Chapter 7
Eric waited until he was out of Draco's hearing before he started laughing. It went on for several minutes as his friends gathered around him giving him a variety of strange looks that just made him laugh harder.
"Eric," Hermione admonished as he began to wind down "why did you do that? It was unnecessary and cruel."
"I don't know, Hermione," Blaise said smoothly as he stared hard at Eric "I would think you'd enjoy that, given all the trouble he's given you over the year. He is, after all, our version of Ronald."
"That doesn't mean you need to sink to his level though!" the mousey haired genius huffed, crossing her arms.
"Perhaps not," Eric allowed, shrugging, "but it was useful."
"How?" There was a dark edge to Harry's voice as he asked the question and everyone turned to him. Eric knew Harry had had troubles with the blond before but the true depth of their animosity had eluded conscious understanding before now. Eric's mind flashed through everything his friend had told him about his reactions with the boy and chose his words carefully. He didn't think Harry would leave him over this, but it would certainly make things unpleasant.
"Malfoy thought that by using their family power they could extend their influence into our corner of the yard and add our power to their own; but by coming here they've given us the advantage." Using the room Eric summoned the eight of them a circle of comfortable chairs and sat down. "Part of the agreement Dumbledore negotiated was that Draco would be polite and follow the rules in exchange for his training. Formal apologies, that's big. According to Blaise in magical families formal apologies are equivalent to oaths on one's magic. If you say it you have to mean it, if you don't in the first place your magic makes up the difference, one way or the other." He looked at the two Gryffindor's significantly as he said that. "Beyond even that joining our club places us in a position of authority over him, both as teachers and in social standing. For me, this means he has to obey me in order to advance. For Blaise it means his primary rival has just willingly declared his status as a part of his power base rather than counter to it. For the Weasley's" he said turning his gaze on the twins "it would mean finally having some measure of power over that family. As his professors you'd have both a small measure of authority over him and the chance to shape him through his lessons, either to hinder him, build him up or otherwise turn him towards something you find slightly less repugnant. If you've been watching the classes lately the most commonly used magic here has dealt with the mind. Our students have even begun to project more often than they speak, even going so far as to share memories as a way of making friends and teaching lessons." He turned to Harry and Hermione, a frown on his face. "There's not a lot of advantage for you two, but the formal apology you could get out of it would force him to stop bothering you at minimum."
Harry still looked unhappy, but nodded, mollified. Hermione however was still troubled. It was sort of nice in a way, when she got all upset about something like this, because it showed that beneath her mask of a bossy, overconfident know it all she was still a sweet girl. Eric shook himself.
"And what about us?" Padma piped up, gesturing at herself and Su. "Are we chopped liver or something?"
"It's almost as if you don't care." Su added. She was trying to pout but the grin at the corners of her mouth and the light of mischief in her eyes ruined the effect.
"I've acquired another minion for the two of you to boss around?" Eric asked, hopeful.
The rest of the group started laughing as the two girls began hexing him mercilessly.
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The next several weeks passed slowly for Eric, training Malfoy was like pulling teeth. First he refused to allow Eric into his mind, then he questioned every exercise he was given for the alternate path because it was made by 'primitive muggles'. Eric tried to foist him off on the loving care of his Slytherin students but he annoyed them so much they politely and obliquely threatened to leave the group saying that they'd learned enough to be getting on with and the rest of the group just plain refused.
Well, that wasn't entirely true.
The new sixth year Andrea Solus from Slytherin offered to teach Draco, but wasn't far enough along for it to make the exercise anything useful. The whole situation was frustrating on a level that Eric found himself having a hard time describing. He was sure that if he actually cared about the little ponce's education he'd be bulling his hair out and frothing at the mouth by now; as it was though it was simply putting him in a bad mood. So it was in early spring that he and Hermione were in the Hogwarts main library discussing whether the club would be able to weather the politics of Draco not learning anything when Harry blew into the room, flight cloak billowing and a wild look in his eye.
Eric grimaced as an image came across the link from Hermione connecting the boy with Zephyrus, the Greek wind god. Dashing, gentle, powerful, exciting. Ugh. Eric shivered in disgust and broke the link quickly, pulling out of the young girls mind with all due haste. He saw the girl forcing control over a blush out of the corner of his vision as he turned himself to face the other Gryffindor.
Guys, we've got a problem. Harry's voice crashed into his mind without an ounce of finesse in his urgency.
Oh no, what is it? Hermione returned the stream of doomsday scenarios streaming through the newly established link far worse than her normal babbling.
Harry went stiff for a moment and Eric applied a subtle pressure to the girl's lips, his magic imitating a finger like the pair of boys had taken to doing whenever they needed the bushy genius to calm down. Successful Eric turned his attention back to their landing friend. You said it was urgent?
Urgent, yes Harry returned shaking his head and giving Hermione an odd look which caused her to blush again, this time in embarrassment. I was down at Hargrids just now. He replied a sense of deep worry bleeding through the link. He was shut in and his door was scorching hot despite being in a shadow so I got worried and forced my way in. He had a dragon egg in his fireplace and the logs were built up around it like a log cabin…
To give it the best heat for the material Eric finished.
Harry nodded. He got it from a hooded stranger in a pub last night harry explained. The only thing he knows about dragons is stories at the moment so he was preparing a nest for the egg. Said he was about to come up here for books on raising dragons when I barged in. I'm worried about him; he's never been that gruff with me, not even when we accused Hogwarts teachers of plotting to steal Dumbledore's rock.
Umm, Hermione cut in I might have a reason for that. She wilted as the two of them turned towards her, their mental presences harsh and questioning. Raising dragons has been banned in England for several centuries by the International Confederation of Wizards. You have to go through and extensive screening process, mountains of paperwork and have both facilities well out of detection of Muggles and large amounts of money to get any sort of waiver for it.
So what he's doing is highly illegal and could get him thrown in prison. Eric frowned and activated the safety feature on his cloak, summoning it around him, simultaneously morphing his Chameleon Robes from school attire into a simple blouse and slacks. Seeing his transformation Hermione's eyes widened and she too summoned her flight robes. The pair of them quickly levitated their work into a pair of messenger bags and returned the books to their proper shelves before nodding to Harry. As one the three of them launched themselves into the air and out of the library, leaving a scowling Ma'am Pince in their wake.
