Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter characters.
A/N: Sorry this took sooo long everyone. Work's been very busy. Hope to have next chap of 'Half Alive..' up in a few days. MK-ONE
Chapter Twenty-seven: The puppet master
Harry entered the dining hall for a late breakfast, early lunch which was surprising, or not, because he never seemed to sleep well unless his life was hanging in the balance.
Not that he chose to believe that. Though, by the gathering of friends and colleagues who were milling about the dining area having long since finished their own meals, many believed otherwise. The fact that all eyes turned his way, with varying degrees of dread therein, and hushed conversations came to a halt, told the story.
They were all worried that I'm going to kick it in. Well, they've thought that before. He considered defiantly, rolling his eyes at their long faces.
Harry pulled out a chair to a table alone and away from the others, many crestfallen at that. He placed his order for a moderate meal not wanting anything heavy, but still wanting enough to perform at optimum levels both physically and magically. He'd already picked up a field belt for this little sojourn, complete with several pepper ups, strengthening and even the strongest healing potions they had in stock. Power bars, a built in port-key that could blast through any anti- apparition ward out there. The belt itself contained a spare wand, (his removed as he never used one anymore), heating charms, cooling charms, pest wards, temporary disillusionment charm and even a few of the twins' patented inventions for the 'wizard who has everything'.
Harry had just started in on a nice leg of baked chicken when several bodies surrounded his table waiting expectantly for him to look up.
"I've already got a prescription to Play Wizard Weekly,.. er, purely for the editorials , of course." He sheepishly amended, as he continued worrying at the chicken leg without looking up from his plate.
Several snorted appreciatively at that,.. Jimmie and his fellow knights by the sounds of their chuckles. One huffed in exasperation- Hermione. An appreciative, and lastly; a distinctly female laugh- probably Abby.
Abby had more of a wizard's sense of humor, like Ginny did, which he found particularly comfortable. It made them both that much more approachable.
Harry was about to start in on his salad, when a throat cleared expectantly. "What?" he grumbled, poking at his salad.
"We want to talk about this." came Hermione's voice from over his shoulder.
"Well, of course, you do." Harry drawled expectantly. "However, I don't." He left off flatly and started in on the rest of his meal.
His plate disappeared as his fork descended toward it, as did the rest of his patience.
"Damn it all to hell!" he growled angrily, throwing down his napkin and lifting blazing green eyes up to take in the gathering around him.
"If you're all going to act like I'm the condemned man then at least have the good grace to afford me a last meal in peace." he spat venomously.
"I for one, think otherwise. This is just another day, another mission; just one of many before and no doubt, many to come." As his eyes swept over them he was rewarded with many lowering their gazes ashamedly.
Hermione, Draco and Abby, his brother knights, and Angie, were the ones gathered around him. He was at least relieved to see that Bill Hoag had more faith in him and that the others, and by that he meant-Hermione, had kept Ginny out of the loop.
"If we worked in teams we could update the wards in a fraction of the time?" Kevin ventured hopefully, still hoping to find an alternative to Harry putting himself on the proverbial chopping block.
Harry smile appreciatively, but was resolute in his decision. "I think it ill advisable for me to refuse said "invitation"." He drew quotation marks pointedly in the air for emphasis. "I got the distinct impression that anything contrary to what it wants would be an ill move on our part that would cost us dearly. This isn't Voldemort we're dealing with here." He was at least glad to see that none of them cowered at Voldie's name anymore as used to be the norm in the wizarding world.
"This thing doesn't just retaliate after the fact. It plans ahead and each surprise is exponentially worse than its predecessor." He warned them the fool heartiness of duplicity when they weren't holding the cards, let alone even being seated in the game just yet.
"Did it threaten you?"
"It doesn't need to." Draco answered his wife morbidly before Harry could. "It's already proved that we're vulnerable by sending the thing that was Susan in here. That was all the warning it required. We all know what a "dead light' is. It's necromancy of the highest, or should I say 'worst' order. To animate a corpse isn't hard, but to give it some sense of sentience and reasoning ability is quite another. This being could literally have a never ending army just waiting to descend on us." He cautioned, agreeing with the reasoning of Harry's intent.
Harry added his own warning. "In case anyone has any illusions about what we're facing, let us be very clear? No mere wizard necromancer would have the power to reanimate a full sized nundu, let alone kill the thing in the first place. That kind of power is extremely rare. I think our original assumptions are close, but perhaps even short of our expectations."
"More is the reason you can't go." Hermione pleaded with him.
"Which is exactly why I must, 'Mione. Something of that caliber does not make offers that one can simply neglect and not expect dire consequences."
Reluctantly, many heads nodded at that. Whilst Hermione looked that much more stricken, she did not argue further.
Harry rose from his seat and thanked them all for caring so much. He placed a kiss on Hermione's forehead, and one on Abby's cheek. Both clutched to him like a lifeline, but neither protested when he pulled away.
Then he did something that Hermione had never seen before. Something she found endearing and reassuring. She witnessed what few, outside of the knights themselves, ever did.
Each placed a hand to a fellow's shoulder that eventually formed a circle of union as the vowed: "Brother to Brother. Yours in life and death."
Once the circle was completed, Harry moved off to the side preparing to leave.
"What about your armor, your sword?" Hermione reminded worriedly.
"Not necessary. Harry answered with more assurance than he felt. He turned his attention to Draco after that.
"I've left instructions with Raynock should the worst..."
"We'll talk about it when you get back." Draco cut him off confidently.
Harry nodded at that and then in a spot on imitation of Dumbledore, complete with twinkling eyes he ventured kindly..." A pleasant day to you all."
Harry disappeared in a burst of flame that left a smoke cloud in the general outline of his departed form and a gasp from Hermione as the clouded face actually leered and winked at here..
Mere moments after leaving Knight Watch, Harry appeared along the shoreline of the Amazon.
He knew this place, had spent many a long hours here struggling with his now, non-existent empathic abilities. It was here he sensed a general 'wrongness' that had clawed at his insides.
Now he knew why he felt the way he did. While not necessarily an illusion, nothing was as it appeared.
Lush vegetation was just that, at least on the surface. The plants and tree looked and appeared living and thriving, but were anything but. They were like 'perfect copies' of their former selves only, devoid of life. No photosynthesis took place below the surface. No life giving oxygen produced. No reproduction of like. All was preserved in a perpetual state of suspended animation
Nearly three square kilometers of the Amazon basin was nothing more than a bowl of wax fruit.
This was the 'wrongness' he sensed long ago. This was why he'd struggled to harness his elemental abilities when last he was here- there was no life for him to draw energy upon.
