Chapter 6: The Aftermath
The next day Harry stood with the Weasleys as they took in the wreckage of the Burrow.
It seemed that the lose of a supporting wall had been to much for the mismatched crocked tower like building, and while they had been gone, the whole thing had collapsed. Mrs Weasley was currently wondering through the wreckage, aimlessly picking at random belongings, straightening some pictures on the still standing fireplace.
Ron was staring in mute horror, his face pale and his clenched knuckles white. George was holding up an even paler Percy, who looked like he might collapse.
Bill put a hand on his fathers shoulder, who was staring at where some of the rubble had destroyed his precious shed. "You can come stay with us Dad. It'll be tight and the boys might have to sleep on the floor but you'll have some where to stay."
"No."
Everyone (bar Mrs Weasley who was now stacking broken plates) looked round at Harry, who was a little surprised to find that he was the one who had spoken so forcefully.
He Blushed slightly. "I mean theirs no point over crowding Bill's when I have plenty of room at Grimauld place. We all fit in there before."
Mr Wealsy shook his head. "Thank you Harry, But we couldn't..."
"This isn't a discussion." Harry said with a smile. "You're my family. Let me do this for you."
As he said the words "my family", words he hadn't been planning to say but felt right all the same, Mrs Weasley looked round, tears in her eyes but a small smile on her lips. "Oh Harry..."
Harry, now blushing deeply, shrugged. "Well you are my family..."
The tears in Mrs Weasley's eyes started to spill over down her cheeks and her smile grew. She made her way over to Harry and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Thank you Harry, dear. That would be perfect."
Elsewhere: 1 week ago
We are at War
Dia was in trouble. Big trouble.
He was sat on a hard wooden chair outside his father office, staring at the brick wall in-front of him. Dia was trying to distract himself from the impending doom he was facing, and so was counting every brick on the wall opposite him and was suddenly struck by the fact having brick walls was quite an achievement in itself in the Druid community.
He was an only child, so officially they should be living in one of the canvas tents in the lower, warmer caves, as they had when he was a baby. However, as his father was head of discipline in the Academy, their family had been moved to one of the more modest brick houses in the Great Cavern to accommodate for the amount of visitors he received. As it was, the four bedroom house was entirely too big for the 3 of them, so whenever a Druid who lived in the outside world came to visit, or someone fell out with their family, they came to stay with Dia.
Dia didn't mind. The eccentrics who lived in the outside world always had fascinating stories to tell Dia, all about technology and pop music and giant machines. He even had a record player that batty Mrs Jones, an old Druid that came by every Christmas, had given him. He found it hard to believe the stories she told him about travelling in a flying machine, which carried people in its belly, to a different continent.
Jonathon Rees, a Druid farmer who came by the caves in the autumn to sell his harvest, had brought him a strange music box called a MobilePlayer earlier that year. The small black cube came with earmuffs that Dia put over his ears and could hear music through. Dia took it everywhere with him, and now knew all the words to every song that the music box contained.
He loved living in the Great Cavern. All the houses surrounding his had huge families. Next door, the Baker's house, had 6 children, his best friend Joey, his three sisters, and their cousins Beca and Aaron. Their house was one of the largest in the Cavern. Mr and Mrs Llewellyn lived with their three children, their children's spouses, and their grandchildren. In total there were 14 people living in their house. In comparison, Dia's four bedroom house was tiny.
But not as tiny as Elgan's house. He lived with his parents and baby sister in one of the canvas tents in the lower caverns. Even though Elgan was a Dryw, a Druid Mage, and therefore his family were entitled to a brick house in the upper cavern's close to the Academy, his mother was paranoid about the baby's health, so decided to stay in the warmer lower cavern.
This was fine for Elgan, because the gossip about a certain group of young Druids always reached his parents last.
Dia, Elgan, Joey and his cousins Beca and Aaron were constantly in trouble about something or another. It all started when Dia took Joey, not realizing that his cousins were following, to visit Elgan when they were all 8. Joey had never meet a Dryw his age before, and insisted that Elgan show him some magic. They had proceeded to collapse a small cave, unaware that Beca and Aaron had been hiding inside. Between the three of them they had managed to rescue the brother and sister in time for the adults to come rushing towards the sound of the collapse.
They had been in so much trouble. Dia's father had threatened to expel Elgan from the Acadamy, an impressive feat considering Elgan hadn't even started yet. Da's father had started to write out the expulsion form when Gyfrifol Dryw Harte, a member of the high council and Principal of the Academy, had walked in and embraced Elgan.
