[A/N] Okay, here's the 4th chapter. Now in this one, I show the dark side of Connie and his "Shadow" persona. There might be similarities between Connie's Shadow persona and "The Shadow" as performed in radio and in the movie starring Alec Baldwin. I may also be giving a little too much insight into what is actually going on at the end; but it's what was dictated to me. The first part of this chapter was quite difficult for me to write, but the last part felt like I could keep going about. I did not want that, hence Natasha's last line. Please Read and Review, or else, I'll have to resurrectAndre the Giant and pair him with Mandy Patakin to perform the rhyming scene in "The Princess Bride".

[Note about the months used] I used the Old English months from:
. I felt they were appropriate due to the time-frame of the Journal entries. Granted, I probably should have used a French month for the first journal entry but wanted consistency and wasn't sure what language it would have been in due to the Franks having moved there. I decided to use the original name for France (Gaul) during Roman Times.

[Disclaimer] I don't own Harry Potter nor any of the canon characters. Sorry, if I did; Harry and Hermione would have gotten together, with maybe a few other girls. Yes, I would have considered Harry with a Harem; and almost always with Hermione being the first amongst equals.

Harry Potter and the Harbingers

Chapter 4

Danger, Revelations, and Soul Bonds

September 20, 1990

Chatham, Kent

Hermione Granger was walking home from school in an alley. She had taken this route every school day, as it was the quickest way to her house. She was wearing her school uniform, which consisted of a white blouse, a black skirt, black shoes, and white socks. Her book bag was slung over her shoulder as she hurried to get home. She hadn't felt comfortable since leaving the school. She kept looking behind her, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Yet, she had this terrible foreboding feeling like she was being followed by someone that was not nice.

Alphonso Dartelli smiled at his prey. Yes, that bushy brown-hair girl will definitely make a lively victim. He had disillusioned himself back at her school and had followed her. He was glad she chose to walk down this alley; no one would see what would happen to her except by pure chance. He pulled out his wand and started to close the gap between them, preparing to cast his favorite curses. "Impedimenta!" "Petrificus Totalus!"

The first curse splashed against a shield that seemed to suddenly appear around Hermione. The shield was not strong enough to stand up to the spell and shattered, allowing the second spell to strike Hermione causing her to freeze in place and fall over as her body refused to move for her. Alphonso sauntered up to her, grinning cruelly. It had been a long time since he started raping and murdering in the name of Lord Voldemort; but now, he was doing this for his own perverse enjoyment.

"Looks like I found me a Muggle-born to play with," he sneered. "You are going to be so much more fun than the Muggles you hang around with. I'm going to enjoy bending you to my will. Finite Incantatem! Imperio!"

Hermione suddenly heard a voice in her mind as her limbs started to obey her. The voice was telling her to start taking off her clothes. Another, weaker, but familiar voice was protesting telling her it was wrong. A small part of her own mind though was screaming in horror and fear, but her body wasn't resisting the first voice. At first she hesitated, but then she started unbuttoning her blouse. As her hands reached the last button of her blouse and she took a step towards Alphonso, her world suddenly went dark.

Connie's Flat near London Bridge Station

Connie and Natasha were sitting on the sofa looking through the various journals of Connie's ancestors. So far they had found no clues as to what Connie was supposed to find in them. Natasha set aside the journal she had just finished looking through and leaned against Connie. She knew he was frustrated at not finding any information or clues about what he needed to find out about Harry. There was still one volume left to look at though, but this one needed to be looked at by Connie alone. That had been made clear by the letter from Sebastian to Connie that had accompanied the journals.

Connie sighed in frustration as he put aside the journal that he had just finished reading. "This is frustrating," he complained. "There is absolutely nothing in these journals. This is just a waste of time."

"Love," Natasha gently chided him, "this isn't a waste of time. We still have one more journal to go through and it's one only you can read as your father instructed. Sadly, it's the oldest journal of the lot. I can tell it is centuries old, but not exactly how old it is."

