Hey True Believers! (Sorry, I just wanted to pretend that I was Stan Lee for a moment, it won't happen again… for a while) Sorry about the LONG delay in getting this chapter out. I promise that I won't take nearly as long to get the sixth one out. This one is by far the longest I've ever written, to make up for not posting for the last SEVEN MONTHS or so. I have been thinking about letting Harry hook up with some other female characters, but nothing serious, just something to make Hermione a little jealous. I'm also taking a poll: who wants to see Dúath get the crap beat out of him? Or should I just settle for Harry humiliating all of Voldemort's Death Eaters and the 'big man' himself? Ah well, on with the story – this chapter is actually two tasks – Hagrid's and McGonagall's. The next one will probably be Remus and Tonks

Chapter 5: The First Round of Tests: Hagrid and McGonagall

"Alright," Harry said calmly, "What will I have to do?"

Dúath didn't answer him right away. Instead, he looked the young man up and down, and then circled around, examining Harry. When he was once again standing in front of Harry, he was livid.

"You're a wizard!"

"Yes," Harry said, puzzled, "So what?"

Dúath clenched his teeth and threw his head back, holding in a scream of rage with all of his might. "So much for the legendary honor of Alfirin Istagûl! The man can't even keep a single promise."

Befuddled, Harry cocked his head to one side, trying to figure out what his being a wizard had to do with anything that Alfirin did wrong.

Dúath hissed and the shadows in the corner of the room became deeper. Then, as if they were living, they creeped up the walls and ceiling, until nothing was visible but him and Harry. Harry looked around, slightly puzzled at the need for this ancient privacy spell, when Dúath bared his teeth and shouted out at the top of his lungs, "ISTAGÛL! COME HERE NOW!"

Harry covered his ears at Dúath's booming voice, and when he looked up, a doorway of light had appeared in the middle of the room. Through it stepped Alfirin, a welcome sight next to the strangeness of Harry's 'examiner.'

"Yes, Iaur, how may I help you?" Alfirin asked cordially.

Dúath was seething. "How may you help me indeed, you traitorous swine! You passed the Aewonaur Coll onto a wizard, Istagûl! Such an act was expressly forbidden when the Ancients gave you the Mantle."

"Iaur," Alfirin said, his expression darkening significantly, "My giving the Mantle to a wizard or witch was forbidden by you, in an agreement we reached after the first recipient almost bested your tests. I only agreed to that condition so that you would only put the wielder of the Mantle in danger and no one else."

"Obviously," Dúath spat, "You are not concerned about me putting the wielder's family in harm's way this time!"

"On the contrary, Iaur," Alfirin said quietly, but with a hint of amusement, "You cannot bring his family into this because he is not a wizard. Not yet, anyway."

Dúath's ire increased as he looked between a silent, awed Harry and a smug Alfirin. "You're going to try to hamstring me with semantics! You and I know that this boy was more powerful than all but a scant few wizards anyway, regardless of his level of training. You were not supposed to give the Mantle to any magic user!"

"Excuse me," Harry said quietly, surprising both of the men – things – whatever they were – into silence, "Why does it matter if he gives the Mantle to a magic user or not? I mean, would a muggle not get the knowledge regarding magic, or what?"

"No, a non-magic user would still receive knowledge pertaining to magic, but would be unable to utilize any of it. There are significant differences between Wizarding-kind and Muggles." Alfirin explained.

"Indeed," Dúath said scathingly, "Since a wizard will be able to perform any kind of magic, thereby being far more powerful than a normal human with the Mantle's knowledge. At least the former wielders had to work hard to defeat entire armies – a wizard with this knowledge would be unstoppable! You know this is unfair Istagûl!"

"Come now Iaur," Alfirin said placatingly, "It won't be that bad and you know it. Besides, I am well within the confines of the parameters we established, since Mr. Potter is technically not a wizard."

Dúath threw back his head and growled in anger before he sighed and looked at Harry. Looking him up and down, Dúath slowly smiled, sending chills down Harry's spine.

"Fine, Istagûl, if that's how you want to play it," Dúath said, looking between the two with a feral gleam in his eyes, "But I can play the semantics game too, old friend.

"Mr. Potter," Dúath said, looking into Harry's eyes, "Our dear friend Alfirin is correct in that you are not yet a wizard, so I cannot place your family in harm's way. However, you are a magic user, thereby giving you a decided advantage over the more, shall we say, traditional candidates for the Aewonaur Coll."

At this, Harry became worried. He didn't know this Iaur Dúath very well, but he could infer from his tone and mannerisms that he wasn't going to let this matter go so easily.

"Therefore," Dúath continued with a decidedly feral smile, "I think I'll use your friends instead."

"WHAT?" Harry shouted, his eyes growing as wide as saucers. He can't do that, can he?

Dúath turned away from the aghast Harry and Alfirin, and waved his hand, causing a viewing portal to form in front of him. Within it the three had a clear view of the other occupants of the house. In the kitchen downstairs stood Dumbledore surrounded by Tonks, Lupin and the Weasley elders, all very upset. Then the picture flashed to one of Ginny and Hermione talking quietly in their room, though only Ginny's face was visible. Again the scene flashed to Ron's room, in which Ron and the twins were hunched together in a deep discussion. The picture changed one last time to show three more people entering the house – Professors McGonagall and Snape, who looked rather haggard, and Hagrid, who had to almost bend parallel to the floor to make it through the front door.

"Thirteen people that you must save, Mr. Potter. If you want them to survive this, you'd better do exactly as I say." Dúath said as he turned back to Harry and Alfirin. Then, he snapped his fingers and Harry disappeared from the room. At the same time, collars appeared around the necks of everyone else in the house, to their utter bewilderment.

The collars were what appeared to be wrought iron, with three carat rubies set every three inches around the outside of them. The rubies appeared to be glowing with some unseen power. Even Dumbledore was puzzled as to their purpose and where they came from.

Alfirin and Iaur were still up in Harry's bedroom, though the privacy spell that Iaur had put up was now gone. Dúath was on his way to the door when Alfirin stopped him.

"What are you up to, Iaur?"

Dúath stopped and turned back to his long time rival and one-time friend, "Making sure that this will be interesting. If you would care to watch what will happen to Mr. Potter, I suggest you go downstairs to the kitchen. I will join you momentarily, after I give him instructions for his first task."

