Harry Potter and the Guild of the Night

Chapter 8

Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall sat with the Headmaster in his office, drinking tea and waiting for the arrival of Remus Lupin and Master Nhean. Remus was the first to arrive; they heard him trudging up the stairs but were surprised to find a tired but quietly elated look on his face. He sat down in his usual chair and nodded in acceptance to the offer of a cup of tea.

"Everything alright, Remus?" Minerva asked with interest.

The werewolf smiled broadly. "Couldn't be better," he said but refused to elaborate, merely saying that it was Master Nhean's place to say any more. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at that statement and he smiled into his cup of tea.

Master Nhean entered a few minutes later and managed to surprise everyone in the room except for Remus and the Headmaster. He was still wearing his elaborate ceremonial robes and neither Minerva nor Severus had seen him in anything other the plain robes he favoured.

"From your attire, might I assume that something fairly significant has happened," Dumbledore asked with a smile.

Nhean sat and accepted his tea and sipped it with appreciation. He smiled in satisfaction. "Why yes, Albus, you might assume that."

Minerva and Severus stared at the tiny Master with surprise and then shifted that look to Remus when they saw his proud smile.

Master Nhean chuckled. "Shame on you, Albus. Keeping them in suspense in this manner." He turned to the two confused members of the gathering. "Harry was inducted into the Guild tonight and it went rather well."

Remus looked at him with curiosity. "I noticed you were quite pleased by the..." He groped for the words he was looking for. "The colour of the liquid in that goblet but I'm afraid I don't understand the significance."

Nhean smiled with delight. "My dear Remus, I was overjoyed. I must admit after what Albus told me I had expected something remarkable from Harry and I find that my expectations were fulfilled. You no doubt noted the colour of the liquid? Crimson and gold. That particular part of the ceremony tells the trainer where the postulant's strengths are going to lie. The majority of potential Warriors fall into one of two categories. Their strengths lie either in the martial arts or they lie in the magical arts. Perhaps only a bare ten percent of postulants show that mixed colour. It means that their strengths will lie in both fields and those strengths will be equal. Harry shows great promise." He finished with a pleased satisfaction in his voice.

The Headmaster and Professor McGonagall exchanged pleased and proud looks and Dumbledore clapped his hands together.

"Excellent! Most excellent!" He paused and eyed the Night Master and the werewolf with concern. "Has there been any repeat of the breakdown that Harry had?"

Nhean and Remus exchanged glances and Nhean indicated for Remus to go first.

"No, Headmaster, though he has had his bad days." Remus sighed. "The day he realised that he would no longer be able to play quidditch was particularly bad." He shook his head at the memory of seeing Harry's distress; the boy had truly loved playing the sport. "We made an agreement that we wouldn't keep things from each other any more, that if we were unhappy or something odd happened to either of us, we would tell the other. I thought it best to do it that way. Harry is not a boy anymore, Headmaster. He's a young man now and I thought it might be best to start treating him that way. He has been telling me how he feels." Remus paused and gave a small, odd-sounding laugh. "I'd never truly realised how much he was keeping from us. Did you know that he never told you how he was being treated by the Dursleys because he didn't think it was that important compared to everything else that was going on?"

Dumbledore closed his eyes, a look of deep sadness settling on his face. Remus saw it and immediately regretted the question. He decided to remove the expression as best he could.

"Of course," he said with a grin reminiscent of his days as a Marauder, "I also found out about some of his escapades during his years here at Hogwarts."

Eyebrows went up all around the room and Remus gave wicked laugh.

"I don't suppose you'd care to share?" Minerva asked dryly.

"Erm, perhaps not," Remus said with a grin. "Maybe I'd better wait until Harry has finished school before I do that. I wouldn't want him to be in detention for the rest of his life after all."

Snape sneered with sardonic amusement in his eyes while the other laughed.

Remus sobered. "In all seriousness, Albus, Harry's getting there. He hasn't completely adjusted nor has he really gotten over Sirius' death. Only time can take care of that but he's not hiding things from me anymore and I think that's a major step in the right direction. He'll be alright in time."