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Hagrid hurriedly shuffled to the door as someone on the other side began pounding on it. Opening the door a crack he saw Harry had returned with his friends Hermione and Eric. With a great sigh he let the three of them in. "Tea?" he asked before going back to the fire and stuffing some more brush in with the logs.
"Here." Eric said briskly, thrusting a book into his hands. "If you're going to raise an illegal dragon you may as well know how to go about it."
"How to train your dragon?" he asked giving Eric a teary look "aww, ye shouna 'ave, thanks!" Hagrid rumbled grabbing the boy from his place staring into the fire and giving him a bone-crushing hug.
"Hagrid?" Hermione spoke up hesitantly.
"Eh?"
"You should probably let Eric go now, he's turning blue."
"Oh… OH! Sorreh bou tha…" He dropped the small boy and chuckled apologetically as the boy glared at him and wheezed. The next half hour was spent going over Eric's book with Harry and Hermione while Eric played with the egg. Hagrid had been worried when the boy had first reached right into the flames and pulled the mottled black and green orb out of the hearth, but when the boys hands continued to blaze and none of the children started screaming he let it go. Strange boy that one, he'd have to ask about his actions later.
"Look here" Harry said, pointing at a picture on one of the pages "it's a Norwegian Ridgeback."
"Ooh!" Hermione cooed in agreement. "Norwegian Ridgebacks are among the smallest species of dragons measuring 35 feet from snout to tail with a wingspan of 70 to 80 feet. While one of the calmer and friendlier species of dragons Ridgebacks are well known for being energetic creatures and difficult for their parents or owners to control. Armed with a quickly developed fire spout, serrated claws and poisonous fangs the ridgeback is not a drake suggested for amateur dragon tamers as it often gives pause to experienced professionals. As a consequence of its small size this dragon is incredibly fast and agile earning it the nickname 'fire worm'." Hermione read aloud, the worried expression in her face and tone growing as she continued.
"Beau'iful, isn it?" Hagrid breathed, expression joyful.
"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house." Harry deadpanned. "As cool as having a dragon is, it's not beautiful, it's you being homeless in a few months. Look here, it says the ridgebacks begin to breath fire at one month and if properly fed can grow at a rate of three inches a day. You barely fit in your house and you're only 12 feet tall, this thing is going to be three times that and breathing fire. Hermione's right, you can't keep it here."
Hagrid frowned, their arguments scratching at his happy mood. "Bu I canah abandon 'im, e's jus a baby." He protested.
"And right now she's just an egg." Cut in Eric, who was playing with a fireball, the black ball at the center. "I'm sure you think this is just another cute little pet like that Cerberus you have guarding the stone, but face facts Hagrid, it's not a house pet and you can't keep it here."
"So whar shoud I keep it then?" He rumbled, his black beard shifting as he frowned.
"If you're not going to smart about this and get rid of it?" the boy asked, sighing as Hagrid frown deepened. "I'd hold off on cooking the little girl until summer when you can just disappear for a few months and failing that prepare a nest in the forest for it. You could try near that nest of spiders I ran across last month, there's too damn many of them and it'd be a good source of chow for the little drake." Hagrid watched as the redheaded boy transferred his precious egg to one hand and doused the other before flipping a few pages in the book and pointing to the passage labeled in bold Care and feeding. "also, as it's a shore based dragon from Norway it's programed for fjords meaning you'll need a cliff and a lot of fish nearby if you don't want it to start coming around the black lake here and trying to munch on the kids, which will REALLY get you in trouble with Dumbledore and the ministry."
Hermione turned to look at the boy as Hargrid thought about what he'd just been told.
"Eric, how is it you know all of this, and why did you have the book in the first place?"
At this Hagrid looked up as well. He might not be the quickest wand in the draw, but he knew when things were out of sorts. "I bought it during my stay in Diagon Alley and started reading it when Blaise mentioned that there had been dragon animagi among histories legendary wizards. I picked up the book in the first place because my wand core is made from the heart of an Icelandic blue, another small fast dragon. What's special about the blue though is that where most dragons are on record as having the intelligence of a sheep dog or similar, the Icelandic blue is usually compared to that of a preteen human. Of course that's nothing on the East Asian Wind Worm varieties or the Central American Quetzalcoatl, the older ones are supposed to be able to speak multiple languages and perform elemental magic, abilities which have historically convinced the local civilian populations that they were gods."
Hargrid joined Harry and Hermione in staring at the boy for several long seconds. "What?"
"You've got problems, mate" Harry replied shaking his head.
"I think it's cute" Hermione countered, her arms crossed, a smirk on her lips "there's nothing wrong with wanting to learn and he always gets so animated when he goes off on one of his little tangents."
Eric pouted. "Hey, it's not as if I was trying to impress my magic upon the egg to try and make it a familiar…"
That got their attention. "What?" Harry asked, Hagrid felt confused as well, but Hermione had gotten really agitated at this latest pronouncement.
"But familiars are supposed to just be a Muggle superstition," she protested "I've read hundreds of books and never once have I seen any mention of witches or wizards having genuine familiars. I'd gotten really excited when they mentioned allowing cat rat or owl for first years but the pet store owner had no clue what I was talking about!"
Eric shrugged and removed that infernal pouch from around his neck. Reaching into it he pulled out another book and handed it to her. Friend or Foe: a compendium of familiars and their magic.
Harry laughed as Hermione imitated a goldfish. "Are you a seer?" she asked after a while.
Eric laughed. "Not in the least, I had no idea we were going to end up talking about familiars. I just keep this one on me because it came from a rare books shop in Nocturn Alley. Same as the book I just let Hargid borrow. Speaking of which, it's another one I intend for the great lump here to read." He continued, glaring at Hagrid. "Familiar bonding happens when an animal compatible with the prospective wizard's personality absorbs their magic over a period of several years. If the match is very close it can happen in as few as 8 months according to the book. Powers the creatures and their wizard masters gain vary depending on the animal involved, our post owls for instance use a variation on the familiar magic to gain a human equivalent intelligence and the ability to find people but that's not what's important. Two things stood out when I read the book. First the Familiar bond can be forced regardless of compatibility by saturating the creature in question with a wizards magic and regardless of the method of bonding the master and familiar are able to influence each-other's actions and know where their bonded partners are at any time. Doing so would be a great help if you want to keep that dragon because letting it become public knowledge that it's here is simply dangerous."
