Prophecy

Secrets revealed... and kept

Manticore settled into their school routine over the next two weeks. They had PT six mornings a week and school classes, followed by Manticore work and whatever they did for fun. Since Manticore was a wildly varied group, what they did for fun was different as well.

Jerrick found amusement in learning everything, and was often heard to bemoan the lack of Internet capabilities at the school. While not a Muggleborn, his father had extensive contacts in the Muggle world, and had seen the intelligence potential of the Internet long ago.

Emily of course, was still reading the books in the library, and James often had to escort her back to Ravenclaw late at night before going to bed himself.

Sonya Gebbs had found a new hobby, as she had gone with Jerrick to talk to the Merfolk in the lake, and found she liked the lake. James had given Jerrick a Muggle thing called a drysuit, as the lake was very chilly most of the time, and the drysuit kept you warm. Jerrick would use the drysuit and a bubblehead charm to talk to the Merfolk, and after Sonya started going with him, he's gotten one for her from James. Sonya could be found in the lake most weekends now, and was learning the Merfolk language.

Chimera of course, had their own hobbies. Lisa was involved in something she wasn't talking about, except to say that she was getting insurance.

Hangeld was beginning to manifest his Elemental magic, and had turned out to be an Earth Mage, meaning all his powers had to do with Earth. He could make things grow quickly, and was learning more from Blacklegs, who was teaching an optional class at Hogwarts in Human-Giant relations.

Emma was busy running the unattached Manticores into the ground, trying to get them in shape to compete with the rest of Manticore, and trying to get one of them to take charge. The best candidate so far however, was only borderline at best. She and Hangeld could still be found in the lab most Saturdays, where they actually managed to breach the wards around the potions lab one weekend. As it was an accident, they couldn't reproduce the effect, which frustrated James no end.

James and Rose were still spending more time together, trying to bridge the growing gap in their thinking, and working on more entertaining pranks, now that they had better spells and more training to play with.

Tiffany had decided to work with Carey Fudge, and under her gentle teaching, he was actually showing some progress. He could now walk through Manticore Hall without bumping into something. As Tiffany explained to James late one night in front of the Gryffindor fireplace, Carey was not really that clumsy, it was simply that someone had convinced him he was, and as she wore down that mental block, and he gained more confidence, he stopped being so clumsy, which helped boost his confidence even more. James smiled at his Soulbonded. "I knew you were more than good looks." Tiffany made a face at him, and tried to tickle him, an action that ended up with her pinned to the floor, and James claiming a kiss before he'd let her up.

Melissa was still collecting data on the various abilities and links, studying with the Centaurs, and helping the Manticore Mediwizards with the Xavier spell books, making her one of the busier Manticores.

Adam had taken up painting as his hobby, and was very good at it. He liked to do portraits of the Manticores, and would badger one of them into sitting for him every weekend. He got most of them to do it by telling them that if they were sitting for him, James wouldn't bother them, a fact that had some of the team leaders asking to be painted. James had not lost any of the energy of youth, and was likely to turn up anywhere, checking on his people.

The Weasley brothers, Arthur and Michael, had NEWTs and OWLs this year, and were too busy studying for them to do much.

Daniel Creevey had found something to do also. His had found a talent for Transfigurations, and was taking an extra class late in the day with Professor McGonagall. The Professor was also teaching the Animagus class every Friday after the last class of the regular school day when everyone that was invited could make time to be there. All of Chimera, Sonya, Prefect Moore, Emily, Mercy, and Jerrick were there, along with a few other people.

Since every Animagus had to be registered, and there had not been this many Animagi in several decades, let alone all at once and in one place, this caused another of the seven day wonder media events James was rapidly growing to hate with a passion. Manticore had three betting pools going. The first was one which reporter James would do something about first, the second was on what form his retribution would take, and the last was on Emma and Hangeld. That one was on what they would do to themselves next.