Dúath opened the door for Alfirin then popped! out of the room. Alfirin shook his head in resignation and made his way downstairs.

Harry appeared in the middle of the wilderness, the sun just beginning its decent as the afternoon began. The cries of wild animals sounded in the distance, causing Harry to spin around in a futile attempt to see what was out there. An almost indiscernible pop! caught his attention and he turned to find Dúath standing behind him.

"Welcome to America, Mr. Potter. You are currently two miles outside of Salem, Massachusetts, in the New England area of the northern states. The Salem Institute of Witchcraft is about to be attacked by a few Griffins, and you must stop them from hurting anyone.

"The school is that way," Dúath said, pointing to the east, where a large manor was easily visible through a hole in the canopy, "And if you are able to do this, your friend Hagrid will be saved. After him, you will have to save McGonagall, but let's not get ahead of ourselves – you still have to stop those Griffins from killing the students and teachers at Salem first. When you're done, I'll give you your instructions for your next task."

Pop!

He was gone. Harry sighed in frustration and looked off towards the American school of magic. He quickly transformed into an owl and took flight, hoping to get this over with quickly and get his friends out of danger – especially Hermione.

Back at Grimmauld Place, as Harry was just appearing in the New England wilderness, Alfirin was heading down the stairs towards the basement kitchen. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

As he was passing the girls' room, the door opened and out stepped a confused Ginny and puffy-eyed Hermione, both of whom froze upon seeing a complete stranger striding past their door.

"You two might want to head down to the kitchen, if you want to know what's going on." Alfirin said over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs. Neither said a word as they followed him down the stairs, pausing only to share befuddled looks with Ron and the twins as they came from their room and frowned at the stranger on the landing below them. Then he looked up.

"You know, if I were you, I would want to know what kind of dangers my friend was facing right now. But, that's just me," he said, before disappearing from sight down the stairs.

"Dangers our friend…what did he mean by that…" Hermione began before her eyes grew wide and she shouted, "HARRY!" Before anyone could stop her, she flew up the stairs and flung open the door to Harry's room. It was empty.

Short of breath, she hurtled back down the stairs, surprising her friends yet again as she shot past them in the direction of the basement kitchen. They all looked at each other before hurrying down themselves.

Hermione burst into the kitchen to find the now eight adults clustered around the table, all concentrating on the mysterious stranger helping himself to a cup of tea.

"Who the hell are you, and what the hell are these things around our necks?" Snape spat, pointing at the newest addition to his wardrobe.

"Severus," Dumbledore warned in a quiet voice before turning to the too-calm intruder, "I would like an explanation as to what is going on, if you please, Mister…"

"Istagûl. My name is Alfirin Istagûl. And don't worry, all will be explained shortly. The only thing you need to concern yourselves with is keeping a civil tongue in your head, because the man who is responsible for the challenges Mr. Potter is about to face will not be as forgiving as I am…" Alfirin said with a pointed look at a disgruntled looking Snape.

"WHAT?" Mrs. Weasley shouted after his words had sunk in fully, "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HARRY?"

"My dear woman, there is no need for you to shout; I can assure you that I can hear perfectly well. As for what is happening to Mr. Potter, he is about to embark on a quest to insure not only his survival, but all of yours as well," the strange newcomer responded.

"What do you mean 'yours as well?'" Hermione asked from the doorway, the Weasley children standing behind her with the same question in their eyes.

Alfirin sat down at the table and blew on his tea while everyone else stood ramrod straight and stared at him. It was a few moments, and a few sips, before he actually looked at any of them and finally answered Hermione's query, "All will be explained momentarily. Just be warned that Harry's examiner will test not only his mettle in battle, but also his heart and mind as well. There is nothing any of you will be able to do that can help him."

"Oh no!" moaned Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, though the younger girl's exclamation was much more subdued than the Weasley matriarch's. Looking around, Hermione noticed that everyone else, save Professor Snape, were in much the same mindset: How much more will Harry have to put up with?

"Perfect," Snape spat, "Our lives are in the hands of a cocky, untalented teenager. We may as well slit our own throats right now and be done with it!"

There was a general cry of outrage, but before any of the other inhabitants of the house could give Snape the thrashing they all wished to, another figure appeared on the opposite side of the kitchen table from Alfirin.

"Iaur."

"Istagûl."

All of the wizards and witches in the room stopped at once, looking at this new addition to the group. Angry eyes followed his every movement as Dúath got up from the table and helped himself to a cup of tea.

"Mr.… Haggard, is it?" Dúath said over his tea cup to the half giant standing next to Alfirin, hands clenched and eyes wide with worry and rage. The big man narrowed his eyes at the unwelcome intruders, but contented himself with growling, "Hagrid," after a warning glance from Dumbledore.

"Oh, well, do forgive me, I didn't mean to offend," Iaur said with a half-hearted apologetic smile on his face – everyone knew he'd gotten the larger man's name wrong on purpose.

"But, I thought you should know that, as your being young Harry's first true friend, you have the honor of being the first person he has to save."

"What are you talking about?" McGonagall growled.

Dúath drained his cup and placed it on the table beside Alfirin's before replying, "My friends, Mr. Potter has previously agreed to accept a gift which never should have been offered to him – the Aewonaur Coll, or the Phoenix Mantle in your tongue.

"The Mantle is one of the greatest powers in all the realm, if not the greatest. It consists of knowledge of all things necessary to combat evil. There is now nothing that Mr. Potter cannot do if he decides he wants to. I have already observed him practicing Wing Chun and Jujitsu, as well as self transfiguration. I believe he became a peregrine falcon at one point?" Dúath shot a questioning look at Alfirin, who nodded.

"Potter is an Animagus? That's amazing!" McGonagall exclaimed, a hint of pride in her voice.

Dúath laughed bitterly, "Potter is much more than an Animagus, my dear Minerva. He is a Metamorphmagus," he looked at a surprised Tonks, "a Potions master," a glance at Snape, "a very capable animal handler," Hagrid beamed with pride, "and quite accomplished at Occlumency and Legilimency too, as Albus found out.

"There is literally nothing that Mr. Potter is not able to do now, magically or otherwise." He paused for a few seconds to allow this to sink in, before continuing on, "However, that is one of the reasons you are all in the dire straits you find yourselves currently in. You see, the Aewonaur Coll was never supposed to fall in the hands of a wizard or witch, largely in part of an agreement that Alfirin and I reached long ago.