"Eric," Harry asked "what powers do a dragon and its familiar get?"
"No one knows, the knowledge wasn't in a rare book store for no reason and the author states that the only people stupid enough to try to bond with a wild dragon all died." Eric said smiling cheerily.
Everybody looked at him slack-jawed for several moments until the boy couldn't take it anymore and fell out of his chair laughing.
"Eric!" Harry shouted.
"How could you!" added Hermione.
"What?" Hagrid spluttered.
"S-sorry," Eric said, struggling not to laugh "Sorry, I'm not trying to kill Hagrid. Every attempt to bond with a dragon recorded by the book the witch of wizard died because they tried to link themselves to a fully grown wild dragon. The more I learn about wizarding culture the more I realize just how barmy wizards are. The sheer number of simple blunders in our history books and the absolutely wacky approaches to magic in our litany of spells just keep stacking up to a picture of a sugar crazed six year old with the power of a god." Eric heaved a big sigh and his laughing smile went flat. "What Hagrids going to be doing is far safer, even if though I suspect the safety aspect of it is going to depress our giant friend. I'm going to teach him our approach to magic and Hagrid is going to bond with his dragon when she's still an egg, or failing that as he's raising her."
"Thas nice'n all, Eric, bu I'm no allowed ter do magic. Snapped me wand back in third year. Na tha I were any great shakes at magic anyways, practically a squib so ereyone tol me."
"You can't be that bad, Hagrid" Harry defended him. "You made that boat move and almost turned my cousin Dudley into a pig! We don't start human transfiguration until mid-sixth year! If you got kicked out in your third and were still able to do that, you can't be bad…"
"Aww, shucks." Hagrid rumbled, blushing.
"Hagrid," Eric asked, catching the half giants attention. "You can still use the magical world, right?"
"Yes."
"And you can make use of magical devices like the flue or a broom?"
"Yes."
"And if you should go to the castle library or Diagon Alley they wouldn't stop from getting a book would they?"
"Well, no but…"
"And you can still participate in rituals?" Eric pressed.
"No one uses rituals anymore, boy, they got wands now don't they?"
"How about runes?"
"Yes a'ready! Eric, wha's this abou'?"
"Well, It seems to me that the only thing your expulsion stops you from doing is using a wand." Eric explained to him, grinning madcap, a peculiar light in his eyes. "And I'm nothing if not good at doing magic without a wand."
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April was an interesting month for Eric. Hagrid, thank Odin, had agreed to postpone the hatching of his dragon until school let out in early June and was more than happy to join sorcery classes with everyone else. Eric knew from his time within the larger man's mind that was mostly because he was enamored with the concept of having his various pets as familiars, but he was still a good student nonetheless. It was actually that particular fact that brought him to the situation he was in right now.
Draco Malfoy, recalcitrant ponce, former and failed terror of the Slytherin first years and all-around average student had noticed he was being shown up by a halfbreed who'd been expelled from Hogwarts before even his own father had attended.
To anyone else it would have been worth noting that the large man had never really given up his attempts to learn and perform magic on the sly and had often found himself doing so accidentally, but not Draco. The Malfoy heir only saw the insult and mortification this would be if he returned to his father claiming that Eric's bad attitude and poor teaching had failed to push a pureblood scion anywhere while a creature that wasn't even human could be presented as having surpassed him. The thing was, as much as he disliked 'the uppity mudblood' he was far more afraid of his father's disappointment.
Draco approached him the first week of may with a look like he was sucking on a lemon and told Eric. "I am ready to learn… master." The last word was something he struggled with, giving the impression that he'd rather drown himself than say it.
Eric looked at him curiously, turning away from the duels he'd been supervising. Eric gave him a long piercing look before responding. "And I am ready to teach" he said "but it seems that in this case to teach I must first learn." He turned to Hermione and Su who were waiting in the wings and offering suggestions and comments on the duelers' forms and actions. Eric put them in charge of continuing the lesson and walked off, Draco following alongside.
Shortly they found themselves in a newly opened alcove with two squishy armchairs, a table and another book case. "So, tell me, what's the big deal with this blood purity thing. Why am I constantly having to prove myself your better?"
"You really should talk to my father about this," the blond said heavily "he's our leader now that the dark lords gone."
"Yes, well by the time I get to your father he'll be busy beating you and trying to shut me down to properly explain, so why don't you lay it out for me…" Eric countered dryly.
"Right." The boys said, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees and chin in his hands. "Magical blood as we know it today started back in ancient times with the continent of Atlantis. Back then wizards commanded the elements, formed their bodies to their will and were capable of raising cities or shattering continents. The gods walked among us as parents to favored children and magical people and creatures were everywhere. Then came the cataclysm. Nobody really knows what happened or why but as our city fell and the continent swept away beneath us the gods took the blood of magic and spread it across the world. Very few records remain from that time, but that was nearly twelve thousand years ago and ever since then our powers have been growing weaker."
"The fall from grace, a popular tale in many mythologies." Eric commented quietly, offering Draco a cup of tea from a house elf standing by his chair.
Draco nodded accepting the cup and ordering a sandwich. "Except in our case it's more than just mythology." The boy sighed and rubbed his temples. "After the fall of Atlantis magic integrated itself into Muggle society and culture. Where they were primitives scratching a meager living in the dirt we raised them up to be our partners and, often servants. Blood mixed, time passed and we guided our lesser cousins to forming great empires, accepting our gods and generally supporting them. Ancient Egypt was one of the best examples of this before the dark lord Nelsur'aket turned most of the empire into a desert."
"The Sahara?" Eric asked, brows raised.
"Exactly." Malfoy answered taking a sip of tea. "The problem was that with each successive generation the greats among our people failed more and more to reach the heights of their fathers. Our powers were fading and we didn't understand why. Then a group of sages from across the world began to notice a trend. Families who interbred commonly with our muggle cousins produced weaker wizards than those who kept it within the community. That was the start of blood purity, nearly four thousand years ago.
