Disclaimer- While the plot is mine, the characters are not… I'm just playing with them.
A/N- Here's chapter two- along with the translations and some more notes on fairies…
Also, for those whom have read tGEW before I started my revision and corrections, I must warn you that chapters 2 through 5 have been compressed and that the scenes are in a slightly different order than they were before. It is also likely that the next chapter that goes up with new material will be marked as chapter 5.
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Chapter 2
The village of Ælwyd always remained close to his heart although it had been years since Harry had last been to the beautiful forest. It only took mere seconds for the teen to shed his human guise and take his true form but he also knew that that time mentally was not quite as easily to get rid of. Modesty didn't matter as much in the Faerie realms as they did in the Mortal Realms for few of the inhabitants wore clothes but it was a lesson he would have to relearn from his time amongst the mortals. His body had grown too use to the restraining fabric. He did smirk at the irony remembering that he could have pretended to be an animagus if not for the fact his true form was that recognizable. Sirius Black had pretended to be a Churchyard Grim, so why couldn't that misidentification work in reverse?
It had taken several years to get use to the fact that here he was not 'Harry James Potter, son of James and Lily Potter', the 'Boy-Who-Lived', 'Savior of the Wizarding World' or any of those other ridiculous names the mortals had been christened him with. In the Faerie Realms he was 'Leigheas' to the house-elves, 'Cenau' to his kindred and 'Spéir' to the Sidhe Court although it had taken him nearly a year to convince the house-elves in the Wizarding World not to call him any thing but 'Harry Potter'. Most of them still referred to him as Leigheas whenever they were alone. It had taken him nearly as long to adjust after Darby told him his Potion Professor's true name: Dáiríre Marthanóir, youngest of the Tuatha dé Danaan, descendant of the Sea Goddess Danu and great-nephew to his Lord Arawn.
He had known from the moment that he had been informed of Snape's heritage at the age of five as to where he would end up. The mortals' prophecy that had sent a madman after his parents meant that he would remain tied to the mortal world until it came to past. The humans just hadn't realized how much more of it that Trelawney left unsaid.
Acting as if he had been ignorant of the Wizarding World had not been as hard as he feared it would. There were actually things he didn't know simply because of what he was and there was several times throughout his schooling at Hogwarts that he wished that he was still human. Reacting as a human would had been a bit harder to pull off which he knew wasn't always successful if the odd looks he earned from his friends were any indication.
Harry sighed as he followed the house-elf towards the dining hall. He knew that it'd be best if he approached Snape while on a full stomach.
Maybe then he would get answers to his questions.
Harry had not been able to see Snape until the evening following his return to the Faerie Realm of Annwn and even then the injured man was still unconscious. He had hoped that he would be able but instead had spent most of the first night reintroducing him to the pack and presenting himself to his Lord Arawn and once morning came, spent catching up with his teachers. It was only when the purifier known by the pack as Old Man Primas had thought he was ready did Harry actual enter the room for the first time but it was another that had shown him the damage Snape had taken at the hands of the Death Eaters.
Harry didn't think he had ever been so scared even facing down Voldemort two months prior as he had that first glance. Watching Snape fight for his very right to breathe had forced him to reevaluate his feelings; not just of the man that lay in front of him, but all the feelings he had refused to over the years to acknowledge. Hatred from over the years had taken a back-seat to what he was feeling now: desire for his mate, his beauty, his asgre. Even his pack had noticed his growing infatuation as Gwynnwy, his mentor and one of the eldest of the Cŵn, had pulled him aside to encourage him to carry through on his feelings.
"It sounds like you're describing asgre," Gwynnwy had said during dinner after seeing Snape when he mentioned the draw he felt from the soul-stone. "Pups that don't participate in the Hunt go to those that complete them best. Some will even follow the bonding to its conclusion- that is asgre. You and he were both raised in the Mortal World and that left marks on you both. Those scars binds you two tight."
