Master Of Death

Chapter four

I was standing in the centre of a medium sized garden, looking up at an enormous cypress tree. 'A tree that size has to be ancient. There were very few trees in the forbidden forest that were this big.' I turned in a small circle where I was and took in the rest of the garden. Small grey stones dotted along the ground, each row made clear pathways, weaved around various plants. I recognised a few of them; a mistletoe bush to the right, amaranth a little ways down with red flowers in full bloom, a lobelia sequestered in the back that had dozens of blue flowers in various states of bloom. To the left of me were various bloodroot plants, small and close to the ground they looked almost like daisies with their white flowers. I turned to the entrance; next, the large black arbour covered with a rose vine that was dotted with deep black flowers. The last plant I recognised were the three ash trees scattered about the garden, each one nearly as large as the cypress.

"Neville would have had a blast here," I whispered out loud, and squeezed my eyes shut against the threatening tears. The image of him being hit with the blood boiling curse right after he beheaded Nagini burned in my memory. 'I should have seen it coming. I should have saved him. I wish you could see this place, Neville, Hermione, Ron. You guys would love it.' I fell back against the sturdy trunk of the cypress and slid down until I reached the grass covered ground. I could feel the magic around me pulse slightly, as though trying to soothe my emotions. I rubbed at my eyes, then dived into myself in search of my core.

I expected to see a medium-sized, ice blue, core. Instead, there was an enormous swirling mass of black and green. My core had become unbalanced due to the wild magic mingling with it. I had become concerned, unsure what this exactly meant. I've had no real issues with my magic being uncontrollable since I got here, but this sight says I should be. I watched the ball of magic, tendrils occasionally slipping away before reattaching.

'It would help if I organised my memories and checked my occlumency shields. I should start meditating regularly and use more magic. Hopefully, it will start settling down then. Some of this extra power is probably from becoming the Master of Death.' I began leaving my core and slipped into a more profound state of meditation when I felt someone had entered the garden and stopped a few feet in front of me. I opened my eyes, body tense and ready to fight, and found a tall elf gazing at me. He had on a long tan coat that covered the clothes underneath, his blonde hair that fell past his shoulders had a fine braid on either side of his head that framed his pointed ears. His eyes were dark blue and curious, his expression soft.

I was stuck in another harsh memory, this one of Draco. There was a spell headed towards me; I hadn't seen it coming, and Draco shoved me out of the way. He died, screaming. 'Why didn't he use magic? Why had he shoved me out of the way?' I began to hyperventilate when the elf spoke up, shattering through the memory and panic with his soft voice.

"I apologise for interrupting your meditation. Should I come back later?" the elf asked, eyes not leaving mine.

I shake my head, "it's okay, I was just about done for today anyway," I stood and offered my hand, "I'm Harry Potter, it's nice to meet you." He took my hand in a firm grip before letting go. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry. I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil." I went to speak, but stopped when Lindir walked up to us.

"Pardon me, but my Lord Elrond has requested I guide you to the council, Prince Legolas. He also states you are welcome to join, Harry." Lindir turned to each of us as he spoke and it took me a moment to process the fact Legolas was a prince. 'Draco would love that. Though he was pretty much royalty himself.' I frowned, and nodded in acceptance as Lindir took us to a large circular patio.

There were 17 chairs placed in a half circle, facing a stone podium where Elrond stood. I stood next to a dark brown haired Hobbit, who looked extremely nervous. Wondering where the other Hobbit was, I sent my magic out and found three others hiding nearby. I realised they were the other Hobbits I had seen enter Rivendell earlier.