She announced that it was one of the most powerful displays of magic in an untrained Dryw that she has ever seen.
Harte had demanded that Elgan start at the academy immediately, a whole 3 years early! Elgan had been ecstatic. For 3 wonderful years, Elgan was the favored student of one of the most influential Council members in the Druid community.
When Elgan, Joey and Dia had been caught spying on the High Council, it was Harte that bailed them out. When Joey had snuck Beca and Aaron to the surface with one of the cave pony's, it was Harte that helped them look for the bolted animal. When they had flooded the entire Academy with sewage, it was Harte that gave them an alibi.
But not even Gyfrifol Dryw Harte could save them now. This time they were in more trouble than they had ever been before.
They had broken the Crystal.
Before the Great War the crystals grew in a cave deep in the Black mountains. The Druids had built their towns around the cave, because the crystals were the source of their power. The crystals, grown from the earth itself, was the link between the Druids and nature. In the Final Battle every crystal in the cave complex had been destroyed, the shards carried away and hid with a magic so strong the Druids lost all connection with them. The only crystal that was left was a tiny shard, taken from the first crystal to grow in that place, worn around the neck of the Arglwydd Dryw, the Head Councillor of the Druids, one of the 10 to survive the Final Battle
Over 1000 years, the tentative magic of the Druids had helped the shard grow, increasing the strength of the Druids with it. The Crystal now resided in the deepest chamber of the Academy, far below the Council Chamber itself. Only the High Council members had access to the chamber and were allowed to ever see it.
So naturally Dia, Elgan and Joey had snuck down there to have a look.
The entrance to the cavern was through a grate in the very center of the round Council Chamber. Elgan had chosen the date for their exploration very carefully, as there was a debate being held on the other side of the Academy, which every member of the council would be attending, including Gyfrifol Dryw Harte and Dia's father.
As the three boys had ventured down the winding stairs, deeper and deeper into the earth, the air grew warmer and more humid. By the time they reached the bottom, they were all drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.
The Crystal Cavern greeted them with a strange blueish light. Small sparkling stalactites hung from the low ceiling. The gentle trickle of luminescent water running down them had carved small streams into the bedrock below, all running towards a deep pool, about four meters across. In the center of that pool was the Crystal. It stood as if it had grown from the pedestal it stood upon itself. About a meter in diameter, tendrils of smaller crystals reached down to wrap around the uneven stump of stone, extending under the clear water, giving the impression of a beautiful alien plant, extending its roots towards the sustenance the water provided. The Crystal itself radiated the same blueish light that lit the cavern, dimming and brightening in a rhythm, like the beating of a heart.
The boys had stood there in wonder for a few seconds, absorbed by the simple beauty that was the source of power to their people.
"Can you feel that?" Whispered Elgan.
Joey nodded mutely.
Dia looked around an Elgan and grinned. "Do you think we could touch it?"
Elgan blinked at Dia in shock. "Dia... The Crystal is the most sacred item on the earth for a Druid. And you want to touch it?"
Dia nodded eagerly and Elgan grinned in response. "Awesome..."
The three boys walked up to the pools edge and gazed down at the water. "How deep is it, do you think?"
Elgan shrugged. "I wouldn't swim in it... Athrawes Jones told me that one drop of the water from the pool can cure nearly any sickness, but three drops will give you a fever. I don't know what would happen if you put your whole body in it..."
Dia frowned at the crystal, out of reach across the water, calling to him.
"I know." Muttered Elgan. " Gyfrifol Dryw Harte's been teaching me this trick..."
Elgan closed his eyes and spread his hands out in front of him. Slowly a disk of light grew before his hands. Elgan moved his right hand in a circle around his left and the disk moved to hover, parallel to the floor, just in front of Dia.
Joey sighed. "I wish I had magic…"
Elgan opened his eyes and grinned at Dia. "Stand on it."
Dia stepped up onto the disk of light. He expected it to fell solid, but instead it bent slightly under his feet. Elgan frowned in concentration and swept one hand slowly across his body. The disk carried Dia gently across the water. Seconds later, Dia was within touching distance of the crystal. He turned to look at Joey and Elgan.
Joey was staring intently at the crystal, his face pale despite the warmth of the room. Elgan had beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, but he grinned encouragingly at Dia.
His hand trembling slightly, Dia reached out and blushed the Crystal lightly with his fingers.