Outside of the school, the parents of Manticore that knew about the prophecy now were building a quiet support network among themselves, and most of them were taking the precautions that Robert had recommended during the Hogsmeade week. Robert had compiled a list of the best wards he could find, and every family was given that list. If they chose to use them, Cumulus paid for the wards and for the more involved ones, would send a Wizard or two to help place them.

A strange thing happened to Minister Fudge one day, as more than thirty birds chose to fly over him while he talked to a group of Wizards, and somehow managed to hit him with multiple droppings. The droppings had an exceptionally bad odor, and stained his robes badly. Richard Rohan was there, having received an anonymous note that the gathering would be interesting, and managed to get a picture of the Minister as the droppings hit him. The gossip paper Magic Mayhem carried it on the front page, and James posted one of the pictures in Manticore Hall.

James and Rose claimed that they hadn't done it, which most people that remembered what the Minister had said about America and the Shaman teachings didn't believe. James and Rose hadn't done it though, they had simply told a group of British Shamans about the Minister's feelings toward 'Shayminism' and suggested an appropriate response. They had supplied the spell that caused the odor and staining, but had not cast it, so they could truthfully say they had not done it.

Chimera, knowing about the Evans's habits, had wormed the whole truth out of them.

James got an owl from his father on the 21^st and after he read the first part of it, he looked at Rose. "We need to talk to the Headmaster after dinner. Father has given him the release for us to tell Chimera about It."

Chimera looked at each other. Lisa frowned at the uncharacteristic seriousness of the twins, and asked, "Do we want to know about this thing you've taken the Ice Binding over?"

"No," said James bluntly, "but I have to offer you the option, as the thing will be a major part of Rose and my lives, and since you all are bonded to us, you should know about it. You can turn it down, and you'll never know what it is. If you do accept this knowledge though, you will agree to the Ice Binding as well, so you might want to think about it before you say yes or no."

Chimera was quiet that day, as they thought about the implications of that. The Ice Binding was the single most powerful oath that one Wizard could cast on another, and nobody could break it or release it except the Wizards involved in the casting. In the end though, all of Chimera agreed to the Oath.

Robert Evans would be at the school Sunday, and would give the Oaths, after which James and Rose would tell them whatever it was. Friday, James passed the word that the lab would be off limits Sunday until he said otherwise.

Sunday was a bright sunny day, which only emphasized the irritable moods of the twins, and the somber mood of Robert and Mary, who arrived shortly after breakfast. The group went up to Manticore Hall, and into the lab, where James and Mary bound the door shut with a ward. While they were doing that, Robert and Rose prepared the things Robert would need to cast the Oath, and the rest of Chimera checked the lab for anything that might be out of place. Albus Dumbledore, who was going to be part of the Oath while the Codex was at Hogwarts, watched with interest. He knew of the Pendragon Ice Binding of course, every adult Wizard did, but he'd never known anyone under the oath, and this was a new experience.

When everything was ready, Robert asked them if they were willing to accept the Oath, and after they said they were, he cast the Oath, taking a drop of their blood, and his and mingling it in a potion. When that was done, he had them repeat the terms of the Oath, and their acceptance of it. As they did, the potion glowed a pure white, and a mist swirled around them, a mist that chilled the blood and made them all gasp.

At the conclusion of the Oath, the mist sank into their bodies, and they could feel it, like a cold chill on their spines. James looked at them, knowing what they were feeling. "It'll go away in about ten minutes, and you'll never know about it, unless you start to break the oath, and it will warn you with the chill you feel now. If you continue past the warning, the oath will stop you before you reveal the secret I'm about to tell you."

James looked around, and finally sighed. "Most of you know what I'm talking about, but bear with me as I fill Adam in on the Draconian Codex."

The Wizard born, who had heard all the tales and legends of the Codex, stared at James.

Lisa looked at James's trunk, which was sitting before them. "You have the Codex in there?"