"But, Alfirin decided he wanted to try to play games with me, so I am returning the favor. You see, our agreement was that as long as he passed the Mantle on to someone who was not magical, I would not do to the recipient's family what I am doing to all of you now – in effect, making tasks that Mr. Potter must pass not only to prove his worth but also to keep you alive. If he fails, the collars around your necks will be triggered and within a few moments, explode. If he succeeds in your appointed tasks according to my specifications, the collars will deactivate, and you will be free from my grasp."

"Wait a moment," Hermione cut in curiously, "Why do you get to do this at all? I mean, what gives you the right to do this to any of us, or to Harry?"

"That, my dear, is a very long tale, and not one I wish to tell at the moment," Dúath said before sitting back down at the table and picking up the cup of tea sitting in front of Alfirin. He took a long draw from it and continued, "Though, if you are all done asking questions you aren't going to get answers to, you can watch along with me as Mr. Potter tries to stop a small horde of Griffins from decimating the Salem School of Witchcraft."

Before anyone could speak, he'd clapped his hands and the room around them shimmered and disappeared, replaced by a forest nestling a large manor. Several of the adults and Hermione recognized what the manor was – Salem Institute of Witchcraft. They all watched as a snowy owl much like Hedwig floated to the ground and quickly grew into Harry Potter.

Despite what they had all been told regarding his abilities, none of his friends (or Snape) were ready to see him transform so easily from animal to human. Though many of them had questions, they all held them and found places to sit and watch what was going to happen to their friend.

Harry peeked around the trunk of the tree he was hiding behind and took in the Salem Institute. All seemed quiet for now, so he didn't think the Griffins had arrived yet. However, it wasn't until he had taken his first step from around the tree that he was confronted with a sight that caused him to pause – there was a Care of Magical Creatures class not 20 meters from the edge of the forest studying Unicorns. Then he noticed something else that caused an unwelcome realization – the Salem Institute was an all girl institute.

No males were allowed admittance to the school, with the exception of an emergency (such as a man injured nearby or a specialist doctor whose services are needed) or visits by paternal guardians. Harry couldn't very well just walk up and say, "Hello, I'm Harry Potter and I'm here to protect you from some Griffins that are going to attack at some point in the indeterminate future."

That wouldn't go over very well. Not very well at all.

Well, there were several options he had available. He could simply make himself invisible, or make them all forget they'd seen him, or simply hide. Or, he could…No, that was preposterous! It would be far too risky.

However, it was probable that he would need to get some information later on, and the witches took an almost Amazonian attitude with male intruders on their grounds. So, there was nothing else for it.

He would simply have to become a girl.

Oh, what some people back home would give to see this… and I don't even want to imagine what Malfoy would make of it…

With a small amount of concentration, Harry experienced his first (and hopefully last) trans-gender transformation. His black hair grew out to the middle of his back and became much softer and red, like a sunset. His eyes stayed the same, but the scar on his forehead disappeared. His facial features changed, becoming softer and more feminine, as well as the rest of his body. There was a strange tingling sensation as his lower regions became those of the opposite sex.

As he finished he squinted - something was missing. Then, he realized what it was: he had no bra, and he was still wearing boxers underneath his baggy jeans.

I need a change of clothes.

With an eye blink, he had the necessary undergarments on, as well as black boots, suitable for hiking in the woods and comfortable for running and fighting as well. The boots came up to his (her? Now Harry was getting a little confused) calves. Black pants with multiple pockets down the legs were tucked into the tops of the boots. A simple black belt and black t-shirt along with a leather jacket completed his new ensemble.

With the exception of the clothes, Harry Potter had become the spitting image of a 21 year old Lily Evans.

Taking his (her?) hair up into a pony tail and securing it with a tie that he Transfigured from a leaf on a nearby tree, Harry walked purposefully towards the group of students, none of which had noticed him yet.

This should be interesting…

"My God!" exclaimed McGonagall, staring wide-eyed at the visage before her.

Everyone else around the table, with the exceptions of Alfirin and Dúath, had the same expressions on their faces. Those who'd known Lily Evans Potter personally had tears in their eyes upon seeing her again. Harry's transformation had been perfect. It was doubtful that even James would have been able to tell the difference between them.

"Wow, Tonks," Remus began, still struck breathless from seeing his long dead friend, "He made that look so easy. How come you can't do it like that?"

She threw him a scathing look and swatted his arm, before looking back at the woman that she'd only seen in person once, "Is that what Harry's mum really looked like when you went to school with her?"

"Right down to the small indentation in her chin." Snape said quietly, transfixed. Most of the people at the table threw him incredulous glances, but their attentions were quickly drawn to the twins when Fred (or was it George?) said, "Whoa, Harry's mum was gorgeous! And, he really did get her eyes, didn't he – Ow!" Mrs. Weasley had slapped him upside the head.

"Mind your manners, Fred Weasley, and show some respect for the departed!"

Everyone around the table stopped speaking when they saw Harry brazenly walk up to the front doors of the school and follow the girls in. No one there seemed to notice his presence for several seconds. Then, one of the teachers caught sight of him and swooped over.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked quietly.

Harry's eyes darted around for a second before focusing on the woman in front of him and, smiling, he said, "Hello, my name's Ginerva Granger, I'm with the Department of Magical Animal Control. I've received some reports that an unknown number of Class 4 creatures might be heading in this direction, so I decided to come check it out."

While the American professor was deciding whether or not to believe the 'young woman' in front of her, the members of the order and the children were still in a daze. Ginny then turned to Hermione.

"He used our names!"

"Yes," Hermione said, puzzled, "He did, so what?"

"Nothing," Ginny replied, blushing slightly, "I just thought it was neat that he thought that up at the spur of the moment like that." With that, she turned back to watch what Harry would do next, along with everyone else.

Several tense minutes passed as the teacher he'd spoken too sent for the school's Headmistress, and Harry was beginning to fidget. All of the girls were throwing him looks, some of curiosity and others of hostility. The hostile looks confused him a bit, considering he looked like a young woman. Perhaps the girls here didn't like outsiders period.

As the teacher returned with an old woman that Harry could only assume to be the Headmistress a piercing shriek cut through the hall. He turned to see a young girl of about eleven pointing at something out the window. Rushing forward with everyone else there, he stopped breathing for a moment.

