Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, wish I do, though. JK Rowling is the one who owns and wrote the original story, that and any other firms she made contracts with.
The True Journey of Harry Potter
Chapter 19 – The Intra Family
On the third day, as soon as the sun rose, the Mystics along with Harry and the King left from the Pentagon Plaza while the people of Bhiman watched with fascination. The 5 magical beings guardian of the Plaza came to life and slowly moved around. The paces became faster and faster as voices of chanting were heard from above. The floating Palace was seen on the side above the Royal Garden. There was a beam of light shooting up to the sky and it slowly expanded. The group walked into the light and was seen hovering up in the air and out of sight before everything returned to normal.
Harry accompanied the Mystics and King Devanate to the outer region of the Heaven on Earth, as some called Shangri-La. The outer region was the only area where visitors could wander.
The City was quite large with the population of a million or so, not including visitors. The City was barred of modern technology. Everything was done the ancient way. To promote peace and calmness, the ruling body of the City prohibited all weapons upon crossing the City's gate. There was a special building that everyone had to go through a very heavy security. Harry was told not to bring anything but his clothing. He found that even the King was not exempted.
Magic was indeed counted as weapon, but it could not be avoided for there was no way to stop magic even temporarily. Therefore, every magical was reminded that any offensive use of magic would not be tolerated. The City was ward with magical signal detector. If there was one slight tick, a small squad of the City guards would be dispatched to investigate and do the arrest. Full investigation included interrogation and rooming. While interrogation was just questioning and collecting evidences, rooming was another matter. As magic was not permitted, truth spell and veritaserum were also not an option for them. Rooming was an ancient method that those who knew the detail were taken an oath of silent. No one was allowed into the room while it was not used. No one knew what was going on inside while in use. Those who were guilty came out more like a babbling fool sprouting all their crimes without even being questioned. However, to those who were innocent, they came out calmer and seemed wiser somehow. They would normally remain in the City for the rest of their lives being granted an instant citizenship. Some left the City to the inner region of the realm and never returned.
Without electricity, some would find it hard to live in the City; they would be returned to their homeland without any memory of the City. Travelers, who were not invited visitors, were mostly in this group. Most visitors were invited by the citizen of the City. Those travelers who wandered into the City either by sheer luck or whatever reason would be judged by the ancient sentient beings. They would not even remember the judgment even if they passed it and granted entrance.
The Mystics, being their marvelous selves, were not visitors. Their names were down in the ancient registration of inhabitants, the first few names even. Harry was merely a guest of their invitation. King Devanate, though, held a partial resident-ship. Title was not of importance and useless in the City, in fact, within the whole realm of Shangri-La. Everyone was equal. No one would stare in awe of them. Some did recognize the King or the Mystics, but they simply greeted like they were neighbors, not someone in different status.
The King bade farewell and departed for his own residence. Harry was following the Mystics on a path that seemed to head out to a rural area of the town. They made a right turn and walked straight into a forest. A small lane led them to a clearing where a lone building stood in the middle of the woods. There was a well on the side of the property and a small pond with water-lilies blossoming. It was similar to the cottage in the island where Harry spent quite a period breaking the curse for Auntie Vinta.
Walking inside, Harry found that it was an exact replica of the cottage. Looked at Mistress Fayra questioningly, he was answered with a smile and chuckle. "It has the same design, but definitely not the same building, dear."
"Now," Master Fane started, "remember that there's a door that was always locked in the cottage at the island? That particular door in every other cottages of the same setting is locked too. The door in this cottage, though, is not."
"Why is that, Master Fane?" asked the boy curiously.
"Because, it opens to the platform of Empyrean," answered the Mystic.
"Empyrean?" the boy was absolutely confused.
"All will be explained, Harry," Mistress Fayra cut in. "Go take a shower and come back for dinner in half an hour," she ordered, "dress formal this evening, there're guests arriving soon."
"Yes, ma'am," said Harry before he went to the door of the bedroom he was assigned in the previous cottage.
Harry spent his half an hour with leisure. He took a quick shower and started unpacking. He could not make a decision what to wear. Atin, who was sleeping all the while they travelled perching on Harry shoulder like a doll attached to his shirt, got annoyed and pointed out a dark navy blue shirt with long sleeve and black trousers. He was about to open the door to leave, but Atin urged him to go back and retrieved the cloak Master Fane had given him to wear. All in all, Harry looked remarkably like a miniature version of Master Fane when he finally stepped into the living room of the cottage. They were both in the same style of garment, the same color and the identical cloaks.