Rose answered her, as James filled Adam in on the history of the Codex. "Yes, it has been James's responsibility since the summer before we started at Hogwarts."

Mary broke into their conversation. "I was guarding it, but I had to give it up. With James and Rose getting into the Prophecy, I was not sure I trusted myself not to use it if something happened to them, and the Codex would only accept James."

"What do you mean it would only accept James?" asked Hangeld, as he moved a bit further away from the trunk.

Mary sighed at she looked at the trunk. "The spells and wards around the Codex have to be tied to one person, and sometimes, when you attempt to bind the Codex to someone, it simply will not work. There is a theory that the Codex, while not alive, has a type of intelligence that allows it to prevent the wards from working. When we tried to bind the first choice to it, it refused the binding."

Robert picked up from there. "We tried all the adults that know about this thing, and the damn thing refused them all, and at that point, we had no choice, as the number of people that know about this, and that I trust with it are limited. James was the only one that knew about it, and that it would accept."

James had finished telling Adam about the history of the Codex, and was listening quietly. When Robert was finished, he spoke up. "Since you are all bound to us, and we are bound to that thing, I convinced Father we were going to have to tell you about it sooner or later."

Emma was looking around. "I don't understand. You have the most powerful spell book ever. Why are we worrying about the Patient Child? You could obliterate him in a second with that thing."

James raised an eyebrow. "Emma," he said patiently, "don't you listen to the stories? Everyone who has ever opened that book has been destroyed, and they did more damage to the world than all the Dark Wizards that ever lived."

Robert nodded. "The Codex is responsible for more damage than any three other items combined. The asteroid belt was a planet once, until a Wizard obsessed with the power of the Codex destroyed it, and the last time it was opened, a Witch seeking personal revenge on just six people destroyed the entire island of Atlantis. It took a thousand Wizards and Witches to take it away from her, and she was completely mad by then. There is an old saying, 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' The Codex is more than absolute power, it's ultimate power."

"Not to mention," James added, "that the Codex has an aura that makes me want to stay very far away from it. I would have left it at home, thousands of miles away, if I could have."

Robert smiled faintly at James. "Personally, I was much happier to have it under the Hogwarts wards."

Albus Dumbledore smiled wryly at Robert. "Speaking of which, I think we need to have a talk, about you sending that here, without telling me first."

Robert shrugged, and halfway apologized. "I wasn't planning on it, but then I wasn't planning on sending James and Rose here either. The North American Wizard's Academy is close enough to home that it could have stayed at the house. The Prophecy changed things on us."

"I'd still like to punch the director in the nose," muttered James.

Tiffany caressed his hair. "I haven't filled out my will yet, thank you."

The rest of Chimera agreed with her, as the adults, who didn't have a clue what they were talking about looked on in confusion.

Lisa looked at the Evans, and came to a decision. "Are you the Guardians?" Lisa was referring to an old Wizard legend, that said one family had been chosen to be the guardians of things too strong to be destroyed, but too powerful to used. They also destroyed things that could only be used for evil purposes.

Mary looked up. "No, the Evans are not the Guardians."

Melissa had looked up, puzzled by the spike of emotions that Mary had felt when the Guardians were mentioned, and she had a flash of insight. "You know who they are though, don't you?"

James and Rose turned to stare at their mother, waiting for the answer. Mary looked at all the people staring at her, and sighed. "I do, but I cannot tell you how I know, or who they are, because of an Oath nearly as strong as the one you just swore."

James and Rose looked at each other. "More secrets. It has to be an adult thing."

James agreed with Rose. "Like not telling us that we were related to the Potters."

Mary grinned. "Very much like that, and that's all I'm going to say about it, unless the situation changes somehow."

Emma was still studying the chest. "Can we see it at least?"

James smirked at Rose. "Pay up."

Rose groaned. "Paid, you swindler. I should have learned by now that betting with you is just a good way to throw money away."

