65 - To Go Anywhere
The sky was pitch black. Harry was unable to see anything but the white snow falling around him, piling upon the tall trees and causing their branches to droop and sink sadly in the quiet. The house that he and Tom shared was a looming shadow in the distance, but even as Harry approached it he understood Tom would be gone. He would be Apparating across the entire country, unable to resist chasing Harry no matter how futile his attempts may be.
Lights were on within their large, rectangular home, but only due to the fires that burned continuously in various fireplaces, lighting up three of the nine visible windows on the front of their house. Harry could see a lot of fresh footsteps from the same shoes on the steps leading to their front door. It made him feel momentarily guilty; Tom had evidently Apparated back home between his searches, hoping he'd be here. He knew Harry would return at one point or another, but the possibility of him not doing so made Tom restless, unable to sit still and wait.
It was just over five minutes of waiting before Tom appeared. Harry heard him Apparate, and turned around. As soon as Tom saw him, his pace began to quicken. His expression was somewhere between indignation and confusion. He stared at Harry's silhouette, his own face visible as he approached with a lit wand.
"Where have you been?" Tom demanded the moment he could be heard. His eyes seemed to burn red. "I chased after you – I searched for you everywhere I could!"
"I didn't want to be found," Harry said quietly. He knew Tom was mostly angry because he didn't understand what had happened.
"Why?" Tom asked, infuriated still. "I didn't do a thing to you! I tried to help you, yet you nevertheless felt the need to punish me for a crime I never committed in the first place!"
"I'm sorry," Harry said calmly. It wasn't a lie. "I didn't mean to annoy you."
"Why did you run off? Why did you treat me like that?"
His tone made Harry feel guiltier still. "I couldn't help it."
Tom's face twitched, but this had robbed him of all claims to describe how Harry had treated him outrageously.
Harry then added, "Dumbledore scared me."
If Tom had been close to becoming calm before, there was no sign of it now. "Dumbledore," he hissed through gritted teeth, "should be no example at all of a man who understands the assumptions he so eagerly voices. You know this, Harry!"
"I know," Harry agreed, "but he knows how to scare people."
Tom wanted to be angry at him – this was clear from the way he stared in indignation and fury – but he understood that Harry wasn't the person to blame. He seem tempted to turn away as he stood in silence, struggling.
"Let's go inside," Harry said, hoping to take Tom's mind off of his ire. He himself felt oddly calm. "It's getting cold and I want to talk about what Dumbledore said. I'm sorry I didn't do this in the first place."
Tom's look of anger lessened, except in his eyes, which burned in hatred for Dumbledore and in frustration for the night's events as a whole. Harry reached for his hand. The moment their fingers touched, Tom watched him more carefully, still struggling. Harry took a few steps forward and pulled him into an embrace. They stood together in the snow in silence, understanding each other better without words.
– X –
Tom listened patiently to what Harry had to say when they went back inside. They sat together in front of a warm fire to forget the cold, trying to make sense of Dumbledore's claims and the reaction Harry had had to it all. Tom calmed down significantly, yet seemed eager to speak ill of Dumbledore throughout their conversation, while Harry poured fresh, warm tea and sat close to him upon the couch they shared.
Harry told Tom everything about his conversation with Dumbledore concerning what he had said about their relationship. Tom was enraged, but Harry's reassurance that he didn't believe a word Dumbledore said calmed him. Throughout their conversation Harry couldn't help but find comfort in how good it felt to talk this through with Tom. He had done this in the past, of course, but tonight he knew he was here only because of Nott's advice.
Somehow, he couldn't find the right time to mention Nott to Tom. He was concerned that Tom would find it unusual or he would be be jealous that it was Nott, and not he, who had reassured Harry about all of this. Harry had mentioned how he had thought all of this through, how he was glad to talk it over, but Tom never asked where he had vanished to from Hogwarts. The desire to thank Nott played on Harry's mind.
"I should never have sent you to Dumbledore alone," Tom said quietly, his thumb tracing along Harry's as their hands clasped. "You should have warned me when he awoke."
"It's alright," Harry told him, "I got the wand, that's all that really matters."
"I suppose this is true... Assuming, of course, that you don't allow Dumbledore's words to affect you to a greater extent. May I see the wand?"
"Sure," Harry said, taking the wand out from within his cloak. He felt oddly reluctant to let Tom hold it. He showed him without passing it on.
