The Return of the Griffin

Chapter 4

Harry was sitting in a tree. He heard the voices.

"Mother wishes to speak with you." He looked into the golden red eyes of the dragon. The other dragons in the clearing repeated this.

Harry kept repeating, "Who is 'Mother'? How can I speak with her? Where is she?" while getting more and more frustrated.

The dragons just kept chanting, "Mother wishes to speak with you."

Harry watched as one dragon and then another crumpled to the ground, their bodies desiccating quickly and turning to dust that was blown away in the breeze.

"No! No! Don't die! I don't know who Mother is!" he cried out.

The dragon in front of him, whose eyes were turning redder and redder, replied, "But you do. You must answer to Mother. She speaks for the Queen."

The scene changed, and he saw Maggie. She was sitting at a table in the middle of the soccer field at the Quaker school, her deck of Tarot cards before her. Harry could make out the card nearest him...The Hanged Man. Maggie pointed to it. "You assume you have sacrificed something to gain something else."

She continues, but he no longer hears her. It goes dark and he can see stars above him. He's flying, his wings beating hard against his sides. He swoops and dives in the brisk night air, feeling the power in his wings. He sees the dragon, the one he spoke with before. He lands nearby. His eyes are no longer red, but bright and glowing gold in the night. He hears the dragon speak to him. "You have found Mother."

Harry woke up with a start. Okay, so he was worried about the dragons, but who is Mother? And what is that about a Queen? He couldn't even imagine what his subconscious was doing. It didn't make any sense. He assumed he'd sacrificed something? He had sacrificed something and had been living without it for seven years. Irritated, he slid out of bed.

Harry moved through the house in the predawn light. He realized he wasn't going to get any more sleep that night, so he decided to go for a run. Maybe it will clear out my head. It's all this talk of going home.

Harry pulled on his running shorts and did his stretches in the living room. He did them automatically, without any thought. Before leaving, he remembered to write a note for Ginny. He knew she would assume he was running, but some habits die hard, and worry was one of the hardest.

He took a left out the garden gate, feeling his muscles pump steadily. His mind raced along with him, and he let go to the fear. I'm not ready for this, he thought to himself. How many squibs have an Order of Merlin, First class? He knew people had expectations of him. Hell, he'd killed Voldemort. His best friends were creating a new wizarding world order. Supposedly it was the new golden age. And he spent the time teaching American teenagers how to play soccer. He wasn't that person anymore. He wasn't even a wizard anymore.

Harry ran faster, feeling the burn in his chest. He took great gasping breaths. Pain was good, it blocked out memories and the feeling of inadequacy. The sweat poured off of his skin. Road after road, he ran. Whenever his thoughts started to race again, he picked up speed, determined to shut it all out and focus on the persistent tempo of his feet hitting the pavement.

He finally started slowing to a normal pace when he could see the sky blaze in the colors of dawn. He slowed to watch the sun rise. His rhythm slowed even more as he focused on the slowly rising sun, until he was jogging more than running.

When Harry could see the garden fence, he slowed to a walk. He held the gate so it would shut quietly and walked into the living room to do his cool down stretches. He pulled his t-shirt off and used it to wipe his face and dry his wild hair. As he pulled the shirt away, he saw Ginny standing at the bottom of the stairs in her violet robe with her hair all tousled from sleep. She didn't say anything, only came to him. She sat on the floor behind him, pulling him to her, and holding him close.

"So did you outrun the demons?" she murmured as she kissed his ear.

His breathing slowed and then he heard it: the unearthly beauty of phoenix song.

"Do you hear that?" he asked her quietly. He stood up and looked around. The music got louder, and then...

"Fawkes!"

The large red and gold-feathered bird had landed on the back of the sofa. He had a letter in his beak, and an empty box of lemon drops in his claws. He let the box drop, and fluttered to Harry, handing him the letter. Harry stroked his head, as he opened the letter.

