IATB: The Rise

by ffdrake

Sequel to In All Things Balance. Former Dark Lady Nox has laid the foundations for a new order of Force users on Earth. But with Order 66 given and the Jedi scatter her plans must be accelerated making her bring her adoptive son, Harry Potter, and her apprentices Daphne and Susan to their trials. While on Earth Voldemort begins his plans for resurrection. Nox/Tonks, Harry/Ahsoka

6. Chapter 6

A/N: Just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who's supported this story so far. I can't believe that we're already up to 1k Favorites and 1k Alerts! That is absolutely mind blowing to me and I thank each and everyone one of you for your continued support! It really means a lot to me.

Now if you will all excuse me for a moment…I need to rant. FLAMES DO NOT HELP ANYONE! I've received several, actually more than a few, so called 'flame' reviews, usually going along the lines that my writing, this story, or my characters in general just suck or are not 'correct'. Some of them are actually quite lengthy too. And then they also take the coward's way out of leaving a flame under a 'guest' review so I can't even find out who you are. Now I'm always open to reviews, but if it's critiques please leave suggestions as well. I'm not a professional writer and have never claimed to be one. I do this for fun. But having someone say that everything I've spent so many hours on is a piece of shit…well that really puts me off of writing. If you don't like something, DON"T REVIEW IT! Just simply click off the story and let those who do enjoy it enjoy it. No one is forcing you to read this.

Sorry about that, but I had to get that off of my chest. And like I said, those few reviewers are few and far far between. And I appreciate every single one of you who leave either positive reviews or helpful suggestions or those who alert/favorite this story. Thank you all so much for your continued support.

And lastly, before we begin just a huge thank you too my two beta's HowInMadHowie and Dunstan Xenon. Thank you so much for your help you guys. And now…off we go!

Chapter 6

Sitting alone and shirtless in the darkness of his room within the Guardian Temple, Harry worked on keeping his breathing steady, focusing all of his will into his left arm while his faithful familiar Hedwig watched him from her perch above him. He felt his arm twitch and shift.

Opening his eyes quickly, he stared down at his left arm and gasped. His arm was bent slightly…and he had feathers sprouting all the way from his wrist up to his shoulder. Red feathers. 'That's it!' He thought excitedly, jumping up into the air in celebration.

But the moment he did his concentration broke and the feathers on his arm disappeared as the bones returned to normal. "Damn it." Harry cursed as he sat back down.

Two weeks. One week onboard the ship and one week since they'd arrived back on Earth. He'd been trying for two weeks now to get any headway into his animagus transformation. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Hell…he'd been sure of that ever since he had the dream revealing just what his animagus would be. But he didn't think it would be this hard. Two weeks and all he'd achieved was partially shifting his arm into his animagus form. And even then…the transformation broke the second he lost concentration.

Closing his eyes again, Harry tried once again to center his attention on the beast within his mind.

"Harry! Are you ready for…oh…whoa– I mean. Sorry."

Spinning around, Harry's eyes snapped opened. Behind him, standing just within his doorway was Ahsoka. Her hand was still on the handle of his door and her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen before. Feeling his body flush in embarrassment, Harry coughed awkwardly as he stood up and quickly put on his shirt. "Need something Ahsoka? Or…are you just admiring the view?"

Harry nearly patted himself on the back as he managed to get out the quip without blushing even further. In the short time the two had known one another they had settled into a comfortable relationship, one that developed even faster than his own with Ginny. Ahsoka blinked once, then he could've sworn he saw her face blush slightly before she scoffed. "In your dreams Harry."

Emboldened by the banter, Harry grinned as he took a step towards Ahsoka. "And what pleasant dreams they are Ahsoka."

He was rewarded further as Ahsoka's cheeks darkened. "Stop…you win. You need to stop hanging out with your godfather and Master Kento so much." Ahsoka said turning away from him slightly and holding up her hand. Hedwig hooted from her perch and floated down towards the two of them only to pass right by Harry and land gracefully on Ahsoka's shoulder. "You see, even Hedwig agrees with me."

"Traitor." Harry chuckled as Hedwig stared at him while Ahsoka reached up and gently petted the feathers on her chest.

"She just knows class when she sees it." Ahsoka smirked back as she continued to pet Hedwig.

Shaking his head, Harry fixed Ahsoka with a rueful grin. "So, did you have a purpose coming to my room this morning or were you just trying to sneak a peek or steal my familiar or tease me?"

"Well, two of the three at least." Ahsoka smiled jokingly. "But don't tell me you forgot already? Today Master Nox is taking all of us, save for Galen, to this…Diagonal Alley?"

"Diagon Alley." Harry corrected as he led Ahsoka out of his room and into the wide corridor. "And no I haven't forgotten. I just got lost in my animagus training is all."

As soon as they were out in the hall, Hedwig took off from Ahsoka's shoulder and began flying down the hall. As the two walked down the hallway, Harry was once again struck with just how…beautiful this temple was. The hallways were much wider than those at Hogwarts…but at the same time the architecture was almost identical. Which was understandable as apparently the goblins still had the original schematics of Hogwarts that'd been penned by Rowena Ravenclaw herself, and they'd been used in the construction of the temple.

The outermost walls of the temple were also segregated so that slits could open allowing natural light to flow freely throughout the interior of the temple. When night came about however, the slats closed almost on their own accord and small troches lit up along the hallways to provide light.

There were also more rooms within the temple itself than in all of Hogwarts. There were hundreds…maybe even a thousand or more residential rooms. Dozens of large training rooms or lecture halls. A library, that while only currently a quarter of the way full, rivaled the library at Hogwarts. Attached to the library was a room that'd made all of the Jedi more than slightly nervous and envious. All of the holocrons that his mother had had been brought to the temple and were stored in a large five tiered vault.

While his mother had always encouraged him and her apprentices to study all aspects of the Force, even she admitted that there were some holocrons in her possession that were too dangerous for the ill-equipped. So because of that the vault was tiered into five sections. One that allowed everyone, even Acolytes in. The next tier required one to be of at least Apprentice standing. The third held the requirement that one needed to be a Knight while the fourth required a Master's ranking. And the last tier was currently restricted to only his mother and Master Yoda.

But despite the Temples large size, at the moment the only rooms that were constantly used were the library and holocron vault. And the rooms where Harry, his mother, Luna and her father and the other members of the Guardians were living in. The Bones', Greengrass', Sirius and everyone else had rooms set aside for them, but none of them were currently in use as they preferred to stay at their own homes during the night.

The real surprise was the one feature to the temple that absolutely astounded everyone, even his mother. Because the goblins had the original schematics of Hogwarts…they also had the runic arrays that went into the foundation of the old castle. Which included the array needed to create a new Room of Requirement. The room had absolutely floored the former Jedi that'd come back with them, even Master Yoda was taken aback by what the room was capable of. Ahsoka, being ever the eager one, was the first to really take control of the room when she had it create a squadron full of sentient droids for her to destroy. The room had actually become so popular amongst their group that his mother had to set up a timetable for who could use it and when.

When Harry had asked his mother just how all of the temple's runic arrays; from the defensive to the Room of Requirement to the moving walls, kept powered she replied that there was a reason she chose this particular locations, and it wasn't because of its remoteness. No. The true reason she chose this location was the same reason why the Founders choose that specific location for Hogwarts. This island was centered on a juncture of several magical ley lines. And because of that, the arrays and wards received a continuous stream of power without needing to be recharged.

He'd also been pleasantly surprised that all of his friends kept returning each day for training. Although now that each of them either had their own apprentices or they had a Master to instruct them, group training sessions were usually few and far between. And speaking of apprentices… "How's Nat handling the fact that she can't get a wand just yet?" Harry asked as the two continued towards the main hall of the temple.

Despite her many protests, his mother had been adamant that Nat would not be receiving her wand just yet. When the other masters asked just why that was, his mother explained to them what she'd learned of the intricacies of wand lore. They'd been both amazed and appalled. But in the end they all agreed that it would be for the best that Nat not receive her wand until she was at least eleven.

"She's better." Ahsoka nodded. "I think the compromise that she can still come with us helped a lot. It's too bad that little Galen won't be able to come with us. Although I don't really think he would remember this trip. Thank the Force that Luna is willing to help watch him with while we'll be gone. I know Kento likes your godfather, but I know that Mallie won't leave her son alone with Sirius. Force only knows what he'd teach the poor boy."

Harry didn't bother trying to hide his smile. His prediction back on Odessen had come true that Kento and Sirius would get along splendidly. And despite how much Mallie would deny it, Sirius was actually wonderful with little Galen and Nat. Especially when he turned into Padfoot. Luna and her father though was another story.

While Luna was getting along with everyone Harry could tell that, despite his good nature, Xenophilius was having a slightly harder time than his daughter. The owner of the Quibbler was constantly hounding after their new companions, asking them just about any and every question he could think of. Even if they didn't make any sense. Never mind the fact Xenophilius has come face to face with the knowledge that there is life outside Earth, his eccentric personality still takes getting used to.

"Luna will keep them in line…although now that I say that it is kind of sad." Harry laughed. "Two grown men and a baby, and the one we trust to keep them in line is a girl slightly younger than us."

