Harry Potter and the Elvish Magic

Harry Potter and the Elvish Magic

Chapter Eleven: Quidditch, Halloween, and Altschwanstein

    Harry walked onto the Quidditch pitch, accompanied by the Gryffindor team, excitement rushing through him. Three-quarters of the school burst into cheering at their entrance, while the Slytherins retained their usual, jeering attitude. Cho Chang and the other Ravenclaws looked excited to be facing Gryffindor. In fact, everyone was very excited to see another Quidditch match, after having missed them for over a year. Harry smiled at Cho and shook her hand firmly before Madame Hooch blew her whistle and they all shot up into the air. Ron promptly shot off towards the goal posts to narrowly avert a potential goal by Ravenclaw, as their Chaser had gotten the Quaffle through a freak wind which blew it off course. Hermione grabbed the Quaffle cheerily, smiling at and saying "Excuse me" to the Ravenclaw Chaser who had been about to catch it. One of the Ravenclaw Beaters pounded a Bludger at her. She shot the Quaffle to Neville and rolled over in midair to avoid being hit. She needn't have bothered, as the Bludger had been averted in the nick of time by its twin, which was cannoned in by Dennis Creevey. The two balls collided with a nasty boom, before careening off again to pursue the other players.

    Harry, Ron and Hermione, to avoid rousing suspicion and to be fair, had "turned off" their Elvish abilities temporarily for the Quidditch match, at Dumbledore's suggestion. Even so, Harry's body had undergone an immense improvement over the past few months, and he was playing faster than ever before.

    Cho smiled as Harry roared by her on his Firebolt, before rocketing off towards the Snitch, which he had somehow overlooked. He turned around and shot forward, suddenly snatching the Snitch from in front of her.

    Harry was speechless. Cho was speechless. In fact, the entire school was speechless. No one had ever managed to catch the Snitch so quickly. Suddenly, the entire stand burst out in cheering, except for the Slytherins, who were silent, because they didn't like the Gryffindors or the Ravenclaws.

    "Wow," said Cho, as everyone descended to earth. "How did you do that?"

    "I don't know," said Harry, hoping that he had truly managed to tone down his Elvish abilities for the match. Quan natar, he thought, and he felt his Elvish strength and awareness flow back through him like a flood. "It was just luck, I guess. You played very well yourself." He felt somewhat guilty, beating Cho. He resolved to make sure that he wouldn't have an unfair advantage in Quidditch ever again.

***

    As Halloween drew closer and closer, the excitement inside the castle grew to infectious levels. The rumor had gotten out that the Prefects and Professors were planning a surprise for Halloween, along with the House-Elves. So it was that, when Professor Dumbledore announced after the Halloween Feast, that everyone should go down to the main entrance to the dungeons, that a fierce chattering broke out. Harry and Hermione hurriedly ran into the dungeons, as Ron went to the main entrance. The Prefects had, in fact, been working on the Halloween surprise for several weeks, and had enlisted the help of the staff, house-elves, ghosts and several other students.

    "Settle down, settle down," Professor McGonagall said. "Now, I'm sure you've all heard that something has been planned for this Halloween. I assure you that you will all enjoy it very much. Please divide yourselves into groups of fifteen. No group may be any more than fifteen, and I am afraid that that rule cannot be bent at all." Chattering excitedly, they divided themselves, and then Professor McGonagall sent one of the groups through the door into the dungeons.

    Over the past several weeks, the people involved in the surprise had laid several enchantments in the dungeons and set them to be triggered by a single spell. So it was that Dumbledore, just before the feast, had taken out his wand and uttered a few choice words, and the dungeons had transformed radically. The hallways were now an underground river, flowing through a rocky passage. The classrooms had turned into miniature environments, where the real production would take place.

    The first group was very surprised to find that the top of the stairway had changed into a dock with a boat moored to it. As the choppy water flowed by, and the cobwebs overhead crawled with spiders, Ron led them into the wooden boat, which was ready to seat fifteen, plus one guide.

