Author's Note: Finally! Part Two has finally begun! You can find the first part on my profile page. It's literally the only other story I've written so it shouldn't be hard to find Part One: Here We Go Again.
Second, as a reminder, this story is a crossover between Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Code Lyoko.
Third, since this story takes place after The Promise Dark Horse comic series for Avatar: The Last Airbender and during The Search, there are a few times I borrow quite a bit of dialogue directly from The Search, with some modifications to fit the story. If you haven't read any of the Dark Horse comics, please do. They are quite an enjoyable read.
Fourth, all fictional characters/locations that are not of my creation belong to their respective owners.
Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the second installment of what has been gnawing away at my brain cells for the past 5+ years.
P.S. As far as crossovers go, this may seem kind of out there. But the fact that you, the reader, are willing to give it a chance means more than you could possibly realize. Thanks.
Chapter 1: Progress
Sunlight shined down along the German mountainside. The snow glistened and sparkled. The landscape was picturesque and stunningly beautiful. There was a slight breeze that rustled through the needles in the trees. It would have been the perfect spot for a picnic in the summer. A loud BANG resounded across the mountainside, disturbing the peacefulness.
Ulrich raced by a Megatank on the Overbike as the monster charged up again. It turned to fire when a line of large ice spikes rose out of the snow, stabbing the metal monster through the target. Taelia twirled her wrist around, her purple wings glowing vibrantly as she hovered overhead. The spikes rose into the air. Aelita and Draco, their own wings glowing as well, flew by the spikes. They flourished their wands, and the spikes followed them. Aelita flew down to the left where Ron and Neville were struggling against some Tarantulas. She shot her spikes down, impaling and destroying the monsters. Ron and Neville ran forward and jumped down a small cliff to where Luna and Yumi were battling some incessant Krabs. Yumi's fans flew through the air and sliced one of the Krabs in half. She used telekinesis to send the fans into the backs of a couple Hornets that were shooting at Harry and Odd. The wings were sliced off of the Hornets, and Odd used the opportunity to flip over Harry and shoot Laser Arrows in random directions. Harry set them ablaze, increasing their impact radius. A Laser Arrow missed a Hornet and flew into the back of the head of a Kreeper. Ulrich grinned, drew his katanas, sped the Overbike forward, and sliced the remaining Kreepers' heads clean off. He sped around another Megatank as Aelita hovered, holding its beam in place. Triplicating himself, the second Ulrich jumped onto the Megatank and stabbed the target. The third Ulrich tumbled forward on the ground and began kicking Kankrelats into the air. One flew high enough that Draco grabbed it like a Quaffle and threw it back down to the ground. He carried his spikes towards the manufacturing plant that X.A.N.A. had under his control. He spun away, allowing the spikes to continue their forward and downward momentum. The spikes encountered a shield barrier and broke apart.
"Damn!" he shouted, spinning away from the laser fire that began focusing on him. "The barrier is still preventing us from getting into that plant, Jeremie. How close is Ben to bringing it down?"
"Well, to say he encountered resistance would be an understatement," Jeremie replied into his mike. He glanced at what the others had encountered on the Sector 5 replica.
Dozens upon dozens of Kreepers had converged on the group as they approached the tower controlling the barrier. William Super-smoked his way around the room, doing what he could to avoid the fire, tackling Kreepers that were getting too close to Ben, and knocking them into the pit below. Sissi used her cables to create a dome around her and Ben, allowing them to move, albeit slowly, closer to the tower. Ben used limited bursts of the anti-X.A.N.A. program to coat the cables so no monster could touch the dome. Screams of several Flying Manti filled the room as they entered from the pit below. Their mines flew at the dome, their explosions causing it to dismantle. The remaining mines flew towards Ben and Sissi.
"Depulso!" Hermione shouted, riding over on the Overwing and dressed in a menacing red and black outfit. The mines flew back into the Manti, instantly destroying them. She spun the vehicle around and raised a Shield Charm around her to block the Kreeper laser fire. Ben sprinted for the tower, somersaulting around the Kreepers firing at him. He entered the tower. Seconds later, the flame on the tower turned blue.
"Barrier should be down now!" Jeremie announced. "Time to send in the big guns, Mr. Clevenger."
"Copy that, Mr. Belpois," Professor Clevenger replied. "Be there in ninety seconds!"
"Sissi, head back to the Hring and start transferring as much data from the supercomputer as you can," George said. He stood next to Jeremie with his own laptop hovering in the air in front of him. "The rest of you, prepare to join the others in Germany."
"Understood," Sissi replied, jumping onto the Overboard that had materialized in front of her.
Harry blasted the remaining Hornets out of the sky, speaking into his earpiece, "Everyone, converge on the plant. Aelita, Draco, Taelia, clear our path from above."
