Harry Potter and the Child of Tourach

a/n; I am getting seriously pisses at the lack of feedback I am receiving. What the hell is going on? I got 9 reviews on the first chapter and got only one additional even though I wrote 5 more chapters! All my faithful readers seemed to have vanished and my motivation is severely suffering. Well you get the general idea: please review! I need to find out if the development of the plot is good or bad, so tell me.

If any one of the old guys reads this, the solution of the riddle is The Offspring.



Harry did not know how long he had been unconscious, but he did know that he had been close to dieing again. While he had been out, the flames which had been consuming the village had advanced so close that they were searing his eyebrows. His lungs felt as though they were on fire and he had a very difficult time breathing. The three leviathans were nowhere in sight and he guessed that they had simply departed after the round of combat was over. The orb he had cast was shining brightly in the sky, now completely white. Wondering how many people had survived the inferno of the evening, Harry took a last glance around and apparated back home.


* * * * *


Harry all but fell into the apartment after he had opened the door. Suddenly he had felt weak as a newborn child and he was more than a bit surprised that he had been able to prevent the collapse. He had no idea which of his various injuries had caused his dizzy spell, after all they ranged from acid burns to smoke poisoning, but he really did not give a damn as long as he was patched up soon. Just as he had managed to regain his balance two small, but strong arms took hold of him. Too weak to protest, Harry allowed Ginny to lead him to the living room and laid down one the couch. He opened his mouth to explain to her what had happened to him, but she silenced him by placing a finger on his mouth. Even though she tried to hide her worry, Harry could see concern in her eyes, while she waved her wand to summon several potions and salves.

“You are in shock.” she said after having cast a few diagnosis charms on him and uncorking two vials. “That’s why you are not feeling any pain. Drink this Calming Potion and this Dreamless Sleep Potion, so I can treat you without having to worry about the shock.”
Obediently Harry gulped the liquids down and barely had the time to hand them back to Ginny before falling asleep.


* * * * *


“He is asleep minister and I am sure that this can wait for another hour.”
Ginny’s angry voice penetrated the veil of sleep over Harry’s face. His fogged brain took his sweet time understanding them and before he succeeded, the door leading to the bedroom burst open, revealing Scrimgeour, Wright and his livid looking wife. This really woke him up and he was glad to discover that he was at least wearing boxers under the blanket. The thought of facing the minister naked was not the least bit appealing to him. He was surprised to discover that his body did not hurt at all; it was merely a bit sore. Apparently Ginny had taken her healer training very serious indeed. Sincerely hoping that his healed injuries were not visible, he focused his attention to his visitors.

“Minister, what a pleasant surprise.” he said, smiling. “Does the ministry so badly need my services that you are personally getting me out of bed? I daresay that I feel most honoured.”
Scrimgeour’s face was slowly taking the colour of a ripe tomato, while Ginny and Wright looked amused.
“You know exactly why I am here Potter!” spat the minister, rage burning in his eyes. “Last night a muggle village was completely pillaged! More than three hundred muggles died and the survivors said that three devils attacked them and that a man with black, messy hair saved them. You were there and so were the leviathans! This means that you have purposely ignored my orders and that will cost you!”

“I do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about, sir.” said Harry, plastering a confused look on his face. “I was on holiday yesterday and I certainly would remember rescuing muggles. There are a lot of men with black hair, maybe it was a neo Death Eater attack. And these devils could merely be illusions cast to create panic in the village. If this is the reason why you are visiting me so early in the morning then I am sorry to disappoint you. I have spent yesterday with my wife and never saw the three leviathans like you ordered me to do.”

“You know damn well that you were there, Potter!” snarled the minister, looking ready to burst from rage.
“And I assume that you have witnesses to prove this?” replied Harry, raising an eyebrow.
“No and even if they were able to identify Potter, they were already obliviated.” interrupted Wright. “Looks like our visit here is over, don’t you think so minister? Auror Potter has told us his side of the story and without prove we have to assume him innocent. If we hurry, we still may be able to grab a bite in the ministry cantina before we have to get working.”

