Harry Potter and the Elemental Wands

Harry Potter and the Elemental Wands
Chapter 2 - The Legend of the Elemental Wands

Hermione quickly searched her mind for all the things she had ever read in her life but the title 'Legend of the Elemental Wands' did not seem familiar in any way.

'You wouldn't have heard of it,' Dumbledore continued. 'It's an old, almost forgotten tale. It's not really a tale, I suppose, it's a prophecy.'

Harry knew he should have walked out of the room right there and then but somehow, he couldn't quite make himself do it.

'It's written in the typical prophecy gibberish of course, 'He who can reach the sun' and 'The one for whom the world will stop turning' and that sort of thing. It was written a long time ago, by one of the first Hogwarts Headmasters who had a great gift in the area of Divination, which as you know is quite rare.' His eyes glittered with suppressed mirth. Hermione, too, smiled ever so slightly. Dumbledore rose from his seat and moved to one of his cabinets, opening the shining glass doors and removing a withered parchment scroll. He sat back down again and carefully unrolled it.

'Behold!' Dumbledore read out loud. 'When the Parselmouth hears the Phoenix Song for the third time, the prophecy shall awaken, and he is ready to be told what is ordained for him. He must find the four Elemental Wands and bestow them with their wielders. Seek out the One among Many, She who is Sharp and the One who lives in Dreams, Parselmouth, for they will aid you in your destiny, and that of the Wands. But be warned, there are those who will thwart you and few who will aid you. There is power in the Wands that could be used for good, or for evil, and you must pick your side carefully. The Wands will restore the balance of the Equilibrium. May your eyes be ever wary and your mind ever quick.'

'That was short,' Hermione noted. 'And it certainly follows your theory of 'prophecy gibberish', Professor.'

'That's ridiculous,' Ron said dismissively. 'Didn't people talk in thees and thous and forasmuches in those days? And how do you know that thing is genuine?' He gestured towards the parchment in Dumbledore's hand, almost as if it was evil.

'They did, Ron,' Dumbledore replied. 'But my guess is that he knew you probably wouldn't understand him if he talked like that. He could see into the future after all.'

'But how do you know it's for real?' Ron persisted.

'Can we really afford to take that chance?' Dumbledore asked him, almost sadly. 'Would you sit here, or maybe in your dormitory, and wait for someone else to perhaps find it? Voldemort perhaps?'

Ron cringed at the name.

'A lot of prophecies seem to start with the word "behold",' Hermione mused, running her eyes over the parchment again. 'I think it's for real.'

'One day, I'm going to write a prophecy just to prove you wrong,' Ron snapped savagely. 'And I'm going to begin it with 'Jump in a lake'. The rest of it will consist of 'Thus should you be destined to die. Fight it not, for it has already been ordained for thou. May your skin forever be bloated and your world watery'.'

Harry had said nothing since the reading of the parchment. There was no doubt about who the Parselmouth was - he was the only person he knew that could talk with snakes, except-

'Dumbledore,' Harry asked tentatively. 'You think that I'm the Parselmouth, don't you?'

Dumbledore nodded. 'The gift is almost extinct now, Harry, I had no trouble wondering who it was.'

Harry nodded. 'That's what I thought. But I'm not the only Parselmouth in the world - Voldemort is one too.'

Ignoring Ron's winces, Dumbledore stared at the boy. 'That can't be right. There are four people to wield the four wands of the four elements. You're one, the One among Many if probably another, the same with She who is Sharp and the One who lives in Dreams. But you're right, Harry, Voldemort is a Parselmouth and he is of this time.'

'And how did you know Harry's heard the Phoenix Song for the third time? Hermione wondered.

'I know I've heard it twice,' Harry said. 'Once in the Chamber of Secrets and once when my wand and Voldemort's wand connected last year. I don't know about the third time ...' He thought hard. 'I did hear a song last night,' he admitted. 'It did sound a little like a Phoenix Song now that I think about it.'

'Can you remember what it sounded like?'

Hesitantly, Harry tried to hum it out loud and was surprised when he found he could remember it all perfectly. Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore listened to him but only one of them recognised it.