    "Sit down, please," he said, "and be sure you sit up straight. I'll be activating the charm shortly which will hold you in your seats so that you don't fall out and drown. You will be seeing many things which will be fun, although also, we hope, pleasantly scary. You should come out of this alive and unharmed, so prepare to be scared, while knowing that you won't get hurt. Is everybody ready?" A course of eager "Yes"'s answered him.

    "Right then," he said, sitting down and drawing his wand. "Pacum!" Suddenly, no one could move from their seats. Ron had not done the spell that instant, which would have been quite difficult, but had rather spoken the word to activate the spell already on the boat. The spell would keep everybody in his or her seat and prevent them from dropping anything. The rope mooring the boat to the dock fizzled out into nothingness, and the boat began to steer itself across the stream.

    "And now," Ron said, making sure to keep his voice absolutely calm and casual, "without further ado, I present... The First Annual Hogwarts Halloween Fright Night!" The boat rounded a bend and plunged through a steep, dark passage which was normally a stairwell and was now a waterfall.

    "Ahhhhhh!" screamed everyone, as they plunged down through the darkness, the cold air whipping by their faces. The dungeons had been bewitched so that certain sections, such as the staircases, were much longer and narrower than they normally were. Thus, they spent probably half a minute shooting downwards, accelerating faster and faster, until they leveled out in a huge spray which drenched everyone. Ron had been slightly frightened himself; although he knew that the boat was quite capable of piloting itself, sometimes the waverings from side to side, as if the boat were about to crash into one of the rocky walls, had been almost too realistic.

    "We will shortly be entering the first scene," Ron said. "Although you will hopefully be frightened in this next scene, you should come out of it unharmed." The boat glided towards the side, and went through a wide, dark crack in the wall. The water was now calmer, and the change of environment as they entered what was normally a classroom was complete. There were crickets chirping in the background, the mosquitoes were buzzing around, and it was suddenly extremely warm, with a huge moon and stars in the clear sky overhead. The boat drifted to the edge of the bayoo and stopped. Everyone waited, and the suspense became almost unbearable. There was a rustling sound, a few screams, and Hermione sprinted out of the nearby woods.

    "Help!" she screamed. "Please, help me!" She had nearly reached the boat, and everyone had tried to move to let her in, when Harry burst out of the trees. He was barely recognizable. His skin was paper-white, and his eyes glowed a dim red. His scar was completely hidden. In fact, no one but Ron and Hermione knew it was he. The supposed vampire grabbed Hermione roughly by the arm, spun her around, and sank his fangs into her neck.

    Hermione tried to make sure that her expression was one of pain as Harry's warm lips pressed against her neck (the fangs were simply illusion). The charm which she had placed upon herself got to work, and her skin was very slowly drained of color as her eyes acquired the red hue and glow. Harry finally released her, and the two vampires walked menacingly towards the boat.

    "Oh, yes," Hermione said throatily, "fresh blood."

    "Now, now, now," Ron said, "remember, we only paid you to bite the students who were too good." Everyone gasped. Harry smirked, showing his fangs again.

    "You paid me," Harry said, "but you didn't say what she could do." They came closer.

    "We'll just be going now, then," Ron said, the panic becoming more apparent with each syllable. "Boat! Go!" But the boat stayed where it was. "Go! GO!" Everyone began to cringe as the vampires leaned over the prow, preparing to leap on board. Ron whipped out his wand.

    "Lumos Solarus!" he screamed. Sunlight burst from the end of his wand and shone upon the two vampires. They screamed and burst into a cloud of dust.

    "Sorry about that," Ron said, putting his wand away. "Don't know what got into them. Now, if only this boat would work..." Suddenly the water beneath it churned, and they rocketed back out of the Louisiana bayoo and back through the crack.

    "LOOK OUT!" Hannah Abbot screamed, who was piloting the next boat. Screams shot through the air as the other boat ground to a halt and Ron's boat shot down the tunnel.

    "Phew!" Ron said. "Is everybody still doing alright back there?" Everyone answered in the affirmative.