Dear Harry,

Charlie asked if I had a way to get a message to you more quickly than owling, hence the visit from Fawkes. The dragon situation is quickly growing worse. Another dragon on the reservation has become ill and he has heard from his old reservation in Romania that they too, have dragons becoming ill. We hope you are willing to come.

Fawkes has brought you the portkey, the empty box of lemon drops, which is set to go at 12:32 your time and will bring you to the Burrow. Arrangements have been made to bring you to the reservation first thing tomorrow morning. Please send a note back with Fawkes if this meets with your approval.

I truly look forward to seeing you once more.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry continued to stroke Fawkes as he let Ginny read the letter.

"Well, it's a good thing we got as much done yesterday as we did. We'll shrink up what needs to be brought and pack it all in our trunks. I better let everyone know the time of our departure." She rose and hurried to the fireplace.

"Well, I need to write the answer for Fawkes." Harry sat down at the desk in the corner of the living room, and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill toward him.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

Thank you for sending Fawkes. I am sure Charlie and the Ministry will appreciate the very swift response. We were gearing for the move since we sent the return owl, so the portkey will be fine. I look forward to speaking with you upon our return.

Best,

Harry

He sealed the parchment, and tied it to Fawkes' leg. Harry stroked his red-gold plumage one more time. "Dumbledore is waiting for you, Fawkes."

Fawkes spread his wings, floated in the air a moment and with a pop, disappeared.

"I better eat something while I can. It's still early, I suspect the kids will stay asleep a bit longer," Harry said to himself then headed for the kitchen.

He sat down with some toast and a cup of coffee. He looked around at the boxes around the room. The kitchen had become the dumping ground for all the packed items they would bring with them. He swilled down the last of his coffee, and started arranging the boxes onto the table. He sighed, realizing they were going to have to shrink everything in order to be able to portkey it with them.

Ginny walked into the kitchen, "Professor Crandall sends her love and it's possible we may have some visitors to help us finish packing. She figures it must be mighty important to get such a quick international portkey." She poured herself some coffee, as she watched Harry move one of the last boxes in the room. "But we're doing pretty well. Just need to pack up Tory's stuff, and then start shrinking. Goodness, I'm going to hate that spell by the time we're done!"

"Well, before I get too much further, I think I'm going to take a shower. That run sorta did me in," Harry said as he put the last kitchen box on the table. "If you want to shrink the kitchen stuff, I'll pack it into one box when you're done," he added.

After he finished his shower, Harry came down the stairs carrying Tory. He heard voices coming from the kitchen.

"Harry, you remember Professor Zauber? She's the Charms teacher. Professor Crandall may stop by later."

Harry gave the professor a one-armed hug, "Hi Lila. Thanks for helping out." Harry set Tory into her high chair.

"Mmoooooooooooooooooooo," Tory bellowed. Lila laughed.

Ginny smiled at the dark haired girl. "No, honey, it's milk. Mmmmiiiillllkkkk."

Tory nodded her head happily, "Mmooooo!"

Ginny laughed as she poured her milk into an enchanted cup that wouldn't spill and put it on her tray. Lila sat down at the kitchen table and found the coffee pot squeezed between the packed boxes.

"Okay! What's left? We have some shrinking to do! Furniture: we're leaving dressers and such, but taking the beds out of our room and Davey's bed," Ginny stated. "Lila, you can help me shrink all this...you're going to get tired of saying the spell, that's for certain."

"Not a problem. My wand is ready," Lila said.

"Good idea to bring Davey's bed. I know he's already sad over leaving Seirah, and she created that bed for him," Harry added.

Ginny nodded, "We'll bring Tory's crib, since Ruth won't have any use for it. The sofa in the living room, the kitchen table and chairs," she paused to take a breath before continuing, "I want to bring that table in the hall, that was a wedding gift from Percy and Katie. Is there anything I'm forgetting, Harry?" she asked, twirling her hair absently.

"Gin, how about the clock?" he grinned, waiting for the blast.

