Chapter One: Dark Beginnings
Title: Harry Potter and the Phantom Hourglass
Chapter: 1
Author: Hikari no Vikki
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Parings: Sorry, only frivolous friendships for now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Legend of Zelda. If I did, there'd be a lot more kissing scenes. In both series.
Description: Crossover with Legend of Zelda. The Phantom Hourglass has been handed down since its beginning, until finally it makes its way into the hands of a boy named Gabriel. He fights alongside Harry Potter, and soon discovers a darkness that has been waiting to exact a deadly revenge.
Author's Note:
Revisions! Whoo! The results were locked in on January 1, 2010, and you all voted for Harry Potter and the Spirit Riders (now Phantom Hourglass)! Hopefully, if the story didn't make a lot of sense before, it does now. I don't have a sketch of this yet, but I will soon. Hagrid's accent's a pain, so I had to (ahem) use a reference for a part or two.
Note: Thought speak is like THIS and gyrfalcon speak is like THIS.
Her footsteps were silent even though each one plunged into a puddle of fresh rainwater. It hadn't been too long ago since she had last seen Albus. She was his prized student back when she attended his school only two years ago to this very day.
She was only nineteen, but her worried thoughts were stuck on the two little ones she had at home. But she was still beautiful, looking older than she was. Her long blond hair flowed behind her as she walked, going well past her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright sapphire blue, and her skin tanned lightly to give herself some color.
A dark emerald cloak covered the sky blue dress she was clothed in. Her eyes saw the flicker of a light being sucked from its post and she smiled with her soft pink lips.
It was Dumbledore's Put-Outer that she had seen. She could have recognized it anywhere.
"Caw! Scree! Caw!" Cursing, she looked up. It was her gyrfalcon, Kumi. I really should get an owl. You've been nothing but trouble since I got you. But you're useful, I suppose.
Useful? The bird chuckled, You're just sore that I have to save you all the time, that's all!
She took a brief look at the hourglass on her left palm. It had been fading fast ever since she'd given birth to her twins and it worried her. The black bird cawed once more and circled again. And you ARE faster and much more reliable than an owl…
Well, duh. Owls can't be trusted, since, of course, you can't make a bond with them like us. We gyrfalcons are special.
She slowly made her way to the corner of Privet Drive, a quaint little street that looked clean and peaceful. Nowhere was peaceful when Voldemort was in power…
The bird huffed. You got that right. That man was a nutter for sure. How else could someone kill like that?
You don't have to be crazy to be a killer, Kumi. Mmm. I suppose you're right.
That conflict had ended, yes it did, but at a very costly price. Lily and James Potter had died saving the life their son, this 'boy who lived', Harry Potter. He had killed James first, was how the story went now, then Lily who had Harry in her hands when he attacked her. Then he moved to attack the baby himself but simply could not do it. Some said he died.
A likely story. Rubbish, I call it. True that.
Some said he disappeared. The most common one was that the boy had powers that were to be feared by all dark wizards and witches. She didn't believe any of them though.
The last story was more than rubbish. Honestly; a baby! Some people…
She walked toward Dumbledore as a small grey tabby cat transformed into another person she immediately recognized, Minerva McGonagall.
"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." Professer Dumbledore greeted her, nodding respectfully. She could see Minerva's stern face in the pale moonlight hesitating to reply. "How did you know it was me?" she asked him.
It was here that her moment was opportune. "Because no normal cat could look so stern and stiff, Professor."
Albus turned around to see her standing with her gyrfalcon on her right shoulder, rubbing lovingly against her wavy hair. He smiled as his misty blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles. "Alexandria, you actually came."
Minerva's eyes looked up at the woman. This girl couldn't be the perfect little teen she had taught no more than two years ago. She thought her eyes were deceiving her, but who could have tamed a gyrfalcon that she caught from the wild? This was her, taller and more wary, but her all the same. This was Alexandria Whittle. " I assume you're Sliverwings, now, yes?" Minerva asked. Alexandria nodded. "That I am. But I've chosen well, I believe, pureblood or no. I chose out of love."
"A wise choice," Dumbledore said softly.
"You've grown so much, child," Minerva cut in again, "How old are you now, nineteen?" Alexandria nodded her head with half happy eyes. "But I am a mother now, too. This was no easy trip to make, even with the Dark Lord… gone." She sounded as if she didn't trust her words. "But Peter is capable of warding off intruders. That's why I married him, among other things."