"Good," Dumbledore said and turned to Snape. "Now, Severus, you have something to report."

Snape grimaced. "I received an owl from Pettigrew this afternoon hence my calling this meeting. The Dark Lord has asked me brew a number of potions for him. He has asked for Veritaserum as well as a number of...the...more dubious potions I have developed for him over the years."

Albus' face took on a grim expression. "How long?"

"I have some of them on hand but the Veritaserum will take me a month to brew and..." He paused. "...one of the other potions will take me three months to brew. We have that long at least." He stopped again and considered the last night's meeting. "If all goes well, I should know more about what is happening this time. The Dark Lord did say he would 'reward' me for the information I had. He rarely goes back on those rewards...even if you do not wish to be rewarded. I suspect I will be permitted limited access into his inner sanctum." Snape's face became closed and his shoulder hunched slightly.

"Thank you, my friend," the Headmaster said softly. "I know that you would prefer to merely report to me but I think under the circumstances it is important that all of us here know what you are about."

Snape gave a small nod, his expression shuttered.

"Good! Now, unless anyone has anything further they need to add to the discussion, I would say that this meeting is over," Dumbledore said.

Nhean placed his cup down and looked at the Potions Master. "Actually I do have request to make of Professor Snape." Snape paused in the act of rising and sat back down. He raised an enquiring eyebrow. "I wish to start Harry on his potions work in the next few days. It's fairly basic to start with but will gradually get more intensive. Do you have a spare laboratory that we could work in? I do not wish to use your main teaching classroom nor do I wish to disturb you by using a room that you have set up for your own projects."

Snape stared at him. "Potter will be making potions?" he asked with an odd tone. "He is blind. How is this possible?"

"Potion ingredients and potions have their own unique odours, do they not?" Nhean said in surprise. "Surely you judge the progress of your potions partly by their odours?" Snape nodded and then frowned. Nhean read his expression. "Yes, I know, not all changes in a potion are judged by scent. Eventually Harry will learn to make potions by feel, so to speak but that is a long time in the future. He may never reach that stage." Nhean shrugged. "Many Warriors do not brew potions but most are capable of at least the basic ones."

"May I sit in on these lessons?" Snape asked, intrigued.

"Certainly," Nhean replied and Dumbledore's twinkle became more pronounced.

Remus hung back as the others left. "Are you sure that's wise?" he asked Dumbledore softly as he watched Snape and Nhean leave.

Dumbledore smiled serenely. "Trust in Master Nhean, my boy."

Remus eyed the Headmaster with some doubt but finally nodded and left the office.

**************************

Harry tapped his way into the Guild classroom, as he had come to think of it, the next morning. His Occlumency lesson had gone well and he and Remus had talked late into the night about the ceremony. As a result his mood as he walked into the classroom was rather good. He stopped and listened, then scented the air. He hadn't thought about what he looked like when he did that but that was what Remus said he looked like; a wolf scenting for his prey. What filled his nose now what mostly sandalwood, probably left over from the night before, but underneath it he could smell the distinctive scent that he knew came from Master Nhean. He listened carefully and just barely heard the Night Master's breathing.

Now realising that this was a test, he swung his head gently from side to side to try and isolate where the noise was coming from. When he thought he knew, he walked slowly over to the corner of the room until the end of his cane lightly brushed the feet of his Master.

"Well done, Harry," said Nhean with amusement. "Now that we've established that you're far too clever for an old man like me, I'm sure you have questions about last night."

Harry laughed. "Oh, I think you're still waaay ahead of me in the cleverness stakes, Master. And yeah, I did have a few questions."

Nhean guided Harry to one of the comfortable chairs he had had placed in the room and the two of them settled in. He summoned a house elf and ordered tea for the two of them. The house elf bowed and disappeared, reappearing shortly afterwards with the tea and biscuits. Nhean thanked the elf and set them both up.

"Now, Harry," he said, settling back into the chair, "what did you want to know?"

"I...guess I just want to know a little more about what happened last night. I didn't realise the witnesses had to do that. What was all that about? And what was the whole thing with the visions of some of the things I've done here about?" Harry paused. "And why was your voice full of so much elation after that?"