You see, the thing you have to understand is that there really is no such thing as a muggleborn. If you have magic then somewhere in your family history you have a pure blood magical. Most muggleborns are children or grandchildren of squibs. Maybe it was your mother, maybe it was the father you said abandoned you, perhaps it was one of your grandparents. As common as rape and philandering are plenty enough supposed muggleborn's are actually half-bloods whose parents are either unaware or memory charmed. Muggleborns are looked down upon by our society because you come from what is considered a corruption of our blood, people's bastards and children of those whose magic became so weak they fail to light a wand. That's the schism, the reason for our contempt and the explicative mudblood."
Eric was silent for a long time, occasionally sipping his tea as he processed the information. "If what you say it true then how did magical blood arise in the first place, and why aren't you and your father gods among men? Professor Dumbledore, supposedly the greatest wizard of our time is one of your mere half-bloods."
"There are a number of theories about that." Draco said, haltingly. "One is that the reason the wizards of Atlantis were treated as favored children of the gods is because they were. The half-blood children of the Greek pantheon gave us some of Europe's most powerful remaining bloodlines. Another theory is that the first wizards were descendants of Muggles who mated with magical creatures and as those bloodlines melded together they grew stronger until they were able to do the acts spoken of in legends. It's known certain species of magical sentients' can bolster the dying blood of a family, Veela in particular are prized for this, giants and trolls on the other hand are not..."
"Trolls?" Eric asked, making a face.
"Crabee, Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode. I know, it's wrong right? It was half a dozen generations ago give or take. Goblins are another unpopular choice, but no one really gives Flitwick or his line much flack about it, the big argument there is the races personality rather than their magic. You should see the leprechaun's though, if you think Fred and George Weasley are pranksters you haven't seen anything till you meet their half-bloods."
"As fascinating as that it, and it really does explain a lot, but what does that have to do with why you're about to be the apprentice and I the master?" The redhead asked raising brow questioning.
Malfoy gave him a disgusted look and muttered something. At another pointed look Malfoy said "a number of mudbloods have suggested over the years that it's a result of inbreeding, alright?"
Eric shrugged. "It does seem reasonable." At Malfoy's glare he rolled his grey eyes and continued "if magical your families marrying their second and third cousins isn't getting you the results you want your best recourse is to outsource. Try purebloods from other countries at minimum. Or you could try magical creatures there was a beautiful dokkalfar woman at Gringotts when I stayed in the alley."
"I may look into that in a few years" the blond said with a grimace "now, to my lesson?"
"Of course, would like to see my latest shock and awe reel, or go straight to the basics?"
Draco laughed.
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As exams approached Ravenclaw tower became a hive of activity. Education was something all claws took very seriously, it was in their natures as nerds, geeks and genius's to push to be the best as much as it was for a professional athlete and in an environment where study and not only encouraged but held as the norm things took on an entirely new light. Where in Hufflepuff knowledge was a result and expression of hard work or Slytherin it was a source of power to be sought independently and hoarded for ones rise to power, a claw reveled in its pursuit. Study groups formed like sports clubs and trivial pursuit became positively cutthroat. Books were everywhere, friends talked excitedly and bets were placed with any and everything on the ability to answer difficult questions from notes, course-books and independent study.
One of the games was about guessing what spell was being cast and seeing who could complete the most obscure enchantments. Eric was currently facing off with a group of sixth and fourth years for a book on dueling Flitwick had offered up from his private library. It had been written by a Japanese wizard named Saotome Keiji during the Second World War and apparently contained a number of highly impressive pyrotechnic spells. The diminutive professor had translated the text personally and Eric REALLY wanted that book. Unfortunately he was in third place and seven points from the lead.
The seventh year who was offering the book sent off a silver spell with orange sparkles that railed in its wake and distorted the air around the target. "Dorinta răsucite" said a sixth year named Albert Bellby. "It's a Romanian curse used to corrupt a persons emotions from something simple or innocent into something totally bazar. It's a very grey spell because the effect depends on the imagination and intent of the caster. It can be as easily be slightly embarrassing as it could be horrible and sick." Another streamer of silk flew to hover over the boys head and Eric scowled. He was preparing for the next spell when there came a scratching at the edges of his mind.
Eric! Came Harry's voice as soon as he opened his mind a little to investigate. Eric I need your help! Where are you?
I can hear you Harry, what's the problem? Eric replied
I'm down at Hagrid's house- Harry started franticly, his mental tone deadly serious
The lesson isn't going badly is it? He asked worriedly. It had been an unusual experience entering the half giants mind and they had been slightly worried that something bad might happen during one of the mans lessons.
What? No! I mean yes! The lesson hasn't started yet! I got to the hut to find Hagrid trying to calm down a unicorn, it's been attacked and Hagrid's really worried. He's rushed off into the forest with it and if there's something scaring the big man I want to help, but I may need some backup! Can you contact the others? He asked frantically, images of the forest flying by bleeding through the connection.
Su, Padma and I can be there immediately, I don't know about anyone else though. Want me to call in the whole gang? We could make a hunt of it, just like the troll on Halloween! Eric replied excited.
See what you can do to gather the others, but you three should be enough for now. Let's just hope whatever it is isn't magic resistant! Harry sent back. Hurry!
Eric wasted no time gathering the two girls and telling them the situation.
Padma and Su looked at each other worriedly. We're not letting you go alone they said in unison.
There's not much that can hurt a unicorn though Padma continued worriedly you'd best get the rest of the gang, or better yet some of the teachers to come help.
Eric considered that as he cast around for the rest of the inner circle, it wasn't a bad suggestion all in all, but most of the teachers were as busy as the OWL and NEWT students near exam time and none of them had cloaks. If you can find a teacher with a… Flitwick! The little man had just scurried past them heading towards the stairs when the three first years called his name in unison. The white haired half goblin squeaked and jumped, whirling around, looking for something as they ran up to him.
"Professor," Eric said, kneeling before the small almost cartoonish figure. "Hagrid's currently in the forbidden forest with Harry, there's a unicorn with a large gash along it's flank. The three of us are going to help out and we thought it'd be a good idea to take a teacher" Eric explained hurriedly as the three of them summoned their cloaks.
The professor gave them a piercing look before nodding. "Lead the way." He squeaked, his voice flat and serious rather than it's normal excited pitch.