The two were still laughing slightly as they walked into the main hall of the Temple. While all of the halls and rooms within the Temple were spacious, the main hall was in a league of its own. Ahsoka told him that it reminded her greatly of the main entrance within the Jedi Temple with its sheer size. The main thing that set the two Temples apart however were the three nearly five story tall statues that stood on three sides of the main hall facing the entrance. The statues of Grandmaster Satele Shan and Darth Marr flanked either side of the main hall while a statue of Revan stood directly across from the entrance. The other big difference were the eight fireplaces that were built into several of the pillars in the center of the hall. Eventually they would be connected to the global magical Floo network, but for now they were just simple fireplaces that had a constant magical fire burning within them.

Making their way further into the main hall, they found the rest of the occupants of the Temple gathered in the center of the hall. Luna was holding onto little Galen while Mallie was giving her and Tonks instructions. Sirius was chatting with Kento and Xenophilius was talking animatedly with and thoroughly amused looking Master Yoda.

"About time you two showed up." His mother called out while her back was still turned to them.

"Sorry mother." Harry apologized as Nat separated from the group and jumped at him, forcing him to catch her and carry her. "It's my fault. I lost track of time."

"Yeah…those broom closets really need clocks installed in them don't they Harry?" Sirius laughed good while shooting the two of them a less than subtle wink.

Harry just barely managed to keep his composure while beside him Ahsoka missed a step but managed to keep her face blank. "Careful old dog." Harry muttered.

"Or what?" Sirius asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Or I tell Amelia about those memories you keep locked away in your room." Harry answered innocently.

The blood instantly drained from Sirius's face. "How do you know about those– I mean…no…you wouldn't do that to me would you pup?"

Smiling, Harry marched right past his dogfather. "Well for starters I don't know what you're talking about, but thank you for confirming that there is something there. And second, keep teasing Ahsoka and I would in a heartbeat."

"Sneaky little bugger." Sirius grumbled as Kento started laughing at him while patting him on the back.

"Well now that we are all here, we can get started." His mother announced loudly, cutting off whatever comeback Sirius was building up too. "As I promised you all, today we will be heading to Diagon Alley to procure your wands from perhaps the best wandmaker in the world."

Around the room, the Masters and Ahsoka all remained impassive, but Harry had a pretty good idea about just what was running through their heads. It was no secret that all of the newcomers, including Ahsoka, considered buy something as valuable and personal as a wand as a mild insult. All of their training and beliefs led them to want to make their own wands. It'd taken his mother, Sirius, and Amelia nearly a full day to convince them that crafting their own wands wasn't necessarily the best of ideas. For one, wand lore was a carefully guarded secret that was held between wand makers. Even the slightest misstep during the crafting process could lead to disastrous effects, most often explosive and deadly.

"I know that many of you are still uneasy with such a prospect," his mother continued as she too no doubt sensed what the ex-Jedi were thinking. "And perhaps in the future we can incorporate the crafting of a wand into our training. But for now, this is the best option that we have."

Reaching into the folds of her robes, his mother pulled out several hand size pouches that Harry recognized as money bags. "There is roughly a hundred galleons within each of these bags," Nox explained as she handed them out to the Masters and Ahsoka, all of whom looked at the small weightless bag skeptically. "Trust me, it's all in there. I've already contacted Master Ollivander so you won't have to worry about paying for the wands or the holsters, but after you are finished there I wish for you all to explore the market Alley to better acclimate yourselves with the wizarding world before we head to the Quidditch World Cup next week."

"Not that I don't believe that you put one hundred coins – galleons right? Yes, galleons into these. But you showed us a galleon and the weight of these bags…doesn't make sense not to mention they're so small for one hundred of them." Aayla held up the bag hefting its weight with a frown.

"Ah I should mention that those bags are enchanted. Featherweight charm and undetectable extension charm. You could put your whole arm into the bag." Nox explained the magic in the money bags.

Once all of the bags were handed out, his mother once again reached into her robes, this time pulling out nearly a dozen small pins. "These are all portkeys." She explained while handing one to each person who would be going with them, including Ahsoka and Nat. "Should you get in trouble or simply wish to return, all you need to do is grab hold of this pin and say the word 'Temple'. The portkey will activate and send you back to this very room. And before you ask, you don't need to worry about accidentally activating it. Saying the word 'Temple' won't activate the portkeys. You have to be holding onto them as well. Or if you wish to return in one group, you all need to be touching it when it is activated. Understand?"

After making sure that everyone understood, his mother than pulled out her wand. "Now, while the Alley will be mostly empty, there will still be some people wandering around. And while they won't bat an eye at Kento or Mallie, and Master Yoda they will more than likely assume to be some sort of goblin or house elf. They will take notice of a togruta, a twi'lek and a nautolan. None of which are native to Earth. So, until you return I'll have to place the three of you under a glamour, an illusion if you will. Which one of you want to go first?"

Letting go of his hand, Nat bravely stepped up to his mother and placed her hands on her hips. "I will…Master Nox."

Bringing her wand around, his mother muttered something under her breath before tapping Nat on top of her head. Nat's form waved slightly, like ripples spreading across open water. When the ripples stopped, Nat's green skin was now a dark tannish color. Her pure black eyes now had a white sclera around them. And most notably, her head tentacles had been replaced by long thick black dreadlocks.

All of the Masters stared at Nat in open mouthed wonder. Nat, for her part, shivered. "That…didn't feel well."

"It's alright dear." His mother said as she conjured up a small mirror before handing it to her. "What do you think?"

Taking the offered mirror, Nat managed a single glance into its reflective surface before she dropped it and jumped back with a small screech. "Is that- is me?"

"Illusion, is all it is youngling." Master Yoda smiled as he hobbled over and picked up the mirror. "Changed, you have not. Changed how we see you, you have."

"This spell will only last for two hours at best." His mother commented. "And as Master Yoda has said, it is an illusion. If someone were to touch your head, they wouldn't feel hair they would feel your tentacles little one. There are talismans that cast a glamour over the wearer for as long as they are wearing it and fool anyone who touches them as well. I'll have to talk to the goblins about procuring them though as they are incredibly rare. And not to mention more than slightly illegal. Now, Ahsoka if you would."

Ahsoka tensed for only a moment before taking a step forward before his mother quickly tapped her on top of her head with her wand. Just like Nat, Ahsoka's form wavered for a moment before settling. Her montrails were gone, replaced by a full head of brown hair. Her skin had turned from orange to a more tan color. And the white markings that'd crisscrossed her face were gone.

"That, was not pleasant" Ahsoka said shivering slightly before looking down at her arm. "How do I look?"

"Like a human." Harry answered honestly. "But…I think I prefer you without the glamour."

Ahsoka's eyes widened for a split second before smiling. "Thanks Harry."

"There's hope for you yet pup!" Sirius laughed while clapping Harry on the back. "And before I forget about it, these are for you."

Looking down, Harry saw that Sirius was holding onto a small black case. Taking the case, Harry opened it and found a pair of wire-framed square glasses. "Mother corrected my vision when I was younger Sirius." Harry said with a frown as he looked up and saw that his mother was casting a glamour over Aayla. "I haven't needed glasses for as long as I can remember."

"These aren't those type of glasses pup." Sirius replied. "They won't correct your vision at all. Instead they're enchanted with a glamour rune that will hide your eyes."

"Oh," Harry responded eloquently before taking the glasses out of the case and putting them on. "Well, how do I look?"

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "You're eyes look normal. Shame. They were just starting to grow on me too."

"Good Merlin, get a room you two and snog it out already." Sirius said - making both teens blush profusely - before he sighed dramatically. "I swear, you two are worse than James and Lily were during our seventh yea – ouch! What was that for?"

"Because Amelia wasn't here to do it." Mallie responded as Sirius was rubbing the spot on the back of his head where she'd hit him.

"And if she hadn't then I would've Sirius." His mother added before pushing Sirius away and pulling out a long piece of rope. "Now everyone grab hold. We'll be taking a portkey to Diagon Alley."

Kento, Mallie and Aayla didn't look too thrilled by the prospect of this method of transportation, but Ahsoka and Nat both looked quite excited. Both of them had been wanting to travel by portkey, apparition or Floo ever since they'd heard about them. Even the prospect of the slight to extreme discomfort experienced by those who weren't used to the travel couldn't put a damper on their excitement. 'Well…they're about to experience this 'discomfort' firsthand. And then we'll see just how excited they are to travel this way again in the future.'

Holding the portkey out, his mother waited until everyone who was going to Diagon Alley had a hand on the rope before pulling out her wand and touching it to the rope. "Portus."

---

Landing on her feet, Ahsoka had to fight against the urge to empty her stomach of all of its contents. Luckily though, she wasn't the only one. All of the Masters looked more than slightly unbalanced as they rocked back and forth slightly to regain their footing. The only ones who looked completely unperturbed by what they just went through were Harry and Master Nox. 'Force…Harry said that there only a 'slight' discomfort experienced during traveling! Slight my arse!'

"That really wasn't any better the second time around." Master Secura moaned while holding her midsection. "Surely there's a better means of traveling on this world."

