A Forest Lord

Chapter Four

          ~Harry Potter-LeFay~
I followed Forrester outside and as he had explained, I reached for that feeling of magic, the tingling, the rush, and pushed it outwards, putting every bit I could into the idea of healing the forest, of keeping it safe. Everyone safe.
Forrester spoke after a moment, "My Lord! You are putting too much magic into it! You will drain yourself!"
I cut off the flow immediately, bending over with my hands on my knees, gasping. I felt light-headed, slightly weak, but I could see already the magic healing the forest-making it lush and green and full. More so than it had been when I first came to Hogwarts.
Forrester hurried over, helping me over to the porch. Once I was sitting, he stated, "That was an immense amount of power you unleashed my Lord. I'm shocked you aren't unconscious right now."
Another voice spoke,  familiar yet not, "You are not the only one surprised, Elf."
I lifted my head, surprised to see creatures and beings of all kinds staring at me. The voice belonged to a familiar and slightly unwelcome centaur. I smiled slightly, "Hello again, Bane. I'm surprised to see you here, since last year you basically told me you'd kill me if you saw me in your woods again."
He bowed his head slightly, "I will not apologize for protecting my home, my Lord. You were an encroaching threat and the forest was already dying."
I shook my head, "I won't hold it against you. If I had a home such as this I would do anything I could to protect it."
Bane motioned around him, "My Lord, you have just done so. Your magic is now coating the forest as we speak, with the intent to protect. We can feel it."
A woman wearing a brown toga type dress stepped forward and stated, "Your abilities, Mr. Potter-LeFay, will be awakening soon. Am I right to assume animal speech is one of them? There would not be this many inhabitants of the forest if you could not speak to them."
Flushing slightly as I noticed all the beasts and beings surrounding the area, I stammered, "I-I don't know-I don't know how to use them, ma'am."
The woman smiled at me slightly and stated, "It is not an active ability, my Lord, it is a passive one. An active ability would be if you were able to do what William could do, and teleport yourself within the forest. Passive ones are basically ones you can't control. They happen naturally and aren't able to be turned off."
Suddenly, I heard a voice speaking, but it didn't sound as if it was spoken aloud, "Can you hear me, Forest Protector?"
I gaped, one hand flying to my temple, and stated, "A voice...It didn't sound as if it spoke aloud but I still heard it..."
One of the unicorns, a strong looking male, stepped forward and I heard that voice again, "It was I, my Lord. The unicorn. You have the ability the tree nymph spoke of. It is why we have all gathered here."
I stayed silent for a moment, absorbing the fact that I could apparently now communicate with magical animals, before I stated, "Is there anything that I can help you all with?"
Bane shook his head, "No, my Lord. Not the centaurs. We merely came to meet and pledge our loyalty to the new Forest Lord."
"The herd and I have only come to thank you for last year, trying to protect our herd from the wraith, despite only being a foal yourself. You have our loyalty. Should you ever need me, simply call for Azrael, and I will come as soon as I can."
The woman gasped, carefully extending her arm, and I was shocked to see a beautiful red and gold bird land gracefully on the outstretched limb. After a moment an elegant female voice spoke, "Hello Harry Potter-LeFay. My name is Kismet. I am, as I'm sure you can tell, a female Phoenix. The bird you are more familiar with is my nest brother, Fawkes. When I felt the wave of protective magic surrounding our forest, I decided to come and meet our new Forest Lord. Imagine my surprise when it's the boy who nearly got himself killed last year. My brothers feathers were quite ruffled over several children taking on a mountain troll."
I gaped for a few moments before blurting out, "How did he know about it??"
Kismet let out a soft trill, which sounded almost like laughter in my mind, and stated, "Dumble- dore told him of course. The headmaster tells Fawkes everything, and Fawkes tells me. I keep Fawkes up to date on the forest. We were born here, you know."
I smiled, "I didn't know that, actually. I knew Dumbledore had a phoenix for a friend but I didn't know his name or where he was from. To be quite honest I don't know much about the magical world or the animals in it. You're all very smart so I feel quite bad calling you beasts or beings- that's a rude distinction. I'm from the muggle world, you see. I live with my aunt and uncle."
Kismet let out an angry trill, "Not any longer, you don't! I've heard Fawkes go on and on about how awful those non magical folk are that you live with and how he's always been quite angry with Albus for making you live there! I won't let you go back! You'll live in my nest if you need to!"
I sniffled, quickly wiping my eyes on my sleeve before too many noticed me crying, and croaked, "Thank you, Kismet. I can't tell you how much that means to me."
A sudden popping noise occurred and Dobby, the house elf who had gotten me into loads of trouble this summer, appeared.
He gazed up at me in awe, "Dobby had no idea that the great Harry Potter was to be the next Forest Lord! Dobby would not have tried so hard to make you stay home if he had known!"
I glared down at the house elf and shouted, "Get away from me! I hate you! You nearly got me beaten to death for that stunt you pulled this summer! My uncle throttled me so badly I couldn't move for three bloody days!"
Within moments Forrester had Dobby pinned to the ground, "What do you know, elf!? What did you do to get him hurt?!"
Dobby was crying by this point, which made me feel slightly bad for him, but eventually he gave in and sniffled, "Dobby's master has sent an evil object into Hogwarts. He wants to open the chamber. He wants Dumbledore to be forced out of the school. He is awakening the beast."
Several animals cowered back at that, but I rushed forward, dropping down next to the two house elves, and asked, "What is the beast, Dobby, how did your master send the object??"
Dobby blew his nose on his dirty pillowcase and whimpered, "Its a book. A girls cauldron. It's the girl. The redhead girl Harry Potter stayed with this summer."
I gaped, "Ginny??!"
He nodded miserably, beginning to bash his head against the ground. Forrester stopped him, whispering in his ear for a moment before he stated, "Dobby cannot disclose who his master is, and I cannot stop him from returning there, but he will not bother you again, my Lord. I would like to accompany you to Hogwarts. I'm sure as a Forest Lord you can be accommodated and allowed your own elf, surely."
I shook my head, "I'm not sure they will. I-I did something stupid, getting here. The barrier to the train station was closed to my best friend Ron and I and so...Ron had the idea to drive his parents car here and we-we crashed it. Professor Sprout is still trying to help the Whomping Willow. The car drove off into the forest."
Bane scowled, "We are aware. It took out a few spiders on it's way in."
The woman spoke, "I could teach you how to heal the tree, my Lord. I can see that you feel quite guilty over its pain."
I smiled slightly at her and stated, "I would appreciate that, Ma'am."
She shook her head, "Enough with the ma'am nonsense. My name is Aubrey. I'm the delegate for the tree nymphs in this forest."
I cocked my head to the side, "Tree nymphs? Aren't those the woman who live inside trees and frequently hide from men and gods alike?"
Aubrey chuckled, "Yes we are depicted that way in human mythology."
I couldn't hold back the grin that spread across my face as I whispered, "Wicked!"