"Oh, bloody-! Mum would've killed me!" Ginny put her hand over her mouth in shock.

Harry had wanted to give Ginny something special for their wedding. So, Harry and Mrs. Weasley sought out the makers of the Weasley family clock. The company made one quite similar, and when each child was born, Mrs. Weasley had sent a new clock hand with the child's name on it. It was nice to know the family was safe, as no one's hand ever pointed to "Mortal Peril" anymore.

It had some updates from the original family clock as well. They didn't see them at first, the hands still pointing to things such as "Traveling" or "At Work". The first time they attached Davey's hand, new subjects popped up on the face like, "Getting into Mischief" and "Change Nappy".

"Anything else?" Ginny asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "Not any other furniture I can think of. We want to leave some things for Ruth, and we can't bring everything with us."

"Okay then. Are all the boxes in here? Or are we missing anything?"

Harry tapped his chin. "We haven't taken out everything from the bathroom--toothbrushes, shampoo and the like. And we haven't packed up Victoria's room yet," he paused, "I was thinking, Ginny--do you think Neville might be interested in Skunk Cabbage?"

"Sure! Worst case scenario, George will use them to create some new stink pellet."

Lila sat watching the interplay. "I'm going to miss you two," she said.

"Oh! You'll have to come out to England! You would love it!" Ginny replied.

"You know, I just might." She smiled.

Harry interrupted, "Well, I know what I'm doing. I'll pack up the bathroom stuff, Tory's clothes and toys, and then go out back and dig up some skunk cabbage." He stood up and stretched. "I'll leave you ladies to it." He leaned over to give Ginny a kiss.

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed. "You forgot something!"

Harry stopped and thought a moment. "What did I forget?"

"How about Hedwig? You'll need to dig her old cage up."

"How in Merlin's name did I forget her?" Harry shook his head. "I can't believe I did that!"

The rest of the packing went fairly smoothly. Ruth stopped by and the shrinking went faster. Even shrunk, and magically enlarging the chests, it still took three trunks to pack everything they needed. Of course, the chest with the plants couldn't be shrunk, as it was filled with living things, but that couldn't be helped.

When Harry walked in from the garden with Sandy on his arm and Hedwig in her cage, the women were discussing the trunks that were sitting in the living room.

"I don't know, I've never tried it," Ruth said thoughtfully.

"Tried what?" Harry asked.

"Tried shrinking something twice. Does it make it even smaller? Or does it do weird things to the object?" Ruth asked. Ginny and Lila were still discussing it.

Harry thought for a moment why this would be important, then it dawned on him. If they wanted to shrink the trunks, could they, since they were filled with already shrunken items.

"The trunks are awfully big to be portkeying with," Harry acknowledged.

Lila sighed. "We haven't done it before, but theoretically it should be fine."

"Well, wouldn't it make sense to test it? We have to leave in less than a half an hour," Ginny answered.

The women took a box, and put in a shrunken lamp. Lila pointed her wand, tapping the box, "Minui."

The box shrank to the size of a pillbox. She lightly tapped the box again; "Abrogo."

The box swelled like a water-filled balloon. Ginny jumped to it, and pulled out the miniature lamp. She repeated the spell reversal charm. The lamp was in perfect condition.

Ginny laughed with relief. "Well, that is one problem solved." Ginny and Lila each pointed to a chest holding the belongings. They repeated the "Minui" charm and they shrank to the size of a small valise.

"Now it is only the chest for Neville that will be a bother," Ginny smiled, "Ruth and I are going to go through the house quickly, make sure we didn't leave anything important."

"We've only got 15 minutes, Ginny. Hurry up!" Harry smiled as Ginny squealed and rushed up the stairs.

There was a knock on the door. Surprised, Harry opened it.

"You didn't think I was going to let my two favorite Brits go without saying goodbye, now did you?" Professor Crandall smiled.

Harry gave her a hug. "Thank you, Professor."

"Oh, for goodness sake, you're leaving. I think you can call me by my name," she blustered.