    "Good," he said, "because our next fright session is about to begin. Now, don't be alarmed, because this is all automated and the boat knows exactly what it's doing. Except, of course, when it doesn't... Anyway, our next scene will be underwater."

    "How will we breathe?" Dennis Creevey inquired.

    "Hopefully, that shouldn't be a problem," Ron answered, as a barely visible force field shot up over the top of the boat. It cut smoothly underwater and dove downwards, their only air supply the air contained under the magical force field which encased them in an environment of relative safety. Lights on the boat's prow blazed to life, and it shot forward.

***

    Fifteen minutes later, when everyone had had their share of scariness through sharks, the interior of a sunken ship, and several leaks in the hull of the boat, they returned to the surface.

    "Now," said Ron, "for our last section, we will be going towards..." and then the boat lurched and shot again over the edge of a waterfall. It shot forwards through the air.

    "Well," said Ron, "we should land sooner or later, and then we'll be done. Unless, of course, he wakes up..."

    "Who wakes up?" asked a first-year. A booming roar cut her off. A furious cave dragon came into view behind them.

    "Zrakolasos," Ron said, "our new resident cave dragon. He shouldn't be able to catch up with us, because we should get out of the caves shortly, and he won't want to leave them, because he's a cave dragon. Of course, if Zrakolasos is really mad and has blocked up the exit, we're in more trouble than I thought... Oh, there it is!" A small aperture was apparent in the rocky wall ahead of them. They shot closer and closer to the hole, and finally shot through it (there was barely enough space) as Zrakolasos' fiery breath licked out after them.

    "I hope you enjoyed the First Annual Hogwarts Fright Night," Ron said, "and please remain seated until the boat has come to a full and complete stop."

    "Ahhhh!" screamed everyone suddenly. They had ended up shooting out of one of the caves in the mountains, and had now finished hurtling across the Forbidden Forest and were rapidly approaching the castle.

    "Boats aren't supposed to fly!" shouted Dennis indignantly.

    "I know!" said Ron. "The only problem is, we used more than a few experimental charms when we built these, and they seem to be malfunctioning. Hopefully, we'll just about make it..." They hurtled closer and closer, and it seemed as if they would crash terribly against one of the stone walls. Then, in the nick of time, they curved downwards, shot through the branches of the Whomping Willow, shot through a large window which conveniently opened itself to allow them passage, and skidded down into a water-filled corridor.

    "That was great!" Dennis said as they climbed out.

    "Oh, but it's not done quite yet!" Ron said cheerfully. "Look out, there's a cave troll!" Everyone whirled around, screaming yet again, as Ron fell over laughing.

***

    November and most of December flew by in a blur of constant learning and living. Harry, Ron and Hermione were all having the time of their lives with Hogwarts' new schedule, and it seemed that the entire school was thinking along those lines as well. Harry immensely pitied those who did not have the same sort of opportunities as he did, because now that he was constantly learning, life was simply so much more fun than it used to be.

    One day, Harry woke up to find that his ears had become slightly pointed over the night. He had placed a Concealing Charm on them to prevent anyone from noticing them. He liked them. They were extremely sensitive to touch, and he had to prevent himself from playing with them, because it would have looked extremely odd for him to be constantly playing with his ears, and an odd appearance was something he wanted at all costs to avoid. He noticed an extremely increased sense of balance, and talked to Hermione about it. She, it turned out, had had pointed ears for a while, and, like him, had concealed them. She had also read that Elves used the points on their ears to sense how air was moving by them, and thus supplement the sense of balance which they received by sight, procioreceptive nerve endings, and inner ear tubes.

    The day before Christmas vacation began, everyone in the fifth-year Gryffindor boy's dormitory was packing to be ready to leave.