Nhean chuckled. "Well, your first lot of questions are all related to each other, so that wasn't a bad start. Yes, I know your witnesses came in a little unprepared for that but that was necessary. Their answers must be honest and from the heart, as they were last night."

"Yeah," Harry said, his voice a little choked.

"Yes, it can be a little overwhelming for the postulants to hear just what their witnesses think of them," Nhean said kindly. "The liquid in the goblet is related to the magic used in pensieves. It draws out the memories of the witnesses and the postulant of the activities of the postulant. Basically, to enable a judgement to be made of the suitability of postulant and his or her strengths and weaknesses. The liquid then reflects those strengths and weaknesses and lets the trainer know which path the postulant will take." Nhean paused and then continued, his voice reflective. "There are three paths that a Night Warrior can take, two of which are easier than the third. The two easier paths are those of pure magic, much like the path you would have taken had your education continued along it normal way here at Hogwarts, and that of the martial arts, almost pure fighting ability with weapons and unarmed combat. The third path, which is the more difficult and the less common, is that of what was originally known as the Warrior-Mage. A combination of both the martial arts and magic. These days the Guild doesn't use the title much; we're far more egalitarian now. All are called Warriors. No matter which path they take."

"So I guess I qualified for the third path, then," Harry said.

"Yes, indeed. It won't be an easy path to follow, Harry, but it will be worthwhile. The Warriors who follow that path tend to be the stronger ones; more capable of handling the unusual and the powerful."

Harry gave a humourless laugh. "Well, that'll be useful, all things considered."

Nhean considered his young apprentice in silence for a time. "Harry, I am aware that there is a prophecy that concerns you," he said carefully. "Albus told me the first part of it on the day I arrived but he did imply that there was more to it that that. Your reaction now and what you said last night supports that idea. Will you tell me what the remainder of the prophecy says?"

Harry sighed and buried his head in his hands. "It says that I'm the only one who can kill Voldemort and one of us has to kill the other," he said, his voice muffled. He raised his head and Nhean was startled by the terrible look in his blind eyes. "Kill or be killed, Master. I have to become a murderer if I want to stay alive," Harry said in a dreary voice. "And I can't let him kill me. I wouldn't have to live in the world that resulted but my friends would. I...can't let that happen."

Nhean regarded Harry with dismay. "I am sorry, Harry. To have such a thing hanging over your head..." His voice trailed off and he thought for a moment. "That is not all that is bothering you about this, is it?"

Harry looked up towards his Master, a habit that he had been unable to break as yet, after all he couldn't see him. "Yeah," he said with a gusty sigh. "Cedric and Sirius are dead because of me. Well, okay, not wholly because of me but I played a part in their deaths and I was there to see them die." Harry stopped and seemed to struggle for words for a moment. "I don't want that to happen again! I didn't want my friends to come with me to the Ministry but they wouldn't listen to me. I don't want them to die and that's what's most likely to happen if they keep hanging around with me. And now you're going to include them in my training." Harry's voice dropped to a whisper. "I just want them to be safe and alive."

"You have some wonderful, loyal friends there. I envy you," Nhean said, much to Harry's surprise. Nhean chuckled and explained. "I know you want nothing more than to keep your friends safe but, Harry, whether or not they get involved is their decision, not yours. From what Albus has told me, Neville has suffered just as much as you at the hands of Voldemort, would you deny him the opportunity to fight, to gain his revenge? Your friend Hermione is a muggle-born witch, how long would she last under Voldemort's reign? Would you deny her the chance to fight for her future? The Weasley's are known to be friendly towards muggles; they would suffer just as much as Hermione. Would you also deny them the chance to fight for a better future? And Luna, would you throw her decision back into her face?"

"I...hadn't thought about it like that," Harry admitted reluctantly.

"I also think that you need not take so much onto yourself when it comes to the deaths of Sirius and Cedric. Look at it logically for a moment. Remus has told me a little about what happened during the third task. Did you force Cedric to take the cup?"

"No."