"Thanks for coming, Faith," he replied.

"Faith! You came!" Ginny rushed past Harry to hug her former employer.

"Wild hippogriffs couldn't keep me away young lady," she sniffed. "I'm going to miss you. I expect to get regular owls from you two!"

Ginny squeezed the woman's hand. "Absolutely. You've been like the family I missed here."

"By the way, I believe you forgot something personal in your office, Ginny." From behind her back, she pulled Harry's Firebolt. "That is some broom to be leaving behind."

Harry took it. "Thanks for bringing it Faith. I would've missed this." He tucked the broom next to the birch branch Seirah had given Davey in the plant chest.

Ruth spoke up. "Guys, you have like five minutes. Perhaps you should gather around?" She waved the empty box of lemon drops.

Ginny and Harry hugged everyone, with Davey just hugging Ruth. They all smiled at each other, and Ginny picked up Victoria. She held Tory's chubby hand onto the open lid.

"Ginny, do you think standing is a good idea?" Every time that Harry could think of, he'd fallen once he'd gotten to his destination.

They looked about, finally deciding to both sit on Neville's trunk with Harry's hand through the handle, and the handle of the second valise in his other. Davey, it was decided would be holding the handle to the third valise, while Ginny held Tory with one hand, and Hedwig's cage with the other.

The portkey itself was wedged between Harry and Ginny, while Davey touched it with his fingers, and Ginny helped Tory to touch it.

"Remind me, Harry, never to travel like this again?" she groused.

Harry looked around the living room, as Ginny gave the children directions about the portkey. He remembered the first day they found the house, after their honeymoon in Venice. The first day they brought Davey home. Molly had come to help Ginny, and how scared he was over being a father.

Lila, Faith and Ruth all watched. "Goodbye guys!" Ruth said, "I'll try and come out later this summer!"

It was then that Harry felt the old feeling of a hook in his navel, pulling him. He heard Davey gasp, then the whooshing darkness. It took more than a few moments, but they had an ocean to cross, and not just a countryside. A loud THUNK and light returned. Harry and Ginny were still sitting on the trunk, their hair looking as though they'd been out on the sailboat in high wind all day. Davey had fallen to the floor, while Tory managed to look totally unphased. Hedwig's feathers all looked as though they'd been blown backwards. Harry lifted his eyes, and saw the whole Weasley clan standing in the two doorways to the Burrow's living room.

"Welcome Home!!!" everyone shouted.

Weasleys of all shapes and sizes poured in from the doorways. Molly and Arthur first, rushed to give each of them a hug. Molly took Tory and looked like she wasn't planning on letting her go.

"Davey! You've gotten so much bigger since the last picture your mum sent us!" Molly exclaimed.

Before everyone else came pouring in, Harry whispered to Sandy asking where she'd like to be. Sandy answered that the fireplace looked comfortable to her. He leaned over and she slithered off.

Behind Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came Ron and Hermione. They had only been able to visit Ginny and Harry once, after Davey was born. They rushed Harry, enveloping him in a hug at the same time. For a moment it felt like old times, the three of them together. But then, Rufus and Rowena popped their heads in between the three of them.

"Uncle Harry! Uncle Harry!"

Harry looked at the two urchins. "I haven't seen the two of you since you were little ones!"

Ron and Hermione released Harry, laughing. Harry knelt down to the twins level and gave them hugs before they sped off, giggling. In the meantime, Maggie, Percy, Bill, and George were surrounding Ginny and the children. Tory was excited by so many people, and happily patted her grandmother's cheek. It wasn't long before the children all asked to go play out in the garden. Natalie went with them carrying Hedwig's cage.

Bill and George helped Harry drag the valises and trunk into Ginny's old room. "It's good to have you back, mate," Bill exclaimed, slapping Harry on the back. Harry didn't know what to say.