He had only a moment to realize that the crystal was warm, warmer than the muggy air within the Cavern before it happened.
With a flash a blinding light and a jolt of intense pain that shot up Dia's arm and speared his head, he flew across the cavern. He hit the far wall with an explosion of pain in his back.
It took him a few moments to realize the voice screaming in pain was not his own.
Blinking the stars out of his vision, Dia looked across the cavern to see that Elgan was curled up on the ground, clutching his temples and screaming. Joey was on his knees next to him, one hand pressed to his skull, the other trying to pull Elgan to his feet. Joey looked up at Dia frantically. "Help me!" He shouted.
Dia pulled himself to his feet, trying to ignore the needle of pain in his head.
He ran to Elgan and tried to help the boy. Joey and Dia had nearly got Elgan into a sitting position when there was a terrible groan.
Joey and Dia looked across at the Crystal, the source of the noise. A spiders-web of cracks was spreading across the surface of the Crystal, each new path emitting a new grinding noise, until, with the terrible sound of a rock slide, a third of the crystal broke away, and fell into the water of the pool with a splash.
Dia's heart stopped.
Slowly he looked across at Joey, and the two friends knew what the other was thinking. They had to get out of there.
They pulled the whimpering Elgan to his feet, pulling an arm over each one of their shoulders, and fled up the stairs with the terrified speed that only two boys in trouble can manage.
As they neared the top of the stairs, Elgan started to come to a little and managed to start climbing the stairs by himself.
The three boys had just managed to pull the grate back into place and throw themselves into a shadowed alcove when three people came staggering into the room.
Gyfrifol Dryw Harte was being half carried by her brother, Athrawes Jones, into the room, staggering in behind them was Dia's father.
"...cause the Dryw to all be stuck down at once. And why the others still felt the pain, but not as powerfully." Muttered Harte as she pressed a hand to her skull.
"I think you're right Emily. It must be the Crystal." Replied Dia's father.
"Look!" Hissed Harte's brother. "The Seal on the entrance! It's been broken."
Dia sucked in a silent breath.
"We must hurry. If we are lucky they will still be down there..." Muttered Harte.
The three boys had waited until the adults had disappeared down the stairs before they themselves fled the academy.
The two boys half dragged Elgan to his house in the lower caverns. They barely met anyone on the way there, and the few they did see were Drwy curled up on the floor gripping their heads in pain.
Once they got to Elgan's canvas house they met Becca and Aaron, who had been watching over Elgan's baby sister while his mother slept. The baby had been born with the birthmark that showed she would grow up into a Drwy, and so was screaming its lungs out. Becca clutched the tiny thing to her chest, but not even that noise could have roused Elgan's mother from her drunken slumber.
Joey and Dia had stayed long enough to arrange their story with Becca and Aaron, not that anyone had any evidence that it had been them to break the Crystal. They were going to say that Elgan had stayed home all day to watch over his little sister. If Dia and Joey were thrown out of the Druid community it was no real loss. But Elgan had a real future in front of him, a future so much more important and promising than that of a young trouble maker and a baker's boy. Elgan had to stay in the Academy. He couldn't be blamed for what had happened.
It wasn't until Dia got home that he realized he'd lost his music box...
Dia had lain in his bed that night waiting for his father to get home. He had no proof, but he was sure he would have dropped the music box when he had been catapulted across the Crystal Cavern. He knew his father would find it, and he would know that Dia had been the one to break the Crystal.
When the alarm bells of the Academy started ringing at 3 o-clock in the morning, Dia thought that his father would come for him then. But no one came. People shouted in the streets, footsteps running past his house, and Dia could hear his mother pacing anxiously in the room above him. Still his father did not come home.
When the morning bell starting to chime, signalling it was 7 o-clock, Dia got up and went downstairs. His father was waiting for him.
His dirty blond hair, the exact shade of Dia's, was tangled and messy. His face was pale, with ugly red blotches on his cheeks. Huge shadows under his eyes told Dia his father hadn't slept yet. His eyes were hard with barely controlled fury, and in his right hand he gripped Dia's music box.
He glared at Dia and pointed a shaking finger towards his study.
Dia looked across and saw Joey sat on one of the chairs outside the room, his head bowed.
Dia walked quietly across the hall and sat next to his best friend. His father stalked along behind him and swept into his study.