Filling the sky had to be dozens of Griffins, scores even. The largest Griffin in the front of the 'flock,' as it were, seemed to bark orders at the other Griffins to the left and right, for immediately afterwards about a third of the Griffins broke away to head for other areas outside of the school while the main body continued on towards the windows of the entrance hall that Harry and the students were standing in.

"GET DOWN TO THE DUN… BASEMENT, NOW!" Harry yelled at the shocked students, who didn't need to be told twice. Many of the students began to rush towards the doors leading further into the manor and to the basements. The little girl who had alerted everyone to the approach of the Griffins tripped and fell about ten feet away from the windows. Harry noticed that the teachers were too far away to do anything, and the nearly dozen Griffins were about to come crashing through those windows.

He quickly sprinted over and threw himself on top of the little girl as the Griffins burst through the large bay windows, showering the entrance hall with glass. Harry made sure that he completely covered the trembling child, and looked over as a dozen of the creatures skidded to a stop in the middle of the entrance hall, looking around at the abandoned room.

Unfortunately, they were positioned between Harry and the girl and the exits. As he was racking his brain trying to find a way to get out of the hall, the Griffins turned towards him and growled. The largest there barked orders to some of the others, which quickly left the room, heading upstairs and through side doors. This still left Harry and the terrified young American with eight Griffins between them and the exits.

Well, he thought, looking behind him, not all of the exits.

Picking the girl up and hugging her to his chest, Harry whispered, "It'll be okay, just stay close to me until I tell you to run, alright?"

As soon as the young girl nodded her understanding, Harry jumped backwards through the now shattered windows. They fell about six feet, but as they were passing through, Harry brought his legs up as far as he could while holding the girl so close, and began a remarkably graceful back flip, considering the circumstances. He landed on his feet, and immediately began to run around the building, still holding the girl.

As they rounded the first corner, the girl gasped from his shoulder. Taking a quick look around, Harry saw that there was a Griffin swooping down on them from behind. Timing it just right, he went into a forward roll just as the Griffin was reaching out with its talons.

Since the creature had been expecting to meet some resistance when it struck with its claws, it was not prepared when there was nothing there to intercept the force it was exerting except for the hard ground. The Griffin came to a sudden stop when its back legs slammed into the grass, then went tumbling end over end for about twenty feet before winding up on its back, dazed.

Not wasting any time, Harry had drawn his wand midway through the roll, and shot off a quiet Stunning spell as he came out of it, hitting the still dazed Griffin in the head and rendering it unconscious. Without stopping, he moved fluidly into motion again upon his feet touching ground again.

One down, he thought grimly, about thirty-nine to go.

Many of those around the kitchen table at Order Headquarters began cheering when they saw how Harry was handling the situation in the American school. The only ones not cheering were Alfirin, Dúath, Dumbledore and Hermione, all of whom were worried, though for different reasons.

Alfirin was worried that he might have chosen wrongly, no matter how powerful young Potter had appeared to be during his observations. The Mantle could not fall into Dúath's hands.

Dúath was worried that Potter would breeze right through his challenges, and the Mantle lost to the side of goodness forever. Potter was not bound by the same rules that he and Istagûl were, after all.

Dumbledore knew that if Harry died, there was no one who could defeat Voldemort; and all of the Wizarding world, and beyond perhaps, was forfeit.

Hermione… Hermione couldn't exactly tell why she was so worried. Harry was one of her best friends, but the coldness in the pit of her stomach and the building pressure on her chest didn't feel like the worry she normally felt for her friends, even when they were in mortal danger. She hadn't felt this way about any of the others this way when they were at the Department of Mysteries. Only for Harry, then and now.

The four put their worries to the back of their minds – or at least they told themselves so – and moved closer to the table as Harry continued his seemingly hopeless endeavor.

Harry came across a side door about a third of the way down the wall after the first corner. Not breaking his stride, he pivoted on his right foot and brought his left leg out to kick behind him, breaking open the door, through which he darted into a smaller hallway with many doors, all of them closed.

"Which way to the basement?" he directed to his left shoulder, where the young girl was resting her head. She looked up at his face, and he saw his mother staring back at him in a pair of large hazel eyes. Looking behind her shoulder into the room, she pointed to one of the doors and said, "Through there, take the second door on the left. The large oak door with the ivory handle leads to the basement."

Making his way to the door she mentioned, Harry noticed that she was trembling slightly. Deciding to try to distract her a bit, he decided to ask her about the school.

"So, what do ya'll use the basement for? Potions labs?" he suppressed a grimace at the decidedly American ya'll, but figured that it might sound more natural to the child. It was all for naught, though, since she looked at him incredulously and replied, "Yes, and for cover during the rare tornado. We had one not two months ago. It did lots of damage to all of the windows here, but the walls are charmed to withstand more punishment than a twister can dish out."

Harry nodded, and stored that fact away as the beginnings of a plan was forming in his mind. They reached the door to the basement and Harry put her down. As he opened the door and ushered her down the stairs, she turned back and said quietly, "Thank you. What's your name again?"

"Ginerva Granger. And yours?"

"Alice. Alice Knight," she paused for a moment, "I wish I had hair like yours."

Harry smiled for a second at that odd statement, but realized that even the unlimited knowledge of the Aewonaur Coll couldn't explain the workings of the female mind to him. He bent forward and whispered, "Thank you. I wish I had your nose."

Alice raised a hand to her nose and crossed her eyes, trying to look at it. She looked up at Harry and smiled, before it faded a bit and she whispered back, "Be careful, Ms. Granger." With that, she ran down the stairs into the basement.

Harry stood there for a moment and listened, hoping that she got to the bottom safely. A few moments later, he heard murmurs downstairs, and relieved sighs. Satisfied, he closed the door and placed several wards on the basement, keyed directly to the signature of a Griffin, so that only Griffins couldn't enter the basement. Those downstairs looked around as an odd silvery glow spread across the walls of the basement and disappeared.

The last time he'd checked, there were only about a dozen Griffins inside, which meant that the other twenty-seven were still outside, circling the perimeter. Harry quickly made his way to a flight of service stairs and ran the six floors up to the roof. The door was locked, so he muttered, "Alohomora," and the door sprang open.

Dashing out onto the roof, he cast his gaze about, searching for all of the Griffins. They were all concentrating on the windows and grounds, and as such had yet to see him. He spotted a large stone on the grounds not too far away from a large shack, presumably the storehouse for gardening equipment and supplies.