As prestigious as his elemental powers were, they were non-existent here. He was but an empty battery in need of a recharge that could not be obtained.
Briefly he pondered if this was by design for his sole benefit, thereby removing one more potent weapon from his arsenal.
Harry shuddered in that knowledge. Not for the first time feeling himself a gladiator trapped within a coliseum of death and destruction and no weapon to hand.
He would soon learn the truth of that analogy.
Harry followed the instructions he was provided by the thing that had assumed the body of Susan Bones, heading southeast into the jungle. No sound of insect or predator reached his straining ears. No birds occupied the trees, no doubt knowing instinctively that the trees were devoid of life.
It was if the entire jungle was holding its breath in anticipation. Eventually, the 'once trees' became more sparse until he came upon a clearing that was dominated by a night black, temple like structure that appeared carved from an enormous chunk of pure obsidian.
Harry shuddered in revulsion feeling a nauseating wave of cloying dark energy wash over him as it flew outward with purpose from the center of the temple.
The temple itself, seemed to resist all overtures of the bright sun that beat down from above, or even pull in the light to its black depths until it winked out of existence. It was some several stories high, each level smaller than the next as it reached skyward.
Again, another wave of dark energy passed over him, raising his hackles in alarm. Ebon was screaming beneath the surface of his resolve, begging for release to tear into the monstrosity and rip it from the very earth like the cancerous tumor that it was.
Fighting his resolve, Harry ascended the stone hewn stairs to the first level noting the hieroglyphs carved into the stone of the next levels supporting pillars. He'd no clue was the glyphs said, they appeared possibly Sumerian in origin, if he were to hazard a guess. Yet another aberration in the entire 'wrongness' he felt here.
This building no more belonged here than a street corner hot dog stand.
There were a pair of ornately carved doors in the center of this level, though they were closed to his entry. Shrugging, Harry proceeded up the center stairway to the next level.
Again, he found sealed doors.
Each new level was the same until he ascended the final, topmost level. Gilded silver doors stood behind a white marble table that was stained a dark brown and reeked of pain and death.
A sacrificial alter.
Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust, revolted that such dark practices once existed to appease nameless gods who cared only for themselves and sating their own vile appetites.
He was given no instructions, only that he would find his own way.
He cast his gaze back and forth between the alter and the waiting doors beyond, sensing he knew what was expected.
With a sneer of contempt for such needless dramatics; Harry conjured a knife and slit the palm of his hand with it, letting a rivulet of blood fall upon the stained alter.
The instant his blood contacted the marble of the alter table, the doors beyond slid open with a heavy grating sound of stone on stone.
Harry stepped through the doors finding himself gently spiraling down on a revolving stair case much like the one to the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.
Unlike the foreboding appearance of the outside, the inside of the structure was a virtual palace, each floor more ostentatious then the one before.
The stairs melted into the floor at the lowest level, the sealed doors from outside now at his back. A white marbled floor stretched before him toward silver wrought doors. Each side of the aisle was adorned with obsidian statues of great heroes, generals and rulers from history. Some he recognized by their visage alone, some not. Each denoted by a silver bracket bearing their name.
He passed by Alexander III of Macedonia, known as Alexander the Great. Temujin; who would become Gengis Khan ruler of the Mongol empire. Spartacus, the Thracian slave who rose to nearly destroy the Roman empire.
Depictions of great men all leading the way to someone who undoubtedly thought himself greater still.
Lastly, and not surprisingly at this point, he found an empty pedestal waiting patiently with his own name on the emblazoned on the plaque.
Another megalomaniac with a 'god complex'. He thought disgustedly.
The silver doors opened at this and a voice casually answered his unspoken assumption.
"Not so.. for one who truly is a god."
Though surprised that his mind had been so easily divested despite his occulomency screens, Harry calmly walked through the door into a glimmering throne room with the speaker he'd heard sitting upon a silver wrought throne, waiting patiently for him.
The man, if it was a man, was vaguely familiar. Black hair and close cropped beard with piercing black eyes.
When the man next spoke it was in a language that none but Harry could recognize and instantly he knew who the speaker was emulating.
"Greetings, Harold Potter. I have waited an age to address you so." The man spoke in parseltongue.
"Am I to believe you're actually Salazar Slytherin?" Harry scoffed. "Even reanimated, his flesh would have long since succumbed to the ravages of time."
"True, true." The being reverted to common English. "I merely thought to assume a face and form you could identify with." The figure beckoned him forward.
"How about your true form and a name to go with it?" Harry suggested, maintaining his distance for safety's sake. He doubted he'd have little time to counter a strike should one be forthcoming, so he would need ever advantage available.
"Alas, I can neither attain my true form, nor currently regain the position I once held in the greater scheme of things. As for my name... I was once known as Azriel al' Tothanum. I see by your reaction that name has no meaning for you, nor did I expect it to. I was once such as you are; a great champion. I am, or was, a daemon, a lesser god created from the consciousness of 'Tzeentch', the changer of ways, one of the reigning three amongst the Gods of Chaos. In many ways, I am your exact polar opposite, Harry Potter. Whereas you champion the light, I once did as such for the dark and in so doing I chose to champion my own cause and reap my own rewards."
Harry nodded. "Let's say for argument's sake that you're telling the truth, being a God that is,.. that being the case: why are you here instead of some paradise, or hell, of your own making?"
"Alas,.. that is a very, very long story." The being shook its head wearily, offering instead.. "When a disciple of a Chaos lord perishes, their paltry life force becomes part of their deity's own power, adding to it, thereby increasing said God's power amongst the cosmos. Many years I served my great master, but after time I found myself dissatisfied with the scraps I was afforded from my master's table. Thus,.. I took for myself, thinking to rival my once forebears amongst the heavens."
Harry interjected knowingly at this point. "Let me guess, you stole from the 'cookie jar of life' and were punished for it accordingly?"
The being pulled a contemptuous sneer, marking the first time it had lost its placid appearance and answered drolly. "In the most rudimentary sense that is an accurate depiction, yes. I sought, much to my folly, to augment my powers by adding additional life energies to my own, in the hopes that I could one day rival my masters."
"Uh, huh" Harry agreed in a bored tone, following with. "The dark Gods of Chaos were undoubtedly displeased with your pretention and stripped your power and banished you here and you've been either trying to appease them or escape their confinement ever since- right?"
The being nodded. "You are clever Harry Potter. What you suggest is essentially correct. Can you ascertain the rest of it?" The being challenged.
Harry nodded and thumbed in the direction of the hallway preceding the throne room he was standing within.