"On it," Aelita replied, charging up her Energy Fields. Draco met up with her as they flew towards the plant. He locked hands with her. When they felt the energy build up enough, they thrust their hands down, shooting pink and green Energy Fields at the ground. When they hit the ground, they became Energy Shockwaves, spreading out in all directions for several meters and destroying any monster within range. As they got closer, the laser fire from the plant increased. Taelia flew in front of the pair, forming an Energy Shield. The laser fire bounced off the shield and ricocheted back at the plant.
Harry, Ron, Luna, and Neville created waves of water out of the snow. They conjured wooden boards for everyone to ride the waves down to the plant. Ulrich raced out in front, katanas drawn. Black smoke appeared around Ulrich when they were approaching the outer wall. William, Hermione, and Sissi solidified through the smoke.
"Bombarda Maxima!" Hermione yelled quickly. The wall exploded into the plant right before the Lyoko Warriors and Dumbledore's Army charged through the opening that was made. Several monsters were caught unawares as they were immediately destroyed.
"Big guns arriving in three, two, one!" Jeremie announced. From overhead, golden mist gleamed from above and landed in the center of the plant. Aelita's black and pink Camaro screeched out of the mist, the Elder Wand flying out of one of the windows. The main difference to Aelita's car was that a rocket launcher/flame thrower had been fitted into the trunk. Seamus's grin gleamed brightly as he doused the nearby monsters in flames. Electricity covered the hood of the car as Ben raced out in specter form. He sped around, knocking down monsters for the others to destroy.
With the laser fire diminishing towards them, Taelia lowered the shield, and Draco and Aelita both sent out spells at the roof of the largest building. The holes formed were large enough for them to fly into the building uninhibited. They landed on the ground and looked around. The sunlight that was streaming in was the only source of light. The lights suddenly all kicked on, revealing lines upon lines of robots surrounding them. The metal suits raised their arms to fire.
Draco grabbed his sisters' hands and spun on his foot, wings still active. The result was completely unexpected. Instead of a simple Disapparition, they turned into glowing green smoke. Draco could still see everything clearly, just with a green tint. He flew around with more agility than just his wings. An explosion broke down one of the nearby walls, and Draco flew out of it. He found a spot to land. He hit the ground with a thud as he, Aelita, and Taelia solidified.
"Blimey!" Ron said to them, helping them to their feet. "It looked like you were flying like Death Eaters just there! Except for the fact that you were bright green. How did you –?" An explosion from the main building cut Ron off as the robots started filing out, arms raised to fire away.
"Robots confirmed, George!" Aelita announced into her earpiece.
"I hear you, Aelita," George replied, typing quickly on his laptop hovering in the air next to Jeremie's terminal. "Minister Shacklebolt, robots are in the plant. The Order of the Phoenix may proceed."
"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Kingsley said over the phone.
Aelita turned and saw a couple robots running towards Harry, whose back was turned away from them. She ran to him.
"Harry!" she shouted. He turned to look at her as she leaped up and over him. She threw a couple Energy Fields into the robots. They fell to the ground.
"Thanks for that," Harry told her, blasting away a Blok. Aelita turned to smile at him. Behind her, the robots began to clamber back to their feet and raised their arms to shoot at Aelita. "Watch out!" he shouted, pointing at the robots. Suddenly, golden flames exploded out of the chests of the robots and consumed them. The flames became a mist and did not solidify into anything. Harry and Aelita stared at the mist while Harry remained pointing.
"Are you doing that?" Aelita asked.
"I have no idea," Harry replied. He moved his raised arm to the left, and the mist followed. He shared a grin with Aelita and whipped his arm around to some robots fighting Ron and Hermione to their right. The mist flew to the right and solidified into robots. All of the robots crumbled to the ground in pieces.
"Not bad," Aelita replied. Numerous cracks were overheard around the plant. Aurors from the Order of the Phoenix had arrived. The reinforcements ran around, spells flying at the robots. The robots didn't stand a chance and were cut down by the dozen. Aelita nodded to Ulrich to start for the supercomputer. Ulrich drove by Hermione and looped arms around her, pulling her onto the Overbike. He raced through the main building, swerving this way and that as more robots and monsters attempted to intercept them. Ulrich focused on driving while Hermione shielded the both of them.
"Make a sharp right," Jeremie said. "Now!" The Overbike's wheel screeched as Ulrich forced the vehicle right down the narrow hallway the pair of them had entered. The door at the end of the hall flew open just before they crashed into it. Robots stood in a perimeter around the supercomputer, large and rectangular-shaped in the center of the room. Ulrich slid the bike onto the ground as he and Hermione hopped off. Hermione flourished her wand around, forcing the robots out of her way. Ulrich drew his katanas and spun in the air, decapitating some of the robots. Without wasting another second, Ulrich stabbed the top of the supercomputer, and Hermione enveloped the katana in flames. The supercomputer sparked and crackled. As the robots turned, Hermione pointed her wand up at the ceiling and caused it to cave in with red sparks. As the pieces fell, she quickly turned and dismantled the robots. A second later, she and Ulrich were unconscious in the Hringhorni on the replica.