"Would you mind telling me what you bet on me for?" asked Emma. "And then you can answer my question."

James grinned at her. "Simple bet really, Rose saw that somebody would ask to see the Codex, but because anything to do with the Codex clouds her sight, she couldn't see who. I thought it would be you, and Rose thought it would be Adam."

"Me?" said Adam in surprise. "Why would you think I would want to see it?"

Rose looked at Emma and frowned. "Mostly, because I thought any Wizard born would have heard enough about it that they wouldn't want to see it. You haven't grown up on the stories and legends, so I thought you'd be the first to ask."

Adam looked at Rose. "I haven't seen a nuclear explosion either, but that doesn't mean I need to see it up close and personal. If you two don't want to even touch the thing, and James the obsessed won't use it in the War, that tells me all I need to know."

James protested Adam's description of him. "I am not obsessed."

The group stared at James for a minute before bursting out in laughter. Even Tiffany had a smile on her face. James looked injured. "I'm not that bad."

Robert tousled James's hair. "Yes," he said, "you are. You always have been, and always will be. I know, because I'm the same way, and I know the signs of obsession better than anyone."

Emma looked at James. "You still haven't answered my question," she reminded him.

James sighed. "How many of you want to see it?"

Emma, Lisa and Melissa raised their hands, and after a second, Hangeld and Adam raised theirs as well.

Tiffany shook her head, quiet and somber. "I've seen it in James's memories, and that's as close as I need to get."

James caressed her face. "Sorry, you're going to see it again, but you don't have to go in there with it."

Tiffany shivered. "Get it over with."

James nodded, and turned to his parents. "Would you be the pair, please?"

They nodded, took positions in front of the trunk, and pulled their wands. The others watched them curiously.

James smiled mirthlessly. "Since you asked, you can be the first to see It," he told Emma.

James bent over his trunk and muttered something the others didn't quite catch, and stood back. The trunk shimmered for a second, and then grew to nearly two meters tall, unfolding in some manner that didn't seem possible. Adam watched with interest. "That is very useful."

James went to the door that had appeared when the trunk finished unfolding, and looked at Rose. She sighed but got up and joined him. The twins did something, and suddenly there were two small handles on the door. They both put a hand on the handles, and pulled the door open.

Emma was watching curiously. "I've seen you open your trunk several times, and you didn't have to do that(,)" she said to Rose.

Rose smiled at her. "Of course not, I don't have that thing in mine. The two of us, acting in tandem, is the only way to open James's trunk. It's something James and I agreed on, when we decided that we had to bring the book with us."

James spoke quietly, but firmly. "Pay attention. There are a couple of obvious dangers here and one not quite so easy to note. First, if you have a weak will the thought of the Codex dominates your thinking. Once or twice, a person seeing it for the first time has tried to run off with it." James indicated Robert and Mary. "That's their job, to prevent you from getting anywhere. I will also be watching for any signs that the Codex has captured your thoughts while we're in there, and I have a few more options to use."

Rose picked up from that point. "The next danger is to you, not the Codex. Some people can't stand the feel of the thing and have nearly gone catatonic. That's why James will be in there with you, to pull you out if you collapse."

James nodded in agreement, as he continued. "There is also a small chance that it may not like you, and you'll drop dead." Chimera stared at James.

"Hold on one second." said Adam, looking nervously at the door. "Are you saying that thing can kill people, without anyone using it?"

"Kill, no, not on purpose anyway." Everyone turned to look at Melissa, who had spoken. Melissa was staring at the open door with a far away expression on her face. "It's not intelligent, not in any way I know, but it is aware somehow. I can feel it. It has emotions." Robert and Mary looked at Melissa and then at the open door.

Robert was frowning thoughtfully as he considered the doorway. "The Evans line doesn't have Empaths, and we've never had an Empath see the Codex. I wonder if you could communicate with it somehow."