"I'm guessing Alexander the Great did not die of natural causes?" he assumed with a knowing look of disdain.
"He did not 'weep for there were no more world's to conquer' as the poet's claim. He wept for there were no more worlds that he could conquer." Azriel al' Tothanum returned predatorily.
"I'm guessing that was after he encountered you?" Harry growled.
The daemon nodded grinning in satisfaction. "As you begin to suspect; the representations depicted outside are cold homage to those who fell in combat to my person. They were all great warriors harboring vast powers."
"Powers that you used to either sustain your eternal life in this plane or to augment your own power to try win free of your subsequent confinement?" Harry ventured.
"The former holds true and the latter to an extent. They are combined as it were." The daemon answered deceptively vague. "I have been imprisoned upon the realm of Earth for an age, seeking to appease my great master and win my freedom. I am bound by certain rules and requirements that I must adhere to lest I be wiped from the face of existence as one would wipe offal from one's arse."
"A fitting analogy." Harry complemented darkly.
The daemon's visage soured at that. "I could as easily dispatch you." It threatened, drumming it's fingers on the armrest of its throne.
"Ah, but there are 'certain rules and requirements you must adhere to'." Harry quoted cunningly. "I'm guessing I'm next in a long line of delegates from which you've derived your longevity and attempted to appease you dark master's by?"
The being nodded. "You are a clever one, Harry Potter. Long have I watched you face and defeat foes whilst I waited for this moment when we two unique individuals would meet face to face in the greater scheme of things. Of those whose visages adorn these walls what know you of the common thread, or threads amongst them?" The daemon prodded.
Harry rolled his eyes. "They were all wizards. I'm assuming the price of their failure was the forfeit of their own magic to sustain you fetid existence?" Harry goaded disdainfully. He had the acute sense this thing needed him. It was a loophole he intended to exploit.
"You perceive much, as I knew you would. What else?"
"They were all master swordsmen, warriors, and champions of the light." Harry surmised.
The daemon grinned triumphantly. "These are the qualifications or 'the rules' which I am forced to adhere to. I must face and defeat or be defeated by an equal. One who is to the light that which I have been for the dark: a champion. We must meet as equals, a level playing field with no clear advantage. Thus- weapons, no magic is permitted. The skill and strength of one's own arm and the determination of one's will is all that matters, all that is permitted. I win, your magic is forfeit to me and its prodigious power to sustain me until the next champion arises to meet the challenge. I lose, my life is forfeit and I am freed from my earthly confines to rejoin my master in his dark paradise and another shall take my place one day when the balance tips back towards the dark side of things."
At seeing his longing countenance at the aspect of his potential demise, Harry suggested: "If that's all, then why not just kill yourself and bon voyage?"
The daemon rolled its eyes wearily, explaining in a long suffering tone. "The rules, Harry Potter, 'the rules'. I must follow the guidelines as set forth by my dark forebears if I am to be freed and regain my place amongst them. Though I am a lesser aspect it is better to rule in hell..."
'Then to serve in heaven" Harry finished the quote by Milton, from "Paradise Lost", appreciating the irony.
"Ah, Milton, yes. Not the warrior of the caliber of say Spartacus, but a fine mind. He composed his great work after knowing defeat at my hands. I suppose it was dual edge sword in that his work both honored and humbled me and my existence. Most, if not all champions do not accept defeat well." It surmised sagely.
"If they did they.."
"Wouldn't be champions." The daemon finished for Harry this time.
The two contemplated each other for long moments before Harry broached the silence to ask. "If I should refuse to play your little game?"
The daemon smiled cruelly in anticipation. "That would change things drastically for the better, at least for myself, that is." It simpered oily. "I am not permitted to directly affect myself amongst the living of this plane lest I tip the balance and the great lord of the light takes offence and rains down destruction amongst me and mine. However, should you rebuke me, I am permitted to avenge myself upon you and in your case..."
The being waved its hand at the far wall and the smooth black rock swirled and coalesced into a vague picture. Harry found himself watching his friends and comrades as they hurriedly went about securing the perimeter on the Knight Watch compound, all the Knight Watch compounds across the planet. He realized the poor picture quality was attributed to seeing through the necrotic eyes of the dead, possible Susan's among them.
The daemon didn't need to voice the threat, but it did so anyway; purely for pleasure's sake.
"They will be forfeit to me. Their power will be mine for the taking to augment my own and elevate to a status that I could affect my own freedom and take my place as an equal amongst my former masters."
In that instant, Harry understood the breadth of that implication. All who wore the uniform of Knight Watch, would be forfeit. With Alexander... armies in the hundreds of thousands had faced the same. Such an influx of life force would elevate any to the rank of a god in power. This creature would like nothing better than for him to refuse and make it so. He understood in that moment why so many before had willing faced the villainous scum seated gloating on its gilded throne before him.
It was either one life or many.
"If you cannot harm the living, then why bother with the dead?" he asked curiously.
The daemon shrugged indifferently. " I cannot directly affect the living, but through the dead I can at least amuse myself."
"Amuse yourself?" Harry questioned in obvious disgust.
"Human immortality is a boring, tedious affair fit only for a subspecies such as your selves. I was once a player in the universal game for ultimate control. I was no more than a rook upon a celestial chessboard, but, even so, I watched entire worlds crumble and fall only to spring up again greater and more wondrous, or heinous and more terrible than ever they were before. You, yourself, know what it is to hold such power in your hands, Harry Potter. Is it not adequately described as both more wondrous and terrible?" the daemon prompted.
Reluctantly, Harry nodded his agreement.
The daemon added. "You experienced but a taste of the power I once wielded on a daily basis. It is an addiction for which there is no cure, Harry Potter. To know such power than be denied is more crippling than one can ever hope to imagine."
"So what then...? Harry petitioned, "You play with lives because you're bored with your own existence?"
The daemon shrugged indifferently at that. "I could lie and say it was more than that, but that is essentially correct. Lesser men drink and carouse, greater men, such as yourself, live lives of duty and self sacrifice. Challenging and demanding though it is, it is an adventure, yes? For Gods, ..the universe is our playground. Your lives provide us a moment's diversion, nothing more."
Harry staggered slightly from the implication that his and the lives of the rest of the world were no more than fodder for celestial toddlers to misuse for their primal pleasure.
"So you're like some giant spider weaving your web filled with intrigue, or better yet, a puppet master, using the dead to further your own ends amongst the living? Don't you care about the lives you've ruined the destruction you've wrought?"
The daemon smiled a smile devoid of all feeling as he answered succinctly. "No, not in the least."
