A/N- the werewolves in Ancardia are much different from the werewolves on Earth. Since Harry hasn’t met a werewolf from Earth, he can’t identify Remus as one. Just though I'd clear that up before people asked. Also, Harry has never met dementors before so don't think he should be able to destroy one with a snap of his fingers...though later on, who knows?
Note 1: After careful deliberation, I have decided that this will eventually be Harry/Eliza. I am still wondering whether I should include Sheena into the pairing.
Note 2: Lemolle won’t be a piece of cake, I can tell you that right now.
The next morning, Nicholas awoke Harry early.
“If you’re planning on going back to Hogwarts, you might want to pack.” He said dryly.
Harry nodded as the last traces of sleep washed away and he stood. Nicholas opened his mouth, hesitated and closed it abruptly.
“Anything you need to say?” Harry asked and Nicholas shifted slightly, his face not giving away anything.
“Sirius Black….” Nicholas started speaking and then stopped.
“The escapee, right?” Harry questioned as he started packing. He waved his hand carelessly and the drawer opened and a tumble of socks fell into his trunk.
“Sirius Black was once James Potter’s best friend. During the last war your mother and father, James and Lily, fought against Voldemort. They were powerful wizards and some of the best of their time. Suddenly word came through that Voldemort wanted them dead, so they went into hiding. This was just after you were born.” Nicholas said rapidly.
Harry listened intently.
“A powerful and arcane charm was used to hide them, called the Fidelius Charm. It’s a very complicated spell that alters the fabric of reality to hide a person or place. Your parents might have been walking down the street and Voldemort could bump into them and not recognise them because of this charm. Anyway, the Fidelius Charm depended on somebody not under it to hide the secret. In this case, James and Lily picked Sirius Black. There was no other way for Voldemort to have found your parents if the Secret Keeper hadn’t told him.” Nicholas said grimly.
“So Sirius Black betrayed my parents?” Harry asked calmly, though a coil of anger was stirring in anticipation inside of him. He despised traitors.
“Yes. That night your parents were killed and Voldemort vanquished, leaving you alive. Sirius Black was in real trouble now. He had shown his allegiance towards Voldemort. That morning, Sirius cornered another one of your Fathers friends, a wizard called Peter Pettigrew. A one-sided duel occurred and Sirius tore apart the street with a single curse, killing Peter and twelve Muggles. When the Auror’s, the wizard version of police, arrived at the scene, they found Sirius laughing his head off and the remains of Peter, a single finger. Sirius was arrested and thrown in Azkaban.” Nicholas finished.
“I see.” Harry said coldly.
“Harry, I suggest that you don’t seek out Black. You are incredibly adept at Ancardian magic, but using it here on earth without the full stabilisation of your magical core can kill both of you. Using Ancardia magic on Earth in large amounts is not safe! It wasn’t meant for this realm! And Black is most certainly a better wand wielder than you are.” Nicholas warned.
“If he tries to confront me, I’ll kill him. I won’t go out of my way to find him though, I have better things to do with my time.” Harry said. “Does that make you feel better?”
Nicholas nodded. “Even I would be careful in confronting Black. He is deranged and dangerous and not somebody to be underestimated.”
Breakfast was a boisterous affair. Today was the day that Harry and Sheena returned to Hogwarts and Lily seemed to be clinging to the both of them.
“Don’t go!” She whimpered.
“Lily, you’ll be going next year.” Perenelle said kindly.
“But…!” Lily protested, her eyes full of tears.
“Lily, we’re not leaving you.” Harry explained patiently. This had happened last year as well.
“Yeah. We’re coming back, honest!” Sheena said, beaming at the younger girl. Slowly, Lily nodded and quieted.
Perenelle was waving her wand sharply, breakfast tools and food zooming all over the room. A loud thump indicated that Harry and Sheena’s trunks had been successfully summoned from their rooms and had landed near the stairs.
“Are you both ready?” She asked as they finished their breakfast.
Harry and Sheena nodded.
“We’ll be Flooing to the station.” Perenelle continued.
Harry and Sheena nodded again.
With a sickening whirl, Harry shot out the Platform 9 ¾ fireplace and landed heavily on the ground.
“Fuck!” He hissed as he got up, brushing himself off.
“Harry!” Perenelle said while looking faintly annoyed as she walked through the fireplace, brushing her robes off.
“What!” He snapped back.
