Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: Thank you to all my awesome readers for coming back to the next instalment, and hopefully those new to this story.
As of January 2023, I have a new job. This means I will have writing time again and hope to add more to my stories soon.
-oOo-
Today's story: The trek to Durmstrang and the castle.
-oOo-
Chapter 18
-oOo-
August 22, 1993
Durmstrang, Norway
They stood at the edge of the ward stones of Voldnord. On the northern edge, there was a gap of a few hundred meters to the stone cairns and the village. A distortion in the field could be seen where the Ridgeback was pushing against the ward of the preserve.
Anders, Karl and two other men, Soren Jahmsburg and Emil Kristiansen stood off to the side talking in Norwegian. Daphne, her sister and five other children were all nervously looking at the shimmering ward field. Daphne was trying to reassure them that nothing was wrong.
"What did you do to bugger it?" Sirius ask, scratching his chin.
"Wasn't me. I was just there," Harry replied.
"Maybe that's the problem," Sirius suggested.
"Maybe it just hates the smell of dog," Harry shot back.
"Perhaps. Or it smells Rexy on you. I'm telling you they are just another type of dragon," Sirius replied.
Harry snorted in mirth. "Yeah, will luckily Rexy doesn't shoot fire out his mouth."
"Give it time. Maybe it is part of his sex change," Sirius speculated.
Harry shook his head. When they had left, Dr Wu and some of Lockwood's scientists were still scrambling to figure that out. Especially since only about half of the dinosaur species had spontaneously generated males when they should have all been females.
"Dr Malcolm said life finds a way before he left. Do you think magic did it?" Harry asked.
"Possibly. We should be worrying about that dragon at the moment. The sun will be going down in a few hours and they all seem really nervous about it." Sirius nodded to the knot of men.
Harry looked over. Two woman Harry hadn't met yet came out of the Kristiansen's house and called the children. Daphne looked like she didn't want to go, but left, herding the others back to the houses.
Harry leaned into Sirius, "Daphne says the wards lessen at night. Sometimes some of the creatures escape, but usually only when it is dark all the time in the winter."
Sirius pursed his lips and looked to the men. "They think it will get out tonight."
Harry shrugged. "Don't know but looks that way."
"I've never heard of a dragon acting this way. I wonder why?" Sirius put to no one in particular.
Harry frowned, going over what he had read or learned from Hagrid. After a moment, he said, "Probably treasure. Hagrid and Charlie said that some mother dragons could get very violent and search for treasure to line their dens when ready to lay eggs. Something about them absorbing the gold or other precious metals to strengthen their bones, and young dragons need more than adults."
"Bloody hell, and we just happen to be carrying a bucket load with the goblin-silver blades and some of the galleons we kept," Sirius muttered.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. There was no way he was losing the Sword of Gryffindor to some dragon.
They looked at the shimmering field as the sun dropped lower into the sky. Anders came over to them as the others walked away. "We are going to bring out some heavier weaponry for tonight. The wards are still strong from the summer sun, so it shouldn't break through," the man told them.
"And if it does?" Sirius asked.
"Twenty millimetre shells will punch through their scales. We've seen them shake off a seven-point-six-five calibre minigun," the man said with a shrug. Sirius obviously didn't understand. Harry looked at him stunned. "We have enough to protect ourselves, but only if it tries to breach the protections of the village or threaten the non-magicals. Otherwise, we don't interfere. Our charge is to protect them."
"You don't have magic to stun them or bind them?" Harry asked.
Anders looked at him confused. "You mean like a tranquilizer? We have not been able to find any non-magical one to work on them."
"I mean a stunner. Stupefy," Harry casually said, pointing his wand at a reindeer. The red light hit it and it collapsed.
The man's eyes went wide. "Did you just kill it?"
Harry pointed to the animal. It's chest was still moving. Another reindeer came over to sniff at it. "I just put it to sleep. Enervate," he said calmly. The animals eyes fluttered open after the white spell hit it. It was dazed for a moment, before it got to its feet and moved away.
Anders said something under his breath.
"If five of six of us hit the dragon at the same time, it should at least calm it. Hit it a few times and it will go to sleep," Harry told him.
Anders looked a little shaken still. After a few, he asked, "Can you teach us this?"
"Sure. Get everyone out here that can use a rod. Let's see if any of the wands we have will work for you. They should be stronger," Sirius told him.
-oOo-
That night...
Harry was panting. Even in the cold night air, he was sweating. Sirius was sitting kneeling on the ground, leaning against his rapier. Dorothy was at her husband's side, tending to a burn on his arm. Karl was flat out, an older girl, well more like a young woman, at his side.
Daphne was panting as she was on all fours. She gagged again as her stomach rebelled against the strain that had been put on her. The blonde girl was strong, but none of the Greengrasses had used their magic this much. Harry could tell. It was like watching a group of second years learning to really push themselves in Defence or Transfiguration. That had meant Sirius and him had to use more of their magic than usual.
