The Istari Chronicles

Disclaimer – This is a work of purely speculative fiction. It is not intended to infringe on any rights by and of the companies and/or individuals involved in the production of any series mentioned here. The characters involved are the intellectual property of their respective authors/creators except for the ones that are listed as an OC, which are mine.

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“Hoo…”

“…hooo…”

“…HOOT!!!”

Harry jerked awake as the soft pleasant hoots turned insistent and he felt an especially hard nip on his finger.

“Ugh…Wha…Hedwig?” he mumbled as his blurry eyes caught sight of his familiar.

“Hoot! Hoo…” Hedwig replied, glaring dangerously.

His eyes widened as he realised what they were seeing. Moments stood still as he gawped at her, speechless. His lost emeralds connected with her amber ones and they both attempted to ascertain the veracity of the moment. War had made a cynic of them both. Another soft hoot from her brought him out of his reverie and in an instant, he leapt towards his snowy partner he had believed lost to him forever. “HEDWIG!”

A tear, thick and heavy with bottled emotion, rolled from his dull eyes as he embraced his familiar gently, pulling her towards him not noticing nor caring her somewhat less than tangible form…or his own.

Hedwig nuzzled his neck forgetting her anger in favour of bathing in her wizard’s care. She was still upset with him for leaving her at the safe house, but the loss they both were reeling from meant that she needed to support her partner first…she could have his hide later.

Jumbled though their memories were, the failure of their attempt to save the world was etched into their mind still. Carved and covered with riotous wounds.

“I…I thought I lost you. I thought…” he choked, unable to voice his relief and pain as he remembered the moment she had flown into him to power the ritual. The sight of her brilliant ivory wings charred with his own burnt remains flashed before his eyes once more. “They’re gone, Hed” he cried into her ghostly plumage. “All of em…gone. We failed them…I…failed them.”

“Hrrr…hoo…” she gave a deep hoo as she joined him in mourning. Her human’s kind had meant a lot to her just like him, especially the brown-haired, brown-eyed one. She was just as fierce as her and just like herself, the wily witch had never left her human’s side, even when the odds had been against them, something that had earned her her respect and loyalty. To know that they had failed in saving them…saving her…it hurt her something fierce.

Harry held onto her for more than a few moments as he let out all the rage and pent up emotions he had been carrying for so long.

Seconds, minutes, hours seemed to go by as they both lost themselves to their pain. Endless loops of times past, joyful and filled with woes, went through their minds in their mourning. Neither noticed the change in their surroundings or their state of being, ghostly figures of ethereal blobs as they were, floating in a pale-coloured dome.

As if responding to their melancholy, a soothing melody started playing, taking them both by surprise. A golden light shimmered in front of them as the musical notes grew ever so warm. The verses, similar to the ones that had once brought about the creation of the world, Ainulindalë, burst forth from the luminescence and echoed within the dome saturating the environ with a sense of purity that both ghostly, mortal beings hadn’t felt for decades. Deep and jagged though their pain was, rooted within their very beings, it started to lessen as the healing notes of divinity fell upon their ears.

They did not forget, nor could they, for it was something that was carved into their essence and defined their very world. But the burden that the wizard, and by extension his familiar, were carrying on their shoulders, allayed, even if a little.

Harry clutched Hedwig close to his chest in a protective manner even when he felt himself safer than he had ever felt before. The melody came to an end and finally, the last note struck, leaving behind a calm that soothed their sorrows.

A voice gained their attention as a black-robed figure came through the golden shimmering light, wading through its glow. “The bond you share with her…never has it failed to astound me, Cënnan,” the voice said in a tone that carried the respect his words wished to deliver.

Harry eyed the newcomer warily, subtly taking a step behind, not knowing what to do or say in response. Now that his attention had been diverted, he noticed, with a sense of emergency, that the only known person from his past that he had seen in this…this blasted excuse of an afterlife apart from Hedwig was Death. Who was apparently gone, leaving him standing in a place that was worlds apart from the halls he last remembered standing within.

“Thanks?” he replied in a hoarse voice that made him wince internally, not liking the amount of uncertainty it had carried. It had been years since he had felt as unsteady as he felt right now. Years, since he had not known what to do next. Years…since things had spiralled so out of control.