She smiled little but could not hide her uneasiness. "Why did you ask me to come here Professor Dumbledore? You know I won't be accepting that Divination job until I'm certified and my children are comfortable with the idea, never mind if Professor Trelawney would even let me have the job."
"Oh, she will. I'm sure of it." Dumbledore's face grew serious after his little joke. "But we must press on to current matters," he continued. "These letters, are for your children when the time is right." She nodded as she took them from his outstretched hand.
"I'm sure you know why I'm giving them to you now instead of later, correct?"
Alexandria studied them. "Actually, no. I don't. But… if I think it through logically, it does make a lot of sense. Being what I am." This last sentence she uttered under her breath.
His eyes softened. How wise she truly was. He'd never met a person like this in his lifetime, and that was saying something.
"Anyway," McGonagall continued, watching Alexandria lean on a stop sign and stare absentmindedly at the stars, no doubt still half-listening, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"
Alexandria's eyes began to focus and come out of their daze. Her head turned and her face became stern. This was the news she had hoped to hear, or rather, never hear. The Potters had been her friends for however short a time and she treated their son like she would her own.
"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow last night. He went to find the Potters. The rumors is that Lily and James Potter are – are – they're – dead."
Before Dumbledore could answer, Alexandria broke the silence. "It's true. I've only had one other loss worse than this and it's a secret few others share. The Potters are dead and it can't be changed." She looked up into the Professor's misty blue eyes and he nodded in agreement. Alexandria's eyes clouded as her hand graced her gyrfalcon's silver beak.
"B- but," faltered Professor McGonagall, "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"
"One could only guess, right Alexandria?"
She looked up from her petting, half startled, but she heard enough to give a small nod and drift back into the void that seemed to make her eyes cloud over. "Err… yes…"
"By the way,' Dumbledore questioned, "what did you name the bird?"
She looked up again. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Now was time for talking. The thinking would come later. "I named it Kumi. It's an ancient suffix that was once used as a sign between close friends. It fits, as this bird, no matter how annoying she may be, has gotten me out of some tight spots." The black gyrfalcon ruffled its feathers proudly and then hopped onto the stop sign to preen itself.
Why thank you. About time you admit it. She shook her head with a small smile gracing her thin lips.
"I sense," she ventured, "that the Professor doesn't think it wise to hand the boy over to these – uh… people." She looked up again into McGonagall's own eyes, looking deeper than she ever could before in another person.
McGonagall nodded, astonished at how she could tell what she was thinking.
"And this," Dumbledore said, "Is why I want you as a Divination teacher as soon as you're able." She nodded her head slowly, recognizing his sincerity. "I will do it, I've said this more than once, but not now. I promise you that, but I need time." Dumbledore nodded. He knew what her problems were. She did have children to protect. Even though Voldemort himself was gone, his followers were still out there, and with her husband being an Auror… few were still left that were untouched from all this.
He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a caring pat. She looked up and smiled the cute little smile he hadn't seen since her first year.
McGonagall cleared her throat. "May I remind you, these are the worst kind of muggles I've ever – they're – they're the worst kind imaginable! I mean really, you couldn't find two people less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street screaming for treats. Harry Potter, come and live here! Rubbish."
Alexandria watched in earnest as the argument continued. There wasn't much she could do except speak with Kumi, who was rather irritable form having to listen to all their bickering. 'He had it coming to him, Kumi. I mean, I can't blame her for this, they really are the most stuck-up people I've ever seen.'
Just don't get in the middle of it. By what I'm seeing, it doesn't look pretty. She chuckled lightly at the reply. Don't worry. I'm still sane enough to know not to get into this. She got another chuckle from Kumi and her voice fell silent.
"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."
Kumi's consciousness brushed against her own. A letter? What good will that do? Apparently McGonagall thought the same.
"A letter? Really Dumbledore, you think you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – every child in the world will know his name!"
"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk!"
"Actually," Alexandria muttered, "he can probably walk by now, he's old enough."
Minerva blinked, but Dumbledore didn't miss a beat. "That may be the case, but he'll be famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better it will be, growing up away from all that until he can take it?"
'He does have a point, mistress. I don't see what else she can do except admit defeat.' Alexandria mentally nodded in agreement. McGonagall sighed. "Yes – yes, you're right. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?"
"Hagrid's bringing him."
"You think it – wise – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?" Oh great. Another argument. Don't we have some poor defenseless SOMETHING to go save?! Kumi ruffled her feathers again, irritated. Alexandria chuckled. Unfortunately, no. She heard Kumi mentally groan. She giggled inwardly.
