Beyond Boundaries

Chapter Sixteen: Guardians

Albus Dumbledore looked curiously at the two men, who'd introduced themselves as Asham Narnek and William Anderson. Both of them were obviously not British. Asham wasn't a name he'd heard before, and William pronounced his name in a very weird way, which made Dumbledore believe he was Scandinavian.

"Professor Dumbledore," Mr Narnek said smoothly. "We're here because of two of your students." He made a dramatic pause. "We are the Elemental Guardians for Fire and Water."

If he'd expected that Dumbledore should fall off his chair in shock, he was disappointed. Dumbledore kept his surprise to himself. "Indeed," said he. "And I believe that the two students are supposed to be your apprentices?"

Asham Narnek smiled pleasantly. "It appears that you know quite a bit about Elemental Guardians, no?"

"I do, I do. The Elements have chosen, then?" Dumbledore answered. The two males nodded. "Who are the students you want me to fetch?"

~*~

Ron felt strangely nervous as he looked at the three men. He'd only been in the Headmaster's office once, and that was when he'd first become Head Boy. Professor Dumbledore started speaking.

"Mr Weasley, Ms Zabini, so nice of you to come." He smiled at them. "Allow me to present these gentlemen, William Anderson and Asham Narnek, to you."

Ron looked at the two men, one tall and blue-eyed with light brown hair, another smaller, with brown eyes, dark skin, and dark hair, streaked with grey. Ron immediately knew that they were older than they looked.

"I'll let them tell you why you're here," the Headmaster continued

The man called William stepped forward. "Throughout recorded history," he began, "there have been Elemental Guardians. They Guard the elements Fire, Earth, Water and Air. The Guardian's task is to watch them, guide them, and advise them, sometimes command them, and follow them, whether they pay the Guardian any attention or not." The man looked at Ron. "The Guardian is the Element's servant and master. When the Element finds it appropriate, it will chose an apprentice to its Guardian. This apprentice will become the next Guardian. They usually do this at entirely different times, though this time they've done it at the same time, with only small intervals." Ron's eyes lit up when he understood what the man was talking about. Was he chosen? William continued. "We believe this is because of the great evil, who is called Voldemort,"-Ron and Blaise flinched- "because the Elements are stronger when two are guiding them, and the only time the Elements can have two Guardians, is in the apprentice's training period."

"To make it short," the man called Asham interrupted, "the two of you have been chosen as the next Elemental Guardians, for Water," he looked at Blaise, "and Fire." His eyes fixed on Ron.

Ron's head started to spin. He was going to be an Elemental Guardian! What luck! Something as big as that being dropped right into his hands... But what had the man said about 'being the Element's servant and master'? The 'master' he could handle, but 'servant'? Well, perhaps he could do something against Voldemort... Perhaps he could be famous after all? And Blaise would be an Elemental Guardian, too! What a couple they would make! The thought of Blaise cooled him down, and he shot a look at her. She'd taken his hand, and was clutching it, looking as if she couldn't believe what was happening.

The man, Asham, obviously hadn't finished. "-remember, no one is to know what you are."

What?! Ron thought. No one is to know? How unfair! However, his train of thoughts were broken when he felt Blaise's hand on his arm. Her eyes shone.

"Isn't this great, Ron?! We'll be able to support the Elements! They've chosen us to help them in the final battle!" Blaise obviously had grasped something he hadn't. Final battle? She also seemed to sense his confusion. "Don't you see, Ron? The Elements have sensed the fight between the Children of Power and Voldemort, and they've understood that they need help to stabilise themselves -or something like that. They know they need to unite, and perhaps they even want to fight!" Blaise obviously knew something he didn't, too, about those Elements. Courtesy of Hermione, no doubt. But what can I do as a Guardian? He wondered. "Isn't that great, Ron? We'll be able to help!"

Well, when she said it like that... it didn't really sound that bad. At least he'd know what he'd done, if no one else did. A nice story to tell his children.

Ron didn't even notice what he was thinking; he was way too busy nodding in agreement to Blaise's words. She was obviously excited about it, and he couldn't help but think that she was very beautiful when excited.

