Harry Potter & the Sword of Truth

Chapter One: It all starts in… the Hospital Wing?

Harry Potter laid in a Hospital Wing bed on the edge of death, as far as he was concerned. His fever was at 38.3333 degrees Celsius and rapidly climbing. His face was as pale as a sheet and he was sweating bullets.

"Hang on, Mr. Potter, Severus will be here momentarily with a potion that will cool you down," the Hogwarts mediwitch/healer, Poppy Pomfrey, said soothingly, her hand pressed to his forehead in order to keep track of his temperature.

Just as Harry was about to lose his cool (literally and figuratively), Severus Snape burst into the room with a vial of milky-white liquid in his hand. Hogwart's resident dungeon bat and Potion's Master quickly handed the vial to the healer. "That's the most potent fever reducer I could brew in such short notice. It is temporary, so I will bring a better, more permanent one later," said the Potion's Master.

Poppy nodded in thanks and pressed the opening of the vial to her patient's lips. "Drink, Mr. Potter." Harry complied and swallowed the foul potion as the mediwitch poured it into his mouth. Once it was all gone, the healer disposed of the empty vial with a flick of her wand. Harry felt better as his fever went down to a manageable 37.2222 degrees Celcius.

"I imagine you feel as if you're dying, Mr. Potter," Poppy said with chagrin, "but I can assure you that you are not. This is hardly the first case of Dragon Pox that I have had to treat this year, and it won't be the last. I assume you are feeling better?" Harry nodded his head. "Good. A house elf will soon show up with dinner for you. I want you to eat as much as you can and then get some sleep. You will be released from my care all the sooner if you do both things." Harry nodded again and smiled at the healer as she left. True to the mediwitch's word, an elf popped in with a dinner tray and Harry joyfully dug in to the array of food that the elf brought him. He then handed the tray back to the elf and nodded his head in thanks. The elf smiled before popping away. Harry lied back on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

In his dream, Harry was in a castle that appeared even more ancient than Hogwarts, if that was possible. He strode into the main chamber of the castle as if he knew what he was doing and came to stand before a sword that hung from the far wall. Obeying the urge that came over him, He grasped the handle of the sword with his right hand and the sheath with his left and lifted it from the hooks that it hung from. As he pulled the sword from its sheath, there was a blinding flash of light and he awoke with a start. Feeling a weight on his hip, he looked down and sure enough the sword from his dream was hanging from his hip in its sheath. "Magic," he said, sighing fondly.. "It makes sure my life can never be normal. Now I wonder what this sword is called." Pulling the sword from its sheath, he looked at the blade, which was bare, so he looked at the hilt. Sure enough, engraved on the hilt, was one word, truth. In his mind, he heard a whisper. "You have acquired the Sword of Truth, Mr. Potter. You are now the Seeker of Truth! Your destined soul-mate and partner, the Mother Confessor, awaits you. Hearken to her side at once, you will know where to find her. Here is a hint, you already know her and will most likely find her in a library. The best of luck to you, young Seeker." Harry immediately realized the identity of the mother confessor. Hermione!

Harry returned to sleep with a new sense of comfort knowing that his best friend, and (more or less) secret girlfriend, would be there with him every step of the way. That she was his destined soul-mate gave him no small amount of satisfaction.

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It was three days and seven potions, each one more disgusting than the last, later that Harry was released from the Hospital Wing under provision that he took it easy for a week or so. "No Quidditch and no shenanigans for at least a week, Mr. Potter, do you hear me?" the mediwitch had told him sternly, causing him to nod furiously, desperate to get out of the Hospital Wing and see his girlfriend. And his friend Ron too… maybe… okay, not really.

The moment he exited the Hospital Wing, he was tackled to the floor by his girlfriend, who peppered his face with kisses in her excitement.

"Guess what," he told his girlfriend once she had calmed down a bit.

"What?" she asked.

"I just found out that you are my destined soul-mate," he said. "Also, you are something called the 'Mother Confessor'." That revelation earned him another kiss.