Not fifty feet away, just a mere twenty feet from two cracked ward stones, was the form of a sleeping dragon. It was easily five feet longer than the Ridgeback that had been at the Triwizard tournament, and being a wild dragon, twice as nasty.
It took more than a dozen stunners from Sirius and him to finally bring it down with the help of Daphne and Karl. Just as the dragon fell, Karl passed out, most likely from magical exhaustion.
Daphne sat up, wiping off her mouth. Her knuckles and fingers were white from how hard she clutched her wand. "Is it dead?"
Harry shook his head. "Just knocked out. It should sleep for a good six or seven hours. Sirius and I will levitate it back to the preserve in a little bit."
She looked at him. "How? I feel like I am just barely able to move."
He shrugged. "You get used to it."
Soren and Hans approached, each carrying a heavy rifle and pointed towards the dragon. "Is it sleeping?" Soren asked.
"For now," Sirius replied. "Let's get something to drink and them we can return her to the preserve."
Harry nodded. He straightened, already feeling his magic returning. He reached a hand out to Daphne. When he pulled her up, her legs were a little shaky. "Easy there," Harry told her.
She muttered something in her native tongue before stumbling over towards her family.
"That is real magic?" Hans asked.
"Pretty much," Sirius said.
After a moment, Hans nodded. "If you come back, we go with you. My children will learn," Hans told him.
Harry shrugged at Sirius' look. What was six more people to their growing list? Hammond and Lockwood were going to supply a safe place for them. They would need to learn more about warding, especially about the wards around here if Muggles couldn't detect them.
Anders caught their attention. "The sun will be up in about four hours. If we are to make Durmstrang tomorrow, we will need to leave then."
"You should rest, Anders," Dorothy chastised him. "Karl is out and Daphne looks about ready to pass out."
One look at his daughter had the man nod. He looked to Harry and Sirius. "Can you wait a day?"
"We aren't in any rush," Sirius told him.
-oOo-
August 23, 1993
Isla Nublar, Costa Rica
Lex was having fun. Ray, as the man wanted her to call him, had given her a project to work on the vision recognition program. It was the most complex things she had ever seen. There was nearly ten thousand lines of code. Complex calculus and matrix formulas. She had a tough time understand the matrix formulas, never having really dealt with them before, but a call or two to her mother had help coming her way.
Diving into this was a distraction to make sure she didn't worry or miss Harry too much.
Having cleared out the desk that once belonged to the slob Dennis Nedry, she had put a few polaroid pictures of her best friend, Harry, her family and others onto the backboard of the desk area. When she needed to look away, her eyes most often found the black haired boy who was smiling. It was one from Martha's Vineyard. She was in one of her bikinis, Harry only in shorts, a hand over her shoulder and them laughing at something her mother had said.
She looked at his green eyes as much as she did his trim figure.
God, she missed him, and it had only been three days. What was she going to do when he had to go on these trips in the future.
She was taken out of some pleasant day dream of Harry enjoying her bikini by a clearing of a throat. Looking up, she saw grandpa looking at her. "Thinking of Harry again?"
Her cheeks heated a little. "Just a little worried," she admitted to him.
Her grandpa put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I think he will be fine. Many underestimate what he can do."
She smiled at her grandpa. He had taken a huge liking to Harry, and it made things easier. "I've noticed. I'm making progress on this, but the program is really complex."
Her grandpa chuckled. "I'm not worried about that, Alexis. You'll get it when you do. In the mean time we have people looking after the dinosaurs. I was wondering if you wanted to take a helicopter ride? Benjamin and I are going to go out to Isla Matanceros today to survey it. Do you want to come?"
Lex looked at her screen. "Are you sure? Ray would like this done."
"Alexis, I don't think you are going to resolve that in a week. Finding a place where you and the others can safely live is more important," her grandpa said.
"Is mom coming back with Tim?" she asked.
"Linda has decided that it would be best. Tim had a bit of an accident the other day. He'll be here tomorrow, and your mother was planning to come out in a few weeks. She has put in her resignation at the university and wants to make sure things are good back home before coming out here," he told her.
Lex let out a sigh of relief. Things had been tense with her mum for a while, but just before she left to go back home, things had shifted and her mom was more normal again. "Where is Isla Mataceros?"
"It's an island about a hundred and forty miles away from here. InGen has leases on all the islands of the Muertos Archipelago. It's a quiet place about twenty-five miles north of our main research facility. I think you'll like it. Its only really accessible by helicopter, or magic," her grandpa told her.
"And you want to set up a town there for us?" she asked.
"For you and the others. I have a feeling that we have not found all the magicals yet, and if the bible and the Catholic church are to be believed, I am starting to think you are in more danger than we thought," her grandpa said in a serious tone.
