Chapter Twenty-Five: The Aliens From Outer Space
"I'm not reading any anything beyond low-spectrum EM transmission," Han Solo said. "The place is buzzing with satellites and debris in orbit, but no actual orbital traffic. I'd say we're either looking at a very poor planet, or a pre-hyperspace planet."
"Ben indicated it was a primitive world," Luke said.
There was something special about the three of them sitting in the cockpit, though none thought to speak of it. Han Solo, pushing seventy now but still vibrant and healthy, sat behind the controls of his trusted freighter. Next to him sat the love his life and his wife of several decades, Leia Organa-Solo, Jedi Master.
Behind Han sat Luke Skywalker, Jedi Grand Master.
And in the spot behind Leia sat C-3PO.
There seemed to be a shadow in the cramped outrigger cockpit as well. A large, furry presence that was startling by its absence. But there were also new additions to the three old friends and their droid. "Dad, are you sure it was a good idea bringing Amelia here too?" Jaina Solo asked.
"I'm a big girl!" six-year-old Amelia Solo cried from the narrow passage leading to the outrigger cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.
"You bet you are," another familiar voice said as Corran Horn peaked out from behind Jaina with the Solo's granddaughter in his arms. "We there yet?" the other Jedi master asked in a boyish voice that belayed his sixty years.
Han Solo shook his head. "Don't know what I was thinking, letting so many kriffin' Jedi on my ship."
"You're married to one," Leia reminded him archly.
"Which means I should a known better!" Han said. He took a deep breath. "Alright, looks we got a solid lock on the beacon. It'd moved when we first made orbit, but it's settled down now. Looks like it's located in the northern hemisphere, on a large island just off the largest of the planetary continents. Leia, what do you see on scans?"
"Lots of air traffic in the area," she said. "Good thing you decided to keep that stealth sheathing on the hull. Looks like their detection methods are radar-based. Unless someone actually sees us coming in, we shouldn't be detected."
"All right," Han said. "Everyone buckle up, we're dropping down the well."
As the Falcon began its descent into the atmosphere well past the terminator, the sun disappeared below the horizon and the island-nation below them glowed with the light of their post-industrial but pre-space flight civilization.
"Watch out for those aircraft," Leia noted.
"I see them," Han said as he spun the whole Falcon to keep from hitting the two fighter-craft flying constant patrol over England's borders.
The two pilots in question, both flying RAF Tornado F3s, saw a large, black disc soar past them at Mach 4, but it disappeared from view before they could reorient their planes from the vortex caused by its passage. They never detected it on their RADAR screens.
Han ignored them. These people likely didn't have anything that could penetrate the Falcon's deflector screens anyway, he reasoned.
"We're coming down. The screen tells me the beacon is…" Han blinked. "Okay, it appears to be in the middle of an empty valley."
Luke leaned between his sister and oldest friend. "It's not empty," he said.
"Luke, you can see that too?" Leia whispered.
"It's blazing with power," the Jedi Master agreed.
"Let me see!" Jaina said. She pushed her uncle aside like a little girl, only to suck in her breath. "Krif!" she swore. "That place is glowing! What'd they do, build it on a nexus? Not even Degobah has places that glow that bright in the Force."
"Still can't see a damned thing," Han said. "Stupid Jedi."
Leia leaned over their seats and gave him a good solid kiss on his cheek. "I love you. Now shut up and land us."
"Where? All I see is an empty valley."
Luke reached a hand and took Han's shoulder. With a nudge of the Force and a skill no other in the ship could have managed so easily, he shifted his brother in law's perception.
Han swore. "Okay, I see it now."
Luke closed his eyes. "Ben," he whispered aloud. "Hear me."
"I'm bringing her down," Han said. "Looks like we have a welcoming party, too. I guess…hey, wait a sec. Are those sticks? Or those people waving sticks at us?"
