Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and her various corporate partners. Keldorn Firecam is owned by BioWare, Atari, or whoever it is that owns the rights to Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn these days, although I have taken several liberties with his character. I own nothing, and I am making no profit by my little ventures into the shadowy realms of fanfiction. I do so purely for enjoyment. I would, however, like to thank JKR for allowing us all to play in her sandbox.
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Harry Potter and the Knight of the Radiant Heart
XV
Harry was a mix of emotions as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. He wasn't really sure if he should be angry, sad, happy or relieved that Keldorn had refused his request to learn how to become a paladin. He was a bit upset that the old knight had rejected him out of hand, but also relieved that he wouldn't need to go through with it. He was nervous about how Hermione would react to the news, and a bit embarrassed to know that he would have to tell her and the Headmaster that he'd been rejected. It was all very confusing.
As soon as he came through the portrait hole, Hermione pounced on him.
"Well?" she asked, "what did he say?"
Harry glanced around the crowded common room before returning his gaze to Hermione.
"Not here," he said.
"Oh, right," replied the young witch. "Sorry, you know how I get when I want to know something. Let's go find somewhere more private."
With that, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him back out into the corridors. She led the way down the seventh floor hallway to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy where she paced back and forth three times to make the door to the Room of Requirement appear.
Harry followed Hermione into the room to see a miniature version of the Gryffindor common room, although with a few alterations. There was only one sofa - a small loveseat that could barely fit two people. The loveseat faced a fireplace with a roaring fire, and a bearskin rug was spread on the floor in front of the hearth. The room had very soft lighting.
It was quite the romantic setting.
Harry looked over to Hermione and cocked an eyebrow.
"What exactly did you tell the room you needed?" he asked.
Hermione blushed slightly.
"I just thought, 'I need a room to be alone with Harry…'"
Harry didn't respond; instead he went over and took a seat on the couch. Hermione sat down next to him.
"Well," she said, "what did Sir Firecam have to say?"
Harry looked down to his lap, unable to meet her eyes.
"He said no," he admitted in a soft voice.
"What do you mean he said no?"
"I think that's pretty obvious. He said that he wouldn't train me to be a paladin."
"But… how… I don't understand!" Hermione exclaimed, rising to her feet, "how could he just say no?! This could be the only way to defeat Voldemort!"
"I told him that. He didn't seem to think that was a good enough reason for me to become a paladin."
"That's ridiculous!"
Harry just shrugged his shoulders.
"What exactly did he say?" continued Hermione.
"He said that being a paladin is more than just a way to fight Voldemort. It's a whole way of life. I'd have to swear to fight the Darkness for the rest of my life. He said that most paladins die within a year of their consecration and that he wouldn't put that burden on me just to fight Voldemort."
Hermione sobered a bit after hearing the knight's reasoning and sat down next to Harry once again.
"What do you mean most paladins die within a year?" she asked.
"Sir Firecam said that becoming a paladin basically guarantees an early grave," Harry answered. "They swear to literally dedicate their lives to fighting for the Light against the Darkness, which means most of them quickly get killed in the process."
"But Sir Firecam is at least, I would say sixty years old! He's been a paladin for decades."
"Yeah, he's apparently the exception to the rule. You know that order of knights that he's in? Well apparently the only requirement for joining is being a paladin for ten years. He said that there aren't very many members."
"That's… Oh Harry, that's so sad."
"Yeah. I'm not sure if I should be relieved that he won't let me become one, or angry that he doesn't think I'd make it."
Hermione didn't respond; she just sat staring at the fire for a long time. The two Gryffindors lapsed into silence together.
Eventually Harry broke the silence.
"Maybe I should tell him about the 'either must die at the hand of the other' bit," he said. "Maybe he won't worry so much about me getting killed if he knows that the prophecy says I'm probably going to bite the dust anyways."
Hermione responded by hitting him on the shoulder. Hard.
"Don't joke about that!" she said vehemently, "that's not funny."
"It's true though," Harry replied while rubbing his shoulder.
"No it isn't."
"Come on. What chance do I really have against a dark lord?"
"You're going to beat him, Harry," Hermione insisted.
"Be realistic, Hermione…"
"Stop it!" she shouted. "Just stop it already! You are not going to die. You're going to beat him. We're going to beat him. Together. I'm not going to let you die. So stop acting like you're already dead."
"Hermione…"
"No! We'll find a way. Maybe we can think of something to convince Sir Firecam to teach you. If not, I'll think of something else. But I am sure as hell not going to let that monster take you away from me!"
Hermione was breathing rather heavily at the end of her rant. Harry noticed that there were unshed tears in her eyes as well. After a moment, she looked away from him and then stood up from the couch, ready to flee the room.
Harry didn't let her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down into the seat next to him.