When asked about the significant of the cloak, Harry got the answer from Mistress Fayra. "It was weaved by me when I was still young. I've never known my parents. All I know was that I lived in a forest raised by the spirit of Nature. One day, I came across a unique creature. It was very aggressive and was killing left and right. I confronted and tried talking it to leave the defenseless unicorns.
"It calmed down and told me the story of itself. What I heard made me mad and I decided to help it. You see, Harry, there were a few wayward dhanpires at the time. They thought themselves powerful and almighty gods. They created the creature by mixing the genes of various animals both mundane and magical. You could call it a chimera of sort. Those dhanpires were abusing their power with magic and I couldn't let it goes like that.
"I called upon the power of Nature and was granted a way to defeat the group of dhanpires. That was when I met your Master Fane. He was travelling at the time and came across another being that was also created. We, together with the two creatures went to deal with the dhanpires. The fight was not long for we commanded a stronger power. But the result was not really satisfying either. We lost the 2 creatures and I was livid. I cursed the dhanpires as a whole to have a craving of flesh once a year. In that time of year, the dhanpires would become bloodlust creatures like vampires, but instead of just blood, they would want to eat the whole flesh, just like the 2 creatures were made become of. I know it was quite cruel of me, but Fane rectified that. Dhanpires would have that curse upon them until they were of age, which would be quite a long time for them, about 30 years I think. They are some that were matured before that, but it is really rare, I believe, only those with stronger power and purer soul.
"Then, after we dealt with the dhanpires, there were the bodies of the 2 creatures left to us. With my power, I could see the thread of their magic still residing in their dead corpses. I reeled them off the body and used one of their bones as a whorl. It took a long time that I had to enchant the ambient magic to continued reeling the thread for me. I went back there once a year to see they were still reeling. Twenty years later, I went back with my husband and saw that it was almost done. Though the thread became thinner and color changing. At first, the thread was just a shiny white-mist-like substance, but after the twenty years, the thread became blood red from one of the corpse, while another one gave a navy blue color.
"After about 50 years, all was done. There was no corpse left, not even a single bone except the one I used as the whorl. Fane helped me set up a loom and I spent almost 3 months weaving the fabric out of the thread.
"The 2 cloaks were made out of that fabric and they were called the Cloak of Might and the Cloak of Wisdom. Dhanpires learnt of them and knew instantly anyone with it was not someone they should terrorize or overcome. It became the family heirlooms and the Intra family was hailed as the Wise and Mighty One. Only the true Head and Heir are to use them. I occasionally use them when appear before the family gathering, but today, today is your day and we will see if you will become the Wise and Mighty one as the heir of Intra."
After listening carefully, Harry became fascinated, but the last phrase from Mistress Fayra made him paused. Noticing his face, the Mistress smiled and gave him a hug. "We are proud already for what you have done and become, Harry," she said, "We don't want you to worry about it. Don't let it pressure you. Whatever happens, just be yourself, do what you think is right and that's enough for us. For we are certain, you have already exceeded our expectation. Remember to be yourself and trust your instinct."
"Yes, ma'am," Harry said with a small voice.
"Now," Mistress Fayra clapped her hand, "It's time for receiving guest. Let's go to the front porch. Vinta is preparing the dining room and I guess it becomes a dining hall already with how she likes to do the job."
They talked a bit in mundane subject while waiting. Master Fane reassured Harry that he also felt the boy had done well and enough as the heir. Tonight was just kind of a ceremony to finalize it and to celebrate the coming of the Heir. If Harry did pass the trial, he would be the next King, the crowned prince. But he was not really obligated for many years, decades or centuries even, to come.
First to arrive was the King of Bhiman. Harry saw him in his majestic self, though the boy noted that something amiss. He could not pinpoint it, but he just felt Devanate did not seem so high and almighty as he was back in Bhiman anymore. This had him confused, but dared not sound his tactless thought.
"Holy goodness, may your days be prosperous and safe," said the King to the three persons standing in front of the cottage. Harry was thinking of returning the greeting, but saw that both the Mystics did not seem to make any move. The Mystics, though, appeared to be in their elegance, a bit arrogant if Harry could say so. Master Fane simply moved his head in acknowledgement while Mistress Fayra lifted her hand towards the King. Devanate took the hand and kissed her knuckle. He, then, moved to face Harry and bowed. To his surprise, Harry was utterly frozen by the behavior. The King kept bowing as though waiting for Harry to move. The boy looked up at his many-great-grandparents expectantly. Mistress Fayra smiled at him and looked at Master Fane who nodded and spoke in Harry's mind. 'Welcome him to our abode, Harry. It's your duty today.'