Perenelle actually looked quite startled, but hid it well. If it weren’t for the fact that Harry had been trained in many ways to spot different muscle reactions, he wouldn’t have noticed.
“Language please.” She answered, a tiny note of disapproval seeping into her voice.
Harry stared at her, a sharp retort on his tongue but he let it die. He nodded once.
“Thankyou.” Perenelle said sweetly.
“Bye Harry!” Lily said mournfully. Harry felt his bad temper slide away and he grinned, kneeling down.
“Bye Lily-Flower.” He said and clicked his fingers. The air around his hand chilled slightly as a lily made out of ice materialised. If anybody had been watching, it would have looked like a conjuring charm, which meant that the flower wouldn’t be permanent. What Harry had done was draw the water molecules in the air together in a specific shape and had layered a freezing charm in the centre of it, before placing a small nullifying field one micrometre away from the flower to stop it from feeling cold. He clicked his fingers again and a golden light surged through the ice lily. “Here, have a present.” He offered.
Lily took it with trembling hands and beamed at him. “Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou!” She exclaimed rapidly.
Harry ruffled her hair and glanced at Sheena, who was hugging Perenelle.
“Remember what I said Harry.” Nicholas said as he came forward, catching Harry’s hand in a firm grip. Harry nodded.
“Don’t worry about me.” Harry said. He was really starting to get annoyed at people being protective towards him. Even Nicholas and Perenelle seemed to be acting more like guardians than friends, even after the visit to Ancardia. It must have been his body; he couldn’t wait till he aged into an adult.
Sheena finished hugging Perenelle and with a last wave, the two boarded the train. They looked for an empty compartment but couldn’t find any. A single man occupied the compartment they sat in. He was sleeping and looked tired and haggard. His hair was brown with streaks of grey and his posture looked sick and frail. Bu underneath, Harry could sense a strong fighter and a sense of darkness that he felt familiar but different at the same time. The suitcase at the man’s feet bore the label, ‘Remus. J. Lupin’.
Harry and Sheena both sat quietly as the train suddenly rumbled and started moving.
“We haven’t talked much recently.” Harry suddenly said, his eyes unfocussed and sleepy.
Sheena jumped and blushed slightly, ducking her head. “You’ve had more important things to do.” She mumbled.
“That’s no reason for me to neglect you.” Harry said firmly, before glancing at the sleeping man. He concentrated for a second and an azure dome flashed briefly in the compartment, separating the man from the other two. It was a privacy dome that the man would not be able to break through unless he was familiar with Ancardian magic. The simplest Ancardian mage would have been able to dispel it, it wasn’t a very powerful one but Harry couldn’t be bothered.
“I think it’s time we resumed out training.” Harry said. The dome would keep the man from seeing anything, he would know that students were there but every time he tried to look at them his eyes would slide away and he wouldn’t be able to perceive anything that was out of the ordinary.
Sheena nodded eagerly and Harry smiled, before drawing the elf in a hug. Her disguise had been renewed and she looked like a human now, but she had grown and was definitely more beautiful.
“I am sorry for ignoring you, but things have been hectic.” Harry apologised.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Sheena whispered softly, retuning the hug. She let go and smiled wildly. “Besides, I have you for the rest of the year now.”
Harry snickered slightly before a sharp rap on the compartment door got his attention. He let down the privacy dome and was about to open it with a wave of his hand, when he paused and glanced at Sheena.
“Open it.” He said.
Sheena looked puzzled and waved her hand. The door struggled for a bit, but opened. Ginny and Luna walked through, smiling happily and hugging Sheena. Harry waved his hand and the door closed itself quietly.
“Hey Sheena!” Ginny said excitedly, as if she hadn’t seen the girl yesterday. “What ya doing?”
Sheena hesitated and glanced at Harry, who gave her a wink and settled himself down in his chair, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He could use a little nap. Briefly he heard murmuring voices and small whispers before he fell into a deep sleep.
Eliza stood there, her face beaming and her eyes shining as she came closer to him. Mentora stood at the side, nodding approvingly and Saraxx stood next to her. Order members from all the years surrounded him. Sheena was next to him, tugging on his hand and gesturing to Eliza. There was a look in her eyes that was slightly disconcerting and strange and as Harry looked at Eliza, light and magic engulfed the order…
Suddenly the world grew dark and the once alive standing Order members were all dead, corpses littering the ground. Mentora lay there, neck broken and head lolling with blood running down her mangled body. Saraxx’s dead eyes seemed to accuse him of something and Eliza and Sheena lay together, bodies so broken and twisted that he had to look away.