Asham Narnek nudged William. "Told you so," he said, grinning.

William managed not to groan. He, too, could see the sparks practically flying between the two of them. He smiled wryly. The kids didn't know it, but having three male Guardians, and a female Water Guardian was something of a rarity. In fact, no one could ever remember it happening.

No one knew why, but the Elements listened to females rather than males, but yet, very few females were chosen as Guardians. Far back in time there had been a female Fire Guardian, and she'd managed to stop several catastrophes. She couldn't stop Atlantis from sinking into the ocean though.

But a female Water Guardian! Water was the Element which easiest made 'peace' with the other Elements. Not that they were ever at 'war', they just didn't always co-operate. But Water easily had the greatest influence, especially on Air and Earth. And with this, er, connection to Fire, this would be a very fine 'peace' indeed. They needed that, in what was to come.

~*~

Hermione had decided that researching in the Hogwarts library would be a good thing. It was after all, one of the biggest libraries in the world, and maybe she could find something about what Voldemort was there.

For Voldemort obviously was a very formidable foe, so perhaps someone had predicted his coming. As much as Hermione hated to admit it, she had started to believe in ... Seeing. After all, Harry was a Seer, so it had to be true...

She picked up a book. 'Old Prophecies' by Cecilia Nensh. She remembered having seen that before. Well, if one was looking for predictions, what was better than a collection of them?

The prologue was written by the author, and was about a family member of hers, who had been a Seer.

'My great-aunt, Celia, was what is called a true Seer. Every now and then she would go into a trance, and say some words, which often didn't have any meaning. She did this quite often, and was always insistent on having other people around all the time, so no predictions would go lost, as she could never remember them. Most of them did though, in a fire a few years after her death. Only one did not. It was the only one which survived the fire. It seemed like it didn't want to be destroyed. It is a strange prophecy, which no one can yet find any meaning to. But it has a meaning for me. I myself am no Seer, but the first time I saw this prophecy I felt that it was my responsibility to record it, and also other prophecies, as Seeing is a very inaccurate thing, and many great Seers and Seeresses were never acknowledged for what they really were. In my family Aunt Celia was looked upon as half-mad, and no one really cared about her 'mad ramblings'. It was up to me to preserve her work, and that of other Seers.'

Hermione raised her eyebrows. Very interesting.Cecilia obviously had some kind of Destiny or Foresight Talent. Very interesting indeed.

~*~

Harry was reading through the book about Talents for the zillionth time. Somehow he knew that something was missing. He blamed this on his different Seeing Talents, and cursed the day he'd taken up Divination with Trelawney. It wasn't the subject or the teacher's fault, but he was in a bad mood, and felt like cursing someone in the non-magical way. He was just being a normal teen-ager for once, throwing a temper tantrum.

He sighed, and slammed the book shut. He didn't really believe in coincidences, so it had to be Fate who decided that a hidden page should flap its way out of the book. He picked it up.

'Dream -A Talent few ever know they have'

'Dream is a Talent which is extremely difficult to discover. It gives a witch or a wizard the ability to see and understand things when he or she is asleep, things the one with a Dream Talent would not see or understand while being awake.'

'Sometimes, a wizard -or a witch- with a Dream Talent will have a strange dream. He or she will dream about familiar things, persons or places, and then, in the same dream, see something quite unfamiliar, but which has a connection to what the wizard -or witch- already knows. Later, when awake, they will sometimes discover that what they dreamt about really is connected in some way, and not only a figment of imagination. For example, a witch with a Dream Talent sees a dog while she's awake. She then dreams about the dog, and in this dream she sees the dog's owner, who she has not seen in reality. The witch will probably dismiss this as her own imagination, but if she ever should meet the dog's owner when awake, she would probably see the same person she saw in her dream.'

'That way, Dream is a kind of Seer Talent; however, that is not only what Dream is. A person with a Dream Talent can also call a person to sleep for as long as he or she wishes. It is probably from here we have the fairytale of 'Sleeping Beauty'. A Dream Talent can also keep a person awake forever, and thus, the Dream Talent can be deadly, as we know that you will die if you go without sleep for too long.'

