Kieran was happily eating his breakfast, excited about the day’s arrangements.
It was finally the day for the history lesson with Aunt Abi that he had requested.
He would finally be learning about druids!
Even Mr.
Craig had failed at finding books about druidic spells and culture, Kieran wondered why that was so impossible to obtain, maybe he would get those answers today.
He heard the door open and ran to the foyer, finding his aunt in a typical colourful attire, meaning the lesson was not going to be in a muggle area.
For the days occasion, Kieran was wearing a light green sweater and dark green pants, of course with his rainbow scarf and silver monocle.
“Where are we going today Aunt Abi?” Kieran asked, barely giving his aunt any time to get inside.
Aunt Abi gave him a hug and proceeded to be completely silent as she went and greeted his dad and mum, to Kieran’s great annoyance.
He saw his aunt glance at the clock and nod to herself, and just before Kieran was about to ask again, she finally answered.
“We are taking a portkey today because we are travelling further than I am willing to apparate. To answer your question, we are heading to Scandinavia,” Aunt Abi said with a smile.
Kieran got excited.
He remembered reading that portkeys could be a weird experience, both in the Harry Potter books from his former life, and offhand mentions in his current books, he couldn’t wait to experience it on his own.
When it was time, he and Aunt Abi grabbed onto a clay pot and instantly Kieran felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel.
He feels his feet leave the ground and the suction feeling that had grabbed his navel pulls him onward in a howl of wind and swirling colours, until finally he stood on his feet at what appears to be the entrance to a large forest.
Kieran suddenly launched to the ground.
Oh no, I am puking, there is no stopping this!
As if reading the future, Aunt Abi summoned a bucket right in front of Kieran and he puked his entire breakfast noisily into it.
After he recovered, he looked up seeing his aunt looking completely normal.
“Please tell me portkeys don’t cause that reaction every time, Aunt Abi…”
Aunt Abi shook her head and casually used a Scourgify Spell to clean the bucket.
“Don’t worry your little head, you can get used to portkeys, but the first time can be really rough with portkey sickness.”
“It seems you arrived first, Little Abigail, it is wonderful to see you again. My condolences regarding your parents, they were good people,” said the aged voice from Kieran’s right, making him turn and look, seeing the oldest person he had ever seen.
Aunt Abi gave a hug to this old man and spoke to him.
“Thank you for taking the time Mr. Haroldsson, I know you are a busy man.”
“Nonsense! None of this Mister talk, your parents called me Eric, and so will you,” Eric said to Aunt Abi sternly, before smiling down to Kieran.
“You must be Kieran, Little Abigail told me about you. Let me introduce myself.”
Eric helped Kieran to his feet and continued.
“I am Eric Haroldsson, I am 145 years old, and a proud member of the Druid Order.”
Kieran’s eyes lit up, a real druid in the flesh and likely older than Dumbledore!
Eric chuckled, likely seeing the excitement in Kieran’s eyes.
“Little Abigail was not confident in teaching you about our culture and magic, therefore she reached out to me, asking if I had the time to teach a brilliant young mind about our ways,” Eric said, before taking a deep breath, looking around them at the trees.
“I see it as my duty to pass down our teachings to young minds like yours. However, there is a condition. You cannot take any notes, for written records of our culture and magic are against our doctrine.”
Kieran nodded deeply while inwardly happy about discovering why no books existed about the druids, respecting their culture in exchange for knowledge was completely worth it.
“I will respect your doctrines; I have a very good memory.”
Eric nodded back while keeping eye contact with Kieran before he took them both through a small walk in the edge of the forest.
Describing they were in one of the largest Swedish forests, a forest where many a druid could be found patrolling as forest guides for the muggles.
Kieran was always fascinated about the ways some magical cultures seamlessly blended in with the muggles, becoming akin to another layer of history, a hidden subtext. This story is hosted at novelping dot com.
As they wandered deeper inside the forest, Eric gave them both a small talisman, asking them to wear it.
Kieran looked to Aunt Abi, and she helped him secure the talisman to his clothes.
When Kieran asked why they needed to wear it, Eric smiled and said he would explain it eventually when it became relevant.
As they got deeper and deeper inside the forest, Kieran felt a weird feeling.
