Scene: Babylon 5, The Movies, "In the Beginning"
Fanfiction Story Title: Oasis on the Road to Babylon, Part 2
"The Lone Traveler: Young man who tried to change the past and save those he loved… plan failed and became the Lone Traveler, wandering through time and reality, making a difference wherever he went… very powerful… defeated a powerful Dark wizard styling himself a Lord… swept along the path he walked by a spectacular aura of blue light."
'Legends & Myths of the Wizarding World' by Gertrude Yolanda
FF St ID 2673584 – Chap 9 – The Professional Modified FF St ID – Chap 58 - Dunuelos
Dukhat sat it in his outer sanctum, hosting a most unusual human. The Grey Council's ship, the Valenthia, was on its way to Z'ha'dum. It would be over in just enough time to reach the meeting between the Humans and themselves.
Dukhat was accompanied by another Council member and his protégé, Delenn. She was also curious about the Human that had appeared in a flash of light.
"So, you are a Human wizard. Tell me, how did you come to arrive on our ship?"
Harry considered how to answer that. "In my own Universe, I was at the forefront in the fight against Dark forces." Harry explained his history, including the death of his parents, his less than salubrious upbringing, his attendance of Hogwarts, the separation of Wizards from Muggles in his society, his adventures, the Goblet of Fire, the death of his Godfather, the pieces of soul that he had found and destroyed, the meaning of the his title as Master of Death, the loss of all his loved ones and the ritual to correct the past resulting in an unstable temporal field taking him.
"And I found that it didn't work. Instead of sending my essence to the past, I have been sent to world upon world, universe upon universe. Many times I have found mistakes, errors, poor situations, bad decisions. I do what I can to help, and then I am moved on. The past, the future, alternate versions of myself, friends I have known, strangers. I hope that one day I will be sent to where I can fix my own life – but until then, I move as the Universe dictates. I can only hope that I make things better."
Delenn, much more emotional than Dukhat, whispered, "Such pain and such resolve. How can you stay sane?"
Harry, having lived this life, still had much pain but he also took time to appreciate the circumstances and people he found himself involved with. "What other choice is there? I could try to kill myself, but the Universe took my last attempt and put me here. I could rail against it, but what would that do? Who is there to appease to rectify my circumstance? God? Magic? The Universe?"
Harry looked so very old in that moment, and then his face took on a look of unutterable resolve. "I will do what I can do to make the world a better place. It is better to fight from your knees than to stand and run away."
Dukhat was mightily impressed by his visitor.
Dukhat, Delenn, the other members of the Grey Council, and Harry were all standing on the bridge to witness the egress from hyperspace to the region of Z'ha'dum. When Harry had heard of the reason for the trip, he found he was very sympathetic to the leader of the Anla'shok. Not so much toward the Grey Council.
When he had heard the Warriors' plan to come out right on top of the Dark world, he had suggested to Dukhat a more stealthy approach. A scout was best done without announcing your presence to the other side.
When the Warrior who had reported the plan to Dukhat heard the suggestion, he really wanted to sneer. Who skulked when approaching an enemy? Dukhat was amused by the Warrior. He wasn't a big fan of being stupid.
As a result, Dukhat convinced the Grey Council to approve the stealthy approach. The Religious and Worker Caste members were a bit more reasonable.
The Minbari were hidden behind several asteroids in the system. Whatever else could be said about the Warriors who flew the ship, their skills at their chosen place was unmatched. The pilot kept the ship moving behind the moving rock keeping it between the ship and the planet. A small fighter was launched.
The pilot of the small pilot ship kept to the shadows of the asteroid as she used every scanner on the small ship to record the planet now in view. The gravimetric drive of the shuttle allowed her to latch on to the asteroid to keep in a relatively dark spot from the planet below. After she scanned for about an hour, she moved the flyer back to the Valenthia. It and its small number of escorts then jumped out.
The Grey Council was reviewing the images captured by the flyer.
The holographic screen was expanded to shop details on the surface. The communications scanners were played. The energy emissions were calculated. There was one more bit of evidence that Dukhat presented.