    "Dean is going to stay with my family over the holidays," Seamus remarked. "What are you doing, Neville?" Neville blushed ever so slightly. Harry felt a sudden pang of sadness, and quickly took a discrete look at Neville's thoughts. An image of a man and a woman, lying silently in two hospital beds, their blank eyes staring upwards as Neville and his grandmother sat next to them, Neville holding his mother's hand, quiet sadness emitting from him, came to Harry's mind. Harry looked down, pretending to be packing his socks, while he prevented the tears from streaming down his face. When Elves sensed the emotions of others by virtue of their empathic senses, they actually felt the emotions. Thus, Harry, for a moment, was as sad about Neville's parents as Neville himself was.

    "I'm going to go see my grandmother," Neville said. "She's not doing that well, you know. I'm about the only company she has left." Dean and Seamus looked slightly embarrassed, and looked down.

    "What are you doing for the holiday, Harry?" Neville asked, obviously trying to change the subject. Harry was startled for a moment, but remembered their cover story.

    "Hermione's parents invited Ron and I to stay with them over Christmas," he said. "They've never really met us, you know."

    "Ah," said Neville, beginning to smile. Harry and Hermione's romance, although they didn't flaunt it, had become well known across Gryffindor Tower.

    "It's not like that at all!" Harry protested indignantly. "Her parents invited both of us."

    "Oh," said Neville serenely. "Was that what you were thinking about? I didn't think that that was the case, but if you say so..." Harry dropped the argument, realizing that he'd already lost it.

***

    "It is impossible to go to Altschwanstein by Apparition," Dumbledore said. They were about to leave, and were gathered in his office. "I, of course, cannot avail myself of the Elvish method of transport, and the three of you have not yet learned how to do it. Accordingly, we will drive there." Harry felt a thrill of excitement. He always felt like this before going on a trip because while he had lived with the Dursleys he hadn't gone much of anywhere. Even a small excursion was a source of great excitement for him. He felt the excitement building as Dumbledore took a Portkey out of his pocket and told them all to touch it (they had already bewitched their luggage so that it was small enough to put in their pockets). There was a jerk behind Harry's navel, and the world around them dissolved and reformed as they reappeared in the abandoned unisex restroom of a car rental agency. They were all dressed in Muggle clothes, including Dumbledore, who instructed them to leave the room separately and wait outside. Dumbledore left the building last, after having visited the front desk and received the key to the car they would be renting. He led them to a white sedan. They got in and drove off as the sun moved down towards the horizon.

    Harry hadn't thought about Dumbledore being able to drive a Muggle vehicle, but then realized that if Dumbledore read the Muggle newspapers, it made sense that he would also be able to drive a Muggle car. They passed through London, crossed the English Channel, drove through France and Belgium, and entered Germany. As Dumbledore entered the Autobahn, Harry felt his heart go up to his mouth. Although he had great faith in the Headmaster's ability to operate the vehicle, he could sense all of the tiny delays between the awareness of necessary adjustments and Dumbledore's reaction to them. Even so, as they went through Germany, passing through crowded cities and less crowded areas, Harry was inexplicably at ease.

    "Professor," he said suddenly, "I haven't heard anything lately about Voldemort." Dumbledore smiled slightly.

    "Although I am wary to say that Voldemort has had his claws clipped," Dumbledore said, not taking his eyes off the road, "all of our intelligence points towards the fact that the new awareness we have of him through our operatives has crippled him greatly. Your father has been one of the greatest contributors to this, Ron. The Ministry and my forces can now work together, and we are far more capable to defeat Voldemort because of it." Ron smiled, and so did Harry and Hermione. They were all very proud of Mr. Weasley, who had turned out to be an even better Minister than even they had expected. Amazingly, most of the Slytherins at Hogwarts held a grudging respect for him.

    "We're nearly there," said Dumbledore as they left Munich. The car climbed higher and higher in the mountains as the stars glimmered overhead. The snow was pristine white and piled up on either side of the roadway. Harry felt extremely happy as he looked at the traditional houses decked out for Christmas. They could see Neuschwanstein on the horizon as they began to climb a mountain which appeared to be bare at the top.

    Dumbledore abruptly turned off the road onto a little-used gravel path and turned off the car. They bundled out. A tall man appeared out of nowhere, leading four white horses. Harry, Ron and Hermione knew instantly that he was an Elf.