She frowned. "You think that Harry and Sirius are right about the Inquisition?"
"More than they know," her grandfather said a little ominously.
-oOo-
August 24, 1993
Durmstrang, Norway
They had been on the move since the sun had come over the horizon. Anders led the way with one arm looking rather stiff. Harry had seen how it was wrapped before he put his jacket on today. Harry wished he could do more for the man's arm, but there healing spells didn't do much on magical burns. Harry would have to go through their books when he got back to Jurassic Park.
Harry walked just behind Anders. Sirius was behind him, and Karl took up the rear. Having a rest yesterday was probably for the best. Neither man looked ready to cast anything and Daphne slept to well past noontime. Even this morning she still looked a little tired, so Harry couldn't understand why the thirteen-year-old girl was walking next to her father except that they needed her.
She didn't look uncomfortable to be walking through the wilderness, not at all, with a rifle on her back like her father and brother. Her hand kept going to her pocket with her wand though. All three of them were very protective of the wands that came out of the stock Sirius had. They were all decent matches, as far as Sirius and him could tell. They had allowed the younger Greengrass girl, Astoria, who was eleven, to take one too, but the others were too young.
They had come over a ridge into a deep valley. Like in the other valleys, it was dominated by pines and birches.
"Durmstrang is about another half-days walk to the north," Anders said, stopping by a stone cairn on the overgrown trail.
They all were happy for the break, having been pushing hard for hours now. The sun was still an hour or so from its zenith.
"Good thing there is this path," Sirius said, taking his bag off and pulling out a canteen and some food.
"The protective stones still work, though this used to be a road to the outside world. Now it is just a foot path," Anders told them.
"Papa, we shouldn't stay here long. I thought I saw some troll scat not too far back," Karl said.
"It smelled like one too," Daphne added.
"We will be safe around the protective stone," their father told them, motioning towards the cairn. "There is one every few kilometres."
Harry had noticed. He took out a power bar, some nuts and a Kool-Aid packet to add to his canteen. The Greengrasses all took out some jerky and dried fruits. "What is that?" Daphne asked him as he poured the red sugary powder into his canteen.
"Kool-Aid. You want some?" Harry offered, digging out a few packets of different flavours. "It makes the water taste like juice."
"That stuff is too sweet," Sirius complained.
"I like it," Harry told the man.
Daphne took one, as did Karl. A few minutes later the blonde girl was smiling while Karl was making a face. "That is a little sweet," he commented.
Harry shrugged. As they ate, he looked around. The forest was quiet. Most of the trees were either turning colour or losing their leaves as winter was looking to set in soon. As he looked around, he frowned. "It's really quiet," he commented.
"I noticed that too," Karl put in.
"Maybe we should be going," Anders put in. "Daphne, make sure your gun is loaded."
"Yes, papa," she said, picking it up and pulling out the cartridge to see it was full. Karl was already doing that. All three of them made sure a bullet was chambered before putting their packs back on. None of them put their rifles over their shoulders.
"Something you aren't telling us?" Sirius asked.
"Harry is right, it is too quiet around here," Anders replied.
Harry and Sirius made sure their wands were ready and the straps over their hilts released. They were all pretty tense as they continued on. A short while later they made it to a river. It was shallow enough to ford it. Harry and Sirius made sure they had water repelling charms on all of them, again promising to teach the Greengrasses, but now was not the time if they wanted to keep moving.
It was almost an hour later when they walked out of the forest in the valley that they heard a scream. They all turned back, guns coming to shoulders and swords making a metallic scraping sound as they were drawn from their scabbards. A few roars broke the silence. Birds scattered from a section of forest a mile or more upriver and on the other side. There was a scream. More roaring. It sounded like a fight.
"Trolls must have found a lone centaur," Anders commented. "We should go."
"Papa, is there nothing we can do?' Daphne asked.
With a solemn shake of his head, he turned, his gun ready to be used, and started to walk up the slope. Karl did the same, putting a hand on his sister's shoulder before following his father.
"Come on, pup. Nothing we can do," Sirius told him. They could hear the death screams of the centaur before a triumphant bellow, then two more, sounded down the valley.
Daphne said something in Norwegian, kissed her lips with her fingers and then held them towards the area of the fight. She didn't look happy.
They crossed two more peaks before Harry sensed something. Karl had turned about the same time and looked up towards the sky. Sirius caught his motion. "What is it?"
"Dragon, I think," Harry said.
Karl nodded. "A few miles off, towards the sun. I don't think it's seen us."
"We need to get off this peak," Anders told them. Even though they were all getting tired, they picked up the pace until they were in the shadow of the ridge.
Daphne moved closer to Harry. "How did you know?"
"I could feel it," Harry told her, still looking toward the sky.
"I smelt it on the wind," Karl told her.
Daphne cocked her head. "It didn't smell like the Ridgeback the other day."