"Do you know how to ride bareback?" Eric grinned.
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Meanwhile Harry had caught up to Hagrid who was trying to tend to the injured unicorn while it in turn tried to drag the large man towards something father in the forest. Slowing his frantic flight to land on the magical horses back knees first Harry waved Hagrid off and said "Let me handle this!"
Hagrid looked him in the eye and after a short pause nodded, letting go of the struggling equine which began moving even faster in the same direction, Hagrid following in its wake. Using his cloaks ability for omnidirectional flight Harry shifted until his could properly examine the beast without having to worry about getting knocked off as the silly creature rushed through the darkening trees. The wound wasn't deep thankfully but it looked as if five claws had dragged themselves across the unicorns' side. Thick silvery blue blood was oozing from the wounds and staining its pure white fur. The beast had been lucky but if it kept running like this it would still likely bleed out before the blood had a chance to scab over.
Harry jerked up onto the beasts back as the stupid thing leapt and shot between a particularly thin gap between two trees, scraping its flank up even worse and opening the wounds into something dangerous. Shit. He thought preparing to go into a trance.
Harry? What happened?
Eric? No a whole lot just yet. Unicorn's trying to lead us somewhere and just tore open its wounds. I'm going to have to be fast if I wanna save it. Before I trance out, what's the situation?
Eric projected his current field of perception to him and Harry 'saw' Eric, Su and Padma flying toward his in a V formation, Professor Flitwick riding on Eric's back like a little kid and looking as if he was having the time of his life. I couldn't reach anyone else with the given timetable but I've got one of Michael informing everyone. Be safe, we'll join you soon.
Harry nodded and cut the connection. Snuggling up against the unicorns neck Harry cast a sticking charm on his body, securing it to the foolish beast before slipping into a trance. As his senses began to expand to the creature beneath him Harry winced. The beasts' power was enormous and shown a brilliant watery silver, as if beams of moonlight had coalesced into flame so bright it hurt to look at even indirectly. Directing his senses to find the animals body instead of its magic. Finding the now torn open wounds Harry began applying his power to them, imagining them pulling together, the flesh knitting and becoming smooth. Harry only had the vaguest idea how to do this having learned from copying Eric's post duel mending so the unicorn would likely bare the marks for the rest of its life as five numb, hairless, streaking scars but it was better than the alternative.
As Harry worked he was surprised to see that the unicorns' magic didn't fight him like the gobbling sorcery in his money or the other students when his spells interacted with their bodies but rather helped out, as if the unicorn saw what he was doing and lent him its power to finish the job. It made him wonder how truly intelligent the creature was. Shaking himself Harry discarded the idea and got back to work. Smart horses, right, next thing he knew Neville's toad would start talking to him. That would be the day.
Harry was working on the fourth line of cuts when an oppressive aura of power settled over the area. To his senses it looked like a mixture of purple light and wispy black tar. Harry pulled back and shook himself out of his trance quickly, unlike the unicorns light where the pain was like looking directly at a light bulb the dark energies genuinely hurt as they interacted with his own power made him feel sick and dirty, like that time Dudley had pushed him through a hole in the ground and he'd ended up swimming in the little winging sewers.
Waking up he found himself attached to a rearing, screeching unicorn. Releasing his sticking charm Harry rolled off the creatures back to find it trying to attack what looked like another wizard except that its arms were bending the wrong way and several feet of cloak slithered along the forest floor like a snake as it moved. Only pausing a moment to wonder what kind of cursed being could possibly match this description Harry attacked.
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Hagrid Barreled through the forest heedless of the branches and underbrush that tried to grab at his face and legs. Damn it Harry! He swore in his head. Bad enough that a unicorn was being attacked, but he'd have to run off with the beast, wouldn't he? Just like his father and Black, always rushing off unto danger. He sighed as he came up on a tree with a large smear of blood on it. Damn ruddy beast! He grabbed the two trunks as he passed and shoved them to the side ignoring the groaning cracks as he did so. Unicorn's probably bleed out by now he mused probably find it soon with Harry and all. Hope they don't meet whatever attacked the poor thing, not much that can hurt a fully grown unicorn.
As Hagrid continued smashing his way through the forest following the trail of silvery blue blood he wondered absently if he should be pleased or worried that the amount of blood he had to follow was diminishing. Harry had promised to heal the beast but the way it's wounds had ripped open on that tree…
He pushed for greater speed, grunting as tree trunks splintered and snapped under his hands. He was going to need the tweezers tonight.
Finally Hagrid crashed his way into a clearing where he found Harry, a pair of injured unicorns and a… thing. Hagrid racked his mind trying to figure out what it was but came up blank, a thing that was impressive in itself. As much as there were few things the half giant knew, only that Scamander boy in seventh year had ever stumped him on a question of beasts, magical or otherwise. Whatever it was, the snake like face was covered in the unicorns' blood and it was practically dancing through the air as it traded shots with Harry, inky bolts of power and other dark colored lights flying in position to forks of lightning and streams of fire.
Hagrid watched as the creature tried to flee only for a bunch of rocks and branches to fly up from the forest floor to ensnare it and drag the cloaked figure back to the forest floor with a crash. Harry dove in the dark entity a whirl of tree branches flying toward the thing on the ground, trying to skewer it and Hagrid turned away from the battle. There was little he could do in this type of fight other than get in the way and there were unicorns to tend to.
Hagrid crashed to his knees beside the unicorn on the ground and scowled. The poor creature had a large gash in its side, the cuts going deep enough to regularly show ribs between the pools of blood. There were also smudges in the blood that looked like whatever it was Harry was fighting had been after the poor horse for its magical blood. That meant that whatever it was, was both dying, and dark enough that it didn't care about the cures that came with tasting unicorn blood.
Pulling his umbrella that contained the broken pieces of his wand from the back of his jacket he began concentrating like Eric has been instruction him. Calm your mind and dive deep within that feeling, find the house of your inner self, open the door to your power, take a handful of the light therein and shape it to your will, the release. Opening his now faintly glowing eyes Hagrid pointed his umbrella at the beasts wounds and spoke "Episkey."
