward-stone chamber.
Firefox sighed. He just knew he was going to be stopped from completing his task. Wizards were so predictable. Well, time for a bit of mischief. He did need a laugh in this sorry business.
"Sheka!" He shouted the Shin'a'in word for horse droppings. He knew he would've had his mouth washed out by Silverfox for using the vulgar word as he kept walking past him. The teen blamed Firesong for the language. His father was well known for speaking his mind.
The Unspeakable pulled his wand, only to be stopped by the clicking of nails coming up behind him.
The gryphon. It came to a stop, behind the grey-robed wizard, causing him to tense in fear.
"SSSSseka isss right. But would your father approve of ssssuch language?" Keiryn asked, before dropping back into the shadows.
"What does it mean?" the Unspeakable asked, confused but not dropping his guard.
Harry sighed before looking back over his shoulder. "Silverfox wouldn't, but Firesong would just laugh. It means 'horse droppings' in Shin'a'in." He shook his head as he continued. "Busy. No time. If I don't finish this now . . ." The gryphon clicked his beak in as a form of laughter as he moved past them.
"Wait! Where is it going?" The hooded wizard pointed his wand at the gryphon.
"Keiryn?" Firefox shrugged, as he continued down the corridor, causing the Unspeakable to follow. "I'm not his keeper. I should warn you, Keiryn was raised wild. On his fledgling flight, a Blood-path mage killed his parents to raise a pair of demons. He was taught how to blend into his surroundings to hunt prey. Gryphons are quite clever creatures, as well as highly intelligent. Now, if you want to come along, then come. I can't guarantee that you can enter the chamber, but you can watch."
The Unspeakable had to almost run to keep up with the teen.
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The chamber was as Firefox had left it minus any guards. Turning to the grey-robed wizard, he raised an eyebrow in a question.
"The Minister wanted to ring this hallway with his aurors, but we convinced him not to. He also wanted to arrest you, but again, we convinced him not to. Which is why I am with you," came the reply.
Harry gave a nod as he raised his hand to touch a carved rune. "Only those with adept potential can enter. You will need to be tested to be found worth by the wards themselves. If not, you will either be stunned or killed, depending on your intent. Merlin and the founders felt strongly about protecting this school. If that pit-damned portrait had done it right and asked for divine help, we would not be here."
"What do I need to do?"
"Aurors! Freeze! Drop your wands!"
The teen sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. However, behind the aurors came a hissed and a snapping of a large beak as well as a growl and hiss as two bodies fell to the floor.
Firefox and the Unspeakable turned towards the new threat. The young mage started to pull magic from the node. The magical glow from his hands lit up the narrow hallway, showing the fallen team of aurors, and Keiryn and Salazaar standing over them.
"Guess the Minister wasn't convinced you can handle it," Firefox commented to the Unspeakable as he allowed a bit of energy in his hands fade away. "Their problem is: I don't need a wand. I can call up magic from the ley-lines that run in the earth. What you call 'wild magic.'"
Two more grey-robed wizards stepped out of the shadows, placing small disks on the aurors' unconscious forms, causing both of the downed figures as well as one of them to disappear.
Firefox shook his head as he turned back to the ward-stone cavern. "What I'm about to do is dangerous, but only to me. The castle and everyone inside it should be fine. Thank the Star-eyed, the major danger is over. I've removed the dead-man switch that Merlin had placed, which was the cause of all the quaking. It didn't want to be shut down."
"What're you going to do now?" ask the Unspeakable, who seemed a bit frightened, as the other stood behind him.
"I'm going to finish what Merlin and the founders started when they created the castle's ward-stone, but I was taught a better way. So, I plan on turning their crude and over-worked ward-stone into a heart-stone. It'll be safer, and with the proper vents and supports. Right now, all the 'checks and balances' have been destroyed over time by that thrice damned fake ward stone."
"What is the difference between the two stones?"
Harry sighed, closing his eyes. "A ward-stone is just that: a stone created to hold runes and anchor wards. A heart-stone is much more.
"It is a physical anchor which has a limited consciousness. They are mainly created to cleanse magic in a tainted area. There's no consciousness in a ward-stone. Hogwarts isn't quite that tainted, but the node under the castle was about to go rogue, as the checks and balance had been eliminated over the centuries by carelessness of the headmasters who think they know everything. That's why I need to work on changing that, but not today. Right now, I need to shore up those checks, to keep the node from going rogue."
"I see. So how are you going to do it?"
"Right now – the only vent had been blocked by that former headmaster, and each headmaster added more debris on top of it, adding to the danger. Now that I've started to clear out the debris, I need to reopen the vent, and put in the checks to keep the magical energy that the ley-lines are pouring into the node from becoming rogue once more. That will help when I create the heart-stone. Problem, there is still too much pressure built up, and releasing it over time will require a very delicate hand."
"Hmmm," the Unspeakable replied as he, at least the teen sensed the being before him was male, rubbed his chin. "Is there anything I can do?"
Firefox sighed, and shook his head. "Not really. Untrained, you would be in the way and more of a hindrance than a help. However, you can watch, if you know how to link your mind with another person."