"Let go of me!" the irate witch shouted.
"No," replied Harry.
"Harry Potter, if you know what's good for you, you'll let go of me this instant!"
"No. If you get to insist that Voldemort isn't going to kill me, well, then I get to insist that you don't get to leave."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Yes it does! If you want to be in this together, then stay and help me figure this out."
Hermione sat quietly for a moment before responding.
"Fine. You can let go of my wrist. I won't run away."
"Promise?"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I promise."
Harry loosened his grip on Hermione's arm, but didn't let go completely. Instead, he let his hand slide down into hers.
"I'm sorry for talking about dying like that. I didn't really mean it."
Hermione sighed.
"It's okay, Harry."
"It's just that…" Harry went on, "it just seems so impossible sometimes. But thanks for reminding me that I'm not alone in this."
"We'll figure something out," Hermione said as she looked at Harry with a smile. "We always do."
The two Gryffindors sat in silent contemplation for a little while before Hermione spoke up again.
"You know, just because most of the paladins on Sir Firecam's world die young doesn't mean that they would here."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"Just think, the way he's described his home world the few times he's talked about it, he's made it seem like there were all sorts of evil monsters and villains out to cause trouble. We don't have too many ogres attacking villages here."
"This coming from the girl that was almost squashed by a mountain troll in her first year?"
"Well, I mean, okay, we do have some of that in the magical world. But it doesn't seem to be nearly as rampant as in his world. Besides, we tend to look at creatures like trolls and dragons as animals that need to be protected and controlled, instead of monsters that need to be fought."
"I don't think it's that simple, Hermione. There's still plenty of evil in the world that a paladin would have to fight. I think that was Sir Firecam's point; a paladin doesn't get to choose whether or not to fight, he has to. He's not allowed to ignore the evil he comes across."
"Yes, but practically speaking, how often would you really come across a dangerous evil that you were required to physically fight?"
"Umm… have you been at Hogwarts with me for the past five years or not?"
"Well, yes, you have a point. We haven't exactly been idle, have we? But I think our experience is far from the norm. Not all of the students are fighting trolls and basilisks in their spare time."
"You make it sound like it was all so easy…"
"Hush. Anyways, I was saying that it's unlikely that you would need to fight something or someone very often in our world. Our society doesn't really look at violence as an acceptable way of dealing with conflict except in extreme circumstances. Here it wouldn't really be right for you to just attack an enemy. The good thing to do is to talk with them first."
"I don't know if that will convince him. It doesn't seem like he'll let me in on a hypothetical condition or technicality of what might happen here."
"I suppose you're right."
Harry and Hermione stayed in the Room of Requirement for a few hours. They were trying so hard to either come up with a way to convince Keldorn to train Harry, or with some other idea for what 'the power he knows not' might be that they completely missed dinner. In the end, they left without an answer, and made their way back to Gryffindor tower just before curfew.
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That weekend, Harry received a note from the Headmaster to join him in his office after dinner for another private lesson. This time Harry brought Hermione along with him.
"Good evening, Harry," Dumbledore said in greeting as the two Gryffindors entered his office. "Miss Granger, is there something I can do for you this evening?"
"I asked her to come along," replied Harry. "I'm just going to end up telling her everything anyways, and she's much smarter than I am. I figured that it would just be easier to have her here to see things herself."
Dumbledore smiled.
"I think that is a marvelous idea," the old wizard replied. "It is always good to have allies that you can trust completely and with whom you can go over your ideas. I am glad that you have found such a confidant in Miss Granger."
The Headmaster then turned to address Hermione directly.
"Miss Granger, I trust that you understand the seriousness of the topics that we will be discussing this evening and in any future 'lessons.'"
"Of course," Hermione replied.
"Good," said Dumbledore. "Well then. Let's get to it, shall we?"
The three companions spent the evening viewing Pensieve memories about Tom Riddle's childhood upbringing in a Muggle orphanage. They witnessed Dumbledore's first meeting with him as he delivered his Hogwarts letter to the future dark lord. They spent some time afterwards discussing the personality of the young Tom Riddle and how the things they had seen might pertain to the current incarnation of Lord Voldemort.
It wasn't until a few hours later that the topic of Harry becoming a paladin finally came up.
"He said he wouldn't teach you, did he?" asked Dumbledore.
"Pretty much," replied Harry.
"Hmmm…" the old wizard hummed to himself as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his chin. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up again.
"I have been pondering this idea quite a bit since our last gathering. I'm at a loss to think of any other likely theory for 'the power the Dark Lord knows not.' So, I would advise you to try again with our good Sir Firecam. Perhaps he just needs a bit of convincing."
"Err… he was pretty adamant about saying no," said Harry.
"Be that as it may, perhaps you could try a different tactic; come up with a different argument."