"Of course not. Think about what would have happened if Cedric had taken the cup on his own. Apart from the obvious conclusion that Voldemort would have been furious, would it have changed anything for Cedric? Probably not, I doubt Voldemort would have killed him outright like that. He quite probably would have used him in that ritual. In that case, Voldemort would be resurrected, Cedric would still be dead, for there would have been no Priori Incantatem to save him, and nobody would know. That of course assumes that the false Moody would have allowed Cedric to take it on his own. The only way Cedric could have lived is if you had denied your own nature and selfishly taken the cup for yourself. But that is not your way; after all, you did not even want to be in the Tournament in the first place. Truly, Harry, I do not see how things could have ended any other way with both of you following the paths your personalities put you on."

"I never thought about it that way," Harry said, thinking hard. "I guess you could be right."

"Now let's consider Sirius." Harry flinched as Nhean continued. "I can understand why Sirius did what he did. I do not think I could stay cooped up in a rather dreary house like the one Remus described to me. And I rather think I would have reacted like Sirius in such a situation. I cannot fault him for his actions."

"But he only died because I was so stupid!" Harry half-yelled.

"Yes and no," Nhean said after some consideration. "Yes, there was a certain amount of stupidity in your reaction to the vision. There were many other options available to you that you chose not to take. But Sirius must bear his share of the responsibility and stupidity as well. When the Order found out that you had gone to the Ministry in response to the vision, he could have chosen to stay at Headquarters. In fact I believe he was urged to do so. He made the choice to ignore those orders, Harry, not you." Nhean paused, not entirely sure how Harry was going to react to his next statement. "And to be honest with you, Harry, I'm not entirely sure that things didn't work out for the best."

"What?" Harry exploded.

"Calm down, Harry, and hear me out," Nhean said sternly, surprising Harry into listening. "I wasn't talking about Sirius' death; I was talking about the general events that occurred. Now, Voldemort desperately wants to get his hands on that prophecy, not to mention you. From what I have heard of the visions you had throughout the last school year, he was trying damn hard to get you there." Nhean laughed. "You must have frustrated him no end. He was undoubtedly hoping you would try and find out where that corridor was and instead you just fundamentally ignored the vision and even got annoyed that they weren't moving faster. It took something fairly major to get you moving and even then you didn't do what he wanted. Harry, think! Voldemort wanted you in the Department of Mysteries so that you could get the prophecy for him but I have no doubts that he wanted you there alone. Then he and the Death Eaters he brought with him could easily overcome you, force you to get the prophecy for him and then kill you. But you didn't go alone, you brought your friends with you; friends you had been training in Defense all year. And you succeeded; Voldemort did not get the prophecy and now never will, he lost all but one of the Death Eaters he brought there to students and he was seen by Ministry officials thus making sure that the Ministry could no longer deny that he is back. He was also forced into a confrontation with Albus, something he has gone to a lot of trouble to avoid and he enabled you to discover a little of the power you have. Yes, a heavy price was paid but things worked out heavily in our favour in spite of that."

Harry sat back and thought about what Master Nhean had just said. He had to admit that there was a fair amount of truth in it. He and the others had done a stellar job of dealing with the Death Eaters and there was some satisfaction in knowing that Voldemort could not easily find out about the prophecy now. He also began to suspect that if they had managed to get out of the Ministry with only the injuries that had occurred and without Sirius dying they would all be quite elated, counting the whole thing as a great success and possibly a grand adventure.

"I...you're right," he said heavily. "I...hadn't been able to think past Sirius to see any of that."

"There was no reason that you should have," Nhean said kindly. "Though I rather think you would have eventually."

"Well, you never know," Harry said with somewhat morose humour, "I can be quite thick about things like that."

Nhean chuckled and decided to change the subject. Harry would need time to mull over all of the things they had just talked about. "Now, what other questions did you have?"

Harry was a little startled at the change in tack but went with it. "Erm, let me think. Oh yeah!" Harry paused and a curious and slightly apprehensive expression crept across his face. "Those oaths," he shivered a little.