Knew that he would be explained later, Harry nodded inwardly and turned to Devanate. "Thank you for coming, your Majesty. Please enjoy your time in our home. We apologize in advance if there is anything lacking, though we doubt it. Please proceed to the Dining Hall to your right," said the boy before he turned to open way for the King to pass through while raising his hand towards the dining room.
Devanate stood up and nodded smilingly. He entered the cottage, then pausing a bit as he passed the Mystics and was in front of Harry. He winked at the boy and stated, "I thank you for your hospitality, your Highness."
Harry let a sigh of relief once the King entered the other room. At least, he did not make the King felt he was an upstart boy forgetting his place, or was it expected from him, he wondered.
Next was a group of people led by a pompous man dressed in high-end silk robe wearing assorted jewelries. The man was seen following by 3 groups of people; the first were all elder ladies with a few young ones in their mid-twenties, the second group was of male various from age of teenagers to middle-aged, and the last group was full of children Harry's age, a few years older or younger. The man came to a halt in front of the cottage looking at the Mystics and raised his eyebrows once he saw Harry. Harry, for his part, felt nervous of the graze, but not timid. He soon felt his mind intruded. The boy's eyes widened. Outraged with the man daring to do such act, Harry stood up at his full height and glared at the man. Atin, who had been quietly stationed behind them, noticed the change of his companion's demeanor. The singha looked up and saw the mind magic tendril connecting his friend's mind with the newcomer. He knew the instant that it was not Harry's doing for the magic of the tendril was not of Harry, Atin let out a growl. It was quite a sound coming from a small kitten. Suddenly, the pompous man looked as though struggling.
"I feel your present annoying and your action rude," said Harry still glaring with anger. "But we are here for a family meeting, I will let this unethical move aside. Know your place, Clan-chief Intra-Arayan."
Silence was down upon the entrance of the cottage. Even the noise from the Dining Hall, which was quietly heard earlier, was mute. Few of the men in the group before the cottage seemed ruthlessly aggressive. But the look of murder from Master Fane along with the glares of Mistress Fayra and Harry seemed to be holding them in place.
"Intra-Arayan," stated Mistress Fayra who seemed to be the voice of the Mystics, "a clan thought your selves almighty and wise, but never had a chance at my mercy. You have once again insulted my generosity." She waved her hand once and the pompous man was pushed into the group of the grown-up men.
Mistress Fayra looked around and found the person she was looking for. "Come here, Vera," she called the person who happened to be a young woman at the age of mid-twenties standing in the middle of the female group very far back.
"Mistress," the woman said, "Holy Goodness, may your days be prosperous and safe."
"Likewise, dear daughter," replied Mistress Fayra. "What have happened after all these years?"
"My Holy Lady," Vera started looking around nervously before resolutely determined. She stood straight and replied. "The late Clan-chief Akkar, my father, passed away five years ago. He had not prepared his heir as he was still strong and healthy," silent tears rolled down her cheek, "My own brother, Maran, as you see, rebelled against his own father and took the chieftaincy. He killed in cold blood our wise elders, the ones you spared in their last rebellion against you. It resulted in only one elder was alive and after my inquiries and investigation, I found out he was the one working in shadow while outwardly acted against the rebellion. He was dead by the Clan-chief Maran last month after we received your invitation for the family meeting."
"Five years," muttered Mistress Fayra, "five years long of this insanity and no one, not a single one of Arayans sent me words. WHAT HAVE BECOME OF YOU ALL?" The last questioned was shouted so loud that the air cracked and wind blew harshly. Mistress Fayra's power showed and scared everyone in the Intra-Arayan groups.
"Mistress, please forgive me… us. We, my siblings and some of our people tried. We tried as best as we can, but it has never reached you, my Holy Lady," pleaded Vera. "The Clan-chief holds the ward of our realm, my Mistress. Every signal, words, letters, and even our people were caught trying to break through. I was also one of them, but due to my status, he can't restrict me not to be here today. The rest of us were executed, my Lady." With this, Vera broke down crying her grief.
Mistress Fayra slowly walked down to her from the porch. Embracing the crying woman, she spoke quietly to Vera before seeing that the woman was sober, the Mystic looked up at all of the Arayans. Her glare was poisonous and full of rage. She stood up abruptly and her figure changed. Harry had never seen his Mistress Fayra this mad and had to stop himself from being frightened. He dared not show any sign of weakness in front of these people.