He felt watched.
He had come to recognize the various senses he possessed; the feeling did not originate from his muggle senses.
Yet it felt very different from the tiny jolt he got at the Roman Baths.
This feeling felt… ancient?
It felt as if it was everywhere, yet nowhere.
Kieran almost thought he was hallucinating; it was such a unique experience.
Wondering if it was related to the forest, he tried asking Eric about it.
Causing the old man to stop walking abruptly.
“You can feel the nature magic within the forest?” Eric said, while looking extremely surprised at Kieran.
“Umm…is that not normal?” Kieran asked hesitantly.
He saw Aunt Abi shake her head and she kneeled down to give him a hug.
“That is amazing Kieran! My dad used to tell me that very few wizards or witches has an innate sense of nature magic. Not everyone has the potential of druidism, my dad was one of the few, looks like you have it too,” Aunt Abi said with a brilliant smile and Kieran saw her eyes get teary, as they always did when she remembered her late parents.
Whereas before Eric seemed to treat the lesson as a standard lesson for a clever young wizard, after Kieran’s revelation, Eric seems to treat the lesson as a druidic lesson for a potential young druid.
Throughout the forest, Eric went into great detail about the origin of druids, describing the history of the druids and their Order.
They originated in Gaul BCE, but when the Romans had invaded Gaul, the Druid Orders were suppressed due to being seen as a resistance movement.
The druids were all wizards and witches, calling themselves druids and druidess’.
Instead of fighting back against the Romans, they stuck to their doctrines and retreated from public eye and went to live amongst nature.
Through generations of druids, they passed down their knowledge to younger druids, never writing anything down, believing nature knowledge should be experienced, not read about.
One of their core doctrines besides these was the principle that all beings have the right to enjoy being part of nature.
They were against destruction of forests.
They were protectors of innocents wandering the forests.
“It was when the druids of old looked for a purpose they found what is the modern druids’ way of life. The forests of Scandinavia, Alaska, Russia and Canada, specifically the Taiga forests, had an ongoing and uncontrollable Leshy problem. Whenever any being, human, goblin, house elf or giant entered these forests, they would be attacked and killed by the Leshy,” Eric said as they stop to admire some tall trees.
“It took several hundreds of years, but the druids managed to broker a form of cooperation with the Leshy in the forests of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Alaska and Canada.”
“Eric, what exactly are the Leshy, I don’t recall seeing them mentioned in books about magical creatures,” Kieran asked.
Eric ran his hand across some of the bark on the nearby tree.
“They are forest spirits, undying as long as their domain thrives. They act with extreme prejudice against any form of intruder into their domain,” Eric answered as he puts his hand behind his back as he led them further into the forest.
“They are not evil; they are a part of nature. It is the work of druids to ensure that all beings can enjoy nature without fearing being killed by a Leshy. We created druidic charms that tells the Leshy through nature magic that this being is entering the forest in good faith, preventing their attack, usually.”
Kieran’s eyes lit up, now realizing why Eric had them wear those weird talismans, then he listened as Aunt Abi turned to Eric.
“But Eric, how do you convince muggles to wear these talismans?” asked Aunt Abi.
“We don’t. We tried in the past. It did not go well. We now cast invisibility charms on them and sneak them onto their gear, much less annoying for all parties involved,” Eric chuckled as he explained.
As he continued the lesson, Eric let out a deep sigh.
“Some enter the forests in bad faith despite carrying druidic charms. They cut down sacred trees, and in turn are cut down by the Leshy. Sometimes the Leshy attack unprovoked. It is the duty of druids to protect all innocent beings from the Leshy. When they attack unprovoked, we respond. We kill them. They come back, but being dead temporarily, being away from their domain, is the worst torture for them. They need reminders sometimes.”
Eric proceeded to explain that the unprovoked attacks and the attacks on those acting in bad faith, were the majority of missing person reports in these forests, and the druids did their best at preventing it.
When Eric asked if Kieran or Aunt Abi had any questions, Kieran asked.
Eric smiled and nodded at the question, “Good question, nature magic operate largely on the same principles. We, however, do not use incantations. It is important we are connected to nature and uses this connection to wield our magic.”