Harry quickly performed the Infra-Vision charm and could see that there was nothing living inside the shack, the interior was cooler than everything else around it. He willed the rock to start transforming into a thirteen-year-old girl shaped golem. It was a mindless automaton, controlled totally by Harry. He made it run around a bit, until it caught the attention of all of the Griffins circling the school, then had it run to the shack and lock itself in.

Most of the Griffins descended upon the small shack, with the remaining few circling about overhead. The need for the golem sated, Harry let his concentration lapse and the construct disintegrated, unseen by the creatures clawing at the door and digging under the walls.

Harry turned his attention toward the heavens, focusing on the currents of both magic and wind surrounding the school. He redirected several currents of wind, making hot air clash with cold air high up in the clouds. He raised his hand; his fingers extended as if holding a ball, and twisted it clockwise.

As he did so, the warm and cool air above the shack began to affect the clouds, twisting and turning, and reaching down to the ground below. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder cascaded over the landscape as the blue skies gave way to a foreboding green. This was a sight rarely seen in Massachusetts, so far away from the Mid-Western states where such things were sadly quite common.

Harry was making a tornado.

All of the witches and wizards gathered around the old table in the kitchen of Order Headquarters gasped in awe at the spectacle before them while Alfirin simply shot a wry grin at Dúath, who sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

"HA HAH!" George shouted as he pumped a fist into the air, "Harry's got 'em now!"

"Harry'll get through these tasks in no time!" Fred crowed, finishing his twin's thoughts, as usual. The rest of Harry's friends agreed with the twins, though with varying degrees of exuberance.

Dúath just shook his head. It was true that at the rate Potter was going, he would most likely take out all of the Griffins without a problem, but there was more to this task than simply saving a group of witches or stopping a bunch of Griffins.

If Harry didn't learn why the Griffins were attacking the school and rectify that problem as well, then he would fail the test. So far, he wasn't even close to figuring out the cause of the Griffins' sudden assault on the American school.

With a self-satisfied smirk that made all of those at the table uneasy, Dúath turned his attention back to the young wizard unleashing nature's fury on the Griffins. The boy was talented, there was no doubting that.

The Griffins that were circling above were hit first, caught up in the maelstrom and tossed aside at over 100 miles an hour. They hit nearby trees, breaking them down, and went skidding along the ground, digging long furrows in the earth.

The rest of the Griffins didn't notice until it was too late. With terrified screams and cries, the creatures tried to take flight, but the tornado touched down before any could take off. The shack exploded outward as the twister came to earth right through the roof, sending debris shooting in all directions. Several of the Griffins were hit by this and fell to the ground, unconscious or dead, Harry couldn't tell. The rest were swept up into the tornado.

As tornados go, it was relatively small. An F1, perhaps an F2, but nothing large enough to do collateral damage to the manor. Through the thick dust and gusting winds, the dark shapes of the Griffins were visible, swirling round and round before the odd one was heaved from the cyclone. This continued for nearly ten minutes, the tornado weaving back and forth, catching up any conscious Griffins and chucking them about like rag dolls.

Harry slowly let his control of the storm abate and watched as the tornado shrank and then dissipated. The area around the shack was swept clean, the grass surrounding the area blown over, as if someone had taken a gigantic comb and raked the grass down in a gigantic circle.

He brushed off his hands and made his way back to the roof door. 28 down, twelve to go.

Ron sat with everyone else, torn between worrying for his best friend and fighting a losing battle with his thought long-dead jealousy of said friend.

Figures that Harry gets something else to make him special! What, the scar, money and newspaper articles weren't enough for him?

Almost as soon as those thoughts entered his head, Ron looked at his hand, holding onto a distraught Hermione's, who was watching the events before her on the edge of her seat. Worry was evident on her face, and he felt ashamed of himself. Harry had done more for him than anyone else ever, and those thoughts were unworthy of the both of them.

I'm almost as bad as Malfoy! Ron thought disgustedly, Harry didn't do this for the fame; he did it to help people, like always. That Alf-whatever-his-name-is said that Harry didn't know that this smarmy bastard was going to put us in danger, and I believe him. Harry wouldn't do this to us intentionally, no matter what.

Ron turned his attention back to his friend and tightened his grip on Hermione's hand, giving her comfort as they watched Harry make his way through the halls of the foreign school, knocking out Griffins as he went.

Harry had already taken out eight of the remaining twelve Griffins, but he was having trouble finding the last four. Slightly vexed, he performed another vision charm – this one allowed him to see through walls.

X-ray vision, he thought with a smirk as he peered throughout the manor, looking for his prey, now all I need is blue tights and a red cape and I'll be in business.

Even though he was joking about it, he wasn't actually seeing in the X-ray spectrum, and what he was seeing didn't look like an X-ray either. Everything inanimate was in shades of translucent gray, while all living things were thrown into sharp relief against the dull background, the heat of their bodies visible. What he saw was very confusing.

The other four Griffins were all in one area of the manor, obviously searching for something. Harry had a hunch that what they were searching for was the woman holding her hands over the mouth of what looked to be a small bundle. Narrowing his focus, he tried to see what the woman was holding.

Please tell me it's not an infant, that's all I need… wait a moment – no, it can't be!

It was.

The woman was holding a Griffin cub.

Harry felt his intestines knot together and quickly deactivated the vision charm. So that's why the Griffins were attacking: they wanted their cub back. How was he going to return the infant to its parents and save that woman?

The solution occurred to him as he was sprinting to the room that held the woman and young Griffin: so far he'd only utilized action against the creatures. Perhaps it was time to use words?

Harry was forming his plan as he focused on the magic around him and quickly pinpointed the Anti-Apparation wards and briefly disabled them. Once he Apparated into room the woman with the cub was in, he immediately reestablished them.

The woman spun around quickly at the loud crack! of Harry Apparating into the room. She had sallow skin and limp black hair, with slightly yellowed teeth and acne scars on her forehead and chin. Her black eyes were wide with fear and she was covered in sweat. The cub was cradled to her chest, but her hold must have been rather tight, as the poor thing was squeaking every few seconds in fright or pain, possibly both.

"Who are you?" she asked shrilly, attempting to keep her wand trained on him with a shaking hand.

"Ginerva Granger," Harry said, remembering the identity he'd made up for the teachers earlier, "and you are?"

"Sylvia Noisome, Potions Mistress of this school. What do you want, Miss Granger?"