"How can something so vile as you be even allowed to exist? Surely there must be someone or something that even you are forced to answer to in the greater scheme of things? A balance between light and dark?" Harry conjectured, not willing to accept that such mindless evil can just be allowed free reign.
"But of course." The daemon crowed triumphantly. "That is where you come in, Harry Potter." It went on to explain. "All things the universe over are in constant flux and balance. Good and evil, light and dark, creation and destruction... all exist within a delicate balance. We; the major and minor Gods of Chaos, prefer a hands on approach to enforce our will where as the Gods of Light prefer to keep their hands clean, so to speak, so they further their own ends by virtue of their chosen champions, in this case- you."
Much as he would like to think otherwise, Harry could see the logic in the daemon's argument. He'd like to believe he was his own man, doing as he chose, but too many prophesies and interventions of Fate, tend to put the lie to that assumption.
He had the freedom of choice, as was his right, but something deep inside always seemed to be guiding him to make the right choice.
Just like now; every fiber of his being ached to wipe the stain of this creature's existence from the world, his world, where this thing had no right existing.
And I thought Voldemort a contemptible swine?
Voldemort was no more than a pawn who mistakenly thought himself a king in the greater scheme of things.
The daemon described himself as a rook upon a celestial chessboard, all things considered, that was probably an accurate what was he,.. if not a knight.
"There is no choice, is there?" Harry ventured resignedly, not really expecting an answer.
"No,.. no, there never is. You can but take solace in the fact that it is but we two, rather than armies of millions that will decide which holds sway for a time; light or dark. In other times, other worlds, millions will perish in the celestial battle of good against evil, but for here, now, we two will decide.
Should I win, your magical power will sustain me and I will remain and work my master's dark will upon your world until another champion of light rises to take up the challenge. Should you win, I shall be banished from your world and the light shall hold sway for an age until the scale tips back in favor of the dark, be it in a millennia or more, but eventually.. the dark will return.
Do you accept the challenge, Harry Potter?" The daemon inquired formally, already knowing the answer as no champion of the light had ever, could ever refuse such a challenge and could remain a champion of the light.
Harry rolled his eyes incredulously. "Of course I accept you wanker. Like there's any choice in the matter."
The daemon nodded, ignoring the slight. "Then we shall meet two weeks from this day in mortal combat, our fate will decide this world's balance,.. at least for a time."
"Why not now and get it over with?" Harry asked curiously.
"Rules, Harry Potter, rules." The daemon reminded. His tone reflected his own displeasure with being forced to do another's bidding. "The power I inherited from the last champion does still sustain my existence and I am not permitted to add to it as part of my punishment for striving to do so and deny my master's tithe. That power shall run out exactly two weeks from today... hence no magic, skill against skill only. Should you try to wait me out, hoping my demise will occur before we cross swords...?" he left off the implied threat of the havoc he would reap before his demise.
Harry nodded his understanding. "Do you require a vow?"
The daemon smiled knowingly. "Unnecessary. Your word has ever been your bond, Harry Potter. It is both strength and a fatal flaw in your character. I myself am not hindered by such compunctions, but am compelled to do my master's will.
"Two weeks then." Harry agreed, turning to leave before turning back with a last question. "If you are not bound by any sort of honor, why then did you spare the lives of the champions you face and defeated? Why not simply kill them if they were contrary to your very existence?"
The daemon smirked cruelly at that. "For a wizard; the loss of your magic is the loss of your very existence. It is a crippling, tortuous loss that drove many mad and others to their own destruction. Some few even embraced the dark, railing against the light in despair of their loss. I savored their misery as I shall savor yours, Harry Potter."
Harry returned a cool smile of his own that promised pain. "Unlike Voldemort,.. I shall enjoy wiping the offal that is you from existence."
Harry paused at the chamber entrance, eyeing the waiting pedestal with his name emblazoned on its base. A quick wave of his hand and the plague was over written with: Azriel al'Tothanum.
Another wave and an obsidian statue of a pig sat upon the pedestal.
With a satisfied nod, Harry left without a backward glance. He relished the bellows of rage that came from his host once the change was discovered.
Harry could have port keyed home, knowing his friends were worriedly waiting for his return, but he chose to walk a bit and organize his thoughts on the encounter. First and foremost, he decided that his initial assumptions were correct; this whole place was designed to give his adversary home field advantage. The temple, prison or whatever he chose to call it that the daemon used for a throne room literally pulsed with evil, seemingly directing it outward by the waves of energy he felt emanating of the cursed thing. It was undoubtedly a foci of some sort that both augmented its power for the daemon to work it's will from vast distances.
What little he knew of daemons, which was that they were little more than glorified demons or demigods, was that they either received infusions of energy from sacrifices made in their behest, or were granted eldritch power from their masters. As depraved as many humans were, he knew that no one was currently sacrificing themselves to this lowly creature. The days of such mindless superstition were centuries past.
If truly imprisoned here by its masters, than the daemon's words rang true in that it augmented its flailing reserves from that of fallen champions, forced to forfeit their magical cores as the price of defeat.
The statues of honor were nothing of the sort. It was but a trophy room for the dark fiend to gloat over, trying to humble its next intended target-him.
His own core, while not insubstantial, was but a pale version of what it once was. Something he was grateful his challenger was, seemingly, acutely unaware of. The Phoenix Fire had taken its toll over the years. He would not live a normal lifespan, not for a wizard, not even for a muggle. His physician hypothesized that he had but twenty or thirty years remaining to a life that may well have extended several hundred years. His magic would fail long before that, however.
He was nearly used up. The Fire had demanded payment and he had paid it, and gladly so, for the lives he had helped were precious to him.
This was the secret buried within the Foundation that few knew. This was the reason he was sheltered and prevented from attempting to summon the Fire and why he used his magic sparingly at best.
Diminished though it is, he couldn't risk letting the daemon get possession of his core so that it could eventually claim another. Even a twenty or thirty year reprieve before it sought another was loathsome to consider. Who would be his next target in two or three decades; Draco- Jimmie, one of their offspring or even that of his namesake?
The cycle must be broken now.
He wasn't foolish enough to believe that should he somehow hope to win that the daemon would accept defeat, let alone be freed from its earthly confines to rejoin its dark masters. More likely than not, the damned thing would be prey upon the whole of their world before it succumbed.
He also wasn't foolish enough to actually believe he could win. This thing had been creeping around for millennia, dispatching champions and working its dark will. Always behind the scenes, plotting, scheming- a puppet master. Briefly he wondered if Voldmort had been no more than this thing's unknowing dupe.