His face now changing from beet red to purple, Scrimgeour bolted from the room, nearly bowling Ginny over in the process. Wright shared a smile with Harry, before bowing politely to Ginny and leaving the flat as well.


* * * * *


“Damn it, that was close.” said Harry, relief evident in his voice as he heard the minister slamming the door shut. He pushed the blanket away and examined his perfectly healed body. “Nice work, thanks Gin. You are a real lifesaver. Who could have known that you would make such a great healer?”
“Harry James Potter.” replied Ginny, doing her best Molly Weasley imitation by placing her hands on her hips while she told him off. “I thought I had told you to be careful. How dare you appearing on our doorstep more dead than alive? It took me more then three hours to stitch you back together! You are extremely lucky to have me around or you would either be dead by now or lying in St. Mungo’s, having to answer all kind of questions by your boss! And if you ever do this again, I swear I will…”

Harry, who had known that he was in trouble as soon as she had used his full name, shut her up in the only way he could think of: he walked quickly over to her and kissed her. He felt her relax as his tongue entered her mouth and was pleased to feel her arms embracing him in a fierce hug. A soft moan escaped her throat as their tongue’s started their slow dance and for a brief and happy moment time stopped. After what appeared to be an eternity, they broke apart, both of them panting.

“You are not really angry with me, are you?” asked Harry, as he swept her in another hug.
“No.” she replied grinning. “But I really had to try knocking some sense in you or you will be scaring the living daylights out of me on a regular basis.”
“I would never scare or anger you on purpose.” he started, but stopped when he saw her sceptic stare. “Alright, alright, I like to see you angry and I may provoke you sometimes a bit.”
“Okay I will let you of the hook for now, Mister Potter, but you still have to show me what happened last night.”
“I would rather not, but you will probably skin me alive if I don’t. Well in each case, we have fifteen days until the next round of the contest starts.”

Together they sat down on the bed Indian-style, facing each other. Harry cupped Ginny’s face with both hands, his fingertips resting at her temples. They had done this several times before, always at Ginny’s initiative, and this technique of partly fusing each other’s minds allowed experiencing memories in a much more intensive way than a pensive, because the emotions connected with a memory were shared as well. However it also held the possibility of dealing severe damage to the minds of the two persons joined. To avoid this, the giver of the memory had to be extremely careful and had to keep the connection between the intellects as thin as possible so it could break in an emergency without getting out of control. However this was very difficult, because both persons experience the memory and many givers found themselves distracted too much by this. Fortunately Harry had the mental discipline required to use this technique, thanks to his meditations and his Legimency training.

“Okay.” said Harry. “You know how this works. Look into my eyes and block everything else out. Only focus on them and try to clear your mind. Don’t push me back when I try to establish the connection.”
Ginny didn’t even bother to reply, but simply complied, having enough experience to find it easy to prepare for the fusion of minds. Suddenly, she felt the familiar, feather light touch of Harry’s mind on hers and a split second later she found herself relieving his memory.

They stayed entranced in each other for at least half an hour, before cutting the connection. Ginny wordlessly enveloped Harry in a hug, knowing how hard the situation was for him. Harry buried his face in her hair, feeling overwhelmed by the situation and helpless like a newborn child. He did not know how long the solemn moment lasted, but it was interrupted by Hedwig, delivering a letter. Ginny ripped it open and read quickly and huge smile appearing on her face.

“It’s from Hermione.” she gushed excitedly. “She has finished the Draught!”