Harry looked at her for a moment, taking in the way she tightly held the Griffin cub and said, "I want to know how you came to be in the possession of such a young Class 4 creature when they are on the International Protected Species List."

Sylvia's mouth worked like a fish for a few moments, then she looked down at the cub she was holding as if seeing it for the first time. She took a step back and raised her wand, then drew it down diagonally in a slashing movement. As the purple flame shot out towards him, Harry realized that the Potions Mistress had used the same curse on him that Dolohov had used on Hermione in the Department of Mysteries.

Without even thinking about it, Harry's wand flashed in a similar movement as Voldemort had made during his battle with Dumbledore near the fountain in the Ministry. Instantly, a large shield with a red and gold phoenix emblazoned across it appeared before him, and the curse splashed harmlessly against it.

Noisome stood aghast for a moment, then turned and bolted for the door. By the time Harry had dispatched his shield, she was already wrenching it open, but instead of running through it, she backpedaled and screamed. The cub in her arms squeaked loudly as she nearly crushed it in fright. Stepping to the side, Harry saw what it was that had her so frightened: the four remaining Griffins were standing in the doorway and the hall outside the room, all growling fiercely, bristling and preparing to attack.

The largest Griffin, the leader, darted forward and tried to free the cub, but Noisome stumbled back and tripped over a nearby desk, crashing to the floor. Her hold on the cub was broken, and the poor thing tumbled across the hardwood floor, coming to a rest against the wall. Upon seeing the state of the cub, the remaining Griffins roared and started forward.

Though he had no great love for this Potions Mistress, Harry didn't want to see her killed by these Griffins. He stepped forward and held up his hand, motioning the creatures to halt.

"Daro!" Stop!

Upon hearing the ancient language that all creatures instinctually recognize, the four Griffins looked at Harry incredulously – or, at least as incredulously as Griffins could look.

"Úcaro gwannahen." Do not kill her.

"Why not?" asked the Griffin in the lead in the rumbling language of her species, "This one took my daughter. I want her blood!"

The mother Griffin lunged for the cowering American woman, but Harry swiftly stepped forward and planted a forceful kick in the side of the Griffin, which was in mid air at the time. The kick shifted the Griffin's trajectory, making it land closer to its cub than the head of Noisome, which is where its claws had been aimed.

Harry pointed to the woman on the floor and said, "Im pulnestasell ae nahe algwanno." I can heal your daughter if she is not killed.

The mother Griffin looked at him for a moment, then nodded and barked an order to the remaining Griffins, telling them to stand down. Once they had backed away, Harry stepped forward and knelt down beside the injured cub.

Its breathing was labored, and there was blood lining the edge of its nostrils. Quickly checking over the pained young creature, Harry determined that a couple of its ribs were broken, and one of them had pierced a lung. One of its front legs had a hairline fracture in it as well. This would be tricky, since he'd never actually healed anything before, but Harry had confidence that he could do it.

Laying his hands gently over the spots with the worst damage – the broken ribs and punctured lung – he closed his eyes and once more concentrated on the magical eddies surrounding him.

"Peniarhaw, nestarhaw." Set the bones, heal the flesh.

He could almost see the tendrils of energy flow into the body of the Griffin cub, wrapping around the offending rib and gently pulling it out of the small lung, sealing the break and seeping into the wounded organ, mending the gaping tear there.

Several minutes of tense silence passed as Harry worked, a slight golden shine emanating from his hands and the cub's chest and mouth, which was slightly open in labored breathing. Suddenly, the cub's wheezing stopped, as did its quiet mewls of pain. It opened bleary eyes to see the intense green of Harry's, blinked and began to stir. Harry smiled and pointed at the cub's mother, "Naten maer, naneth nasi." It's okay, your mother is here.

The cub gave a delighted cry and leapt for its mother, its tiny wings fluttering. Mother and daughter nipped at each other happily for a moment, until the elder Griffin picked up its child and made its way to the door. She nodded to Harry as she passed, then gave a low growl to the other three Griffins, who all made their way out of the manor. Looking out the window, Harry noticed that many of the Griffins he'd taken care of with the tornado were rousing themselves, and it was likely that most of the Griffins in the manor were coming to about now as well. Within a few minutes, the large group of creatures was flying away from the school. He looked back at the Potions Mistress, who was trying to sneak out of the room and make a break for it.

Harry stalked up to the hunched figure and bent over, grabbing an ankle tightly. Noisome shrieked, flipped over and covered her head with her arms, fully expecting to be mauled by a fearsome Griffin. Catching her collar in his fist, Harry yanked the whimpering woman to her feet and brought her face uncomfortably close.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, lady."

"HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT!" shouted Fred and George excitedly, dancing around the others while everyone watched Harry drag the pathetic woman down to the basement to explain to her headmistress about how she'd been using her position in the school to hide her part in an illegal ring of magical creature poaching/selling. The headmistress, aghast and appalled, fired the woman immediately and Flooed the proper authorities to take the woman away.

Dúath stood up stiffly, his face stony, and drawing his cloak around him silently blinked out of existence. The twins stopped their exuberant shouting as Harry disappeared from the American school, and reappeared in a gigantic chamber reminiscent of the Chamber of Secrets, except instead of gigantic serpent statues there were towering sculptures of knights, in full armor and with various medieval weaponry.

The room Harry was in was massive, entirely crafted from black marble, including the knights. There were several chandeliers lining the ceiling, the ropes holding them secured to many wall mounts around the room. Braziers were spaced every few feet along the walls, giving the room consistent, if not adequately bright, lighting.

Harry quickly reverted back to his normal body, transfiguring his clothing and under-things to garments appropriate for any number of situations. His pants remained the same style, as did his boots; but his jacket changed and melded into his pants, creating a body suit of sorts. It was designed to protect him from the elements and some padding if whatever he was about to face happened to be physically demanding. Then, he heard clapping behind him.

Everyone watched with bated breath as Dúath stepped out of the shadows and approached Harry. He drew to within a few feet of their friend and folded himself within his voluminous cloak, skewering Harry with an appraising look.

"Well done, Mr. Potter," Dúath said waspishly, greatly reminding everyone of Snape (indeed, Hermione could have sworn she heard her hated Potions professor huffing and muttering, "He's doing that wrong," under his breath), "You have managed to save your friend Hagrid."