Harry had protested, "But nothing will ever happen between us. He hates me!"
"Don't be so sure of that," Gwynnwy reminded him, "Dáiríre has been hurt and those scars lie deep. I don't know what those humans were thinking by harming an iompróir, but the Shee don't take lightly to it. That's perhaps the only thing the Blessed and Dark Courts will ever agree upon."
"What?" Harry protested, "My ma- part- Snape's a what?" He wasn't sure what to call his former Professor now.
Gwynnwy chuckled at his loss for words before commenting, "Your asgre is a rarity born only once a generation since the first ones fell to Earth. Only those that bear the mark are iompróir. Dáiríre had that mark until the humans took it from him although if I correctly understand, the signs of it still remain."
"Mark? What mark?" Harry tried to remember if he seen anything unusual about Snape when he saw the man and was drawing a blank.
"Bruising," Gwynnwy confirmed, helping his thought process along, "discoloration on his back between his shoulder blades." Harry remembered seeing that. Snape's entire upper back had looked like a bright red spider-web of scars, swelling and spider-veins concentrated around his spine. At the time, Harry had felt as if something important should be there but wasn't. From what Gwynnwy was saying, his instincts were right.
Harry groaned then demanded, "Gwynnwy, what was supposed to be there?"
Gwynnwy sighed and said, "I keep forgetting that you know so little about your people. What humans call 'Fae' or 'Magic Creatures' and/or 'Beings' possess distinct traits specific to each of the genders. Our women-folk have no equal in terms of physical and mental allure and our men-folk are unmatched in both mental and physical power. Even the strongest of Wizarding folk could not match the weakest of Fae by way of magical energy. The third came in the form of wings."
"That makes no sense what so ever," Harry protested. "Fairies, pixies, doxies all have wings and they are boys and girls too. Aren't they Fae also?"
"I was talking about the Sidhe, not the Low Court," Gwynnwy scolded him for interrupting. "Many humans forget that even Elves can possess wings." Harry froze, attention caught and held. "Modern humans have forgotten the lessons of their past and even their magical counterparts are continuing in their mistakes. Over the last hundred years, the Wizarding Community has broken the treaties with our kinds many times, yet despite all their history, they forget in their arrogance why the Goblins declared war in the first place. It's amazing that the Brownie Pact has lasted as long as it did and even that is strained past its limits."
"Brownie?" Harry asked, confused.
"They're what Mortals of ages past call house-elves," Gwynnwy said, amused, "I guess their modern counterparts didn't want their hired-help mixed up with their food so they changed the name. The only things the mortals have right are those silly ceramic statues of red-capped old men in their gardens."
Harry chuckled, "You mean the gnomes."
"Exactly," Gwynnwy agreed.
The first half of Gwynnwy's words finally registered as he repeated, "Snape has wings?!"
"Had wings, you mean," Gwynnwy said sadly. "Whatever they did to force his Fae-blood dormant destroyed them. He'll have to grow them back. It's no wonder he's in a lot of pain."
She then said, "You really must learn to call him by his true name. What would an outsider think if they heard you call him by a human name?"
"That there was another Snape somewhere else and that one or both of them were Changelings?" Harry retorts, showing his mentor that he wasn't totally ignorant of the Fae. "But I can't do anything if he won't let me… and he won't either, you know?"
"Stubborn puppies," Gwynnwy sighed before remembering the time and where they both were suppose to be. "Go on. You have a lesson to get to. Taoiseach will have my hide if you're late."
"Yes ma'am!" Harry saluted and bounded away leaving an amused Cŵn Annwn behind.
While the conversation with Gwynnwy had left him deep in thought, he found himself with more questions than answers. His dreams of late had been growing stranger by the day and he feared that they were being affected by the rapture he shared with Snape's soul-stone. Last night he had dreamt that he dueled against his Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick. The night before it was his Transfiguration Professor, Minerva McGonagall, taught him how to be an animagus. What worried him was the fact that he could remember these dreams with absolute clarity as if he himself had actually experienced them. What was frightening, however, was the fact that the spells that he was learning in these dreams were usable. He had already tried the Patefacio charm already on a window on a whim and it worked perfectly.
