Harry Potter and the Fantasy Quest

Chapter 8 - Heads and Hearts

What struck Harry immediately about the room he and Fred now entered together was that it was nearly filled with a large beast that had entirely too many heads. There was a light source somewhere, allowing Harry to view the monster in all its dangerous glory. Before he could even react, two of the heads on the left bit him, their long, sharp teeth piercing right through his plate mail. He could see two of the right-hand heads snap at Fred, but it looked like he managed to dodge one of them.

"Chop off the heads and burn the stumps!" Ron shouted, suiting action to words as he ran over to the far right and severed one head. Fred, bearing only a rapier unsuitable for slicing, retreated to the right, beyond Ron.

"Flame Blade," said Ginny's voice, but Harry could not yet see her. George stepped out, touched Harry on the shoulder, cast Bull's Strength on him, and withdrew back to the other room. Hermione cast the same spell. Harry couldn't see on whom she had cast it, but as Siofra stepped out to the left immediately after, he guessed it was her. Siofra went to the head at the extreme left and chopped at it. She nearly got through it, but the stroke was apparently not powerful enough because it closed up again as soon as she pulled her sword away. Harry could now see that there had been six heads originally.

Harry swung at the head immediately in front of him (third from the left), severed it, and took a step to the left to strike the next one. He hit it, but not enough to cut it off. Two remaining heads attacked Ron, which he avoided; one bit Harry; and the other bit Siofra. Siofra now seemed to be hurt pretty badly.

In a movement so fast Harry could scarcely see it, Ron sheathed his shortsword and brought his freed left hand up to join the other on the longsword. He then swung twice in rapid succession, taking off both of the heads remaining on his side. Behind him, Fred put his rapier away but seemed not to know what else to do. Ginny, bearing a 3-foot length of fire in her hand, ran over to the far right and cauterized the first stump Ron had severed. George and Hermione both dashed out to either side of Siofra. George cast Bull's Strength on her again, and Hermione magically healed some of her wounds. Both spellcasters then stepped back away from the elf.

Siofra attacked the head again with renewed strength; unfortunately, she missed completely and managed only to drive the point of her sword between two stones in the floor. Muttering under her breath, she let go of it.

Harry decided to follow Ron's example and dropped his shield so that he could lend the strength of his left hand to his sword, then chopped off the next head. The last head bit Siofra again, and Ron came around and severed it.

"Get back!" Fred called out, but Harry scarcely had time to register this before he was enveloped in a Fireball. He managed to avoid the worst of it and noted that the now-headless beast, George, Siofra, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had also been burned.

Ginny dispelled her blade of fire and turned to Fred.

"Was that really necessary?" she yelled at him angrily. Harry remembered that Fred had a Necklace of Fireballs and must have activated it.

Meanwhile, George used his Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds on Siofra, who was looking almost as bad as she had before Hermione healed her before, and Hermione turned to heal Ron.

Suddenly, an extremely ugly woman with purple skin and black hair appeared at the far end of the room. She pointed directly at Harry and spoke in a language he didn't recognize. He guessed she was trying to cast a spell on him, but he felt nothing. Siofra decided to abandon her sword for the time being and began to sing. Her voice was clear and beautiful, and the music immediately led Harry to feel a little more confident. Harry noted that Hermione was now the most injured member of the party and laid his hands on her to heal as much as he could. Draco finally entered the room, saw the woman, and activated his Circlet of Blasting. However, it had no noticeable effect.

Ron charged towards the new threat, still wielding his sword in both hands. He struck what should have been a powerful blow, but it did nothing. Fred pulled his rapier back out of his sheath and began to circle around behind the woman. Ginny drew her new sling and fired, hitting her solidly in the chest. George fired four Magic Missiles that seemed to have no effect.

"That's a Night Hag! She's immune to fire and cold!" Hermione called out. She then invoked karma and cast Holy Smite. While this did nothing to the Hag, Fred reeled as though hit.