"Mmm, that part of the ceremony is always a little disconcerting," Nhean said with understanding. "The charm is spelled to draw from you oaths that have meaning for you. Generic oaths tend to have a little wiggle room in them for those that wish to violate them. Personal oaths are far more binding. The Guild had some problems in its early days with generic oaths and the ceremony was changed to make things more personal. It also makes sure that the oaths are ones that each individual can live with. Those were your oaths, from your heart, mind and beliefs. That is why they are considered private and are not spoken of to others."

"Oh, okay," Harry said. "It was just a really weird sensation, that's all. So when do I start learning all this new stuff?"

"Well, considering the time I think we should try lunch first but I think we will wait a little bit for some of it. I want you to be able to move around easily before we start doing any weapons works or physical training. We should be able to start some of the magical work this afternoon; you should probably learn how to do wandless magic as soon as possible. Oh, and Harry, I have a secret that I can tell you right now." Nhean grinned; he was interested to see Harry's reaction to this one. Harry raised an eyebrow and Nhean continued. "Slide your fingers up your cane until you find the little groove that runs around it."

Harry quickly located the little groove that ran around the circumference of the cane. He had discovered it shortly after getting the cane and had been wondering about it ever since.

"Found it? Good," said Nhean. "Now place your ring against the groove. It doesn't matter how, just as long as the ring and groove are touching. Now say the words: Solvo capulus."

Harry looked doubtful but placed his ring over the groove. "Solvo capulus," he repeated and was startled when there was a tiny click from his cane.

"Excellent!" Nhean said cheerfully. "Now grab the cane above the groove with one hand and leave the other below it. Now turn your top hand fractionally clockwise and pull."

Harry carefully followed his Master's directions and let out a startled oath when the top section pulled away with a metallic sound. He let go with his bottom hand and carefully felt in the gap between the two parts of the cane. He was surprised when his hand encountered cold steel. A few seconds of careful touching told him it was the blade of a sword. He quickly pulled the sword free of its scabbard and gently ran his free hand along its length, taking care to not cut himself.

"Master?" he asked.

"Welcome to the Guild, Harry," Nhean said calmly. "A Night Warrior should always carry the appropriate weapon, don't you think?"

"Wow!" was all Harry could manage.

"We will start weapons work as soon as you are able," Nhean said. "Now put that thing away. Make sure you give that little twist again, anticlockwise this time. It engages the little spell that holds the sword firmly in its scabbard. That way you can still use it as a cane without worrying that it's going to come loose."

Harry fumbled the sword back into the scabbard and gave the little twist. He gave the cane a shake and was relieved to find that Master Nhean was right.

"Now let's go and eat, shall we?" Nhean said. Harry laughed and nodded and the two of them left the room.

******************************

The grey mist swirled obscuring everything. Grey seemed to be a theme; the ground was grey, what little that could be seen of the sky was grey and the mist, of course, was grey. The gaunt man with the shaggy, black hair who was stumbling through the grey land was heartily sick of it. He stopped and rubbed his chest where it ached.

"You'd think that if they were going to take away the need to eat and drink, they could at least take the pain away as well," he grumbled to himself and looked around.

Nothing.

Again.

He sighed and sat down, still rubbing his chest. He looked down the collar of his shirt and shuddered at the sight. The bruising was quite severe and was very slow in healing. He switched from rubbing his chest to scratching his head. If only he could remember how that had happened, he might be able to work out where he was. But he couldn't, in fact he couldn't remember much of anything. Not even his name. All he could remember were two faces. They were very similar and he would have thought that they were the same person except for the colour of the eyes. One face had hazel eyes; the other had brilliant green eyes.

He frowned as he concentrated, trying to remember whose faces they were. Eventually he sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He pushed himself to his feet and started walking again. Maybe if he kept walking eventually he'd find someone or something that could help him.

*************************

Harry and Master Nhean returned to the classroom after lunch. Harry was eager to start work so Nhean threw off his top robe and pulled the orb and silver stand out.

"I think we will start with the spell I used yesterday," he said, setting things up. "If you are to see the results of your spell work you will need that one working first."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about asking that question," Harry said in surprise.