True to his word, everyone noticed the rubies on Hagrid's necklace glow briefly, and then disappear altogether, allowing the metal pieces that were in between to fall away. Hagrid looked at the pieces for a moment, feeling his neck to be sure that the blasted thing was gone, then held up a fist in triumph, his eyes shining with pride and focused on Harry.

"However," Dúath continued in the same quiet voice, "That was the easiest challenge you will face. What awaits you in here is much more difficult, I dare say. Your Transfiguration professor's life is on the line this time, Harry, which is only fitting, seeing as what you're about to face is a little Transfiguration experiment of mine."

A third voice laughed in the darkness, sending chills up everyone's spines. Harry looked in the direction the voice had come from. It had almost sounded human.

"You have to defeat Aronoded Gûd any way you can. You can beat him using your fists or magic, but I'd be careful if I were you," Dúath gave a feral smile, "Since you're only allowed to use magic three times in this task. If you perform more than three acts of magic, McGonagall dies – this includes performing multiple spells or charms at the same time, so make them count."

Dúath vanished, leaving Harry alone in the dimly lit chamber with whatever the 'Aronoded Gûd' was. Looking around, Harry tried to spot his adversary to no avail. He would simply have to wait for his foe to come to him.

McGonagall was beaming with pride as Dúath reappeared next to Alfirin, scowling fiercely. He threw himself into a seat and snapped his fingers, conjuring a large wad of blood red cotton candy, which he eagerly began to devour. He pointedly ignored the glare Alfirin was shooting at him.

"You're not wasting any time with Mr. Potter, are you?" Alfirin asked in a low voice.

Everyone else shared a confused look before Dúath answered, "No, I'm not Istagûl. He is referring," Dúath said to the assorted witches and wizards, "To the fact that the task Mr. Potter is facing has never before been passed by any of those chosen before."

There was a collective gasp from Harry's friends and teachers, and then Alfirin continued, "Yes, the only one who came close was the first recipient, but he used magic more than three times. Of course, at that point, Iaur had not placed any limitations on how many times magic could be used – but it didn't matter, for his monstrosity had killed my choice."

Hermione was about to ask another question, but Harry's foe suddenly burst into the light, and nothing was heard except for the sounds of battle.

Gûd attacked Harry from behind, shoulder checking him in the back and sending him sprawling. Looking over his shoulder, Harry noticed that his attacker was nearly two meters tall and outweighed him by nearly three stone. He was as dark as the marble around them, wearing clothes to match. If it weren't for his yellow eyes and even more yellow teeth, Harry would have guessed that the man was a living shadow.

Wouldn't that be just wonderful?

"Fresh meat, eh? 'S abou' time." Gûd said in his not quite human voice.

Instead of answering, Harry concentrated and silently cast a long forgotten battle spell, not used since the times of Merlin when wizards and Muggles lived side-by-side. The soreness from the sneak attack all but disappeared as the spell took hold. The only sign of Harry's rapidly increasing strength, speed, stamina and recuperative abilities was an odd shimmer in his eyes, which seemed to pulse a faint green light before returning to normal.

Harry pushed himself off of the ground and twirled in the air for a bit, lashing out and striking at Gûd several times with his hands and feet, only to be blocked each time. Soon, the two were locked in a battle that could only be described as epic – no quarter asked or given, blow after blow delivered and blocked expertly.

Several times, one or the other would appear to get the upper hand, only to have his opponent come back with a flurry of blows that would drive him back, giving the other time and space to breathe.

This lasted for nearly fifteen minutes, when finally, Harry saw an opportunity and took it. Spotting a weakness in Gûd's defense, Harry exploited it to land several hard blows to Gûd's midsection and chest, ending with an earth shattering uppercut that knocked his opponent back nearly ten meters into the marble wall behind him.

Harry's apparent victory was short lived, however, as he watched in horror when Gûd simply melted into the wall upon impact. Harry had no time to recover from this shock as Gûd sprung up out of the floor in front of him, delivering an uppercut equal to the one that Harry had just dealt. Harry flew several yards and landed hard on his back, dazed.

"I'll admit that you're one o' the best I've ever fought, but I'm a part of this 'ere chamber. Master Dúath fixed it so that I'm bonded with the stones – I draw power from 'em, they heal me. You can't win, no one ever does."

Harry edged away from the approaching Gûd, taking in what he said about his unusual abilities. Dúath had said that this creature was a 'little Transfiguration experiment' of his; it stood to reason that what had been done to the man could be undone or circumvented in some way.

The continuation of the battle was almost entirely one-sided, now that Gûd had decided to stop toying with his prey and unleash his full powers upon Harry. Every time the green-eyed hero would begin to catch his wind and offer decent resistance, Gûd would reach up through the floor and trip him up, or disappear into a wall or the floor and reappear in a seemingly random spot and attack from a different angle.

Even with the battle spell, Harry was beginning to show signs of fatigue. After all, before this fight, he'd taken on forty Griffins, and before that he'd gone through an emotionally exhausting day. Now, he hadn't slept in nearly a day and was beginning to work up an appetite, all the while getting thrown around this chamber by a man-creature that was made of the same marble-like material as their battle grounds.

That's when it hit him – Harry could simply change what Gûd was made of. It was so simple he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before.

Right after this thought struck him an opportunity presented itself as Gûd made to leap on top of Harry and bash the boy's brains in. Harry brought up his feet and planted them firmly in Gûd's midsection, then thrust both legs out sending his opponent flying. As Gûd's feet cleared the floor Harry brought up one hand and shot a small orb of white light out of his palm, catching Gûd in the center of the chest. He had completely transformed into white marble by the time he landed a few feet away.

Harry rose to his feet with a triumphant smile on his face, but it was quickly replaced by a look of horror. Gûd was standing up as well, and spreading from the area of the floor he was touching was white marble. The transformation moved out like a shockwave, black marble becoming white as the room began to change. The white marble moved up the walls as if the black were a curtain being lifted. Soon, the entire chamber was a stunning white marble instead of black.

Damn, a dispirited Harry thought, I just wasted my second spell, and I've only got one more; If I don't beat this guy Professor McGonagall will die!

With that thought Harry launched himself at Gûd, unleashing an astonishing flurry of attacks that drove the man back, giving Harry time to think about how he was going to beat this seemingly immortal foe.