George broke in, "Well, it's about bloody time, Harry." He grinned. "People have been making up all sorts of stories about what you've been doing. There was this one story that had you joining a herd of centaurs..." George laughed. Harry joined him.

"That bad, huh? And you'd think after the Triwizard, they'd have had me joining the merpeople." Harry sank down to the chest full of plants. "Hey George, I might have something for you to play with here." Harry grinned. He flipped open the lid of the trunk.

"Blimey, Harry. Are you planning on giving Neville a run for his money?" George breathed.

"Actually, this is all for Neville. But this plant in particular you might be interested in." Harry pulled out the one large skunk cabbage he'd dug up that morning from amongst the shoots. "Smell it."

George took a cautious whiff. "Ugh! A skunk sprayed it!"

Harry laughed. "Actually, it's called skunk cabbage, and it makes that smell all on its own. American native."

George's eyes perked. "A way to put dungbombs out of business? Oi, hand it over!" Bill laughed at George's obvious excitement.

"Let me get these to Neville first. We need to make sure we can grow them after all. Glad you're interested though." Harry put the plant back in the trunk. Ginny had rigged it with a sort of magical grow light, so the plants wouldn't do poorly.

"So, where's Charlie, anyway? I'd have thought he'd be the first one here to see me." Harry asked.

Bill and George looked at each other. "He lost another dragon today, Harry. It wasn't the brooding dragon, but he's really upset. They're..."George's voice slowed, "they're draining its blood and removing the magical bits. The whole reservation is getting really upset."

"No wonder they wanted me here fast. I just hope that I can actually help."

"You have to. No one else knows what to do," Bill answered.

"Yeah, no pressure, Harry." George chuckled.

Ginny popped her head in the door. "Harry! I've been looking for you. Mum says we're going to have tea in the garden. Even with the addition to the kitchen, there is no way she'd fit this horde in there." She grinned. "Personally, I think she's afraid to have all those grimy feet all over her new floor. But she wants you two," pointing to her brothers, "to help set up outside."

Dinner was a feast. Percy had magically lengthened the table while Bill and George drew up extra chairs. The table was laden with dishes of bubble and squeak, steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash. Then there were three sorts of puddings and treacle tart for desert. Pitchers of pumpkin juice and flagons of butterbeer dotted the long table.

Around the table, Harry saw faces from the entire Weasley clan. Severus was there, sitting next to Maggie, and smiling at some joke George had just said. Angelina was sitting next to George. Percy and Katie and Sam and Nita joined them. Ron and Hermione sat across from Bill and Juliet. Natalie sat with the children and helped take care of them, because besides Rufus and Rowena, there was also Davey and Percy and Katie's son Fred who was a few months younger than Davey. Then there was George and Angelina's third child, Rina who was a few months younger than Fred. Tory stayed at the large table with Ginny in a high chair. Charlie was the only missing Weasley. Well, almost. Harry looked around and thought it was probably a good thing Charlie wasn't able to attend. His being there would have made Fred's absence that much more obvious. Perhaps the rest of the family had learned how to cope with his absence in the intervening years. Harry, however had not, and was saddened by the loss.

Arthur and Molly looked at each other from opposite ends of the table and smiled at each other. It was good to have the family together. The noise swelled as everyone laughed and chattered between stuffing their faces with the feast before them.

By the time everyone had had their fill, the children had run off to chase fireflies. The discussions around Harry carefully avoided discussing the dragons or his loss of magic. He noticed Maggie staring at him a few times during the dinner. Finally, Harry couldn't be around it any longer.

"I think I'm going to take a bit of a walk. Need to work all that excellent food through my system." He leaned over and kissed Ginny on the cheek, and then his mother-in-law as well. "Thanks for the wonderful food, Mum."

He could still hear the chatter of the mob behind him, as he made his way to the orchard all the Weasleys had used as a quidditch pitch. He sat down under a tree, looking up at the sky. All the times they'd practiced up here, seeing the Burrow from the air, the wind blowing in his face. He took a deep breath.

How WAS he going to do this?