The Crystal of Tempest

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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Chapter 2: The Children of Tempest

“Well, that’s a wrap,” said Remus, as he wrapped up a map of the kingdom.

“I still think we should lower the commercial taxes,” said Harry. “And maybe we should consider having another census...” They were abruptly interrupted when Hermione barged into the room looking distressed. Harry was up at her side in a second.

“Hermione, what’s wrong?” he asked concerned.

Hermione took a moment to catch her breath. Finally, she handed Harry the parchment. “Read that,” she said, her face very pale.

Harry noticed his parents’ names on the parchment and skimmed the writing. His reaction to the words was not good: his face became deathly pale, beads of sweat formed on his face, and Harry’s own heart felt like it had stopped.

“Harry, what’s wrong? What’s written there?” asked Sirius.

Before anyone else could read the parchment, Harry hurried over to the fireplace and threw floo powder onto the flames. He yelled, “Hogwarts!” and disappeared in a whirl. Hermione immediately followed him.

Sirius and Remus shared a confused glance with each other before they too proceeded to Hogwarts through the floo powder. They tumbled out of the fireplace in Dumbledore’s office, only seconds after Harry and Hermione had arrived.

Dumbledore was currently in a meeting with Hogwarts Trainer Severus Snape. Snape did not look too pleased at seeing some of his least favorite people come through the fireplace.

Dumbledore smiled, his twinkling. “Harry, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus, what a pleasant surprise,” he said. “What brings you here this time of day?”

“We were wondering that ourselves,” said Remus.

Wordlessly, Harry handed the parchment over to Dumbledore, still looking pale. Dumbledore nodded and began to read out loud:

“Here follows the account of James I, king of Gryffindor and his Queen, Lily Evans concerning the Crystal of Tempest and the Eight Rings of the One Deity. We feel grievous this has come up during our times and dearly hope it will not come to affect our children.

For the past ten years, the Alliance has been at War against a former Mage Knight by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle, now known as Lord Voldemort. Dark Lords and Evils have always plagued Magiterran but had always been crushed by the Mage Knights and the world at large believes Voldemort to simply believe the next in a long line of Dark Evils, soon to be crushed by the Mage Knights once again.

However, about a year ago, Lily was plagued by mysterious dreams about a mysterious crystal, which she believed to have been the lost Crystal of Tempest. Seeking answers, Lily set out on a pilgrimage to Deis Rowena. What she learned there has practically sealed our doom.

For Voldemort is not simply another Dark Lord like many believe. He is in fact, the very incarnation of the root of evil himself, Tempest. This is the one secret that must be sealed for all time, for if the masses were to learn that Tempest himself had returned, the chaos that would ensue would be catastrophic. What this news signals, is the destruction of Magiterran and the end of our fair world.

And yet, there is still hope. Hidden somewhere in Magiterran are eight rings, eight rings presented to the founders by the One Deity himself: Phoenix, Lion, Serpent, Dragon, Unicorn, Badger, Eagle, and Sphinx. These eight rings contain portions of the power of the One Deity himself and it is these eight rings together alone that can defeat Tempest.

We have managed to learn the location of two of these rings, the Lion and the Phoenix. Their location is hidden within the Mirror of Erised and it must be noted that only a Muggle-Born can take these rings. We will tell these facts to Albus Dumbledore and tell him that they are necessary for the defeat of Voldemort. However, we shall not tell anyone, not even Albus Dumbledore about Tempest’s Incarnation until we have learned the locations of the remaining six rings. If less then eight rings are used, then Voldemort would be stopped. However, the effect would only be temporary and he will return more powerful than previously, for with each rebirth, Voldemort gains more of the power he lost as Tempest. For him to be truly defeated, all eight rings must be used against him.

We leave this account behind in case we ever leave this world prematurely. It is a burden we wish to never have had on our children and pray that they will forgive us. The Eight Rings must be found for the sake of not only Magiterran but of the world. I simply hope, our children will find this parchment before it is too late. Our prayers go out to the generation who find this parchment. May the power of the One Deity be with you, always.”