"Yes, I noticed," Nhean chuckled. "Well, to answer that question, the spell was created, as I told you yesterday, by Ishii Sato. It causes the magic fields that permeate every object in the world to be highlighted." Nhean paused and tried to think of an analogy. "I suppose you could say that it acts like a dye. Those with exceptionally strong Oversight can see this magic without the spell but most people, well, their Oversight isn't strong enough. Hence, the use of the spell. It also highlights magic when it is being used. It's quite useful as every spell looks, sounds and feels different to Oversight."

Nhean finished his setup and guided Harry over to the table.

"Now, locate the orb and hold your hand over it. Now the words to use are: Terasu shinzui kijutsu."

"Er, what were those words again?" Harry asked, startled at the strangeness of them.

"Terasu shinzui kijutsu," Nhean repeated.

Harry took a deep breath. "Terasu shinzui..." he trailed off. "Damn, I can't remember that last one!"

"Kijutsu," Nhean repeated. "Stay calm, Harry. I know the words are a little odd but they are just collections of syllables like any other words. Try again."

Harry nodded and took another deep breath. "Terasu shinzui kijutsu," he said firmly, hoping that he had gotten the pronunciation correct. He gasped and grinned when the orb lit up. He had gotten it right.

"Will I have to cast that spell at everything individually?" he asked as he stared at the globe of light he could now see.

"Good question," Master Nhean said. "No, you won't. I got you to isolate it this time to be sure you could cast it properly. Many Warriors cast the spell once and just leave it. I don't recommend that just yet. You really need to get used seeing the world like that before doing that permanently. You might as well see what I mean. End the spell."

"Er, how?" Harry asked.

"Oddly enough, any standard manner of ending a spell will work but only if used by the original caster so Finite Incantatem will do nicely."

"That's handy. And it's nice to know that other people can't just end it arbitrarily," Harry said with a smile. "Finite Incantatem." The orb stopped glowing.

"Sato worked hard to make sure that the spell couldn't be tampered with. He thought it would place his Warriors at a serious disadvantage if somebody could just whip the rug out from under their feet, so to speak," Nhean said with a grin. "Now step back from the table and try the spell again but don't direct it towards anything in particular."

Harry took a few steps back and cleared his mind. "Terasu shinzui kijutsu." He froze; the entire room had lit up and it was more than a touch overwhelming. He remembered what Master Nhean said about remaining calm and took a few deep breaths and slowly began to turn around, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. It was when he got to where Master Nhean was standing that things began to fall into place. He couldn't see in the normal sense; there was no detail. What he could see was shapes formed by energy. The energy had different colours; sometimes it pulsed, other shapes were quiescent, in still others it flowed. Some shapes had sounds associated with them. It wasn't audible sound; it seemed to echo inside his head. And he could begin to understand what Master Nhean had said about the 'feel' of magic.

He concentrated on the person-shape that was Master Nhean. The energy within him flowed and was a mix of brown and a golden-yellow colour with a distinct purple border. It had a soothing humming noise and Harry smiled; his Master was a soothing person to be around. It was then that he realised what had confused him at first. The walls of the classroom were pulsing with energy.

"How are you coping?" asked his Master.

"Okay. Though I can see why you have to get used to this. It's...a little strange," he said thoughtfully. His eyes were starting to hurt, which he thought was a bit odd, but it was the early warning signs of an oncoming headache that prompt him to end the spell. "Finite Incantatem."

"Head starting to hurt?" Nhean asked.

"Yeah." Harry paused. "I guess that's normal then."

"Yes. I suggest you head back to your room and get some rest. You will be very vulnerable to developing headaches at the start. You will get used to it after a while. Practice will help. Just remember to be careful practicing. If you use your Oversight in the wrong place, you could burn yourself out temporarily. An hour's rest should do it at this stage." Nhean smiled. "Then I suggest you go and spend some time with your friends. You've haven't had much time to do that and no doubt they have some questions for you."

Harry grinned and made his way out of the room. He tapped his way back to the suite and into his room. He lay down on his bed and was asleep before he knew what was happening.