Chapter 13
Chapter 13
A wall of ice rose around Harry, blocking the flames his father sent racing towards him. Flicking his hand up, he hurled shards of razor-sharp ice at Arawn.
Arawn leaned to the side only to be struck in the face by a ball of ice the size of his fist. He collapsed, blood trickling from his nose and split lip.
Arawn leapt up, an icy wind surrounding Harry. Before he had time to do anything, Harry found himself trapped in a block of ice.
Drawing in a deep breath, he forced himself to relax. Exhaling slowly and steadily, he focused on the rage he felt when he remembered his last encounter with Voldemort. Fire burst from his hands, melting the ice. Taking advantage of the steam surrounding him, Harry teleported behind his father. Clasping his hands together, he struck Arawn at the base of the skull as hard as he could.
Arawn fell to his knees before slumping onto his side. Harry at once teleported back to his original position and waited.
He stood watching his father’s still form for several moments. He’d only put enough force behind the blow to knock him out. He wasn’t going to lose this sparring match by doing something stupid now.
Arawn slowly sat up and climbed to his feet. He touched the swelling on the back of his head and winced.
“Owe,” he groaned. “That hurt. Why’d you have to hit so hard.”
Harry shrugged. “I saw an opening and I took it.”
Arawn walked over to him. “It’s taken you a year, but you’ve done it. You beat me in magical combat.”
“You weren’t going all out.”
“No, but I wasn’t trying to kill you. You have done well, just remember to keep up you’re training. Don’t slack off when you get back to Hogwarts.”
“Now what?”
Arawn gestured to Harry to sit before conjuring a chair. “I’m going to go over everything we’ve gone over this past year.”
“This is gonna take a while?”
“Perhaps,” he said. “Can you show me your glamour?”
Harry relaxed, clearing his mind and calming his emotions. He visualized a tall man with tan skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. Waving a hand over his head, he felt warmth flow over him. Hearing Arawn chuckle, he looked down at the mirror Arawn was holding out to him.
He smiled in satisfaction as he saw the blond man, he’d visualized staring back at him. “I still have to use the hand motions.”
“Soon, you’ll be able to do it just by thinking about it. I’ve arranged more training in wizardry if it becomes necessary.”
“Do you really think it will be?”
“You’re Mum trained you up through fourth year. Glamour is a subtle magic. I expect you to keep training until you can do it just by thinking about it. It will help you in better controlling your magic. The better control you have, the better chance you stand against that madman if he returns.”
Harry nodded, conjuring a chair of ice. Sitting down, he relaxed as the ice cooled his skin. He stared out at the fields of green grass and fruit trees. Everything seemed so much more vibrant here. The fruit was bigger, the air was cleaner, and even the animals were larger and healthier than their counterparts on earth.
“It wasn’t your fault you know,” he said quietly. “None of us knew that Voldemort was alive.”
“But I should have,” Arawn said. “I have can usually sense earthbound spirits, no matter how they try and hide. I should’ve known that his soul was still earthbound.”
“From what Mum said, you were a little preoccupied.”
Arawn grunted. “Yeah, trying to get you and your Mum out before the wizards or muggles showed up.” He turned to face Harry, his amber eyes serious. “That reminds me. Be very careful with the wording of any agreement you make. You will be bound to any bargain you make. The one I made with your Mum and James is a prime example, but there are more… detrimental bargains you can make. Words have power among the fae never forget that.”
“What do you mean?” Harry asked.
Arawn put a blade of grass between his teeth and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the sky. “Some of the old folklore says the fae cannot tell a lie and that we are tricksters. That is not exactly true.
We do not tell a direct lie, but we can and do evade or mislead with words when we need to. It’s part of our culture. We value honesty and will follow any agreement to the letter. We do not have to tell the truth, but the act of telling a direct lie is anathema to the fae. As for the trickster thing, we’re not tricksters. You just have to know how to negotiate with the fae.”
“Sounds like a trickster to me,” Harry said.
“Don’t get me wrong, we like playing pranks as much as the next person, but when it comes to oaths and agreements, we take those seriously. We cannot break an oath.”