By the time Dumbledore had finished reading the room was deathly quiet. Sirius, Remus, and Snape were extremely pale, and seemed to be shocked. Dumbledore’s eyes had lost their twinkle and his face was grave. Harry and Hermione, whom had already read the parchment, were sitting in chairs and clutching each other’s hands.

“So what does that mean?” whispered Sirius.

“It means you fool, that Voldemort is going to come back some time soon, more powerful than previously,” yelled Snape. Sirius scowled at him.

“I never knew any of this,” said Dumbledore. “James and Lily had good intentions but I wish that they had at least shared this with me,”

The silence of the room was suddenly disrupted when Hogwarts Trainer Minerva McGonagall burst into the room, looking clearly distressed. She seemed surprise to find Harry, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus there, but she quickly composed herself.

“Yes Minerva,” said Dumbledore, “what is it?”

“Albus,” she said, clearly out of breath, “Godric’s Hollow is under attack!”

* * *

Ron Weasley was feeling content with his life. He lived in a large mansion on the outskirts of Godric’s Hollow with his beautiful wife, Margaret Chapel-Weasley and his four-year old son, Christopher.

As he walked into the Nursery, Ron sighed at the sight of Margaret playing with Christopher, whom was a miniature version of Ron himself, down to the red hair and freckles. Hearing the sigh, Margaret looked up.

“Ron, what is it?” she asked, her long auburn hair swaying and her hazel eyes brimming with love.

“Oh, just admiring the view,” said Ron. “The sheer beauty of it. Sure wish you were able to see it.”

Margaret smiled. She stood up and made her way over to Ron and they kissed passionately. Christopher looked up at his kissing parents with curiosity in his eyes. “What arwe Daddy and Mommy dowing?” he asked.

Ron and Margaret broke apart to make an embarrassed grin at Christopher. “Daddy is just showing Mommy how much he loves her,” said Ron.

“Daddy and Mommy wuves Chris too, wight?” said Christopher.

“Of course we do,” said Margaret. She picked up Christopher and kissed him on his cheek. Ron grinned and circled his arms around Margaret who leaned back on him.

‘I could stay like this forever,’ thought Ron, as he held his wife and son close to him.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion in the city. Alarmed, Ron and Margaret broke apart just in time to see a wall of fire go up in the main street.

“Oh my God,” whispered Maragret.

Without a word, Ron dashed downstairs. He was just about to leave when the front door burst open.

Three hooded figures in black cloaks walked in, their swords drawn. The first thought that crossed Ron’s mind was ‘Death Eaters!’ However, instead of the Dark Mark, these figures had images of a heart shaped, blue crystal on their torsos.

“Sir Ronald Weasley, surrender to us to executed or be killed by us right here,” hissed the leader of the three.

“Oh, so I can surrender and die or fight and die, lovely choices,” said Ron. “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?!”

“We are the Children of Tempest,” said the leader.

Ron thought his heart had stopped. “Tempest?” he whispered, visibly pale.

“Crucio!” yelled the lead figure. Ron ducked and narrowly avoided the Cruciatus Curse. He willed himself to emit a dazzling display of white light and in a split second, his blue aristocratic robes had transformed into his familiar red and silver armor of a Gryffindor Mage Knight.

Ron drew his sword and lowered himself into a battle ready stance. “You’re going to pay for that,” he hissed.

“Crucio!” shouted another one of the figures. Ron rolled forwards and dodged the curse. He leapt to his feet and with a yell, swung his sword down at the lead figure. The leader caught the blade on his sword, and the sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the mansion.

Undaunted, Ron continued slashing his sword at the lead figure, the two blades constantly clashing against each other. Finally, he landed a high kick on the figure’s chin and knocked him back.