Once an angelic beauty, there now stood what you could call demonic devil. Her usual pure white wings were now as black as the darkest night. Her face distorted, red eyes shone bright instead of her normal purple. Her fingernails extended at least 3 inches long blood red as her eyes. Her hairs chaotically messed up with the winds that blew around. She bore two sharp fangs that instead of pointing down from the upper row of teeth; it grew from her lower row and pointed upwards, a true sign of giantess if you ever saw one.
Master Fane merely watched the byplay and looked down at Harry sending him message via their minds. 'That's an avatar, Harry, her devil avatar and do not ever never anger her if you know what I mean. Remember, though, that this is what you need to deal with this kind of situation. Arayans value wisdom, but power does also matter. The more powerful and intimidating you are, the higher you stand in their society. My own form doesn't even look that frightening.'
'Will I learn to do that, Master Fane?' asked the boy. Knowing the reason behind the scene, he felt intrigued and thought it would be a good skill or power to have. To have something up his sleeve, as Mr. Androix used to say.
'Of course, you will,' came the reply, 'now observe and learn your lesson in intimidating, my dear heir.'
"I LET YOU LIVE, MARAN," roared the avatar, "EVEN THOUGH I KNEW YOU WERE PART OF IT. WHAT DO YOU SAY FOR YOURSELF!?"
"M...m...m...my lady," stammered the pompous man whom now Harry gave the name 'Moron' instead of 'Maran'. "S…s…spare me…" with that he promptly fainted.
"FATHER," shouted various men and women along with some boys and girls.
"He just fainted," Vera told them. The groups were now broken. While a few of them moved aside, the rest rushed to Maran. Vera told a woman to look after him and arrange a man to gather every one and form a line. This time, the front row consisted of 2 men including Maran and Vera joined them, the second were 5 elder women, then the last row stood the rest of the young adults and children.
Mistress Fayra, after seeing Vera's doing, seemed to calm down and returned to her true self once again. She stepped back on the porch and looked expectantly at Vera.
"My Holy Lady," Vera stated walking up in front of everyone, "Clan Intra-Arayan thank you for the invitation and your mercy on the foolish man of our clan."
The Mistress nodded, face broke into a sweet smile.
Vera, then, turned to Master Fane and knelt down, "My Holy Lord, I apologize for what happened, please assign your punishment."
For the first time of the evening, Master Fane spoke, "Rise, Clan-chief Vera of Intra-Arayan. Your punishment will be to re-administer the clan ruling body and elders. Show me the strength and wisdom of the Arayan Rani. I expect highly much from you, Vera."
"Thank you, my Master," replied the new instated Clan-chief, "I will not disappoint you."
"See that you do, Vera," said Master Fane dismissingly.
Harry was nudged by Mistress Fayra, so he spoke up. "Thank you for coming, Clan-chief. We welcome you to Shangri-La, Heaven on Earth. Enjoy your time here and feel free to inform us if there is anything lacking, although we think not. Proceed to the Dining Hall to your right." Harry moved once again and showed her the way.
Vera, the true heiress of the Arayan Chieftiancy, newly instated Clan-chief, looked bewildered for a moment to see the boy's action. The information came to her mind and she knew instantly it was from Mistress Fayra. "Thank you for your hospitality, my Prince," she said before leading her people in.
Once the last of Arayans, a boy Harry's age, who looked at Harry curiously before walking pass him with his head bowed. Harry thought he caught a glimpse of shock from the boy's face. Atin walked up to him and jumped over to perch on Harry's shoulder. The singha addressed Mistress Fayra, "My Lady, was that your only avatar?"
"No, Little Atin, that was just one of them, one of those demonic ones," she replied.
Harry eyes widened sending her his curious glance. She just smiled and told him to hold on and they would talk after the evening.
The third and the last branch of Intra appeared with a loud crack. What remarkable about them was that they were dressing up mainly in green and brown color. Leaves and wines were their choice of jewelries. Harry felt the ambient magic shifted and seemed to gather around the group of arriving people. Leading the procession was an old man with twinkling eyes, a happy demeanor shown across his face.
"Holy Goodness," he greeted with a booming voice, "May your days be prosperous and safe, my Holy Lord, Lady, and…" he paused a moment before his eyes lit up, his smile broadened, "my Prince."
Mistress Fayra, ever the strict one with etiquette, slipped up giggling. Master Fane chuckled a little before addressing the old man. "Elder Novalar of Intra-Java, always an amusing one, yes, you are."
"Of course, my Lord," the man returned with his radiant smile.
"Let me introduce you our Prince, Novalar," said Mistress Fayra, "this is Harry James Potter of the Intra-Raj. My dear child, this is Elder Novalar, the last man of his age in the Humble and Joyous branch of Intra, the Java, from the Indo-China peninsular and its realm over Oceania."