'I think it is a Phoenix Song,' Dumbledore replied quietly. 'But it's not like any one I've ever heard. Fawkes never sang like that.' He cast a reproachful glance at the empty perch.

'How many other phoenix's are there, Professor?' Hermione asked.

He shook his head. 'Not many. People hunt them for their plumage when they often shed their feathers naturally. I'd be surprised if there were more than ten in all of Britain and more than one hundred in the world.'

Ron sighed impatiently, obviously reluctant to agree the prophecy was genuine. 'Do we really need to know which phoenix sang that song?

'Something, or someone, sang it,' Hermione pointed out. 'And they probably know what's going on with this prophecy thing.'

'It's getting rather late,' Dumbledore said, looking out through the window at the darkened sky. 'I think we should worry more about this tomorrow. I'll send for you if I find anything else.'

The three exchanged glances. Even Dumbledore seemed changed in some way - he seemed a good deal older for one thing.

Quietly, they filed out the door, Harry last. He glanced back at the headmaster, who sat silently, illuminated by the silvery moonlight staring sadly at Fawkes' perch.

He looked so lonely that Harry felt his heart wrench. Then, quietly, he closed the door behind him.

---

The Fat Lady waited patiently for the three to say the password, which none of them knew. In the end, Ron knocked sharply on the wall with his knuckles. Moments later, Angelina Johnson, Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team opened the painting from the inside and let them in.

'The password is unicorn horn,' she informed them as she held the portrait open for them. They thanked her and moved into the common room.

The whole Quidditch team was assembled there in front of the fire; Fred and George Weasley, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. Angelina joined her fellow Chasers on a large red sofa.

'We've been waiting for you, Harry,' George said pompously. 'Where were you? And didn't you know that tardiness is the eighth deadly sin?'

'You might want to go upstairs and get to bed,' Harry muttered to Hermione and Ron. 'This could take a while.'

While they left for their dormitories, Harry seated himself in an enormous recliner.

'No one told me about this meeting,' he pointed out, sinking into the cushions.

'That's because you disappeared right after the feast. But that's okay,' Fred smiled nobly. 'I forgive you.'

'Oh shut up.' Harry leaned forward, reaching for a cushion to throw at the Weasley twin's face.

'But-'

'Harry's right, Fred. Shut up,' Alicia told him firmly. 'Anyway, if we want to play this year, we need a complete team and maybe some reserves. We're also going to need a captain, since Oliver isn't here with us anymore.'

'Any suggestions for a new Keeper?' Katie asked her friend.

'Yeah, actually now that you mention it-' Fred began.

'I told you to shut up, Fred.'

'Sorry.'

'There's a sixth year girl who I've been told is quite good,' Angelina said. 'Her name's Adara or something strange.'

'Aradine, maybe?' Katie squinted thoughtfully.

'Whatever. Actually, I think it's Arandelle. The point is, I can ask her if you want, I know which dorm she's in.'

George nodded approvingly. 'Okay. Go get her now.'

She gave him a withering look, but started up the stairs to the girls dormitories.

'Do you think she's better than Wood was?' Harry asked, idly.

Alicia shrugged. 'Like Angelina said, she's rumored to be quite a player. Oliver was here a couple of years before her so when she came along there wasn't a space on the team.'

'I hope she's good,' Fred said feverently, almost to himself.

Angelina returned down the stairs, a curious smile on her face. Behind her, a willowy shadow of a rather thin girl wavered its way down the steps, closely followed by the girl herself. As Angelina moved aside, Harry found himself staring face to face with Arandelle, whom he immediately noticed was not as she appeared.

---

Arandelle had waves of long black hair piling around her elbows and strangely piercing amber eyes. She was wearing casual robes of evening blue that swept around her bare feet. She wasn't particularly tall but she seemed to have a powerful presence.

'Hi,' Arandelle said, her voice silvery and musical.

Fred and George gaped at her. It was obvious that they had already fallen for her looks even though she had only ever spoken one word. Alicia and Katie exchanged nervous glances and Harry refused to say a word.