Greater man than he had fallen before this thing, if its trophy room was to be believed.
He didn't think it a coincidence that the surrounding area was devoid of life, thereby negating his elemental abilities.
The stage was set and it was nothing more than a well thought out trap, one baited especially for him.
He had taken his frustration out on Ginny when she'd first arrived and professed her love for him. Ten years of separation and with it several times summoning the Phoenix Fire had taken its toll upon him. Back then he would have given anything to hear those words from her. They could have had a long and full life together-then, but now... even the twenty or thirty years left had sounded brilliant- to his ears.
Now,... the two weeks left to him before the coming confrontation sounded hollow and tasteless, but it was enough time to make plans.
The key was his magical core. This thing wanted it, of that he had no doubt. He had no intention of giving the villainous swine anything it even remotely wanted. He would fight to win, he always did. The question was that; if he won, what exactly would be the consequences of said victory? Would he initially win only to lose all?
Maybe the question was really... how to lose and not lose.
The answer came to him like a bolt of lightning from the sky. He staggered back under the weight, yet the simplicity of it was crystal clear.
It was in that moment that he knew a will far greater than his own had planned for this eventuality. Things became so much clearer,.. and humbling.
He was a knight... a knight on a celestial chessboard. He felt less alone in that moment than he'd ever felt in his entire existence. His next move was clear to him and it was a devastating one.
It was approaching late afternoon when Harry finally returned to the outskirts of the Knight Watch compound. He'd made many stops before returning and this was but one more distasteful task he need to see to before he could start putting his plan, for the coming confrontation, into effect.
She stood before him, waiting expectantly.
"No plea of mercy to stay my hand?" he questioned cautiously at the resolved expression on that which had been Susan's face, now a mask for a treacherous puppeteer, playing at being a god.
"Would it do any good?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, mimicking the way Susan used to do when she was curious.
Harry shook his head in denial.
"It doesn't matter. I am but one tool in my master's shed. He has many more at his disposal."
Harry nodded. "But this one is personal. Though Susan's spirit has moved on, I find it blasphemous to allow her shell to walk about broad as brass for the amusement of a petty demigod. I will take your head and your heart and whatever else it is that allows one such as you to walk around in mortal trappings, Azriel al' Tothanum. In two weeks time, we will see if a god can die." Harry promised sarcastically emphasizing the daemon's claim to immortality.
"Two weeks" the daemon agreed, its own voice echoing from Susan's throat.
Harry waved his hand and that which was once Susan Bones, erupted in soul searing flames.
She did not protest or even cry out as the flames consumed her, but just for the briefest of moments, Harry could have sworn he saw a flicker of gratitude reflected in her once beautiful eyes.
Harry stood before his familiar in the waning light of dusk, knowing it was perhaps for the last time. He would never ride her again into battle nor wrestle with her in his animagus form.
Fiona was mewling low in her throat, grief stricken by what he'd imparted to her through parseltongue.
"I'm sorry, Fi." He consoled apologetically for the many time.
"Sayyy hithhh faaa rithhh bessss pa?" she hissed to him despairingly in parseltongue.
"You no better than that." He returned in English, knowing she understood but was unable to speak herself. "I'll fight to the last breath and God willing things will go as planned, but either way; I need you and yours to make sure of it. Purify by fire, Fi. Let not but ash mark your passing."
"fiiffff thassss" Fione agreed with a reluctant sigh of regret.
"Go now and take my love and respects to your mother. Remember two weeks from today when the sun just passes mid day; strike without pause or mercy."
Fiona nodded, her long neck bobbing her head up and down. She bent low across the fence of the enclosure and rubbed the side of her scaled head with infinite gentleness across the side of his face.
Harry's sword arm encircled her neck and held her against his cheek. "I'll miss you two luv."
Eventually they parted and with last anguished roar, Fiona launched herself into the night sky, her brethren following in her wake at a distance befitting the respect for her rank among their herd.
Harry watched until the shadow of their forms passed into complete darkness. With a sigh of regret he moved onto the next of several distasteful tasks that still awaited him.
He entered the commons of Knight Watch, not surprised to find many of the same company he left this morning still waiting hopefully for his return.
He approached with a heavy heart as many broke into relieved smiles at seeing his return, grateful, but knowing that he was about to dash their moment of reprieve.
Calmly he poured himself a cup of coffee, mindful of the groups waning patience. He cast his eyes over them. Draco, Abby, his fellow knights and their current squires, Hermione and now, Ron as well. Ben Hoag, Captain Chan, Healer Marcus Pomfrey.
All waited with baited breath. Taking his cue he pronounced with firm resolve. "Notify all seven installations that there will be a general vid-com assembly at 0900."
People glanced back and forth, sharing pensive looks with one another. Benjamin Hoag was the first to start to ask the questions that were on all their lips, but Harry waved him off, promising:
"Tomorrow, Bill. I'm a little tired and I still have more to do tonight before I retire for the night."
"Doing what?" Draco asked worriedly, Abby pulling herself comfortingly closer to him as he did.
"I have set and am setting plans into motion that cannot be altered." He returned vaguely with a wan smile of acceptance.
"What did you do?" Hermione nearly accused worriedly, taking a half step toward him only to have Ron cautiously hold her back by her arm.
"What I feel I must." He returned facetiously, further infuriating her.
"Y-You're protecting us again, aren't you?" She hissed accusingly, thought her eyes were moist and there was a catch in her voice that spoke volumes in that she was far more worried for than angry with him.
Harry smiled reassuringly, splaying his hands disarmingly as he relied. "No I'm not. All those here can attest; I am incapable of doing so even if I wanted to. I am merely seeing to a bit of insurance, as it were."
Hermione wiped her eyes as Draco rolled his in frustration knowing that it would be useless to prod him further.
"All right People, 0900, it is." Ben Hoag agreed, dismissing the gathering with little more than a glance.
"Kevin, I'd like you and Angelina to remain behind for a moment, please?"
The two in question reseated themselves and Draco hung back as well assuming it was knight's business and hence his purview.
Harry shook his head. "No Dray, sorry. This is just between we three, for now."
With infinite slowness, Draco turned and left without a word of reproof, though his eyes spoke volumes in the hurt he felt by Harry's dismissal.
At length, Harry turned his troubled gaze away from Draco's departing form and smiled benignly at his two waiting friends.
"Kevin,.. I am unable to complete my sacred task of completing Angelina's training and ask that you consider taking her on as your squire until you deem her worthy of assuming the mantle of Knight amongst her future brothers?"
"Harry, nooo..."Angie gasped, not upset with his decision but worried what it portended.