"Holy Goodness, Elder Novalar," greeted Harry, "May your days be prosperous and safe."
"It is my honor to meet you, my Prince," Novalar replied.
"As is mine, Elder," Harry countered humbly.
"A true sign," the old man muttered before stood up from bowing to Harry. Drawing the Mystics and Harry's attention, he announced his entourage. "These are my children, your Highnesses. I am going to install the few of them who are of age tonight."
"Very well, Novalar," said Mistress Fayra, "Let's do the introduction later. Harry?" she reminded the boy of his duty.
"I apologize, my Mistress," he bowed to her before turning to face Elder Novalar, "Welcome to our humble abode, Elder Novalar of Intra-Java. We hope you find our reception to your satisfactory. Please proceed to the Dining Hall to your right."
"Thank you, your highness," the old man said, "Come, my children, mind your manners." He led his children into the cottage leaving the three people and one singha at the front porch.
"That went well," stated the Master. "You did well, Harry, though, the deal with Maran was a little too fast and too soft to my liking."
"That was the right thing to do, Fane," mildly reprimanded Mistress Fayra, "Harry acted out of mercy and it was good. I would have killed him if I were you, my dear child. You, on the other hand, did marvelously well."
"Thank you, Mistress," Harry said.
"Let's go in, then," Master Fane said before heading into the cottage with Mistress Fayra and Harry in tow.
-o0o-
During the formal introduction and dinner, Harry took the opportunity to study the various clans of Intra. The Kumar line was left with only His Majesty the King Devanate whom Harry knew and got along with quite well during their brief trip. The King had Harry's admiration with his generosity, wisdom and leadership.
The Arayan was the one with fierce personality. They seemed to be the one with the most rebellious streak in their genes, if the information he had been told would be any indication. The Arayans were fighters even among themselves. They would occasionally strike at odd moment to challenge the ruling of the Kumar line over Bhiman and by default, Himabhanta. Arayans used to be ruling over the large part of South Asia before the countries broke apart and their power was threatened to extinction by non-magical and a few magical who were not happy with their ruling. Mistress Fayra, who took the mantle overseeing this branch of the Intra family, under her watchful eyes, knew the cataclysm that approached due to the harsh, brutal and quite devilish ruling of the Clan-chief at the time; she separated some part of the land and created a dimension for the land of Arayan to relocate. The Arayan dimension was very similar to Himabhanta, though not very so much as popular. Their reputation of cruelty was a factor to that. Not that they were all evil doers or anything, but once in a while, there would be one born to the family with a true evil mind. Anyhow, Mistress Fayra always took care of that, of course, after the person showed his or her true evil self. Auntie Vinta, who was actually one of Arayans, told Harry as much. It was quite ironic. Lady Vinta Nakee was hailed as the Queen of all nagas as she was one of the first few peoples with the avatars those of nagas. She used to spend times in her serpentine form living with other people with the same ability starting another species of magical beings. Being of the Intra line, her title as the queen was obvious to all of the nagas. The Arayans were as fierce, sly and cunning as those serpentine beings.
The Java, though, was another matter. They were the family Gadru, the mother of all Garudas, was from. As weird as it should sound, Gadru and Vinta, even though came from different branches of the family, were lookalike and had exactly the same personality and demeanor. They were all but the blood sisters, which Master Fane, upon meeting them, corrected that with a rite to make them twin sisters in any possible ways. Anyway, as their family reputation and status went, the Javas were those of the most humble and joyous ones. They were more fine-tuned with the spirit of Nature. They were the people who enjoyed freedom above all else. No rules or laws were required to keep them in control, not that it was without a ruling body of Elders. Every child born grew up with strict disciplines since birth until they are of age at thirteen years old. After that, they were just left to be on their own to live their lives. Their dimension was created by Master Fane after he saw the Nature spirit was starting to go haywire due to some actions of the local spiritual worshippers. The Oceania's volcanoes went wild erupting left and right, thus, to save the family branch, Master Fane had interfered in the natural disaster. If we compared the Java dimension with Himabhanta, the most distinguished different would be the size. Java dimension was a lot smaller. Another difference was the development of the society and especially technology. Java remained its prime state for as long as it was split from the Earth. If you visited the dimension, you would find it more like the Shimpli part of Himabhanta, even garudas inhabited in the realm, not a very well-known fact as they were only believed to dwell in Himabhanta.
