This story is a work of fiction. The real-life characters are used without their consent to fulfill any number of fantasies anyway, and the rest are copyrighted by J.K. Rowling and Scholastic Books.
What a dream! I thought that both princes William and Harry were sleeping naked in my bed! I slowly opened my eyes, reliving the great eye candy when I felt an arm across my chest. I literally jumped. My mind made the first correct assumption of the day by connecting the arm to another person. I jerked to see Harry, still snoozing, and looking rather peaceful (not to mention cute!).
I gently extricated myself from his embrace and pulled on some clothing. I never slept much when on assignment. Aurors who let down their guard don't live very long. I quietly went downstairs to finish cleaning up the mess of the party and to make some breakfast. I think the smell of frying bacon woke most of my guests, who came downstairs in various states of undress. But not the royals. I fed them and soon, they all figured it would be time to return home. They thanked me for letting them stay over, finished dressing, and left.
After I placed the dishes in the dishwasher, I went upstairs to strip the sheets for laundry (no, I don't have any servants, even in such a big house). Room by room, I found some pieces of forgotten clothing: a sock here, a t-shirt there, whatever. I figured I'd wash those too; then throw them into a basket for people to claim, if they ever did.
Finally, I went to the master bedroom to check on the princes.
They were gone.
I checked the bathroom. Nothing. Picking up the pace a little, I checked all the rooms individually. Nothing.
I swore and rushed into my second training room downstairs, where my wands and books awaited me. The single desk had all the necessary accoutrements: mirrors, quills, crucibles, etc. I immediately felt that someone had been casting powerful magicks in my home. The entire room resonated. I grabbed my battle-robes, my amber and ruby wands, and quickly searched through the titles of the spellbooks until I found the one I needed. I opened to the right page and began to incant: "An intruder has entered my house, and then desired to flee. Show me the place where he has gone with those he took from me!"
A small mirror on the desk began to glow faintly showing me large stone blocks set like doorways in a circle. "Damn," I swore (I do that a lot. Bad habit, I suppose). "Why'd they go there?"
I hesitated over my other two wands but instead concentrated very carefully on Stonehenge and finally willed myself to be there. The morning air was chilly, and my robes weren't quite warm enough. On the rise of the hill, I noticed several people surrounding the two princes. A fire burned an acidic green in the center of the columns, and I could hear some murmured chanting.
I rushed towards the fire, already contemplating how many wizards I'd have to fight, and set up my defenses on the move.
As I approached, I heard the final part. "...be opened!"
The ground rumbled and shook to reveal a large opening in the mound. "Take them," ordered a high voiced man in black robes.
The rest, robed in white had the Dark Mark showing on their arms. One of them had a silver hand, which I knew to be magical somehow, but didn't know how. They descended the stairwell that appeared unused for centuries (understandably) and was very cracked and pitted.
The two princes moved jerkily-still naked, I might add-down the stairwell. They didn't even appear to feel the chill. Not good. I waited until everyone had descended before I followed as quietly as possible. Being barefoot helped, though the stone was very cold.
At the bottom lay what appeared to be a mausoleum. To the right and left were vaulted archways that led into darkness. In front of the stairwell was a great mural, but it had been weathered. In the center, lay an altar made of granite. The wizards were gathered in a circle around the two princes, who were laying their hands onto a stone sarcophagus on top of the altar. The high-voiced wizard raised a long wand and pointed. "Open," he ordered, and the lid of the sarcophagus disappeared. Everyone stepped back but the two princes. I strained to see. The man cackled, and I recognized the laugh from my dream. I knew then whom I was dealing with. Apparently, he had returned. "Over Death, I have the power," he gloated. "Mortos animatos," he shouted. The armored skeleton in the sarcophagus jerkily rose and let itself out. "Now, kill them both with your blade," he commanded. The skeleton reached for its sheath at its hip but found nothing there and looked around. It shambled through the vaulted doorway to the right and into another room where a great, glittering sword stood encased in a block of granite.
"Yes," gloated Voldemort. "It will soon be mine!"
As the skeleton's hand closed around the hilt, the air in the room seemed heavier and the creature shattered. A ring flew off one of its fingers and struck me in the chest as I hid behind the vaulted arch. I grabbed it and picked it up. A red dragon. I put it on my right forefinger. I'd have to examine it later...
Voldemort swore and told William to pull out the sword. He tried, but nothing happened. The same with Harry. Finally, the wizard grew angry enough to send a nasty green light shooting into the stone. The beam reverberated back at him and narrowly avoided missing him. The Death Eaters dove out of the way. At that point he got very pissed off. He aimed his wand at the princes. "You both failed! How can you spoil my plans?! Avada Ked-"
He couldn't complete the spell as a ball of fire burst from the tip of my wand to strike him in the back. "Oh NO you don't, Voldemort," I called out.
His back smoking, he whirled to see who had attacked him. "Death Eaters, get him!"
I hastily fortified my shield as all manner of curses and other nasty spells struck it. For a while, I was enveloped in a rainbow glow, so many different spells were boiling around my barrier. One by one, a ball of fire or a bolt of lightning flew from my hands to strike the Death Eaters. Two of them lost their heads, literally. Others were very wounded and fell back.