The red sparks flew up into the air over the plant. The virtualized Lyoko Warriors and X.A.N.A.'s monsters vanished, signaling for the wizards and witches in the battle to turn their wands on the buildings of the plant. Spells barraged the walls, bringing the buildings down with loud crashes and fiery explosions. The Elder Wand, now atop Aelita's car, began ominously glowing with a reddish gold hue.
"Time to go," Harry said quickly, grabbing Aelita by the waist. They shared a look while the others began to leave.
Aelita bit her lip, asking, "Can we watch what happens next?" Harry rolled his eyes and nodded with a smirk. They Disapparated to the top of the cliff and watched the burning manufacturing plant. The reddish-gold color became brighter as the rest of the Order left. The light flashed once before an invisible shockwave leveled the entire manufacturing plant, leaving nothing but small pieces behind and Aelita's undamaged car at the center of it all. The pair felt the wind from the shockwave blow past them, rustling the snow on the ground. When the noise died down, the mountainside resumed its beautiful tranquility.
"Now that is what I like to call leaving the party on a high note," Harry said with a smile. Aelita laughed before they Disapparated back to the factory.
"Second facility in a week, fellas!" Odd announced triumphantly as he and the rest of the Warriors walked out of the elevator. "And fourth one overall! I'll drink some butterbeer to that!" Several cheers of agreement came from the Order that had all gathered there as well. Harry grinned at the sight, watching Hermione and Ron hug each other tightly. Hearing a loud engine roar, he turned to see Clevenger drive up in the Camaro. The young man practically jumped out of the car with a smile from ear to ear plastered on his face. He shook Harry's hand.
"I have to admit, Harry," Clevenger said, losing his professor persona for the moment. "Aelita's car is one sweet ride. I'll have to ask her if she'll let me drive it more often. Oh, which reminds me." He withdrew the Elder Wand from his pocket. "I do appreciate your trusting of me with this." Harry, feeling the wand recognize him, held out his hand while the wand flew into it. A tingle originated where the wand sat on his palm, almost as if the wand was content when being back with Harry. It was a strange feeling, but Harry had grown accustomed to the strangeness that was the Elder Wand.
"The agreement is always the same each time," Harry told him. "Just as long as you bring it back in one piece. Maybe I'll try to convince Jeremie and Ben to continue working on a feature for teleporting that car so you don't have to use the Elder Wand anymore. Although…" Harry drifted off and pulled Clevenger aside. "While we were there, I had noticed that I had managed to do some wandless magic. The kind I have neither witnessed nor heard of."
"What was it exactly?"
"Well, the best way I could describe it is that it was identical to the Elder Wand's ability to teleport itself and any attached objects or persons. Same golden mist and everything."
"Interesting," Clevenger mumbled, stroking his chin in thought. "Perhaps that would be something you and I could explore further before you leave for the Christmas break, Mr. Potter."
"I would be more than happy to, Professor," Harry responded eagerly. He glanced back at the party down below. "I think they've broken out the butterbeer down there."
"That I have no doubt. Just as much as I have no doubt that there is a bottle down there with my name on it. If you'll excuse me, Mr. Potter." With that Clevenger joined the festivities. Harry sighed and glanced at Jeremie and Aelita. Watching them walk into the elevator with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Minister Sporln, Harry knew that a bottle for him was not down there just yet.
As he walked down to the elevator, Harry thought about what had transpired in the last month. A couple weeks after discovering Draco's true identity as Draco Schaeffer, the middle child between Aelita and Taelia, the Lyoko Warriors as they called themselves located another one of X.A.N.A.'s replicas of the digital world in their supercomputer. Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and George watched with eager fascination as Aelita and her friends destroyed the replica and the supercomputer. However, they realized that this supercomputer, located on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, was housed in a manufacturing plant similar to the one destroyed today. There were numerous robots in the plant and simply destroying the supercomputer did not shut off the robots. The five who hadn't been "virtualized" went to the plant and effectively destroyed it…after an hour of fighting the robots.
Together, they all realized that in order to have an effect against X.A.N.A., they needed to take out the various plants and facilities that the virus controlled. Destroying those facilities was not easy with the firepower that they had. So, Hermione, Ben, and Jeremie agreed on further upgrades. One simple, at least that's what Jeremie described it as, upgrade was to allow the vehicles that Jeremie could create on Lyoko – the Overwing, the Overboard, and the Overbike – to be materialized into the physical world as needed. Another simple upgrade was to have Hermione be virtualized onto Lyoko so that she could add the use of magic within the digital world. Plus, it was noted that the Lyoko supercomputer reacted very positively with the use of magic, enhancing and even creating more power for the supercomputer to use.