'Another thing this Talent can do is banish nightmares, but it can also summon them. Therefore, all who have a Dream Talent remember to use it wisely. The Talent can also help people with sleeping problems, whether it is falling asleep or staying awake, no matter what the reason is.'

Harry stared at the page, his bad mood completely forgotten. Then he re-read it, and smiled. So that's where my sleeping troubles went! He chuckled. Now all he had to do was to go to Hermione each time he was so stressed that he started having nightmares.

He was just about to go to find her, when she called for him.

she called. He jumped slightly at the sudden voice in his head.

he answered.

~*~

Hermione was momentarily startled when Harry came up behind, spun her around and pressed his warm lips to hers, kissing her deeply. She recovered quickly however, and responded in turn. He moaned softly when she raked her hands through his hair. A thrilling sensation went through her body as it always did when he kissed her.

They pulled apart, both slightly breathless. He bent down and gave her a loving peck on her cheek, and she sighed happily. As troubled as it had started out, their friendship from their first years at Hogwarts had returned, many times strengthened because of the difficulties they'd overcome. The added bonus of kisses and touches were something neither of them minded in the least.

"What did you have to show me?" Harry asked. Hermione smiled. All she had to do was call, and he'd come. Of course, it seemed like his intentions weren't always the same as hers. "I heard that," he muttered and kissed her lips again. "You think too loudly."

Hermione blushed. "So what?Does it bother you that I think nice thoughts about you? I can't remember thinking that I disliked those other intentions of yours, either."

He grinned. "Well, no. But I doubt you called me here to make me listen to those thoughts. I rather think it was some other thoughts your pretty little head has come up with."

"You're a flirt, Mr Potter," she pouted.

"Am I now?" he asked, and started planting small kisses down her neck.

Small shivers made their way through her body, and she pushed him away. "I didn't call you for that either, even though you seem rather one-tracked today," she said. "But I have found something that might interest you." She picked up a book she'd been reading.

"'Old Prophecies'?" Harry asked. "Thought you were rather, er, distrustful of that art?"

Hermione swatted him. "I just read a prophecy, made by Celia Nensh. It mentions a certain 'Galen Antesh'," she said.

Harry's attention was immediately hers. Not that it hadn't been... "Galen Antesh? Antesh, like in the very first of the Children of Power? It means Twisted Power, doesn't it?"

Hermione nodded and Harry slumped into the nearest chair. A few fifth years rounded the corner and looked curiously at them. Harry quickly Persuaded them to forget the incident, and put up some wardings around the part in the library where they were. Hermione scolded him for being so careless. Then, she read the prophecy for him.

"This is how it goes," she said.

'In a time of Darkness, a Prophecy will come true,

By a Child of Power, in ancient times, it is made.

Though by one they are hated, these powerful few,

And this one they will fight, now and forever,

For he is the Dark, and they are the Light.

The Dark one tried to destroy this foretelling,

He failed, yet succeeded,

For it will prevail through his child.

But the Twisted Power is born in his brother,

Their Destinies tied forever in battle,

And brother will fight brother,

Kin will fight kin.

Ancient Evil will spring from the brother's blood,

And a Galen Antesh will he be.

The Twisted, he will be named.

Few will dare to speak the name he has stolen,

Fewer will know what his real name is.

And the chances of the Light will be small,

As The Twisted Darkness has separated the Two.

But as Hope withstand,

And the wish for Freedom is strong,

When Trust is regained,

The Children are united,

Peace can be sought, and Darkness fought.'

Hermione paused and looked expectantly at Harry.

"Wow, it's even rhyming. Some places," said he, dryly.

Hermione rolled her eyes heavenwards. "Be serious!" she exclaimed. "Don't you think it might concern us in any way?"