As the glow faded, only five people remained unhurt: Voldemort, the guy with the silvery hand, me, and the two princes. "You should know better, Voldemort. Merlin would never let someone remove the sword that easily."
"You are an ignorant BOY," screamed the so-called Dark Lord.
"A boy who's bested your Death Eaters," I agreed mildly. I raised my wand at him, a huge ball of fire growing from its tip. It ached to be released. "Get out, necromancer. Or you will face the demons of hell." I snorted. "Trust me."
He quickly whipped his wand at me. "Crucio," he cried desperately.
I waited. Nothing happened. He gaped.
"Did I forget to mention the Three don't work on me," I asked impishly.
He hissed. Then he vanished. The rest of the Death Eaters followed immediately.
I ran to check on the two princes. They were standing stock-still. I waved my hand in front of their faces, but got no reaction. "Hmm... Imperius Curse," I muttered. "Well, only one way to find out. Finite Incantantum," I cried, and the princes sagged down. I hoped that once again I could bend the rules, as a thought occurred to me. I grabbed the hilt of the blade and pulled. Nothing happened. "Merlin, greatest of the Order, hear me in the Afterlife. I need the blade as a key. I swear I will not keep it. Please, release it." I let my own power flow gently through my hands into the sword, and pulled. The dragon ring pulsed a ruby light, and the blade slipped free easily, humming and throbbing with great power.
I thrust the hilt into Wills' hands and the three of us returned to my house. They were confused and I had to tell them what happened, but I (wisely, I think) avoided mentioning that it was Voldemort who took them. I also neglected to mention exactly how much I'd really had to do with it. I told them that I'd called the authorities that only their grandmother and the prime minister really knew about, and that they'd taken care of everything. As they got dressed, I wrote a note to the Queen telling her blatantly of the whole incident and asked her permission to use extraordinary means to hide her grandsons.
I gave the note to Harry to hand to her the moment he arrived at the Palace, and he and Wills both hugged me. I told them to give me a call whenever they felt like it, and they agreed. Wills borrowed one of the old scabbards from the suits of armor in my collection, and hefted the heavy blade onto one shoulder. "Don't forget to give it to the Queen," I reminded them. They assured me they would, and got into the car that was waiting for them. Once they were safely gone, I returned everything, especially the ring, to my casting room.
I wrote a report to the home office and planned a trip to Diagon Alley the next day to send it by owl. Then I finished cleaning and watched some television, especially looking for any other signs of trouble on the news.
That evening, I received another letter via owl. I figured since one came, I'd have it take my letter to the states, so I tossed it a Sickle and wrapped my report around its leg. With a hoot, it flew off.
I opened the missive.
"Master Arico,
We are greatly appreciative of your assistance to their Royal Highnesses, and appreciate your offer of support. We also thank you for the honesty and loyalty you have shown in relaying such a remarkable heirloom to us.
As to your offer of sanctuary, we feel that it is unnecessary, although you are welcome to bring your plan to the Palace tomorrow. Some of our counselors would like to speak with you regarding your ideas. Show this letter at the gate. The guards will be waiting for you at eleven o'clock."
It was signed by the Queen herself. But sent by owl? Strange. I concentrated, narrowing my vision to see if anything magical had been written, but couldn't detect anything. I HATE an unsolved problem, so despite the hour, I took it down to work on it. Around midnight, I found out that a postscript had been written in Wizard Martin's Invisible Ink (trick your friends). I squeezed some lemon juice on it and the words appeared, written in sky blue.
"If you have managed to read this, Bravo! I look forward to our meeting tomorrow and ask you to come prepared for your casting, and to bring whatever may be required. There are few safe places left."
It was unsigned. But it DID explain the owl. For the rest of the night, I pored over my books of lore and spells (those that I could read, anyway) and found what I THOUGHT might work, especially because of the sword. That would be my best chance.
I didn't have a lot of time to sleep, so I took an extra-long shower to wake up and get cleaned up for my visit with royalty. As I walked out to my room (I prefer to air-dry, mostly), I tried to figure out what to wear. I discarded the dress robes and finally settled on some light khaki slacks, a light-blue dress shirt, navy sweater vest, and bloodred tie. I loaded all my wands, the required books and my battle-robe (never know, right?) into a duffel bag and walked to the palace. As I walked, I realized how tired I really was. Not only from being awake all night, but from my strenuous casting the other day. My power comes from within, so is very draining. I grabbed a soda from a vendor on the way to give me a little jolt, and at eleven o'clock on the nose I arrived at the gates.
The guards escorted me without difficulty to see the royals in a sitting room. Her Majesty was there, as were her son and grandson and three other men. One wore a suit: I think he was the Prime Minister. I'd never seen him before, so I was unsure. The other two had robes on. One of them looked tired, his robes were worn, and although he was balding, the little hair left was a shocking red. The other had long, silvery hair and beard. "Professor Dumbledore, I assume," I addressed him.
He nodded. "Please, Master Arico, have a seat."
I chose to sit in a chair next to Wills and Harry.