Melissa was still staring at the door. "I don't think so. It's not remotely human, and I can't understand what it's feeling." She blinked and turned her back on the door. "I've changed my mind. I don't want to see it."

James nodded. "It's your choice." He looked at Emma. "Are you ready?" At Emma nod of assent, James gestured at the door. "After you."

Emma walked through the door with James and paused, looking at the only thing in the room. The room was bare except for a pedestal that drew the eye. The pedestal was three feet high and appeared to be made of oak, but that didn't register until later, because the book on it commanded your attention. It was closed, and bound in black leather, with gold lettering on the cover in an alphabet Emma didn't recognize. The Codex was nearly a foot thick and two feet high. Emma noted those details but didn't really think about them, because she could feel the Codex examining her as she looked at it. She had an urge to go over to it and open it, but James's arm stopped her. She blinked as she realized she'd started moving toward it without even knowing it. She looked at James, and was surprised to see that he was focused on her, and not looking at the Codex at all.

Emma felt the Codex finish examining her and its attention went elsewhere, and she looked at it again. The power in it called to her and she took another step toward it. James stopped her, and motioned towards the door. They went outside, and the feel of the Codex went away. Emma looked at James, and back at the door. She turned to James, and was completely serious for one of the few times in her life. "Don't ever let me back in the room with that thing."

"It called to you, didn't it," James said, and it was more a statement than a question. Emma nodded and James sighed. "Deal. I wish I didn't have to go in there." He looked around. "Who's next?" Adam looked at the others, and stepped forward.

Adam was only in the room a second, and came back out fast enough to make Robert and Mary point their wands at him. He didn't even notice, as he crossed to the point in the room furthest from the chest and started rubbing his arms. "That thing is creepy. How anyone can bear to be in the room with it long enough to use it is beyond me." The first touch of the Codex in his mind had raised all the hair on his arms and the back of his neck, and Adam had literally fled the feel of the book.

Hangeld had been talking to Emma, and now he looked at James. "I agree with Melissa. I don't want to see it either."

James accepted that, and looked at Lisa. "What about you? Are you ready to look at it?" Lisa looked at Adam, hesitated for a minute and then crossed to the door. James joined her, and they entered the door. They were not in there long and when they came back out, Lisa was pale. She looked at James.

"How do you go in there?" she asked. "I wouldn't go back in there for anything."

James looked at her, and his eyes were haunted and weary. "Because it's my duty," was all he said, and after two years of training, all he needed to say to the others. He turned to Albus Dumbledore. "Do you wish to see it, Sir?"

The Headmaster started to say yes, and then he looked at James again, noting the perspiration on his brow. "It calls to you." James nodded and Albus looked again at the door. "While I would like to see it, I think you've been tempted enough for one day."

James sighed in relief. "Thank you, Sir. If I have to open the room another day, the offer stands."

James and Rose closed his trunk back up and the rest of the people could almost feel an oppression lift from the room. Robert shrunk the chest, and he and James left to return it to James's room.

Melissa looked at Tiffany, who was pale and sweating, just as James had been. "How bad is it for him?" Tiffany looked at her, but before she could say anything, Melissa spoke again. "I'm not researching, I'm asking as his friend."

It wasn't Tiffany that answered her though, but Rose. "Bad enough that he had nightmares for a month after he was bound to it."

"He still dreams about it sometimes," Tiffany added. The group was silent, lost in their own thoughts of the Codex when Robert and James came back, but the actions of cleaning up after the spell and setting the room to rights brought them out of that. They finished straightening the lab, and walked out into Manticore hall, where they found most of the Manticores clustered around one table. Chimera headed in that direction, and found Uncle Alexander talking stories of the Borderer's life to the Manticores.

James and Rose grinned and hugged him. Alexander Evans smiled as he hugged them, and then pushed them away slightly, assuming a stern look. "Is this how you treat all your Professors?"

Chimera stared at him. "Our Professor?" asked Rose, starting to smile. She turned to James. "What do you think? Is there something he can teach us?"