It wasn't the best healing spell for this situation but it was both suitably general purpose and, really, the only one he knew. Regardless he kept the point of his umbrella as steady as he could as he channeled the spell along the side of the wound. It was closing slowly, but the fact was that it was closing. Putting a finger to the side of the beasts' throat he felt a slow, weak pulse and shallow breathing. Odds were the horse was still going to die before he could get back with a blood replenishment potion but at least he could give it a chance.
A trio of thumps sounded behind him over the howls of Harry and his opponent and Hagrid turned around. Behind him Eric was grumbling about needing to work on the breaking spell and Padma was cooing over the pair of unicorns.
"We're going to kill him." The second girl, a small Chinese kid, said before launching back into the air to join Harry. As Padma took over for him in the position of healer Hagrid turned to Flitwick who was muttering in a foreign language and launching eerily colored spells toward the battle ground.
"Professor, these unicorns ne' blood replenishmen' potions ifn thar goin ter survive ter get propa trea'men. Think you coul' summon a few from 'ere?"
"Certainly" the little man squeaked, not even looking around as he jabbed his wand in the direction the quartette had flown and thrilling "Accio, blood replenishment potions!" before going back to the battle.
Hagrid paused for a moment before shrugging and heading for the second unicorn, the one that Harry had ridden here and got to work mending the gash in its coat.
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Voldemort Harry thought viciously as he flew at the creature throwing balls of fire and arcs of electricity at it. How could it be Voldemort!? He'd killed that bastard already, everyone said so! What had really happened that night the creepy snake like horror at stolen his parents from him? As the black cloaked monster continued to dodge or turn aside his attacks Harry had the hazy thought that this must be what Eric felt like whenever he thought of that night. It wasn't a pleasant revelation.
Harry jerked slightly as another two bodies joined his flight after the pale white demon and Harry fought his way through the redness in his vision to see who it was.
Eric, it's not working, he heard Su's voice in his head. I've never seen him this angry before!
Keep trying, I'm going to use that parch of brambles to try and bind it. Damn guy's strong to be able to fly without help. He heard Eric answer back. Good, his friends were here. He was going to choke the life out of that bastard once and for all and if they could help him pin it down so much the better.
As the vines and branches wrapped around his enemy Voldemort began to taunt him again. $Just give me the stone.$ he hissed. $I can bring your parents back and we'll rule this world together! Your rage is strong, that, right, don't resist, give in to it!$
$I don't know what you did last time,$ Harry snarled, unconsciously using the same language as the monster before him $but it won't happen again! My name is Harry James Potter, you killed my parents, now prepare to die!$ Harry had no idea why he said that, but it was a mark of how deeply Eric's presence had affected him that he didn't immediately think that statement was absurd. He slammed into the creature, for it was no man anymore; his hands wrapped around its throat and squeezed thumbs pressing into the spine where there should have been a throat.
As purple eyes full of grief and pain stared into crimson orbs of burning hate Harry felt the shadow of the dark lord scream as his flesh and mind burned at the clash of power. His scar throbbed like someone was trying to hammer a hot poker into his forehead and four finds frantically scrabbled at the edge of his own, desperate to get in. Harry poured the memories of every bit of pain, humiliation and loneliness he had suffered under the hands of the Dursleys into maintaining his shields while sending a vague feeling of happiness and safety he felt at the sight of his parents in the mirror of Erised to counter his enemies attack.
Voldemort screamed again, a base animalistic howl that chilled Harry's bones as the skin beneath his fingers began to sough off and flake away. His hands slipped as the man's flesh continued to burn at his touch and its mind under his probe. He was going to have nightmares about this later, said a hazy thought at the back of his mind. Just like Eric, when he first discovered his magic.
As Voldemorts body turned to ash and fell apart before him a black vapor, like the bolts of magic his enemy had been throwing around earlier began to rise from the flesh and collect above the figures hood. As the smoke collected a face like the one that had just crumbled away began to form in the center before flying away in a trail of shadow.
"So that's how he did it…" Harry whispered before a powerful wave of exhaustion crashed into him and he fell toward the forest floor.
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Eric caught Harry as he fell, floating slowly to the ground, a queer look on his face. "You saw that too right?" he asked Su.
"The part where Harry defeated a demon by touching it and it turned into a wraith before fleeing? I think so." The Asian girl replied. "It's going to be hard to get back to studying today after this."
Eric pulled out his Rolex and checked the time. "It's diner time anyways." He shrugged, feet touching the ground. Su nodded absently, still looking at the scarred boy in Eric's arms as they made their way back to the clearing.
"Mr. Stark!" Professor Flitwick squeaked as they came into view. "I tried to follow you, but this section of the forest is rather dense. What happened to Mr. Potter?"
Eric lay Harry on the leaves near the Unicorns and turned to the 3 foot tall professor "Harry defeated the demon and then fainted. Exhaustion I think, the creature turned into a wraith when its body was destroyed and flew off that way." He pointed behind them.
"A wraith you say?" the little man hummed, "Not likely, Wraiths generate a palpable aura of fear and attack the souls of the nearest victim when their previous host body has been destroyed. You'll find out about various similar species in seventh year. Don't worry, they aren't that common and the few there are are usually heavily policed by their local governments pending a way to eliminate them entirely."
Eric, Su and Padma looked at each other before pulling out identical notebooks and made a note to corner Quirrel on the subject later. The man was astonishingly well informed when you could keep him from stuttering too much or running away…
Padma stood up from where she was resting against a unicorn and announced that it would be OK. The blood restoratives were meant for humans rather than magical horses so it would take an hour or so but Hagrid was certain they'd be fine. As if to prove the point the pair struggled to their feet and trotted over to the children. As the horses stopped before the four of them the one with the large gash in its side started to glow slightly before touching Harry with its horn, while the other did the same to Padma. As the spiral horns touched flesh the glow flowed down the unicorn's coats and into the bodies of the two children making Flitwick gasp.
"I get the feeling I missed something." Eric said as the horses went over to Hagrid and repeated the effect before running off into the forest.
Padma glared at him while Su giggled. Eric scratched the back of his head nonplussed for several moments before Flitwick took pity on him. "I'm fairly astonished one of my claws didn't know this, you especially Mr. Stark. The blessing of a unicorn is given to those who the herds feel have done them a great service and will protect the blessed from all known poisons and diseases. Also, while it has never been substantiated those blessed by unicorns occasionally claim the ability to detect evil or malicious intent in those around them. I suspect Mr.'s Potter, Hagrid and Ms. Patil were blessed because Harry defeated the being that hurt them whilst the other two healed some fairly grievous injuries."