"It's quite handsome," Tom commented. "I hope only that it will serve you well, for it was at such risk that I allowed you to seek it."
"I would have sought after it anyway, even if you hadn't 'allowed' me to," Harry mentioned. With a bit of effort, he managed to say this without sounding too annoyed.
Tom smiled softly. "I know you would have."
Harry turned his attention to the Elder Wand wordlessly, aware that Tom was examining him. He felt Tom's free hand find it's way to his knee. When he looked up again, that soft smile returned.
"We should test the wand," Tom said softly, watching him in the low light.
Harry hesitated. "Well, I dunno..."
"Have you tried it yet?"
"No, I haven't."
"You must see if it works. It would be a waste if, after al this effort, the wand is useless to you."
Harry knew this was true. He was caught between fearing the wand wouldn't work and fearing it would be suspicious to Tom. If he just tried some mediocre magic...
"Accio vase!"
Harry ducked. The flowers he had summoned flew at him with such speed that he barely saw it. He felt the hair on the top of his head move as the vase zoomed over the couch, soon smashing loudly on the wall at the other side of the room. It sent glass and water spilling in all directions, the flowers broken and sprawled as they fell. When Harry sat up again his face was flushed in embarrassment and fear, while Tom remained calm, smiling.
"That worked well," he commented smoothly.
Harry's mouth felt dry as he sat up straighter. "Yeah..."
With a swish of his own wand, Tom repaired the smashed vase across the room from over the back of the couch. "We could have a lesson later today, to see the full potential of your new wand. You'll need to learn how to control it a little better. Yet it's working, which is all that matters."
"Alright, yeah," Harry said, still shocked as his heart pounded in his chest. In truth, he had no desire at all to reveal the full potential of the Elder Wand to Tom. If that was what a simple spell did... "We should probably go to bed soon though, it's been a long day."
Tom responded by giving a breath of laughter, leaning in to kiss Harry softly on the corner of his lips. He lingered a few inches away, for a moment. "You did well today, defying Dumbledore. Very well..."
"I'm sorry I ran off," Harry said, staring up into Tom's half-closed eyes. He was glad that Tom at least saw nothing odd about his new wand. "I was confused."
"Don't apologise," Tom asked of him, reaching a hand up to trace his thumb along Harry's jaw slowly. "I understand why, now..."
He kissed him again. They moved closer together in the dim light, speaking only in whispers and hisses for the remainder of the night.
– X –
The following day, and for many days after it, Harry practised magic with the Elder Wand – both in front of Tom and in private. In his first private practice he was scared that he wouldn't be able to understand the wand fully before Tom began to see it was more powerful than he first supposed, but after a few days of checking how careful he had to be and after a few more comments from Tom about how the wand would be unbalanced before it got used to him, Harry was more confident that he'd be able to hide his own strength.
They held private lessons together for over a month until, by the end of it, Harry had complete control over the Elder Wand. Each of the Knights of Walpurgis visited Harry and Tom's home about once a week in all, but this meant three of four meetings per week with different amounts of Tom's followers. It was rare that any of them went through training anymore, though they did hold duels for their own amusement, taking advantage of the large, open hall that was designed specifically for it.
Harry joined into their duelling sessions quite often now, after gaining confidence in the Elder Wand. Once every two weeks Harry and Tom would return to Albania, often at separate times, to check upon the progress the chosen Knights were having in looking after the Dragons. The Giants didn't need looking after; they returned to the mountains until the time was right for them to move to England under Tom's guidance. The Dragons were to be moved again within the next two months. The Inferi, after use, were wiped of magic and buried.
When another month passed, Harry knew he wasn't being quite as careful with his magic as he should, yet he couldn't help it; in the duels he didn't want to lose and in learning magic alongside Tom he didn't want to be slow. Tom didn't seem to think it was suspicious – in contrast, he seemed to take great joy in watching Harry succeed. Although he might have realised that Harry was stronger, he might have decided that it was a Horcrux, instead, that strengthened him.
It was late February when Nott began missing meetings. Tom didn't notice it at first, for it was quite easy for a Knight to go unnoticed amongst the random array of visitors that came and went each week, yet after the fifth week of not once seeing Nott, Tom began to get suspicious. It irked him, to say the least. He wanted to send one of his Knights – Avery or Dolohov or Mulciber – to make sure Nott understood what a mistake he had made, but Harry wouldn't allow it.