'Parlez vous anglais?' she persisted with an absolutely straight face. 'Sprechen Sie Englisch?'

Angelina took her hand and led her the rest of the way down the stairs. 'This is the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Arandelle. Fred and George Weasley, the twins, are the Beaters and Alicia and Katie-'

'Are the Chasers, I know,' Arandelle finished her sentence for her. 'I've seen you play. You're a great team.'

'Thank you,' Fred rasped hoarsely. She smiled obligingly at him, causing his eyes to widen and an inane smile creep upon his lips. This made her grin even more, revealing a set of charming, yet slightly crooked teeth.

'We'd like you to play Keeper for us,' Katie offered peace between then and a position on the team.

'If you'll have me, I'd gladly play for you.'

'Does everyone agree, then?' Angelina asked the rest of the team. 'Do we all agree that Arandelle is going to be our Keeper for the two years or so?'

No one said a word, but the way Fred and George nodded frantically sort of added to the atmosphere.

'It's flattering that you're so sure of my skills,' Arandelle smiled. 'But I think you might want to have tryouts or something first before you come to any conclusions.' Her eyes searched each of them silently, flicking from the Chasers to the Beaters and then finally to the lone Seeker who was being very quiet.

Alicia shrugged. 'Ok, then. Tomorrow, after classes I guess. Out in the Quidditch field.'

'Great,' Arandelle smiled and without another word, she turned and went back up the stairs. Alicia, Angelina and Katie smiled at each other in a sort of mischievous way, their eyes exchanging each others thoughts without words. Harry would probably have been able to pick up whole conversations if he'd been paying attention to them, but he was too busy trying to figure out what it was about her very presence that made him feel strange. It wasn't an entirely bad feeling, but it was clearly unnatural and he'd come to Hogwarts hoping against hope that he would have a natural year as a student.

As he had suspected, it wasn't going to turn out this way.

'I'm going to bed,' he told the others shortly before clambering his way out of the recliner and making his way to another set of stairs.

When he reached his dormitory, he found that almost everyone was asleep. Neville was snoring as usual, Seamus was sleeping with his mouth open and Ron dozed lightly in his four-poster. Only Dean was still conscious, sitting on his bed reading a book by the light from his wand. He sort of grunted in acknowledgment as Harry entered the room but continued to read his book with uncharacteristic interest. Harry didn't have the heart to wake Ron from his sleep so he crept into his bed, turned his back to Dean's flickering book lamp and stared at the wall until his eyes would no longer stay open and he slept.

---

Breakfast the next morning was no less of a feast than the banquet the previous night. Food was piled on top of more food until the table absolutely refused to hold anymore.

Hermione and, more surprisingly, Ron were already at the table when Harry made his way into the Great Hall. They had saved a seat for him at the crowded Gryffindor table, a seat on the side nearest the Ravenclaw table. Harry chose to ignore the reasons why they had chosen it and sat down.

'Morning, Harry,' Ron said rather cheerily. Harry stared at him.

'Why're you so happy today?' he asked suspiciously.

'I'm not.' Ron cast a sidelong glance at Hermione, who grinned, her eyes flicking back and forth from Harry to someone seated at the Ravenclaw table.

'Give it up,' Harry told them firmly, helping himself to a dish of waffles.

The flock of owls shooting through the lofty windows of the Hall prevented Hermione from replying. Hedwig swooped down to drop two sealed envelopes into his lap and also helped herself to the waffles. She ate about half of one before hooting softly and flying off again.

Ron picked up one of the letters. 'This one's from Sirius,' he warned in a low tone.

Harry examined the other one. 'This hasn't got an address. Here,' he held out his hand for his god-father's message. Ron preceded to rip open the letter first before handing it to his friend.

'Dear Harry, [the letter read]
'You'll be back at Hogwarts by the time you get this. Hedwig turned up one night - she'd probably decided that it had been too long since you had heard from me. Anyway, I obliged and wrote you a letter. This letter, if you hadn't already figured out. (just kidding, I know you're very smart)

'With the Dementors gone from everywhere in the vicinity of Hogwarts, I'm coming north to see you again. I'm finished with Dumbledore's errand so I see no reason not to. Don't be worried about me, Harry, no one recognizes my other form. There are so many dogs in this world after all.