"Huh, I guess that would explain the civilian legends that unicorn horn was a powerful restorative for the sick."
Su hit him.
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Dumbledore sat at his desk, hands folded before him in quiet contemplation. Quirrel was dead, Voldemort once more bodiless and alone and the Stone was still safely locked away. The old man spared a glance for another ministry summons to address the complaints of dear Sir Nicolas, but only a glance. Stealing the stone, really, here he was protecting a precious artifact from a dark lord and the world at large from the chaos such an artifact would cause on the loose and they were accusing him of stealing. As if his friend and former teacher hadn't allowed him access to the jewel on multiple occasions!
As much as things were going well however there was one little snag. It has been almost a week and Harry still hadn't woken up. A few days was pretty much par for the course when dealing with cases of magical exhaustion but six days? Dumbledore shook his head. How large would the boys core have to be for him to spend a week recovering from magical exhaustion? He was only eleven after all…
The headmaster looked over at a golden perch just behind his desk where Faux waited obediently. Perhaps a few phoenix tears wouldn't be amiss? One of two should do it, or he could get the stone. The boy was young enough that there was nothing the artifacts effects could really do to change him and either course of action would get the boy working again. It was deeply unlikely that this episode would satisfy the prophecy between the two of them so the boy would still be needed.
Standing up from his desk the ageing sorcerer made his way out of his office and towards the third floor. He wondered briefly along the way if Harry might be able to survive the battles to come and have a life after everything was said and done. It was a pleasant thought and one he would put some effort into researching, but he rather doubted it. After all, either must die by the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. That was how the prophesy went wasn't it?
Presently he reached the wooden door that hid Hagrid's pet, Fluffy, and opened it. With a wave of his wand a mote of soft golden light shot out and hovered in front of the Cerberus' head, singing a song Dumbledore had been fond of in his youth. It was a popular one that had been dredged up by many an artist over the centuries, most recently a muggle by the name of Leanne Rimes if he wasn't mistaken.
"Some say love it is a river, that drowns, the tender reed. Some say love it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed. Some say love it is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say love it is a flower, and you it's only seed. It's the heart, afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It's the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes the chance. It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give. And the soul, afraid of dying, that never learns to live. And the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long. And you feel that love is only, for the lucky, and the strong. Just remember, in the winter, Far beneath the bitter snow, Lies a seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring, becomes a rose..."
Albus cut off his descent as the last strains of the song pulled at his ears and heart nearly 50 feet above him. A wonderful bit of work he thought as he continued through the rooms, Lumos solem to deal with the devils snare, an enchanted bird to retrieve flying key, a four step game of chess with himself as the king, a quick set of overpowered bludgeoning to clear out the trolls and then a quick sip of Snape's potion and he was in front of the mirror of Erised. There was a brief pause as he saw his family restored and dear Gellert on his arm before he cleared his mind and focused solely on the stone. There was a moment or two pause as the mirror fought him, but the ruby red crystal made it's way into his pocket in short order.
He briefly considered deconstructing the traps and just keeping the stone with him but decided against it. Flamel would get tired of dealing with bureaucrats soon enough and come to Hogwarts directly, and what a bit of fun that would be…
Dumbledore paused and he was about to grab one of the brooms in the key room to get back up. Actually that did sound like fun! With all of the problems he usually had finding defense teachers perhaps he could use the stone to coax the old coot out of retirement for a year or so! Nick would be furious and there would be lots of cursing, but if there was one thing he could say about the man with absolute certainty it was that he took teaching seriously. Feeling much happier then when he had started Albus snatched the broom from against the wall and made his way up the tunnel. He recast the song charm as soon as he neared the trap door and hung around in the doorway to the third floor until the song ended before shutting the door quietly.
Returning to his office to fetch a crystal vial the wizened headmaster held the stone over the opening and began channeling his magic… only for nothing to happen.
Dumbledore froze. The stone felt like it was fighting him… that hadn't happened the last time he had used it, in fact it had seemed almost eager to suck in as much magic as it could, subtly encouraging him to make use of it! He uncapped his hand and raised the elder wand to begin performing diagnostics on it and stilled again. It was glowing. The sorcerer's stone didn't glow, not even when you channeled magic into it. Fast as a whip he began casting spell after spell to determine exactly what he was dealing with. For a brief second he dared to hope that the stone had simply reacted badly with the containment spell he had worked into the mirror but as the readings on the object in his hand crashed into his mind his face turned to a mask of horror. This was not the stone. It was a replica, cleverly disguised and forged of goblin magic. Not only that there was something added to it with human magic. Turning it over so that the bottom faced up he ran his fingers along the surface of the stone. There was a small rough patch that felt not like stone, but parchment instead. Muttering a quick series of spell breakers he took the formerly shrunken and disillusioned note and opened it up with shaking fingers.
"Evil overlord rule 34. I will not leave the one item that is the key to my power atop the mountain of doom, across the river of fire, beyond the plains of despair and guarded by the dragons of eternity. Instead it shall be safely stored away in my anonymous and innocuous safety deposit box along with the item that is my one weakness."
Dumbledore's wordless scream could be heard throughout the entire castle.
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Harry Potter, much to his own dismay, awoke only a few hours later to find that, despite the comfort of his friends having gathered to watch over him, he still had a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw to play and finals to study for. "So much for getting a break." Were his words upon hearing the news. As Ma'am Pomphrey bustled around waving her wand around and stuffing potions in his hands Harry and his friends filled each other in on what had been going on. Harry was a little surprised to hear that Professor Quirrel was had disappeared immediately following the battle in the forest and Harry told them what the newly dubbed quirelmort had used to taunt him in the man's effort to 'turn him to the dark side'. Everyone glared at Eric as he made a cheesy movie reference but grew quiet as he revealed that Dumbledore had the sorcerers stone hidden in the castle basement.
"Well, at least we know it's well protected!" Fred quipped.
"If quirrelmort was planning to make himself
a proper body with it and he was still possessing
a teacher, he obviously hadn't been able to
manage it!" the pair traded back and forth grinning.