"Like Legilimency?"
"Not quite," Harry shook his head. "I use mind speech and you need to be born with this Gift. Sal? What do you think?"
The firecat jumped into Harry's arms as he caught the Unspeakable's mind with his. :He might work. Many of the students here at Hogwarts have the potential to be mage-adepts. Most adults are too hide-bound and have lost that potential as they become too reliant on their wands.:
"We're Unspeakables," the grey-hooded wizard intoned. "We view magic differently than the rest of the Wizarding World. We analyze magical spells and ancient magics."
:That may be,: Salazar chided, before going into teacher mode. :Using a focus is the difference between a hedge wizard and a mage. Adept mages don't need one. How dependent are you on your wand? Can you access your magic without it? Can you feel the magic around you?:
The Unspeakable paused, then nodded. "I see." He pulled out his wand and dropped it to the floor. "Try me."
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The node was just as wild and unpredictable as Firefox left it. Thankfully, it was no longer any imminent danger of exploding. Oh, the pressure was still there and the energy around him buffeted him as he pushed through, dragging the Unspeakable with him. It didn't take the young mage long to find the vent that had been plugged.
:There, you see, that's where the dead-man switch was. The fools thought this was a corridor to hook up another ward-stone - instead they plugged the only vent.:
The frighten Unspeakable swallowed his fear as swirling strands of magic flowed around him. It was like being in a typhoon as the energy raged around him.
:It'll be ages before the node will settle down. It is still very unstable. Fools, the lot of them. You do not mess with nodes. They are too unpredictable.:
Firefox turned back to the plugged vent, and with a magical tug, finished what he had started earlier. Thankfully, he could feel both Sal and Keiryn's safety tether holding him as the energy around him began to flow past him.
The Unspeakable, however, couldn't stifle a scream as the energy rushed past them and up into the vent. If he hadn't been tethered, he would've been sucked through the vortex.
The teen gave a satisfied nod. One vent down; however, he needed another one. There was too much magic within the node for one vent. He could already see the strain on the vent trying to handle the rushing magical energy.
Firefox had already picked out the placement of the new vent and moved to through the node, pulling the Unspeakable with him.
This was perfect.
Gathering the energy around him until it built up, he punched another hole into the node, sending up another geyser of pent-up energy, which shot through the hole and into the forest outside.
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The centaurs paused in their patrolling of the forest as they felt a renewing of the magic.
They had been watching the night skies and felt the shift in magic. The physically biggest shift was the gryphon attacking the acromantula colony. As of now, all of the large spiders were gone. Plus, the nests were destroyed as well.
The warriors were able pick off the smaller spiders and burn the webs and nests that the gryphon had missed.
Now this, in the middle of the day. A burst of magic that hadn't been felt since the age of the founders.
Maybe there is still hope.
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The Unspeakable was finally dropped from the mind meld, falling to his knees in exhaustion, too stunned at what he had witnessed. He raised his shaking hands and stared at them. Magic arched between his fingers as the magic that clung to him slowly faded away.
Never had anyone in the Department of Mysteries seen true untapped wild magic and lived. To be in the presence of an Old One. One of the Great Ones! The ancient stories were true! Dear Merlin!
The Ministry wasn't going to like this! They would want to control this young mage and if not. . .
Firefox staggered out of the cavern behind the Unspeakable and sighed. The hooded wizard noted that the teen was grey with fatigue. Suddenly, a small house elf popped in beside him.
With the snap of the elf's fingers, both he and Firefox were sent to the kitchen.
After Firefox downed a rejuvenating potion, three fruit drinks, and started in on the plate of sandwiches that been placed before him, did color in the teen's face return.
The Unspeakable wasn't far behind the teen in replenishing himself. Neither spoke until they had replenished their magic and bodies.
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The stunned aurors were set down in Office of the Head Auror Pius Thickness. An Unspeakable stood over them.
When the meeting between him and the grey-robed wizards ended, the cowardly wizard, who was no Amelia Bones, stormed out of his office and straight to the Minister's.
He refused to be a part of whatever the Unspeakables were a part of. In Merlin's name, he really didn't.
The minister, hell, the Dark Lord wasn't going to like this report.
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The staff and students returned to the castle a week after the earthquakes had stopped. Classes were resumed, and the Unspeakables still walked the hallways. The aurors were, however, strangely absent.
Hermione looked around for Harry, but he couldn't be found. She sent a note through Winky, the last time the small elf did her hair, but hadn't had a response yet. She and Ginny had continued using the small house elf for their hair, to the envy of the other girls.
"Have you notice how bright and light everything is?" Lavender Brown asked, as she sat nearby, looking up at the ceiling.
Several Gryffindors nodded. "What happened?"
"Little Harrikins happened," Fred Weasley replied.
"Speaking of Harry," Hermione popped in. "Anyone seen him lately?"
Several people shook their heads.
So where was Harry?
The teen, after sending the Unspeakable away, was sleeping off his latest voyage into the node in his Tower suite.
Things were going well, so far. However, he was missing his fathers and friends from the Vale, and wishing there was some way to speak with them.
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A/N: I know I am evil.