One upgrade that proved to be more challenging and difficult was the use of Aelita's car in the field. The need for it came when they realized that transferring origins of vehicles was not a possibility so the materialized vehicles would vanish as soon as the supercomputer was destroyed. But with a facility still needing to be destroyed, having a vehicle would be beneficial. Thus the idea to use Aelita's Camaro was born. Using the factory's machinery, Ben, William, Ulrich, George, and Jeremie began adding to the car. The most notable was the addition of a rocket launcher and flamethrower inside the trunk. The car's frame was then reinforced with electromagnetic steel, preventing any monsters, specters, or robots from touching the car when activated. The electromagnets also curiously countered the effects of the lasers shot at the car, making it practically invincible against X.A.N.A.'s forces. Ben placed a small supercomputer inside the engine of the car. Inside the Minicomputer, as Jeremie called it, Ben created a small replica of Lyoko, one with only a single tower on a platform. When the car was on, the replica would be online, and Ben could enter the replica via the Skidbladnir to access the tower and exist in the physical world wherever the car was. If the situation were to become a disaster, the car had a safety mechanism: a rechargeable EMP bomb to disable anything electronic near the car, including the virtualized specters of the group. The car had essentially become a small tank.
Unfortunately, X.A.N.A. was not taking the losses lightly. After the second destruction of one of his facilities, he immediately removed all public records of the locations of the other facilities around the globe, making the only way to locate other facilities was through the replicas. He began activating towers and launching attacks on civilian populations in order to slow the progress down. What he hadn't been counting on were the Aurors from the French and British Ministries of Magic intervening whenever he tried. They protected innocent lives, prevented popular tourist spots in Paris from being destroyed, and essentially stopped him at about every turn. When the attacks began to get a little too out of hand, Aelita, Taelia, or even Draco would go to the factory and deactivate the tower or towers on Lyoko. The only downsides were that they still couldn't locate the central facility of X.A.N.A.'s Muggle company operations, that the company had become a contractor for the United States Muggle military, and the United States Magical Congress was still not convinced that the company was evil at its core. The last downside had begun creating unnecessary tensions in the world of magical politics, but Kingsley Shacklebolt insisted that it was of no concern.
The elevator doors opened to the lab, and Harry entered. Aelita, Draco, Taelia, Jeremie, and the two Ministers of Magic had been waiting for him to join them. The doors closed behind them, and silence filled the room for the moment.
Sporln spoke up first, "I think I can say without a doubt in my mind that your dealings against X.A.N.A. have been rather successful."
"I have to agree with you, Minister," Jeremie said. "I think I speak for all of my team when I say that we were absolutely convinced that X.A.N.A. would begin causing more troubles for us."
"If it weren't for the work of your Aurors, X.A.N.A.'s attacks would certainly have caused us to turn back from the replica and take care of the towers," Aelita added. "I'll admit it. I was wrong. Our alliance has actually proven fruitful; 100% opposite of what I thought was going to happen."
"Now that we have established ourselves on the front-lines of this fight," Shacklebolt commented. "We need to have a goal in mind. Obviously finding and eliminating the remains of his company is a goal. But he is still building. He has other goals in mind, and we need to determine what those are and how we intend on combatting them."
"With each facility we retrieve data from, we get closer and closer to discovering the location of the company headquarters," Jeremie added. "Of course it would be a little easier if the Americans would just tell us."
"They aren't convinced that the company is wrong," Sporln interjected, evidently irritated with Jeremie's tone. "They have met with the company's board and have no reason to suspect foul play. It could be that X.A.N.A. has managed to convince some people to work in the company, without possessing them and without alerting them to the company's true intents and purposes. Do not insult our allies, Mr. Belpois. While Minister Shacklebolt and myself have easily accepted and understood everything that is happening here, the rest of the World Confederation of Magical Ministries is not so quick in doing so by no fault of their own.
"With that said, the Supreme Mugwump, the head of the Confederation, has expressed her wishes to observe the next raid on one of X.A.N.A.'s facility either from here or on location. She believes it best that, in order for her to be able to successfully convince the rest of the Confederation, she would need to observe firsthand what X.A.N.A. has built."
"What exactly does that mean?" Taelia asked curiously.
"It means that the facility cannot be destroyed at the end of the next raid," Kingsley answered.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Draco asked concerned.
"I think it's a great idea," Aelita added. "We'd be able to more easily examine what X.A.N.A. was doing. Before, our focus has been 'Destroy it. It doesn't matter why he's using just that he is using it.' Now that we've established that we can destroy his facilities, we can focus on why he needs them in the first place."
"Then we are agreed," Jeremie replied. "As soon as we find the next replica, we will let you know."