Casting a glance at her, Ahsoka's own hands involuntarily went up to her head and felt her montrals on top of her head. She could still feel them…even though no one else could see them. Just like Master Secura's lekku were still there...despite outward appearances. The sensation of the spell that Master Nox cast over the two of them to change their outward appearance felt like a ball of slime had been dropped on top of her head and allowed to slither down her entire body. In short…not a very pleasant experience.

"There are other means of travel, but considering that we just traveled several hundred miles in less than a few seconds I would say that the slight discomfort was worth it." Master Nox responded with an arched eyebrow. "We could've apparated. But that only works at best for two or three people if you're really good at it. Or we could've flown then drove here which would've taken hours. Now, if you've all managed to right yourselves, may I welcome you to Diagon Alley."

Brushing herself off, Ahsoka took two steps into said alley, and stopped dead in her tracks. She'd been from one end of the galaxy to the other, from Coruscant to Genosis. She'd seen just about every level of technological advancements there were, but what she saw before her was something completely and utterly new. It was almost like a blending of both new and old technology…just with no technology. It was, in a word, amazing.

And she wasn't the only one to think so either, judging by the several gasps she heard coming from around her. Beside her Nat, whose disguise still made Ahsoka do a double take each time she saw her, was staring around in open wonder. "Well don't just stand there Ahsoka." Harry laughed while poking her and Nat in the back slightly to get them moving. "We've got more to do today than just hanging out in this alley all day."

With Harry prodding her in the back, quite literally, and while she was holding onto Nat's hand the three of them made their way out of the small side street and into the main section of Diagon Alley. Although now that she could see it properly…calling it an 'Alley' was woefully inaccurate. The main section of road that they were on seemed to stretch on for several hundred meters in either direction with shops selling all different and bizarre wares lined either side while a handful of people, mostly what looked like small families, made their way from one shop to the other.

"This is where I leave you all." Master Nox announced as she separated herself from the rest of them. "Harry will guide you all to get your wands. After that the day is yours to get acclimated to this place. Whenever you're ready to leave, simply grab hold of your pendants and say 'Temple' and you will be taken back. Good luck." Without waiting for a reply, Master Nox turned around and marched towards the opposite end of the alley from where they were facing towards a large white building.

"Well then," Harry said as he offered his hand to Nat, who instantly took it so that she was hanging onto both of them. "Shall we?"

Nodding, Ahsoka walked alongside Nat and Harry as the latter led them through the mostly empty shopping center. As they walked she tried to keep herself from gawking at the storefronts, but that was pretty much impossible. Everything was just so…interesting! There was a shop for seemingly everything…save for anything electronic.

There was a bookstore that she was sure Masters Secura and Marek would be pillaging soon enough. There was a store where a man was handing out odd cone shaped food full of colored…something. There was another store that had dozens of owls sitting on perches in the window, although not one of them could even come close to comparing to Hedwig in her opinion. There was another shop that sold cases and trunks. And another that…well there was no way Ahsoka would be entering that particular shop without taking at least three sonic showers after she left. 'Force…haven't they ever heard of a health inspection on this world?'

Ahsoka nearly laughed out loud as they passed by one particular shop. It wasn't so much what the shop was selling…brooms. It was the crowd of kids barely older than Harry that were standing outside the shop with their noses pressed against the glass as they all but drooled over the broom on display in the window.

"Brooms?" Kento remarked lowly as they walked by. "I know you told us all about them…but still. Of all the things you people could fly on…you choose probably one of the most uncomfortable objects to ride, not to mention fall off of."

"They're actually quite comfortable." Harry countered back. "There are numerous charms placed on them for comfort, even some to cut down on wind resistance. Then there are also a few to help with stability so you don't fall off. Trust me. It's actually quite fun to ride one."

For her part, Ahsoka was actually mildly looking forward to riding on one of these brooms. Since they arrived a week ago, Master Nox had already allowed all of the Masters, including herself, to pilot one of the Blackwings that were docked within the hangar bay of the Temple. That was a flight she would not be forgetting anytime soon. The controls to the fighter were just so…intuitive.

She knew many a pilots that would kill for a chance to fly one of those fighters let alone own one. The rest of the Knights and Apprentices wanted to fly them as well, but as they didn't have the experience that the rest of them did, they were stuck just tagging along for a ride in one of the two-person versions of the fighter. Although she will admit…she did hand controls over to Ginny while the two of them were flying together. And Force…could that girl fly!

"And here we are." Harry announced suddenly, drawing her out of her memories. "Ollivander's. The best wandmaker in all of Britain…probably the world."

Giving herself a slight shake, Ahsoka looked up at the shop they were standing in front of. Honestly…it didn't look special at all. The windows were so dirty that you could hardly see through them. And the building itself looked like it was about one stiff breeze away from falling over.

Letting go of Nat's hand, Harry walked up to the door and held it open for them. "Well then…what are you all waiting for? Scared?"

Smirking slightly at the challenge, Ahsoka marched right past Harry while whispering, "In your dreams Harry."

As she passed through the entryway, she felt a wave of the Force pass over her, much in the same way it did whenever she entered or left the tents on board the Ashara. 'This shop…it's far far bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Is this…does this place have one of those spatial compression spells on it as well?'

The large size was not the only thing she noticed. Once she passed beyond the entryway she could feel…well it was difficult to truly put it in words. But it was like a thousand whispers from the Force were passing her by just barely out of her reach. Yet still…she could hear…or rather feel on whisper that almost seemed to be calling out to her.

She was so focused on the whispers of the Force coming from all around her that she didn't even realize that they weren't alone in the shop until a sliding ladder came to an abrupt stop almost right in front of her. "Well well…Mr. Potter! Eleven inches, holly and a phoenix tail feather! So good to see you again. I trust you're treating your wand right? And, oh…these must be the mysterious guests your mother arranged this meeting for…umm…interesting indeed." Ollivander chuckled.

Forcing her attention back to the moment, Ahsoka found herself standing face to face with a man who looked as old as the exterior of the shop they were now in. His white, sparse, hair was jutting out in just about every conceivable direction. But it was his eyes that drew Ahsoka in. It…it almost felt like he wasn't seeing her…but rather seeing through her to her very core.

"Yes sir," Harry nodded before drawing his wand and holding it out to the old man, who took it as if it were an item made of fragile glass. "I've been taking good care of it. And it's been taking care of me as well."

"So I can see." The old man replied with a smile before holding the wand up to his ear, almost as if he were listening to the wand speak. "Mmm…I am not pleased that this wand has already ended a life…not here…but far away. But the wand is loyal and happy with you Mr. Potter. No…the wand is overjoyed with you. You do your parents proud." Ollivander said, handing Harry's wand back to him with a smile.

"Thank you sir." Harry nodded while taking his wand and tucking it back into his sleeve where his wand holster lay. 'I can't wait to get a few of those! They're so handy!' "Everyone, this is Garrick Ollivander, probably the best wandmaker in the world."

"No need to flatter me Mr. Potter, I know just how good I am." Ollivander said with a smile before looking over each of them one at a time. "Hm…interesting indeed. It's not every day I get three humans and four non-humans, none of which I can name, into my shop. Tell me…would any of you be willing to part with a hair or two?"

Ahsoka felt her heart skip a beat. 'He…he can see us? And he knows that we're not– wait. Why would he want some of our hairs?'

"Afraid not Mr. Ollivander." Harry said quickly before leading Nat over to him. "Just the five wands and the ten holsters. Unfortunately, this little one isn't ready for her wand just yet. But she wasn't about to let us leave her behind."

"Hmm…yes I see…" Ollivander hummed while looking at the five who needed their wands. "Well! Let's get started then! Who wants to go first?"

"I will." Ahsoka said quickly, taking a step forward. She'd been looking forward to this moment for…well pretty much ever since she saw just what Master Nox and the others were capable of doing with their wands.

Ollivander grin widened considerably as he turned towards her. Ahsoka felt herself involuntarily shudder as the man's eyed her from top to bottom. It…it didn't really feel like he was looking at her. More like he was looking through her, right down to her very essence. "Hmm, yes…interesting. Not necessarily strange, but…not common at all." He muttered before turning his back on her and disappearing into the many shelves of his shop.

"Wha– what's going on Harry?" Ahsoka asked.

Harry merely smirked back at her. "I'm sure you felt it right? Wands are…temperamental. The wands choose the wizard or witch they wish to serve. Not the other way around. I'm not sure just how he does it, but Ollivander basically looks into your very soul to find the wand that will match with you."

Before Ahsoka could ask another question, the old man returned carrying a single long and narrow box. Opening the box, Ollivander pulled out a reddish-brown wand roughly the same lengths as Harry's. "Mahogany, ten and three-quarter inches with a phoenix feather core. Quite swishy. Wonderful wand for defending those you care about."

Ahsoka could do little more than blink dumbly at the wand that was being offered to her. She…the pull she'd felt from the Force when she walked into the shop had been amplified ten-fold as soon as Ollivander pulled the wand out of the box. Overcoming her self-imposed stupor, she reached out and grabbed hold of the wand. She could hardly even describe what it felt like the moment her fingers closed around the shaft of the wand. She felt…warm. Content. As if a she'd just been reunited with a piece of herself that she wasn't even aware she was missing.

"Whoa…" She breathed as she ran both hands across the length of her wand. Her wand. "I– this is my wand. It's…feels incredible!"