    "Asea," he said, bowing slightly.

    "Asea," Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore replied in unison, also bowing. It was the traditional form of Elvish greeting.

    "I will take care of your car," the Elf said, speaking Elvish.. "If you'll ride the horses up that road, you'll soon come to Altschwanstein. It is somewhat cold, but the ride is not very long."

    "Thank you very much," Dumbledore said in perfect Elvish. They mounted the horses and began to ride up the mountain path. The Elf got into the car and drove it away. Harry felt a thrill of excitement as they came closer and closer to the top of the mountain. Something at the top shimmered slightly, and then Altschwanstein came into view. Harry was awed as they came closer and closer. Finally, they reached the front gates and dismounted.

    "Welcome to Altschwanstein!" said one of the two goblins who were standing at the gate. "If you'll go in, we will take care of the horses."

    "Thank you," Dumbledore said, smiling, as he led them in. Suddenly, a tall man with dark hair whom Harry very much missed.

    "Harry!" Sirius said, embracing him.

    "Sirius!" Harry replied, mimicking his pronunciation perfectly. They broke apart, laughing.

    "What took the four of you so long?" asked Sirius, in perfect Elvish.

    "I didn't know you spoke Elvish, Sirius," Harry said, surprised.

    "All of the Order members do," Dumbledore said. "And, I apologize for asking you to do this so suddenly, but please follow us." Mystified, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Dumbledore and Sirius through the hallways of Altschwanstein, and into a large room. There were several people there, dressed in either Muggle, wizarding or Elvish clothing. Harry saw several people whom he recognized, including Fleur, Mundungus Fletcher, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin (Harry still thought of him as such even though he was no longer a Hogwarts Professor). There were many, many other people there as well, including several giants, quite a few goblins, and many, many Elves, accompanied by a few dwarves.

    "Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley," Dumbledore said, standing in the center of the room. "The Order of the Phoenix has called you here to ask that you join us. We are an organization dedicated to the prevention and counteracting of evil through the ways of justice, truth, compassion and light. Do you consent to join us?" Harry, Ron and Hermione realized that this was something which they should certainly do. Conscious of the eyes fixed upon them, they all managed a nod.

    "Thank you," said Dumbledore. "All Order members, please raise your right hands, palms outwards." All the right arms in the room rose upwards, and upon each palm, including Dumbledore's, Harry could see a glowing yellow emblem of a phoenix.

    "We hereby welcome you to the Order," the members chanted in unison. Harry, Hermione and Ron all subconsciously lifted up their right palms, and three new phoenix emblems blazed to life.

***

    Walking through the hallways that night, Harry looked at his palm, which still tingled slightly. He was elated. He was now a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and would truly be able to defeat evil. He was now larger than Voldemort could ever be, for Voldemort was merely one evil wizard, and Harry had set himself against all of evil. He continued to walk, lost in thought, until a familiar voice stopped him.

    "Harry?" it said. He whirled around. It couldn't be, could it? There she was.

    "Aunt Ethuil?" he gasped. She was now extremely old, but still the same queen. She smiled.

    "I'm glad I found you," she said. Harry was struck dumb. He had had no idea she was still alive.

    "I retired from being the Elvish queen fifty years ago," she said. "Rubon is now the king. He very much wanted to be here, but he's now on Io at a conference with the Jovian moon goblins. I need to tell you something. I know this may come as a shock, Harry, but about forty years ago, Rubon and Maloriel had a daughter, whom they named Lily. She was abducted by Voldemort. She escaped, but he erased all of her memory. She was adopted by a Muggle family; the Evans family. She went to Hogwarts. We never found out what became of her until she died. You see, when an Elf dies for someone else, a very special sort of magic comes to be. We all felt it, when it happened, back in 1981. Rubon, Maloriel and I rushed to Godric's Hollow, but by the time we got there, Dumbledore had already done the best thing he knew to do: he took you to your aunt and uncle, and it was too late to get you back without rousing suspicion. Harry, I am your great-grandmother."