Harry still did not get it though. Knowing the history of Auntie Vinta and Gadru, they should be as close as they were siblings. How could there become a rift between them? He know he would find out soon or it would keep coming back to nag him. Curiosity killed the cat, they said, but for Harry, curiosity was what propelling him to overcome his need to know things. Of course, he had his limit, he did know what should or should not be concerned in his need-to-know list. A fine young scholar that he tried to become or already was, even Master Fane would say so. Some knowledge or information was just not meant to be dig. Maybe, this was another little data that he should not try to find out. Harry discreetly sighed maintaining a not-too-overly cheerful face, but pleasant enough for the company on the table. He did not really enjoy this kind of formality.
-o0o-
The dinner was over and Master Fane got up from his head seat beckoning the rest of the family to following. In front of the usually locked door, he turned to speak to them.
"This is the only entrance to where we will hold the true meeting of the Intra family. Those of you who are not of age or without your elders' consent shall remain here. Be in your best manner and don't think you will not be punished if there are any wrong-doing or mischief. We shall be back in a very short period of time."
The children were herded to the living room by their parents or guardians. Once they were done leaving the children under the watchful eyes of Atin, the door opened by sliding to the side. Leading the group, Master Fane walked in following by Mistress Fayra and Auntie Vinta. There was an awkward moment then as Harry was thinking of letting the King went in first, but his Majesty did not make any move, the same was for the rest of the visiting families. They all looked expectantly at Harry. Flushing bright red, Harry gave a nod to all of them before entering himself. The King walked behind him whispering encouragement and comfort. Then, the Clan-chief Arayan and Elder Java came in. It seemed the two clans mixed up and divided into status of their ranks. Harry noted that ex-Clan-chief Maran was walking with the group of young adults instead of the older or higher ranked ones.
They found themselves in a round cave-like hall. In the middle was a pool. There were four bridges leading to a flat stone seemed to be floating in the middle of the pool. It looked remarkably similar to the pentagon down in Bhiman, just without the guardians' statues. Runes were drawn on the surface at each point of the pentagon and in the middle of it. There was a loud clank sounded from the door that shut down on its own. Eeriness spread through the hall, Harry felt chill ran down his spine.
The attending crowd broke apart. Our boy-who-lived was told to follow the Mystics to a bridge while Auntie Vinta left to join the Arayan at another bridge. His Majesty King Devanate stood alone at a bridge and the Java took the only bridge that was left. Master Fane walked into the pool over the bridge and stood in the middle of the platform.
"We are here today," he stated in his normal tone, but the silence that was in the hall made it sounded louder than normal, "to rejoice over the coming of our Prince and next generation. Watch, younglings, and learn the truth of being Intra."
Harry looked around while Master Fane was speaking. When the comment about Prince and the next generation was sounded, the youngsters were paying attention to him with pride. Harry knew for he also felt pride swelling in him. Then, to everyone's astonishment except the Mistresses, the King, the Clan-chief, the Elder, Maran and Harry, Master Fane sprouted his two pure white wings. His clothes changed its colors to white; even the Cloak was shifting its dark red and blue shining color into grayish white. The Master started chanting. Harry found the chanting was in a language he could not understand, quite a shock for him as he was taught by Grandmother Morgana all languages believed to exist.
'It's Angelic, young Harry,' said Mistress Fayra straight to his mind, 'it's also sometimes called Celeste, a celestial language used in practice of Divinity or performing Divine Magic. Your Grandmother Morgana knew of it, but can't use it herself. There are requirements that you have to fulfill, first and foremost of the purity of power. Being a dark witch who had practice all kind of dark rites and magic even though for a true virtue; she was unable to use this language.'
'And you are telling that prejudice and bias are not the way of Magic,' Harry countered, 'why does this particular language be any different while you are teaching me to accept all without partiality, dark, light, grey. Why would Magic allow this to be?'
'The answer,' Mistress Fayra told him patiently, 'lies in the concept of what they are. Magic is one thing while Divinity is another counterpart. To some, they are the same, to others though, Divinity is higher. And to us, we practice both. A true Intra had another aspect of power and you shall learn of it if you truly pass the trial of Intraraja, our forefather. Divinity is known to no one but the highest Arch-Mages around this realm. Merlin and Morgana chose to Magic and Magic alone, while Fane and I chose to accept all of the powers, thus we are older and more powerful than them that was the reason you sometimes heard them called us Elders Magi. We are the last couple of Arch-Mages apart from your other pair of ancestors who are still around. There are actually another Elder Magi we knew she was still alive, but haven't seen or heard from her for ages. I hope one day you will meet her.'