Both Ollivander and Harry were wearing identical grins while all of the Masters were staring at her with open mouths. Well, all save for Master Yoda that is. "Ahsoka," Master Secura said after a moment. "You were…literally glowing with the Force just now."

"The Force?" Ollivander said questioningly before shrugging. "Hm. New name for magic. Not that I care of course."

"Master Ollivander." Master Mallie said, looking at Ahsoka. "Harry said that the wand chooses the wizard. How? Are they sentient? And what happens if the wand rejects the individual?"

Turning towards Master Mallie, Ollivander grinned widely before turning around and disappearing back into his shop. When he reemerged a second later he was carrying two small boxes.

"I'm afraid that not even the very wisest can answer the question as to why a wand will choose one individual over another. At best, I can match you to a wand that might accept you. As for whether or not wands are sentient…they are not. At least not in the way you and I understand sentience. And as for what happens when a wand doesn't accept an individual," opening up one of the boxes, Ollivander pulled out a wand and held it towards Mallie. "Yew and dragon heartstring. Twelve inches, unyielding. Give it a wave my dear."

Ahsoka watched as Master Mallie grabbed hold of the wand, but instead of looking at in awe like she thought, Mallie instead frowned at the wand in her hand. After a moment's hesitation, Mallie then waved the wand off towards the side of the shop. Immediately several shelves toppled over and several vases that were lining those shelves exploded as if they'd had a grenade inside of them.

"That is what happens if the wand rejects the user." Ollivander said, smiling as he took the wand back from a shell-shocked Master Mallie before handing her a different wand, this one a dark red and slightly longer than the one Ahsoka held. "Try this one my dear. Cherry, twelve and one-half inches with a kelpie mane core. Nice and supple."

Mallie was visibly hesitant as she reached out for the newly offered wand. But that hesitation disappeared the moment her fingers closed around the wood and Mallie was surrounded in a soft white glow. "By the gods…" Mallie whispered as the light faded from around her body. "That…this is incredible."

Ollivander merely smiled at her before collecting the ill-fitting wand and returning it to its box. "Now then," he murmured as he turned towards Aayla. "Hmm…another tricky customer. Haven't had to match wands to non-humans in some time. Hmm…such a challenge. Perhaps…no. Maybe. Yes. That is the one. Now…what about him…oh. Too easy."

Disappearing back into his shop, the old man was gone for barely a minute before he returned with two boxes. The first he opened contained an almost white colored wand which he handed off to Kento. "Aspen, eleven inches. Dragon heartstring core, nice and pliable."

Master Kento's reaction was almost identical to his wife's. And while he was still staring at his new wand in a mild daze, Ollivander turned towards Aayla. "And for you ma'am. Thirteen inches, willow with a spine of a white river monster. Unyielding. Quite the unusual combination, but incredibly powerful."

Aayla took her wand without hesitation. The look of wonder that came across the twi'lek's face was only outdone by the bright glow that emitted from her body as she held onto her new wand. "Force." Aayla breathed as the glow died down and she closed her eyes and lightly touched her forehead to the smooth wood. "This…there is no describing this."

"Wonderful!" Ollivander clapped before turning to the last one that would be receiving a wand that day. "Now then…I wonder which would work well for you my little friend. Perhaps…hmm…"

"A moment, Master Ollivander." Master Yoda said, holding up one clawed finger. "Believe I understand, I do. Hear its call, I can."

Ollivander smiled widely as he stepped to the side. "As you will my little friend."

Nodding, Master Yoda closed his eyes and raised his hand. A low rumble came from the back of the shop and soon enough another wand box was floating through the aisles towards Master Yoda's outstretched hand. "Bravo!" Ollivander clapped as Yoda guided the box into his outstretched hand. "Well done indeed my little friend! Six and one-half inches, yew with a thunderbird tail feather, resilient. If I may ask, how did you know my little friend?"

Opening the box, Master Yoda slowly closed his hand round the small wand inside. His eyes closed as a soft white glow encased him. He looked…pleased. Calm. Almost…happy. Happier than Ahsoka could ever remember him being before. "Heard its call, I did." Master Yoda said as he opened his eyes. 'Force! Are those…are those tears? No…no he can't be…wait…he is! Master Yoda is…he's crying tears of joy!'

"Master Yoda?" Master Secura said worriedly as she knelt down next to the small former Jedi Grandmaster.

"Yes." Master Yoda nodded solemnly as Ollivander ducked back behind his desk before popping back up with several small leather bracers.

As he started handing them out, it took Ahsoka a moment to realize that she was holding onto two wand holsters. The same type that Harry had attached to either wrist. "One to hold your wand and the other to hold your lightsaber." Harry explained as he took one of the bracers from her before gently taking her arm and securing it so that the bulk of the bracer was on the bottom of her forearm. "Here, place the end of your wand right here near this line. It will automatically be drawn into the containment pouch within the bracer."

'Damn it! Stop that!' Ahsoka cursed herself as she felt her skin warm under Harry's fingers. Her only condolence was that she could feel a slight tremor coming from Harry as well. At Harry's fingers left her, Ahsoka maneuvered her wand enough so that the end just barely touched the line Harry had pointed out to her. The moment her wand touched the line it was drawn into the bracer like a vacuum. Then mimicking the action she'd seen Harry and Master Nox perform a hundred times, Ahsoka snapped her hand out to the side. Immediately her wand shot back out, but amazingly it didn't go past her palm until she grabbed hold of it.

"This is incredible." She said, marveling at the device on her wrist.

Around her, the other former-Jedi all expressed their own appreciation for the holsters as they all began to experiment with them using their wands. Testing them with their lightsabers would have to wait until they were back at the Temple.

Tucking her wand back into her holster, Ahsoka bowed deeply to the wandmaker. "Thank you very much for your assistance, Master Ollivander."

"No need for such formalities my dear." Ollivander smiled brightly. "You were all such challenging matches. I haven't this much fun in over a decade or more! I may have to give Madam Nox a discount because of how much fun I had. Just remember to take good care of them. Take care of your wand, and it will take care of you."

With those parting words, the eccentric wandmaker bowed to them all once more before turning around and heading back into the depths of his shop. "Well then," Master Kento said after a moment of silence. "That was…certainly different. But I think I understand now why Nox was adamant that we obtain wands from here." Pausing, Kento held his wand up to eye level. "I've never felt so connected with the Force as I do when I'm holding this."

"Same." Mallie nodded holding her own wand. "It's…Force this is going to take some getting used to."

For a while the group just sat there in the store admiring their new wands. Nearly ten minutes later, Master Yoda broke the silence that'd descended upon them. "Return to the Temple now, I will." He said putting his wand away. "Much to meditate on, I have."

"As you wish, Master Yoda." Master Secura said bowing to Yoda, who hardly hesitated before reaching up grabbing hold of his pendant before disappearing with a slight cracking noise.

"Well then," Mallie announced as a slow grin came upon her. "I don't know about the rest of you, but Nox gave us all some money and I saw a bookstore back in the alley. So that's where I'm heading."

"I'll go with you luv." Kento added before turning towards Aayla. "Aayla want to come with us? Leave the kids to have some fun on their own?"

"I may as well." Aayla nodded. "The library at the Temple is quite extensive. But I am curious to see what else this world has to offer. Harry, Ahsoka, Nat. Stay safe."

"We will, Master Secura." Ahsoka said with a bow before the three Masters left the store. "So then, where should we go from-" A loud growling coming from Nat interrupted what she'd been about to say, making both Harry and Ahsoka turn towards the small girl.

For her part, Nat was holding her arms across her stomach while looking more than slightly embarrassed. "Well, I guess our first order of business should be getting some form of snack." Harry laughed while looping an arm around Nat's shoulders. "Lucky for you two, I happen to know the perfect place for a truly Earth snack. Follow me my ladies."

Smiling to herself, Ahsoka walked side by side with Harry and Nat out of the store and back down the street. After passing a few shops that Ahsoka made a mental note to go and visit later, Harry came to a stop outside of a shop with a sign that read 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour'. "What is this place?" She asked as Harry held the door open for the two of them.

"Probably the best ice cream parlor in the entire world." Harry answered back before leading the two of them towards a large glass counter.

Just behind the glass, there were dozens of buckets of what looked like…some sort of frozen cream or lard or…something. "Well hello there!" An elderly looking man with dark hair and a dark beard said as he stepped out from a back room and up to the counter. "Welcome! What can I get you?"

"Wondering if we can get a few samples Mr. Fortescue." Harry said.

Then something strange happened. The man, Mr. Fortescue, stared at Harry. Blinked. Then looked up at Harry's forehead before his eyes widened almost comically. "Good Merlin…you're Harry Potter!"

Beside her, Harry flinched slightly. "Yes sir."

Mr. Fortescue stared completely awestruck for a second longer before giving himself a visible shake. "Sorry about that lad," he said sounding quite apologetic. "You see, my wife, Merlin bless her soul, was a muggle born. And well, her family got a little visit from the Dark Wanker, pardon my language las, during the last war. So I'm…well I'm sure I don't need to go into details. Sorry, what can I get you three?"