"Very well," Kingsley said. "We will go let her know. But be mindful of the fact that she may want to visit the factory before then." With that, Kingsley and Sporln left the lab. The others waited until the elevator doors closed before moving towards the terminal. Despite aid provided from governments, Aelita and Jeremie still wanted to keep some things to themselves. Harry, recalling his years of distrust of the Ministry, understood the sentiment completely.
"Time to take a look at that picture of your mom," Ben said, appearing in the holosphere system. "By the way, I looked at the data recovered from today. Nothing worth our while, sadly." The picture of Aelita's mother appeared in the holosphere next to Ben. "To eliminate discussing some of the more obvious parts of the photo, we can already see that this was taken when Anthea was young, possibly before any of you were born. We know that the word Scipio relates to Carthage and Lyoko. Why that word in particular is still unknown. Now comes the interesting part." The photo zoomed in on the word. "As you noticed before, the letters are all written with seemingly random numbers."
"Seemingly?" Harry asked.
"At first, yes, seemingly," Ben replied. "But upon further investigation, I noticed that if I were to take every sixteenth number starting from the top line, the numbers would start to repeat." The appropriate numbers started to glow orange as opposed to the rest of the black numbers. "The series of numbers that repeat are 1413927103946364."
"What's the significance of that?" Draco inquired.
"At first, I hadn't a clue. But then I remembered Aelita's initial theory of coordinates," Ben answered with a slight smile. "If that were true, then there would need to be a second number, which doesn't repeat like this series of numbers. But if I were to split the series in two, then a potential list of coordinates could exist. Then I noticed that in the first iteration of the series, there is a period after the very first 1 and after the second 3."
"So that means it's a decimal point," Taelia suggested.
"My thoughts exactly," Ben agreed. "And that gives us a good pair of coordinates: 1.413927, 103.946364." Jeremie began typing quickly.
"Which are the coordinates to the northern shoreline of a lake on Pulau Ubin, an island in Singapore," he replied.
There was a moment of silent contemplation. Then Taelia asked excitedly. "Didn't Yumi find one of my father's journals mentioning something about a trip to Singapore?"
"Yeah, she did," Aelita replied. "That can't be a coincidence. So that means our mother is there!"
"Not so fast," Ben warned. He pulled up a satellite image of the island. "There appears to be a large structure on that island already. After doing some digging, I found that the building is owned by, guess who?"
"You've got to be kidding me," Draco complained.
"The same company that seems to be making deliveries on X.A.N.A.'s behalf," Harry answered. "Is there a replica there?"
"No, there isn't," Ben said. "There also have been zero of the company's shipments going to this location."
"None?" Jeremie asked, surprised.
"None," Ben repeated. "It's as if they are off the grid from the rest of the company. So without definitive proof that X.A.N.A. is control of all of the company's assets, it will be almost impossible to go to this facility without creating some sort of international incident."
"And we can't afford any of those," Taelia grumbled. She looked at Jeremie. "What are your thoughts?"
He sighed. "The coincidences are too great. Whether these coordinates lead to your mother or not, it's obvious that they meant something of importance to your father. We'll need to do some more digging before we even remotely consider attempting going to that building, whatever it is. Sorry, you three, but I think your mother will have to wait." There was a heavy moment of silence as the six of them absorbed the presented information.
Harry glanced at his watch and said, "Well, us Hogwarts people need to get back soon." He looked to Aelita and Draco, who nodded their agreement.
"Alright," Jeremie said, standing up. "Ben, keep analyzing the data you found. We will look around the Hermitage for that journal again, and we'll contact you if we find anything. Aelita?" Aelita looked at him. "We'll get there, eventually. As long as X.A.N.A. isn't aware of the importance of that location to your father, whatever he was interested in is safe for the time being." Aelita nodded solemnly before walking into the elevator.
Minutes later, the Hogwarts students and Professor Clevenger Apparated into Hogsmeade. Seamus excitedly began telling Ron and Luna about using the rocket launcher and the flamethrower on the Camaro. Neville and Professor Clevenger talked about the various monsters they faced and their strengths and weaknesses. Hermione began asking Draco more in-depth questions about his smoky apparition ability that had surfaced during the battle. That left Aelita and Harry standing in silence while the others walked away.
"So how are you holding up with all of this?" Harry asked her. He knew that this much outside involvement was not easy for her to handle, despite her reassurances to the Ministers of Magic.
"I'm fine," she said as jovially as she could muster. "It's like Ben said: there's too much to be left to chance to go that location in Singapore. It would be nice to, but the risks of going outweigh the benefits, which at this point are completely unknown." She took a deep breath. "But as far as the rest, it's like I said earlier, it is nice having all of this help. We have X.A.N.A. on the defensive more than the offensive, which is always a good thing. I have to admit that Dumbledore's Army is really good in a fight. You should be proud of them."
"I think they got better under Neville's guidance more than mine," Harry admitted.