"It's over 1400 years old, Natasha," he spoke softly. "It's the one journal that I am most loath to look at, since it was written in the time of King Arthur Pendragon by Sir Lancelot du Lac, I believe. Opening it will probably start a cascade of events, love. There is a prophecy about this particular journal in regards to my family and Wizarding Britain. The prophecy essentially states that whichever member of my family that opens this journal would restore the throne of Magical Britain, but will die in the process."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm talking about Camelot, love," he replied. "Most people including magicals believe that Camelot was a myth or a realm that disappeared…" His voice trailed off as his body stiffened, then a grim mask fell over his face. He suddenly snarled, "I need to go," and stood up quickly almost knocking Natasha off the sofa. As he stood, his katana, fedora, and duster flew from their locations into his hands. He donned the fedora and turned while putting on his duster and Natasha could see that his face was now covered in darkness with only two glowing red eyes looking out.

"Oh, CRAP!" she thought. "Someone is going to die today, and it won't be pretty. He's in full Shadow mode. Someone has attacked the future Lord…NO… LADY Potter. If it was the Lord, I would feel it. And, right now, I feel nothing. Connie, though, is thoroughly enraged. He has never gone into Shadow mode unless on a mission, and that was before either of them were born."

Cupboard under the Stairs

Little Whinging, Surrey

Harry was lying on his mattress, completely bored out of his mind. He had been immediately sent to it as soon as he gotten back from school. He was grounded; because Dudley had gotten a detention for trying to get lunch money from a kid in school. Dudley had threatened the kid without realizing a teacher was there listening right behind him. Harry was getting punished; because it had to be the "freak's" fault. Uncle Vernon had to leave work early to pick up Dudley from school and talk with the staff at the school.

He was thinking about his dream girl, yet again. The dreams had been getting weaker and less clear, though; but the longing to be near her was still there. Only on occasion did he feel strong emotions from her during the day. It was as if whatever linked them was getting weaker, and he feared losing that link. If it disappeared, would he ever truly be loved? He had felt love all through his life from the link with her, and it had kept him going even when he was nearly broken physically.

His friends or allies had kept visiting him at midnight each night. Sometimes he would talk to them, but they never really talked about themselves. They tended to be only focused on how he was doing. He hadn't told them about his dreams, the girl, or the link between them, despite feeling like he should. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a strong wave of fear washing over him.

"NO! She's in danger! Someone help her!" his thoughts raced through his mind pleading for her safety. Then, he felt her calm, but he knew something was wrong. He tried to project his thoughts to her. "Fight it! Whatever you are being told is wrong! No! Don't do it!"

Suddenly, there was nothing. Was she dead? Was she unconscious? Was she hurt? He had no idea and panic was rising within him. Then, he felt her again, but what he felt was shame, self-doubt, and violation. These emotions were even fainter, almost like she was trying to block them before he could feel them. He tried pouring out his concern and love for her; but he was not sure if she felt his emotions. Then, he felt the negative emotions stop and he felt her sending love across their link. But, he thought as he felt the emotions change that he saw the man that had brought him the picnic basket that one night a few years ago.

Chatham, Kent

Shadow shifted into existence in the alley where Hermione was unbuttoning her school blouse. Not even bothering to pull out his wand or his katana, Shadow cast a silent Stupefy and a silent cushion charm in rapid succession at Hermione. Then, he cast a Petrificus Totalus and an Incarcerous at the man standing in front of Hermione. The man had just registered shock as Hermione collapsed in a heap in front of him and had not noticed the hexes rapidly approaching him. Shadow watched in smug satisfaction as the man became completely rigid, falling to the ground as ropes bound him tight.

Shadow walked over to the man, and then bent down to look at him. The man's face showed great fear, and the man's eyes showed a spark of recognition. Shadow smiled knowing full well that the man could not see the smile, yet could recognize that his death was approaching. "Oh, not yet," Shadow spoke in a menacing whisper to the man. "You have to pay for your misdeeds, and death right now would be too light a sentence to give you. And, I will make sure you pay the full price."

He disillusioned the man that had attacked Hermione. Then, he approached her unconscious form and after rebuttoning her blouse cast "Enervate" on her. By the time she woke up, Shadow was gone and Connie stood in his place. Connie bent down over her and asked, "Lady Hermione, are you okay?"

She looked at him with fear, panic, self-doubt, shame, and violation in her eyes. She shook her head in the negative.