"It wasn't," Anders told them as they still kept up a hearty pace. "It was a Shortsnout. We have both of them on the preserve."
"Oh," the girl said.
"You'll get to recognizing them," her brother encouraged.
Daphne sniffed, as though upset. Then she sniffed again. "What is that?"
Anders pulled up short, skidding a little on some pebbles on the stone path. He looked back to his daughter. "What is what?"
Daphne sniffed again. "It smells bad, papa."
Karl was sniffing the air too. Harry let his magic roll out some. He knew he could cast detection charms, but he was starting to find he could feel things far beyond that. He looked down the slope. There was a lake between the two peaks and the path entered into a thick copse of spruces just down the slope before climbing again.
"It smells a little off, but nothing that I would find worrying," Karl said.
Anders looked concerned. He sniffed the air too.
"Do you feel anything?" Sirius asked.
"Maybe. It's towards the lake," Harry told them.
Anders frowned. He looked around. "We can go around the valley, but there is no path, and it might add an hour or two to our journey. If the old maps are right, Durmstrang is about an hour or two just past that peak. We should be able to see it from up there."
"If we get into trouble, we might not make it, papa," Karl said.
"Elyna would be upset about that," Daphne said with a sly grin.
Karl's face flushed a little. "You leave Elyna out of this."
"We are not arguing out here," Anders ordered. "This is not a game. Daphne, what do you smell?"
"Yes, papa. Sorry, papa," Daphne said before sniffing the air again. "Something down there." She motioned towards the lake.
"Maybe we should go around," Sirius said.
Anders looked toward the top of the ridge they had just come over and the line of the sun on the far ridge. After a moment, he shook his head. "It is getting too late, and we should make the sanctuary of Durmstrang before night fall."
"I don't have a good feeling about this," Harry spoke up.
They all seemed nervous as they continued on.
As they got closer to the floor of the valley, they heard a branch snap. Daphne put herself between him and her father. She had shown she could defend herself the other night, but she was still young. It had only been after she said one of the family grimoire would require three Greengrasses to open the main doors was she allowed to come.
It wasn't until they were inside the trees that Harry thought he heard something. It was just a faint voice. He turned sharply, his hand pulling his sword out. Sirius whispered, "What is it?"
"I heard something," he whispered back.
"I didn't," Daphne said. "I smell it though."
"I do too. Keep moving," Anders ordered. It was like twilight had descended in the valley with the sun already lower on the horizon and the thick spruce trees around them.
Blood. Sweet blood, Harry heard hissed out from some trees just before them.
"Stop," Harry demanded in a low voice. "I hear a snake," he told them to their questioning expressions. Anders looked a little shocked. His children curious.
Bloods. They come little closer, something big hissed. He could hear it moving now they were stopped. Harry took a step around Daphne.
Who are you? Harry hissed out.
Anders shivered a little.
Speeaker?
Yes, I'm a speaker, Harry said.
The snake hissed angrily, Speaker trapped me here! Speaker die!
"Bloody fuck!" Harry yelled out. He swiped his wand, throwing Daphne and Anders back as a huge blue mass suddenly burst through the trees. "SELMA!" he got out before bringing his wand up. His shield was up just in time to deflect the giant snake. It was almost a thick as him and forty or more feet long and with fangs as long as a carving knife. He had a glance down the things' throat before it bounced off his shield.
DIE! Nasty, foul Speaker and its spawn! the giant blue selma hissed angrily as it turned. Sirius was moving in with another shield. Harry didn't hesitate. He switched to a duelling shield and his sword. The selma saw it coming and twisted to avoid the blade. Harry scraped its side as it shot past him.
The snake hissed in pain as a few scales broke. Daphne screamed. A gun went off and sparks came from mid-way down its length as it pulled itself into a coil, getting ready to strike again. It must have seen that Harry was more of a threat than it thought. Harry caught on to what the snake was doing just before it launched itself again. Kill Speaker mate!
NO, Harry commanded.
It had struck out at Daphne. Harry knew she wasn't his mate, but in the animal world, most males and females would not travel in a pack like this unless there was a reason, like mating. The command caught the selma off-guard, causing it to hesitate for just a split second. Daphne screamed as she rolled out of the way. Her father shot at the selma.
Bastard two legs, the snake hissed as it was hit in the head. Sparks showed where the bullet hit near its left eye.
Daphne brought her wand out. "STUPEFY!" she screamed out. It bounced off the blue scales.
Harry took a few steps forward, with Sirius to his left. The goblin-silver would do far more damage than their spells.
Enar will not be controlled by Speaker again, the snake hissed and spat.
Then you will die, Harry spats back. The selma struck towards him again. Harry managed to block it, the sword coming down. The sword screeched as it slid down the snakes side again when it twisted. It hissed in pain. He didn't expect the tail to whip out, catching him in the side the sword arm exposed. Harry was thrown a few yards before coming to lay in a heap. There were several gunshots. Daphne cast a few more "Stupefy!" at the selma. Harry wanted to get up, but his side was burning, and he was having a hard time breathing.