"We've tried," said Hermione, "we haven't been able to come up with anything convincing."
Dumbledore just smiled.
"Did you really expect to find the answer so quickly? I've often found that solutions to real problems are hard to come by. This isn't a homework assignment, Miss Granger. Just because the answer isn't easy to find doesn't mean it's not out there somewhere. You'll just have to keep looking until you find it."
"Couldn't you convince him to teach me, sir?" Harry enquired.
"Oh I highly doubt it," the Headmaster answered. "While Sir Firecam and I have a good understanding of one another, I do not think that my interference in this matter would be beneficial in the slightest. Besides, I have my hands rather full at the moment with other pressing concerns. No, this is a matter that I must trust that you will be able to handle yourself."
Harry just nodded.
"On another topic, I have some news from the Order that I thought I would share with you this evening. Professor Snape tells us that Voldemort has been rather unsettled as of late. I believe that the presence of our friend Sir Firecam has Tom quite concerned. He is apparently spending much of his time locked away doing research on some obscure topic that our spy has been unfortunately unable to discern. In any event, I think such news is welcome for the time being, as it also means that the Death Eaters have been rather inactive without direction from their master."
Harry nodded his head again, but Hermione asked a question.
"Do you have any idea what he might be looking for?"
"It is a dangerous game to start asking questions like that without more information. Our guesses could be far off the mark and lead us astray with disastrous results if we allow such thoughts to prejudice our thinking. So, in the meantime, I will make no guesses until we know more."
Without anything else to discuss, Dumbledore bid his two students goodnight and dismissed them for the evening.
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Tuesday's riding class was the third session in which the six 'advanced' students worked with their hippogriffs and the first time that they actually rode the creatures. Unlike Hagrid's approach from years before, Keldorn had a much more conservative method in that he made his students thoroughly familiarize themselves with the creatures before they hopped on for a ride. They were also given clear instructions to keep their hippogriffs on the ground for the day.
Harry found that riding a hippogriff on the ground was pretty similar to riding a horse. The rhythm of the Buckbeak's movement was a little different, as the hippogriff was naturally much lighter and quicker on its feet, but otherwise it was very much the same. Hermione even seemed to overcome her initial hesitation and was once again riding alongside Harry on a dark grey hippogriff named Aristotle as they skirted the border of the Forbidden Forest. Harry supposed that the old knight's order to keep the beasts firmly on the ground went a long way to boosting his best friend's confidence as she didn't have to worry about flying just yet.
A few other students had 'graduated' from riding horses to familiarizing themselves with the hippogriffs, among them were Ginny and Luna, but neither of them had been cleared for riding just yet.
"Did I mention that Sir Firecam finally let me examine his enchanted gorget yesterday?" Hermione spoke up from beside Harry.
"No, you didn't," Harry replied.
"Yes, well, I think I'm going to try and recreate the enchantment to see if I can get similar results with normal clothing for a special project with Professor McGonagall," Hermione explained. "Just imagine, all you'd have to do is put on a shirt or a hat, say a command word, and poof! you're instantly wearing in your finest dress robes!"
"So you think that might help you cut down on the time you need to get ready every morning?" asked Harry with a grin. "I swear, I have to wait longer and longer each day for you to come down before we can go to breakfast."
"Hush you. Don't you know that waiting on a woman is good for a man?" Hermione replied with a cheeky grin of her own.
"Oh is it now?"
"Absolutely."
"Girls," Harry responded with a shake of his head, "I'll never get you lot figured out."
"Nor should you," said Hermione, "We're supposed to keep you guessing."
"Hey Harry, Hermione," greeted Neville as he rode up beside them on his own dark brown hippogriff. "Isn't this great? I think taking this course was the best idea I've ever had."
"You're just saying that because Hannah Abbott keeps asking you for help getting down from her saddle," Harry shot back with a smile.
Neville blushed.
"Harry, be nice," chastised Hermione.
"Yes, dear," Harry replied.
Hermione's hippogriff tossed its head in annoyance at something and Hermione responded with a gentle pat on the side of its neck.
"Easy there, Books," she said.
"Hermione, why do you insist on calling your hippogriff 'Books'?" asked Harry. "Its name is Aristotle, for Pete's sake!"
"Well, I think Books fits him rather well. Besides, he likes it. Don't you, Books?"
The hippogriff actually chirped in response.
"See?" Hermione said with a smug grin.
Whatever retort Harry was about to make was cut off by a loud scream from somewhere up ahead. The three Gryffindors stopped their mounts and looked up to see a hippogriff take off into the air with its rider dangling halfway out of the saddle. The creature flew out low over the Forbidden Forest. It was flying erratically, and soon enough its rider was thrown off into the treetops of the forest.
"Where's Sir Firecam?" Harry asked no one in particular as he stared at the forest, trying to estimate how far in he had seen the girl fall.