"That it would," Harry agreed, getting up though part of him wondered how the prince would react to his presence. In addition to his memory dreams, he also dreamt of Snape and all the things he wanted to do should he allow his animal instincts act as they desired. Things that probably could be pleasant for both of them had circumstances between them had been different.
All he could do now is hope and wait.
cwn
The full Order was in the kitchen deep in conversation when a grim Albus Dumbledore finally arrived through the floo that evening with Mad-Eye Moody trailing. Normally any meeting the night before the start of the Hogwarts school year would have been delayed until the weekend following September first but this case was an exception that had Molly Weasley finding more creative ways of keeping the children there out of the way.
"We have two things that need to be addressed," Dumbledore informed them as Molly pushed a cup of tea into both of their hands. "The first thing that needs to be dealt with is that the blood-wards around Number 4 Privet Drive has fallen-"
Sirius exploded as several others also protested, "WHAT! Where's Harry?"
"No one knows for certain," Moody told them. "Supposedly the last ones to see the boy were his Muggle family. After that he vanished into thin air."
"Did HE have something to do with it?" Sirius demanded, leaving those listening with little doubt as to whom the animagus meant.
"Unfortunately, there has been no signs of Death Eater activity anywhere near Little Whinging although we did register an energy spike outside Surrey early this morning which proved to be nothing," Kingsley Shacklebolt picked up then where his companion left off, "There seems to be no foul play regarding Potter's disappearance nor even any indication that the Dursleys themselves were involved. Potter may have left the safety of his relatives' home under his own free will."
Sturgis Podmore asked then, "What can be done then? It's not like we can drag the boy home even if we do manage to find him. The Ministry's law won't even allow us to approach him."
"He's in danger!" Sirius growled at him in anger, "Or don't you even want Harry found?" Lupin grabbed his arm to halt any further actions and ignored the glare that followed.
"We can at least keep an eye on him," Dumbledore said, halting the argument in progress. "We will check the Muggle World for him first before searching the Wizarding Community."
"You think that Harry has broken the terms of his banishment?" McGonagall asked, outraged that her employer would suggest such a thing. If Harry Potter was found anywhere in the Wizarding World following his banishment, he would instantly be given the Dementor's Kiss.
"I really don't know what to think," Dumbledore sighed. There was a moment of silence before the old wizard once again spoke, "This morning during lunch, Sybil Trelawney gave another prophecy. It reads as the following:
"Child of Wood, Son of Fire, Daughter of Earth, Father of Sky,
Child of Sea, Mother of Ice, Daughter of Truth, Master of Lies,
Seven shall bind together; eight shall hide deep inside,
Nine shall heed their lessons hence all shall die…
Ten will remain hopeful; eleven will remain true,
Twelve will be the final count unless decided by you…"
"What do you think it means?" McGonagall asked hesitantly.
"Is that thing even legit?" Mundungus Fletcher asked warily.
"From all reports we've been hearing," Dumbledore said warily, "it is. Alas, it may prove be difficult to decipher. I am most curious as to whom this Daughter of Truth is."
"What do you mean?" Shacklebolt inquired.
"Because it would seem that she is the Champion of Light named by this prophecy," Dumbledore answered.
"Could be a seer though too," Hestia Jones pointed out but was quickly shot down.
"No," Dumbledore had said, "as she was listed right before what is obviously the main Champion of the Dark, it could only be her. That would probably mean that the first six are her companions."
"Are you sure about that?" Dedalus Diggle protested. "The rest of the numbers mentioned don't add up!"
"The other lines might be talking about their allies then," Lupin reminded them grimly, "because what I'm hearing sounds awfully like a traitor in the midst of this mess."