And what’s more, was that he couldn’t understand how he was standing upright without being a gibbering mess. Despite being consciously aware of his grief, he could not yet feel it’s debilitating effects on himself. Hadn’t he failed in his mission just a few hours ago? Hadn’t he lost the last possible chance to bring back his people? Shouldn’t he be more upset about it then?

It felt unnatu- no, he couldn’t even say that it felt unnatural because quite frankly, it hadn’t. In fact, it had felt like someone, somewhere was kindling some hope for him and it had touched him with its warmth seeping through his very being.

It had felt, well, nice…considering. The soft hoots from Hedwig too gave him some idea that she was feeling something similar, if in her own way. It also gave him some peace of mind as he realised that they were not in any immediate danger, weird though their circumstances may be.

As though he had heard his thoughts, the robe-clad figure chuckled slightly. “Do not be baffled by what you feel, Cënnan. Even when none are left among the living who remember him, Eru still watches over us with his light. The verses you heard were of his own making. He had formed these very words aeons past to heal a poor soul. I…I merely gave my voice to his words of power to do much the same as he did. They have been known to rekindle one’s spirit as they did yours,” he replied.

For a moment, just for a second, a smidgen of anger broke through his calm countenance as he heard the unasked explanation. Despite his sudden tranquillity, he knew now that even his mourning had been denied by this person. His chance to grieve for what he had lost had been taken away from him by this forced peace. An urge grew within him to show his displeasure at the callous snatch but before these thoughts could take root, an echo of the healing melody reverberated within him once more, washing away the taints of anger and gently dousing his ire with soothing cold river water.

It took several moments for him to register it. He had gained something worthwhile from the exchange, directed though it might have been. Clarity.

Decades of training and survival instincts took over and he attempted to centre himself once more. Whatever was happening to him and Hedwig, it looked like the being in front of him had more than a few clues about it. And it did seemed as if he was not averse to sharing some of the things that he wanted answered. With that thought in mind, he attempted to test his theory by asking the one thing that was bugging him the most. “Why?”

The cloaked being nodded as though he had been expecting such a question. “Hmm. A pertinent query…” the cloaked being paused to consider his words knowing that the wizard was judging his worth, in his own way. “If it is honesty you seek, you shall have it… I simply could not see you in pain any longer, young istar,” he replied earnestly.

Harry’s ghostly form went rigid as he heard the reply. It irked him something fierce that despite his occlumency shields, which he had painstakingly developed through the years, the being had touched his thoughts as he had. Even so, Harry studied the being in front of him for some time not giving away anything on his face. Even with his efforts being hindered as the being was still cloaked and hooded as before, something in the stranger’s voice gave him a reason to trust his words…at least for the time being.

Harry relented with a single nod of his head and decided to get the introductions over with. If there was a chance that the hooded being could help him determine where he was at the moment, he did not want to alienate him by asking something that he wasn’t prepared to answer. And he knew, probing him to elaborate on why exactly his well being was of any concern to the stranger was most likely to seal those loose lips.

“Who are you?” he asked instead.

“Ah, I suppose leaving one's plane does tend to befuddle one’s memories. Though I would have thought your grievances with me would have made you latch on to the taste of my presence, if not that then perhaps the… connection you seem to have acquired with my aspect?” He paused again and for a moment a stray thought of antagonising the man came from within him, but he shook it away immediately. There were other ways to test young istar’s convictions. He knew all too well how the loss could corrode one’s principles. His existence was proof enough of that.

“No?” he asked wondering if the man had cottoned on.

Harry continued to look at him with a wary stance as he held back his familiar in his hands in a protective manner.

A sigh escaped from the shadowy figure as he shook his head, a little disappointed at seeing no signs of recognition from the one who was, essentially, his extension. “To forget one’s saviour… I expected more, Cënnan. More so because it’s you.” Slowly, the stranger brought up his hands to the edge of his cowl and in one fluid motion, removed it.

An involuntary hasp left from Harry’s ghostly lips and his eyes widened slightly as he saw the young and sharp features of the being, having discerned his identity in that instant. The pale face that had been until now hidden beneath a hooded robe held a certain elegance to it than none among the mortals could ever hope to achieve. The obsidian eyes that had shone bright with worldly wisdom and intelligence beyond his reckoning, looked at him with a slightly amused glint.

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