"Perhaps," said he. "The prophecy it mentions is probably Rowena Ravenclaw's, and 'But the Twisted Power is born in his brother, their Destinies tied forever in battle', probably refers to Slandrin Slytherin and his brother's descendant, Tom Riddle. Don't ask me how I know that, it just feels right." He thought for a while. "We have to pick this one to pieces," he said.

The next few hours they spent trying to make some meaning of the prophecy.

"Okay," Harry said at last. "I think we've got it now. Let's go through it one more time, to check if we have everything."

"'In a time of Darkness, a Prophecy will come true, by a Child of Power, in ancient times, it is made." Hermione began. "We agreed that was about Rowena Ravenclaw's Prophecy. Then it's 'Though by one they are hated, these powerful few, and this one they will fight, now and forever, for he is the Dark, and they are the Light.', which is about the fight between the founders, Rowena and Godric being 'the Light', and Slandrin 'the Dark'."

"Then comes the more difficult part," broke Harry in. "'The Dark one tried to destroy this foretelling, He failed, yet succeeded.'"

"'The Dark one' is Slandrin, and though he succeeded in casting the Curse, it was halfway undone by Salazar."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, and then it's: 'But the Twisted Power is born in his brother, their Destinies tied forever in battle, and brother will fight brother, kin will fight kin.'"

"We agreed that it meant that 'The Twisted Power' is Voldemort, and 'the brother' is Salazar, didn't we?"

Harry nodded, and Hermione continued. "Then it's that about the Destinies, about Salazar and Slandrin always fighting, even when they're both dead, through you and Voldemort."

"They kind of switched placed though," Harry commented. "Last time it was Salazar who fought for the light, now it's Slandrin."

"But I'm Salazar's descendant," Hermione said, somewhat injured.

"What a family quarrel," said Harry, dryly.

Hermione shook her head in resignation. "Anyway, it continues. 'Ancient Evil will spring from the brother's blood, and a Galen Antesh will he be. The Twisted, he will be named.'"

"If the Galen Antesh is Voldemort, then we'll have to search for what a Galen Antesh really is," she said. Then she sighed. "What's the point with this?" she said, frustrated. "A whole prophecy just to tell us that Voldemort is something called 'Galen Antesh'?"

"I guess it's supposed to help us. Even though we don't know, we can assume. I think these prophecies are a kind of guide," Harry said. "They're supposed to show us the right path, push us in the right direction, but very much is so up to ourselves." Then he added, dryly, "Or perhaps the Seeress just had her channel tuned in wrong."

Hermione looked disdainfully at him, but nodded. "Yes, perhaps you're right. And if it really is Voldemort the prophecy speaks about, it speaks about us, too. The last few lines are, 'Few will dare to speak the name he has stolen, Fewer will know what his real name is. And the chances of the Light will be small, as The Twisted Darkness has separated the Two. But as Hope withstand, And the wish for Freedom is strong, when Trust is regained, The Children are united, Peace can be sought, and Darkness fought.'"

It was Harry's turn to nod. "'Few will dare to speak the name he has stolen' probably refers to Voldemort, and 'fewer will know what his real name is', which must be Tom Marvolo Riddle. We are mentioned as 'the Children'."

"Can't get away from these prophecies, can we?" Hermione said, exasperated.

"Apparently not," Harry agreed. "We should start looking for 'the Galen Antesh', and 'the Twisted Power', and try finding something on that. How nice."

Hermione nodded. "You know, I've thought-"

"You have?" Harry said in mock-shock. "I'd never guess!"

Hermione swatted him again. "About the first prophecy, by Ravenclaw. It mentions 'As Power hate Power, As Power distrust Power'. I guess this is translated from the Children of Power language, to English, or at least Anglo-Saxon at first. If you read it in our language you can get 'As Pectal hate Citatio, As Citatio distrust Pectal'."

Harry looked intently at her, and then he nodded. "You might be right. That translation is probably why it was rather difficult to decipher the prophecy."

Hermione nodded. "And it also clarifies that rather confusing part, considering, er, our somewhat..."