Connie sighed and asked her, "If I could do you want me to take away you're your mind what happened to you, today?"

She asked in a small whisper, "Can you do that?"

He nodded as he said, "Yes, I can."

She looked at him pleadingly, "Please, do so. I can't handle this right now."

Connie nodded, pulling out his wand and point it at her before saying, "Legilimens."

He rooted through her memories of the day, ordering the events that happened in the alley. He tried to prevent her from reliving the attack as best he could, then he covered those memories with a false one of her walking through the alley then tripping over something and falling. He pulled out of her mind after double-checking his work.

"Are you okay?" Connie asked her again.

"What? Oh, yes, I'm fine," she replied. "I better get home. Thank you for helping me, again, Mr. LeBrock."

"You're welcome, Miss Granger," Connie smiled as she scrambled to her feet and headed home with a wave to him. When she left the alley and moved out of sight, the smile disappeared from his face as darkness covered his face once again. He turned his attention back to her disillusioned attacker.

"You're coming with me," Shadow said malevolently to the attacker. "Your punishment will begin now." He grabbed the man and disapparated to a warehouse district in London. Whereupon he cast many wards and charms to prevent people from stumbling on him and his victim. Then, he carefully unpetrified the man's limbs one at a time and tied him to a crucifix.

Shadow finally cast Finite Incantatem on the man's entire body. "So, who are you?" he asked the man.

The man had begun blubbering in fear from the moment he could speak again and futilely tried breaking the bonds on his arms and legs holding him to the cross. Shadow stepped up and backhanded the man across the face. "Answer the question, who are you?"

"Al...Al…Alphonso Dar…Dartelli," he stammered.

"Ahhh…you're just a low level Death Eater thinking that you could get away with your crimes," Shadow sneered. "Sadly, today you made the wrong move on the wrong person, and now you pay the price."

Shadow pulled out of his duster a ritual knife covered in runes and flashed it in front of Alphonso. Alphonso's face grew pale knowing that he was going to die a horrible death. Then, Shadow used the knife to carve a stasis rune into the flesh of Alphonso's chest, causing pain filled screams to fill the air. After he finished carving the rune, he proceeded to begin breaking all the bones in Alphonso's body. Then, he set about skinning Alphonso alive; leaving skin only where the Dark Mark was located and on his face so he could be identified. All throughout this process, he only paused whenever Alphonso passed out. Then, when he was satisfied with his handiwork, Shadow destroyed to rune and let Alphonso finally die. He made sure that there was no evidence of his presence took down the wards and charms, and then disappeared.

Near Midnight

#4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey

For some reason Connie was not looking forward to checking in on Harry. He was very uneasy and it had nothing to do with his Shadow persona controlling him most of the day. No, it was as if there was something that he would learn that would shock him to the core…something important and, even more important, rare. As he did every time he visited Harry, he made sure no one saw him and quietly entered the house and then the cupboard. This time he was surprised as Harry was wide awake awaiting him.

"You did something to her, didn't you?" Harry asked quietly, but with an implied menace.

Connie almost took a step backwards at Harry's tone and surprising comment, but he had a sneaky suspicion enter his mind. "How did you know? And, what I did was with her permission and only to prevent her from being traumatized by her experience this afternoon. I did nothing to harm her. All I did was to protect her and to punish the one that tried to harm her."

Harry nodded in the darkness of the cupboard, "I knew because I can feel her and in times of powerful feelings, I can see through her eyes. I dream of her every night, but the dreams and the feelings are weakening slowly." Harry looked at Connie with fear in his eyes. "What's happening to me?"

Connie smiled sadly, "I wish I knew, Harry, but I will look into it. I have suspicions but no firm ideas as to what is going on with you. Wait, you say you can feel her? How long has this been going on?"

"All of my life," Harry replied.

Connie was rocked to his core. The suspicions in his mind were caused by the words that Lily had said to him and the one vial in the box of her visions. That vial had been labeled "Soul-bonding revealed: DO NOT VIEW FIRST! Find the vial labeled 'Instructions for Connie,' it's located on your left at the front, you ninny." If he was right, then Harry and Hermione were soul bonded, but he had to confirm that, first, but how? If they were soul bonded, then it would be the first since King Arthur and Queen Guinevere Pendragon, according to family legend. And if that was truly the case, then the prophecy regarding his family would definitely be focused on him, as the family legends linked the soul bonding of Arthur and Guinevere with his family's fortune. A cold shiver shot down his spine at this realization.