"Let me go instead," he insisted, sitting alone with Tom in their large home after the sixth week of Nott missing meetings. Even if almost all the meetings at this time were held for mere amusement, to keep the Knights together, Tom disapproved of his followers drifting away from him. These meetings were what allowed him to speak to each Knight individuality if he had something important to say.
"It will be no effort to convince one of the others to go pay him a visit," Tom responded, sounding unaffected by the idea.
"I want to go though," Harry said. In truth, this was not a lie. He had wanted an excuse to go see Nott ever since his last visit, on the night he stole the Elder Wand. After all this time, Harry still had a nagging guilt telling him he should talk to Nott about Lestrange. There was clearly something wrong now.
"He needs to be told he cannot do this."
"What, you think I can't tell him?"
"It'll be more convenient if one of the others threatened him, setting an example for our Knights."
"He doesn't need to be threatened," Harry said, trying not to sound annoyed, "and anyway, I want to know why he's avoiding meetings like this. Avery or Mulciber or one of the other Knights wouldn't be able to get that information out of Nott."
Tom understood this was true; Harry could see it in the way he paused to think.
"Let me go see him," Harry suggested again, seeing his chance. "I can threaten him too if that's what he needs, but otherwise I want to know what's going on."
Tom believed this, even if he wasn't too happy about it. He looked away in defeat, slightly annoyed. "If you wish."
Harry nodded, glad he had convince him. "I'll go see him tonight."
They said nothing more about it.
It was only an hour or two later when Harry set off to Nott's house, Apparating to the now familiar street in Muggle London where Nott resided. He hadn't yet moved houses, despite almost three months passing since Harry's last visit. It was around twelve O'clock at night, but a few lights shone in the tall, thin apartments on either side of the narrow road. Harry found Nott's flat again easily.
He waited for a minute or two after knocking. He wondered whether Nott knew Tom would send someone after him, or if he feared who might be waiting on his doorstep this late in the evening. Nott didn't appear reluctant as he opened the door (a door couldn't stop Tom's followers from entering his house, after all), but it was clear that he was nervous when he checked to see who it was.
"Jonathan," he greeted. He couldn't hide the relief in his voice. "Come in."
Harry did so wordlessly, glad to get away from the cold night. He had half-expected Nott's home to be rather less clean than it was before, but he was mistaken; Nott was still looking after the place well.
"I'd ask you why you're here," Nott began, as they headed for his living room, "but I can guess, well enough. I'm just glad our Lord didn't send Mulciber, or someone like him, to yell at me."
"He wanted to," Harry admitted calmly. They both sat down in the same seats as last time. "Mulciber would have done a bit worse than yell at you, though."
"What made Tom send you instead?"
"I asked him."
They both thought about this for a moment. An explanation wasn't needed.
"Why have you been missing meetings?" Harry asked, wanting to get straight to the point. "That isn't something that goes unnoticed easily by Tom. Even some of the other Knights have noticed."
"I don't know why," Nott said, appearing uncomfortable. He rubbed his face with his hand. "I didn't mean to at first, I just completely forgot. Then a few more weeks passed and I kept missing nights, kept forgetting about the hours. I don't know, I just felt, well... odd about going back."
Harry thought about this. He could tell Nott was lying; it was obvious from the way he held himself, the way he gave this feeble explanation. The curious thing about this, however, wasn't so much that Nott lied, but that he lied so clearly. Harry could only think of two reasons behind this: either Nott wanted to be asked for the truth, knowingly or subconsciously, or he just didn't care to be too careful around Harry... Perhaps he didn't want to (or knew he couldn't), lie to Harry.
"How did you forget about the hours?" Harry asked, deciding that he had to start from somewhere. "You seem wide awake, despite it being midnight now."
"I've been sleeping at unusual hours a bit, lately..."
This explained why Nott was awake at five in the morning before. "What about work? Or seeing your family? If you haven't been visiting the Knights..."
"I – well, I quit work," Nott said, looking more uncomfortable still, "It's alright though, I have enough money saved up."
"Does Tom know?"
Nott broke eye contact, as if he had hoped none of this wouldn't come up at all. "I've been meaning to speak with him about it..."