"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore. "I'm not saying his heart's not in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"
A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for signs of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they all looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.
The motorcycle, however, the nothing compared to the man riding it. He was extremely tall, twice as tall as she, with a few inches to spare… and that didn't count how wide he was. He was so huge, and beastly, but had a strange humanness about him that one couldn't put their finger on. His hands and feet matched his giant proportions, but he was well muscled, not overweight. And, in his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.
Alexandria smiled brightly as the man got off the motorcycle. She hadn't seen Hagrid in a long time either.
"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved, "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?" Hagrid smiled sheepishly. "Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir. Young Sirius Black lent it to me." Then his eyes noticed Alexandria.
"And who might she be?" Dumbledore looked at her and she nodded, giving him the pleasure of introducing her. "This, Hagrid, is Alexandria. You remember her, don't you?"
She smiled and gave a little wave as Kumi jumped back onto her right shoulder. "Nice to see you again, Hagrid. It's been too long." Hagrid nodded. "Sorry if I didn't recognize you. It's been a while." He looked her up and down. "You got taller." She giggled and laughed silently. "I've got two little ones now. I'm just lucky they're all right." Hagrid nodded again, his eyes welling up a bit.
"No problems, were there?" Dumbledore asked, turning the attention back to the pervious conversation.
"No, sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep just as we was flyin' over Bristol."
Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Alexandria bent over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a lightning bolt.
"Is that where –?" whispered McGonagall. "Yes," said Professor Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever." "Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" Alexandria let her index finger grace the outline of the scar. Under it, she could sense deep magic, the indestructible kind.
"No," she said, her eyes staring at the scar intently, "this will never go away. I sense deep magic here. It's best left undisturbed." She paused as if she were battling with herself about something.
"May I see him? There might not be anything I can do, but I would like to have a feel for the situation, if you know what I mean. I just want to hold him one last time."
Hagrid looked to Dumbledore for advice. He nodded solemnly.
So he handed the boy over to her and she took him in her hands with expert grace. She marveled at the power she could feel in her hands right now, hidden, but great. She couldn't describe it. She knew she had felt such power in her own self once, before she lost her innocence to her husband. Now that she thought about it, she still had it, it was just more…advanced.
She wanted so much to take him under her wing and away from these people, but she knew she couldn't. Some force of will wouldn't let her.
Her eyes looked at him with a mother's softness, as she hummed an airy tune into the boy's ear. She paused to search her person for a trinket – a heart locket on a gold chain. She tied it around the boy's neck and let it glow softly for a moment, dulling soon after.
McGonagall watched in awe of what she was doing. Clearly she felt some attachment to the boy, but not enough to ask to keep him.
Then she looked up.
"Forgive my moment of wandless magic. I know it is forbidden, but you know my sense of curiosity, Professor." She paused before speaking again. "There is no more I can do than to give him my mother's lullaby. Deep down I feel he will face many hardships, and he will need something to help him through those, especially when he has no person to turn to. Here, Dumbledore, I believe you have somewhere to take him."
Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house. "Thank you, Alexandria. Your heart is truly a special one. Your gift may yet be of use to him, though I hope that time will come and go quickly." She nodded and then gave him a soft smile.
"Could I – could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must nave been a very scratchy, bristly kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a yowl like an injured dog.
"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake up the Muggles!"
"S–s–sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face n it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"
"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whisper, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry on the front doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other three. For a full minute the four of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, McGonagall blinked furiously, Kumi shuffled her feathers and pecked at her master's hair at her stiffness, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.
"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."
"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night Professor McGonagall – Alexandria – Professor Dumbledore, sir." Alexandria's head shifted at her name, and she nodded as Hagrid swung himself onto his motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.
"I shall be seeing you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. She blew her nose in reply. He turned to Alexandria.
Alexandria sighed. "I'd best be leaving myself, Professor. Kumi is getting restless, and if I don't get her calm soon she'll be a right rut to deal with in the morning."
Dumbledore smiled. "I really can't thank you enough, Alexandria. Didn't you have a nickname back when you were in school that they used to call you?" She looked at him as if he asked her to go to an anthill and stick her hand in it.
"Err… yes. It was Lexi." Dumbledore smiled. "Short for lexicon?" Alexandria groaned. "Please… don't remind me…"
He nodded again as she turned and jumped over a tall fence leading to a pasture. Not two minutes later did a figure rise on black Comet 260, headed west.