“You mean that it’s a taboo?” Harry asked.
Arawn sat up straight and stared into Harry’s eyes. “Yes and no. Listen to me and listen closely. Oaths are very dangerous for the fae. Whatever bargain you agree to, you’d better follow it to the letter. If you don’t…” Arawn swallowed. “The consequences can be bad.”
“Why?”
“Our magic is somehow tied to our word. If the fae break an oath, they lose their magic. Since we need magic to live, it is a very slow and painful death.”
“Can you explain that a little better?” Harry said shakily. “It really sounds like we cannot lie.”
Arawn stood up. “Come on, let’s get back home. I’ll explain as we walk.”
Harry stood and walked with his father back towards the palace. As they walked, Arawn talked.
“The wording is very key when we make oaths. For example, if a mortal comes to us and makes a bargain for a child, we can give them a homunculus that simulates a child. It would cry, need changing, and would need everything that a baby needs. The difference is it would never grow. We gave them what they asked for, not necessarily what they wanted. We could also give them a fae child if we were so inclined. What we cannot do is give them a kobold glamoured to look like a child. If a fae did that, that would be breaking their word.”
“That doesn’t seem that complicated,” Harry said.
“Let us say that I promised the Greengrass family that they would live to a ripe old age surrounded by Grandchildren. Now, I put up the strongest wards, hire the best healers, place guards around their home, and do my very best to keep them alive. Let us also say that through circumstances out of my control, Death Eaters attack the home and slaughter them all. I may not have meant to, but I broke my oath.”
“But you did your best to protect them,” Harry said.
“Yes, I did, but I gave my word that they would live, not that I would do my best to make sure they lived. Words have power and what you say can be a lie even if you don’t intend it that way. That is why the fae are so careful with their wording when making a bargain. It is also not uncommon for us to word in a form of payment if the oath is broken unintentionally. This payment usually consists of years of servitude.”
“We can do that?”
Arawn nodded. “Yes, it is one of the only ways we can avoid death through breaking of our word. So, be very careful what bargains you make. Be as specific as possible and leave yourself enough wiggle room to be able to defend yourself if the oath falls apart. Do you understand?”
“Did you ever make an oath you couldn’t get out of?”
Arawn was silent for a long time. “I did,” he said quietly.
“What was it?” Harry asked breathlessly.
Arawn cleared his throat loudly. “It’s getting late, and you still have to go over elemental control with your mother.”
“Dad,” Harry said.
“No complaining,” Arawn said sharply. “Go find your Mum. I want you as prepared as possible in case you meet that madman again.”
Grumbling, Harry strode off, leaving Arawn standing in the field alone. He stood there for a long time before he began walking again.
**ROE**
As Harry entered the palace, Niamh met him in the entrance hall.
“Harry,” she said smiling. “There is someone I want you to meet.”
“Okay,” Harry said slowly.
A tall wiry man stepped from the dining hall, wiping his fingers on his tunic. The man had long auburn hair and a red beard. As he smiled, his sea green eyes twinkled.
“So,” he said, his voice booming like ocean waves crashing against stone. “This is my Grandson.”
Harry nodded hesitantly. “You are?”
“I’m your grandfather, Manannán MacLir.”
“The Celtic god of the sea?”
Manannán chuckled. “Some people thought so. Your Mother tells me you are doing well with elemental control.”
“I guess so.”
“Modesty is a good quality, just don’t take it too far. Now then, I’ll be taking over you’re training. It’s time you learned hand to hand combat.”
Harry gulped. “Um, okay, but I’m not gonna lose any hair this time, am I?”
The man let out a booming laugh. “No lad, not hair. A few teeth perhaps, but we can regrow those.”
With a panicked look at his mother, Harry allowed himself to be led away.
The elder fae led him to a large courtyard of freshly cut grass.
“So how do we do this?” Harry asked.
Manannán swung his fist striking Harry square in the jaw. Harry flew through the air and landed hard on his back. Sitting up, he spat out a tooth.