"I think he took Romilda to the hospital wing," replied Neville. "I saw her spook her horse earlier and it kicked her in the leg."
"Right," said Harry with a decisive nod, "I'm going to go into the forest and find whoever that was. They're probably hurt and it's dangerous in there. We need to get them out."
"Harry… are you sure you should do that?" asked Hermione. "Shouldn't we wait for a professor?"
"We don't have time!" Harry said emphatically. "Who knows what might happen to whoever that was while we wait around. I'm going in. Hermione, go find Sir Firecam and tell him what's happened."
"Oh no you don't, Harry Potter!" replied Hermione. "You're not going in there alone. If you insist on this I'm going with you. Someone has to keep you out of trouble."
"Hermione, don't argue…"
"I'll go find Sir Firecam," offered Neville.
"See, that's settled," said Hermione.
Harry shook his head but decided not to argue any further.
"Fine, let's go."
With that, Harry and Hermione spurred their hippogriffs to ride into the forest.
Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, the forest's thick canopy cut off most of the sun's light, creating a dark and foreboding atmosphere. It was unnaturally quiet in the forest; no birds or other small animals could be heard at all. The two Gryffindors readied their wands as they rode deeper into the forest in the direction that they'd last seen their classmate.
The trees were planted close together, ruling out the possibility of urging the hippogriffs into the air if the need for a quick exit arose.
"I don't like this, Harry," whispered Hermione.
"We'll be fine," Harry whispered back. "We just need to find whoever that was and leave as quickly as possible."
A few minutes later, Hermione's hippogriff started to act a bit skittish.
"Its okay, Books," Hermione said, trying to sooth the animal.
Buckbeak was much calmer, but would let out a quick snort every once in a while as his eyes darted left and right.
"Something's not right here," said Hermione.
"There! Up ahead! I can see her!" said Harry as he urged Buckbeak to go a bit faster. Hermione quickly caught up with him as Harry jumped down from his saddle to land next to an unconscious Daphne Greengrass. The Slytherin girl's left leg was bent at an odd angle, clearly broken, and there was blood on her face.
"Hermione, come closer. I'll pick her up and put her across Aristotle."
"Did you hear that?" Hermione asked as Harry lifted the unconscious girl into his arms.
"Hear what?"
"I thought I heard a clicking sound."
"We'd better hurry then."
Harry had just slung Daphne over Aristotle in front of Hermione when he heard the noise. It sounded like a bunch of fast, loud clicks, almost as if someone were tapping dozens of stones together. He quickly cast a Sticking Charm to make sure that the injured girl wouldn't fall and then went back to his mount.
Buckbeak snorted loudly and began scratching at the ground.
"That's not good," Harry mumbled as he scrambled back into his saddle.
"What's not good?" Hermione asked a bit hysterically.
"Acromantulas."
All color quickly drained out of Hermione's face as her eyes widened.
"Let's go, Hermione!" Harry shouted, trying to get moving before it was too late. Hermione snapped out of her daze and together they spurred their hippogriffs back toward the castle as fast as they dared.
Just then, one of the huge, hairy, black spiders leapt down from the trees and landed on the path in front of them. Hermione screamed, but Harry reacted by pointing his wand.
"Reducto!" he shouted. The spider dodged out of the way but Harry's spell cleared the way before them.
"Come on, Hermione!" He shouted as they raced for freedom. "Come on, Buckbeak, go faster!"
Harry looked back over his shoulder to see several of the grotesque, giant spiders following on their heels. The hippogriffs were faster than the hideous creatures, but just barely. And there were many, many more of them.
"Reducto!" Harry shouted with his wand pointed behind him. He wasn't really aiming to hit the creatures, but to slow them down. If he could create enough if a gap between them and their pursuers, they might just be able to get away. Harry frantically started throwing spells out behind him.
"Reducto! Confringo! Displodo!" He shouted.
He saw out of the corner of his eye that Hermione was likewise casting spells at their pursuers, only instead of Blasting and Exploding Hexes, she was shooting volleys of icicles at them or freezing the ground in the hopes that the spiders would slip and fall.
Suddenly, both Buckbeak and Aristotle skidded to an abrupt halt and reared up on their hind legs, letting out shrill cries. Amazingly, both Harry and Hermione managed to stay in their saddles as Harry looked ahead to see that the path was once again blocked, but this time by at least a dozen Acromantulas.
The sound of dozens of hungry, scurrying spiders filled the air as Harry and Hermione were quickly surrounded.
"Crap."
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AN: Well, there's Chapter 15. Sorry it took so long, but life is busy. I've no idea when the next one will be up, so you'll all just have to practice the virtue of patience. That should be easy, right?
Anyways, please leave a review on your way out. And thanks for reading!