"It's okay Mr. Fortescue. We all suffered during that time, even those of us who don't remember it." Harry said sounding incredibly sad. "Well Nat, Ahsoka. What looks good to you two?"

For the next ten minutes Nat and Ahsoka, mostly Nat as Ahsoka was more than slightly distracted by the pain that was still etched across Harry's face, picked out several flavors of the…ice cream. Each time they picked one out, Mr. Florean would grab a small plastic spoon and scoop up a little bit of the frozen treat and hand it over to them. Despite her previous reservations about the food, Ahsoka found that she actually quite enjoyed the treat. It even seemed to perk Harry up, which in turn made her feel lighter as well.

After trying just about every other flavor Mr. Florean had available, the three of them had finally picked out a flavor and each ordered a bowl of their choosing. Dropping a few gold coins on the table, Harry picked up the three bowls and led them over to a small table just outside of the shop.

Nat didn't wait any time in digging into her treat. Which after three large bits was half gone and Nat was holding her head. "Careful Nat." Harry laughed as he pushed the bowl away from her slightly. "If you eat it too fast the cold will hurt your head a little. Try to enjoy it okay?"

Nodding, Nat took her treat back and began eating it at a much slower pace. "Harry," Ahsoka said carefully as she took a bite from her own bowl. "I don't mean to stir up bad feelings again, but what was Mr. Florean talking about back there?"

Harry stilled for a second making Ahsoka want to kick herself. "You remember us talking about the last war right? The one where my parents died?" Harry waited for her to nod before continuing. "Well there was a bit more to the war. You see the Dark Lord was obsessed with blood purity. If you weren't human or if you weren't born to two magical parents then you were less than an animal in his and his supporters' eyes. And during the war, he didn't just target individuals that he deemed lesser. He went after their families. And it was never quick either. And he didn't limit himself to those he thought lesser of. Anyone who didn't support him lived in fear of him showing up. And what was worse, he cast a complicated spell called a 'Taboo' on his name."

"What do you mean by that?" Ahsoka asked, her ice cream momentarily forgotten as she leaned forward against the table.

"It means that anyone who said his name were not only marked so that he could travel to them instantly." Harry continued. "Wards, barriers and even distance didn't matter. If you said his name, he would show up and kill you if you were lucky. If not…then it would take a while. My grandparents on my father's side were both magical and from two very prominent magical families. But because they didn't support him the Dark Lord killed them both personally. My grandparents on my mother's side were both non-magical. And despite my mother's best efforts to hide them, the Dark Lord found them and used them to send a very pointed message to my mother and father."

The pain in Harry's voice was such that Ahsoka couldn't help herself as she reached across the table and lightly grasped his hand. As she felt his hand grasp back, she made a vow to herself. If this Dark Lord came back, then she would do whatever she could to make sure that he died. Permanently this time.

"Well, that's enough depressing history." Harry said as he finished his bowl of ice cream. "What do you say that you finish your bowl and we go shopping? My mother gave each of us a hundred galleons, and you'd be surprised at just how far that will get us."

Looking down, Ahsoka realized that she was the only one left at the table that still had a full bowl full of ice cream. Eating it quickly, and wincing more than slightly as the cold made her head ache slightly, she nodded. "Sounds good to me." She said standing. "Well Nat, which store would you like to go and visit first?"

Nat didn't even hesitate. "The broom store!"

Harry and Ahsoka shared a look and started laughing. "Well, that was easy enough." Harry laughed. "I don't we'll be able to buy a broom with just a hundred galleons, but we can still look around." Reaching down, he took Nat's hand and led them out into the alley.

Ahsoka wasn't quite sure what possessed her to do what she did next. Maybe it was because she just wanted to offer Harry some comfort after such a depressing conversation, but as the trio walked out in the alley she reached out and took Harry's free hand in her own. Harry stared at her for only a moment before squeezing back and smiling.

'Damn it.' She cursed herself when her heart started racing as Harry didn't let go. 'He's just a friend and I'm just offering some small amount of comfort! That's it!'

---

Stepping into the domain of the goblins, Nox didn't bother suppressing her smirk as she waltzed right past the dozens of witches and wizards who were waiting in line and past the tellers at the back of the bank. The goblins, much to the shock of the magicals present, didn't even attempt to stop her. Instead they nearly fell over themselves to open the door leading towards the back offices of the bank.

"Madam Nox!"

Nox briefly slowed her pace as she allowed her bank manager Griphook to catch up with her. "Griphook. I trust that you have good news for me."

"Yes ma'am." Griphook nodded as he practically ran to keep pace with her. "Profits for this quarter are well above expectations. I managed to secure the rights to three different potions for you and your company as well. Due to the large withdrawal to the goblin nation for the construction of your new base of operations, your predicted end of the year loss will only be fifteen percent from the start of the year."

Nox just barely kept herself from smiling. Fifteen percent loss was quite a bit better than what she was hoping for. At best she figured that she would be at a twenty percent loss since the beginning of the year. "Well done Griphook." Nox nodded to the goblin. "Should you succeed in making my losses only fifteen percent you shall receive a five percent bonus this year. Should you somehow manage to get my net loss down to less than ten percent, then I shall up your bonus to fifteen percent."

Griphook's grin was positively feral. Nox was quite sure that the little goblin would now be doing anything to get her net loss as low as possible. "Yes ma'am. I shall endeavor to do as you wish. Will you require my services for your meeting with Master Ragnok?"

"Yes." Nox nodded as the two approached the doors leading to Ragnok's office came into view. "I have a new proposal for Master Ragnok and will need you to take notes."

"As you wish, Madam Nox." Griphook nodded while two goblin warriors opened the doors to Master Ragnok's office for the two of them.

The office was just as Nox remembered it, not that she necessarily expected it to change. "Madam Nox." Master Ragnok said, standing from his desk and in a rare moment of respect bowed his head slightly towards her. "I trust that your little summer venture was most…beneficial."

"Yes." Nox responded as she took her seat after giving the leader of the goblins a slight bow of her own. "Far more than I anticipated. And I must say, I was more than pleased with the Temple when I arrived at its door. Your men and my own did far better than I ever thought possible in a short period of time."

Laughing, Ragnok leaned back in his seat. "Well, the bonus was definitely an added incentive for my workers. Now, I hear that you have another business venture for us. Let's hear it."

Knowing that she had his attention, Nox calmly reached over his desk and poured herself a glass of pitch black whiskey that was sitting on his desk. After pouring herself two fingers of the liquid, she sat back down and took a small sip. "What if I were to tell you that I knew of a mineral source filled to the brim with more materials than you could ever imagine that has never been touched. And then what if I told you that I was currently the only one with access to said mineral source and was willing to hire goblin miners at their normal rate plus sending back ten percent of all profits back to the goblin nation."

Ragnok stared at her for a full minute, no doubt trying to gauge whether or not she was being entirely truthful. Eventually he smiled, a crooked wicked smile, and poured himself a large glass of the black whiskey. "If it were any other witch or wizard I would have you thrown out into the street. But with you…I would ask who you would like to have killed and have their corpses decorating the walls of the Ministry by nightfall."

"No need for killing Master Ragnok, at least not yet." Nox responded while taking another small sip. "And this won't be like any other mining venture you've seen before. In fact, it will be quite dangerous."

Ragnok merely shrugged. "Mining is always potentially deadly. Part of the reason why we goblins love it so much."

"I rather expected as much." Nox admitted before polishing off the rest of her whiskey. "I need to design and build several things before we will be able to even entertain the idea of mining this area. Probably a year or more. And even once they are ready we will need to install them near the mining site before we can begin operations. At best, we're talking maybe two years out before we will be able to bring back any useable material."

Ragnok's eyebrows were now nearly level with his hair line. "I must say Madam Nox. My interest in this project has become quite peaked. But before we go any further I must ask. Where exactly is this mineral source that you speak of?"

Setting down her glass, Nox fixed Ragnok with a grin. "Tell me Master Ragnok…are you afraid of flying?"

---

Following his mother up into the stands of the arena, Harry couldn't help but marvel as they walked into the large luxury box that she'd purchased for the game. "Whoa," Harry breathed as he stepped fully into the large room that was overlooking the quidditch pitch. "This is…this is incredible!"

Several similar comments came from behind him as disguised Ahsoka, Nat, Aayla along with a normal looking Kento, Mallie, Galen and Tonks came into the box with them. There were over two dozen large comfortable seats within the luxury box and along the back wall there was a long table that held several different pitchers of drink and dozens of trays of food. Harry wasn't quite sure just how much his mother spent on this box, but he was sure that she probably could've bought a new tower for the temple with it.

"This is an impressive sight to behold." Kento whistled as he neared the edge of the box and looked down at the nearly hundred or so rows of seats stacked beneath them. "How many people are there here? And are they all Force sensitive?"

"Probably nearly a twentieth of Earth's Force sensitive population is here at the moment. Nearly three hundred thousand if my estimations are correct." Nox answered as she too peered down in the pitch. "And all of them are Force sensitive."

Nodding, Kento moved away from the edge just as Aayla came up to it. "This box is far too large for all of us," the disguised twi'lek commented. "I gather that the younger members of the Order shall be joining us?"