"On the command deck, we had a visitor. This visitor has many unusual abilities. Among his people, he is called a Wizard – a worker of Magic. Unlike the Technomages that we have encountered over the years, there is no used of technology to achieve results. He made an observation that I wish all to hear."
Dukhat made a gesture and shortly thereafter, the Human that all had heard about came in. He was directed into the center circle of light.
He looked around and said, "I see you people are all for the third degree." None of the Minbari understood the reference.
Dukhat asked Harry, "Can you repeat what you reported to me earlier?"
Harry nodded. "Right before we left, as the flyer was coming back, I felt a presence attempting to find me using some sort of mental probe. Luckily, I have experience and I closed my mind to it in such a way that it slid off of my mind. It was a very powerful probe."
The Grey Council was shocked. One of them, a Warrior, asked, "How can we be certain that this is accurate?" The Warriors were not fond of an Alien giving testimony.
Dukhat, however, had an answer. "I have asked a telepath from one of the escort vessels that stayed further back to come and scan Harry's mind – with his permission. She will report the veracity of his observations."
He made another gesture, and a white-robed member of the Religious Caste arrived. Harry having been prepared said, "I only agree for review of what happened there. The rest of my past I will only show when I choose."
Dukhat nodded in acquiescence. The telepath scanned Harry's mind. Having had experience with mental intrusion, Harry directed her to the relevant memory. She saw the whole scene from his perspective. When she was done, she reported: "His statement is accurate. There as a mental presence. He hid his mind most effectively."
Dukhat nodded. "Is there anything else you would say before being dismissed?"
Harry thought about it. "I have some experience with Dark presences. Whatever tried to scan me was Dark in a way that few are. It was also very strong – it is lucky that I have experience in dealing with that or we would have been found. I can only guess that my mind, having experience with the Mind Arts, was more susceptible to being felt."
The Warrior sneered, "What does a young Human like you know about the Dark?"
Harry felt a sudden need to knock that smug look off the idiot's face. He felt a buildup of energy. He suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
The Grey Council was shocked.
Harry appeared in an Artisan's studio. He looked around noticing that he was no longer on that ship. He looked around and saw a man with a robe, sitting in front of a bench which contained a stone stand containing a Pensieve. Wow, that was convenient. One of his recent visits landed him a number of Galleons which he couldn't spend outside of the Magical world. Obviously, he was in the Magical world.
Sitherious Psechikos looked upon the latest copy of his greatest invention. He had managed to create an object which allowed one to sort through memories to find detail which was missed originally. His family was well known for devices and magics having to do with the mind.
Suddenly there was a bright blue light in his shop. He shielded his eyes and before him was a figure dressed most outlandishly. The man wore some type of animal hide covering and his legs were covered by a long version of English trousers. He had shoes made of leather.
He had heard about this. It was a legend that he had heard as a young child. He gasped, "Traveler!"
The figure nodded at him and lit upon the Pensieve. The Traveler's face brightened. He pointed to the bowl. Sitherious, having always wanted to meet the Traveler, was enthusiastic as he handed the bowl to the man to inspect it. The Traveler looked it over and then looked at Sitherious. The traveler set it down and fished out of his pocket a bag. The Traveler dumped a small pile of gold Galleons in front of Sitherious, and then picked the Pensieve back up. The man then waved his wand and the stone pedestal was transfigured to a small stone and picked up by the Traveler.
He couldn't imagine the power required to transfigure stone.
The man said one word, "Thanks," and then turned. He disappeared in another blinding light, this time accompanied by Phoenix song. Sitherious stood transfixed, even as the sound faded.
He was truly blessed by Magic to have been able to help that poor, tortured soul described in Legend.
The Grey Council had just seen their visitor disappear in a bright blue light. All were transfixed. As soon as the first syllable was heard uttered by the Warrior that had been confronted, the bright blue light had reappeared and Harry Potter reappeared – holding an odd metal bowl.
Dukhat asked with some shock, "What happened?"
While still looking at the Warrior Harry replied, "The Universe moved me. Or I moved the Universe. I don't know. All I do know is that I can now answer this idiot's question."
The Warrior stiffened at the casual insult. He was about to reply when Dukhat yelled, "Enough!" The Warrior settled down, but still wanted to gut the Human in front of him.