Harry waved her off, gently, awaiting Kevin's decision.
"But,... we thought,.. the healers said it could be many years, decades even...?" Kevin stalled anxiously.
"Perhaps it may..." Harry calmly reassured. 'But for the time being I will be otherwise engaged and unable to devote the attention to her training that Angie deserves."
"No,.. then I'll wait." Angie argued desperately, her eyes welling with tears. "You-You promised that you'd ..."
"I'm sorry, Angie." Harry interrupted with a note off finality that clearly stated he would not argue his decision further.
"Alright, Harry. "Kevin agreed reluctantly. "Whatever you need, you know that."
Harry nodded gratefully that he did. He reached out to clasp Kevin's hand and with the other beckoned Angelina to follow suit, but she held back.
"Your future amongst us is you destiny, Angie, not mine." He reminded her. "Kevin will see it done in my stead." He promised further.
"It's not t-that." Angelina stammered, still not accepting hand. "I-I wanted you , Harry."
Harry nodded knowingly. "I am but one step along a greater journey, Angie. Trust me this last time."
Angie accepted Harry's hand... "How did you ever become so wise?" she complimented whilst fondly caressing the back of his hand with her fingers as she dropped to her knees next to Kevin.
"Good teachers" he answered as his hands began to glow and he transferred the bond from himself to Kevin.
"Kevin, accept by my hand this faithful daughter into your charge. Instruct, guide and protect her until she is worthy to take her place among you; no longer a daughter, but a sister in all ways that matter and for all time."
"I will" Kevin accepted reverently.
"Angelina: learn, obey and cherish for this is a sacred bond that transcends father to daughter, teacher to student and master to apprentice. Grow in your understanding of both yourself and the world around you that you may find your destined place within it; alongside your future brothers and sisters in all ways that matter and for all time."
"I will" Angelina vowed, wiping at her eyes with her free hand as she looked first reverently to Kevin and then they both gazed up toward him.
The gold hued glow receded back into Harry and he gasped slightly, staggering a half step wearily backwards, breaking contact.
Kevin flowed to his feet, grasping Harry's elbow supportively.
"It is nothing." He waved off Kevin's concern. "I am both grateful and saddened in this."
Harry reached out and cupped Angelina's cheek and she melted into the touch, grasping his hand were it rested against her cheek.
"I so wanted to present you your sword and welcome you amongst us when the time came, Angie." He acknowledged disappointedly.
"And you will." Kevin vowed grasping his shoulder.
"We shall see." Harry intoned hollowly, offering an affectionate squeeze in return before departing, leaving the two of them more worried than before.
He knocked softly on the suite's door rather hoping the parties within were asleep and that he wouldn't wake them this way.
Unfortunately, the door cracked open and questioning brown eyes peered around the side of the door.
"H-Harry?" Molly gasped, pulling open the door with one hand as she held together the neck of her dressing gown with the other.
'It's late..." he began apologetically, thinking to put this off until tomorrow.
"Nonsense" Molly disagreed, calling out to her husband as she drew Harry into the living room of their suite.
It was a spacious suite, one of the foundation's finest accommodations, reserved for visiting dignitaries and the like.
Arthur Weasley stepped into the room tying the sash of his own dressing gown around his wait as he came.
"I'm sorry,.. it's late..." Harry offered weakly by apology again.
"Not at all" Arthur deflected ushering him toward one of the room's comfortable chairs, whilst he and Molly Weasley took the couch to his right.
"I-I've come to apologize for my behavior of late. I was being vindictive and.." Harry began to apologize for pranking them.
"And you were right." Arthur disagreed with him, startling Harry to silence. As he explained. "We had no right to interfere in yours and our daughter's happiness, Harry. What seemed like practical and protective at the time proved to be our own undoing. Here you are, Harry, good as your word, just as always. The world is a better ,safer place because of what you've wrought here and around the globe."
"Part of the credit for that goes to you both." Harry interjected generously."All this..." he splayed his arms wide for emphasis. "Is in fact due in part to your own words of challenge to become what I was meant to be in the hopes that one day the world would be a safer place where I could have a family of my own without the constant fear of their safety in the balance."
The Weasley's nodded , beaming at him."Arthur's going to retire after this term, Harry." Molly announced, thinking the news would further lift his spirits along with their own joy at the prospect of what this would mean for all concerned.. "Percy's running in the hopes of continuing the work Arthur and he began. I'm getting my husband back in time to travel and enjoy our grandbabies,.. of which I hope we'll see some raven haired , green eyed ones one day?"
Harry offered a half smile of wan hope, worrying the two.
"Unfortunately, despite all, that original prediction holds true. The world would never be safe enough for Ginny,.. if she were with me. Any children between us would be doubly at risk. Stay Minister for as long as you may, Mr. Weasley. You're doing famously. I'll have Ginny transferred to the new facility along with Fred and George. Keep her there. Keep her safe by keeping me away." Harry sighed defeated.
The Weasley's gaped at each other, turning troubled eyes toward him. Harry offered a small smile of reassurance as he returned a quote from the past.
"There's always going to be a call for help and I'm always going to go. One day... and one day, I won't return." He conjectured.
Harry rose from his chair and reached out taking a hand from each. "I'm so.. so grateful that Ron came into my carriage on the Hogwart's express. I can't thank you enough for being so kind as to accept me into your home and make me feel welcome among you. I know I am not an easy person , by any stretch of the imagination. I'm willful and stubborn and obviously...defiant. I'm also grateful, truly grateful that you cared enough about me to make me do, not only, what was best for me, but for everyone. That's what good parents do, I'm told. Not so much what their children may want, but what's best for them. I don't have any real memories of my parents, but I'd like to believe that they were just like you."
Molly was crying openly now both in, love and appreciation, but also if the kinds of cloying worry that comes from knowing your child is frightened or in pain.
Arthur put their concerns into words. "Harry,..excuse me, but I must admit to being somewhat confused. I was under the assumption that you and Ginny were, er,..seeing each other or at the very least entertaining that idea? Has something occurred to make you change your mind?"
Harry shook his head and offered a half truth of platitudes. "Nothing other than just more of the usual; dark lords, dark beings and dark plans. Sometimes it all seems rather pointless in its unending futility. Thank Merlin there's people like you who not only put it all into perspective, but remind us of why we do what we do which is just one more thing in a long list for which I am grateful for to the both of you."
With that said, Harry bowed respectfully, kissing both of their hands adoringly and bidding them a 'good night', having left them stunned to speechlessness.
The door had barely closed in his passing when Molly Weasley clutched desperately at her husband beseeching him: "What was that, Arthur?"