"And where did Neville learn his stuff, huh? Oh yeah, that's right, you taught him." Aelita gave him a pointed look and a nudge. "It's okay to be proud of yourself, you know."
"But if it weren't for me –" Harry began.
"Then, they would've certainly died in the battle last May!" Aelita interrupted. "And don't forget that agreement we made: No blaming ourselves anymore! If you won't, then I won't." She smiled at him. He smiled back appreciatively. They walked silently for a moment, listening to the crunching of snow underneath their feet.
"So the holidays are coming up soon," Harry said. "Do you have any plans?"
"Not really," Aelita replied, shrugging. "I usually spend Christmas on my own. Granted, that was before I remembered I had a brother and sister."
"Have you discussed the idea of talking to the Malfoy's about your discovery with your siblings, since you brought that up?"
"Not really. I mean the idea has definitely come up. We just don't know how to approach the subject."
"May I offer up a suggestion?" Harry asked. Aelita gave him a stern look, indicating that he really shouldn't. "Never mind."
"Obviously it's something we'll have to deal with over the break, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there," she said. "Just keep your advice to yourself for now, Harry. No offense, but you don't exactly have experience with this kind of thing."
"You're not wrong," he replied quietly. "Anyway, you and your siblings are more than welcome to join us at the Burrow." Aelita gave him a look, giving away her nervousness. "The Weasley's blame you for Ginny as much as they blame me for Fred: not at all. And I have it directly from the source that Mrs. Weasley wants you to have an incredible Christmas with your family. Whether that is a good thing has yet to be determined." Aelita laughed. A quiet thought crept into his mind while he pictured the Burrow at Christmas; a thought about a particular stone lying on the floor of the Forbidden Forest. He could just go find it. He could talk to Ginny, Sirius, Remus, his parents, as if they never left. Harry's stomach knotted up. But he knew that he shouldn't do it, that he couldn't do it. It wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't be able to hold them again. Aelita must have managed to read his thoughts somehow. She grabbed his hand tightly and affectionately.
"Thanks," he told her softly, already feeling a little better as they approached the gates to Hogwarts.
Later that night, Aelita had one of the most vivid dreams she had ever had:
A young woman with long dark hair sat in what could only be described as a carriage. The other occupants in the carriage were two men. The elder one had long gray hair and a long beard, and the younger one had long, flowing black hair and a short beard from his chin. They all wore different shades of red attire. The woman had simpler clothes on when compared to the men, who seemed to have some sort of regal affiliation with fire. The carriage rocked as it moved through a quiet town.
The old man spoke, "Dear girl, after growing up in this backwater village, you will especially appreciate the capital city's comforts. I'm sure Fire Prince Ozai will be more than happy to – "
Suddenly a young man's voice called out from outside the carriage, "Ursa! Ursa!" The carriage came to a sudden stop. Outside, there was a man holding fake swords standing in front of the carriage.
"What's going on?!" the gray-haired man asked a soldier dressed in red, medieval armor.
"A commoner's in the middle of the road, blocking our way!" the soldier replied.
The young man spoke loudly, albeit nervously, to the occupants of the carriage, "F-F-Fire Lord, Azulon! You have my-my true love in your carriage! With all due respect, I c-can't let you take her from me!" The man trembled with fear but stood resolutely. The soldiers around the carriage laughed and mocked him.
"Take care of him," the elder man inside the carriage who must be Fire Lord Azulon said to the nearby soldier. The soldiers converged on the man.
"Wait, please," the woman begged, turning to the man next to her, Fire Prince Ozai. "He's an old childhood friend of mine! He's-he's confused! I'll get him to leave, but, Ozai, you have to promise not to hurt him. Please, for me, my…my love."
Ozai quickly leaned out of the carriage and said, "That's enough." He moved to the side to allow the woman to exit the carriage.
"Ikem," she said to the young man. "Go home."
"Ursa," Ikem retorted in a pleading voice. "We belong together. Whatever they're offering you, it isn't worth the pain of never again belonging."
"The decision's been made," Ursa replied, not wanting to look at him. "Nothing can change that."
"Tell me marrying that – that prince is what you truly want, that it is better than what I have shown you. Please, Ursa, don't make the five of us go home without you."
Ursa looked at him, pain leaving her face just for a moment. "The five of you?!" she asked. Ikem nodded. Her eyes turned to the carriage and then back to her parents standing in front of their house. She looked back to the carriage, and her eyes focused on a figure standing on a roof on the other side of the carriage. The figure's long, straight black hair blew in the breeze. She then locked eyes with Ozai. He gave her a peculiar expression while her expression hardened.
"Waldo," she said to the young man, not taking her eyes off of Ozai. "Get us out of here." Ozai appeared surprised while Azulon was livid.
