Chapter 12

"So, what you are saying," Lucius said. "Is that Queen Thespa sent you here to take me to the Elven Realm, and I'm to stop whatever I'm doing and go with you. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Mithrael said. "That is correct." He and Harry had been escorted into Lucius's study and were now sitting in front of the desk.

"May I go, too, Father?" Draco asked. He had been summoned when the Elves arrived and was sitting next to Harry.

Lucius ignored him. "I can't be at your queen's beck and call. I'm a busy man. I have things to do."

"She is your queen, also, Lucius," Mithrael said.

"She is not my queen! I am a Wizard!"

"You are half Elf, and Queen Thespa is not only your queen, but your mother's sister."

Harry turned to Draco in surprise. "That would make us cousins," he said softly, so as not to interrupt the adult conversation. "Queen Thespa is my grandmother."

"Really?" Draco asked.

"Draco," Lucius said irritably. "Why don't you show Harry the gardens? His father and I have things we need to discuss."

"Yes Father, " Draco said, standing and motioning for Harry to follow him.

Harry glanced at his father for permission, and when he received a nod, followed Draco out of the study.

"What is it like there?" Draco asked as they made their way to the gardens.

Harry shrugged. "It's very different. The woods only have magical creatures, so we must go to the forests in the Human Realm to hunt for food."

Draco pointed to the quiver on his back. "You hunt with bows and arrows?"

"Yes, and a sling. I've been using a sling longer, so I'm better at that, but I'm getting quite good with my bow."

Outside, they walked through the garden until they came to a gazebo. Having more questions, Draco motioned for him to enter, then went in behind him. They sat on a bench facing each other. "What are those clothes you're wearing?" he asked. "What are they made of?"

Harry looked down at his tunic. "Oh, this is doe skin," he said rubbing his hand across the material. "It's very soft and flexible. It's also sturdy. It's good to wear for hunting and fishing and roaming the forests. The color allows us to blend into the forest and not be seen."

"Are your boots made of the same material?"

Harry nodded and propped an ankle on his knee to show him the sole. "They're much more comfortable than the boots we wear at Hogwarts," he said. "The sole protects the feet, but allows you to feel the ground underneath. They're also good for climbing trees. These are not waterproof, though. The ones we wear in winter are, and they're lined with fur. It's always warm in the Elven Realm, but when we go to the Human Realm in winter, it's cold and we need protection from the snow."

"When you first arrived at Hogwarts, you wore a gold crown. Is that because you're a prince?"

Harry nodded. "I only wear it for ceremonies or when I'm being presented formally. Also the clothes we wore that night are for the same. They're not everyday wear."

"So, you will be King some day?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "We don't have a King. Someday, my mother will be Queen, and when I have a sister, she will be Queen after my mother."

"What if you don't have a sister? Who will become Queen after your mother?"

"If I don't have a sister, then my daughter will one day be Queen. But I'm sure that I'll have a sister. My parents plan to have another child now that I'm older and don't require so much care."

"My father told me that you bathe in the river and sleep on the ground. Is that true?"

Harry nodded. "We make a tent by tying ropes between trees and hanging skins over the ropes. It rains while we sleep, so we need the protection. And in the early morning, mists cover the forest, so we wait until the sun has cleared the mists before leaving the tents. It's cool at night, so we sleep on top of skins and wrap ourselves in furs. It's very comfortable."

Draco frowned. "What about insects and spiders and snakes and things. Don't they get in the tent?"

"We don't have insects and spiders, and the only snakes we have are magical, but they don't come inside the tent."

"I wish I could see it," Draco said wistfully. "Father said I wouldn't last a day there because I'm used to being waited on by servants, but I believe I could handle it."

Harry grinned. "You definitely would not be waited on there. We all have work to do so that all the people have food and skins and potions, but the work is not difficult. It's fun. My father and I hunt every day and gather fruit, nuts, berries, wild vegetables, and plants for potions. Sometimes we make tools or weapons, but we also swim in the lake, fly on the backs of hippogriffs, and explore the forests. My mother and grandmother help the other women cook supper and sew, but my mother also makes amulets and potions, and she is a healer. At night, we gather with the others to eat. Afterwards, stories are told or music is played. Sometimes we dance or sing; sometimes we just listen. Before supper, the younger children run around the cove, playing together. The older children play games, and the adults talk with each other. I love being there, but now I have lived in your world, and I see how different it is. I don't know if you would enjoy my world as much as I do."

"How do you get there? Do you walk?"