"And more than one, too!" Sirius agreed.
"But there is no way of knowing whose side the traitors could be on," Molly argued, having several others agree with her, "and twelve dying is something no one should be looking forward to."
"Unless most of them are from those nine," Moody muttered under his breath, though his comment was heard by everyone in the room.
"So who is this Master of Lies then?" Sturgis asked the question everyone wanted to know.
"Off hand," Dumbledore answered, "I'd say He-Who-Must-Not -Be-Named as there is a direct reference to his Death Eaters."
"On what grounds?" Moody argued angrily.
"The line that said eleven will remain true," Dumbledore recited. "The Death Eater's Inner Circle is thirteen, and they just lost two of their members recently."
"Snape and Karkaroff," Sirius agreed bitterly, "So that's two of the traitors, but what about the rest? And where does Harry fit in all of this?"
"He's probably the Son of Fire mentioned as that is a very obvious reference to Gryffindor," Dumbledore stated. "The references to Sky, Sea and Earth may very well indicate the other three Houses as well. The reference to Wood obviously pertains to young Oliver, but I am at a loss for the Mother of Ice."
Tonks argued, "Headmaster, a Daughter of Earth can also refer to a Muggle."
"Or a Muggle-born," Lupin understood what she was saying. "Hermione."
"What about my Ron then?" Molly asked. "Does something happen to him? Harry and Hermione would not just leave him behind."
"No," Bill reassures her, "He's there also but I'm thinking that he's the Son of Fire instead. The reference to the Sky fits Harry much better."
"That's not possible!" Molly argued, "The reference to Father of Sky clearly indicated an older man!"
"It takes little to father a child," Fleur reminded her, shutting up all arguments, "and Sky iz such a cute name."
Emmeline Vance then asked the question everyone was thinking, "So just how far in the future is this prophecy anyway?"
No one had an answer for that.
cwn
Five children quietly sat on the stairs shocked by what they overheard. The knowledge that there was a prophecy surrounding their friend had paled to the knowledge that he was also missing. That night, Hermione sent an owl out.
She was not aware that another owl had also been sent.
cwn
Snape was awake when Harry ventured in the room that afternoon but the man was deep in conversation with Arawn to pay the boy much attention. In fact, the two Fae did not even realize that they were no longer until Snape felt the dip on his sick bed and saw him sitting there waiting to be acknowledged.
"Potter?" Snape inquired, barely recognizing his student. Physically there was no difference in appearance since the last time Snape had seen him, but regardless of his wishes, the changes he felt were too obvious. "What he is doing here? Don't tell me the little twit managed to get himself killed…"
The Faerie king merely chuckled and said, "No, nothing like that. I merely sent for him. You have brought it then?"
"Here, my lord," Harry said quietly watching Snape's eyes open wide as he recognized the object the teen held.
"Where did you get this?" Snape demanded as the strangely submissive boy handed him his soul-stone without as much as a glare.
"One of the house-elves that rescued you brought it to me," Harry confessed, looking to the silver haired king as if waiting for further instructions.
"Why him?" Snape inquired looking to Arawn for answers, "Why not someone more qualified to handle a soul-stone?"
"Like what?" Arawn asked, "A servant perhaps? A magi or maybe even a healer?"
"Yes!" Snape agreed, frustrated. The boy's green eyes seemed all too wise under the dim firelight and it was starting to unnerve him.
"Then you are in luck," the king commented, dark eyes seemingly twinkling as if hiding some amusing little secret, "this Wybir pup here is all three though his training isn't complete yet. His present keeper dubbed him Spéir and he is of purifier stock. This pup is to be passed on to you when you came of age."
Snape gave him a disbelieving look as Arawn continued, "Go on. Give your new pet a name."
"Uncle, no," Snape knew better to argue with the man but did so anyway, "You can't ask that of me. Not with this one."
"All right then," Arawn seemed to ignore the protest as he came to a decision because he rose from his seat at his nephew's bedside. "I'll just leave you both to get reacquainted. I expect a name when I return."