"Turbulent start?" Harry suggested, and Hermione nodded sheepishly. "Well, we got over it, didn't we?" he said, and took her hand, pulling her into his lap. "I'm quite sure I was right when I said those prophecies are here to guide us. The first one was to help us so we could find each other - not that it helped that much - while this one shall lead us to 'the Galen', who quite likely is Voldemort."

Hermione sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "But where do we find exactly what this 'Galen' is?"

To that, Harry could give no answer, as it was usually Hermione who had them, anyway.

~*~

Ron had packed his stuff. Everything was in order, he was ready to leave. Professor Dumbledore had told him that this could not wait, and that he would have to take his NEWTs later. Ron had snorted at that -silently of course. What did he need NEWTs for, when he was an Elemental Guardian? But unfortunately, you could not make a living out of being an Elemental Guardian, and both Asham and William had normal jobs. William even had a wife and two sons.

"Well then," Asham said, when Ron returned to Dumbledore's office. "We'll have to leave the school, since I cannot Apparate through the wards."

Ron nodded, just as Blaise came back from her room, she too having gathered her stuff. William smiled gently at her.

"Ready?" he said, and she nodded. "This will feel rather weird," he warned, and took her hand. He put the other hand into a small pitcher of water, and... became water.

Ron stared in shock as the two figures suddenly turned into water. They were shaped as humans, yet still they were water. With a gurgling sound the two figures were drawn into the pitcher - Ron couldn't understand how that little thing could hold that much water - and disappeared. A black shadow passed over the surface, and the two were gone.

Asham chuckled at Ron's face. "No worries, kid, the girl will be all right."

"W-what did he do?" asked Ron, confused.

"He just travelled by his element," Asham stated, quite unfazed.

"Why can't we do that? Why are we going to Apparate?" Ron asked.

"Because Fire is rather unreliable. If I introduced you to fire travelling now, you'd most likely get burned," he answered. "There is a danger with Water too, but William had to take the chance, because he can't Apparate."

"Oh?" said Ron, curiously. "Why?"

Asham laughed. "Quite simply because he's a Muggle. Can't do a single bit of magic." Asham then turned to Dumbledore. "We'll have to go now. I have to tell the boy's parents. Unfortunately I can't just take him with me, since his parents will get worried." He looked rather miffed at the thought.

~*~

Harry and Hermione were rather shocked to find out that Ron and Blaise were Elemental Guardians. Harry was careful to shield his emotions from the two Empaths though, for he was rather pleased. Now, Ron had something of his own, something he, Harry Potter, could not take from him. Harry hoped it would teach him to accept his position, and not crave others'. He had always known that Ron hungered to have what he didn't have, and he knew that while Ron had hoped that he once could surpass the great Boy-Who-Lived, each failure had made him more bitter, and more determined. He had never said anything, knowing that Ron himself had to realise that once he stopped reaching for the unreachable, he could truly be content with his life. Harry himself had no difficulties in accepting a second place, but being the defeater of Voldemort, it was difficult to come out as the second best.

But now, Ron had something Harry could never have (even though Harry had much Ron could never have), and he could actually do something for the Light, and Harry knew Ron wasn't, and would never be a Dark Wizard. He had known that for a while, since second year, when his Destiny Talent made one of its rare lapses into another person's destiny. While there were many paths Ron could chose, none of them had been towards evil and darkness. Against loneliness and bitterness, perhaps, but he was definitely not going towards a fate as a Dark Wizard.

And now, Harry thought wryly, Blaise is his destiny. She knows how to handle him, now when he's stopped blackmailing her...

Hermione looked strangely at him, having picked up that small stitch of amusement.

That news, however, was not the only piece of information Professor Dumbledore had for them that evening. One of the Order's researchers, a man called Daniel, had found something which spoke of an ancient South-American God, called the Galen. Harry swore he saw Hermione's ears actually perk when he said that. The Headmaster was, of course, very interested when he found out that they'd found a prophecy which mentioned the 'Galen Antesh'.

When Dumbledore had recited the 'fairy-tale', he found both teens deep in thought, though Hermione was slightly green.