Suddenly the sticks started flashing splashes of different colored light up at the ship. The lights impacted the shields with odd thumps and thuds, almost like low-powered blaster bolts. Both Han and Leia looked down when they saw a drain on the shields, however light. "They're shooting paintballs at us?" Jaina asked in confusion.
Luke opened his eyes. "Those are spells," he said. "Somehow the Force expresses itself as magic on this world. Those spells can kill. If not for the deflector screens, we'd be taking damage."
"So what do we do, Luke?" Leia asked.
"Ben's in the castle," Luke said calmly. "He's been terribly hurt, and more. And he was hurt by those people. They're servants of the Dark Lord he told us about."
"Does that make them fair game?" Han said.
"Do we really want to get into the middle of a civil war on a backward planet?" Leia asked.
"Sure, why not?" Jaina said with a shrug. "It's been a couple of years since our last one." No one mistook the deep bitterness underlying her morbid humor.
Behind them Corran snorted. "Stuff like that never stopped any of you people before, why let it start now?"
"I'll man the ventral quad laser," Jaina said. She was out of the cockpit in a second.
"Isn't that like using an e-web to swat a bug?" Leia asked.
"If the bug is shooting killer sparkly light balls at us, why not?" Han asked. He shrugged as well, and it was a perfect mirror image of Jaina's earlier gesture.
A moment later Jaina's voice came over the ship's com. Only, she was not talking to them. "This is my dad's ship, Valin, so I get to fire the big guns. Just go back and buckle up. All right, Dad. I'm ready. Uncle, just give me the go."
Luke looked down at the Death Eaters. "I can't sense anything but hate and fear in them," he admitted sadly.
"I can sense worse than that," Leia whispered. "They're murderers."
"That's my cue, then," Jaina said. She opened up the ventral quad laser cannon of the Millennium Falcon, a weapon that could destroy TIE fighters with a single shot, directly into the fifty wizards standing at the opening of the strangely Force-strong castle.
Five seconds later, when the smoke and steam cleared, most of the bodies were not even recognizable, and there were far more than fifty pieces.
"All right, I'm taking us down," Han said.
The ship came to a landing so gentle those within could not even tell the exact moment when the Falcon came to rest.
"Get out here, the bleedin' sky is falling!"
No one could miss the fear in the Death Eater's eyes as she called for help. Alecto did not even sneer at the Hogwarts staff he left behind as he ran outside. Almost as soon as they were gone, Filius hopped whole and untouched form his bed.
"I knew you were just faking it!" Pomphrey said.
"Of course," Filius said. "How else could I continue to have the most beautiful witch in the castle take care of me?"
"Oh you!" Pomphrey said with an expression between irritation and affection.
"Get Minerva," Flitwick said. He turned to Ben. "Did you hear, Ben? The sky is falling. What do you think that means?"
Ben's eyes were closed though. However, his smile was obvious. With his eyes still closed, he said, "My father has come, and he's brought friends."
"Well then," Filius said with a high-picked laugh that sounded almost like a cackle, "I suppose we should go meet them."
The charms professor was just outside the hospital wing when every Death Eater in the school rushed past toward the main doors. They spilled out, ran through the narrow courtyard and collected themselves on the edge of the grounds leading down to Hogsmeade. Filius followed. A moment later Minerva joined him. "Filius, what is going on here?" she demanded.
"It appears the elder Mr. Skywalker has decided to visit the school," Flitwick said with a joyous cackle. The two stopped at the edge of the courtyard and watched as the Death Eaters, led by the Carrow siblings, began tossing offensive curses up at the black, dish-shaped object hovering just above the grounds. The disk was a shade of black so pure it seemed to absorb light, though brilliant spotlights flashed down from it onto the ground where the Death Eaters fired their curses.
A moment later, Horace Slughorn arrived in his nightgown. "Has it finally begun?" he said with tired resignation. "Are we finally going to die?"
"I have a feeling someone is," Flitwick said with an eager chortle.