"You're going to the capital with us!" he yelled at her. "Your parents and your 'childhood friend' will pay the price for your defiance and refusal to obey your Fire Lord!" The two soldiers closest to her parents turned to face them, spears raised. Her parents cowered in fear as the soldiers converged on them. There was a loud crack as a young woman with curly black hair Apparated between them and the soldiers. She raised her wand, and blasted the two soldiers off their feet. Around the carriage, there were many more cracks. A woman with bushy blonde hair, a woman with straight black hair, and a man with straight blond hair stood with their wands raised at the carriage. Ursa turned and stood behind Waldo as Ozai practically leaped out of the carriage, eager for a fight.
"Your sticks are no match for us," Ozai growled.
"Wanna bet, Prince," Waldo countered with extra spite on the last word and drew his own wand, significantly more confident than before. The five witches and wizards twirled their wands. With simple flashes of red, the swords and spears in the soldiers' hands flew into the air and behind each witch or wizard. Ozai punched at Waldo, a column of fire spewing out of his fist. Waldo twirled his wand in the air, making a wall of fire to block the column.
"Stupefy!" he shouted, pointing his wand through the fire. The spell knocked Ozai to the ground, unconscious. Azulon was furious but dared not leave the carriage. He knew when he didn't have the upper hand. The soldiers remained completely still, unsure whether or not to follow their prince's lead.
"Like I said, Fire Lord," Waldo said, grabbing Ursa's waist. He nodded to the curly-haired witch, who grabbed both of Ursa's very frightened parents. "I can't let you take her. Oh, and tell your son when he wakes up that I quit Project Carthage." With that, he and the four others turned on their heels and Disapparated from the town."
Aelita woke with a start, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. She sat up in bed. She thought about what she had just seen. There were a lot of names thrown around that she didn't recognize but the two she did obviously stuck out the most: Waldo and Ursa. She must have seen her parents. But it didn't make any sense. Ursa had no red hair. Waldo did look a little bit like Draco. There was no trace of technology of any kind, at least nothing with electricity. The soldiers' armors were very medieval with possible Asian influence. But maybe it was some kind of wizarding town that, like Hogsmeade, had no electronic equipment. After all, that "Fire Prince Ozai" was able to create fire with his bare hands. But he called the wands sticks, so maybe it was an old-fashioned town? Aelita hadn't a clue. It was certainly a peculiar dream, but she had never had one quite so vivid. The only thing she knew for certain was that she had that dream for a reason and that she had to tell Taelia and Draco about it soon.
A relatively small house was nestled in the middle of a forest on a snowy mountainside. There was no identifiable insignia on the building to determine which nation it belonged to. Nonetheless, outside the building were three people. A young girl with strangely pink hair was playing in the snow while her parents watched from afar.
The girl laughed and shouted, "Look at my giant snowball, Mommy!"
"Stay near the house, darling!" the red-haired woman called back to her.
"Well done, my angel!" the graying father praised her, his wife holding onto his arm affectionately. The little girl laughed again while her parents chuckled as their daughter played.
Suddenly, a howl echoed around the snowy clearing, and a wolf emerged from the trees near the little girl. Interesting looking vehicles pulled up to the house, and men dressed in only black attire got out. The vehicle doors slammed shut with a bang.
"Anthea, get Aelita!" the father said before turning to run to the house. "I'll get the other two!"
Inside the house, the men were swarming the building, tossing over tables and chairs in their wake. Crying could be heard from one of the upstairs bedrooms. Two of the men ran up to the door of said bedroom and swung it open. A baby girl lay in her crib crying while her black-haired toddler brother tried to shush her. He froze in fear when the door opened.
"Stawp it!" the boy shouted bravely. "You're scawring her!"
"Take his children!" a familiar voice called out from the lower floor. The two men approached the crib too quickly for the toddler's liking.
"NO!" the boy screamed. Green flames erupted from his pudgy hands and struck the two unprepared men. The green fire knocked them to the ground, but only momentarily. They stood up again, but only to find a figure with dark hair standing between them and the children.
"You heard the kid," the figure snarled. "No!" Swords were drawn from the men's coats. The figure raised his palms and lightning shot straight out of them. The lightning engulfed the two men, immobilizing them. The figure sped forward, faster than any human, and punched them both in the gut. They flew out of the room. The two men fell through the back wall and down onto the first floor below where the father was dueling against an imposing man, Fire Prince Ozai himself.
"You thought you could hide her from me?!" Ozai cackled, shooting a bolt of lightning at the father. He successfully dodged it, formed a ball of pinkish blue electricity in his hand, and threw it at Ozai. Ozai sidestepped the ball, causing it to hit one of the other black-dressed soldiers.
"Mark my words Franz Hopper," Ozai snarled again. "Today you will finally pay for your treason against the Fire Nation and Project Carnage." He charged lightning once again. There was a blur, and the figure from the bedroom grabbed Ozai's fingers, absorbing the lightning.
