Harry Potter And The Fortunate Queen

Daylight completely disappeared as the snow blizzard hit the forest. Chris quickly cast some enchantments to stop the snow from getting inside the cave as she and Ginny ran inside where Colin had lit a campfire to stop the cave from growing colder.

Chris, Ginny, Luna, and Colin huddled around the fire as it wasn't possible for anyone to keep watch outside in the blizzard, and Chris charmed the cave and made it disappear from prying eyes. 

"We have to go out as soon as the snowing stops," Colin said warming up his hands and getting a little more comfortable in his sleeping bag. "We don't have any food with us."

"Yeah . . . we left so abruptly . . ." Ginny trailed off looking at still unconscious Sol. "Is he okay? Shouldn't he be awake by now?"

"I don't think so," Chris sighed. "I think it's going to take a while for him to recover."

"Was he hurt that badly?" Colin asked. "Then why aren't we healing him? It is some internal bleeding?"

"No," Chris looked at the small figure of Sol. "He hurt."

"He hurt — who?" Colin looked surprised.

"A Minion. Almost burned him to death."

"How?" Ginny asked, confused.

"I don't know. Magic, I guess," Chris sat down near Sol's sleeping bag.

"What do you mean — magic?" suddenly Oziyat's voice came from the corner.

"That's what I understood," Chris answered and the next moment, Oziyat shuffled towards them and joined their circle around the fire but kept a good distance from the flames.

"Tell me what happened?"

In the bright flames, Chris noticed Oziyat still wasn't completely healed. His skin still looked a little raw and burned in some places, and he was weak.

"Oziyat, are you —" Chris began but Oziyat interrupted.

"I am fine, for now. Let's talk about Sol."

"I thought Sol can't use magic because he is more or less a human?" Ginny muttered.

"When I reached the garden, I heard Ethan say some stuff to Rosaline and I think, Malgino knew Sol had powers. He just couldn't unlock them before," Chris explained. "And today it unlocked when he saw his parents fighting — literally to kill each other. I think he was trying to save Rosaline."

"What did he do?" Luna asked.

"He was punching the Minion with all his might and . . . wherever his punch landed the Minion's skin burned pretty badly." .

Chris's words were followed by a few moments of silence as everyone watched Sol sleeping.

"When did he lose consciousness?" Oziyat frowned.

"Soon after the incident, that's why I think, he needs to wake up naturally. The sudden use of power has drained his energy too much, he needs to recover from it before we bring back him," Chris muttered rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"I had . . . I had never heard or seen anything like this before, what should we do? Is there no other way?" Oziyat turned to Chris, worriedly.

"I think it's best to let him rest," Ginny said looking thoughtful. "This situation is reminding me of Ron's first year. You guys remember what happened with Harry that year?"

"He burned down Professor Quirrell," Colin said sitting up straighter. "With his bȧrė hands."

"Yes, and Ron told me it took three days for Harry to wake up after that," Ginny looked at Oziyat. "This kind of magic takes a toll. It's better if we let him wake up by himself.

"Yeah, I agree with Gin," Chris sighed. "For now he needs rest. Also, I will keep giving him healing potions while he is unconscious."

Oziyat gave a small nod. Chris was glad that he still trusted her.

"You know there is something else that is bothering me," Colin spoke suddenly. "Why did Malgino's army exactly attack? I don't think it's solely because of Chris. I mean, yeah, I can imagine Chris can easily fight ten wizards at the same and escape but he sent more than a hundred, not to mention they attacked everyone."

"You know that's what Aiden was asking me. He also thought they didn't come just for me," Chris frowned.

"Aiden? From the colony?" Oziyat asked surprised.

"Yeah, we were fighting together. He was skeptical about the situation as well. And honestly, now that I think about it, I am not even sure if Malgino knew I was there. Ethan looked really surprised when he realized who he was fighting and Graham instantly took off. The entire time we fought, Ethan's focus was on Sol. He was rather determined to take Sol away. He was saying something about Malgino teaching Sol about magic and how Malgino will make Sol the second strongest wizard in the world after he kills Rosaline." Chris scowled.

"Son of a bitch! I am going to rip his head off, the next time I see him," Oziyat growled looking furious.

Chris grimaced debating in her head, finally, she spoke,

"You actually can't . . . I kind of – already killed him."

Chris saw the expression change on everyone's face. Yet no one looked surprised. Ginny grimly nodded, Colin gave an understanding look, and Luna just sighed. Oziyat, on the other hand, smiled baring his fangs.

"That man destroyed my sister and then tried to kill her, Christina. I am in debt for giving him what he deserved."

"Er . . . yeah . . ." Chris didn't want appreciation for killing, even though she bȧrėly felt anything after killing Ethan. There was no guilt, no sadness. Maybe she knew he deserved it. But she also knew the price of using the killing curse and every murder. Every victim created a new torn on her soul. Who knows how many pieces will her soul be divided into by the end of this war.

Ginny noticed Chris's expression darkening and tried to steer the conversation away from her.

"So what exactly happened back there?" Ginny asked Oziyat. "How did they get inside Titian? You guys were protected by something, right? Because when Colin, Luna, and I entered, even we faced resistance. How come an entire army sneaked up on you? . . . Did someone really betray you?"

Oziyat didn't reply and Ginny looked like she regretted asking him this so soon. Chris thought she should say something but as she opened her mouth, Oziyat nodded with a deep sigh.

"Yes. Someone did betray us and helped Malgino's army get inside our land."

Again silence fell over for a few minutes. 

"Do you think it's Volker?" Chris asked quietly. Given the history, it was more likely he did it, just to harm Oziyat.

"I was thinking the same, but I'm not sure anymore. Yea, Volker is unpleasant but I just can't believe that he would help Malgino's wizard invade our lands. I don't think he hates me more than the wizarding kind."

"So then who?"

" . . . I hope Rosaline quickly finds the traitor," Oziyat looked drained as he spoke but quickly pulled himself together. "Anyway, Christina, what happened after you all went under the temple?"

Everyone in the cave looked at Chris with curiosity and she let out a long breath. With everything she almost forgot, she didn't tell anyone what happened in the temple.

"After we went down, we got separated," Chris began. "It was a test, four of us had to prove that we are worthy."

"Worthy of what?" Ginny asked narrowing her eyes unexpectedly. "And how do you know we all had to go through something?"

"I am getting there," Chris grimaced. She felt Ginny's test had struck a nerve.

⟦To be continued⟧