Hello, everybody. Now, I know that this chapter is rather short compared to my usual length, but I couldn't really figure out a way to continue onto the next part without going past six thousand words. I do try to keep my chapters under five thousand words, with a few rare exceptions, so that you as a reader can reach a stopping point in case things get busy irl. Now, I do want to address something that was mentioned by a concerned reader in my Force of Change story.

My decision to have Vader crush Glynda's hand in a fit of rage and reaction has been treated with scrutiny at best, and downright outrage at worst. "Her aura should have protected her!" "The Force can't affect something through aura!" Etc… And I'll give the same explanation as before, and then some.

Aura in RWBY comes from within. It bolsters the body, heals it faster, and provides a literal shield from harm. However, there is a very limited amount within the body, and it can be overwhelmed with relative ease. The Force is a universal power, that comes from both within and out. The telekinetic abilities of an experienced Force User far outstrip anything that even Glynda Goodwitch could produce. Yes, she has a mild advantage in terms of Elemental Dust attacks, but even Vader can use small scale elemental attacks. He would easily be able to lift her up through the Force, even if it meant he had to wrap her in a cocoon of solid air, or just use her clothing to pick her up. As for crushing her hand… This is a man who can casually crush durasteel constructs through a stray thought and bring down starships with some effort. I'm pretty sure he could crush a human hand, even if it was reinforced with he could do it as easily as you or I crumpled a piece of paper.

"Would you relax, Potter? No one is going to find us here." Alita rolled her eyes, her voice holding a mixture of amusement and annoyance as she watched Harry pacing the floor of the room he had rented from the Leaky cauldron. She noticed that he had forgotten to take the cloak off from the so called 'Death Eater' he had knocked out, and he was beginning to look like an overgrown bat with the way it was billowing out.

Harry glanced at her, shaking his head, "I performed magic outside of school, Alita. The ministry is going to expel me, and snap my wand. And they have the Trace on me since I'm underage... A sort of tracking charm that monitors when someone uses magic."

Alita raised an eyebrow, "So, they have a charm that alerts them the moment you use magic, no matter where you are in the country?"

"Yes, I just s-"

"And this charm, it works instantaneously?"

Harry paused, getting the feeling that he was missing something, "Er... yes? Right before I began my second year, a house elf had used a Levitation Charm in the house, and the ministry had sent a letter to me within minutes."

"And how long has it been since you cast that spell?"

Harry stared at Alita, who had a playful smirk on her face as she waited for the other shoe to drop. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Er... three hours now? They aren't coming, are they?"

Alita shrugged, gesturing around him, "Hey, you said it, not me. Now, get that cloak off. It makes you look like a massive, overgrown bat."

Harry cringed as a wayward thought hit him, and he nearly umped out of the cloak, mumbling, "That's an image I don't need. I-"

A loud creak outside the room door made both of them freeze. Alita jumped off the bed, landing on the floor in complete silence despite her being made of metal. She gestured for him to back away from the door, large, silvery blades sprouting from her wrists. A second creak, closer this time, prompted Alita to move up to the door, resting her hand on the handle. She glanced down, watching as a third creak went through the floor, and a shadow stopped right on the other side. Alita tensed, closing her eyes as she listened carefully. Every door in the Leaky Cauldron was charmed with a simple Muffilato, semi-soundproofing the room behind it on both sides. However, Alita's ears were sharper than a normal human's, and wouldn't be fooled by a three decade old charm."

"Are you sure he's here?"

"Of course I am, lass. Dumbledore intercepted the Trace message before it could reach the bloody Ministry. He has to be here. Alohamor-ARGH!"

Alita heard the beginnings of some nonsensical word, and immediately decided to strike. She tackled the door, her heavy metal body destroying the door hinges and flattening the man on the other side. There was a yelp of surprise, and she looked up to see a girl with bright purple hair, pointing a wand at her with a stunned expression. Alita stood up, keeping the man pinned below her. The Witch took one look at Alita's mechanical arms and fired a bright blue spell at her. The cyborg grunted as she was thrown off the door, sliding down the hall a few feet before grinding to a halt. Alita glared at the shocked witch, her chest smoking from the impact of the spell, "You may want to put the stick down."

The purple haired woman immediately threw the wand away, raising her hands with a terrified expression. The one she had pinned under the door groaned, pushing the door off himself and staggering to his feet... foot. Alita raised an eyebrow at the grizzled appearance of the wizard. False eye and leg, scars and old wounds. This man was a soldier. Alita grinned as she settled into a combat stance, ready to take on the old veteran.

"Professor Moody? What are you doing here?"