Mistress Fayra had just confirmed one of Harry's many curiosities. Grandmother Morgana talked about Elders Magi once or twice, then and there. When he asked about it, she would just tell him to be patient and he would see for himself. However, another topic was added into his need-to-know list, Divinity.
Master Fane was still chanting, then, there was a low rumbling sound from the ceiling. Harry looked up and saw that the rooftop of the cave was breaking apart and a vortex of dark starry sky appeared.
'Change to your true form, Harry,' Mistress Fayra sent to his mind. Harry turned to her and saw that she was also in her winged form. He concentrated a moment and his wings along with his other elemental symbols sprouted. The gathering family members looked at them in awe. Feeling anxious to be stared at like that, Harry tried to calm down and told himself that they were looking at Mistress Fayra, not him. However, Harry noted that there were a notable thing happened, too. At his wrists, there were rings of fire, one at each side. There were also rings of dark stones, onyx floating at his kneecap. His gills, which normally appeared behind his ears, were sprouting a fin at each side of his ears. 'Your true body parts and the elements have taken physical forms, how marvelous!' exclaimed Mistress Fayra, so unladylike.
'How come, you did not have the fins like me, Mistress?' asked the boy.
The female Mystic sent him a smile and before his eyes, Harry saw her fins appeared. 'You will learn how to conceal them, but today was just too good to not celebrate. After the convention up above, even if nothing else comes out of it, we still have reason to celebrate for you. Oh, wait till Fane sees them,' said the lady excitedly.
Auntie Vinta was beaming at him too. She still found it hard to believe that the boy could accomplish such feats. To be able to do change into their full elemental body was not an easy task, not even a mage could succeed after years of trying. To say that Harry did it in his current rank in magical power of sorcerer, it was truly remarkable.
The Arayans as a whole could not take their eyes away from the true elemental body of their Prince. Harry had just gained their submissions and respects by doing nothing other than being himself.
The Javas, being more fine-tuned with the Nature, could feel that the spirits of Nature, which they worshipped, came out of their residences – from the earth floor, the water pool, out of thin air, and from the fire rings at his Highness's wrists. The spirits, appeared in the form of fairies, danced happily around the boy, before spread out flying around. Then, they sang. The spirits were singing in the same Angelic-tongue as Master Fane's. Their voices echoed through the cave, still, Master Fane's chanting was louder and outshone the music of the Nature spirits. The song slowly changed pace and became in sync with the Mystic's chant.
His Majesty the King Devanate of Intra-Kumar stood in his position happily watching the boy wonder. Whether Harry passed the Trial or not, for the Kumar line, the Prince was worthy enough to be the Heir of Intra and the imperative choice for the Throne of Bhiman.
The chant slowed down and ceased. Master Fane flew up without a glance, then, Mistress Fayra and Harry followed. Harry actually wanted to see how the rest of the people would travel upward since they did not have the wings, but he was not in the position to wait and see. He would ask Auntie Vinta later.
Passed through the vortex, Harry found himself in a cathedral temple. He was intrigued though for there was no wall. He looked around and got excited as they were actually in a building which was in the sky, on a large cloud actually. He could see a water region further away below them. The temple was supported by at least ten pillars. Harry could not count them as they look so alike and he miscounted them or double-counted them. After a few tries, he knew they were more than ten and left them at that. However, in the center of the temple stood a single altar with a sphere of golden color hovering above it.
They reassembled again, this time with the two Mystics at the front followed by Harry, Vinta, Devanate, Vera, and Novalar as the second row. The rest was at the back standing in half-circle.
"Intraraja," Master Fane spoke, "we gather here today to have you grant your descendents the Intra legacy. Come forth, my dear son. I wish to see you."
The sphere slowly floated up and expanded until they could see a small form inside. There was a pop and the sphere disappeared. Stood above the altar was a boy Harry's age. He smiled at the people assembling before him. He spoke in a calm and soothing voice. "My father, mother and family," he started, "I welcome you to Empyrean."
"Come here, child," said Mistress Fayra smiling with love, "I have missed you."
Intraraja sprouted wings and flew to her embrace. "How long has it been, my mother?"
"A little more than 15 years, my son," replied the Lady. "It's time for you to accredit our family's new members."
"Hmm…" came from the boy. He got away from his mother and looked around. In a blink, Intraraja shifted his form, replacing the boy was a muscular man with a coronet. He smiled looking at Devanate. "It seems," he said, "my crown is on the right head, isn't it, Your Majesty?"
King Devanate bowed graciously, "I hope so, my Raja."