"A loving son wishing his parents a proper goodbye, Molly." He pulled his wife close, as much to comfort himself as her. It was long into the night before the two managed to get to sleep.
0900
Harry strode to the podium with quite resolve. His eyes cast up over a rising levels of the audience that had filled the auditorium to capacity. Nearly a thousand members, consisting of the Phoenix Foundation's research and development divisions, medical and humanitarian support outreach divisions and of course- Knight Watch.
A large magictron screen was situated above and behind his person so that those in the back would have a good view of the proceeding. Those same cameras were broadcasting his image to every Foundation installation across the globe. This was the first occasion in which Harry Potter had ever requested an audience of the entire foundation in one sitting. The mood of the crowd was anxious, to say the least, as none knew for sure what could warrant a meeting of this magnitude. One thing they knew for certain was that if Harry was involved and he wished to address the entire organization, then what he had to say was far reaching and beyond important for every member involved.
They had greatly underestimated the impact of what Harry delivered in his address.
Harry paused, gratefully scanning the silent auditorium hall as everyone waited patiently for him to begin.
There were so many friends and family members that his field of vision was filled with faces that brought a host of fond memories.
"If you will indulge me for a minute? I've composed a song for this occasion that in many ways encompasses the breadth of who I am and what I've hoped to accomplish. I can think of no more appropriate occasion to present it to you."
That said, Harry waved his hand a a grand piano materialized on the stage. Despite the journey so many had traveled with him over the years; there were still many gasps of surprise by the effortless display of advanced, wandless magic.
Harry sat down on the piano bench and began to play a soft melody that his voice joined with a haunting longing...
"I can almost see it... that dream I'm dreamin..but
there's a voice inside my head.. saying.. you'll never reach it.
Every step I'm taking,.. every move I make feels...
Lost with no direction,... my faith is shakin
But I-I-I, I gotta keep tryyyin... Gotta keep my head held high.
Always gonna be another mountain...I'm always gonna wanna make it move.
Always gonna be an uphill battle,... Sometime I'm gonna have t lose.
A'int about how fast I get there. A'int about what's waitin on the other sideeeee.
It's the climb.
The struggles I'm facin , the chances I'm taking...
Sometimes might knock me down, but no I'm not breaking.
I may not know it, but these are the moments, that...
I'm gonna remember most. Just gotta keep going.
I... I gotta be strong. Just keep pushing onnnn...
There's always gonna be another mountain,.. I'm always gonna wanna make it move.
Always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.
Aint about how fast I get there. Aint about what's waiting on the other sideeee.
It's the climb.
("The climb" by Miley Cyrus)
His voice was so filled with emotion that those in the audience who weren't weeping openly were stunned to speechlessness by the sheer magnitude of the depth of soul he'd encompassed in his song.
Harry retook the podium.
"I stand before you today both in profound gratitude and deepest affection for those who have shared in my dream and shouldered our burdens. I was but the inspiration for the foundation and Knight Watch, but you all were,... and are ,.. the driving force behind it that turned the concept into a reality.
For this you have mine and the world's eternal gratitude."
Harry paused as the gathered applauded uproariously, nodding his appreciation and sweeping his hand over the gathering pointedly.
"The way is clear and your paths are before you..".
Draco...
Harry? Draco's mind replied in surprise, both that Harry was speaking telepathically to him but also by the ease with which his friend had bypassed his own considerable occulomency shields.
"I may have been one of the founders of this august body, but you, you are the future."
Respond accordingly to my words,... remember contingency plan 'C'?
Affirmative
Good,...Only converse through legillemency for now and spread the word through command level ...we're compromised even here.
Merlin! Draco gasped silently.
"With this future in mind, I find myself at a cross road."
The audience's anxiety rose exponentially at the note of finality in his voice...
Plan 'C' in twenty.
Understood. How are you able to do this and giving a speech at the same time? Draco marveled.
The well organized mind is capable of almost anything, Mr. Malfoy.
He-He-He- Your thoughts even sounded exactly like the way Dumbledore would have said that. Draco complimented.
Thanks...Now get ready, here come's the kicker!
"I hereby resign my commission within Knight Watch and my position as a Magical Knight for personal reasons, effective immediately."
Gasps of denial tore through the crowded auditorium amidst stunned, wide eyed vacant looks of utter disbelief from those too shocked to reply initially.
Draco didn't need to act surprised or aghast as he truly was. He didn't know what he expected, but it certainly wasn't this.
Harry left the podium and vacated the stage through the back door opposite his stunned and disbelieving audience.
Many were just beginning to understand the ramifications of his song in its entirety.
"Dray,.. he can't be serious? We..We need, Harry..." Abigail clutched desperately at her husband's arm, sobbing worriedly.
"I...I'll talk to him, Abby. It'll be alright,.. you'll see. " he returned uncertainly,. and he was. He couldn't fathom what would make Harry take such a drastic measure, and frankly, whatever it was- terrified him.
His boot heels clicked out rhythmically as he strode with purpose toward the elevator just off the training center and danger room. Though he thought to circumvent any confrontations, he should have known better.
"Talk to me." Hermione demanded, stepping in his path, blocking the entrance to the elevator she'd just vacated with Ron, Ginny, Bill and Fleur all filing in behind her.
They must have run all the way from the balcony area of the auditorium to have beaten him to his destination. Hermione couldn't have known for certain where he was heading, though she was one of the few that knew of its existence, she was not command level and therefore, would not have been instructed by Draco to attend.
"If you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to." He excused himself and made to step around the others, but Ron's hand snaked out and caught his elbow, holding fast.
"What's going on, Harry?" he asked worriedly, his concern evident in his eyes.
"I thought my intentions obvious? Now, please,... if you'll all excuse me, I really do have other matters to attend to,.. packing and such." He threw out vaguely, giving them too much to work with before he realized it.
"You're leaving, but this is your home?" Ginny half pleaded worriedly.
Harry smiled faintly at that, offering... "This was my home and I have been relatively comfortable here, but this facility is for Foundation members only."
"But you're the founder of the Phoenix Group and Knight Watch. None of this would even be here if it wasn't for you." Bill added his own reproof.
Again, a faint smile ghosted across Harry's face. "You give me far too much credit. I was but the dream. This place and these people made all of this a reality." Harry sprawled his hands wide, indicating the breadth of the Foundation. He then added with a note of finality, " They are Knight Watch and the Foundation's future. As I am no longer a member of the team, I have no place here among them. They deal with harsh reality on a daily basis. There is no room for sentimentality when lives hang in the balance. Lives Come First." Harry quoted their motto.