“This is gonna be a long training session,” he muttered as his grandfather closed in.
**ROE**
Daphne cheered as the bracelet on her wrist flashed and the button turned back into a beetle.
“Good,” Delia said. “That bracelet seems just as good as your wand at focusing your magic.”
Daphne fingered the thin silver cords that made up the bracelet. “I like it. I can’t be disarmed with magic and only I can take it off.”
Gareth sat down beside her, conjuring a glass of water with a flick of his fingers. The gold ring gleamed in the light coming through the window. “Arawn said the fae and mages that live here are working on some more discrete foci.”
“I still don’t get why they are helping us.”
“According to what Arawn said, wizards have magic and the fae want to preserve magic.”
“That’s what he said,” Delia muttered.
Daphne frowned at her mother. Delia had been suspicious of the fae since they got here, questioning everything they said or did. Daphne could understand that. The fae had been known to trick people in the past, but they hadn’t done anything to them.
Her father on the other hand was willing to give the fae the benefit of the doubt. They’d saved his daughter from a terrible fate and had earned his gratitude. They’d been here for a year and had been treated like honored guests. Daphne turned to her mother.
“They haven’t asked anything of us. I know some fae are tricksters, but I think Harry’s Dad isn’t like that.”
Delia said nothing but began to gather up the beetles on the table in front of them. “Come on, Astoria should be done with her bookwork by now.” She frowned at Daphne. “Are you sure you don’t want to advance to third year? You’ve learned enough here that I’m sure you could pass the exams with no problem. This,” she gestured at the beetles, “Is just going through what you already know.”
“I’m sure,” Daphne said. “If Harry and Luna want to advance, I’ll go to third year, but I would really rather stay with my friends.”
“I can support that,” Gareth said. “She’s growing up fast enough as it is. I want her to be a kid for as long as possible.”
“Speaking of kids,” Delia said as Astoria pushed open the door.
“I’m done Mum,” she said handing Delia a stack of parchment. “When do I get to start working magic. I’m getting tired of book work.”
“You just turned eleven,” Delia said firmly. “You can start practicing magic as soon as we get you a wand.”
As Astoria opened her mouth to argue, Daphne stood brushing a strand of raven hair out of her face. “I’m gonna go find Luna.”
“Be careful,” Gareth said. “Remember Niamh said the layout of the palace is always changing.”
“I will,” Daphne said. She waved to her parents and little sister before stepping out into the corridor.
As the door of the room closed behind her, she heard Astoria beginning to argue again. Daphne looked around the hallway.
The sloping corridor led down into the earth as far as she could see. Even though most of the lower floors of the palace were underground, the windows still showed the sun shining over the endless green fields. She began walking down the hall, just exploring.
Doors of stone, wood, glass, and even ivory lined the hall. Daphne ignored most of them. She knew where Luna would be. She had her eyes peeled for a copper door with a glass handle. She spotted the door up ahead and hurried towards it when her feet slipped out from under her. As she started to fall, a hand grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back onto solid ground. Looking up, Daphne saw Niamh standing behind her.
“Are you alright?” Niamh asked.
Daphne glanced down the hallway and saw a steep set of stone steps where she’d been walking. “There weren’t stairs here before,” she said breathlessly.
“I did warn you that Elphame changes sometimes.”
Daphne looked down at the ground. “I didn’t realize stairs would just appear out of nowhere. How long will they be here?”
Niamh shrugged. “Could be a few hours or it could be a few centuries. It’s kind of hard to tell. I assume you were looking for Luna?”
“Yes.”
“She’s in the library. Come on, I’ll walk with you.”
Daphne and Niamh slowly descended the stone steps. They felt reassuringly solid under their feet as if they’d always been there. “Where’s Harry? I haven’t seen him in a few days.”
“He’s being trained by my father. We’re hoping to give him a basic knowledge of swordplay and hand to hand combat before you all return to Hogwarts.”
“Oh? How’s he doing with that?”
Niamh chuckled. “He just started a few moments ago, so I imagine my father isn’t going easy on him.”