Harry knew that Nott would have more than enough money stored away in Gringotts due to the fact that he came from a very rich Pureblood family, but this was beside the point. Nott was supposed to be aspiring for the Ministry, to later be planted there as something close to a spy. Nott was a very bright wizard and his ability to collect useful information was valued very highly by Tom, even if Tom had his reasons to be distant. This, however, would enrage him. It was interrupting his plans...
"Tom wouldn't like that much," Harry mentioned. This made him feel a tiny bit uneasy; he watched Nott in slight confusion, wondering why he was doing all of this.
"I know."
Did none of this strike any concern in Nott? Harry wondered what could possibly make him so daring as to drift away from the Knights of Walpurgis. There was no good reason for Nott to be suddenly squeamish about the work they did, of course, yet something had clearly changed. He didn't want to be a Knight anymore. The fact that Nott was no longer sleeping normally after quitting his job proved this. The fact that he hadn't moved away from this Muggle flat proved it too: it was the biggest possible insult to the Tom and his Knights... but for what reason?
"Do you not like what Tom's doing?"
"He's not doing anything different than usual."
"Something must have changed though?" Harry pressed. "You don't want to follow him anymore."
"This isn't about him," Nott said quietly. His eyebrows were creased in concern. He looked almost sad.
Another thought struck Harry. "Is this about Lestrange?"
The mention of Lestrange made Nott look away, his expression worsening. He rubbed his forehead, not answering.
"What's he done?"
"Nothing," Nott responded. He looked older than Harry had ever seen him. His tired eyes had lost some of the brightness they had once held, the stress was ageing his skin and curling his fingers. "I haven't spoken to him in months."
"You see him at Tom's meetings though, sometimes," Harry mentioned. It all made sense. "I'm sure your families probably still meet up regularly."
He seemed to have guessed right. Nott rubbed his eyes with palms, his voice muffled as he said, "I know..."
Harry felt an odd need to help Nott, but he wasn't sure why. Nott wasn't in any danger. He watched the young Knight, confused by the way he was acting, by the way his actions affected him.
"He's the only reason why I joined in the first place," Nott told him quietly. He looked up. "I didn't care about Tom's group much, I didn't know what they did, but Lestrange was my best friend. We grew up together. Everyone wanted to be Tom's friend, and since I was in the same year as him it just ended up that way... I can't stand seeing Lestrange anymore. I don't want to see him ever again..."
Nott looked pained by all of this. Harry didn't understand how, and it fascinated him. "I could talk to Tom about keeping the two of you further apart."
"You've already done so much in talking to him about this," Nott said, shaking his head. "It wouldn't change how often I see Lestrange out of your house. Our families are so close; if I don't see him around my house or at one of his relatives' houses, I'm still asked about him constantly... There has been a lot of conversation about him lately especially, you see. He's getting married soon. His fiancée Galatea is beautiful - she's pregnant already, I think. Not many people know, she wants to keep it a secret for now..."
"How do you know?" Harry asked, understanding it can't have been Lestrange who told him this.
"I – well, it's obvious."
Harry didn't believe it.
Nott took a deep breath. "I've been teaching myself Legilimency. I was reading more about Occlumency, which is so closely related that it was only a matter of time before I learnt about both."
"I think Tom was expecting that anyway." Harry was smiling a little, not entirely sure why. "I wouldn't go around telling just anyone that, though."
"I know."
They thought for a moment. Nott appeared pained again as he recalled what he had been taking about.
"It's not that I care about seeing them together," he explained, "it's good that he's happy, and she seems to really love him. It's just, every time he looks at me... I feel terrible about what happened. I wish we could go back to being friends, but I don't think that would make me feel any better. I don't want to see him, or to talk about him with my family as if nothing happened. They're all suspicious about why we're no longer friends, but I can't explain it. I don't think I could ever speak to him again..."
"Have you tried speaking to him at all, properly?"
"Yes, and it didn't work. I think he hates me – for what happened as well as for what I am... I don't understand why he won't forgive me, why he won't talk about it. I – I just want to go..."
Nott was staring at Harry with such a strong look of pain upon his face, that same feeling of wanting to help him gripped Harry again.
"Everyone's getting married. Black is engaged with Rosier's sister, all of the others seem to have returned home to women they fell in love with, or cherish in other ways. Even Macnair had a son. He's fatherless now, the boy, of course, but I know Macnair's wife will marry again. But after all this time, no matter how many people I meet, I just... I can't stop thinking about him..."