Andor Drakon stood there, his crimson eyes gleaming evilly. Harry raised his hands, silver and gold light pouring from him but it was stifled as Andor made his way forward, his mace twirling. Black and purple flames flickered and he got closer and closer and closer. Dimly he was aware of Sheena’s screams and suddenly he woke up, gasping for air.
The compartment was dark and eerie and the train had stopped moving. The man was awake, his wand pointing to something beyond Harry’s vision. Sheena and Ginny seemed to be crying and shaking and Luna wasn’t much better. Coldness, fear and despair raced through his mind and he squeezed his eyes shut, bringing forward his powerful mental shields. He felt an echo of shock when the feelings dulled but did not disappear. He turned around and sat up, only to feel an icy cold hand clutch his shoulder. He peered forward into the darkened hood of some kind of creature.
Dead, grey hands clasped his shoulder as the hideous creature peered at him. It got closer and closer, bringing it’s hood closer and closer to Harry. Dimly he could see the man hurling silver light at another creature that had entered the compartment. Harry could smell the rotting flesh of this creature’s breath and hear it’s rattling gasps for air. The dark emotions seemed to be more concentrated as it came closer and Harry reacted, almost sluggishly. He moved his hand forward to clasp the creature’s hand on his shoulders. His hand felt like lead and when he touched the creature, he felt icy cold and a deep-seated darkness. He grasped the bony hand and gripped a long bony finger. He twisted it and felt it snap, the brittle bone breaking easily. The creature let out a high-pitched shriek that would have sounded better suited for a Banshee. Harry jumped up and slammed his fist into the dark hood. He connected to something and the creature shrieked again as it flew backwards. His wand flew into his hands and he jerked it sharply.
“Incendio!” He muttered. A jet of yellow flames erupted from his wand like a Muggle weapon he had once read about, called a flamethrower. It slammed into the creature and it shrieked again. Harry waited for it to burst into flames but was surprised when an aura of darkness surrounded the creature and the flames were stifled and snuffed out.
“I don’t think Sirius Black is hiding under our cloaks.” The man standing said, his face full of restrained fury. “Leave us.”
The creatures shrieked to each other. One of them tried to come closer to Harry, and he rolled sideways, his eyes scanning the room for the first time. Sheena, Ginny and Lune were hiding behind the man, all looking fearful. Ginny was shaking and Sheena was visibly crying, her mouth muttering something he couldn’t hear.
“Tente!” Harry muttered. A sharp whoosh of air sliced through the room and connected with one of the creatures. It had no visible effect.
The man’s shot another burst of silver light at them and Harry could feel the light magic radiating off it. Concentrating, he flicked his wrist and a burst of pure white light flashed through the room. The creatures shrieked as the light touched them and fled, their ratty cloaks flapping after them. The lights slowly returned and the train started rumbling as it picked up speed.
“Are you alright?” The man asked wearily.
Harry nodded, his wand still out. “What were they?”
“They were Dementors, the guards of Azkaban.” The man, Remus Lupin if going by the nametag on his trunk, said. “Here, eat this chocolate. It will make you feel better. I need to speak to the Conductor.”
Lupin left, handing Harry a block of chocolate. Harry snapped some pieces off and scanned it quickly for any poisons. It came out negative so he knelt down near the girls and handed them a piece each, putting it in their trembling hands.
“Here, eat.” Harry said kindly.
“I-It tore through my shields!” Sheena cried, leaping at Harry. Harry hugged her tightly as she sobbed on his shoulder. “I-I couldn’t s-stop it and then…memoires, dark and evil…Andor, orcs…”
Harry comforted her, whispering words of encouragement and rubbing her back. Ginny and Luna slowly got up, nibbling on their chocolate and Harry gestured for them to sit down next to him. He extended an aura that radiated comfort, soothing and calming and the girls quickly quieted, all drawing nearer to Harry. The train started to slow down and Lupin still hadn’t come back. As it stopped, Harry stood up and waved his wand. All of the trunks levitated behind him as he held Sheena’s hand while stepping out of the compartment. Hogwarts stood, twinkling with bright lights and radiating powerful magic that Harry suspected that few could feel.
“Why do I get the feeling this is going to be yet another eventful year?” He muttered softly.