Before the door slammed closed behind his father, Dia got a look at the people waiting inside. Gyfrifol Dryw Harte stood next to a tall man with a thick black beard, lined with streaks of gray. Dia's heart skipped a beat as he realized it was the Arglwydd Dryw, the leader of the Druids. Standing behind Dia's father's desk was a tall stern looking woman who reminded him of his Great Aunt Dylis. She was comforting Dia's mother, who had her head in her hands, weeping. The last thing Dia saw before the door swung shut, was Harte turning to catch his eye, and giving him a small sad smile.
"This is bad..." Whispered Joey.
Dia's mouth was too dry to respond. he started counting the bricks.
After what left like a lifetime, the door to the study opened, and Dia's father beckoned him in.
Dia came to his feet shakily and dragged his feet into the room. The door was closed behind him.
Dia looked up at the adults standing around him, staring down.
The Arglwydd Dryw was the first to break the silence. "There something very serious we have to explain to you bach.
"Now, we know you broke the Crystal. And as serious as that is, given the current situation you're actually not in trouble for that."
Dia looked up sharply. "I'm not!?"
The old man smiled. "No bach. If I'm being honest, your streak for mischief may have saved us all."
Dia stared around at all the adults in the room in shock before the stern looking woman took pity on him.
"What do you know of the Wizard community, Dia?"
Dia frowned at this bazaar question. Everyone knew about the Wizards.
"They are nature speakers, like us, except they don't use their magic for the protection of nature. They're stronger than we are and like to go to war with pretty much anyone so we hide... er…" Dia looked at his father, knowing that he hated any suggestion of the Druids being week.
"We conceal ourselves from them. OH!" Dia suddenly remembered something. "The council wants to ally ourselves with the wizards because they have been badly hurt by one of their wars and…"
Dia stopped talking as he noticed his father narrowing his eyes at him. Dia shouldn't have known that as it was top secret council business and Dia only knew because he had been spying.
Gyfrifol Dryw Harte coughed to cover a laugh and Dia was sure the Aunt Dylis look alike was trying not to smile.
"Never mind that, bach," said the Arglwydd Dryw "what about the Crystal. What do you know about that?"
Dia frowned again. Were they trying to get him to confess? They said they already knew he had broken it.
"It's the source of our connection with nature." He said, remembering the stories his mother used to tell him. "During the war with the wizards they destroyed nearly all of the crystals and all that was left was the great crystal which we had to grow our selves."
The Arglwydd Dryw nodded and turned to Gyfrifol Dryw Harte.
"Dia, earlier today when you and Joey," Dia breathed a momentary sigh of relief as they didn't know about Elgan "snuck down to the cavern, the Council were meeting in the Academy to discuss a very important matter that concerned the entire Druid community.
"The wizards have been at war for a while and have only now found peace. We have been helping them in secret, as we always have, but now the Council feels the wizards have grown enough for us to reveal ourselves fully."
Gyfrifol Dryw Harte smiled slightly and sat down.
"We were discussing if we should come out of hiding for good."
After a moment of shock, Dia felt like his head exploded with ideas. He could leave the caverns. He could go riding under the sun and not fear being reprimanded by his father. He could go in one of the metal flying beast and explore the world. He go and see his favorite bands, live! As all these ideas were flying round his mind, one came to the front of his thoughts. The Wizards.
"But…" He spluttered "…the wizards hate us. They always have! That's why they tried to wipe us out."
Aunt Dylis the Second shook her head. "The druid people are nothing more than a myth to the wizarding world. Enough time has passed for their fear to dissipate."
Gyfrifol Dryw Harte shook her head sadly. "Obviously not enough fear has left the Wizards…"
A weight seemed to befall the adults in the room and they fell into a silence only interrupted by the occasional sniffs of Dia's mother. She held out her hand to him, and Dia took it, moving to stand next to her so she could wrap her arm around him and rest her head on his shoulder.
"After you broke the Crystal," explained Harte "every Dryw felt an unbearable pain shoot through their skulls as our connection to nature was put under strain. Your father and I investigated the cavern and found your music player. We left the cavern hoping to find out from you what had happened."
Dia father shook his head. "We headed to the Academy to find Elgan to see where you were. It was then that we received word of an intruder."
Harte grimaced. "We raised the alarm, but most of the Dryw were still crippled from the damage to the Crystal. We ran to the cavern, fearing the worst…"
Harte looked a little pale and turned to the Arglwydd Dryw. The old man put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and continued for her.
"The Crystal had been taken."