* * * * *


Two minutes later Harry and Ginny were already sitting in the living room of Ron’s and Hermione’s apartment. Hermione had placed a vial filled with colour changing liquid on the table they were sitting on and was currently sitting across from them with Ron at her side. The mood in the room was tense, due to the knowledge of how dangerous the content of the vial was.
“And you are absolutely sure you want to do this Harry?” asked Hermione, her voice full of concern. “Even though you are aware of the risks?”
“I don’t think that I have got that much of a choice.” answered Harry darkly. “Once again we have the choice to do what’s right and what’s easy. And once again I will choose what’s right although I may die in the process. Honestly after last night’s events I am not sure that I can bear another round of this contest without cracking up. Even a sliver of hope here would really help a lot.”

“There is no point discussing this.” said Ginny softly, squeezing Harry’s hand reassuringly. “Hermione give him the potion; he will be able to handle it, trust me.”
“I really do not think that this is a great idea, mate.” said Ron. “But if anyone will be able to get out of this alive then it is you. After all you fried you-know-who.”
“Well alright.” said Hermione hesitantly. “Take it. I really hope that I brewed it correctly, the consequences could be awful if I have made a mistake.”

“I trust you Hermione.” said Harry simply, firmly believing that the sun would be rising in the west before she botched up a potion. “Anything I should know before swallowing this stuff?”
“Yes.” replied the bushy-haired witch. “The visions you will be having will be incredibly vivid, because you will feel the emotions connected with them, but they are not real. Keep this in mind all of the time, it will keep you sane. Also I will bind and silence you to prevent you from hurting yourself or others during the trance.
When you have woken up, send us a mental message and we will untie you.”

Harry nodded and took a last glance at his two friends and his wife. He could tell that all of them were worrying a great deal about him and that his death or insanity would be devastating for them. Making a mental note to get out of this alive, he grabbed the vial and swallowed the liquid in one large gulp. He barely had time to register that it was completely tasteless and that Hermione had hit him with a body bind and a silencing charm, before the blackness overtook him.


* * * * *


The blackness faded away quickly and left Harry standing in a kaleidoscope of colours, sounds and emotions. The maelstrom was overwhelming and brought his brain to its limits. He experienced every mood he had ever felt at the same time and the result was nearly mind snapping. Harry lost all sense of time. He did not know how long he had taken the potion, he did not know where he was and he had trouble remembering who he was. The only thing distinct in his brain was a female voice whispering “This is not real” all the time. He did not know who she was but he knew that he could trust her. Suddenly one great vision pushed the storm of memories aside.

For the second time in a week Harry found himself standing with three other people in a desert. The four of them stood round a glowing crystal and were obviously arguing about something. He did not understand a word, but he had the feeling that he had witnessed this before. Suddenly the argument stopped and the Harry felt himself touching the crystal. The vision vanished in a white beam and Harry felt excruciating pain in his whole body. At only an instant it faded and blackness overtook him once again.


* * * * *


As he regained consciousness Harry found himself sitting in cross legged on a cool and smooth stone floor of a small pedestal in a great and nearly completely bare hall. Braziers created a flickering twilight in the gigantic room and strange bluish fumes increased the feeling of mystery which shrouded the scene. Harry looked round and discovered that he was not alone in the room. Hundreds of other people were sitting beneath him on the floor of the hall, all in the same position as he was. All of them had their eyes closed and seemed to be muttering softly under their breath. Apparently he was witnessing some mass meditation scene. An emblem carved in a wall caught his eyes. It was a pentagon of five differently coloured crystal shards, one red, one blue, one green, one black and one white. In the middle of it was a small circle of crystal, showing the different elements combined in harmony. Before Harry’s drugged brain could even begin to comprehend the significance of the scene, a great double door at the other end of the room and people started to flood into the room.

Or at least they appeared to be people at the first glance. In reality they were ice-covered skeletons wearing tattered black cloaks and they immediately started to tear into the meditating person with their wicked claws. Hundreds died before the inhabitants started to react. Harry felt himself rising and started to wave his hands in a certain pattern, anger and shock cursing through his veins. A wave of energy shot out of his fingertips and raced through the room. It did not deal any harm to the living, but caused the undeads to dissolve into ash. Even though this single attack had vanquished thousands of skeletons, even more still remained and continued pouring into the room.