"Just great- another flea-bitten…," Snape waited until the man was gone before addressing the teen he despised. "Tell me, boy, when were you turned?"
"Turned, sir?" the teen asked.
Snape snarled, "No human is ever born a Cŵn Wybir. So, Potter, I ask again and this time I expect an answer. When did you make the transformation from boy to hound?"
"I've always been one," was the quiet reply.
Snape was about to argue that then understanding came like a lightning bolt. Several breeds of hellhound, Cŵn Wybir included, were created from the souls of dead children. That meant that there was a chance that the teen would not remember the transformation if he had died young enough, such as the incident fourteen years ago that had cost the Potters had lost their lives.
He chuckled at the irony. The prophecy of Trelawney's that Dumbledore and Voldemort both nurtured had to be false. There was no known way for a mortal wizard to kill one of the Underworld's hunting dogs, even a puppy like the boy sitting on the bed besides him. Taking the Dark Lord down would be just another day of training for Potter. The rest of his pack probably wouldn't even be needed.
He then concentrated on the rest of the information his uncle had given him. "Purifier stock, huh? That makes sense…" The knowledge was not very surprising as both of the boy's parents were magical, but it also mean that his supposed pet's innate talents lay more in defense rather than aggression. Being labeled as 'Purifier' also meant that Potter possessed a large reserve of dormant energy and would be a natural in the healing arts, and if he remembered about purifiers correctly, a well-timed burst of that power could unravel or even dissolve any spell in mere seconds. Arawn was correct about one thing though; he couldn't keep calling the teen 'boy' or even 'Potter'. This particular Potter had died long before he had ever made it to Hogwarts and he had been too stubborn to recognize that, even though he could place partial blame on the seal that dulled his senses.
When the boy died was another story that he intended to find out as soon as he was able. For now, he had other things to consider.
"Change, Potter," he demanded. "Let me see what it is exactly that I have been given." He still did not like that he was now bound to the Potter spawn but he supposed it could have been worse. He could have been the new owner of Prongs or, heaven forbid, Padfoot. He would happily take the boy over either animagus.
The boy's transformation from human to canine was relatively slow in comparison to the animagus transformation but Snape had the feeling that it was intentional. He supposed that the boy wanted him to see every step of the change but he had no clue as to why. The transformation started with the child's eyes shining a killing green as the color bleached from the rest of his body to a silvery white. For an instant, Snape could have sworn that he had witnessed the presence of soft feathered wings of the same color on the human form but given how quickly they disappeared concluded it may have just been a trick of the light. As this happened, Harry's body slowly began to age from fifteen to about twenty before the human traits merged into the canine ones that appeared. Teeth, nails, ears and snout began to lengthen as fingers and toes merged into paws, the already narrow hips and slimmed down further and the only article of clothing worn slid off to reveal the beginning of a long narrow tail.
Moments later Snape found himself staring at a fairly small greyhound shaped being of a ghostly bluish hue brindled with frost along the back and sides. Delicate hints of red on each ear revealed that while one of the three Cŵn breeds, Harry did not yet possess the coat of a mature adult. The only part that remained unchanged from Harry's human form was the intense green eyes that remained focused solely on him. Hellhounds were said to be as smart as their human counterparts so he was not surprised to see it in the half-grown dog sitting besides him.
"A puppy indeed," Snape said in bemusement as he gave into the urge to touch what sat next to him. The warm down-like fur against his palm felt almost like a second skin but it was the small shock he received that caught and held his attention. Ignoring the antics of the Wybir whom was blissfully leaning into his touch, Snape thought on the implications of feeling his own magic mixed in with Harry's meant.
Obviously the magical bond between pet and master had gotten stronger during the time the boy had safe-guarded his soul-stone but there was something else that he could not place that seemed to be hastening it along. That mystery would require more thought.