Seconds later, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, and Charlie and Bill Weasley joined them. "What in the name of Merlin are you four doing here?" Slughorn said when he saw the four of them. "If the Carrows find out you're here, we'll all be killed!"
Suddenly the world exploded. Brilliant, staccato bursts of red light streaked down from the center of the saucer-shaped craft and ripped into the earth and the Death Eaters upon it with stunning power. Death Eaters screamed, but only for a moment before the red lights chewed them up as thoroughly as it chewed up the soil. The whole barrage lasted just seconds, but when it ended there was not a single Death Eater left alive.
"I don't think the Carrows are going to be a problem," Black said gleefully. "What is it about watching Death Eaters die that gets me so randy?"
"Sirius, that is disgusting," Hermione said.
"Does that mean we're not going to…."
"Not now, and not ever if you complete that sentence," Hermione said quickly.
Minerva rolled her eyes. "Really."
They watched as the ship came to gentle rest on the ground. "Well," Hermione said with a note of determination in her voice and a hard set to her eyes, "might as well go meet them."
"Sweetie," Sirius called after her. "Sugar plums, we may not want to get too close the people with the big light guns that kill Death Eaters."
"Sugar plums?" Hermione called over her shoulder. "We're definitely not now!"
"Damn it," Black muttered.
Hermione marched resolutely across the field and made a conscious effort to not look at the ground. Every single burst of light from the cannon or whatever it was resulted in a crater in the ground. There were four barrels, and though it only fired for a few seconds, it produced a lot of shots. It was literally like trying to walk on a moonwalk.
Finally, though, she made it past the field of carnage until she stood near the ship. Through the clear windows of a strange projection off the side of the saucer, she could see humans moving. She took a deep breath, and simply waited.
Light flared out from the lower side of the craft. A ramp slowly dropped with a mechanical hum, lit by the brilliance from within. A moment later, she saw legs, then a torso, and finally the complete form of a man. He appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties, but still very fit and active. His hair had hints of blonde, but was now mostly grey. What caught her attention in the lights from the ship, though, were the clear, sky blue of the man's eyes. Accentuating that color was a presence of determination and calm. And power.
Hermione took a deep breath as the man's power swept past her. He scanned the whole school and everyone in it with a wave of intense energy. It felt to her magic much like Ben's power when he used the Force instead of magic, only magnified.
Finally, his blue eyes fell back on her, and she had no doubt that she was looking at Luke Skywalker.
"Hello," she said simply.
He spoke a word, but it made no sense. Neither did the golden figure that shambled oddly from the ship behind him. Its eyes held a golden glow, and as it approached Hermione realized that she was staring at a robot of some kind. It said another strange word to her. "I'm sorry, I can't understand," she said.
She reached for her wand to do a language spell when the robot spoke perfectly clear English with a distinct BBC accent. "Well, how odd. This language is not one I have had the opportunity to ever use."
"You speak English?"
"Is that what you call it? It is actually a synthesis of several different languages. I am C-3PO, human cyborg relations."
"My name is Hermione Granger, and if that is Luke Skywalker, Ben is in the castle."
"Ben," Luke said immediately. Hermione nodded. The droid spoke something in their native language. Hermione held up her wand.
"I would like you're permission to cast a language spell on you so you don't need a translation. It is how we learned to speak with Ben."
Luke stared at her so intently it felt as if he were looking at her very soul. In fact, as far as she knew he might have been doing that very thing. Eventually, though, he nodded.
Hermione stepped forward, placed the tip of her wand to his mouth and said, "Omni lingua."
"That is remarkable," Luke Skywalker said after a moment. "I sense your spell continued past me to the others."
"It's a cascading spell that feeds a little off your innate power to pass on to those around you that you know. You've already passed it on to the others in your party. They should all be able to understand us now."
Only then did others emerge from the ship. Hermione's eyes widened as she saw at least five other people emerge with lightsabers clipped to their belts. Another ageless woman with flawless dark skin in a white robe emerged, and finally a little girl holding the hand of what looked like her grandfather.