She turned to Harry. "What kind of 'great power' can this Nuk'del'sheat have invoked to make herself pregnant?" she asked, sounding quite horrified. "This can't possibly be true, even though it mentions the Galen, and all the names are in the Children of Power's Language." She shuddered. "It's just sick."

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Actually, it is possible..." he said slowly. Both Hermione and Dumbledore raised their eyebrows. "It can be done in several ways," continued Harry. "Firstly, you can by magic complete the processes of human cloning, which Muggle technology still cannot do. You know; the merging of an egg cell without a nucleus, and a single nucleus taken from another cell. With magic this can be done perfectly, so the result will not die, or in any other way be defective." He raised his eyebrows at the other two. "I doubt however, that Nuk'del'sheat had the technology or the knowledge to be able to do this."

Hermione nodded impatiently, knowing that he had another possibility ready. "Yes, but then how?"

Harry grinned. "You're sure you want to know?" he asked. Hermione glared at him, and he snickered. "Simple. Nuk'del'sheat could have been a Shapeshifter." He looked pointedly at Hermione. "You are aware that I can actually become a mother?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. "You- You mean- Saying- Shift into a-"

"You weren't aware of that," Harry stated dryly.

Hermione was mortified. "That's gross," she said lamely.

Harry turned serious. "Yes, it is, but it can have happened. And of course, we don't know the limits of Nuk'del'sheat's power. She might have just created a child. I guess we'll never know. All we know, is that Slandrin Slytherin probably was her son's descendant, and that Slandrin played a part in that which resulted in Voldemort's counterpart; me." He snuck a glance at Hermione. "Well, half of Voldemort's counterpart, anyway." Then he sighed. "Fate truly has a weird sense of humour."

Hermione's eyes suddenly widened. "If we make a guess," she said, "and this 'son, many generations removed', as this little abhorrent tale says, is Voldemort."

The two males nodded, and she continued. "Doesn't that mean that I'm her descendant too?"

"Oh," said Harry, suddenly startled. "I didn't think of that."

Hermione paled, and shuddered. "I'm really a result of such a sick, sick thing?" she asked timidly.

"Hermione," Harry sighed, and laid an arm comfortingly around her shoulder. "You shouldn't let that get to you. There are lots of people who are her descendants, just think of the Malfoys! They're Slandrin Slytherin's descendants, and that makes me her descendant, too, through my mother. After so many years I'll bet it's thousands of people who have her as their ancestor."

Hermione seemed to find that satisfying, for she brightened considerably. Dumbledore just watched them with an amused smile.

"It answers our question, however. We know what the Galen is now," Harry said. "The tale say's he'll 'carry the power of a female, though being a male.' I think that means that he'll be a Pectal, but still, since he's a male, he'll be a Citatio too. Voldemort is both a Pectal and a Citatio, and that's why he can Wander."

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore suddenly said. "That truly answers a few questions. Another one just popped up, though. Since Voldemort is able to Wander, how come he doesn't just Wanderdirectly into Hogwarts as the two of you can do? It has bothered me quite a bit."

Harry frowned. "Yes, me too.Right now it's my and Hermione's wards which are preventing him, but I'm not so sure if that's enough, when he is as powerful as the two of us combined..."

"I think I know why," Hermione said.

"You do?" asked Harry.

"Yes," she answered. "Two of the founders of Hogwarts were a Citatio and a Pectal. I would assume that they put up wards to prevent any as powerful as themselves from entering."

"But why can the two of us Wanderin then?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Simple," Hermione answered. "You're their descendant. It wouldn't be very practical for Godric and Rowena not to be able to Wander in, and since you're related to them, the wards, which must be keyed to them, just 'think' that you're one of them. And since you taught me how to Wander inside Hogwarts, you 'accidentally' keyed me to the wards, too."

Harry tilted his head, pondering on what she'd said. "You know, I think you're right again, Hermione," he said, beaming. "Brilliant!"

Hermione blushed. "Just simple logic, really," she muttered, "and something I found in Hogwarts: AHistory, suggested that it might be right." Harry laughed heartily, and Dumbledore chuckled, making Hermione blush redder. They all quickly turned serious again, though.