Nott's eyes were shining. The two wizards watched each other from across the room, but Harry didn't have to say a word. There was nothing to say, and Nott knew it. These words were affecting Harry in ways he had forgotten were possible and he waited, feeling terrible for Nott.
"How is the love of a man any different than that of a woman?" Nott asked in a weak voice. "People in the Muggle and Wizarding worlds alike have such a basic view on romantic relationships, they boil it down to the most emotionless, technical view on sex alone, entirely forgetting love and other relationships. What could possibly make the soul of a man any different than that of a woman? And vice versa? Who could possibly live their life believing that they can never feel love for the gender they are, when love goes so far beyond gender? Yet no one questions it..."
Nott wouldn't allow himself to cry, no matter how close Harry could see he was to it. There was no doubting that Nott had loved Lestrange for perhaps years. He simply couldn't take it, now that everything they had had been ruined. This was the sole reason for why he no longer wanted to be a Knight of Walpurgis. Harry couldn't blame him.
"I don't think Lestrange could ever admit to loving another man, if he did," Harry mentioned quietly.
Nott looked away, struggling with this thought.
"But that doesn't mean he's completely heartless," Harry carried on. "Whether you do or don't speak to him properly about this, just remember that. People aren't ready to accept these views, these feelings, but that doesn't make them any less real. Avoiding him forever won't make this go away."
Nott seemed to want to agree, but it was difficult. He turned his face away, slightly, not wanting Harry to see the extent of his sorrow. "I suppose you're right..."
"I can talk to Tom about keeping him away from you more often," Harry told him, "even if I can't guarantee that you'll never see each other. You won't have to talk. You're going to get more used to seeing him, with time. You could even show up at meetings less often, if you want, but you can't leave. You know it would piss off Tom, it would give the other Knights a reason to bully you after talking about you behind your back. This isn't something that we can just leave whenever we want to, there are too many secrets, too much information at risk."
"I know," Nott said, realising this all the more as Harry said it. "I wasn't even thinking about that. It seems obvious now..."
"If it gets too much again, you can come to me," Harry said, somehow liking the idea. Nott had helped him through his problems with Dumbledore, so it seemed only fair that he had helped Nott with this. They got along well, after all. "You know where to find me."
"That might be more advisable," Nott said. "Thank you."
"It's alright."
Nott looked pained again. "It isn't really alright. I've lost my job, I've been neglecting my family, the Knights are probably already speaking ill of me..."
"That can be sorted out," Harry assured him. "I can make Tom believe you were fired, I'm sure your family are used to you going away without explanation for a while, and as for the Knights, they're easily fooled. You could give them any number of excuses, about family, about work, about a private mission they can't know about, and they'll believe it. It isn't as though Tom tells them about his suspicions."
"This is true," Nott murmured, appearing a bit more assured. This did nothing to help his deeper sorrow, but at least it was no longer being fuelled.
Harry knew it was going to work out smoothly, no matter what lies Nott told the Knights. It wouldn't take much effort to convince Tom to cease his suspicions of Nott, so long as he returned to Tom's meetings regularly enough and if he returned to work. It might also help if he moved away from Muggles, Harry thought. This made him wonder again why Nott lived here, and not amongst wizards...
He wondered, now, whether Nott even cared about the Dark Arts. It made Harry realise that he didn't care whether or not Nott was a Knight, he just wanted to save him from suffering the attacks the other Knights would set on him for trying to leave. He wanted to save Nott also from Tom's fury, especially. He evidently needed someone to reassure him that things weren't as bad as they seemed, concerning Lestrange.
"Raphael seems to be getting on fine, this past year," Nott mentioned. It took Harry a moment to understand he meant Lestrange. "I feel like a fool for still being affected by this after so long..."
"A year isn't all that long, really. It's a usual amount of time, for these pains." Harry wasn't quite sure what made him say this.
Nott's use of Lestrange's first name sounded odd, to Harry. He tried to think what Nott's real name was, and remembered: it was Christopher. The Knights so rarely used each other's first names, except when insulting each other, that Harry had almost forgotten.
"It'll get better," Harry told him quietly. Nott had remained quiet. "If it gets too much, I'm still here."
Nott shook his head, his eyes sad and half-closed in torment. "I don't want to bother you."
"It won't bother me, I'd like to help."
Nott thought about this, looking down at his hands for a moment. "You and our Lord help me more than I deserve."