'I'll send you another letter to tell you when and where I will be. I'll probably be able to slip into the Hogwarts grounds now so you won't have to bother sneaking out when you're visiting Hogsmeade. I'll let you know in advance though, so you'll have plenty of time to prepare - bring some food. I have to eat too, you know, and something cooked properly is nice once in a while.

'Say hello to Ron and Hermione for me.

'Sirius.'

'Why does he always have this notion of me being in danger?' Harry burst out angrily, shoving the letter back in its mutilated envelope. 'He's been up here so many times already, someone's bound to recognize him sooner or later.'

'You know there's no point arguing with him, Harry,' Hermione pointed out. 'By the time your letter reaches him, he'll already be up here. Besides, he won't listen to you.'

'Why not?'

She shrugged. 'Because he's lived so many years without rules he's not going to pay any attention to any you make up for him. Open your other letter.'

He did just that, though grudgingly. The words were written in a beautifully curved handwriting in iridescent purple ink. The message was short and deliciously simple.

'Harry,

'As you've probably figured out, you need to keep your eyes open. Look out for anything you think is unusual and anyone you think could fit the description of the One among Many, She who is Sharp and the One who lives in Dreams. You need them and they must be alerted of what they have to do. If everything the prophecy has said is true, they should be at Hogwarts at this time or your probably wouldn't have found them. Good hunting.

'Albus Dumbledore.'

'Good hunting?' Hermione said incredulously. 'I don't think I'd ever hear him say that out loud.'

'We should start thinking about who those people are, though,' Ron replied seriously. Then he paused. 'Wait. I'm starting to sound like Hermione.' He made an indelicate sound from the depths of his throat. 'Not that it's a bad thing, Hermione,' he added hastily. 'It's a very good thing for you. Maybe a bit out of character for me.'

'Isn't it, though?' Hermione said in a dangerously soft voice, glaring at Ron.

'Cut it out,' Harry told them almost automatically. When the ignored him, he gazed around at the other students in the Hall, looking for anything that could be unusual and anyone that could be one of the three Dumbledore was talking about. His eyes fell on Arandelle, the golden eyed girl he had met last night. She had two or three owls perched on her arm and they were hooting ecstatically at her. She, in turn, seemed to be whispering something to them but she was too far away for him to tell what she said. The owls flew off suddenly in a cloud of loose feathers, leaving the girl behind, her amber eyes watching them as they flew towards the safety of the Owlery.

'There's definitely something unusual about her,' Harry interrupted Hermione and Ron's verbal war.

'Who?' Ron asked, turning away in the middle of delivering a rather foul insult to Hermione.

'Her.' Harry gestured at Arandelle who was still watching the owls. 'She's going to replace Wood as Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I met her last night at the meeting.'

Ron squinted in her direction. 'Doesn't seem to be anything odd about her,' he diagnosed. 'She's kind of pretty though, never seen eyes like that before-'

Harry sighed. 'Am I the only person who doesn't find her overly attractive?'

'What do you mean?'

'The twins were going crazy over her last night. She's pretty, I suppose, but is she some sort of goddess that only the Weasleys can see?'

Ron shrugged. 'How am I supposed to know? I'm only a Weasley. We're going to need someone else if we're going to carry out that experiment.'

Hermione sniffed. 'Maybe I'd better go talk to her. I remember the outcome of your talk with Fleur Delacour last year, Ron. You're not the best with girls.'

She took a last sip of pumpkin juice, then sat up and headed towards the spot where Arandelle was sitting. She didn't get much of a chance to talk though - as soon as she sat down and introduced herself, Professor McGonagall stood up and went to the stage, walking with the manner of one with a clear purpose. She magnified her voice so that everyone could hear her and spoke.

'The staff have an announcement to make. We have decided on the first of the little events Dumbledore spoke of last night. It's going to be a Talent Contest and it's going to be held one week from today, here in the Great Hall. Everyone is welcome to enter.'