Alita paused, turning to Harry, who was looking at the old vet with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. The grizzled man glanced at him with his good eye, while the electric blue false eye continued to stare at her, twitching every once in a while. ALita narrowed her eyes, barely reacting when he barked at her, "Aye, I still have my eye on you, lass. And Potter, Dumbledore sent Auror Tonks and I to collect and return yeh to the Dursely's. The damage to the home has been repaired, and your relatives' memories modified. He has placed new protections around yer home, and-"

"Yeah, that's not happening," Alita stepped forward, giving 'Professor Moody' as steely glare. "Wizard boy here isn't going anywhere near those animals ever again. And if you want to do something like that, you'll have to go through me."

Harry coughed nervously as Moody looked towards him in askance, "Professor, this is Alita. She's a cyborg from… America."

Professor Moody frowned, well, frowned some more, glaring suspiciously at Alita and Harry, "What in the ruddy blazes is a Cyborg? And what is an American doing with the Boy-Who-Lived?"

Alita snorted, trying to stifle it with her hand, "Wait, that's the big title these idiots gave you? Oh, god… I am so glad I managed to earn my own name. Battle Angel is much better than Girl-Who-Fights-Really-Well, what do you think, Mr. Oz?"

Moody stiffened, recognizing the term Oz, "You're a muggle, aren't you?"

"If you mean by non-magical, I think that's pretty obvious. But if you mean ordinary…" Alita flexed her fingers, causing sparks of plasma to shoot from the metallic tips. "Wizard, I think you should back off. Harry is not going back to those animals, and you'll have to kill me if you want to do that."

Moody grinned wolfishly, taking a step towards Alita in what would have been a menacing fashion, had it been anyone else he was threatening, "Lass, I don't think you underst-"

"No, I don't think you understand, Mr. Moody." Alita held her hand up, pointing at Harry. "Mr. Potter has endured years of physical and mental abuse at the hands of the supposed family who should have been protecting him. And no, I'm not from America, I'm from the Scrap Yard, below Tiphares, nearly a thousand years in the future. Potter accidentally summoned me while I was in the middle of a fighting tournament, and has been rather amicable about finding help to get me back."

Moody stood there for a while, his stony expression trying to process everything he had heard. His partner on the other hand, had no such problems, "Wait, wait, wait... You're telling me that Harry accidentally performed a summoning ritual... to drag something through time?"

Harry cringed, nodding, "Yeah, but I promised her that I would try to get her back to her time. I uh... I have the coin that I used to summon her, in case you want to see it."

Moody's eyes went back and forth between Alita and her Wizard, before nodding sharply and gesturing with his wand, "Inside then. Auror Tonks, the door."

The purple haired woman nodded, repairing the door with a flick of her wrist, "Sir, are you sure about this?"

Moody grunted, "Not at all, Tonks. But I don't think a few stunners and jinxes will affect this cyborg girl."

Alita smirked smugly at Tonks, the blades shrinking back into her wrists, "Hey, what did you do with that body?"

Moody and Tonks froze, with the latter looking absolutely horrified, "Body? What body?"

"Oh, you know, the body of that Death Eater I shredded after he and his buddy attacked Harry? And how did the Walrus and his family survive? I was sure those wizards hated normal folk."

Moody gave a harsh, barking laugh, "So that's what the damage came from. We assumed it was from Potter doing accidental magic. The Death Eaters you're talking about must have escaped before we showed up. You're telling me that a muggle girl killed a Death Eater?"

Alita shrugged, "To be fair, I think he was caught off guard when his red spell pinged off my shoulder. Kind of like Tonksy over there."

The cyborg raised an eyebrow in surprise as Tonk's began sputtering indignantly, her purple hair turning a bright red to match her face. Moody cut her off before she could fire back, though, "Potter, where is this coin?"

"Right here, Professor," Harry handed over the large coin to the aging ex-soldier.

Moody frowned, inspecting the artifact and muttering spells over it with his wand. After several minutes, he grunted, "Well, I can't tell you if it's possible to go back to... your time, but this definitely feels like time magic. And you two are linked in some way, I just can't figure it out..."

Alita glanced at Harry, before shrugging, "Meh, I don't really understand all of your magic mumbo-jumbo, and I don't really care to understand at that. I have a question for you that doesn't involve that time travel crap. What are you going to do about those animals that were abusing Potter?"

Moody fixed Alita with a suspicious eye, "You mentioned that before. What do you mean 'abuse'?"

Alita glared at Harry, who returned the look with a pleading expression, "Potter, take off your shirt." When he opened his mouth to refuse, she held up her hand, summoning up her plasma. "Potter, if you don't take it off, I'm taking it off for you."

Harry frowned, before reluctantly taking his over sized shirt off.

"Now turn around."

"Alita, I don't-"

"Turn. Around."

Harry swallowed nervously, before slowly facing his back towards the two magi and the cyborg.

Tonk's eyes widened, and she turned a violent mixture of sickly green and angry red, "What... Harry... Oh my gods, I think I'm going to be sick."