"Harry," Connie said trying to hide the anxiety inside him, "I need to go. I promise if I find out what is happening to you and the girl, then I will try to let you know. I will see you later, and take care, my friend."

Harry replied, "Thank you, and I will do my best."

Connie left quietly and made sure to hide his presence yet again before disapparating.

Connie's Flat near London Bridge Station

Connie appeared in the living area with a soft pop, which Natasha was waiting for. She could tell that he was agitated about something, especially when he grabbed the old journal from the table in front of the sofa. He began scanning the pages quickly, seemingly ignoring everything around him.

"Ah ha!" he exclaimed after turning a page, "Found it!"

Natasha moved over to him just before he thrust the book into her hands. "Read it," he told her. She looked at the writing; the first bit looked to be a mixture of old French and old English with some Latin and Gaelic thrown in for good measure.

[Journal Entries]

Day 15 of Modra-niht in the Year of Our Lord 485

I can feel them, but where are they? None here in Gaul can stand against me. I must find them, it is imperative that I find them. They must be protected, but HE must beat me in combat first to prove his worth. I think I shall go to Britannia the pull seems to be coming from the north still.

Day 12 of Æftera-Geol-monaþ in the Year of Our Lord 486

I have found HIM! He has defeated me using his powers. While he feels that he has cheated me by using them, I keep telling him that he has not. When in battle, you need to use every resource available and not narrow your focus on just being honorable. Most enemies would kill you anyway they could, and Arthur needs to learn this. He has told me that he dreams of a young woman that he has never met. I am guiding him towards where I feel her presence and as we get closer the more he can sense her. His awareness will drift as we ride and he will act like he is talking to her. He has told me that he could feel her for as long as he could remember her but that in recent years it seemed to be lessening.

Day 15 of [Æftera]-Geol-monaþ in the Year of our Lord 487

We have reached the castle of Leondegrance. Sadly, when we reached there a battle was taking place. We made sure that we arrived as quickly as possible, while gathering reinforcements, after the messenger reached us of the impending attack. Leondegranceis one of Arthur's staunchest supporters. After the battle, in which we won by Arthur's brilliant and selfless strategy to get the opposing side to Knight him, as that is the only reason that they wouldn't follow him, we celebrated the new alliance. That's where Arthur saw HER. I was sitting near him in the Great Hall, when I saw him stiffen in shock. I could see the look of absolute adoration on his face, and I turned to look in the direction he was looking. I saw her and saw the same look mirrored in her face. Then IT happened. One moment, they were just staring at each other from across the room, and then with a bright golden flash they were in each other'sarms in the middle of the room witha golden glow surrounding them. They kissed and the glow surrounding them became streaked with all colors of the rainbow and grew to surround the entire Hall. As the glow passed over me, I felt a strong flow of love through my heart and my spirit soared. Right then and there, I swore that I and my progeny would forever protect the couple and their heirs and mates. I could also sense that the connection between them became stronger and at the same time my sense of their presence grew stronger as well.

[/Journal Entries]

Natasha looked up at Connie as she finished reading and saw that he was pouring a vial of something into a stone basin covered in runes. She recognized it as a pensieve. "Connie, what are you doing?" she asked.

He smiled at her, "I'm going to confirm something. I believe that what happened between Guinevere and Arthur is what is happening to Harry and Hermione, the girl I have been keeping an eye on. This vial is a vision that Lily had that I have to view. Sorry, love, but you can't enter the pensieve withme. I don't know if this part is safe to share withyou, and from prior instructions I'm not allowed to let you interact with Lily's memories directly unless the bottle is labeled for you specifically."

Natasha nodded to him quietly. She watched him as he stuck his head in the pensieve after swirling the contents of the bowl with his finger.

[Pensieve contents]

Connie felt himself land on the floor of Potter Manor's library, this time due to lack of concentration he actually fell flat on his face. Light laughter reached his ears as he picked himself up off the floor. He turned towards the laughter and saw Lily approaching him.