"But can we be sure that both this tale and the prophecy speak of Voldemort?" Harry asked the two others.

"It must be," said Dumbledore. "He must have some of either Pectal or Citatio abilities, when he can Wander, and it is mostly agreed on the fact that there cannot be two Citatios. Besides, it is the fact that you've found them, read them, and found parallels to our time. I don't think that's a coincidence."

Harry nodded gravely. "You're right. There is no reason to have two Citatios, so Voldemort cannot be one, and the Element of Dark cannot send any Citatio to fight for it either. It seems though, as if it can send something worse."

He locked his gaze with Hermione. "It is a most grave matter. It is very important that we get ready to fight Voldemort. I don't know why, but obviously he didn't have his full powers when my mother vanquished him sixteen years ago, or perhaps he just didn't truly know how to use them. Anyway, he knows now, and has spent the last few years growing stronger. Soon he'll be as strong as he can get, and even though both of us are more powerful than is normal for Pectals and Citatios, we can't be sure if it's enough," he said worriedly, and Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, you must spend as much time as possible to prepare. Once he reaches his full power, he will go after you." The old Headmaster looked seriously at the young teens, one who had already fought many battles, and was more of an adult than most people twice his age, and one who would soon be thrown into the battle zone, a terrifying experience for a girl so young. Yet, they were both determined to continue. Never had he been so proud, and never had he been so concerned. He cared greatly for these young adults. He promised himself to make great effort to find out when Voldemort went after them, so they could be as prepared as possible.

~*~

It was a few days after the meeting with Dumbledore, and the two teens were now working on Hermione's animagus forms yet again. Now having mastered the horse, the kneazle, the abraxan, the dragonfly and the wolf, Harry wanted her to manage her peregrine falcon, in case she should need to flee sometime.

Hermione was currently learning how to fly, and failing rather thoroughly.

"Hermione," Harry said patiently. "Here I think you have to think the opposite way of what you've been doing earlier on, like when you tried the kneazle."

Hermione tilted her head in a very bird-like way.

"With the kneazle, you kind of knew how to do it, 'cause even though it has four legs, it's not that different from two legs, so you had to suppress the cat's instincts," he explained. "The bird flies. That's very, very, different from us humans, and therefore you have to let the bird's instinct take over, 'cause the bird can fly, while you cannot. Let it teach you."

Hermione nodded, and Harry looked distinctly amused a second, as having a bird do such a human thing was downright hilarious.

Hermione looked out, seeing Hogwarts' grounds far below. They were in one of the highest turrets of the castle, and Harry had just magicked her back to him for the hundredth time, after one of her near-crashes.

She sighed.

"We can continue tomorrow though, if you-" he never had the chance to finish.

"Oh yes, can we, can we?" Hermione cried happily, having popped back to human existence the instant the words left his mouth.

Harry smiled slightly. "Okay, if you absolutely want to," he said. He was about to say something more, but was interrupted when he found himself with a Hermione on his face.

he managed to send to her. She replied by touching her tongue to his lips, and he automatically opened for her. He had problems sticking two thoughts together after that.

When they finally broke free, Harry's eyes were slightly glazed.

"You're all right Harry?" Hermione asked, a bit breathlessly.

"I'm scarred for life..." Harry said dazedly, obviously not having expected being jumped that way.

"What?"

He seemed to snap back to reality. "Did you say anything?" he asked her, and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Never mind," she said dryly. Then, "What do we do now? The day's still young."

"Hmm... Actually I'm not quite sure..." Harry said slyly. "What do you say about this?" he asked, and swept her into another kiss.

After a little while, Hermione pushed him away, smiling. He pouted, faking hurt.

"As much as I like that, it isn't very productive," she said. Harry got a wicked glint in his eyes. "Mind out of the gutter, Potter!" she said sharply. "That wasn't what I meant."

Harry snapped into seriousness again. "Well, I'm not quite sure," he said thoughtfully. Then he lit up. "I suppose we could test what our limits are."

