Breaking Ties

The group carried the horcrux’s out the forest edge.

“I seek and emissary of the forest.” Harry spoke to the trees. They all watched as the trees swayed as if blown by a great wind.

“What was that?” Hermione and Neville asked as they waited.

“That was a spell so to speak. When a request for an emissary is asked for the trees spread it until one appears.” Harry said. They all watched and waited. It wasn’t too long before they saw a centaur walking this way. Both his hair and horse half were pitch black.

“Greetings. I am Shade, the emissary of the forest. What do you wish to discuss?”

“Greetings. I am Harry Potter, Heir of Hogwarts. I come to discuss several matters that will impact all who live in the forest.”

“Speak Heir and let us resolve these matters.”

“The most pressing is the final battle that is swiftly approaching. There are going to be those who wish harm to those of the Magical Creature ilk as well as the humans walking these trees. I wanted to give all who live here warning so that they may protect themselves and their families.” Shade looked down on the teens,

“Why do you care so much for us when other don’t?”

“You are all part of this world and deserve to be heard and protected.” Harry said. He felt a little jolt of magic wash over him.

“You speak truthfully young heir. I will have the word spread that there will be enemies in our forest. What would you like done with them?”

“If you can take them alive, do so. They have much to answer for. If they attack, do what you must to protect yourselves.”

“Very well. What other matters do we have to discuss?”

“We need to find a safe place to destroy these.” Harry showed him the horcruxes.

“They house pieces of an evil soul, the soul of Voldemort. Once destroyed he will be unable to return and continue to spread his evil.”

“There is a grove at the heart of the forest. It is protected and will keep this evil from spreading to the rest of the forest. I will call a guard to take you there.”

“Thank you. The last thing I would like to discuss is an alliance. Those of the forest help protect us and we will help protect them.”

“And how would you protect us?”

“Better laws to protect your rights and get those who would do you harm punished.” Draco said.

“With Harry being who he is, he can make it happen.”

“I will pass the word onto the forest council. They will inform you of their decision on an alliance.”

“Thank you Shade. We greatly appreciate your help today. I look forward to the day when we can bring our students here where they can meet magical creature who are considered friends and allies and not creatures to be feared.” Harry said as he extended his hand. Shade shook it,

“I too look forward to that day. Wait here, you escort to the grove will be arriving shortly.” With that, Shade turned and returned to the forest. A few moments later four centaurs arrived. A male with copper colored hair and roan horse half stepped forward.

“I am Shal, we will be guiding you to the grove. It is a long walk so I suggest you find a fast means of travel.” Without thought, Harry, Draco, and Ginny summoned their brooms. They all paired up, Hermione begrudgingly getting on Ginny’s broom.

“Follow us.” Shal and the others took off at a decent trot through the woods. The teens followed. The passengers kept their wands out and at the ready in case the group came under attack. After a couple of hours, they finally reached the grove.

“We leave you here. When you are finished fly straight up. You will see the castle from here.” The centaurs took off.” The teens set the horcruxes down in a line.

“To destroy them they have to be cut by a magical sword or destroyed by magical fire.” Hermione said.

“It’s a shame they will be destroyed.” Ginny added sadly. The group discussed what would work best as Harry sat beneath a tree to think.

“I have a theory I’ve been mulling over. You all know how I had that connection with Voldemort?” Everyone nodded.

“Well, I haven’t felt it since the day we destroyed the cup. I think I was a horcrux. I would like to try and destroy the pieces of soul with raw magic and see if we can’t preserve the remaining Founder heirlooms.” They all stared at him.

“Start with the locket. Since it was Salazar’s doing so may be easier with it.” Draco suggested. He picked up the locket and took it to Harry. When it touched Harry’s hand, he felt a connection to it. It was like the locket knew that Harry was a descendant of its original owner.  Harry held it and reached out with his magic as he settled into a meditative state. He could see the magic that was used to create the horcrux. It was the color of oil and looked thick as it moved over the lighter colors of protective charms. He visualized his magic as a white-hot heat that would burn away the dark magic and pushed. Next thing he knew he was looking up at the sky, the locket smoking in his hand.

“That was scary.” Ginny said as Draco helped Harry up.

“What happened?” Harry asked as he waited for the world to stop spinning.

“Nothing at first and then there was this burning black mass that came out of the locket and tried to attack us. When we fired spell at it, Luna used her patronus and the thing just vanished.” Neville stated.

“That is not what I thought would happen.” Draco said with a frown.

“But it worked.” Hermione said.

“Lets destroy the rest before it gets dark.” Harry said as he summoned the ring. By the time he was finished, the sun was starting to set and they were all exhausted. They climbed back on the brooms and took off. The castle was just south of them and took only a few minutes to reach at top speed and without having to avoid trees. The teens arrived just in time for supper and could barely keep their eyes open. They barely made it to bed, all of them falling asleep in their beds without changing into pj’s.

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