The Night Hag sent four bursts of energy into Ginny, who held her ground. While Siofra continued to sing, Harry decided to go into melee combat with the monster. After seeing what had already happened, he had little hope that he could actually harm her. However, he reasoned that he might be able to help distract the Hag long enough for Fred to get in with his powerful sneak attack. Leaving his shield where he had dropped it, Harry attacked the crone two-handed, failing to even break the skin. Draco came in on the opposite side with his unarmed attack but also accomplished nothing.

Ron swung twice more; the second stroke went in, but the Hag's very flesh seemed to force the blade back out, healing as it went. Fred finally got his opportunity and stabbed her in the back, and given the Hag's lack of reaction, she didn't even feel it.

"Would you all get out of the way?" Ginny shouted, apparently holding her attack for fear of accidentally hitting one of the other combatants.

George tried his Magic Missile attack again with the same result as earlier, and Hermione began chanting a spell. The Night Hag bit Ron's arm, leaving a gaping wound. Deciding that only Ginny could defeat this particular monster, Harry heeded her request and retreated. The Hag took the opportunity to bite him on the neck. Draco also pulled back.

Ron gave one more swing before he and Fred withdrew, leaving Ginny an open target. Ginny fired the sling twice but missed both shots and began cursing. George cast Bull's Strength on Ginny to give her an additional edge, and Hermione cast Aid. At the same time, a strange, birdlike creature appeared and shot a ray of electricity at the Night Hag, successfully hurting her. The Hag fired four more Magic Missiles into Ginny, apparently still seeing her as the biggest threat. Not knowing what else to do, Harry sheathed his sword and used his remaining spell to cure a little of the hit Ginny had just taken.

Ron and Fred simply stood back helplessly as Ginny shot two more sling bullets; one found its target. George cast Cat's Grace on Ginny, doubtless hoping to improve her accuracy. The bird-thing shot another electricity ray, and at almost the same moment, Hermione cast a spell.

"Searing Light," she called out, and this one finally worked. The bright beam of light hit squarely, and the Hag dropped to the floor like a stone. Siofra stopped singing and bent down to try and retrieve her sword. Fred and Ron moved cautiously toward the fallen body. Ginny began to collapse with exhaustion, but Harry caught her. He gave a nod to George, who put up the protective dome once more.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked worriedly as he lowered Ginny gently to the floor.

"I'll be fine," she answered, sinking back towards him gratefully. "Just coming down from the adrenaline rush, I think. You're hurt worse than I am," she added, quickly evaluating his condition. Before Harry could stop her, Ginny used a curing spell on him, healing nearly all of the bites he'd received.

"You didn't have to do that," he said.

"Same goes for you," was her answer, apparently referring to his healing of her earlier. In response, Harry drew out his curing wand and used it on her.

"You were amazing," Harry changed the subject. She wrinkled her nose and snorted.

"Not at all. If I'd been amazing, I wouldn't have missed so much." She pulled away from him slightly, stood, and shifted to her black bear form and back twice. When she was done, she was completely uninjured.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Harry insisted, getting to his feet also. "No one can hit a target all the time."

Meanwhile, the six-headed creature's body had disappeared, leaving behind a small pile of gold coins that everyone ignored. Ron and Fred came back from where they had been searching the Night Hag's body and dropped the treasure on the floor. The monster's body subsequently vanished. There were more gold pieces, two potion vials, a scroll, and an odd-looking stone.

"Harry and Ron, I want to have a good look at you both," Hermione said. "The Night Hag's bite can spread disease."

"I'm immune to all disease," Harry pointed out, though he was not sure how he knew this. Hermione accepted this without comment.

"I'm fine," Ron asserted. Hermione checked him anyway, on the grounds that the disease had an incubation period of days, so he wouldn't necessarily know he was sick yet. In the end, however, she was forced to admit that he was as healthy as might be expected.

"This is a Potion of Levitate, which I'm going to take if no one minds," Siofra had managed to free her sword from the floor and was surveying the treasure. Then, she pointed to the other one. "This one's Endurance; I recognize it because I have one myself."

"Oh, can I have that?" asked George. Everyone either nodded or shrugged, so he added it to his gear.

"What's the scroll?" Ginny wondered.

"It's got three spells, all divine," Ron replied, handing it over.