Before James could answer her, Alexander smirked at them. "Of course there is. How not to annoy Nagas, how not to get clawed by-"

James interrupted him. "How to throw parties that involve the CO's wife, two sheep and a kangaroo."

Alexander stopped in mid word and considered James. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Where did you hear that story?" he demanded.

James just smiled. "The same place I heard about the jeep and the hooch run into Mexico." He smiled innocently at his Uncle, and made an offer. "However, I'll keep quiet if you do."

Alexander sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't be real good if those stories got out. Deal, you blackmailer."

James grinned at him. "It's not blackmail, Sir. It's merely a fair exchange of silence, although I don't think any of our stories have to wait for the Statue of Limitations to expire."

Robert raised an eyebrow at Alexander. "You seem to have forgotten to tell me a thing or two. I'll be very interested to hear about these stories."

Alexander looked at his brother and grinned. "Are you buying?"

Robert smiled slyly. "Of course, but I don't think Hogwarts has anything stronger than Pumpkin juice."

Alexander grinned as he put an arm around Robert and started walking towards the door. "Hogwarts may not, but Blacklegs has a still somewhere, and he makes a fairly good hooch."

Mary winced. "Robert Evans, if you come back singing again, I'll hex you." She looked at the others, who were trying not to laugh. "I love Robert dearly, but every time he goes out with Alexander and gets drunk on that Ranger moonshine, he feels this urge to sing, and Robert cannot sing."

James and Rose laughed. "He sounds like a bear with an upset stomach," said Rose.

Robert just looked at them patiently. "Neither of you two have any room to talk about my singing, seeing as how you inherited your musical talent from me."

Mary nodded vigorously. "That's true, although at least they don't try to sing."

Robert shook his head in mock sorrow at his smiling family. "I think I'll go talk to somebody that doesn't give me a load of grief. Are you coming, Alexander?"

Alexander grinned and winked at the others. "Hell yes, I am. I want to see who you can find that doesn't give you 'a load of grief', as you put it."

The two brothers walked out of the hall to the sounds of Chimera and Mary's laughter.

Mary wandered around the Hall, talking to the Manticores that she knew, and asking after their families, while Albus spoke quietly to James. "Hagrid is in Diagon Alley this weekend, and he's getting that book. I want to see it as soon as you know what it is, and before you do anything with it."

James agreed readily. "It doesn't have the feel of the Codex, and now that Rose can see it, it's not a danger to us." He frowned, and looked around to make sure they were private. "However, it's bound up in the Sphinx knot somehow."

The Headmaster considered that thoughtfully. Sphinx had a knot, a place where so many future paths converged that Rose couldn't see what was going to happen in the near future, and Albus frowned as he considered this new fact. He looked at James. "What are you going to do?"

James shrugged. "I won't know that until I know more about that book." He looked at the Headmaster. "Whatever it is, if it's going to hurt my people, it can go in the chest with the other book, and stay there."

Professor Dumbledore smiled faintly, and started making his way to the door, after saying goodbye to Mary and the others. He returned to his office and sat in his chair, thinking about the book. He looked over at his bookshelf and levitated one particular book to his desk. He turned to the bookmark in it, and read the section again. When he was finished, he closed the book with a sigh. He looked up at the portraits of the previous Headmasters, who were watching him silently.

"Knowledge can be a terrible burden," he said quietly.

Everard was just as grave as he spoke. "You cannot tell the young man about this, Albus. It must be done."

Professor Dumbledore considered those words, and looked at the ceiling. "If he should ever find out that I knew what could, no, what will happen, he'll be upset."

"That might be true, but you have to think of the consequences of this not happening."

Professor Dumbledore sat in his office, silent and thoughtful until the small hours of the morning, and still he was no closer to resolving his dilemma.

A/N: Albus, Albus, Albus. When are you going to quit hiding things? That decision is going to cost you in a couple of years.