SPEAKER DIE! the snake spat before there was a squelching sound. Harry rolled over to see Sirius being dragged to the ground, his sword through the back of the snakes skull. The selma crashed to the forest floor. Its tail was still moving, though feebly. Sirius pulled himself up to kneel of the selma's body. " Die!" He twisted the sword, and a gurgle came out of the snakes mouth before stilling.
Harry groaned. Without any armour, the blow had diffidently broken some ribs, possibly done some internal damage.
"Karl!" Anders called out.
Sirius looked to him. "Oh, fuck. Daphne, get my bag," Sirius ordered. He twisted his sword once more. There was the sound of snapping scales. Satisfied that the selma was dead, he jumped off and rushed to Harry's side. A terrified looking Daphne was at Harry's side. Sirius ran his wand over the area Harry was clutching. His vision was feeling blurry as he tried to breath.
"No." Sirius looked panicked.
"Is he going to be better?" Daphne asked.
That was enough to shake Sirius from his panic. He took a breath. "Daphne, in that packet you will find a first aid kit. Get out the syringe. Harry, this is going to hurt."
He tried to say something, instead found blood coming to his lips. He was starting to panic. Sirius tore open his shirt sleeve. "Stick it into the arm there," Sirius instructed Daphne. There was a slightly painful prick then the pain in his side started to subside. Sirius moved his wand over Harry, muttering a sing song spell he couldn't hear. It didn't matter much. He felt his ribs shift. He screamed at the pain, covering the sound of the bones snapping back into place. Sirius had tears form in his eyes. There was the sensation of something knitting back together inside of him as Sirius continued to chant. Harry screamed himself hoarse before passing out as Sirius completed the spell.
-oOo-
A while later...
Sirius hadn't even noticed when the old castle of Durmstrang came into view. He had been too worried to get Harry to safety. Now that Harry was resting below, Sirius looked at the imposing structure from the top of a guard tower that over looked a circular valley.
Built in the fifteen-hundreds after the old Celtic fort had outlived its usefulness, the place was built like a fortress of the time. A large keep dominated the left side., It was an imposing structure with only arrow slit windows on the upper floors that started forty feet or more above the base. Ten foot thick wall where thirty high, with several other large structures and square towers, guarded it on the hillside it was built on. The main gates looked like they had been made to keep the strongest army, or dragon out. The most striking thing was the black stone it was made out of. Sirius had no idea what it was, but it shown in the last of the sunlight on the tall keep. In the shadows, the stones looked to absorb the darkness. The forest in the circular valley around the school had a bad feel to it.
Just looking at the imposing structure had him shivering. No wonder this school had a reputation for the dark arts and had produced some of the darkest wizards before Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Anders walked up next to him.
"How is Harry?" Sirius asked. It had been a frantic rush to get here. They had pushed themselves hard. Ander's daughter had passed out from exhaustion soon after they made the Sanctuary. Sirius had made sure Harry was sleeping quietly after doing a few more scans. He had healed the bones and the punctured lung, but he couldn't do much more than the crudest way of saving him. Once he was satisfied Harry would live, he had to see where they were. The Sanctuary was a small guard fort that overlooked the main castle. Several of them were scattered on the peaks around the old school, guarding the passes between the mountains. They were all square towers, like Norman keeps with open roofs. Three of them were in ruins. Only two remained intact.
"He's breathing better now that we have stopped. I don't know if he should move for several days. We will have to go back then. Staying longer is not advised," Anders told him.
Sirius nodded. He knew Harry wouldn't be ready to do much for the next two or three days until his magic did more healing itself. "How is your daughter?"
"Just tired. Karl will watch over her and make sure she eats if she wakes."
Sirius looked at something moving in the shadows. "Something is down there," Sirius said.
Anders looked in the direction. "Most likely trolls or ogres. A dragon would have torched the place."
That had been his opinion as well. He hated to ask the next question, but it would be a wasted trip to turn back without anything. "Are you still willing to open the main gates?"
Anders regarded the valley and the black castle. There was a long silence as the last of the daylight drifted above the highest point on the main keep. The whole castle looked bathed in shadows now. It bothered him that all the sharp corners of the walls now looked faded and misty.
"I am not sure there is anything good in that place. There is a story that we do not tell the children until they are adults. I never believed it, but I am not so sure now," the man said.
Sirius looked to Anders. "What is it?"
Anders looked over his shoulder, as though longing for the sun to come back to the valley, but the higher mountain to the west was now casting its long shadow. "It is a story probably better told in the light. Our traditions tell of a final stand against the armies of the church. Magicals were trying to breach the walls and cannons decimated the surrounding area," Anders said, indicating the ruined towers. "In the final assault, eight brave students led away some of the families that were left, and those students that were young or hurt. There is supposed to be a secret passage. Don't ask. I do not know where. When they were out, the students watched as the castle was bathed in shadow and darkness. Horrible screeching and screams of death could be heard. They huddled together in the encroaching night. The unearthly screeching and screams went all night, sometimes coming close to the survivors, but never near enough to know what was going on."