"From here, it's easy because your house is surrounded by woods. In every forest, there's a tree that serves as a portal into our world. It works the same as the barrier at King's Cross, the one that leads to Platform 9 ¾. But only Elves can open the one in the forest. Once the portal is opened, anyone can enter."

"I'm a quarter Elf. Would I be able to open it?"

Harry nodded. "I think so. I can open it, and I wasn't born an Elf. I became one through adoption, but it was a blood ritual, so I now have my parent's blood flowing through my veins, and they have mine. But I can't show you the portal without my father's permission."

Draco smirked. "Do you always do everything your father tells you?"

"Of course. Don't you?"

Draco looked as if he were about to protest, then made a wry face and nodded.

Harry laughed, and Draco joined him.

"Perhaps I could spend a day there," Draco said. "Maybe a few days."

Harry nodded. "You would be welcomed by our people. You are one of us, Draco. It would be good for you to learn of our world."

Dobby appeared in the gazebo with a loud pop. "Master Draco, Master Lucius says you is to put on dress robes. You is going to Elven Realm."

Draco jumped up excitedly. "I'm going?"

"Yes, Master Draco. You is going. Hurry now. Master is waiting."

"I'll go with you," Harry said, following Draco out of the gazebo.

Draco stopped and turned around. "I'm going to change clothes," he said pointedly.

Harry laughed. "If your father allows you to stay, you will undress and bathe in front of others. If you're too shy, you'll get very dirty, Draco, and my mother won't allow you into your furs until you are clean."

Draco huffed. "Come on, then."

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Beneath the branches of Eldartha, Queen Thespa and the Elders sat gazing at their visitors. Lucius Malfoy, and his son Draco, stood with Mithrael and Sethrael, waiting for the Queen to speak.

The Queen rose and went to stand before Draco. She took his face gently between her hands. "You have the look of my sister," she said, smiling softly. "Your grandmother would have been very pleased to see you in our Realm. She had hoped for the day you would learn about your people."

"I never knew her," Draco said.

"No, she crossed into the Summerland before you were born, but she knew you would come. She dreamed of you often."

She turned to Harry. "Sethrael, take your cousin to the caves and help him find something more suitable to wear. He will be our guest for a few days." She looked up at Lucius. "You do not mind if your son visits his people for a while, do you, Nephew?"

"No, Aunt Thespa," Lucius said stiffly.

She smiled and waved her hands in a shooing motion, sending the two boys off to the caves. When they were gone, she sat. "Please, be seated," she said to the two men who were still standing.

Lucius looked around and saw that there were no seats other than smooth boulders or the ground. He took out his wand and conjured a chair. The Elves laughed as he sat down.

"You truly are a Wizard, Nephew," Queen Thespa said.

"Yes, well, I'm no longer accustomed to nature, Aunt Thespa," he replied.

"Lucius, we have a problem, and we need your help," she said. "We have discovered how the Dark Wizard's soul has remained in the Human Realm."

Lucius brows rose. "So, he's not dead?"

"No. He searches for a way to create a new body. He is unable to completely possess a person, as you saw with the Professor Quirrell at Hogwarts."

"That was the Dark Lord? He's the one who possessed Quirrell?"

"Yes, but he could not take over the Professor completely, although he could control him."

"What is it you want me to do?" Lucius asked warily.

"He is searching for a servant to perform a ritual. It will be a dark ritual. I would like for you to find the kind of ritual that will create a new body that his soul can enter. I know that you have access to this kind of information since you have used the Dark Arts yourself."

He frowned. "Why do you want this ritual? What do you plan to do with it? Surely, you don't want to help him."

"No, we want to prevent it, but until we know which ritual he is likely to use, we can do nothing. Will you help us?"

Lucius jumped up and began to pace in agitation. "You put me in a precarious situation," he said. "I was one of his followers. If he even suspected that I was helping you, my family would be tortured and killed."

"Do you wish for the Dark Wizard's return, Lucius? Do you wish to follow him again?"

"No! I'd rather die than kneel to that monster again, but I have to protect my family!"

"The only way you can protect your family is by preventing his return. We ask nothing more from you than that you help us find this ritual. After that, the problem will be ours. We will ask nothing more of you."

He stopped pacing for a moment and glared at his aunt. "And he will never know that I helped you?"

"Not unless you tell him yourself."

He sighed and sat back down. "Then I will find this ritual for you, but promise me that if he finds out that I helped you, you will protect my wife and son."

"You have our promise," Queen Thespa said. "But, Lucius, you must trust in the prophecy. You must have faith in the beliefs of your people."