With some asperity Dukhat said, "Let us see what the Universe requires, yes?"
Harry took the stone out, set it on the ground, and cancelled the transfiguration. The pedestal expanded back out to its full size. Harry placed the metal bowl in its stand.
Harry then concentrated and drew several strands that looked like liquid made of light from his head. He placed them each in metal bowl.
Once he was finished he said, "Place your finger within the bowl and you will see my response." He backed away to allow the Grey Council access.
Dukhat looked at the Warrior Council member and said, "I think we will all do as Harry asked. It should be most illuminating."
All Nine plus Dukhat moved so that each could reach the large bowl set in stone. Each suddenly felt themselves fall until all stood in the muted image of a room. A woman and a man were standing there, and suddenly the door blew in. The man yelled, and the woman took the baby up the stairs. They followed. The Warriors had tried to attack the figure – but their hands passed through. The images played out.
Scene after scene, the images played out. Most were horrifying. The Warrior that had asked the question which engendered this response was sickened. The boy they all saw was obviously Human visitor as a child. It was becoming more and more apparent that this Human knew about Darkness – all too well.
Dukhat, the only one who had the translation spell applied, had to translate for the Council.
When finally the scenes had stopped each reawakened to awareness of themselves. They looked around and saw the other members doing the same, and then they all turned toward the figure standing several feet away.
The Warrior that had started the whole process stepped forward and bowed. "I extend my most humble apology. From the records provided it is obvious that you are quite experienced with the Dark." All who had not seen the memories were astounded that a Warrior, a member of the Grey Council, would abase himself before an Alien – regardless of the provocation.
Harry nodded. "I accept your apology." He looked off for a moment, his sight obviously not on what he faced. His eyes returned to the Warrior. "I should apologize as well. I made it too personal. I shouldn't have subjected you to the memory of evil that I have seen. It was not of your making."
The Warrior bowed his head in respect.
Harry moved to return the memories to his head. They were his burden, and his alone. He would not leave them to traumatize anyone else.
Harry turned and made his way out of the chambers to the quarters he had been provided.
The Grey Council argued back and forth as to what to do. Most did not want to alarm the Mimbari people. But all had agreed that steps must be taken to find the other half of their soul as stated in Ancient Prophesy.
Some had wanted to argue that the Dark presence was not the Shadows – until they had seen the experience of the young Human. The image of the leader of a people denying the return of the Dark on Harry's own world opened their eyes to the foolishness that position posed.
The experiences that they had all seen had changed them. It matured them beyond their blindness. The Religious members were moved by the Universe making itself manifest in the image of a Human Traveler. The Worker members saw the devastation of War and the necessity of rebuilding. The Warriors … the Warriors could not help but be humbled by a sentient that would fight the Dark against the opposition of those that "knew better."
The Grey Council saw that the Dark must be fought, even when it seemed status quo.
The Valenthia, with a much larger escort than present two weeks earlier, jumped through the local jumpgate. The Narn Outpost in Sector 157, Quadrant 37 to the Narn, saw more traffic than it had seen in many years. It boasted the largest concentration of Narns outside of the Narn Homeworld. It had a space station present to protect it from attack.
Near the station were several Human ships. Most were the same as the ones the Valenthia had encountered. One was not. It was a diplomatic ship.
The Narns had several warships, in addition to freighters which moved food to the Narn homeworld. Their own was still desolate after their war with the Centauri.
The Narns had finally agreed to host the talks at the Space Station – for a small fee. They really were a mercenary people since freeing themselves from the Centauri.
Harry, despite the suggestions of several of the Grey Council, kept to his casual clothing. It was a strange thing that they had all agreed that an Alien had been chosen by all of them to be a member of the group to represent their position to the race that had attacked them. But Harry Potter was a very unusual Human.
Harry asked Dukhat about one other thing. Shortly after arriving, a statement had come from the Mimbari declaring protection for a FOURTH Race that was sending a delegate. They were told that it was personal business and the Minbari, like the Earthers, had paid a fee in a quantity of Quantium 40 for use of the station to meet with someone.
Harry reflected that his experiences in the past did not seem to prepare him for what he was about to deal with.