Dia gasped and his mother pulled him closer to her.
The Arglwydd Dryw smiled sadly at Dia. "The High Council tried to track the thief by searching for the Crystals power, but without access to the Crystal ourselves, our magic was not strong enough to penetrate the protections that had been put around it, protections that were distinctively Wizardly in origin."
Dia was flabbergasted. The Wizards attacking them, even as the Druids were considering making them their ally!?
Harte smiled. "So you see, Dia, why we are indebted to you."
Dia frowned and shook his head.
"We are indebted to you," continued the Arglwydd Dryw "because through your actions, we still have part of the crystal through which to use our powers, part of the crystal which was safely hidden in the Pool of Dreams."
Comprehension dawned on Dia and he felt dwarfed by the coincidental series of events that had turned this theft from a cataclysmic disaster to simply a serious problem. Dia had never believed in the Fates, but now for the first time in his life, he wondered if he had been guided to his actions for a reason.
"This theft, Mr Williams," said the stern looking woman "was the action of an individual who opposes the pending alliance of the Wizarding community and the Druid people. Thanks to you, the alliance is still a possibility. But we need one more favor from you…"
Dia's mother started to cry again and clung to Dia desperately. Concerned Dia started to stroke her hair soothingly.
Dia's father looked at him seriously. "Dia, what do you remember about Cousin Nia?"
Dia blinked. Cousin Nia wasn't his real cousin. She had fallen out with her family when she was quite young, so had come to stay with Dia's family for a while. Dia's father had arranged for her to go live with a family in the outside world, but she had come to visit every now and again, and had recently become a regular Christmas guest.
"She had magic but something was wrong with her mind so she couldn't use it properly. She went to go live in a secluded farm to be closer to nature and better control her magic."
Dia's father grimaced. "That's what we told people, yes. It is true that Nia had magic, but it was Wizarding magic. She is what the Wizards call a 'Muggle-born'."
Dia stared at his father. He sighed and met Dia's gaze, there was a deep pain in his eyes and Dia started to get a nasty suspicion in his gut.
"It happens occasionally." Continued the Arglwydd Dryw. "We tend to give those Druids who have Wizarding magic the choice of joining the Wizarding world while keeping their origins secret, but most chose to live separate from both worlds, like Nia did.
"But in light of the Alliance it is time our worlds merge. A druid joining the Wizarding world will be a powerful statement to those who oppose the alliance, especially those responsible for the theft today. We can send a message that the Druids are unafraid, that we will not be bullied into submission and that we intend to live in unison with the Wizards."
Dia was definitely feeling uneasy now. His mother's sobs were confirming his suspicions, but he had to know.
"And you need me to…?"
Aunt Dylis the Second smiled a thin lipped smile. "You are a wizard, Mr Williams."
Dia's heart sunk and he felt a little sick. His mother lost all control and started to weep uncontrollably and clutched Dia to him. "You can't…" she gasped between sobs. "My baby…"
Dia's father squeezed his eyes closed and massaged his forehead. "For the sake of the gods, woman, control yourself!"
Dia's mother lifted her head to glare at the adults gathered in the room. "You can't… you can't take him. I won't let you. He's too young to go there alone, he can't defend himself! Besides, he has no magic! It's all that Elgan Boy!"
Gyfrifol Dryw Harte crossed the room and knelt at Dia's mother's feat.
"Gwen." Harte said as she unwrapped the weeping woman's hands from around Dia and held them in her own.
"Gwen, I have had my suspicions for a while, but they were confirmed when Dia broke the Crystal. Only a Wizard would have cause the crystal to react in that way. But you needn't fear for him."
Harte reached out a hand and lifted Dia's mother's chin, so she was looking at Heart. "Gewn, wherever he goes I will follow. You do not know this, but my mother was born in the Wizarding world. I was born as both a Dryw and a Witch. I can teach Dia the ways of the Wizarding world and keep him from all who would mean him harm for being a Druid."
Dia watched as Aunt Dylis the Second stepped forward and placed a hand on his mother's shoulder. "As will I, Mrs Evans."
She turned to Dia and smiled the same thin lipped smile.
"My name," she said "is Minerva McGonagall, and I am Headmistress at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
She moved from beside Dia's mother to stand in front of him, where he could appreciate her full formidable height.
"We," she continued with a sense of unsung significance "would like to offer you a place in our school."
So there you are, a little more insight into the Druid world. More on Harte next. xx
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