75
Harry and the team returned home the next day. Harry had to be helped into train, but during the ride, Fawkes healed his broken shin. This allowed him to get off the train and walk to the guild all on his own.
Erza opens the door to the guild hall, and almost instantly loud cries of cheers nearly blew out Harry's eardrums. At the door are the members of Fairy Tail surrounding Harry with giant, happy grin splitting their faces. They all spoke at the same time, overwhelming him to the point they are making him dizzy. He was able to catch a few things they said such as "Congratulation!" "What's it like taking on an S-Class quest all by yourself?" and "Are you alright, Harry?"
Harry couldn't get a word in to answer some of the questions thrown at him. He was about to blow up on everyone to tell them to quiet down, but it seems that Makarov came to that same thought process.
"QUIET! LEAVE THE POOR BOY ALONE!" Silence fell over the hall in a deafening way. All members of the guild looked sheepishly at their master before giving Harry some much needed space. The young wizard gives Makarov a grateful look. "Now then…Harry, I'm glad to see you back home and safe. Taking on a demon of that power in no easy feat," the master said.
Harry feels a shudder crawl up his spine. "You are right, it wasn't. It had the power to control souls and eat them. What really didn't help, though, was the way it looked. It was a creature that could only come from someone's worse nightmare," Harry said.
Makarov nods in acknowledgement. "Well it's over now. Erza told me you killed it, so there is no need to worry about it any longer."
"Do you know what kind of demon it was? How it came to be?" Harry asked. He wants to know if that demon was created by Zeref or if it was born the natural way - if there is one.
"That demon, known as the soul devourer, was the creator of beings known as dementors. It lived for 3,000 years, but was sealed by Merlin the first thousand. With its creations, the demon was able to collect a lot of souls for itself. The dementors, when they ate someone's soul, that soul goes to the demon. That must be how is survived all these years while in the seal," Makarov told everyone in the guild. "I do not know how it came to be. There are rumors stating that the soul devourer was born a demon, or was once human. That part of its history has been lost in time."
Nobody made a sound for a few seconds; that is until Gray steps forward and asks, "What is a dementor?"
"I can explain that," Harry said, cutting off Makarov, who was just opening his mouth to answer the question. Everyone turns their attention to him, making him shift slightly, but he continues nonetheless. "A dementor is a dark creature that feeds off of happiness. When they are near, they make you relive your worse memories and feel cold dread and depression. If they get their gaping mouths close enough to you then they can suck out your soul. People have called this the dementor's kiss."
"Those things kiss you?!" Lucy said with a horrified look on her face.
Harry nods. "Yeah, but once they take your soul, your body doesn't die. You are just a living shell with no soul."
{Don't forget to mention what they look like,} Fawkes puts in.
"Now for what they look like: they wear long, black, ragged cloaks, with skinny, skeletal-like limbs, and they fly. They don't have legs or horns like the demon I fought; although, you are most likely to feel their cold presents before you see them," said Harry.
"How do you fight them?" Max asked.
"I use the patronus charm, which is filled with good, positive emotions. They hate being touched by that."
"But didn't you say they feed off happiness? That is a positive emotion." Erza questioned.
"They do, they just don't like it being used against them; however, that is not what will attract them to you. If you have horrible memories, like Erza and Gray, then they will go after you in a feeding frenzy. You will be lost to those memories, and will make it hard to recall the good ones, making you feel like you will never be happy again. The only way to counter the affect is to eat chocolate."
{There is a reason they say chocolate is comfort food,} Fawkes said with a quick, quiet chirp of amusement.
"What Harry says is right, but you did forget something," Makarov said the last part to the young wizard. "500 years ago they were used to guard a prison. I never agreed to this method, and I have been proven in more ways than one. The dementors would make the prisoners lose their minds within a couple of years resulting in needing to see a healer after they are released. The other reason is because since the dementors are not allowed to eat the souls until ordered to, dark wizards could easily convince them to their side."
With all this being said, Harry is getting pictures sliding across his mind of being told this by someone while at school and Voldemort having the dementors' loyalty. Makarov is right about that. Dark wizards like Voldemort have already proven that you can't rely on something that dark to guard evil wizards and witches.
Makarov sighs, "Well there is good news to all of this. Dementors have become rare." This surprises Harry. He doesn't know what shocks him more, the fact that these evil beings are still alive or are rare to come across. Don't they breed when there is a lot of misery around? "No one knows why that is, or what happened for them to start disappearing. Some people believe that Zeref had something to do with it. They think that he used them to create his demons, but I'm not so sure."
Harry looks to Fawkes. {Do you know what happened to them?} he asked.
Fawkes shook his head. {No, it is like they just vanished.} He shrugs his wings. {Maybe with all the fire from the dragons is what did them in.} Harry can hear the joke behind Fawkes' words. The bird doesn't really believe that the dragons were what killed the dementors off. It was just hopeful thinking on the phoenix's part.
"Let's stop talking about these depressing creatures now. It is time to celebrate Harry's return to us!" Makarov shouted out the last sentence to everyone while raising a wooden mug full of booze.
"YEAH!" the rest of Fairy Tail cheered, making the whole building shake with their volume.