Anders shivered.
"In the morning, it was told that the army was destroyed, and fifty-six witches and wizards had been strung up on the walls. My grandfather used to say they had been crucified. My father said he shouldn't scare us like that." Anders indicated the wall. Sirius hadn't noticed the huge crosses on the walls. "I don't think my grandfather was lying or trying to scare us."
Sirius shivered, unsure this had been a bright idea.
"The names of Greengrass, Jahmsburg and Kristiansen were among the eight students. We are the last decedents of those that protected the last of Durmstrang. Among them was a prophet. She made several prophesies, but the one that had stayed with us is the one of how magic will reawaken. Only then should the gates be opened again, otherwise the danger that destroyed the Inquisition army would be unleashed on the world again. Seeing your magic has convinced me that magic is reawakening, I just hope the terror within is placated now." Anders took in a long breath. "There is wrong magic there, but it does not feel like it would hurt us. Those that get too close," he indicated the moving shadows in the forest, "will not be so lucky."
Sirius felt appropriately spooked. That feeling would grow worse when he was awoken in the middle of the night by the cries of death in the valley below.
-oOo-
August 25, 1993
Durmstrang, Norway
Sirius hadn't been able to sleep after being woken up a little past midnight. With the sun rising a little after four, he felt as though he could have used that time. Instead, he was keeping a quiet vigil of the old castle and the valley. He could feel the dark magic of the castle. As he regarded it, he had a feeling that they should not enter the castle. In fact, he wanted to get as far away from here as he could, as fast as he could, but after doing a few scans of Harry, he knew that Harry wouldn't make the ward barrier before nightfall. They could carry him on a litter, but even that might slow them down too much, especially if they were to be attacked again.
Hogwarts had been and experience they had not been ready for, but Harry and him had been more than capable of handling it.
Sirius had a feeling that a hundred wizards would be hard pressed to deal with Durmstrang.
The sun was just creeping over the eastern mountains when Karl brought him up a steaming cup of coffee. Sirius preferred tea, but coffee would do. "Papa said you might want this," the eighteen-year-old man offered the cup.
"Thanks," Sirius said.
They were both quiet as Sirius sipped the hot liquid.
"I have been considering your offer to come to Costa Rica to learn. Would I be able to return?" Karl asked him.
Sirius looked away from the castle that was taking on more definition as the sun hit its pinnacles. "It would be up to you what you want to do. Harry and I aren't going to stop you. We don't even know what we are going to do yet except there is now a group that needs teaching."
Karl looked at him. "You and Harry were really good at teaching us how to use the stunner and binding spell before we fought the dragon."
Sirius shrugged. "I've always been talented at charms and Harry takes to any defensive or creature magic like nothing. It's a pity he couldn't talk to the dragon. I would have preferred not to hurt it."
Karl gave him a strange look. "When did Harry try to talk to it?"
"Not sure you noticed, but when it first landed, he cast a purple spell. That is a communication spell designed to deal with creatures. I've found I have no talent for it, but Harry does. He was able to communicate with a few creatures back where we come from, even talk to one," Sirius commented.
"He talked to the selma yesterday, didn't he?" Karl asked.
"I assume so. We'll have to ask him when he wakes," Sirius told him.
"You healed him? How?" Karl questioned.
"It's a rather crude healing spell, more of a prayer if you translate it, that heals greater wounds. The issue is, it's a brute force type of spell, so it hurts like a bloody bitch when you use it. I haven't taught Harry how to yet because he needs more practice with basic healing. This was all required learning when I was an Auror a lifetime ago," Sirius replied. There was a sound like a pain moan that drifted up from the valley. They both looked down.
The younger man frowned to look at the castle. "Do you still wish to go in there?"
Sirius smirked. "I'm known to be rather barmy, but even I am second guessing myself."
Karl nodded. "Papa doesn't want to, but he will keep his deal. You have given us wands and offer to teach magic that my family and the others have forgotten or lost. After saving the dragon the other night, Papa feels he owes you. I do not want to approach that place. My sister should not go near there."
Sirius nodded, drinking more of the coffee as he thought. "I know we are not going anywhere today. Let me think on this, maybe scout it when the sun is higher."
"Would you keep your promise if we do not take you there?" Karl asked.
Sirius could tell how much the Greengrasses, and the other families in Voldnord, regarded their honour with pride. To go back on their word was something they would never do. "Karl, I am not holding your family to any word. You don't owe us anything. We are all wizards in a world I find completely turned upside down and only want us all to survive."
