the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 62 - Stonehenge

He stood there in the dark moonlit shadow of the heel stone and stared at the stones before him. To his right and to his left, fanning out along the great earthen bank were Wizards and Witches all standing in silence, waiting for him, in a perfect, enormous circle.

Now feeling the power flowing through the earth he sensed something else. The half circle to his right felt far different than the half circle to his left. He wanted to classify the sensations instantly as good and evil - the men and women to his right were good, and those on the left were evil. He found his eyes searching the flickering torchlight of the left-hand circle. There was something off here. The right-hand circle was nearly filled - several hundred Wizards and Witches standing waiting for him with only a few broken spots in the circle where someone might be missing. But to his eyes the left-hand circle looked largely empty - only a few men and women lining the path.

Had they refused to come, Harry wondered. There in the center of that half circle he could sense a shadowy form and he shuddered in realization. Voldemort was here - already waiting for him. But for some strange reason he had come alone. Were there so few dark wizards in the world that there were none left to hear the call?

And yet that half of the circle did not feel empty - far from it. It radiated with as much power as the right side did.

Harry frowned in confusion. There was something here he was not understanding. He looked to the right - so many good Wizards. And yet that did not seem right either - could he truly classify the power he was sensing from this side as good? Different yes, but was it truly, utterly good? Confusion swirled within his mind.

And then the bell grew silent, the tolling finally stopped and Harry felt the world holding its breath. The calling was over - those who would come had already arrived. They were waiting for him, and he understood now that he was meant to walk this circle, meant to face each of those who had answered the summons, to judge and be judged.

There was no power on this earth that would make Harry choose the left side first, so he turned immediately to his right and stepped forward, beginning the long journey around the great circle to learn whatever it was he was meant to discover.

He did not know the first man he met - an old Wizard whose eyes had turned white with blindness. But the moment he stopped in front of him Harry felt the man's power. Strong and ancient, this Wizard was a force to be reckoned with, one of the elite of their world. Despite his blindness he smiled at Harry and told him his name. Harry moved on to the next place in the circle.

One by one Harry greeted the Wizards and Witches that waited for him. After only a few he understood now who had been summoned - just like the students of Hogwarts were the strongest of their generation in England, these people were the most powerful Wizards and Witches in the world. All of these people were like Dumbledore - young and old alike - all radiating a powerful energy that the average Wizard or Witch could not even imagine.

They came from all parts of the world, and more than one barely spoke enough English to tell Harry who they were and where they had come from. And Harry had been right when he'd questioned their inherent goodness - more than one man or women had a look in their eyes or an air about them that left Harry feeling uneasy or mistrustful. Perhaps it would be best, he thought, to categorize them as Light Wizards - but Light did not necessarily mean good.

Nor were all of them strangers. He recognized Nicholas Flamel the moment he stopped in front of him - the ancient man looked just like his picture on his Chocolate Frog Card. Flamel happily shook Harry's hand when he introduced himself. "So sorry about all that trouble with my stone, dear boy," the old man apologized. "If I had known it would cause so much trouble I would have destroyed it centuries ago."