"You've never done that before?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows going into her hairline.

Harry smiled sheepishly.

"You've never done that before," she stated. "Harry, we're talking about saving the world here, and you've never checked how far you can go?!"

Harry grinned. "Of course I have, Hermione, you just misunderstood me." Then upon seeing her glare, he faltered a little. "Or perhaps I was unclear. The point is that I know how long I can last, when I have to stop, and what I can do, but I've never tested how powerful I am."

"Which means?" she said sceptically.

"That I've never checked how many volcanoes I can erupt, how many oceans I can empty, how many stars I can turn off-"

"Okay, okay, I get your point. Shall we go then?"

Ten minutes later they stood in the middle of a very cold, very vast, and very lonely place.

"Siberia!" Harry announced. "No place is better when we're going to throw things off the scale," he said cheerfully.

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "Show me what you can do then," she challenged.

"Okay," he said. "Be prepared!"

He concentrated. Hermione saw a small crack starting to form in the ground. It rumbled about them. The crack grew until it was a hole as big as a football, and then-

Hermione screamed.

Flowing, hot lava poured out of the hole! The spray stood twenty metres into the air! It rained down upon them, and Hermione crouched down, her hands going up to protect her head.

Nothing happened though. The lava was still pouring out of the crack but a transparent shield covered them, protecting them from the dangerous flow. The grass around them was lit with fire.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the spray stopped. The lava was drawn back, and the crack closed. The fires were put out, and all that remained was charred and sooty grass.

Harry grinned.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed.

"I simply made a small crack in the surface, making it very, very deep. The pressure down there is so great that it does the rest, so the biggest problem is to keep the crack small, and to sever it." He answered, frowning slightly. "It wasn't so much of a strain this time though..."

He shrugged it off, as he saw Hermione starting to make a crack too. It wasn't as deep as his, 'only' a five kilometre wide circle. Confused, he looked at as she made several more, not as deep, and not circular. When she was finished, she lighted them, (with what he wasn't entirely certain) so they shone in the darkness, and then she persuaded him to fly up as a thestral, with her on his back. Then he could see that the crack formed the image of a snitch. He laughed as he saw the very big snitch etched into the ground, bathed in light. With a grin, Hermione closed the cracks, and the snitch was gone.

They spent the next hours exploring their powers, and had great fun doing so. Since it was mid-day in England, it meant it was night in Siberia, even though the nights rather short now, so far north. Finally, as the sun started making its way above the horizon, Harry made the portal which would take them home.

Then he remembered what Voldemort had done, and straining his power, he opened it as big as he could manage, somewhere inside the Forbidden Forest.

Disappointedly he found out he could only manage about a third of what Voldemort could.

Hermione sensed this, and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Harry," she said. "In fact, this supports a theory of mine," she said as they went through it and he closed it.

"Oh?" he said.

"The two of us aren't very powerful 'magically', when compared to Voldemort. He can open bigger portals, he can crush more humans, and he can take down more persons with one curse. I think that is because he has the Citatio and Pectal power combined," she said. "But I don't think he has many Talents."

Harry looked startled. "How do you know that?" he asked.

"I made a Soul-Search," she said. "I took one of your memories of Voldemort, and checked him for Talents. I only found the one you discovered, Weaving and Mind-Reading, which isn't half as good as Mind-Searching." She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Besides, his Mind-Reading Talent isn't very strong either. And then there was Voice, which he wasn't better at than me."

Harry pondered at that. "You think his having both female and male power kind of 'block' other Talents?"

Hermione nodded, and kissed his cheek. "We'll win, Harry, don't worry," she said, soothingly, trying to keep the doubt out of her voice. They had to believe in victory, or they would lose.

Sighing, Harry changed into Christian as they walked towards the school. Then he stopped.

"You said you Soul-Searched!" he exclaimed.

Hermione smiled sweetly. "Did I now?"

"Why haven't you told me it had awakened?" he asked, sounding a bit offended.

"Why, I wanted you to figure it out by yourself," she answered.

Harry growled. "I'll never understand women."

~*~

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