For the most part everyone agreed with this line of reasoning, except Eric who was suddenly, deliberately, not paying attention to them and tossing a rubber ball up and down looking guilty. Harry glared at him, but had the sense to wait until Madam Pomphrey was gone before cutting into him. "OK, Eric, what did you do!"
"Do?" Eric said, still tossing the ball, "who says I did anything?"
Harry grabbed the ball and pulled it across the curtained space to his hands and glared at his friend. "You always get that smug edgy look in your eyes when you've done something wrong." Harry accused. "You were wearing that same look when you charmed Pansy Parkinson to speak only in limericks for a week and again that day the teachers table couldn't stop farting! What did you do!?"
Everybody was looking at him intently now. "That was you?" George grinned.
"We've been a good influence after all!" Fred sobbed mock happily.
Eric rolled his eyes and did his best to huff as if he was offended. "Really, Harry, this paranoia is worrisome; I don't need to call Ma'am Pomphrey over here to see if fighting quirlemort had s deeper effect than we realized do I?"
"Eric!" Hermione, Su and Padma were all growling at him now too.
"Come on!" Eric protested, summoning his ball back in a flash of light. "He was taunting me with it! I couldn't just leave it there when it was so badly protected! Who knows what might have happened?"
Harry put his face in his hands and groaned. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go to Dumbledore with this." He asked his friend, he voice slightly muffled by his fingers.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure he already knows about it." Eric replied thinking of the scream he'd heard just hour ago. "In fact I'm certain of it."
"When?" Harry asked, not entirely certain he wanted to know.
"Before Christmas." Eric said smugly. "And since neither Dumbledore or Quirrlemort came to take it from me I think it's fairly well safe."
"Merlin, Eric, why?" asked Blaise.
Eric gave a disgusted look. "Because it was so poorly protected" He said. "I'm a thief, it's what I do. There's a certain thrill to breaking into things that don't belong to you and doing so without anyone knowing the difference is an art form. This set of traps though were so simple I'd put good up money that the Weasley's little brother could do it."
Fred and George winced. "I don't suppose you're going to give it back?" Hermione asked, her voice strained.
"No, of course not, naturally!" Eric said, looking shocked. "If I'd taken the rock from its owner, sure, I guess, but the stone was stolen goods by the time I found it so I got it fair and square!"
Harry groaned, pulling the skin on his cheeks down in consternation. "What can I do to get you to swear you'll return the rock to its rightful owner?"
Eric, put his chin in his hands and thought for several minutes. "You could all start by swearing that this goes no further than these curtains…" he trailed off.
Harry heaved a big sigh. "We swea…"
"On your magic." Eric cut in. "And I want you to travel with me this summer as well."
Harry glared at him. "Only if you make an oath on yours as well."
"Fair enough." The redhead grinned happily. Everybody put their hands in together and swore not to tell a sole what Eric had just revealed to them and Harry swore to come with Eric on a 'summer training trip', an event that the dark haired boy was only too happy to agree to, any time away from the Dursley's was good by him. Then it was Eric's turn. "I Eric Sirius Stark to herby swear on my magic to seek out the true owner of the philosophers stone and see to it that it is returned to them. So mote it be." He had deliberately failed to add a time frame to this promise and hoped that no one caught it. He'd get to it eventually, but he fully intended to get a sample of the rock first. Waste not, want not and all that rot.
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The rest of term passed quickly. Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor at Quidditch, 320 to 250 Gryffindor with the snitch, and the rest of the teachers took over Quirrels abandoned classes in shifts, Snape teaching the first years, much to Harry's dismay. After finals and a feast the House cup was announced. Dumbledore directed everyone's attention to the four great hourglasses only for everyone to fall silent. Earlier that morning, and even at lunch, the glasses had read Hufflepuff, with 456 points, Gryffindor and Slytherin at 472 and Ravenclaw, with an even 500, breaking Slytherin's winning streak off at seven and winning the cup for the first time in twenty years. It was something the Claws had been quite proud of and they'd been bragging about it for weeks.
Now however every hourglass read the same number, 475. That wasn't even the strangest part because where each of the bulbs used to contain only a single type of gemstone, they were now all a random, almost nauseating mix of ruby, emerald, sapphire and citrine. The tables went wild, everyone wanting to know what had happened, Ravenclaw cried fowl, Slytherin jeered, Hufflepuff laughed and Gryffindor called for the cup. After several tries to calm everybody down the wizened headmaster repeated Halloween and set off a blasting curse near the ceiling.
After a few minutes sorting things out Ravenclaw was awarded the cup and everyone dug in eating themselves sick.
The next day was a rush to get everyone packed and ready to go on the train home. Eric, who had never really unpacked what with his trunk practically being its own apartment, spent most of that time talking with Su and Padma about their addresses and how to keep in contact. The Indian girl got a strange look in her eye and sent off her owl just before they left for the harbor beside the great hall. He wasn't sure why but that Owl was giving him a weird feeling he just couldn't shake.
The ride back to kings cross was much shorter than the one to Hogwarts and the inner circle, plus Percy to the twin's dismay, all crammed into a hastily expanded compartment. It was companionable and they talked and joked and reviewed everything that had happened over the year. Each of them talked about their plans for the summer and Harry and Eric, both sandwiched between a pair of girls, talked about whether or not they wanted to let Harry stay at the Dursleys before going on holiday.
As they neared the station Harry decided that he wanted to see his guardian's reaction to Eric's magical control exercises and the fact that they couldn't be tracked like a wand could. As they stepped out onto the platform an owl swooped down to land on Padma's shoulder holding a package. The girl grabbed his arm and untied it, before putting the bird back in it's cage with a pair of owl treats and a stroke of the neck. She gave him one of the small wrapped brown paper parcels and kissed him on the cheek before running off to join her parents hear the Flue.
The redhead stood their shocked for several long minutes as people flowed around him before looking at the parcel in his hands. Unwrapping it he found the Item was a mirror.
A Magic Mirror.
This ends book one of Back in Black.
Don't worry, those of you who like it, I'm going to continue, but I'd like your votes on whether to cut it off here and post year two as a separate story or string everything together in one long chain story.
Thank you for your reviews, patience and love.