Another one of the figures had crept up behind Ron and was about to curse him. Ron however, spun around and shouted, Expelliarmus!” To the figure’s horror, his sword flew out of his hand and into Ron’s. Ron then bashed the hilt of his sword onto the figure’s head and knocked him out.

The third figure leapt at Ron, brandishing his sword forward. With a quick turn over, Ron managed to fling the figure through the window out into the yard. Ron carefully stepped through the broken glass into the yard just as the figure was standing up.

The figure brandished his sword and charged at Ron. Ron twirled around the two swords in his hands and deflected all of the figure’s blows. He then spun around, his own sword first hitting the figure’s sword, then the sword of the disarmed figure knocking it out of his hand, and finally he landed a high kick on the figure’s chin. The figure reeled back.

Not finished yet, Ron threw the sword of the disarmed figure at the other figure. It twirled through the air and finally, the hilt hit the forehead of the figure, knocking him out.

Satisfied with his handiwork, Ron turned around and saw a horrifying sight. Four more hooded figures had entered the yard. They were holding a frightened Margaret and a crying Christopher at sword point.

“Surrender or they die!” shouted one of the figures. Margaret, though frightened, shook her head vigorously, trying to tell Ron to not surrender.

Ron however, would’ve rather died before Margaret and Christopher were harmed. Defeated, he started to turn his sword over into a surrendering position.

“Stupefy!” A stunner that had been fired from behind suddenly hit one of the figures. Not missing his chance, Ron darted forward and swung his sword at the figure that was holding on to Margaret and Christopher. The figure immediately let go of them to defend himself. Margaret and Christopher managed to scramble away as Ron knocked the figure out.

The remaining two figures tried to get away, but were suddenly stopped by the red haired, female Gryffindor Mage Knight whom had fired the stunner.

“Ginny!” shouted Ron. Sir Virginia Weasley smiled at her older brother once before turning toward her adversaries.

The two figures pulled their swords out just as Ginny pulled hers out. Without a word, the two figures charged at Ginny. Ginny simply lowered herself into a battle ready stance and waited patiently.

The first swung his sword down at Ginny. Ginny twirled her own sword upwards and deflected the blows of the figure. She swung her sword forward but the figure managed to deflect her blow. Ginny spun around and landed another blow on the figure’s blade.

The other figure finally caught up and swung his sword at Ginny. Ginny twirled her sword around and deflected all the blows. Finally, she managed to ram her hilt into the faces of one of the figures.

Realizing that he was now alone, the last figure disapparated away. All of the unconscious figures also disappeared as well.

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and made her way over to her brother’s family. Ron was holding Margaret and a crying Christopher close to him.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Margaret. “I’m all right. Oh, but Ron, Chirs.”

Christopher was crying into his Dad’s shoulder. Ron hugged his young son close to his chest. “You’ll be OK, son,” he said.

“Daddy,” wailed Christopher.

“Ron,” said Ginny, “The city, its still under attack.”

Ron nodded. He turned to Christopher and said, “Son, I want you to do me a favor.”

Christopher managed to will himself to stop crying. He sniffed and nodded.

“Chris, Daddy has a job to do. So I want you to protect your Mommy while Daddy is away.”

“OK,” sniffed Christopher. Ron grinned.

“Good Luck,” said Margaret. She kissed Ron sweetly.

“Come one Ron, lets go,” said Ginny. Without a word, the two Weasleys ran as fast as they could to save the city.

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A/N Enjoyable was it not. Well, this time my website is positively, truly up. So go visit it in my author’s section and tell me what you think! People who have visited it so far have told me that they like it.

I am going on a three week trip to Oregon starting today, so I’m sorry to say that the next time I update might very well be three weeks from now. However, if I’m lucky, I just might be able to get a hold of a word processor and some internet access and upload a little faster. However, I am not making any promises. Oh yes, in case some of you have forgotten, female Mage Knights go by “Sir”, not “Dame” or “Lady”.

Next: Godric’s Hollow is under attack! What are James and Lin going to do?