When Arawn entered a couple hours later he would find his nephew lost in thought with the young Wybir dozing across his lap. The Fae king of the Underworld took this in with a slight smile on his face as Snape sat up in complete attention. Ignoring his nephew's hastened greetings and the raising of the pup's head, Arawn asked the expected question.
"Have you decided on a name?"
"I have," was the response. "His name from this day on is Madra."
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Translations
Leigheas- healer (gaelic)
Cenau- puppy (welsh)
Spéir- sky (gaelic)
Madra- dog (gaelic)
Dáiríre- serious (Gaelic)
Marthanóir- survivor (Gaelic)
Taoiseach- chief (gaelic)
Cŵn- dogs (welsh)
Gwynnwy- white (welsh)
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Notes
Tuatha dé Danaan- "People of the Goddess Danu" Depicted as one of the origins of the Sidhe, the Tuatha dé Danaan were said to be a nomad people neither human nor god that arrived in Ireland on Beltane after migrating from the Greek isles. They brought with them four magical artifacts and became the first rulers of Ireland after Nemed, but their rule was ended by the Milesian Celts and they vanished. Some claim that they were driven underground or into the lakes of Scotland, Ireland and Wales to become Sidhe while others claimed that they returned to the sea never to return.
Danu- the Celtic River Goddess and mother of the Tuatha dé Danaan, she is also the daughter of the Dagda (a Celtic god that became a fairy king). The Danube in one of several rivers bears her name. Danu is also associated with Anu (an earth and fertility goddess), Black Annis (a cruel winter/storm hag) and Aine (the Irish moon goddess).
Sidhe- Also known as Shee, Sí, and Síth, they are the fairies of Gaelic myth. The word sidhe means "hill, burial mound or earth barrow" but is associated with the Tuatha dé Danaan that were driven into the earth by the conquering Milesian Celts. The term itself actually refers to anything supernatural: such as Old Gods, fairies, spirits and even witches/wizards. The Shee (the fay) are described to be very tall, thin, young and beautiful in appearance with long flowing hair and wearing white clothing. They are also known to be rather malicious to humans that either break their taboos or trespass on their lands. They are also known for stealing away pretty girls to become fairy brides or kidnapping young children and replacing them with changelings. They gained the name of "trooping fairy" as they are frequently spotted in masses on the move on the days of Beltane (aka May Day) and Samhain (aka Halloween).
Seelie/Unseelie Courts- The aristocratic trooping fairies of Scottish legend, the Seelie are also known as the benevolent "Blessed Court" while the Unseelie are known as the malicious "Unblessed or Uncanny Court". The Unseelie are also said to be the souls of the walking dead, as both the Seelie and Unseelie have been seen marching through the countryside by humans.
Annwn- Ruled by Arawn, Annwn is a fairy realm and world of the dead in Brythonic Celtic myth. It said that in Annwn is a place of ancestral power and knowledge that mortals may access where the wine flows in fountains like water and age and illness are unknown. Annwn is also one of the Faerie realms where the access point is located in the water rather than a burial mound.
Arawn- A Welsh god of the Underworld that is also said to be the king of faeries, he is also one of the known participants of the Wild Hunt. The changing of the seasons is also said to have resulted from the time he willing spent pretending to be the human king, Pwyll, while Pwyll pretended to be him. Arawn is interchangeable with Gwyn ap Nudd, his counterpart in southern Wales.
Gwragedd Annwn- "Wives of the Underworld" They are fairy maidens that dwell underneath the lakes of the Black Mountains of Wales. Believed to originally be human women that had been cursed by Saint Patrick into fairies for berating him for abandoning Ireland, they are known to be extremely beautiful and will sometimes come ashore to marry with human men bringing herds of fairy cattle along as dowries. However, if they are ever struck or touched with iron, they will return to their lakes taking their dowries with them. Several Welsh families claim to be of Gwragedd Annwn blood. The Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend is also believed to be one of the Gwragedd Annwn.