"I believe that you have figured out what is going on with Harry and his intended," she said. "You have read your family's journals and found the one written by Lancelot to be the one you needed to read. And, yes, this does put in motion your family's dreaded prophecy. But, take heart, Constantine, there is always more than one interpretation to prophecy. Just as there are many paths we can take in any situation until we make a choice. Don't be limited by fear of what may happen, even prophecy can be wrong from time to time. Come I need to show you what will happen between Harry and his intended, but you cannot let either of them know until after it happens."

Connie nodded as he took her stretched out hand. "I will take your words to heart, Lady Lily," he replied a smile starting to form. Then, a bright flash blinded him and he found himself on Platform 9 and ¾. He looked around at the busy platform, searching for two people. He saw Harry trying to sneak onto the train, but two redheads, whom looked to be identical, stopped him and helped him into the train. They came out and raced to their family of fellow redheads. "Guess who is on the train?" one of the redheads said. "Harry Potter!" the other one exclaimed. Connie shook his head in disgust. Why did people have to treat Harry like a display piece, some sort of circus attraction, or, in the case of the Dursleys, some sort of personal slave? The boy should be treated like what he was, a boy with feelings.

However, Lily tugged on Connie's arm and dragged him towards the train. They got on the train and wandered a bit looking for Harry. They found him in a compartment near the back. They passed through the compartment's door and stood near the window. Only then did Connie wonder where Hermione was. Connie looked out the window of the compartment and noticed a commotion on the platform. He couldn't see what caused it but there was a crowd of people surrounding someone and a weird unidentifiable feeling passed through him.

As they stood there watching Harry try to remain inconspicuous the door slid open and the very recognizable bushy brown-haired girl entered. She looked at Harry and froze right on the spot without uttering a sound. Harry looked up as if someone had called his name, looked right at the girl, and froze as well. They stared at each other but then were suddenly drawn together like the opposing poles of electromagnets. Their lips touched and a golden glow surrounded them. Meanwhile the door to the compartment slammed shut and the lights in the train flickered wildly. An unearthly scream could be heard and a dark wisp of a smoke-like substance oozed out of Harry's scar. A rainbow of color began radiating over the glow and soon began expanding from them. The rainbow spread until the entire train was bathed in it. Then as suddenly as it came the glow disappeared.

Harry and Hermione broke their kiss slowly and gazed deep into each other's eyes. They each whispered their love to the other, then sat on the bench in the compartment together without letting go. Hermione snuggled into Harry and the vision faded until Connie and Lily were in the Potter Manor Library once again.

Lily turned to Connie and said, "Do you know what you just saw?"

"Yes," he replied. "Harry and Hermione began strengthening their soul bond. It has been weakening, because they have never met. But, it has existed since they were born. I know Hermione is a year older; I've been in her mind, with her permission of course. What happened is exactly what was written in my ancestor's journal about what happened between King Arthur and Queen Guinevere Pendragon. In truth, it was that bond that caused the formation of the original Harbingers and bound my family to the Potters. It, also, means that my family's prophecy is now in motion and that Harry is the one who will reestablish the Kingdom of Camelot to its glory. Plus, Harry will have access to his true inheritance from Gringotts. I must begin to prepare, as this will happen in less than a year from now. At which point, all of the Harbingers must be ready to act on a moment's notice."

Lily nodded, because Connie was correct on all points. At the age of 12, by virtue of being soul bonded, Harry would be emancipated and the gifts that his most famous ancestor had set aside. It would paint a target on the backs of both Harry and the girl. "You do realize that Harry and the girl would both be in grave danger at that point?" she asked Connie. "Also, there was something else that occurred during the reinforcement of their bond, did you not notice it?"

"Yes, I do," Connie replied. "We'll have to make sure the Manor and the safe-houses are well protected and reinforced. I did notice a dark spirit being driven out of Harry's scar. The power and pure love that flowed from the reinforcement of the bond probably drove a piece of Voldemort's soul out of Harry's body. Voldemort's soul when he attacked you, James, and Harry in 1981 must have been so unstable when his body was destroyed that a piece of his soul attached itself onto Harry in an attempt to survive."

