Harry Potter And The Pure Hearted One

Chapter 19

The four of them walked quietly into the forest, looking around cautiously. They weren't sure what they were supposed to be expecting, so they waited for anything and everything to come at them.

As they walked, they came across a few wild familiars who were looking to battle. Hermione worked well with Megaera of course, but Ron still struggled with Hoggerty, who refused to listen to a word he was saying.

"Hoggerty!!" He groaned when they were fighting a Sore Boar once as Hoggerty tried to make friends with the pig like creature, and got a tusk up the nose for it. "How many times do I have to tell you?! Ray of Light!" Hoggerty let out a noise that sounded like a groan, but did as he was told, sending the boar flying back, allowing Hermione and her Toko to finish him off, completing the battle.

"We did it!" Esther cheered, jumping up excitedly as they hurried down the path, when they saw the familiar, mysterious black orb that often held the beasts. "There it is! That orb must have the Badiataur inside of it!"

"Then let's not waste anytime!" Aaliyah told them, before hurrying over.

"Your majesty, wait!" Ron ran after her, just as the orb let out a huge puff of black smoke, surrounding them. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Esther, did this happen with any of the other beasts you fought?" Hermione asked, trying to find her friends in the smoke.

"No, it didn't!" Esther told her, doing the same. "What's going on?"

"Aaliyah?" Ron called, trying to find her as the smoke became more and more dense. "Princess, where are you?"

"What's happening?" Aaliyah asked as the smoke closed around each of them, and they all fell to the ground, unconscious.

HPOM

"There you go, boys." Back at Esther's house, her parents had woken up and had unfroze both poor Harry and Oliver, who were shivering from the cold of the ice that had frozen them. Rashaad had gone ahead to work, so Rema was left to get them blankets and hot chocolate to get them warmed up.

"Thank you, Miss Rema." Oliver told her as he took the cup and held it to his cheek to warm up his face. "Do you know where the others went?" Rema nodded as she handed Harry his cup.

"Of course! Esther left me a note saying that they went off for training in the Golden Grove! They shouldn't be gone too long."

"Well, maybe we should go after them." Harry murmured, sticking out his burning tongue. He hadn't waited for his cocoa to cool off before taking a sip apparently. "After all, we need to get back to Hogwarts before Umbridge realizes we're gone." Oliver shuddered at the idea of going back to Umbridge, but he knew Harry was right. They couldn't hide in Ni No Kuni forever. They'd eventually have to go back.

"Well, you can probably catch up to them." Rema told them, handing Oliver his Bottomless Bag and helping the two boys to their feet.

They thanked Rema for her help, then they left, Oliver leading Harry into the Golden Grove, where they kept an ear out for the others.

"You know, fairies really like this place." Oliver told Harry. "Mr. Drippy and I used to visit them sometimes. They like how rich the soil is, and how the trees grow."

"Really?" Harry may not have been the most observant bloke, but even he could tell that this place made Oliver light up, and not just the Golden Grove. Even he could see that Oliver loved Ni No Kuni. He was happier here than he had ever been since Harry met him. "You must really love it here, huh?" Oliver stopped talking, his cheeks turning red as he nodded.

"Well yeah, I do. It's where my mother came from. Most of my family is here, and so are a lot of my friends. I feel really at home here."

"Why don't you stay here then?" Harry asked curiously. "I mean, you like it so much." Oliver shrugged, though his expression changed. This was a weird subject for him.

"I don't know. I mean, I love it here, but Motorville is also my home. All of the people I grew up with are there, and so are Grant, Melody, and Sam. They took me right in after my mother died, and I can't imagine leaving them behind. Plus, I feel more like I fit in over there." Harry chuckled.

"Really? Looks like you fit in like a puzzle piece over here." Oliver let out a small chuckle as well, but you could tell he was distracted.

"Yeah, I guess." Then he turned around to face the forest. "I wonder where the others are?" That was when a rustle came from the trees above, making Harry jump.

"Oliver, what lives in the Golden Grove exactly?"

"Some familiar and fairies." Oliver told him as they walked. "And the Gladiataur. Why?" Harry was still watching the trees as the leaves moved, following them, before he ran closer to Oliver.

"Do any of those things live in the trees?" He whispered, nodding towards where the leaves were rustling, and Oliver went pale.

"Harry, let's get out of here." He whispered, before taking off running, Harry on his heels. He wanted to find the others, and he didn't want to get in a battle if it was just him and Harry. Harry was still a pretty low level, and if the Gladiataur was anything like the other Guardians had become, then they were sorely outnumbered.

They kept running, keeping an eye on the trees, until they were both out of breath, and stopped, panting roughly. "I think we lost it." Oliver told Harry, looking around wearily. "Whatever it was." Harry stood up straight, taking a deep breath.

"Well, we'd better find the others before it finds them first." Then he walked down the path again, before tripping. "Gah!" he shouted, falling over. "What was that?" Oliver came over, and found that Harry had tripped on a shoe! A small, clearly worn sneaker.

"Huh...?" He pushed a bush out of the way, and found Hermione lying in the grass! "Hermione!" Harry sat up at that, and looked ahead to see the others! They were all lying on the ground, and appeared to be asleep.

"Oliver, they're here!" He exclaimed, running over to Ron, who lay beside Aaliyah. "What's wrong with them?" Oliver looked around, and pointed towards a familiar little black orb that sat ahead of them on the path.

"I think that might've had something to do with this." Harry looked at it, then tried to lift up Ron.

"Let's get them out of here. Maybe Mr. Rashaad will know how to help them." Oliver nodded as he tried giving Hermione a phoenix feather, and it still didn't wake her up.

"First, you will have to help yourselves." Came a low voice, and smoke burst from the orb, making both boys shout, and a huge, furious beast appeared from it. It had a similar look to the Gladiataur, but it was clearly much more powerful.

"Harry!" Oliver called, jumping to his feet. "Get ready!" Harry got to his feet, pulling out his wand. TIme to fight again!