"Where is my son?" Luke asked. "I sensed that he was hurt."
"He is," Hermione said. "He fought Lord Voldemort and did not come out in good shape. Now that you've killed the Death Eaters that kept the school under siege, we can help you openly for now. But you should know that there may be more Death Eaters coming."
Aside from the woman in white robes, only one other person from the ship did not wear a lightsaber. He did, however, carry a very large blaster on his belt. He appeared older than Luke and was the grandfatherly figure holding the little girl's hand. He snorted in contempt. "Death Eaters? Your bad guys call themselves Death Eaters? That's about the dumbest thing I think I've ever heard."
"This coming from the man who claimed to have made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs," the older woman beside him snorted.
"Hey, I had a very informal education. How was I supposed to know a parsec was a measurement of distance and not time. Par-sec. As in second."
Hermione shook her head, sensing that these people were a family. Ben's family. "Come on," she said.
They all followed without hesitation. "Quick introductions," Hermione said as she arrived. "This is my husband Sirius Black. This is Bill and Charlie Weasley. Professors Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick, and Headmaster Horace Slughorn."
"Only temporarily," Slughorn said. "I'm playing a role until this whole bloody war is over. And you must be Mr. Skywalker's family."
"We are," Luke said. "I am Ben's father Luke. This is my sister, Leia Organa Solo, and her husband Han. This beautiful young lady is Han's daughter Jaina, and his granddaughter Amelia. Also joining us are Jedi Master Corran Horn and his two children, Jedi Knights Valin and Jysella Horn. Finally, I have the honor to present Fallanassi Adept Akahan Noss Pell."
Those named nodded their greetings. When the brief exchange was done, Luke said with urgency, "Please, take us to my son."
By the time they reached the main doors, the halls were lined with terrified students wanting to know what was happening. Several gasped when they saw Hermione and Black among those entering. One of the Slytherins stepped forward. "Granger, what's going on?"
"Things are looking better, Daphne," Hermione said. "Please, try and get everyone back to their common rooms. It still might not be safe."
The Jedi looked around the halls with wide, awe-struck eyes. The castle architecture was nothing really special; it was the sheer power that thrummed through the walls that struck them as so incredible. "It feels almost like the castle itself is alive," Jysella Horn said.
Hermione turned to the girl, only a few years older than herself, and nodded. "In a sense it is. The magic the founders imbued into the castle has grown and taken on a life of its own. Perhaps in a few hundred more years, it might even develop a sentience of sorts."
"Wow," the girl said. She then stared intently at Hermione as they walked. "I'm a friend of Ben's."
Hermione sensed a lot behind the word "friend". Whatever Ben and Jysella shared, it had been strained to breaking in the past. "I am too," Hermione said. "I helped train Ben in our magic." She nodded to the doors of the hospital wing. "We're almost there."
Madame Pomphrey was standing just inside the door when the party arrived. She quickly swept her expert eye over the whole party before they alit on Luke Skywalker. "You are Ben's father," she said with absolute certainty.
"I am," Luke said.
"This way, please."
She led them into the smaller faculty room, to the only occupied bed.
Hermione followed a step behind the Jedi when she heard a gasp from Ben. Luke rushed forward until he knelt beside the bed and stared down at his son. "I told you I was coming," Luke said with a gentle, loving smile.
Ben nodded weakly. "Dad," he said, "they took Luna. They're hurting her." The younger Skywalker's voice cracked. "They're hurting my wife, Dad."
Nearby, Jysella sucked in a breath. All of them appeared surprised by the announcement, except for Luke himself. Gently, Luke took his son's head in his hands and pulled him forward marginally until he could embrace the younger man.
"They're hurting my wife," Ben said again as his grief broke through his Jedi training, and he wept.
One of the older members of their party, a woman in gray slacks and an off-white blouse, turned and stared at Hermione. It was Leia, if Hermione remembered correctly. "What does he mean by wife? Ben's only sixteen years old."