From her perch in the sky, she could see Dumbledore replace the lights with his Put-Outer and leave.
You are troubled my friend, Kumi, who flew next to her, spoke, why is this so? Alexandria glided across the currents of the cool night air side to side, gently. Everything. As soon as I can get home and hold my son and daughter, I'll be fine. Kumi gave a nod and fluttered farther on, leaving her master to her thoughts.
When they stopped, they were in they countryside, overlooking some fair few miles of nearly untouched land, with the exception of a few houses. Her neighbors, the Weasleys, were the only friends they really had out there.
Alexandria unlocked the door of her own cottage as Kumi flew to her perch up in the attic of their small villa. She fumbled with the doorknob for a second and she entered the house. A light was on in the living room, most likely Shadow had forgotten to put out the fire after he finished reading.
She made her way through the hallway and past the stairs, surprised to find Shadow still sitting in his chair, watching the flames intently.
Shadow had just turned twenty, so he was a bit older than her. He'd gone to Hogwarts just like his wife, but he finished in the same year. His half spiked mist-black locks were in front of his face but did not cover his eyes. His eyes were an odd topaz, but they were eyes nonetheless. His silver Auror clock was still on him, but it was thrown over his shoulders, revealing a cerulean-colored tunic.
She softly padded across the floor to him, leaning down to his ear and whispering, "Hon, I'm home."
He turned around a kissed her. "So, what did he want?" She went around the chair and sat halfway in his lap. "He wanted to give me these," she said, taking the letters out of her cloak, "He was delivering Harry to the Dursleys and he wanted to give me these letters at the same time, I suppose."
"I'm just glad you're home, darling. Even though Voldemort has fallen, his followers are still out there." "Hmm. You would know, hon. How has the Ministry been through this?"
"In a word," he said, "ecstatic." She frowned.
"His fall, darling," he said, noticing her expression, "not their deaths. That's the only thing they're not happy about."
She hummed an agreement. "I'm going to go put these in a safe place." He hugged her. "I should get to bed myself. See you up there?" She nodded. He put out the fire and they both went up the stairs, Shadow kissing her goodnight as he went into their bedroom. She walked down the hallway past the bathroom, spare bedroom, and her children's room to a room they tried their best to turn into an office for Shadow. She opened the door and entered.
Her soft footsteps led her to an antique desk that he used for work at home. She slowly opened a box on the desk's top and took the key from it. She used it to unlock the bottom drawer of the desk and she slid the letters into a thin birch-wood box that she locked with the same key.
She pushed the drawer closed and then locked it. She then put the key back where she got it and hid it in the closet behind her under a pile of old hats.
Alexandria got up and closed the door to the office. She then walked to her children's door and entered.
The room was dimly lit from the moonlight as she walked across the plush purple carpet to her son's crib. Her daughter, Aria, looked like her mother in every way, even the eyes. But her son was different.
His face was perfect, his nose like his father's. His mouth was thin like his mother's and his ears were mix of both. But it was his hair was the most odd of it all.
It seemed white in the dimmed moonlight, but when in the normal light of the burning sun, it was an angelic platinum blond and it fit so well with his tanned complexion. Alexandria walked over to the side of his redwood crib and lifted him out. She hugged him for a while and breathed in today's scent. "Been playing in the tulips again, have you, my child?"
She caressed his hair as his eyes opened. A shining gold topaz pair of eyes stared up at her and she sat down in the rocker beside the bed. He looked up at her with his big innocent eyes. His hands reached for her face, and she caught sight of something that made no sense to her.
She took his left hand gently, rubbing the back of it with her thumb, staring at its palm. There, just barely formed, was an outline of the same symbol as her own.
"So, my sweet, this is why I've felt this power leave me ever since your birth." She sighed. "Enjoy what little of your childhood can be spent in bliss, as there are too few hours or days in which to fully enjoy it."
His eyes began to drift, and his lids droop. She rocked him while singing to him the lullaby her own mother sang to her, when she was still alive, anyway,
"Angel, my angel, sweet little light, you are my angel, child of mine.
Sweet little angel, precious mine, you are my angel, so pure and light.
When the shadows wish to claim you, my hand will guide you from them.
Though when no longer do I exist, you will have to do it alone.
Fear not, in spirit I'm with you, always, never leaving your side.
Angel, my angel, sweet little light, you are my angel, child of mine.
Sweet little angel, precious mine, you are my angel,"
And as she put the babe in bed, she whispered to him softly, "My Gabriel…"
First chapter of revisions. How do you like?