Harry felt himself casting another spell and suddenly the room was gone. Instead he and the survivors of the massacre found themselves standing on a high plateau in the desert looking down on a large city. Pillars of smoke rose from it and parts seemed already to be aflame. They were to far away to clearly see who was fighting whom but it looked like everyone was fighting everyone. Harry saw skeletons fight civilians, saw crystalline knight s fight walking palm trees and normal people slaughtering each other. He could only guess how many lives were lost every second, but it were many. Desperation started to rise in him and somehow he felt that everything that he had been working for had been in vain. He fell to his knees as bile started to rise in his throat and screamed out his anger in the smoky sky.


* * * * *


Harry had a nice view of the village and the battle raging around him, but this was not surprising, after all he was flying nearly a hundred feet in the air. Despite any similar experiences he had made during the last few days, this memory was different and much older. Instead of a British village in a lush forest, he was floating near a small settlement made of loam huts, which had been mantled with limestone. A large river was flowing nearby and the desert filled the whole horizon. This somehow peaceful scenery was roughly disturbed by the fireballs and crystal shrapnel flying through the air and by the crunching sound of countless feet marching on the hot sand.

Summoned creatures of Crosis, Anhur and Shai swarmed the village and transformed it into a hellhole. The normal inhabitants had taken refuge in their houses and until now none of it had crumbled, much to Harry’s delight. However he realized that it would not stay this peaceful for a long time. Deciding to move the fight away from the innocents, he shouted a few words in a strange language and was more than a bit irritated that no one reacted. Knowing that the three others could hear him, he decided to enforce his decision a bit. Peeking through the chaos of the battle, he spotted them. Apparently Crosis and Shai were ganging Anhur, because both of them attack him at the same time. The brute, however, was able to avoid both Crosis’ Deathball and Shai’s crystalline lance, but he seemed to be infuriated at their teamwork. Shouting something in this strange language, Anhur gathered energy. A red globe roughly the size of a football appeared in his hands and he hurled it directly into the heart of the village below him, where most of the fighting took place. For a few moments nothing happened. Then, with an earth shaking rumble, an earth peak started to grow. It grew almost twenty feet high, before splitting at the top and spitting enormous amounts of ash and lava. Anything within the village was instantly incinerated.

Harry felt himself flying away from the ravaged settlement but then the vision changed. Suddenly he was standing in front of Anhur on a large mountain, a big, bluish globe of energy in his hands. Just as he was staring to recognize more details of the scenery, he was already throwing the globe at the brute and hit him straight in the face. There was a large flash of light and he was gone.


* * * * *


Harry was floating over ice cap topped water, a chilly breeze pulling at his clothes. Crosis had not arrived yet, but he was already moving his hands in a very complicated pattern. The blue globe appeared in his hand, roughly the size of a peanut. He knew that it had to be at least four inches in diameter before it would be ready, so he continued channelling energy into it. Just as it was completed, Crosis appeared, a frown etched into his still human face. Before he had the time to ask any questions, Harry had already hit him with the spell.


* * * * *


The dim light of the cave made it hard to see anything more than a foot away from the glowing blue orb in his hands. Directly in front of him was Shai standing, her eyes, which were still brown at the time, filled with confusion. Without explaining the situation to her Harry felt himself lowering his lips to her and giving her a tender kiss. After a few seconds he pulled away and hit her in the gut with his spell. She disappeared like the others had and he left the cave, silent tears running down his cheeks.


* * * * *


And suddenly as quickly as it had begun it was over. Harry found himself sitting in a chair, unable to move a muscle thanks to Hermione’s body bind charm. However one thing was new: the tons of new memories and knowledge in his brain. Calling out silently to Ginny, so she would free him, Harry allowed himself a brief sliver of hope.