As he was fighting, Harry thought about how he could break the enchantment linking Gûd and the chamber they were fighting in. It was highly unlikely that a simple Finite Incantatem would do the trick, and simply blowing Gûd to small pieces wouldn't do any good, since he would in all likelihood simply reform. Transfiguring him didn't seem to work, but there was something that Harry was missing…

Of course! Harry thought excitedly, He said that he was bonded with the stones, a part of them. If he changes, the stones change. They only changed after he touched them in their natural state. I wonder…

Harry gave Gûd a right hook, then shot another ball of light, this one silver, at the wall opposite them. Gûd looked over at the rapidly changing wall, taking in the way the shining steel spread out over the white marble. He looked back at Harry with a smirk and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, "So what, that won't make any difference."

Harry just smiled wolfishly.

As the metal approached Gûd turned towards it and opened arms welcomingly, which was the last mistake he would ever make. Harry darted forward and threw his arms around the surprised man, lifting him off the marble floor and carrying him onto the rapidly expanding metal section of the room. Once well inside the perimeter of metal Harry threw Gûd bodily into the wall, where he slid to the floor looking dazed.

The room was nearly two-thirds metal by the time Gûd looked down at himself and noticed that he wasn't changing. His eyes growing wide with fear, he looked up at Harry, who said, "Thought so."

"YES!" Alfirin shouted as he pumped a fist into the air while Dúath put his head in his hands in horror.

Everyone save those two, Dumbledore and McGonagall looked confused as to why Harry's latest action was eliciting such an enthusiastic response.

"Of course," Dumbledore said quietly, but still audible to all those at the table, "The link between him and the chamber would have allowed for it to change with him, but it can be changed independently, as long as the change does not occur in any spot where he is present…"

This only confused the others more, so McGonagall stepped in to explain, as she did have the most recent teaching experience, "What the Headmaster means is that while any changes made to that – that thing – would automatically result in the environment changing as well, changing the environment while keeping him the same is possible, as long as he isn't in a spot where the chamber is being changed; letting the change flow over him, so to speak."

Hermione did not ask any questions about new material, for once, and simply returned her attention to Harry and his opponent, who seemed to have realized the danger he was in as he tried to push past Harry and get to a section of unchanged marble.

The problem he was faced with was that Harry had no intention of letting him touch any spot where there was still marble. The two began to wrestle about while Gûd tried in vain to reach the far wall. Finally, Gûd pushed Harry away and reached for a nearby rope that was connected to an overhead chandelier, unfastening it and shooting upwards as the chandelier dropped.

Harry quickly grabbed a rope as well and shot up after him, running along the wall as he went up. The only space in the entire room where there was any marble was a quickly shrinking circle near the ceiling. If Harry didn't get to Gûd in time, his opponent would be in contact with the marble as it changed, allowing him to change as well, sealing Harry's fate.

Planting one foot firmly on the wall, Harry sprang up the remaining few feet to Gûd, catching him around the waist before he could do more than scratch his fingernails against the smooth stone. Harry pulled Gûd away from the ceiling just as the metal came in and closed up, completely replacing all the marble.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Gûd screamed as he and Harry began to fall the nearly sixty feet to the floor below. Harry grabbed onto a rope and began to use it and the wall to slow his descent, running down then jumping and rolling until he came to a stop, breathing heavy from his exertion.

Gûd, on the other hand, didn't fair so well. He did manage to grab a rope as he fell, but only after falling nearly thirty feet, which caused him to swing at incredible speeds into the now metal wall, stunning him. He fell the last thirty feet to land hard on his back. As bad as the fall had seemed to be, what was happening to him as a result of being cut off from the chamber's powers seemed much worse. He was screaming in pain as his body convulsed and began to glow an eerie purple, then there was a flash and he was quiet.

For a moment they all thought he was dead, but then he shakily got to his feet. Now that the enchantment had been lifted from him, they noticed that his skin was a very pale white (probably from not seeing any sun in who knows how long), his short cropped hair dark brown, the same as his still glazed eyes. His teeth remained yellow, and Hermione could be heard tsking and quoting facts about the 'consequences of not brushing properly' under her breath.

Harry pushed himself up to a standing position and assumed a fighting stance before quietly saying, "Now, why don't we try this again?"

Gûd focused on Harry and screamed in rage before throwing himself at the boy, who sidestepped his charge and brought his palm up to catch the man under the chin, which threw his head back and sent him for a flip. Gûd came crashing down, but Harry didn't let him stay down for long.

They quickly began to trade blows, and though Gûd had lost his biggest advantage, he still had height and weight on Harry, not to mention his not-so-inconsiderable fighting skills as well. They began to go back and forth, but it was a much more even fight than it had been before.

Gûd finally got both hands around Harry's neck but had no chance to throttle the boy, as Harry quickly brought up his right elbow and caught the man under the jaw, snapping his head back and breaking his hold. Harry quickly turned around full circle, bringing his left fist up in a vicious backhand blow to Gûd's left temple, making the man stumble to the right. Immediately after this Harry brought his right hand down in a hard chop to the juncture between shoulder and neck, bringing Gûd's head back to the left. Not wasting any time, Harry stepped in and brought his left arm up under his opponent's left shoulder, linking his hands together behind the man's head. He then used a shoulder throw to lay the man out.

He backed away, expecting Gûd to pass out, but the man struggled to his feet, turning to Harry and bringing his fists up. Tired of this game, Harry let loose a yell of fury and caught Gûd with a right cross that spun them both around full circle, only Harry had also brought his left fist back around for yet another backhand blow. Then, using the momentum from his spin, he brought his right back up for an uppercut that lifted Gûd off of his feet.

The man crashed limply to the floor, unconscious and definitely beaten. Almost immediately, the jewels in McGonagall's collar glowed briefly then disappeared, allowing the metal rods between them to fall to the floor. She, along with all of Harry's friends, cried out in triumph and began clapping excitedly.

"I think the boy has earned a rest, don't you Iaur? After all, no one's ever done what he has before," Alfirin suggested quietly, barely audible over the din that was the Order of the Phoenix and Hogwarts students.

Dúath was looking at Harry with a great deal more respect and nodded, "Very well, Istagûl, he'll get one hour of rest then the tasks begin again." He clapped his hands once, and Harry was transported to a new room, almost completely white with the exception of a fountain in the middle comprised of black marble. There was only one door, but it was closed.

All the noise stopped when Hermione cried out and pointed at Harry, as they watched him slowly sink to his knees and then fall face first to the floor, where consciousness left him.