"Sanctuary, Invisibility to Undead, and Summon Monster I," Ginny read aloud. "You'd better take this, Hermione; you're the only one who can cast them anyway."

Hermione did so, and Harry entered the conversation.

"What's the stone?"

"That's her heartstone," Hermione said. "Night Hags make them for themselves, and it can add to your resistance and heal diseases. But it's destroyed after you use it 10 times, if you're not a Night Hag. I won't touch it."

Harry agreed, seeing it as an evil object. Draco, being evil himself, picked it up and pocketed it.

"What was that first spell you cast?" Fred said then, turning to Hermione. "It didn't hurt her, but it sure hit me hard."

"I'm sorry; I forgot Holy Smite affects neutral people, too."

"Serves you right," Ron jumped to Hermione's defense, rounding on Fred. "What was the idea of hitting us all with that Fireball earlier?"

"It was only a little one, and I was trying to seal up the stumps, like you said."

"By then, all the heads were cut off. It was dead!"

"I didn't know that!"

"OK, boys, boys, break it up," Siofra inserted herself between the yelling brothers. "This is hardly productive."

The Weasley tempers cooled as quickly as they had flared, and there were apologies all around. Harry looked around to see who was still hurt. Siofra looked the worst for wear, so he used the wand to heal her completely. Hermione, as an apology to Fred, gave him one small curing spell. George healed himself with his own curing wand. This left Ron bearing the most wounds, but he refused all help, insisting he was all right.

Everyone's trail rations had run out by now, so Hermione used one of her last spells to conjure food and water for the group. Even though everyone was now mostly cured, the spellcasters, especially Hermione, needed to recharge, so the group decided to rest for another 24 hours.

Harry was actually rather tired now, physically at least. He picked up his shield and retreated to one side of the dome. He was confused by the feelings he was suddenly beginning to feel towards Ginny, and he needed to think about it for a little while. He cleaned his sword as he thought, then removed his armor and began working to beat out the dent caused in it earlier by the Ogre's club. There was little he could do about the punctures at the moment, so he decided to leave them.

After several hours, Harry had only managed to reach the conclusion that he was attracted to the youngest Weasley. Looking at her furtively from about ten feet away, he truly recognized for the first time that she had aged. He remembered that the DM had said they were mostly aged to suit the characters they had taken. Instinctively, he knew that humans were considered adult at 16 here. That meant that Fred and George had stayed at their actual age of 17, and the rest of them (except Siofra, whose real age he didn't know and who was now an elf in any case) became 16. This created the odd situation that Harry and Ginny were now the same age, though he was used to being one year older.

The two years looked good on her. Ginny had taken off her rhino hide armor, and she definitely had more curves than Harry remembered. At the same time, this body was far leaner and more muscular than the "real" Ginny was likely to become. Harry found that he could only have pure thoughts about the girl, despite his close scrutiny of her body. Although this was strange, Harry was grateful. He would have felt intensely uncomfortable having "normal" teenage fantasies about Ginny with three of her brothers, including his own best friend, close at hand. He supposed it must be a feature of the world he was now in or the Paladin persona he had assumed.

Harry decided to look around the room they were in. The light was coming from fairly large windows set high in the wall, indicating that they were now on the side of the fortress facing out of the mountain. There was a raised dais at one end, and a large chandelier was suspended from the ceiling, though it appeared to have no candles in it at present. Any other furnishings that might have been in the room had been removed, so it was difficult to determine its purpose. It could have been an unused ballroom, with the dais providing a place for the musicians.

Eventually, Harry slept for a four-hour shift. When he woke, he noted that the light had faded. Knowing that he would still need to take another sleep shift later, Harry decided to leave his armor off for the time being. He stood up and stretched. It was kind of refreshing, actually, to be free from all that metal plating for a while.

Ron had apparently woken just recently, as well. George dismissed and re-cast the Hut and seemed to be readying himself for sleep. Hermione looked around anxiously, watching and listening for something.

"What is it?" Ron asked in concern. Hermione shook her head as though clearing it.

"Nothing, I guess. I just keep getting the feeling something is watching me."