It took Karl a moment to say, "So, you would still teach us?"
"Without reserve," Sirius replied.
"How did you do that water repellent spell?" Karl asked.
Sirius smiled. "We have some time. We can go over some of the basics before we get onto a more advanced spell..."
They had spent nearly two hours on the top of the tower, joined by his father a short time after they had started. The sun was close to mid-morning when he left them practicing to go check on Harry. Daphne was tending a small fireplace. He could smell a stew or soup cooking in a cauldron over the fire. He would have to get her going on the basics later.
Along one wall was some old bunks. He had reinforced and repaired them yesterday. Harry was still sleeping, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. His magic was working hard to heal himself. Sirius never wished more that they could use potions or that he had become a Healer instead of an Auror. Casting the diagnostics showed that Harry had a low grade fever. If everything was going well, his field training said it should break later today and he should wake either this evening or tomorrow morning. Until then, it would be important to see if they could get any liquids into him.
Daphne had come over. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously.
"Checking on Harry. I have some field diagnostics that I can use," he told her.
"Diagnostics?" she asked.
"Spells that can tell me if he is hurt, where he is hurt and what is wrong," Sirius explained.
Daphne looked at Harry for a moment. "Can you teach me?"
Sirius considered it before saying, "If you get your wand out, I can show you the first two. They aren't hard and won't cause any harm."
Daphne, eager to do more magic, was quickly repeating what he did. Sirius smiled when she exclaimed in joy when she suddenly could see magic she couldn't before.
It was an hour before the sun was at noon when Sirius found Anders. "I am going to go scout around."
"Take Karl with you," Anders told him. The man looked to be in a little pain. The burns on his arm were probably still hurting.
Sirius nodded.
They made sure Daphne bolted the door to the tower. Karl was hiding his uneasiness well as he kept his rifle at the ready. It may not do much against a dragon or selma, but it was powerful enough to punch through the hide of a troll.
Neither of them said much as they picked their way down the slope along the old trail. As they did, Sirius had a sinking feeling as he felt an indescribable cold start to seep into his bones. It was a cold he was only too familiar with. He had spent twelve years with that cold. His thoughts had started to go towards his worst memories.
Karl stopped at the edge of the forest. "It smells all wrong. It is too cold for this time of the year."
Sirius walked next to the young man. "It won't matter what time of the year it is. We shouldn't be here. Let's get back to the tower. We all need to be rested to get away from here tomorrow."
Karl shuttered. "I don't feel happy. What is it?"
"Dementors," Sirius said darkly. Something moved among the parapets. It was a wraith like form. He couldn't help the shutter, his deepest nightmares providing the sound of their rattling breath.
"What is a dementor?"
"Vile monsters that eat all happiness and will suck your soul out of you if they can. Once that happens, your body will start to waste away," Sirius told him, seeing another figure in the shadows of the castle. "We need to go back."
"But you came out here for the castle," Karl told him. Karl looked towards Durmstrang. There was a light of youth in the boys eyes that thought he could face everything and survive.
"It's not worth it. Not without more wizards," Sirius told him.
After a moment, Karl nodded. By the time they made it back up to the tower, Harry's fever had broken, and he was up, ladling broth into him from the soup Daphne had made.
-oOo-
Towards sunset...
Durmstrang, Norway.
Harry was watching the castle as the sun moved up its walls. It was disconcerting to see the solid, sharp lines of the black stone become dissociated and indistinct.
"Are you sure it was dementors?" he asked his godfather.
Sirius was standing next to him. "I know what they feel like, Harry," Sirius said in a more snappish tone.
Harry nodded. Daphne was standing close to her father looking worried. Sirius and Harry had told them everything they knew about the demons. The fact that the three Greengrasses couldn't protect themselves had their father concerned. "This is the demon they used to defeat the church?"
"I can only assume so. As we said, we have no idea how they were created or where they are from, but they are very dangerous. Harry and I will switch off on guard duty tonight. We are going to set out at first light," Sirius told them.
Harry still felt off, but much better than he did earlier. He was hoping he would be strong enough to hold a Patronus for a while.
"You two should go to sleep. It will be dark in just a few hours, and you need to be rested," Anders told his children.
"Harry needs to rest," Daphne told them.
"Harry is going to sleep, but he's going to stay up here with me. The wards and door are still able to keep a troll out, so the only way they will be getting in is from up here. Anders, you should go with them," Sirius told him.
"I would stay up here to keep a look out for danger," the man said.
"Have it your way," Sirius shrugged. Harry was worried for his godfather. It was like there was a shadow over his face, even though the sun was still shining on them. Turning, Sirius transfigured a large stone into a large brazier. Large conjured logs dropped in and Sirius lit it. The logs burst into flames. All three Greengrasses looked at Sirius with wonder. "The light might attract them, but the heat of the fire will help to keep them away."
