Harry Potter and the Norse Gods

{14} Mount Tamalpais

HARRY'S POV

"I don't see why bringing him was a necessity. In fact, I don't see why coming here was a necessity," Storm argued, her voice rising to a volume that allowed me to just make out what she was saying.

Her and Dumbledore were trailing behind the rest of us - us being myself, Magnus, Alex, Will, and Nico - as we hiked up the mountain stretching into the clouds above us.

It was the day after my first lesson with Dumbledore, a Saturday, which meant I would normally be hanging out with my friends. I had, for most of the day, until around 4 o'clock - just before dinner, because I had terrible luck - when Dumbledore collected me and brought me, alongside the others, to a deserted mountainside.

It was only when I voiced my concerns about the lack of people and got told that it was before 8 in the morning in San Francisco and no sane person is hiking at that time, that I realised we were in America.

"Why do they hate each other so much?" I asked.

Magnus shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't care to ask either."

"But Dumbledore's great," I protested, "He's the most powerful wizard ever. I mean, he can be cryptic at times, but that's just something that comes with age."

"Storm was born in the 1880s," Nico deadpanned.

"Oh. Well, she's still younger than Dumbledore," I replied defensively.

"By four years," Nico pointed out.

"Yeah, I think the cryptic-ness is a Dumbledore thing, not an age thing," Magnus added.

"Given he was always annoying like that, I have to agree," Storm cut in, stalking past us and overtaking us in a few strides.

"I would like to protest that characterization," Dumbledore said calmly with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I could say far worse things," Storm retorted, "But I won't because us not dying depends on people retaining their trust in you."

"What could you possibly know about Professor Dumbledore that would do that?" I demanded, tensing up.

I might have not liked him the year before, but that had changed. He was being honest with me about my destiny - he had apologised. He might not be the perfect person I had made him out to be, but I still trusted him. He was like... a grandfather to me. An odd, cryptic one, but a grandfather nonetheless.

"I know more about him than you ever will," Storm said, her tone cold and deadly, "I had the misfortune of growing up next door to him."

"That must have been terrible for your families," Alex joked.

"We actually got along quite well," Dumbledore remarked almost wistfully, "Aurora - Storm is like a sister to me."

Storm looked momentarily shocked - by what, I don't know - but she recovered quickly.

"Ariana was your sister, and look where she ended up. Briar was your sister-in-law, and that got her killed. The people who you care about - who care about you - die gruesome deaths," she said fiercely, although her voice cracked slightly when she uttered the two names.

That seemed to have been all she was able to say, as she turned on her heels and marched up the trail, leaving us all to follow behind in silence.

= = =

The top of the mountain was remarkably ordinary for a place that was supposed to the site of a bunch of sacrificial child murders.