"But they're,.." Ginny caught herself and quickly amended, "we're your family. Don't leave us, Harry, not now, not when...?" Ginny's desperate voice trailed off meaningfully, her heart was in her eyes, beseeching him to stay...with her.
Harry's eyes turned hard at that. "There was a time when I would have given everything and anything to hear you say that to me,.. but you didn't. None of you." His accusing eyes passed over the lot who lowered their eyes shamefully.
"I was always an outsider looking in. Now, I find myself in the curious position of an insider looking out."
Hermione's mouth fell open incredulously as he continued optimistically.
"Who knows what the future may bring? Things worked out pretty well before, may haps they will again. While I admit that I don't really have a grand scheme in mind like I did the last time, I find myself strangely unencumbered and yet resolved. It's liberating, really."
Hermione shook herself from her stupor, rolling her eyes as she redirected. "If you need a vacation, then take one. You've devoted yourself to Knight Watch and your Magical Knight duties 24/7, no one would begrudge you a long vacation, Harry. You've earned it, but this?"Hermione huffed in exasperation. "You're talking in riddles, trying to mislead us. This isn't about needing or wanting time off, at all. I don't know what happened, but I can at least guess what you're doing? You're protecting us,... and you don't need to. You've got all of this and all of us behind you, let us help, Harry?" Hermione pleaded with him, ignoring the stutters and stammers around her over what she was referring to.
In truth, she herself didn't know and Harry intended to keep it that way.
He'd learned to stop being a martyr long ago. There was far more he could accomplish with his comrades then he could without, and more safely too.
"Protecting you? I've absolutely no intention of protecting you, Hermione. In case you missed it, I resigned." He reiterated and meaning it.
Hermione searched his eyes and found not the slightest hint of duplicity. "Y-You're really not?" she struggled to understand. "Then what? Why are you doing this?"
" As I said, for personal reasons." He offered calmly.
"What personal reasons?" Ron asked curiously.
Harry cocked his head to the side and returned vaguely. "If I wanted everyone to know then I wouldn't have cited personal reasons, now would I?"
Ginny rolled her eyes at that, but it was Fleur that argued.
"But we are your family." The others nodded emphatically in agreement.
"Then honor my decision, or better yet, support it. That is what families do, or so I'm told?"
Hermione couldn't help but envy the effortless way he turned their arguments back on them. There were so many intriguing layers to the man that she couldn't help but marvel at the growth he'd made since he was that shy first year what seemed a lifetime ago.
"Alright, Harry." She reluctantly agreed, accepting his position reluctantly, and for all of them, except perhaps...Ginny.
Harry nodded his thanks. "Now, if you'll excuse me.. I have yet a few duties to see too."
He moved to step around them, but they cleared the way instead. Again, Harry nodded his gratitude and was about to enter the elevator when Ginny made a last ditch effort.
"Can I c-come with you?" she asked nervously, surprising even herself with her lack of tact and forwardness.
Harry paused considering, but eventually nodded and gestured for her to join him in the elevator.
The doors closed and Ginny began to fidget as Harry had as yet to press the button of the desired floor he wished to go to.
"Do you have any training in muggle forms of emergency medical care." He asked, surprising her.
"I do, yes, but why ...?"
Harry talked over her before she could finish her question. "I'm not supposed to take you with me as you don't have the required clearance." He explained.
"But,.. as you have a vested interest and , I note, have training in muggle emergency care as well as magical... "In darkest day- in blackest night, no evil shall escape our sight."
At this pronouncement the elevator sprang to life plummeting downward obviously going farther down than what the facility appeared to accommodate.
At Ginny's quizzical expression he ventured, shrugging indifferently. "The code is a epitaph from a muggle comic book, but no less appropriate for all of that."
"Brace yourself,... you're about to enter Knight Watch."
Ginny's look of surprise was soon replaced by a wide eyed consternation of "Merlin above!" when the doors opened revealing a state of the art war room with technology that put the command center upstairs to shame.
The room itself was manned by technicians hovering over monitors of every conceivable design, both muggle and magical. There were radar screens equipped with unique magical enhancements that displayed creatures that would normally be undetectable by muggle means such as vampires , dementors and the like. There were regional maps that displayed magical activity both in occurrence and intensity with readouts that declared the type of magic involved and known practitioners in the area ie.. likely suspects.
Ginny's head swiveled back and forth, trying unsuccessfully to take it all in, whilst her presence was ignored by those pursuing their duties.
She was ignored, all except for an occasional raised eyebrow, though no mention was made as she was in Harry's presence. As for Harry... Everyone he passed snapped to attention, clicking their heals whilst saluting with a fist over their heart at his passing. He nodded gratefully in acknowledgement to each and every one of them without fail and Ginny could see by their expression that each took said acknowledgement as a compliment by their proud and delighted expressions that lit their faces in his passing.
He drew her into an adjoining conference room that was already staffed with every ranking officer of Knight Watch and the current Magical Knights sans their squires. There were also video screens that showed other such conference rooms in other installations as well as one depicting a goblin council with other magical races represented as well, ie.. elf, centaur, mermish, giant..
Harry paused before the the vid-screen of the latter and smoothly dropped to one knee and intoned reverently,... "milord".
From Ginny's close vantage point she could tell it was Raynock, himself, that he was addressing so respectfully.
The Goblin's ears wilted slightly and a look of, what... Ginny couldn't be sure , but it looked like the sort of expression a parent would bestow upon his own child... one of deep and abiding love.
"Rise our beloved son." Raynock beseeched.
Harry rose deftly and at seeing Raynock's eyes scrutinizing Ginny, next to him, made introductions.
Ginny, for her part, had the good grace to curtsey respectfully, which brought an appreciative smile to both Harry's and the Goblin ruler's lips.
"You are welcome amongst us, as are all our chosen knight's comrades." Raynock welcomed Ginny, his counter parts nodding their agreement as he did so.
"T-Thank you." Ginny stammered.
The formalities were soon dispensed with and Harry informed the councils that were present of his encounter and his initial plans, finishing with his final decision.
It was that last that launched the room into an uproar.
"Absolutely not!" Draco barked in outrage.
"Bugger that!" Jimmie pounded his fist on the table for emphasis.
William Hoag swore under his breath, whilst his subordinates paled in revulsion.
It was Ginny and Raynock's response that held his interest at the moment.
Ginny squeaked out a terrified, "no" that was so soft only he could hear as she reached for his hand, trying to reassure herself, more than him.
Raynock's ears dropped sadly as he nodded his head in acceptance of Harry's decision and the wisdom behind it.