Anders nodded. "Karl, go quickly to get more wood for the fire down stairs. Daphne, watch after him."
"Yes, papa," Karl said.
Daphne gave them an envious look at how easily Sirius and Harry used magic.
"You should get some more rest, pup. I have a feeling we'll have visitors tonight," Sirius told him.
"Sure, Sirius," Harry said, taking out the camping blanket from his pack. His body was still tired, and now full of soup, so it didn't take long for him to drift off.
The first sign that something was wrong was a dog baying at the night. It shook Harry awake. He shot up, his wand coming out and his alert body looking around as his groggy mind tried to catch up.
"That is interesting. It never did that before," Sirius said. "Nice to see you join us."
Harry blinked a few times. It was pitch black outside the ring of fire on the top of the tower. A silvery dog was pacing back and forth against the wall closest to Durmstrang. "We about to have visitors?" Harry asked, trying to wipe sleep out of his eyes.
"Think so. I don't think they are bringing house warming gifts though," the man said. He was staring towards the castle, his eyes staring into the night with a haunted look.
Yawning, Harry moved over to his godfather. "Where is Anders?"
Sirius motioned towards the trapdoor. "I locked them all in. None of them can do a Patronus and it takes a lot of dementors to feel it this far out."
Harry just nodded. "Expecto Patronum," Harry incanted, swishing his wand. The now familiar miniature form of Rexy came into existence. As though feeling the danger, the ethereal tyrannosaurus rex roared at the night, moving towards the north.
"Well, if they didn't know we were here, they do now," Sirius said, no mirth on his voice.
Harry shrugged. "It was your dog that woke me."
"Fair enough."
They waited for a little bit. As they did, Harry could feel the familiar coldness of the creatures. Rexy and Padfoot were keeping his bad thoughts at bay for now. The cold felt like it was seeping into his bones before there was a darker shade in the night. Harry held tighter to his happy memory. The fact that it held both Lex and Sirius was just a plus. What surprised him was that the Patronus usually was a power draw, but while they had been waiting, it didn't seem like much. At the first sign of the dark shadow, he felt the pull. More surprisingly, the ethereal form of Rexy let out a roar. He could see the lines of the shield come out.
When the first shield hit the nearest shadow, it gave out an unearthly shriek of pain. Padfoot did something similar with his bark to his left. The shield wasn't as large, but it caused the same painful shriek for their ears. Sirius had a dark expression. "Bloody bints. Scream all you want, you aren't getting Harry."
Dark shadows were now surrounding the tower. Rexy snapped its jaws at something, jumping on to the parapets. Harry doubted his real Rexy could do that, but the Patronus was standing on the crenelations as though it was nothing. It roared again, causing more shrieks. "I can't see them," Harry told Sirius, starting to feel concerned. Yes, he had been able to scare away more than a hundred dementors when he was thirteen, but this felt like more. The faint hints of his mother's screams started to echo in his ears.
"Just keep up the Patronus," Sirius told him.
"Blast this!" Harry griped. He really needed to see them. "Lumus solaris fulgo!"
A ball of light, three feet wide and as bright as the midday sun shot out of his wand and levelled out about twenty feet above his head. Everything within a quarter mile of the tower was suddenly illuminated. Within a few hundred feet it was like day out.
Dozens of dementors were circling the tower, with more beyond. When the daylight flare spell lit up the world, the shrieking of the dementors had Harry grab at his ears. Rexy flickered as he heard his mother's pleading while the lifeless eyes of Cedric Diggory stared at him accusingly.
"I am innocent," Sirius growled out. Harry's spells were flickering even as the dementors were fleeing. Sirius pointed his wand towards the sky. "Lumus solaris fulgo!"
A second daylight flare took up just over Harry's. The dementors fled the tower. After a moment, the exhaustion of his magic healing is body earlier and keeping Rexy for so long were starting to wear on him. "Sirius, I can't keep it up."
"Let your Patronus go. The daylight flares are having them seek darker areas. How did you know that would scare them away?" Sirius asked.
"I didn't. I just wanted to see them to let Rexy know which one to attack." Harry let his concentration go on his Patronus. Rexy let out a roar as he dissipated. A moment later, Sirius' grim did the same.
Sirius let out a mirthless chuckle. "Well, we now know the dementors of this world hate sunlight."
Harry nodded, leaning against a crenelation. His flare dimmed.
"Take a break for a few," Sirius told him.
"I can do this," Harry stubbornly replied.
"I know you can, pup, but I'll need you if they come back. Take a break for a bit and then you can take over again," Sirius told him. He was scanning the area around the tower, turning every few seconds to see if any of them were sneaking up from behind.
With the immediate threat over, Harry could feel his adrenaline fading. He yawned. He had to accept this. He didn't like it but dealing with magical creatures was so much harder than dinosaurs.
-oOo-
Next time on The Magic of Amber: Hunter, the hunted, and a grim.