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Lily asked.

Connie smiled, "I will just have to train Harry how to fight using bothspells and other weapons including his hands. He will need to know how to be good in combat, and I will try to get him and Hermione to live together so as to allow her to train with him. Together they would be far more formidable than apart, and they can help watch each other's back. There will probably be some difficulties as others, particularly Dumbledore, would try to interfere."

"Good," Lily also smiled, "go let Natasha know what you have found out. She can help you with them."

Connie smiled and found himself lifting off of the Library floor and heading out of the pensieve.

[/Pensieve contents]

Connie looked at Natasha's worried face as soon as he came out of the pensieve. "It is as I thought, love," Connie said to her. "Harry and Hermione will be soul bonded which is the first time since King Arthur and Queen Guinevere that a soul bond has occurred. It, also, means that the Kingdom of Camelot will be close to being reestablished. Finally, it will mean war for Magical Britain between three factions: Merlin's descendants, a Dark Lord, and Arthur's descendant. We know who the Dark Lord and Arthur's descendant are, but we know little about Merlin's descendants. Although I suspect that they are Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore. Those two have had a lot druidic influence on their magic and outlooks on life. It's quite similar to what Lancelot wrote about Merlin."

Natasha looked shocked at these revelations. "Didn't Arthur die as the result of wounds suffered at Camlannin battle with Mordred?" she asked.

"Yes, and no," Connie replied. "He died due to his wounds suffered at Camlann, but it was in battle with both Mordred and Merlin. Merlin had betrayed him to Mordred and then attacked Arthur when his attention was on Mordred in single combat. Because of this, Arthur suffered severe wounds but was still able to kill Mordred. However, Merlin was able to escape; but due to his failure to kill Arthur failed to gain control over the Kingdom. Instead, it fell into shambles with every so often a new war flaring up between so-called light and dark forces. It became an endless cycle. Very few people know about this cycle, even though if people were properly educated and were observant, then it would be apparent.

Instead, the world had to wait for Arthur's true heir to be born. What many people did not know is that at the time of the final battle both Guinevere and Lancelot's wife, Aeronwen, were pregnant withsons. They both went into hiding upon learning of the deaths of their husbands. Aeronwen changed her and her son's last name and it ended up eventually becoming LeBrock. Guinevere ended up marrying a man whose profession was making pottery, hence House Potter. Essentially, what we have is the formation of House Potter out of the ashes of House Pendragon, and eternally linked to them is House LeBrock, which is truly House duLac. My House is usually not very strong magic-wise, we're usually average wizards and witches, but we make up for it in terms of knowledge, skill, and physical combat skills and knowledge. House Potter is very powerful in terms of magic, they are on par with the greatest wizards and witches in history; but few realize this since they have tried to hide that power as much as possible. This combination is what has allowed Potter's Harbingers to thrive throughout history and kept House Potter relatively unscathed in the wars for dominance of Wizarding Britain."

"So, what you are saying is that Harry is really Prince Harry Pendragon of Camelot and you are his most knowledgeable knight and protector? Also, that this Hermione is his perfect mate and the key to unlocking his potential, correct?" Natasha asked.

Connie nodded, "And that all of us have to prepare for his finding out about all of this. When he turns 12 he will be able to claim his full inheritance, at which point everything we have done will become critical. We HAVE to protect him and Lady Hermione from their enemies no matter who they are. Once their bonding is complete, that is when they finally have sex together; then you and the others will be able to sense her. Until that time, I am the only one able to defend her on a moment's notice, as shown earlier today."

Natasha nodded, tears in her eyes, just two more years then she and Connie could ask Harry and Hermione for permission to marry. But, in the meantime, she would still have to be patient and could not afford to become pregnant as she wanted. Connie was beholden to his Lord and could not have a family without permission first. It would bring dishonor onto him and as the vow of Lancelot bound him, he would be destroyed by even inadvertently disobeying his Lord. His own magic would see to that. She pulled him into her embrace and whispered into his ear, "Let's go to bed, love, we can talk about this more later. It's late and you are exhausted."

Connie nodded and took her hand as they headed off to bed.