Eric kneeled down next to a flower that was barely budding, he waved his hand above the flower, and Kieran watched in fascination as the flower grows and blooms until finally it wilt, making Kieran gasp.
“Nature magic requires balance. If we boost the growth of a plant, the energy has to come from somewhere, otherwise this will happen. The energy will come from the plant’s longevity. The energy can be taken from a larger plant that can spare the cost, like the roots of a mighty tree. Another energy source would be blood full of vitality from magical creatures. As druids, we always remember the balance,” Eric explained.
The lesson continued and Kieran enjoyed asking the old druid countless questions, Eric never got tired of answering the endless questions, always patiently answering each one.
Kieran was convinced Eric would not be as detailed if he hadn’t mentioned being able to sense nature magic.
Kieran especially liked one of the druids’ philosophies when it came to necessary destruction of a forest.
If I cut down a tree for warmth, I plant two trees.
Eric had them all stop next to a massively tall tree, Kieran gaped as he looked up.
“Wicked!”
Eric chuckled at Kieran’s reaction.
“It is tradition that once one becomes a druid, they plant a magical tree in the forest they are first sent to patrol. The title of druid is a title for those capable of casting nature magic and creating their first nature spell,” Eric said while looking proudly at the tree.
“125 years ago, I managed to create a spell that made a flower bloom and keep the bloom for an entire month, before wilting. In the presence of my mentor, Druid MacAodha, I planted this tree. When my time on this earth is over, I will be buried beneath it, forever providing nutrients to the tree and the forest.”
Kieran felt the solemn nature of the old druid.
Eric had dedicated his life to the path of a druid, and he was without regret.
Kieran respected that.
Once they are further away from the tree, Kieran felt more comfortable asking his next question.
“Eric, what is the druids view on dark magic?” Kieran asked, curious how these nature magic practitioners dealt with dark magic.
Eric’s face seemed to darken as he seemed to recall distant memories.
“Some druids, go down the wrong path. They use dark magic together with nature magic and become known as dark druids. They believe that getting the energy from larger plants and dead creatures are wrong. They still seek a balance, but their solution is using living human sacrifices for their nature magic.” Eric’s face grimaced.
“A dark practice. They use living human sacrifices as fuel for ritualistic spells that benefit nature at a terrible cost. We protect the innocent from the darker aspects of nature; we do not sacrifice the innocent. It is the duty of druids to eliminate the dark druids that taints our very purpose of living in balance.”
Aunt Abi likely feeling the tension, interjected.
“Eric, I remember that when my dad was young he participated in a druidic exchange. It was during that exchange he discovered he had the innate senses for nature magic. Do your Order still arrange those exchanges?”
Kieran watched Eric stroked his beard and was startled when he got eye contact with Eric who seemed to nod to himself.
“We largely stopped with the exchanges, mostly due to most young minds being too integrated with their schools, not willing to try the way of the druids,” Eric said before grabbing Kieran’s shoulder.
“If I mention to the other old coots of the Order that I found a prospective druid that seeks guidance, I am sure I can convince them to try another exchange. It will take some time to arrange; it will likely be in Kieran’s summer vacation after his second or third year at Hogwarts.”
Kieran jumped in place, excited beyond belief.
“I would be honoured to receive your Order’s teachings. If you want me to prove myself in any way, I will do anything!”
Eric chuckled as he ruffled Kieran’s hair.
“You already proved yourself the moment you sensed the nature magic. Normally during such an exchange, you will be guided by a veteran druid, but if you would allow me the honour. I would be happy to be your mentor during your exchange with our Order.”
Kieran nodded, liking Eric’s straightforward and honest nature and he watched as Eric and Aunt Abi arranged the means of communication once Eric had a final approval from the Druids of Scandinavia.
When Kieran found himself in his bed later that night, he wondered if he would meet a Leshy during that future exchange.
He remembered Aunt Abi’s teary eyes when she had found out that he had the innate sense of nature magic, just like her late father.
At the least, for her sake, he would do his very best to get something out of the future exchange.
As Kieran fell asleep, he dreamt of forests containing massive trees, protecting a small crystal blue lake in the middle, the lake not containing a single ripple of disturbance.
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You-know-where/Murtageyra
The first volume which I called Pre-Hogwarts, is finished in there ^^