"Faith!" he spat. "I have learned to put my faith in only one thing, Aunt Thespa: power. That is a lesson I learned from my father."

"Your father was a poor teacher, and an even poorer man. Oh, yes, he had wealth and power, but he had none of the qualities that make a man great, Lucius. If you follow his example, you are a fool."

Lucius gave her an icy glare. "I am worse than a fool," he said. "I am a coward. I couldn't even save my mother."

"You were a child. You did everything you could."

"I failed!"

"You blame yourself for something you could not control, and you are punishing yourself by trying to become the man he was. Why, Lucius? If you want to punish anyone, punish the man who hurt you by becoming the thing he hated most."

Lucius stood. "I will find this ritual for you, and I will bring it to you when I come to retrieve my son. I don't think he will stay longer than a day, but if I am wrong, please keep him safe."

"I will guard him with my life," Mithrael said, standing. "But you know that no harm can come to him in our realm."

"I know, but I also know that you roam the human realm, so when you do, please keep him safe."

"I will," Mithrael said. He bowed to the Queen and Elders, and then escorted Lucius back to the portal.

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"Aya, a coseth isa?" Harry shouted into the mouth of the cave. The words echoed back to him. "Come on," he said, leading Draco inside.

"What did you say?" Draco asked.

"I just asked if anyone was here. Sometimes, people come in to get new clothes, and they change inside the cave. I did not want to walk in on a woman."

Draco nodded. "So, I'm going to be dressed like you?"

"Yes. Your robes will get damaged here, so you'll want something more comfortable."

At the back of the cave, hundreds of baskets of all sizes were lined in front of the walls. "What are in all these baskets?" Draco asked.

"Furs, skins, boots, clothes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, gold, silver, metal, precious stones, flint, tools, weapons, and all the other things that our people need."

"So, if you need new clothes, you just come into the cave and pick some out?"

Harry nodded, taking the top off one of the baskets. He reached in and pulled out a tunic. "I think this will fit," he said, handing it to Draco.

Draco took the tunic. "Where will I put the clothes I'm wearing?"

"Fold them, and we'll put them in one the baskets. They'll be safe here. You can get them before you leave."

Draco removed his robe, folded it, and laid it on top of one of the baskets. "Do you wear the same clothes every day?"

"Yes," Harry said, pulling a pair of trousers from another basket. "But you wash them every day when you bathe in the river."

Draco shrugged and removed the rest of his clothes. "What about underwear?" he asked.

Harry grinned and handed him a leather belt. "We do not wear underwear, but if you want, you can wear what you have and wash them at the river when you bathe at night."

"No, that's okay. I'll wear whatever the rest of you do." He put on the trousers and laced up the front. "These are comfortable," he said.

"Wait until you put these on," Harry said, handing him a pair of boots. "You'll never want to put on another pair. I've been thinking of asking Metha if she will make me a pair for school, but dye them black so that they'll look more like the ones we wear with our uniforms."

Draco put on the boots and laced them to his knees. He stood up and walked around the cave, testing them. "It's almost as if you're not wearing anything," he said. "I can feel the earth beneath my feet."

Harry nodded. "It may seem strange at first, but you will get used to them and not want to wear anything else."

Draco had finished dressing when someone called into the cave. "Aya, a coseth isa?"

"Ta, Daka!" Harry answered. "Casa isa!"

Mithrael and Lucius entered the cave. "Draco, your father is leaving and wants to say goodbye," Mithrael said. He motioned for Harry to follow him out of the cave.

Draco looked up at his father who was looking over his outfit, a slight smile on his face. "Is it all right, Father?" he asked.

Lucius nodded. "I was just thinking about when I was your age," he said, then shook his head. "Draco, if you will allow yourself, you will have a wonderful time here. This is the best place for a boy to learn to become a man. If you will listen, you will learn many valuable lessons. For these few days, forget you are a Wizard and learn to be an Elf. It is something you will carry with you for the rest of your life."

Draco had never heard his father speak so emotionally. "Yes, Father," he said. "I'll make you proud of me."

Lucius smiled. "I am already proud of you, son." He cleared his throat and his entire demeanor changed into the more formal one that Draco was used to. "I will inform your mother that you are here. Listen to what you're told and obey Mithrael, Elsbeth and the Queen. She is your aunt, Draco. Get to know her. She will tell you stories of your grandmother."

"I will, Father."

His father nodded and allowed his eyes to roam over his son once more. "I will come for you in a few days," he said, and walked out of the cave.