The Soul Crystal

13. The Third Race

Harry Potter and the Soul Crystal - Chapter 13

No matter what happens, keep reading to the end of this chapter. Everything will be okay, I promise.

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Harry raised his wand. He knew what he had to do. He just hoped he wouldn't get in trouble for it since it wasn't being done to a fellow wizard. "Crucio!" A split second before Harry's spell hit the beast he saw the air around it glow. The spell hit what looked like some kind of magic barrier and fizzled into nothingness.

Everyone stood aghast at what had just happened. What could they do if even one of the unforgivable curses wouldn't work on it? They didn't have much time to think about it before the Soul Beast lunged at Ron. He dove sideways and hit the ground hard. He winced at the sharp pain in his shoulder. The beast rounded on him again and knocked him hard in the stomach. The impact made him roll like a bowling ball through the underbrush. "RON!" Harry and Hermione yelled in unison.

This was too much. They had to get out of there. "Hermione, run! Find Wendy and Ron. I'll distract it!" Harry yelled in desperation.

"I'm not leaving you alone!" Hermione screamed as she ducked out of the way of the beast's whip like tail.

"He will not survive," a woman's voice said from behind the trees, unheard by anyone but her companion.

"You know the law. You are forbidden to interfere," a man answered as he looked on, seemingly bored by the scene before him.

"Please my Lord. He is the first of his line to carry the blood!" the woman pleaded. "Should this not allow me to at least bend the rules a little."

The man sighed, sounding like he had relented, but just barely. "Very well Selene," he said as he waved a long, graceful hand at Harry. He raised his arms above his head and a glittery cloud began to circle his feet. It rose to cover his entire body and then he disappeared. Only a few stray specks of light falling from the air echoed his existence.

The woman turned back to stare at Harry. "Thank you, Lord Oberon."

"GO!" Harry yelled again. He concentrated his thoughts and created a large ball of flame. He threw it at the beast. Although it didn't manage to touch the creature, it did succeed in destroying the barrier. It's departure was marked by a ripple in the air.

"Now. What to do?" Selene pondered. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Hermione. "Ahhh yes. The girl. He cares for her deeply," she remarked. Her eyes flashed white, so did the eyes of the Soul Beast.

The beast turned it's attention to Hermione again. It roared mightily as it picked up a large spear like rock from the ground and hurled it towards her like a javelin. "HERMIONE!" Harry screamed. He felt like he was running in slow motion as he tried to reach her. The rock plunged itself straight through her chest and emerged on the other side. Blood rained down on the forest floor as it fell from her body. A loud thud sounded as she hit the ground somewhere out of Harry's site. "NO!!!!!" Harry screamed. Tears flowed down his face in tiny rivers. "No. No this can't be right."his panicked mind demanded. "She's dead. Oh, oh God she's.....no...."

Something inside Harry snapped. His eyes glowed with a fierce white light as he turned to the beast. A strong wind came from nowhere as it whipped around his body, making his hair dance wildly around his face. It lifted him into the air. He looked at the beast with as much raw hated as a human could produce. The Soul Beast sensed something that told it to back away, but it was too late. "NOT HERMIONE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Harry screamed and the beast was ripped apart from the inside out by an unseen force. The leaves on the ground were bombarded with chunks of dead flesh.

Harry floated above the ground for a moment before the reason for his rage came flooding back to his mind. The light left his eyes and he slowly descended to the ground as though he were being lowered by strings. "Hermione," he sobbed. "Oh please....please. I need you. I need you." He curled up into a shaking ball on the ground. Sobs racked his body. "I can't live without you. Please. Please come back to me." He felt so sick. He wanted to rip his heart from his chest just so it would stop hurting. He began to cry...harder than he ever had in his young life. His cries pierced the silence of the night so loudly that it wasn't long before not a creature in the forest did not know that Harry Potter was in pain. Finally, after the tears simply refused to come anymore he began to repeat a word...one...lonely...word. "No. No no no no no no no....." and he simply continued like that. Not wanting to ever move again.

(A/N-In the next scene the song "All You Wanted" by Michelle Branch is playing in the background.)

The sound of hooves pounded the soft earth. The wind moved the branches of the trees standing tall over three unconscious figures. Ardian took in a sharp breath when he saw his Beastmaster sprawled on the ground. He knelt down and gently shook her. "Beastmaster. Beastmaster, wake up. You must wake up."

Wendy moaned and put her hand to her face. "Ooohhh. Man that hurt."

"Beastmaster. Oh thank the stars," Ardian exclaimed, as he helped Wendy up.

Wendy looked up at the young centaur. "Ardian?" she slowly stood up. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Ardian let go of her hand. "I feared for your safety, Beastmaster."

"I told you to stop calling me that!" she said with irritation.

"I'm sorry Beastm...." he paused and collected himself "...Wendy. Are your companions alright?"

Wendy turned to look where Ardian was staring. Hermione was lying on the ground about twenty feet away. Ron was only half visible under a bush. "Hermione! Ron!" She ran over to Ron and began to shake him.

Ron slapped Wendy's hand away. "Don't do that so bloody hard! I've already got a headache."

"Sorry," Wendy replied.

"Oh my head," Hermione said as she tried to sit up. Wendy offered her arm for balance. She accepted it gladly.

"Hermione are you okay?" Ron asked as he walked over to his friend.

"Yeah. That thing hit me in the chest pretty hard. I think it cracked a couple of ribs," she said as she gingerly rubbed her ribcage. She suddenly sucked in a breath and winced at the sting of pain this brought. Her eyes went wide. "Harry! He's facing that thing by himself!"

