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Harry Potter and Druidic Magic | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-Hogwarts, Magical Creatures Challenge (2017-3), Magical Creatures Challenge (2017-3) Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, James Potter, Lily Potter, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape, Sirius Black Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance Warnings: Death, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: R Reviews: 16 Summary:  stunning banner by Asphodelic @tda The story begins from the time when Lily and James on the run from Voldemort. Half of the story will be categorized as AU. Chapter 4 and 5 were written for Magical Creatures Challenge 2017-3. Hitcount: Story Total: 14277; Chapter Total: 1781 Author's Notes: Many thanks to poppunkpadfoot for suggesting me to add more descriptions about Sirius. |
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Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting heaven That seemed as though ice burned and was but the more ice, And thereupon imagination and heart were driven So wild that every casual thought of that and this vanished -- W.B.Yeats “The Cold Heaven” Sirius smiled at Lily’s delighted face. She was singing a lullaby to a baby, Harry, ‘My love, my love I will hide your cloak on the roof, while my dad cured his stallion's injured hoof, My mother Mary I found your cloak, my father's wand was made of oak, Say good bye at the mouth of River Shiel…’ ‘What the title of the song? It’s beautiful, Lily.” Sirius asked her. Lily smiled at her baby sleeping in her arms, “I don’t know the title. I just learned the song from an old druidic witch whom we happened to know in Scotland.” “Oh, then you learned the song before you two come here?” “Yes, I bought an enchanted music box from her, but we had to leave soon and I noticed later that I forgot to bring it.” “Well, I think I can get it back for you.” “Oh, will you go to Scotland?” “Yeah, the Order thing…” He stared at the glass of fire whiskey. Lily stared at Sirius and said, “You are lying. You will visit Remus, won’t you?” “How do you know?” “Sirius, trust him. He can’t be a spy.” “How can you be sure about it? He has disappeared for these months.” He sipped his glass gloomily. “Lily, I told you that we should stop talking of him.” James entered the room, with his jet-black hair wet after shower. “Thanks, Padfoot. I could relax in a bathtub after a long time.” “What do you mean, James? You shower every morning. You can use the bathtub anytime you want.” Lily looked incomprehensible. “I couldn’t, Lily. Voldemort might have attacked you and Harry during the short time when I had taken my eyes off him.” He took a glass from Sirius and sat down. “Oh…” she watched his face blank. “Don’t worry, my love. We’ve survived so far. When will you leave for Scotland, Sirius?” “Tomorrow. To tell the truth, I’ll visit Cornwall, first. I want to make sure a curious legend around there.” “Is that Dumbledore’s order?” James tried to refill his glass. “No, thanks. I have to leave in the early morning tomorrow. I’ve just found this.” He pulled out the worn out old book and put it on the table. “Ancient Druidic Magic?” James turned it over and read the title. “…by Cliodna Cadwagan. Is that ‘Cliodona’?” “I don’t know. I found it in my dear mother’s library while I came back to Grimmauld Place.” “Could you talk with your mother at your family memorial service? Eh…I’m sorry for your brother and father. After two years, you must be grieving.” “My mother wouldn’t accept me after she disowned me a long time ago. I just visited there in secret. Nobody thought I came back there. Don’t let me remember him. He was a Death Eater. The death… he invited himself. If Kreacher hadn’t brought him back, my parents couldn’t have given him a proper funeral.” His eyes drifted in the air remembering Regulus and shifted to Harry in Lily’s arms. “You’d better put him in his bed.” “I will. Good night, Sirius.” Lily smiled and went upstairs. James and Sirius discussed how the Order should continue fighting against Voldemort’s regime. Sirius felt James’s impatience that he and Lily had to send their lives just hiding from Voldemort doing nothing. He had to repeat that guarding Harry from Voldemort’s menace is the most important. They dreamt what they would teach Harry and how they would reconstruct the Wizarding World after they beat Voldemort and his allies. They had lost many valuable lives, friends, relatives and a girlfriend. The memory of Marlene came back to him. He clenched his fist in remorse for his powerlessness. James flipped few pages of the old book. He looked up and said, “Lily will be interested in this. She got curious to know Druidic Magic. Can I lend this?” “Sure. I got a copy the part I need from the book.” “What do you want to know in Cornwall?” “Cliodona told in a book that there are twin towers, the one is in the druidic castle, in Northern Ireland, the other is near the sacred lake in Cornwall. They could transport from the one to the other. Then I thought of the idea. If what she said in the book is right, the tower will bring you and your family to the castle unknown to anybody. Dumbledore knows the chieftain of the castle. He may help us.” “We ran away from there, Sirius. Voldemort will find