"Huh?!" Harry cries out in shock. He doesn't know why he is shocked, though, since he should have seen this coming. These guys will use any excuse to throw a party.
Cana throws an arm around Harry's shoulders, already a little drunk, and starts dragging him over to the bar. "Come on, this is your party. It is time we finally get you drunk!" she said joyfully, much to Harry's dismay.
The next morning, Harry hated himself for allowing what happened, and hated the rest of his guild for not helping to stop Cana from forcing down the bitter liquid known as beer down his throat, because right now he has the worst headache than he has ever had as far as he can remember.
Harry is on a ship with some of the members of his guild heading towards Tenrou Island. He is still in a state of shock. He can hardly believe he is one of those whom are taking on this trial.
"I'm going to name the nine participants that will be going on to the S-Class trails this year: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Elfman Strauss, Levy McGarden, Mest Gryder, Cana Alberona, Freed Justine, Juvia Lockser, and finally Harry Potter. All of you will be going to take on this trial that will be taking place on our holy grounds: Tenrou Island." That was what master Makarov said yesterday. Harry had left to go home and pack for the journey and to find a partner. It wasn't hard to find one after seeing who Natsu is taking.
Harry sighs and looks to his familiar, who is perched on the railing. "I thought I said a long time ago that you will be sitting on my shoulder from then on when we're on a boat," he said.
{This is a ship, not a boat,} Fawkes said cheekily.
"Same thing…" Harry growled lowly. He turns to look at the rest of those who are going to the island. Just one look at them made him grateful for learning the cooling-charm, because they look like they are dying of heat. "If I didn't know any better, I would think this was part of the trial," he muttered, before turning back in the direction the ship is going. Up ahead he can see an island with a huge tree on it. 'Does that tree also have an island on top of it?' he questioned.
{It looks like it,} said Fawkes.
"Alright children, listen up!" Makarov's voice cuts through Harry's musing. He turns around and looks up to see the master on the deck above them. "I'm going to explain the rules of the first part of the trials. If you look toward the island, you'll see smoke. That is where you are to head to first. There you will find 9 paths, but one of them is hidden. That hidden path has a bonus to it. Whoever finds it will get an extra point. ((AN: This hidden path is all my doing for Harry. I don't know what to put in this path, but luckily I'm taking next week off to think all I want on it.)) Be warned though, only one team can enter a path."
{I say we look for the hidden one,} Fawkes said.
{You might be able to find it, if there is something alive in there,} said Harry.
{Do you have your cloak?}
{Yes, why?}
{Use it so no one sees us looking for the hidden pathway.}
{…Alright…}
"Now I'm going to tell you what is behind each path. Most of the paths have a battle waiting for you, but some of those battles will be with each other, or with one of our S-Cass mages. Only one of those paths is quiet and safe. You will not come across any one to battle and you will reach to the next part of these trials safely; however, the hidden path may have any of these or something else. It could be a puzzle, a monster, an S-class mage, or it too is safe." Makarov grin mischievously. "Or you could wind up battling me…" Most of them are now worried, especially Harry. Fawkes wants him to go down the hidden path. "…I'm just kidding. You don't have to worry about me being your opponent in any of these pathways."
Harry sighs in relief at that. He can handle a monster or riddle, maybe even an S-Class mage, but he knows he would never be able to get past Makarov.
"Now whichever team gets through this part will go onto the next. Your goals for this exam are power and luck!"
{Luck…? Oh you are so not going to be lucky enough to have a quiet path. No, with your luck you will run into Zeref or Voldemort,} said Fawkes mockingly, earning him a glare from his wizard.
"Now let us begin. The trial starts now!" Makarov exclaims.
"You mean while we're still on the boat?!" Lucy shouted.
Harry turns to Fawkes. Neither having to trade words with each other. Fawkes flaps his wings and lands on the wizard's shoulder. "Later guys, see you on the island!" Harry calls out. He only had time to see them turn to him with shock before he flashes away along with Fawkes to the island.
TBC
Sorry guys, but Zeref is not going to be in the hidden pathway. That would be funny though. Next week, nothing is going to be updated, but the week after that is an update for 'Natsu Hates it When Zeref is Bored'. After that there will be another update for this fanfic. Hopefully I'll have come up with something for the hidden pathway by then.
Zeref: Smart move with making a new path just for Harry. It is the only way he could have gone without kicking someone else out of the trial.
Enj/Dark: Yeah, I didn't want to kick anyone out, so I had to do something about it. The hidden path idea just popped into my head as I was writing.
Natsu: Aren't those the best kind? :)
Harry: Normally. I just hope it is not a riddle, or Tom Riddle. Knowing her it could be a puzzle that leads to a monster or something.
Enj/Dark: Hey…that's not a bad idea.
Voldy: If it turns out to be a monster, please let it be a basilisk.
Enj/Dark: Sorry, that is off limits…for a reason. I'm not going to say what that is right now. You're all just going to have to find out.
Zeref: There is going to be a basilisk, but not here, right?
Enj/Dark: …I don't know how to answer that. You'll see what I mean when I get to it. *shrug*
Voldy: I bring one? :3
Harry: She isn't going to answer. -_-
Enj/Dark: Natsu, it is your turn.
Natsu: Please review! XD