Daphne’s eyes widened. “Won’t he get hurt?”
Niamh’s eyes narrowed. “Father better not be too rough on him until he teaches him to defend himself. I’ve never been a fan of teaching your kid to swim by throwing them in the pool.”
Before Daphne could answer, they arrived at the copper door. Daphne reached for the handle and pulled it open. Stepping into the room, she gazed at the shelves of books stretching away into the distance. She turned to Niamh.
“How big is this library?”
“As big as it needs to be. Apparently, Arawn has been collecting books for over a thousand years. Supposedly, there’s some books from the library of Alexandria here, but don’t ask me how he got those.”
As Daphne and Niamh began walking through the library, Daphne looked at some of the titles on offer. In addition to several books on magic, science, and history, there was a section of Muggle fiction.
Some of those titles included Dracula’s dinner party by Bram Stoker, Mr. Hide Rises again by Robert Louis Stephenson, and Pet Sematary the prequel by Stephen King.
“I’ll have to check the Muggle Library for some of those when we get back to earth. Dad always liked the classics and we’ve never seen those before.”
Niamh snorted. “You won’t find them there. Apparently, those are one of a kind works. They were never made available to the public. He won’t say, but I think Arawn requested a few of those.”
“But why would he want to read Muggle literature.”
“What better way to learn about a culture than to read their stories, especially if you don’t spend a lot of time on earth.”
“Why didn’t he spend more time on earth?”
Niamh glanced at her. “He had a human wife once. She was a normal human, no magic whatsoever. She died of old age. He doesn’t hate humans or anything, but he swore he wouldn’t get close to any of them again. He didn’t want to make friends only to watch them wither away. He only started getting close to wizards in the past few centuries.”
“Wow,” Daphne said.
“Yeah,” Niamh said. They rounded a corner and saw Luna bent over a book twice as tall as she was.
“Luna,” Niamh said. “What are you doing?”
“I found this book on magical creatures,” Luna said cheerfully. “I was hoping to find a crumple horned Snorkack.” Her face fell. “There’s not even a mention of them in here.” Leaning back, she glared at the book. “What kind of book on magical creatures are you?”
The book suddenly rose off the table and floated away into the stacks.
Niamh stared after it, her mouth hanging open. She turned to Luna and Daphne. Both girl’s eyes were wide with shock.
“Luna, I think you hurt it’s feelings.”
“Sh-should I go apologize?” Luna said in a small voice.
“I’d wait a while,” Niamh said, “Give it a chance to calm down.”
**ROE**
The dining hall was the only room in the palace that didn’t move around. There were hundreds of tables of varying sizes lined up in neat rows. Daphne didn’t know how, but whenever they wanted to eat, there was always food available. The trio settled down at a table big enough to feed dozens of people. Luna squealed when she saw a large bowl of chocolate pudding.
Niamh laughed. “You and your pudding,” she smiled as Luna pulled the bow towards her.
“Hey,” Daphne said. “Share some of that.”
“So, what have you been up to?” Niamh asked, turning to Luna.
“I’ve been spending the passed few months looking for fascinating creatures with my Daddy. Mummy has been making sure that I will be ready to start my second year at Hogwarts.”
“Oh?” Daphne asked. “That’s great. How is it coming?”
“Good,” Pandora said striding into the dining hall and sitting down at the long wooden table where the others were. “She’s doing just as well as I’d have thought.”
“When we get back, she’ll be ready to start second year?” Daphne asked.
“That’s right,” Pandora said. “Could probably start third, but we’ll see now it goes.”
“Where’s Xeno?” Niamh asked.
“Infirmary,” Pandora said. “He thought a giant deer with a broken antler was a crumple horned Snorkack.”
Niamh winced. “Is he alright?”
“He’s fine,” Pandora said exasperatedly. “He tried to run away, tripped, and got some thorns stuck in his backside.”
There was a pause, and then all of them burst into howls of laughter.
**ROE**
Six months later, Harry and Manannán were in the same courtyard. Both held bronze longswords.