"And their families. I thought this would be a good chance for you to experience more of the magical world's culture." Nox nodded before turning so she could was facing them all. "Now while I trust all of the young ones and some the parents, there are still a few others that have not been told everything for one reason or another. So I must ask that until I tell you too, keep your glamour amulets on and try to refrain from speaking of the greater galaxy. Understand?" While the former Jedi didn't look too thrilled at the prospect of keeping such information from those they considered to be allies, all nodded their consent. "Good. Now…I believe our first visitors are about to arrive."

Harry already knew who their first visitors were going to be. After all…he'd sensed his apprentice's presence getting steadily closer ever since they entered the box. Hearing the door to the box open, Harry turned around to see Arthur Weasley cautiously entering the box with Molly Weasley right behind him. "Madam Nox!" Arthur exclaimed as he gave her a slight bow as Weasley children entered the luxury box behind him. "Thank you so much for the invitation."

"Think nothing of it Arthur." His mother said with a smile as she motioned for him to stand upright. "And please, you know that I'm not one for formalities."

"Of course Ziri." Arthur smiled back before he turned towards Harry. "Harry, it's good to see you again."

"You as well sir." Harry answered back with a polite nod of his head.

Arthur then turned to the other occupants of the room and froze slightly as he realized that he didn't know anyone else in the box. "Umm, good day."

"These are associates of mine Arthur." His mother said taking pity on the clearly unsure man. "This is Kento and Mallie and their son Galen. This one here is Aayla Secura. And the two standing next to Harry are Ahsoka and Nat."

"A pleasure to meet you all." Arthur said, a little more confident this time around. "This is my wife Molly. My oldest son and heir William, or as he likes to be called: Bill. And these are our other children Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Unfortunately two of my sons, Percy and Charlie, were unable to join us today."

Harry nearly laughed as he saw Mallie's eyebrows rise at the number of children while Kento quietly mutter, "Seven? Good gods."

Grinning, Ginny made her away across the box towards Harry, Ahsoka and Nat while Ron nodded politely to them before not-so-stealthily making his way towards the large buffet set up in the back of the box. "I see you managed to get all of your brothers corralled together on time." Harry joked.

"Don't remind me." Ginny scowled, throwing a withering glare over her shoulder at her older brothers. "I swear…mum was on a tear through the house this morning. We were all stuck standing at the portkey departure point at least an hour before it was even supposed to go off!"

"I take it that they're being on time is some sort of inside joke?" Ahsoka asked while Nat was looking back and forth clearly confused.

"Yup." Harry nodded while smiling at Ginny. "There is usually a running bet on whether the Weasleys will be at the train station on time to catch the train to Hogwarts or not. And there's usually a side bet as well on how many times they have to run back to their home to get something they forgot."

"Shut up Potter." Ginny growled, making the three of them laugh.

Behind them, the door to the box opened once again. This time it was Sirius who was escorting the Granger family. And right behind them was Susan and Amelia, as well as Hannah and her parents. After another quick round of introductions the door to their box opened once more. All four members of the Greengrass family made their way into the luxury box, followed quickly by Tracey and her father. And just behind them, Luna and her father made their way in as well.

"Well then," his mother said loudly enough to get everyone's attention. "Now that we are all here, please feel free to enjoy yourselves. And yes Ronald…that means that you can start in on the buffet table now."

Everyone laughed slightly at the now red-faced teen who, despite his embarrassment at being caught hovering around the buffet table, wasn't shy about digging in as soon as he was given the go ahead to. While the rest of the stadium below them slowly started filling up with people, the large group within the luxury box all sat around eating and chatting with one another. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Bill Weasley and Mallie were locked in an animated discussion after his mother had casually asked Bill if his team had any luck deciphering the pyramid they'd discovered two years back.

During the course of the talks, Harry noticed as his mother picked up her drink and brought it to her lips, only to stop. Harry frowned as his mother looked down at her cup for a moment before taking a drink. Deciding that it wasn't really worth his time, he focused in again on the conversation that was going on between Ginny, Ahsoka and Nat. The former of whom was trying her best to explain all of the rules of Quidditch to the latter two.

Just as Harry was about to add to the conversation, Mrs. Weasley cried out in shock making all of the Guardians in the room jump to their feet and snap their hands out to the side in preparation of drawing their lightsabers or wands. Harry's wand however never made it into his hand. And the few lightsabers that'd been drawn were quickly and discreetly tucked back away with thankfully no one being the wiser to their presence.

"Fred, George?" Arthur said slowly as Harry blinked dumbly. "What…?"

Fred and George were both standing stock still, blinking at one another as they tried to figure out what'd just happened. Both of them were completely…pink. From their hair, to their skin…and even their clothes. Every inch of their body was pink!

"I'm afraid your sons picked the wrong target for a prank Arthur." Harry's mother said calmly. And for the first time, Harry realized his mother hadn't stood up with the rest of them. She was still in her seat and still sipping on her drink. "They slipped something into my drink…so I simply gave it back to them."

Realization dawned on Arthur as his face fell and Molly rounded on her two sons and started screaming at the both of them. Harry stared at the two boys who were being thoroughly dressed down by their mother and…and couldn't hold in the slightly snicker that left him. Which quickly grew into a fully belly laugh as Ahsoka, Ginny and even Nat started laughing along with him. Soon enough the entire room was laughing at the duo who, to their credit, tried to strike a dignified pose.

"Madam Nox." Molly Weasley said turning around towards his mother, her face completely pale. "I'm– I'm so sorry! I'll take these two home and-"

"Oh there's no need for that Molly." His mother said with a smile. "I must admit that their attempt, while sloppy, was rather...stimulating. I haven't had anyone try to pull anything like this on me in years." Out of the corner of his eye Harry briefly saw Sirius flinch as his hand quickly shifted over to cover his 'bits'. 'Really don't want to know…'

"Fred." George said turning towards his twin.

"George." Fred said back.

"I think we've been outdone."

"I think you're right brother o'mine."

As one they turned towards Harry's mother and bowed deeply. "We are humbled Madam! Teach us!"

Setting her drink down, his mother idly tapped a finger to her lips. "Hmm…perhaps. You two have talent that is for sure. And it'd be a wasteful if you two were not given the opportunity to flourish. Tell you what. Come to me after you two graduate and I'm sure I can find a proper use for your talents. I'll even throw in a bonus incentive as well." Rising from her seat, his mother made her way across the room until she was standing in front of the twins. "Work for me. And I'll front the startup costs to that joke shop you keep talking to Sirius about."

Fred and George both looked at one another for all of two seconds before falling down to their knees and pressing their faces close to his mother's feet. "We are yours! Use us as you wish Madam!" Both twins exclaimed in unison as they attempted to kiss her feet.

"Careful what you offer me boys." His mother smirked while backpedaling away from the twins attempts at kissing her feet.

Arthur and Molly expressions were continuously switching back and forth from pleased, to excited and to mortified as his mother made her way back to her seat. "Thank you for doing that Madam Nox." Bill said graciously. "Those two have wanted to open a joke shop since they were old enough to walk and talk. You just made their dreams come true."

"It wasn't charity on my part." His mother responded as she sat back down as Fred and George, while in the process of being scolded by their mother to keep their grades up to please Madam Nox, pulled out two vials and downed them. "I intend to make the two of them earn that shop of theirs while they work for me."

Whatever was in the vials that Fred and George just drank apparently wasn't working as both twins looked down at the empty containers in their hands in confusion. "Did you make the batch wrong Fred?"

"No. Did you grab the wrong vials George?"

"No."

"Then."

"Why isn't the counter working?"

"Because when I used that switching spell to trade our drinks I also altered the potion that you tried to slip into my drink." His mother said loudly and clearly. "That counter potion you have won't work boys. Oh, and neither will any glamour spells and if you change your clothes they too will change color."

Fred and George stared at his mother. Then at each other. Then turned back to his mother. "We are not worthy!" Both proclaimed while falling to their knees once again and repeatedly bowing to his mother.

Their bowing ended quite abruptly as both Susan and Daphne walked up behind the duo as they were down and pressed down on their backs with their feet. "You're annoying." Daphne remarked as she held a struggling Fred faced down on the ground.

"Just be good little boys, and we might help you undo what Madam Nox just did to the both of you once the game is over." Susan added as the two smirked at one another before lifting their feet up off of the twins and walking away.

"Thank you girls." His mother said with a smile as she picked up her drink. "And just in time, it looks like our esteemed Minister is about to announce the start of the game."

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Came the booming voice of the Minister of Magic. "As the British Minister of Magic, I, Cornelius Fudge, do welcome you all to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup featuring Ireland versus Bulgaria!" The crowd's roaring applause was nearly deafening. In fact, poor little Nat and even Ahsoka both involuntarily reached up to their heads in an effort to block out some of the noise. "Thank you. And without further ado, I hereby turn the commentary over to our match commentator for the evening, former beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, Mr. Ludovic Bagman!"

"Thank you Minister Fudge." A new cultured voice said. "Once again, I am Ludo Bagman, and I welcome you all to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup brought to you by Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and the Nimbus 2001! And now, without further ado I present to you your Irish National Team!"