"Now, Mr. Arico, Arthur and I have been discussing your talk of hiding the boys. I found it an interesting idea. What did you have in mind."
I was actually intimidated by him! This kind, soft-spoken man radiated a power that I'd never seen anyone else wield! It was exciting, but definitely scary.
"Well, sir, there are only so many safe places in the world." He nodded for me to continue. "One of them is your school, of course, but taking the princes there might be a problem."
"How so?"
"The fact that they are muggles. Like it or not, even as guests, a LOT of time would have to be spent for them to be able to even see the place. Also, no one really knows what would happen if muggles made it onto the grounds." He nodded again.
"There are a few others, especially the schools, but Voldemort is really only afraid of you. So, if that option is out, there may be one other."
"Which is?"
"Well," I hesitated.
"Go on," he urged.
"Because we have Excalibur, it might be possible to send the boys to Avalon."
His eyes widened. "I think I can do it," I added, seeing his expression. "I saw the spell to open the doorway."
"And did you bring it with you," he asked eagerly.
I nodded and pulled out the book with the aforementioned spell.
He looked at it in awe. "Where did you get this book?"
"I found it in Jerusalem, actually." The red-haired man stepped over to see the book, as well. "It's ancient," he exclaimed.
"Yes. Written by Merlin himself, if I'm reading it correctly."
Dumbledore ran his finger down the spine lovingly. "Yes," he said rather sadly, "but none could rival his works. Look at the way this goes. It's only the merest of incantations, but he says if the right one casts it..." He cleared his throat. "Armar corathath dei. Ich man alashte mor. Ime navaliea, edro Avolone," he read. Nothing happened.
"Uh, I believe we need a full-sized mirror to open the gateway, sir," I informed him.
"Really? How would you know of this?"
"I cast from these books all the time."
He gaped at me. "Do so. Show me a simple light spell."
"Excuse me, sir?"
"From the book."
"Oh. Ok." I concentrated for a minute. It was the first spell I'd ever learned to master. With a snap of my fingers, a large, glowing ball of light centered above my head.
"How," he swallowed. "How did you do that?"
"You can't?"
"Of course I can, but not like that. How did you do that?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But the whole lumos thing never worked with me. Believe me, I tried."
"Well well well. Avalon, eh?"
"Yes, sir. If everyone agrees. I can open the doorway, and take the princes through, and if I leave them there with the sword, they should be able to come back, but no one else but I could go through to get them."
The adults asked us to leave whilst they conferred and Harry and Wills bounded up to me excitedly. "Why didn't you tell us you could do magic," they asked. "You could have done some tricks at the party," Harry added. "Avalon," William whispered in wonder. "Can you really do it?"
I shrugged. "I think so. If it exists."
"Why wouldn't it?"
"I don't know for certain. I've just read theories linking Avalon with Atlantis, so I hope it still exists, or all this is for nothing."
"I do hope they'll let us go," Harry grinned.
We waited around, talking for a while and I more or less filled my two friends in on what it was like to grow up with magic, especially magic that defied definition.
The door to the conference opened and Dumbledore beckoned us to enter. "It has been agreed upon, provided there is a way of communication."
"I'm not certain, but as long as I keep the doorway open, we can come back, and will do so if a method of communication cannot be established."
"Then it is agreed. What will you need?"
"I'll need a full-sized mirror, a bandage, a silver basin and pitcher and the Sword."
"Prepare whatever else you must do."
I nodded, went to the restroom and changed. My four wands were held in my belt and I wore a rectangular pack on my back for the book. It lay open on the table in front of me.
My accoutrements were brought to me, and I saw to it that they were placed how I desired. I took the silver pitcher and poured clear water into the silver basin.
I pulled Excalibur out of the scabbard and carefully cut my hand over the basin, allowing my blood to mix with the water. "By life's blood, by blood's power, let the doorway be opened." I wiped the blade and wrapped my hand in the bandage. I lay the mirror flat onto the ground and poured the bloody water over it as I spoke. "Armar corathath dei. Ich man alashte mor. Ime navaliea, edro Avolone."
The mirror's surface became bright red, emanating a solid glow. We stood the mirror up again and I pressed my hand against the surface. My hand disappeared, accompanied by a warm feeling. I pulled it out, and it seemed unharmed.
"The doorway is opened. It will remain open when I pass through and close when I come back. Would you like to gather your things, your highnesses?" They looked a little nervous. "Oh, come on," I chided. "Think of it as a camping trip in the Middle Ages. You'll be all right."
Servants brought bags with clothes, water bottles, food and other necessities (like a first-aid kit, a primus stove and matches, etc.). William and Harry hugged their father and grandmother. Headmaster Dumbledore shook my hand. "We'll talk when you return. Be careful. All of you."
I wrapped the sword belt around my waist and sheathed Excalibur. "Just in case. When I leave, I'll leave the Sword with you," I told William. He nodded. He shouldered his bag and grabbed my right hand. Harry did the same with my left. I let out a VERY tired sigh, yawned briefly and grinned in apology. Nervous laughter tittered through the room. Together, we stepped through and felt a warm glow encompass us.