The three injured friends made their way back to the clearing as quickly as they could considering their injuries.

Harry lay there. Oblivious to anything except the repeating thoughts of denial that echoed through his grieving mind. Slowly, he became dimly aware of someone calling his name. "Harry!" the voice called again. It sounded like Hermione's voice. "No. It's not possible." he thought. "HARRY!" Hermione's voice yelled.

Harry gathered all his remaining willpower and chanced a glance upward. He saw Hermione standing about thirty feet away. She had a mix of relief and concern clouding her features. He felt a sudden surge of emotion and stood up. She was covered in scratches, she was muddy, her clothes were torn and her hair was matted to her head with sweat...... He'd never seen her look so beautiful.

She was alive. She was alive and suddenly nothing else in the world mattered except her. He knew exactly what he wanted. "Hermione?......HERMIONE!" he screamed, his voice was filled with immense relief. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Hermione didn't protest at all as Harry pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. The world faded away as she melted into him. "Are you real?" he said as he kept shifting his hands around on her body in an attempt to make sure she was solid. New tears of joy filled his eyes as he laughed lightly in relief. He stared intently at her for a brief moment as he held her face in his hands. "How's this possible? I saw you die."

Hermione's expression turned to shock and confusion. "Die? Harry, what on Earth are you talking about?"

Fresh tears released themselves from his eyes. "It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you're here," he sobbed. "Hermione...I need to tell you......I.....I love you."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears of joy. "Do you mean that?"

"I do." He ran his fingers through her hair. "I love you SO much. More than life itself. When I thought you were dead......" He trailed off.

Hermione put her finger to his lips. "Shhhhh," was all she said before she kissed him with all the love in her heart. "I love you too." Harry smiled, which turned into an impossibly huge grin.

Harry and Hermione heard a loud 'eh hem' from their left. "If you two are finished snogging, I'd like to get back to the school," Ron said. He tapped his foot like he was annoyed, but the smirk on his face spoke volumes about how amusing he actually found the entire scene. "Oh and by the way Harry....It's about bloody time you got your head on straight."

Harry smiled widely. Hermione did too but her smile suddenly faded. In her happiness at seeing Harry unharmed she had forgotten about the Soul Beast. "Harry? Where's the beast?"

Harry's grin disappeared. "I.....I killed it." His voice sounded unsure, and strange.

"How?" Ron asked, stepping toward his friend.

Harry looked down at the leaves twirling in the wind. "I wish I knew. I was so angry. I thought it had killed you Mione." He choked a bit on the last few words. "I just suddenly felt powerful...." He looked up. "Very powerful. I began to float above the ground. I screamed at it and it....it...." He trailed off again.

"It what?" Hermione asked, urging him to continue.

Harry made a confused grimace. "It exploded."

"Exploded?" Ron said.

Harry pointed a shaking finger at the spot where the beast had been. "Look," he croaked. Everyone looked down and for the first time noticed the bits of Soul Beast littering the forest floor. Ron's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Wendy took one look at the guts she hadn't previously noticed she had stepped in, turned around and vomited.

Hermione was the only one who found her voice. "My God Harry," she said, staring at him in disbelief. "Just how powerful are you?" she asked as a small gust of wind rustled their robes.

"I'm proud of you Harry," came an ethereal voice from behind them.

The group turned around to see a woman standing there. She was tall and pale, with raven black hair and blue eyes. She wore a simple pale blue dress that touched the ground. She began to move towards them, making no footsteps as she walked.

"You passed the test," she said with a strange smile.

Harry instantly didn't trust this newcomer. "Who are you? And what test?" he nearly demanded.

"I am Selene. I am a child of Oberon. And you passed the test of power," she said as she held up her hands. She made her palms face each other and a glow began to form in the space between them. It wasn't long before a familiar scene was being shown in the light. "I wanted you to live." The image in the light showed Harry dodging the Soul Beast. "I knew you contained the blood of the third race," the imaged changed to Harry throwing the ball of flame, "but I needed a way to bring out your power. My Lord Oberon gave me permission to help you along by showing you this illusion." The image of Hermione being impaled was shown.

Wendy tried to sit down on a log, missed, and fell over backwards. Hermione let out a loud gasp and her hand went over her mouth. She stared with horrified realization at her beloved. "Oh Harry. My poor, sweet Harry," she said, tears brimming her eyes. She turned toward Selene. She was furious. "How could you?" she demanded, her fists balled up at her sides, "How could you make him go through that? You......you bitch!"

Harry, surprised, turned and looked at Hermione. This was the second time he'd heard her swear in as many days. Selene laughed lightly. "My my you have quite a spirit for such a little girl."

Now Harry was angry. "Don't you dare talk to her that way!" He pointed at Selene. "And what gives you the right to do something like this?!"

Selene's amused look left her small features. "You are my blood. That gives me every right, to protect you."

"What are you talking about?" Harry growled.

"You would do well to respect your elders child," she said as she glared at Harry. "Dumbledore will explain everything to you I'm sure. I will not go with you. He and I are not on good terms." Without another word she simply faded out of existence.

No one spoke. They were all confused, and angry. Harry sighed heavily. "Let's go talk to Dumbledore."

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See? No need to panic. She's fine. Lol. Anyhoo, now that I've made you want to skin me alive. LOL. The last chapter will be very soon. It will wrap up a LOT of stuff that's probably confusing the hell out of you right now.

Also, this is NOT going to be a Gargoyles crossover, for those of you who may think so now that Oberon is in this. The legend of Oberon and the third race was around long before the Gargoyles series, kiddies (See Shakespeare). Laters, SB21

Text from our crawl of the site, 25 November 2014.

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