The crowd roared again as the Irish team, dressed in flowing green and white robes, shot out from near the lower edge of the stands and started circling around the pitch. As they did, Harry noticed a large group of small creatures pouring out onto the field. Once they were all out, the small creatures began making various symbols and gestures in support of their team. "Harry," Ahsoka said lowering her voice while leaning into him as Nat ran towards the edge of the box so she could watch as the Irish flew past them with fascination. "What are those small life-forms down on the field?"

"Leprechauns if I'm not mistaken." Harry answered straining his eyes to see towards the bottom of the pitch. "Little mischievous creatures that are native to Ireland. Usually harmless…but they have a penchant for stealing and hoarding shiny things."

After making several laps around the pitch, the Irish team took up positions around the south end of the field just as Bagman began speaking once again. "And now ladies and gentlemen. I present to you your Bulgarian National Team!"

From the other side of the field, the seven members of the Bulgarian team, dressed in dark red robes, shot out from the stands right for the Irish team. The Irish just barely managed to scatter in time for the Bulgarians to pass them by, earning more than a few cheers and boos from the crowd. "That wasn't very nice." Nat scowled as she sat back down next to Harry.

"Strategy." Ginny shrugged. "Put the Irish off balance early…and technically what they did wasn't against the rules either."

As the Bulgarian team circled around, Harry heard a chant of 'Krum' start up. As Harry watched a single member of the Bulgarian team separated himself from the rest and made his way to the center of the arena while pumping his fist into the air. "That's Viktor Krum." Ginny commented with more than a little bit of awe in her voice. "He's the youngest player, let alone Seeker, to play on a national team ever!"

Smirking at his apprentice, Harry nudged her. "So…when's the wedding?" Ginny blushed at that and he received a backhand from her and a slap upside the head from Ahsoka. "Hey! What was that for?"

"For being mean." Ahsoka commented with a smirk.

"For being an arse." Ginny said, before blushing and looking away. "Besides…Quidditch notwithstanding, he's just not my type. Plus I'm all for the Irish in this game."

Just as Harry was about to comment back, he felt a pull against his mind. No. Not a pull. More like someone just knocked him upside the head with ten bludgeoning hexes. He needed to get his barriers up. But then…why should he? This was…pleasant. "Ginny…what's going with your brothers?"

Ahsoka's voice made Harry blink as he slammed his barriers firmly in place. Blinking, he looked over towards the Weasley family. Fred, George and Ron were all trying to walk towards the edge of the box while Arthur, who was blinking rapidly, drew his wand and forced the three back into the seats.

"Veela." Bill answered calmly from his seat while nodding down towards the bottom of the pitch.

Following Bill's line of sight, Harry saw that the Bulgarian mascots had taken the field. He had to do a double take and rub his eyes to actually believe what he was seeing. For on the field were a dozen beautiful blond haired women who were wearing…well he wasn't quite sure if a single strip across their chest and a transparent skirt with another strip to provide some decency constituted clothes. And all of them were dancing more than slightly erotically.

"That's different." Kento commented while rubbing his eyes. "I could feel a pull on my mind telling me to go to them and…well somethings are better left unsaid with young ones around."

"Veela are incredible. In more ways than one." Bill remarked as he leaned forward to better watch the women dance while Hermione and her father joined in the efforts to keep the three younger Weasley boys from jumping over the railing. "They have a natural affinity for fire. They can create it and control it without a wand. They can also transform into a half-human half-bird hybrid that is incredibly dangerous. But their greatest ability is their 'allure'. This is a subconscious technique which amplifies their attraction a thousand fold. Making many, like my idiot brothers over there, act like complete idiots."

Harry noticed that Ahsoka was giving him a strange look before she quickly turned back to Bill. "But how come it isn't affecting Ha– you or some of the others in here?"

Bill smiled slightly. "Well there are two ways to resist their allure. First you have to be extremely skilled in mind arts, like myself. The second," Bill paused slightly to shot Harry a wink before continuing. "Is that you need to be completely and utterly devoted to someone already. But as you can see, sometimes it doesn't work."

Looking over the edge, Harry noticed several men, and even some women, were trying their best to climb over the stands while others were trying their best to hold them back. "However those two techniques only really work with the subconscious and wide area allure." Bill continued. "If a Veela actually focused her allure on a specific individual they could become a blubbering wreck. That's why Veela are always careful when choosing a mate. If their chosen mate isn't strong willed enough, then while their shagging they-"

"I think that's enough Bill!" Molly cried out as she rushed over and slapped her eldest son upside the head. "We don't need to know the specifics! Now come over here and help your father with your brothers!"

But Bill's help wasn't needed as the Veela were escorted off the field by a group of female Hit Wizards. "Well then," Bagman's voice was more than slightly shaky as he began speaking again. "Now that our teams are on the field our referee for the game, Hassan Mostafa has come out onto the field as both teams take up their positions. The captains meet coast towards one another in the center of the field. The handshake is done. The snitch and the bludgers are out. Mostafa has the quaffle…and the game is underway!"

In the time it took Harry to blink, the players had all disappeared from their starting positions and were now scattered all across the field. 'Force…this is a lot faster than the games at school.'

"And the Irish have the quaffle…Troy catches the long pass. He weaves. Dives. Throws lef – no fake! And it's in! The first goal of the game has been scored by Troy from Ireland making the score 10-0 in favor of the Irish! Zograf takes the quaffle and throws it back into play-"

Leaning back in his seat, Harry let a small smile cross his lips as he watched the game. Beside him, Ahsoka was on the edge of her seat as she watched with wide eyes while on his other side; Nat had vacated her seat in favor for standing pressed up against the barrier railing so she could watch every moment of the game.

After twenty minutes of gameplay, Ireland had taken a commanding lead of the game by racking up a hundred and thirty points to Bulgaria's ten. Krum, who was the only reason why the Irish didn't have a larger lead, went completely vertical as he rocketed towards the bottom of the pitch. The Irish seeker, Lynch, took off immediately after him. As Lynch drew even with Krum, the Bulgarian seeker sped up even faster, forcing Lynch to follow suit. But just when there was less than a few meters separating the two racing seekers from the ground, Krum pulled up sharply on his broom. Lynch, momentarily distracted by Krum's sudden disappearance, didn't have time to react and ended up crashing into the ground.

"Oh, and a perfect Wronski Feint performed by Krum has sunk Lynch into the turf. Medi-wizards and medi-witches are rushing out onto the field. Krum is now circling the pitch solo and– and Ireland scores again! Score one-forty to ten!"

"Why did he do that?" Nat asked as she turned around just enough to look at Harry.

Before he could answer, Ginny beat him to it. "Because he needs to end the game quickly. The Irish chasers are scoring left and right and his team isn't able to keep up. So the only way they can win is for him to catch the snitch before Ireland gets ahead by more than one-hundred and fifty points."

"And the best way to do that is if he's the only…seeker on the field." Ahsoka nodded along. "Brutal tactic."

"But effective." Harry countered. "Now Ireland will have to keep an eye out on Krum or they need to try and score three more times before Krum finds the snitch. And– there he goes."

Out on the field, Krum took off like a shot. Even with how far away they were from him, Harry could just barely make out the small golden sphere flying desperately just in front of Krum. Just as Krum was beginning to reach out for the small orb, one of the Irish beaters sent a well-aimed bludger right at Krum. With his focus solely on the snitch, Krum didn't even see the bludger until it'd hit him right square in the face forcing him to stop his pursuit as he lost sight of the snitch as he lost sight of the golden orb and was forced to head down to the medi-wizards for aid.

"Well, I guess turnaround is fair play." Harry shrugged as Krum was released by the medi-wizards and went back up into the air. A short time later the Irish seeker was released by the medi-wizards and shot back up into the field of play and the game picked up again exactly where it'd left off.

Twenty minutes later and the game had come to an almost standstill. The Bulgarian team had shot twice more, but both of the shots had been blocked by the keeper while the Irish had shot three times with only one managing to get in making the score one hundred and fifty to ten.

"And that is another goal for Ireland! Making the score now one hundred and sixty to ten and– wait. Krum is on the move! And Lynch is speeding right behind him is this– no. There is the snitch! Both seekers are now neck and neck as they race around the pitch! Oh my, ladies and gentlemen it does not get any closer than this!"

"But he can't catch the snitch now." Nat said, as she practically starting bouncing up and down from the excitement of the game.

"Actually he needs to catch it now." Harry said back sitting forward in his seat slightly. It was a good game after all.

"But they'll tie, won't they?" Ahsoka asked as she too moved forward.

"No." Ginny said shaking her head. "In the event of the tie, the team that catches the snitch is declared the winner. All Bulgaria needs to do is hold onto the quaffle until Krum catches the snitch an-"

"Dropped quaffle! Ireland recovers and is now racing for the rings!"

"Now the real race begins." Harry smiled feeling his heart race. "Krum has to catch the snitch before Ireland can score otherwise he needs to break off his chase and get the other seeker to back off as well."

Krum had his arm outstretched, his fingers reaching just slightly further than Lynch's as both men stretched out for the small golden snitch. Throwing his off hand back, Krum managed to distract Lynch just enough so that Krum was able to grasp hold of the golden snitch…just after Ireland scored another goal.

"And the snitch is caught! The final score…Bulgaria one hundred and sixty. Ireland…one hundred and seventy! Witches and wizards! Ireland is your 422nd Quidditch World Champions!"