"You haven't rested yet. Why don't you try to sleep?"

She nodded agreement. Her armor was already off, so she settled herself quickly. When Ron was certain she was asleep, he came over to speak to Ginny. His voice was low, so Harry couldn't hear what he said, but it seemed to upset Ginny.

"No! I can't!" she said angrily. Ron laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her and continued to speak softly. Eventually, she responded in the same low tones and nodded reluctantly. Ron returned to his former spot to watch over Hermione, and Ginny took a deep breath. Then, she knelt before her Dire Weasel companion and stroked its head affectionately. Finally, she muttered a few words and gestured. The Dire Weasel immediately turned and exited the dome, then the room. After watching the animal leave, Ginny turned towards the dome's wall and sat on the floor, hugging her knees.

Hardly knowing what he was doing, Harry buckled on his sword belt, just in case, and went to her.

"Ginny? What's the matter?"

At the sound of his voice, Ginny wiped her eyes, and Harry could see that she had been crying. He sat down next to her, uncomfortable with the crying but desperately hoping there was something he could do about it.

"It's stupid, really," she said, smiling weakly at him. "I mean, she's only an animal, but I was really attached to her."

Harry didn't know what to say, so he tentatively put an arm around her shoulders and waited for her to continue. He was beginning to understand that she had permanently dismissed her animal companion.

"Besides, Ron is right," Ginny went on. "Things are likely to get more dangerous as we go on, and we may be past the point where she could help us. Anyway, eventually, I'll go back home, and what would become of her then? I'd forget about her, but she'd miss me. It's really better this way."

In spite of her brave words, she turned her face to Harry's shoulder and cried a little more before taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. He squeezed her a little with his left hand but made no attempt at further contact. Privately, Harry was a little relieved to see this display of emotion from Ginny. Although this was undeniably awkward, he'd been rather worried about her apparent distance from the other people in the group. As she pulled away from him, he removed his arm from her. He felt the need to break the silence.

"I have to admit, I'm not all that anxious to go home," Harry commented, echoing what he had said to George several days earlier. "Life seems so much simpler here."

"I know what you mean," Ginny answered, clearly recovering herself. "I feel more powerful, wiser - ready to meet any challenge that comes my way. And--"

"No nightmares," they both said at the same time. Their eyes met in a serious moment of understanding.

"It's not just those things, though," Harry admitted, deciding to go a little further. "I feel like I'm finally getting to know you. I'm sorry I never really noticed you before."

Ginny gave him a generous smile that made Harry's stomach turn over.

"It's not really your fault," she said. "I was always so shy around you. I didn't give you much opportunity."

"Is it going to be like that again when we get back?" He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice but was aware that he hadn't quite succeeded.

"If it's any consolation, I'd already decided to try being more myself around you this year."

"Really?" Harry felt an insane hope rising in him. "You mean, we might still get to this point?" To tell the truth, he wasn't sure what point that was, exactly, but he distinctly felt that progress had been made.

"It will probably take a lot longer, but yes, I think we'll get there."

"Yes!" said another voice nearby. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to see Siofra doing a graceful yet bizarre little dance of joy. She seemed to be making a soundless exclamation as well.

"I knew it; I just knew it!" she continued happily. "Take that, all you anti-Orange Crushers!"

"Orange Crush?" Harry asked, confused. "Wasn't that a soft drink?"

"Well, yes, but it's also a code phrase used in my world to describe the two of you together, you know, romantically."

"Hang on," said Harry, feeling his face grow red. "We never said anything about--"

"Oh, come on. It's obvious you - ha!" she broke off, pointing to the ceiling fiercely. "You almost got me to say it, but I didn't!"

Harry remembered that the Voice had warned Siofra not to say a certain sentence. Apparently, she had nearly said it. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Harry turned back to Ginny.

"You should really get some sleep."

"I'll try," Ginny sighed.

Harry retreated to his former location, and Siofra, losing interest, went over to another portion of the dome. Only later did it occur to him to wonder how it was people in Siofra's world knew about Harry and the others well enough to speculate on their love lives.