Moody and Alita remained silent for several long moments, before the former grunted, "Well, Potter, I have to give you credit. You do a damned good job at hiding pain. I had no clue you were going through... that."

Harry's back was littered with scars, burn marks, and bruises. Alita scowled, having suspected the injuries, but still not expecting the sight. She had been through war-zones and POW camps that didn't treat men this poorly. Her keen eye recognized that some of the scarring came from bladed weapons, but she couldn't figure out-

"Merlin's Beard, Moody... Those are Cat o'Nine Tail marks! They were using medieval torture methods on him!"

Moody simply grunted, gesturing for Harry to put his shirt back on, "Alright, lad, you won't be going back to those animals, but we need to find another place for you. It's too dangerous to allow you-"

"I can protect him." Alita crossed her arms, an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face. "I had a few bodyguard jobs in my time, and it seems that my body is relatively resistant to magic."

Moody harumphed, eyeing her carefully, "Aye, I would agree with that statement, but we don't know anything about you, lass. And Potter is still in school. How do you expect to defend him when muggles aren't allowed in Hogwarts?"

Alita snickered, struggling to keep a smirk off her face, "One, who name's your stuff? They need to be arrested. Two, surely there must be a way for me to go to this place? Or maybe you can test for magic and falsify the results? I mean, my body is so advanced that I'm sure even the regular folk would think I'm some sort of magic."

Tonks glanced at Moody, "I mean, she's not wrong. I thought she was some sort of creature when I hit her with a Reducto Maximus. She just shrugged it off like some sort of miniature giant."

Moody nodded, pointing his wand at Alita again and muttering a short incantation. His eyes widened in surprise when a series of three rings and some sparks appeared around her, "Well, I'll be damned... She is magical. Not particularly powerful, but that's probably due to her muggle aspects. It's either a side effect of the summoning, or the reason she was able to be summoned."

Alita rolled her eyes. Great job, Alita. You can't do anything normally, can you? She shook her head in annoyance, "Alright then, what does this mean?"

Moody grunted, "I'll get Madame Bones to registre you as a bodyguard, and then you will be going to Hogwarts as... well, we'll see. Maybe I can get Albus to start a self defense course. How do you feel about being a teacher?"

Alita raised an eyebrow, "Honestly? I've never actually considered that option. There aren't many teachers in my time, and I've always been in the fighting circuit as either a competitive fighter, or as a mercenary. I've helped stop several wars on Mars, Earth, and Titan."

Moody grinned nastily, "A mercenary, eh? Well, we'll just keep that between friends. Dumbledore doesn't need to know that you line your pockets with blood money."

Alita nodded in agreement, crossing her arms, "Why am I liking this Dumb-as-a-door character less and less?"

Moody snorted, shaking his head as he pulled out a flask, sniffing the contents before downing a mouthful, "That's Headmaster Dumbledore, and he's currently the most powerful light wizard alive. He's the one who was supposed to be watching over Harry, and the one who placed him with the Durselys."

Alita nodded, "Yep... Dumb-as-a-door. I stand by that name. I think we should go see this Madame Bones, now. Before your wannabe Merlin can stop any of this from taking place..."

Moody watched as a concerned frown appeared on Alita, her eyes flickering ever so slightly, "What is it, lass?"

Alita glanced at Harry, her mind working furiously, "I don't know... Something feels... wrong about this entire situation. Harry's mother, I'm assuming she was a witch, or at least willingly married a wizard, or vice versa for the father... They must have known that the Dursleys would hate Harry. Hell, if I had a child, I would put it in my will to never let them be placed with people that I knew would abuse them. Did anyone ever read the Potter's will, to see what they wanted?"

Moody's eyes widened with dawning comprehension, "No, because Dumbledore had them sealed immediately! And while Sirius was the godfather, he was never given a trial when accused of betraying them... amongst other things... Come to think of it, why did Pettigrew betray the Potters? He was fiercely loyal to James..."

Alita nodded, "And what about Voldemort, what do we know about him?"

Tonks flinched at the name, before speaking up, "He's a madman hell bent on enslaving all of Wizarding and Muggle Britain. His name is Tom Marvelo Riddle."

"Tom? Seriously? That doesn't sound like a wizard's name..."

Moody growled, gripping his staff, "What are you on about, lass?"

Alita shook her head, a frustrated look in her eyes, "I don't know yet... I need more information, but I'm starting to think... Bah, forget about it. Let's just go see Madame Bones."

The grizzled wizard nodded in agreement, gesturing for everyone to leave before him. This was going to be an interesting meeting.

Alright! So, here we learn a few things. Yeah, I made Alita magical, not that she's really going to rely on it. She's also going to be a self defense instructor at Hogwarts so she can keep an eye on Potter. Some nasty things are going to come to light about Dumbledore, so that should be interesting. I just can't wait to see Alita put Malfoy in his place…

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