Leaning back in his seat, Harry let out a breath. "Well…that was exciting."

"That was…umm…wicked!" Nat said after a moment's hesitation. "Can we watch another game?"

"That was over a lot sooner than I thought it'd be." Sirius commented as the two teams began converging on the announcer's box, which had converted itself to a large stage for the presentation of the World Cup. "The last world cup lasted for two full days. This one was barely an hour."

"It was fairly exciting though." Dan Granger said rising to his feet before holding out his hand to help his wife to hers. "Thank you very much for inviting us Ms. Nox. I must say, I can understand now why my daughter is always so eager to return to school at the end of each summer."

"Think nothing of it Dan." His mother said as she too got to her feet. "And again, you and your family are more than welcome to stay with us for the night."

"Thank you, but we're going to have to decline." Emma Granger responded politely. "Dan and I still have a practice to run in the morning."

"I understand." His mother nodded before holding out a small metal ring roughly the size of her hand. "If you three will grab hold, this will take you back to your home."

After saying their goodbyes to Hermione for the night, the Grangers took hold of the portkey. Although neither looked too thrilled as they knew what was about to happen next. "Is it too late to say that I really don't care for these things?" Dan asked with a grimace as Nox drew her wand.

"Yes." She smiled before touching the ring with her wand, making the three Grangers disappear with a crack. "Well then, I invite the rest of you to stay with us if you wish. We have a tent set up not too far from here. And it would be a waste to run off before all of the celebrations are done."

As they left the luxury box and made their way back towards their campsite, both Evelyn and Cyrus Greengrass left but gave their blessing for Daphne and Astoria to stay with them. Xenophilius left as well, claiming that he'd managed to secure a press pass for after the game and wanted to ask the Bulgarian players if it was true they trained by being chased by vampires.

The Abbotts and Mr. Davis left as well, after securing promises from their respective daughters that they would be on their best behavior and that they would return first thing in the morning. Arthur, Molly and Bill Weasley left as well despite his mother's attempts to get them to stay for the night. By the time they reached their campsite, their group had been reduced down to the ones that'd gone on the trip into space plus Sirius, Amelia, Fred and George. The two former, of which were currently out, were talking to some official or other.

Leaning back in his seat within the tent, Harry sipped on his butterbeer as he and Ahsoka watched as both Fred and George, who were still pink from head to toe having failed to find a way to undo whatever his mother had done, danced a jig with one another as Nat tried her best to match their movements while laughing uproariously. "Those two are rather lively aren't they?" Ahsoka asked as she took another large gulp of her drink. "And what is this? It's delicious!"

"It's butterbeer." Harry answered with a smile as Nat laughed as Fred grabbed her hand and led her in another dance. 'Thank Merlin those talismans fool not only the eyes, but the sense of touch as well.' "Probably one of, if not the, most popular drinks in the magical world. And yes, those two are always worth a good laugh or two."

As he watched the party go on around him, Harry froze as he felt a ripple in the Force. Beside him he saw Ahsoka stiffen slightly as well. Something bad was about to happen, or was happening. Looking around, he saw that Aayla, Kento and Mallie were all frowning in concentration while his mother stood up from her seat and made her way towards the entrance to the tent.

Just as she was about to reach it, the flap flew open allowing a clearly out of breath Sirius to rush in. While the flap was still open, Harry could just barely hear the sounds of people running by and…screaming? Before anyone could ask Sirius what was going on he pulled out his wand and the music that was floating through the tent ended. "We need to leave. Now."

"What's going on?" Nox asked.

"I don't know for sure." Sirius answered while biting his lip. "Amelia got a distress call that someone has taken the muggle owners of this land hostage and are currently marching through the camp destroying whatever they can and throwing curses and hexes at anyone who gets in their way."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Harry asked rising to his feet only a split second before Ahsoka, Daphne and Susan all stood as well.

"You will not be going anywhere young man."

His mother's words stopped him dead. "Mother?"

Taking a step towards him, his mother spoke in a low tone so that only the two of them could hear her words while Sirius ran past them telling everyone else to grab whatever they needed and that they would come back later for everything else. "I know you can handle whatever is going on out there my son." His mother said. "But now is not the time for you to show yourself. We must be patient. Go with everyone else. Get them to safety. The Masters and I will deal with this."

Harry wanted to press the issue, but the look in his mother's eye stopped whatever he'd been about to say. "As you wish, mother."

Then without warning, Harry felt his mother's arm wrap around him and pull his head into her. "There will be a time when you will no longer have to hide yourself my son." She said soothingly. "But that time has not yet come to pass. Be patient. Soon you will deliver justice to those who wronged you all those years ago."

Leaning into his mother's embrace, Harry nodded his head. "Yes mother."

"Good." She said pulling back from him as he voice took on the same commanding tone it'd had back when they rescued Ahsoka. "Sirius, head back to Amelia and help to organize the Aurors and Hit-wizards to help get the civilians away from these terrorists. Kento, Mallie, Aayla and I will be with you shortly to lend you our assistance."

It took Harry all of two seconds to decipher his mother's plan. It was brilliant. Sirius would go back to Amelia and get her to move the Aurors and Hit-wizards out of the way while providing the four of them with an alibi. Then the Masters would confront the terrorists free from any outsider hindrances from the Ministry.

Harry could see the wheels turning in Sirius's head as he too deciphered his mother's plan. "Right." He said moving towards the tent. "I'll head back to Amelia. It should only take me two minutes to find her. Hopefully this whole debacle will be over in ten minutes."

After Sirius left, Luna walked over to Mallie and took custody of sleeping Galen. Harry reached out and took hold of Nat's hand while the rest of his friends as well as a non-pink Fred and George gathered near the entrance to the tent. As Harry pulled the flap back, his ears were assaulted with the screams of panicked witches and wizards as they ran by as well as the sounds of distant explosions. "Alright." He said tightening his hold on Nat's hand. "Stay close everyone. Let's move!"

---

After making sure that Harry and the others were a fair distance away from the tent, Nox ducked back in and marched past her three Guardian Masters towards the back of the tent. "So let me guess," Kento said solemnly as she used her wand to summon a large trunk from her room. "We're not going to be just, 'helping people get away'."

"We will be. From a certain point of view." Reaching down into the depths of the trunk, she quickly found what she was looking for. Standing back upright, she handed a grey colored cloak to each of the former-Jedi behind her. "Put these on."

"What are they?" Aayla asked while holding the cloak up so she could inspect it. "I can feel slight…pulses in the Force coming from them."

"They're modifications of Unspeakable cloaks." Nox answered. "Amelia was able to smuggle me one of them, and I've been copying and altering them slightly. This cloak will obscure your face, your body's appearance and your voice. While you're wearing this, the only thing that people will be able to tell about you is that you were someone wearing a grey cloak."

"But why do we need to wear them?" Mallie asked.

"Because right now our greatest weapon against the approaching darkness is anonymity." Nox answered as she threw the cloak over her shoulders and allowing it to magically close so that only her head was still visible.

"Smart." Kento admitted while throwing the cloak over his own shoulders. "Okay…this whole self dressing thing is going to take a little getting used to. And speaking of which…why do you even have these with you? These don't necessarily look like your everyday…oh Force. You knew this was going to happen. Didn't you?"

"I knew there was a possibility that something might happen." She responded. "I have several contacts within the…darker elements shall we say. One of them informed me that something might happen at the world cup."

"Then why didn't you say so before?" Aayla demanded, her cloak still in her hand.

"Because I wasn't sure, and neither were they." Nox shot back. "And before you get on your typical Jedi soap box. Don't. I already talked with Amelia about the possibility of this happening, which is why she had so many of her Aurors and Hit Wizards already here. This," she accented grabbing part of her cloak, "was merely a worst case scenario."

Aayla kept quiet for a moment as she stared at Nox. No doubt trying to find some inclination that she wasn't being entire truthful. But in fact, Nox was being quite truthful. For the most part. Narcissa had told her that her husband was planning something for the quidditch world cup, but couldn't tell her what. And she had informed Amelia that there was a possibility that there could be some type of disturbance. But what was happening now was not a 'worst case scenario'.

Quite the opposite in fact. This was exactly what she wanted. A chance to reveal the Guardian Order to the world. Not that she would actually admit that to the former Jedi though. They were still too wrapped up in their old philosophy and couldn't understand the necessity of striking first.

"As you say." Aayla nodded after a moment long before she began putting the cloak around her shoulders.

Once her three Masters were dressed, Nox pulled the hood of her cloak up. It truth…she was actually fairly amazed. Despite the fact that she was wearing a hood that should've disrupted her vision, her peripherals were still perfectly fine. As the three former Jedi pulled up their hoods, the charms and runes within the cloaks took effect and the three faces were cast into darkness and their bodies became indistinguishable from one another.

"So what is our plan of attack?" One of the three figures before her asked.

"Just that." Nox responded in a voice that wasn't her own. "We clear the noncombatants and then we attack. Oh, and one last thing." Snapping both hands out to her sides, she drew both her lightsaber and her wand. "Don't hold back on these assholes. They deserve what is about to happen to them. Oh, and we only have ten minutes to make our mark. So let's move people."