"You've accepted something that almost every other Knight would have hated us for. Even though neither of you understood how we could like each other in a romantic way, you didn't leave and didn't make a huge deal out of it by telling the others."
"Well," Nott said, with something that could have been the ghost of a smile, "it helped that Tom threatened to punish us if we dared speak a word about it to anyone."
Harry smiled more clearly. "That's true, I suppose."
"Raphael hardly accepts it though," Nott reminded him. "Not after what... well, what happened to his memory..."
"Tom doesn't respect Lestrange anymore."
"He doesn't respect me either. He's still annoyed by what we found out."
"Well... if it helps at all, I don't disrespect you. I know you can be trusted, I know you aren't as bias as the other Knights."
"I'm glad you think so," Nott said, but he didn't look it. "It helps."
"Good," Harry said. Then he stood up. "But I have to go."
Nott stood up too. "Alright. Thank you."
"Don't worry about it. Just remember what we've talked about."
Nott nodded. They said goodbye as they walked towards the front door, Harry mentioning again how he would speak to Tom and how Nott should think of something to tell the rest of the Knights, to explain his recent absence. Nothing more needed to be said beyond this. Harry left Nott, feeling glad that the guilt from before was finally cured.
– X –
Harry sat alone in a sitting room of his and Tom's house. He was holding Marvolo's Ring, thinking. It both awed him and made him feel slightly fearful as he made sure to refrain from twisting the Stone in his hand too many times. He was thinking about his dead friends, the thoughts arriving in a technical form, rather than an emotional one.
It was a curious thing, that time had no affect upon bringing back the dead with the ring. It made him wonder whether the Stone merely conjured up a ghostly shadow of dead people, taken from one's own memories of them, one's own thoughts and perhaps fears. He doubted the dead could give new information, for example. He wondered if it was really them...
The Stone was the Deathly Hallow Harry least wanted to carry around. It was of no real use to him, after all; he didn't want to bring anyone back. A thought had crossed his mind, pondering the possibility of the power of all three Deathly Hallows being able to actually resurrect anyone he had lost, but what would be in point of that? There was no one he missed, no one who would be useful to him now.
What if, on another note, none of the Deathly Hallows were more powerful together as they were apart? The Cloak certainly couldn't become more powerful with invisibility than it already was. It didn't seem likely that the Wand could take power from either the Cloak or the Stone. The Stone might get more powerful... or it might just be to mock Death.
All three objects together had the power to ensure that their Master could live a long, healthy life, with the ability to reunite with everyone he or she lost at any time, but was that the immortality it promised? Harry wasn't so sure. It might have been mere legend that glorified the Deathly Hallows by claiming they obtained immortality, when in reality they merely enhanced one's abilities. Here Harry was, with the Deathly Hallows around him, but all he felt from the three items was confidence in them: power in the Wand, safety in the Cloak, and an ability to let go of his past willingly with the Stone.
Tom entered the room shortly after this. Harry was in half a mind to hide the Deathly Hallows, but he remembered, after a slight involuntary movement, that none of this was unusual for Tom.
"I see you have my ring." Tom smiled.
"I was just examining it," Harry said. The Cloak was resting on his knee, the Wand in one hand, the Stone in the other. Marvolo's ring shone brightly in the firelight.
"I still wish you had taken the ring instead," Tom mentioned, as he sat down next to Harry.
"I don't plan on making a second Horcrux."
He wondered if Tom believed he could change this one day. As Tom examined the ring in Harry's hand, it then made him think how amusing it was that Tom made a Horcrux out of an object that was intended to conquer Death, to bring back all of those that one once loved. Tom only ever mocked death, in fear. The Inferi, amongst other things, proved this.
Harry had spoken to Tom about Nott. It was a few days later and Nott was already attending meetings again. He looked only a little better than he had when Harry visited his home. Although he hadn't seen Lestrange, as far as Harry knew, Nott still wasn't any closer to getting over what had happened between them a year ago now. Harry felt as though he should really go and see Nott again soon, to check on him. He contemplated when might be a good time.
"I've just heard news from Albania," Tom told him softly. "It won't be long now until the Dragons can be moved."
This gladdened Harry somewhat; it would be thrilling to control the great beasts over such a long distance. "That's brilliant."
"Will you join me?" Tom asked. "It'll be this week, I believe."
"Of course." Harry smiled. "I'd like to go anywhere, with you."