"It's 'Project Carthage', you pathetic excuse for a man!" the figure corrected Ozai sarcastically. The lightning traveled across the figure's body and convened at his free hand. The lightning field that erupted from the figure's open palm hit Ozai square in the chest, knocking him through one of the glass windows.
"X.A.N.A.," Franz Hopper said. "Get back to Anthea and Aelita!" X.A.N.A. nodded and then his eyes widened in fear.
"Both of us need to go, now," he said, vanishing. But it was already too late. The little girl had fallen on the ground, crying. She kept screaming "Mommy!" and pointing at the trees where one of the vehicles had just disappeared. One of the men moved to take her, but the wolf intervened. The animal jumped, biting the man's hand clean off while electrocuting him at the same time. Franz ran up to his daughter, who now lay in the snow whimpering. The vehicles up at the house drove quickly away.
"It was all a distraction," Franz muttered, clutching his daughter tightly. "They got her. They got Anthea."
Fire Lord Zuko opened his eyes, tears rolling down his face. He quickly went to his private washroom and splashed some water onto his face. He sat back down on the foot of his bed, thinking about the dream he just had. The name Franz Hopper had appeared in his dreams again. What could it possibly mean? Azula had said weeks ago that she was going to ask their imprisoned father about it, but he had yet to learn if she had fulfilled his request of her. And the Anthea woman, save for her red hair, had some resemblance to his own mother. The little boy bent green fire. The only person he knows of that can bend a different color fire is Azula. Was there a connection with that? A small voice in the back of his mind asked a more unnerving question: Was the stress of being the leader of the Fire Nation slowly driving him insane like it had with his sister? It was an unnerving thought that prevented him from falling asleep for the rest of the night.
X.A.N.A. sat upon the cliff ledge, gazing down at what little remained of his factory in silent contemplation. Yaxley stood beside him. Yaxley was frowning. X.A.N.A. was not.
"Sir?" Yaxley began. X.A.N.A. nodded, giving him silent permission to speak freely. "No disrespect intended with this question, but when exactly are you going to do more to stop them from destroying your army?"
"I'm keeping them busy and giving them a false sense of security," X.A.N.A. explained coolly. "The larger their egos, the greater their mistakes. It's already paying off. They barely recognized that the majority of my army residing there were actually specters. There were maybe twenty of the suits that I had already deemed to be faulty prototypes. I'm using those annoyances as my beta testers as it were." Yaxley raised an eyebrow in confusion, but X.A.N.A. shook it off. "My army currently has weaknesses against magic, weaknesses that made me realize why I need your assistance. My army can handle the Muggles while you handle the magic. The more facilities I allow them to discover, the more practice and refinement I get against them. In the meantime, however, they need to be distracted while we proceed with our plans. Plus, this isn't exactly a setback. Are you aware of where we are?"
"Yes, I am," Yaxley replied.
"Did it seem to you, while watching the attack transpire, that they were aware of it?" X.A.N.A. asked.
"No, I don't believe so," Yaxley answered. He paused and then he smiled. "Which would mean that they won't have a reason to be continuing to monitor the area with the factory gone."
"Precisely," X.A.N.A. said, smiling for the first time during their conversation. "Is everyone in position?"
"They are," Yaxley reported. He also smiled.
"Yaxley, I don't have a problem with you questioning my methods," X.A.N.A. turned away from the bare mountainside. "We need to remain on the same page for this, shall we say, collaboration to work." He glanced up at the dark grey sky. "Just don't make a habit of it." With that, the pair of them vanished from sight.
Seconds later, a large cargo plane flew overhead. It kept flying towards another mountainside nearly a mile away and out of sight from the destroyed factory. As it approached the huge, towering black building perched against the rocky cliffside, the cargo bay doors opened. X.A.N.A.'s robots jumped out as the plane flew directly overhead. The robots landed on top of and around the building. The plane swooped around and began to make another pass towards the building, this time at a lower altitude. It was on a collision course for the enormous structure. By this point, the robots had already started firing at the guards. Some of the guards turned to face the plane and prepared to stop it. The plane suddenly exploded merely fifty feet from the building. Flames and hot metal crashed into the building, creating several dozen holes in the front face of the building. The building's stone entrance that read, "For the Greater Good" collapsed underneath the weight of the plane's fuselage. Any Aurors and guards that weren't injured or killed by the plane were overwhelmed and cut down by X.A.N.A.'s robots. Yaxley and numerous Death Eaters stepped over the collapsed entrance. They smiled upon the damaged building.
"Time to liberate our colleagues," Yaxley said. The Death Eater entourage walked towards the massive building. Hardly thirty minutes later, all of the Death Eaters that had been captured in Europe were gone, leaving nothing but dead bodies, hot metal, and a damaged and burning Nurmengard Prison amongst the falling snow.