the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 61 - The Calling

Regardless, they all agreed that the use of the spell, King's Banishment, had revealed the true identity of the Wizard in the story as the true King of the Wizard World. To those Wizard born, the story struck some archetypal belief inside all of them.

"The Wizarding World?" Hermione pressed. "This is a British story, right?"

But Draco shook his head. "No, I've heard the same story in France, Greece, and Spain."

"They tell the same story in Egypt and Romania," Charlie agreed. "Bill said the Egyptian version of the story actually goes back thousands of years. They all have subtle differences to them, but the main points of the story are all the same."

"But the mark that showed up on that scroll - the white stag and the triple crown - that's got to be British in origin," Hermione argued.

But Charlie shook his head at that. "The white stag shows up in numerous stories in cultures all over the world. There's a very prominent story of the white stag in Hungary. And Egypt had a triple crown as well as their standard double crown."

"So basically what you're saying is that it isn't just the locals who are going to go crazy over Harry," Hermione sighed, fearing that had been the case. "The rest of the world is going to go just as crazy."

"Poor Professor Snape," Draco remarked unexpectedly.

They all glanced at him in surprise at that. "Snape?" Ron asked bewildered. "Poor Harry you mean."

But Draco just shrugged. "Potter's used to this insanity," he pointed out to them - Hermione supposed from the Slytherin's perspective that might seem true, even though it was far from reality. Draco didn't know Harry well enough to understand that however. "But Professor Snape is now caught right the middle. I mean Potter was a hot commodity before this happened - now his value has gone up a thousand fold. Assassins will be lining up to take out Professor Snape."

"Assassins!" the four of them repeated in unison and then immediately glanced guiltily over at the sleeping Harry. He did not stir.

"Assassins?" Ron repeated at a much softer volume. "What in hell are you talking about?"

Draco just looked at them in disbelief as if the answer was obvious. "The chance to marry the Boy Who Lived," he replied. "Potter is the most eligible bachelor in the world right now."

"He's not a bachelor," Hermione pointed out firmly.

Draco nodded in confirmation. "Thus the need for assassins," he explained. "People have killed for far less."

"No one is going to kill Professor Snape," Charlie insisted.

Draco frowned at him. "Are you saying that because you believe in the inherent goodness of people, or because you believe in Professor Snape's ability to defend himself?"

Charlie appeared to think that over for a moment before finally answering, "Both."

Draco just shrugged. "I'll concede one point to you, but not the other."

"The inherent goodness of people?" Ginny asked hopefully from her seat on the floor.

But Draco just shook his head in denial. Trust a Slytherin to read the worst into the situation. The problem was, Hermione suspected, he was probably right. He did seem to have a different understanding of the world than the rest of them did - and she was beginning to realize that in many cases his view was more accurate. Gryffindors really did tend to live in a world all their own.

They all fell silent again, taking a few moments to eat some of the sandwiches and drink more tea. All of them were tired - that shielding spell had taken a lot out of them. And now that they had a moment to calm down, Hermione was finding herself thinking too hard about the events out on the pitch. She felt a bit numb when she thought about what she'd seen - what that creature had done.