“Are you ready?” Manannán asked.
“As I’ll ever be?” Harry muttered, planting his feet.
Manannán lunged, his sword aimed for Harry’s heart. Harry brought his blade up, knocking his grandfather’s sword aside.
Manannán swung again, but Harry blocked his swing with the flat of his blade, feeling the impact down to his feet. He leapt back, avoiding a slash that would’ve sliced open his belly, he blocked a few more strikes with his sword.
Rushing forward, he stamped down hard on Manannán’s foot. As his grandfather staggered, Harry drove his knee into Manannán’s balls.
Manannán let out a whoosh and collapsed. His eyes squeezed shut and tears ran down his cheeks.
“You did good,” he squeaked.
“I’m still not as good as you,” Harry said.
“First, I’ve been doing this for centuries. Second, you just kneed me in the balls take the compliment.”
Manannán gestured to him to sit down beside him. As Harry took a seat on the soft grass, Manannán studied him intently.
“You’ve done well,” he said quietly. “You’ve learned the most important lesson of self-defense. When you’re fighting for your life, anything goes. You’re doing a lot better than you were when we started.”
Harry winced and rubbed his jaw. “I didn’t think you’d break my jaw during out first fight.”
“What I’m teaching you is how to survive and how to incapacitate your opponent, not merely how to defend yourself.”
“How can I get better when I don’t have you to train with?”
“You won’t always have people to train with. Your parents and I have taught you the basics. You have a mastery of fire and ice. You are also aware of how to control the other elements. It’s up to you to get stronger now.”
“You know we’ll be leaving tomorrow?”
“I know. Don’t worry, I’m sure you can handle anything the wizards throw at you, just don’t slack off.”
“I’m gonna miss you.”
“And I you, but I’ll be here whenever you need me.”
“I’m nervous,” Harry whispered.
“Change is scary, but nothing ever stays the same.”
Manannán stood. “Come on, let’s get home. I hear the cook is making lamb this evening.”
Harry made a face.
“What?” Manannán said. “Lamb is good food.”
“If you like greasy and flavorless.”
As they argued over whether lamb was good or not, Harry thought his grandfather was right. He could manage whatever trouble came his way.
**ROE**
Harry, Niamh, Daphne, and Luna along with the rest of the Greengrass and Lovegood families met in the entrance hall of the palace.
Manannán approached, handing him a sword. “Here,” he said. “You may need this.”
Harry drew the sword from the scabbard and examined the long bronze blade. The handle was leather wrapped copper, and the blade was free of rune or any design. It was a killing tool plane and simple.
“This sword can cut through any armor, shield, or wall,” Manannán said. “I think you will find it useful.”
Harry sheathed the sword and strapped it to his left him. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
Manannán clapped him on the shoulder. “Make me proud.”
Harry grinned. “I will,” he said turning back to his friends.
Luna had managed to learn all the first and second-year spells and Daphne had learned all the third year spells. Both girls had mastered magic without their wands and both girls wore their silver bracelets all the time. All three of them were looking forward to returning to earth.
Arawn strode up to the group. “Elphame has just synced back up with earth. What’s been a year and a half for us has only been about six months on earth. Where do you want to come out?”
“We probably need to go to Hogwarts first. We need to see what supplies the kids will need for the upcoming year.”
“Right,” Arawn said, gesturing with one hand. A gate of shadows appeared in front of them. “Good luck,” he said.
“Aren’t you coming?” Harry asked.
Arawn shook his head. “I need to stay here in Annwn for a while. I’ll see you later.”
Harry hugged his father. Gareth stepped forward.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Any time,” Arawn said with a grin.
The group stepped through the gate. Harry looked around, seeing the entrance hall of Hogwarts. As the gate closed behind them, the group froze as they stared at the wand pointing at them.
Slowly, Dumbledore lowered his wand. “Ah, you’re finally back. Good, come with me. We need to talk.”
“Albus,” Niamh said slowly. “What’s going on?”
“There’s been several attacks at Hogwarts this year. We need your help before the troubles at the school get any worse.”