us and I don’t want to let the chieftain and his people in trouble. He may do harm on them, too.” “Oh, you are so heroic, Prongs. I suspect the security of this place.” “What do you mean?” “Did Wormtail visit here recently?” “No. I guess he is also busy with Dumbledore’s order.” He bit his lips. It’s apparent that he felt frustration against his locked up situation. “I’m afraid he will be trapped or will make a big mess.” “Trust him. He is okay. It was you who said to me that he is the last person to be caught by the Death Eaters. The ability, his animagus shows that, you know, he is very cautious.” James chuckled. Sirius shook his head. “I’m very amazed by your optimism, Captain.” He called him by the old Quidditch status at Hogwarts and grinned. At the same time, he was relieved. James would never change even under that serious situation. He survived three times from Voldemort. He would survive the fourth. Harry’s bright green eyes found Lily’s and he smiled. His tiny hand reached to her ginger red hair and he purred. “Harry, my little prince. How adorable you are.” Lily kissed him on the forehead and she went out of the room. “Morning, Lily.” Sirius came out of the bath room. “Good morning, Sirius. Are you leaving so soon?” “Yep. I need to meet an important person for Dumbledore.” “So you don’t have no time to have breakfast here?” “Sorry. Oh, I almost forgot. I got the present James had asked me to buy. Here, little champ.” He pulled out a toy snitch and let it hover it in the air. Harry made a joyful cry and tried to touch it. “Oh, thank you, Sirius. It’s a nice birthday present for him! You must have run a risk to buy this in the Diagon Alley. There must be the Death Eaters lurking.” “No, Padfoot had a fun time to deceive people in the street.” He winked at her. When he stood in front of the entrance hall, the door was half opened and he saw James wiping his flying motorbike. He glanced back with his jet-black disheveled hair and grinned. “This is only what I could now.” He put the rag on the rails. The frame was shining in the morning sunshine. Sirius chuckled, “You did this without your wand? Brilliant!” Listening to their cheerful conversation heard from the outside, Lily sat down on a chair. She sighed in satisfaction when her chubby baby began sucking milk from her left breast. Then she noticed a worn-out old book on the dining table. She took care of Harry in her left arm and her right hand grabbed the book. She opened and thumbed through it. Then one interesting page jumped into her eyes. There are two illustrations: The one showed the ceremonial drowning of a victim in a big cauldron. The other was a witch guarding her child in front of the soldier holding a sword in his hand. The title on the page was read, ‘Druidic Blood Magical Defense’. The spells written there were not so complicated. She could understand those old runic letters. When she had been at Hogwarts, she used to explore the library with Severus Snape before the quarrel. They had studied together to learn the old druidic letters by heart and mastered reading them. The letters above the witch on the page were deciphered as ‘Pour your soul into the one you want to protect. Your self-sacrifice is ultimate powerful magic.’ She repeated the spells in her mind three times. ‘le grá go deo, mo chroí’. She uttered, “It sounds Gaelic, doesn’t it, Harry?” She turned his body and let him suck from her right breast. Sirius stood in the deep forest. It looked similar to the Forbidden Forest. He heard the humming sound and stared at the lights in the air. They were fairies, whose wings fluttering like the snitch he gave Harry in the early morning, were hovering around the spot where he had been waiting. When he got to a steeple, he waited for the chieftain’s arrival. He went there to find a way to protect the Potters. If he had a chance, he might get reinforcement from the chieftain. How long had he been waiting? One hour, or more? He finally felt a little tired and sat down on the flat rock by the water. And he was thinking over what Dumbledore said to him. As I explained before, Remus has an important mission I asked. Just believe him. He smiled wryly, “Hey, Moony, how long will it take until you come back with good news?” The summer breeze blew across the surface of the sacred lake. He stared at the distant hills over the water. Then one of them moved, he thought. But it wasn’t a hill. It was an enormous shadow of a person. Is that a giant? The bigger giant than Hagrid came across the water to the shore. He knelt down in front of Sirius, and looked down on him. His hair was ginger red just like Lily’s. “I came here to bring you a message from my Master. He won’t send you a reinforcement. My Lady became pregnant. He won’t be side with any in your country. He’ll promise neutrality.” Then the giant stood up, and he turned his huge body before Sirius opened his mouth. When he said, “but… wait!” The giant had already charged through the lake. Sirius stared at the back of the giant till it disappeared beyond the hazy hills. He even couldn’t ask for a hiding place for the Potters. When he flooed to Dumbledore, he said in the fire calmly, “It was his final answer, Sirius. Anybody couldn’t have persuaded the chieftain to be side with us. To declare his neutrality is his best. It’s not your fault.” ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- --------------------- Hot summer in the Godric's Hollow was very short that year. It was changed by the cool autumn quickly and the Potters spent the usual peaceful afternoon in the hiding place in the end of October. Nothing to do, James smoked. Nobody had visited their hiding place since Sirius visited them last time. Gradually, James had fretted over the boring secluded life. The first months, he had been alert every minute, even in the bathroom. He didn’t forget carrying the wand with him anywhere in the house before. But recently, he stopped to be highly nervous. Long isolation from the outside of the world might have made him dull. While he was sleeping by Lily on the bed, he often had a dream. It was always the same. He was walking alone in the corridor of the ice castle. Strangely, he didn’t feel cold inside. He had an illusion that he was walking in the hallway of Hogwarts. Soon he would turn the corner and find the trophy room where his plaque was displayed. When he regretted that he didn’t take baby Harry in his arms to show his Quidditch famed records, he woke up. Lily was shaking his shoulder, “James, someone is knocking the door,” her voice sounded uneasy. “Go to Harry’s room. I’ll go down and see who it is.” He managed to find his spectacles and grabbed his wand on the side table. And he went down the stairs. On the way there, he wore the glasses and found it wasn’t his wand, a short toy rod for Harry. He discarded it on the floor in that case, someone, a member of the Order would laugh at his blunder. He should’ve retreated back to get his wand. When he opened the door, there was no man. Just a cold wind wailing around the cottage. He shouldn’t have opened the door so carelessly. The hooded man had been observing the cottage from his hiding. He shouldn’t have opened the curtain in the living room. The man was watching James entertaining his son on the knees from the outside. He should’ve asked the password at the second knocking. He let Lily hold Harry in her arms, and stood up from the sofa. “Maybe, Sirius. It’s about time to stop by. Today is Halloween. We used to have a spooky party together.” He grinned and walked to the entrance. When he opened the door, the last man he had wanted to see was pointing the wand at his heart. He bellowed at most, “Lily! Run with Harry! I’ll prevent him from…” They were his last words. When the curse hit his heart, only the memory, Lily’s smile and Harry’s face left for a second and vanished forever. Lily had no time to get closer to her husband. She knew she mustn’t look back. She had to protect her son. Unconsciously, she was repeating the druidic spells in her mind. le grá go deo, mo chroí Her heart was breaking with grief, feeling for her husband who might have already been killed. “Oh, Merlin, save us…” She held Harry tight. He became fretful in her sudden tighten arms. As soon as she reached to the baby room, she placed him in the bed and pushed the side table as a barricade to the door frantically. She cursed herself she didn’t make the hearth in the baby’s room, which might have flooed them safely to the next hiding. Lord Voldemort intruded the room with ease. Shuddered with fear, she declined his offer to save her life in exchange of Harry’s life. There was no option. When Dark Lord’s wand was pointed to them, she had already made up her mind. ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------- “Are you sure that I’ll borrow your bike?” Hagrid’s voice was far away. After he witnessed the blown apart cottage, he didn’t remember how he came back to the Order Headquarters. Taking Harry, who had been crying hard, up in his arms, he managed to order Kreacher to bring James and Lily back to their hiding place. The funeral would be held tomorrow. His muscle tight and he clenched his teeth. His best mate and Lily left him forever. He blamed himself that he chose to seek for Remus in highland than stopping by the Potters. After he met Remus, he was very relieved to know Remus had been working hard not to sever the connection with werewolf’s community, but another fear seized him. Where is Wormtail? A dark cloud got bigger and bigger in his mind. He hastily came back to Godric's Hollow, but it was too late. Letting his best mate’s eyes closed, his suspect was changed to conviction. Peter betrayed James. His eyes burned with tears and his face turned red with rage. Controlling his rage, he hurried to the screaming baby upstairs. It was heart-wrung sight to see the dead mother on the floor and the baby in the bed. Oddly, her eyes had been already closed. Someone might have stopped by the Potters before he arrived. The warmth of Harry’s tiny body in his arms barely kept his mind calm until they got to the safer place. Staring at Hagrid holding Harry wrapped in a blanket vacantly, his feeling went back to the conversation on Harry’s birthday. “I’m very amazed by your optimism, Captain.” “Your optimism cost you your life, Captain…” He muttered and left for Peter’s hiding place. His fists were clenched again with the fire fueled with the doubt that was almost positive. He trembled hard cursing himself thousands of times for his lack of foresight and he stood in front of Peter's shabby hut . |
| Reviews 16 |
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