"It is," was the reply before the man turned to the rest. The two Mystics had moved to another side. "Mistress Vinta," addressed Intraraja, "I am so happy seeing you again."
The Nakee smiled before curtseyed. "Likewise, my Raja," she said before moved forward to kneel down and kissed his knuckle. The man took her hand pulling her up and kissed her forehead. They locked their eyes and Harry felt, no, he knew there were communicating through their minds. The face broke into smiles before Auntie Vinta moved to join the Mystics.
"And who might this one be?" asked Intraraja looking pointedly at Harry. "You looked like a replica of my son, Agnes, who loved travelling and travelled far he did."
"I am his last remaining heir, my Raja," said Harry bowing deeply.
"Alas, I have not heard from him since he left, which was almost a millennium ago," pondered Intraraja, "what is your name, little one?"
"My name is Harry James Potter," replied the boy-who-lived. He got raised eyebrows in return from the Raja and the Mystics. Hastily rectified his mistake, Harry repeated, "Sorry, my Raja. My true name is Harry James Ambrosius Intra Evans Potter."
Following his words, Harry felt a mild tendril trying to penetrate his shielded mind. Knowing it was from the Raja, he let the probe in. Once he knew the tendril was successfully inside his mind, the present was gone. "Such a mind and accomplishment," said Intraraja, "we will see if you are worth my parents' attention and time."
Harry felt slapped, but remained impassive. Intraraja just looked away without any more comments. The ancestor of Intra turned to fly over his altar once again looking more serious and fierce.
"Come, chosen children of Arayans," he called. The Arayans children who were there to be recognized moved forward. Some of them were in their mid-twenties; a few were Harry's age. Intraraja simply glanced at them before he announced, "Arayans, Arayans, I see your blood got thickened. Your arrogance of being Arayans surpassed your Intra legacy. Why, I could have guessed seeing your father's treachery. Be gone from my sight and redeem yourself for next time I see you still hold these mindsets, Intra shall demolish Arayan forever."
With that all but four children were gone including Maran who stood at the back. Vera rushed forward and knelt down in front of their forefather. "Spare us, my Raja," she said head bowing, "we, the Arayans, shall do all necessary to redeem ourselves."
"See that you do, Vera Rani of Arayans," replied the Raja, "Abide by my father's punishment and we shall see to it if you do well the next time we meet again."
"Thank you for your mercy, my Raja," she uttered before backing to her previous position.
"Now, who is left of the Arayans?" asked the forefather.
"We are sons and daughter of the current Clan-chief, our Raja," chorused the four remained.
Intraraja looked at them pointedly. "Varee, Volos, Avarius, Solar," he called their names, which each named child immediately knelt down, "I grant you the Intra legacy. Follow our way and flourish or face the rage of Intra if you waver."
"We shall comply and keep in mind to forever be Intra-Arayans," the four children chanted.
"Well said," praised the Raja, "back to your place then, Children of Intra-Arayans."
Harry watched with fascination. It merely looked like a conversation, but he could see the powers playing all the while. He could see three significant different powers. One he could recognize as Magic, the other two, though, he guessed it was Divinity and another power Mistress Fayra had told him. It weaved, surrounded, sank, and shone out of the newly instated Intra-Arayans.
The next group of children was from the Javas, though none of them were thrown out. Once they were instated, they were all excused to leave with Auntie Vinta in the lead, thus left Harry alone with the Intra true ancestors.
"Harry," called Mistress Fayra seeing the boy impassive face. She knew the boy was not happy much, sad even. "What is bothering you, my child?"
"Nothing, Mistress Fayra," replied the boy forcing a smile, "may I leave, too?"
Frowning, Mistress Fayra looked deeper at the boy. She normally would not do it as she valued his privacy, but Harry never acted like this. If he is confused, annoyed, or even angry, he always showed and talked about it openly with them. She got her answer from her husband. While without even looking, Master Fane knew and stopped her before she did her deep scan at the boy.
"No," Master Fane cut in, "your accreditation is not done yet."
Harry just bowed and waited silently. He did not want to be there anymore, to waste their time and attention, as Intraraja had said. Maybe, he was stupid thinking he really belonged to this side of the family. It was not once, to his knowledge that his branch of the family was truly of Intra. Their blood and legitimacy might not be pure enough for this part of his family tree. Harry did not looked up, so he missed the worried face of Mistress Fayra, stony face of Master Fane who sent quite a glare at his son and the sheepish face of Intraraja who was now in his young form once again.
-o0o-
Next Chapter: The Trials of Intraraja.
Holy Goodness, may your days be prosperous and safe!