"I always knew we were meant for each other," his girlfriend said after breaking away from him to catch her breath. "But what the hell is a 'Mother Confessor'?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "I just know that whatever it is, I'll be with you thru anything and everything that comes your way. I also don't know what a 'Seeker of Truth' is, only that I am one, and that I got a cool new sword because of it." He unsheathed his new sword, showing Hermione the name on the hilt. "This is the 'Sword of Truth', which apparently makes me the 'Seeker of Truth'."

"So we're in this together," said Hermione. "Tell me something I don't know."

"You're the smartest and sexiest witch on the planet and I'm the luckiest son of a bitch alive to have you with me," Harry told her. That earned him another kiss as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

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"Cool sword mate," said Ron to Harry as he spotted the sword on his best mate's hip. "Guess you're becoming a true noble wizard. You are the first Potter to carry a sword, like a noble wizard, in over a century."

"You know about my family's history?" asked Harry, surprise written all over his face.

"Sure," said Ron with a shrug. "Every pureblood alive knows about the founding five, that is, House Potter, House Longbottom, House Bones, House Davis, and House Greengrass. They are the five families that put their family magics together in order to found the Ministry of Magic. House Potter and House Longbottom are traditionally light families, although members of each house have been gray (neutral) or dark in the past. House Bones is a traditionally gray family, even though members of the house have been light or dark in the past. Finally, House Davis and House Greengrass are traditionally dark families, although members of each house have been light or grey in the past. Each family has a noble history, although only House Longbottom and House Greengrass still practice the traditions of magical nobility generation to generation. If you bring back the tradition in House Potter, then that will be three families that practice nobility. House Potter is actually the one independent house of the founding five. The other four houses intermarry with each other regularly. In fact, Neville Longbottom and Daphne Greengrass have been betrothed since birth, as have Chad Davis, a seventh year Slytherin and older brother of Tracey Davis, and Susan Bones. Your grandfather, Charlus Potter, is actually the only Potter in known history to marry a pure-blood. Potters generally favor bright muggleborn (and on occasion half-blood) witches, as proven by your father's marriage to your mother, Lily Evans, a muggleborn Potions and Charms mistress, and the brightest witch of her age. The Potter infatuation with smart muggleborns is so well known that it will surprise no one when you and Hermione make your relationship public knowledge. If you want further information about the founding five, ask someone like Malfoy. I'm from a family of proud blood-traitors, so I don't know as much as a true pure-blood witch or wizard would. I'd say ask Neville, but he's rather tight-lipped about anything concerning his family legacy. He might be more forthcoming with a fellow member of the founding five, but I wouldn't bet on it. Susan might be an option, but I don't know much about her, nor do I know much about Daphne. Malfoy, however, if my analysis of his character is anywhere near accurate, would love to sing the praises of powerful noble wizarding families like the founding five."

"Thanks mate, I'll take that into consideration," chuckled Harry before heading over to sit on the couch in the common room next to Hermione, who had taken a seat during his conversation with Ron.

Hermione snuggled into Harry's side when he sat down. They spent the rest of that Sunday cuddling on the couch and talking about their future goals. Once nine-o-clock in the evening hit, they retired to Harry's bed in the boy's dorm and snuggled together as they drifted off into dream land.

Author's Note

This is a bit of a crossover with the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. In it, Harry Potter fills the shoes of Richard Cypher (Rahl) as the Seeker of Truth and Hermione fills the white gown of Kahlan Amnel as Mother Confessor. Indeed, Hermione will wake up in the white Mother Confessor dress in the next chapter. Her hair will also take on that sleek flawless look that characterizes the confessor race. She will fall asleep as a mere witch and wake up as the Mother Confessor just as Harry Potter fell asleep in the hospital wing as a mere wizard and woke up as the Seeker of Truth and (tho he did not know it) Lord Rahl.

The Sword of Truth series is one of the best fiction novel series that has ever been written. Unfortunately, there is not a Sword of Truth Book category on fanfiction dot net, so I will either have to use the Legend of the Seeker Movie category, or simply post this as a Harry Potter fanfiction. As of now, I'll post in the Harry Potter Book category only, as this is not a true crossover as of yet. It is not placed in the Sword of Truth universe, but in the Harry Potter universe. Also, none of the Sword of Truth characters are likely to show up unless I make them go to the Old World and enter the Palace of the Prophets for some reason.

& that's the last word, because I said so!