"He magically bonded with a girl named Luna Lovegood," Hermione explained. "They seemed to have a connection from the moment they met."
Behind Hermione, Professor Flitwick cleared his throat and stepped forward to address the crowd. Since bonding was classified as a type of charm, it fell squarely within his area of expertise. "Oh, it was more than just a magical bonding," Flitwick said from beside Hermione. "It was a soul bonding. Haven't felt anything like it in decades. They experienced some hardships together, and in the process of healing they fell so profoundly in love that their formed a soul bond. Body, magic and soul."
"And the Force," Hermione added. "Ben said it formed a Force bond too. That's a little outside my area of expertise. But I can tell you he loves her more than anything else, and she loves him. And she's been captured by Lord Voldemort."
"Kid's been beat up pretty bad," Han said. "We need to get him into the bacta tank on the Falcon. Place this primitive can't be good for him."
Madame Pomphrey harrumphed and looked as if she were about to rip into the captain when Luke shook his head. "We need more room." He stood and walked toward the main entrance. Behind him, Ben's bed gently lifted off the ground to follow. It was seamless, without even a hint of power being expended.
The others walked out of the faculty room to make way, and a moment later Luke followed with Ben's bed a step behind. The elder Jedi stopped in the center of the room and let the bed down. "Jedi, to me," he said as he knelt by his son. It was not even a command so much as a request, but all the Jedi responded without question. There was no doubt to any in the room that Luke was their undisputed leader.
A moment after the Jedi knelt down, the tall woman in the white robes knelt down beside Luke as well, and joined her own powers to those of her companions.
"What are they doing?" Slughorn asked.
"Force-healing," Hermione guessed.
"Just like when Ben pulled Luna out of Ravenclaw tower," Filius agreed. "They are going to use their own magic to heal…" He stopped.
They all stopped.
Power, foreign and exotic, yet breathtakingly beautiful, filled the room. There were no lights, no spells spoken. There were no visual clues at all, but the sheer power of the six Jedi so completely dominated their magical senses that Hermione actually had to blink and turn away.
"This might take a while," Pomphrey said, though she spoke softly and with obvious respect to what she was witnessing.
"What do we do now, Minerva?" Slughorn said.
"We summon the Order, that's what we do," Sirius said. "We summon the Order and any loyal aurors that are still out there."
"Sirius is right," Minerva said. "Now that Ben's family is here, this is the most logical line of defense." She removed the enchanted galleon from her robes and passed the message on. "I just hope it's enough."
Across the magical United Kingdom, enchanted galleons vibrated and grew warm to the touch. In Wales, Tonks reached into her pocket and removed hers, then grinned at the message. "What'd it say?" Remus Lupin asked from beside her.
The two were hunched over a table in a small magical inn, waiting. "It says Hogwarts is free, and that's where we need to go," she whispered.
Just then the three they were waiting for entered. Two wizards and a witch. All were painfully familiar to Tonks, though she knew they would not recognize her current form. Still, they seemed to recognize the description Tonks had passed to them and made their way to the table.
"We're here," the witch said. "What did you want to talk about?"
Tonks leaned forward until the newcomers obscured her features from the rest of the room, and shifted just for a moment to her own face. She leaned back a second later and smiled, now in the form of a sandy-headed boy of nineteen. "Are you loyal to the Ministry, or to New Order?" she whispered.
The witch looked at her two colleagues before she nodded. "We couldn't fight, but we refused to serve."
"You can fight now," Tonks said. "Hogwarts is free again. The Order of the Phoenix is assembling. We'll need all the help we can get. Will you come?"
Without hesitation, the three former aurors nodded their emphatic agreement.
Across the country Kingsley Shacklebolt had similar meetings, as did Deadalus Diggle and more. Not all they met with were aurors. Some were newly fired ministry employees. Some were merely concerned citizens. But all agreed that they could no longer continue to watch a madman destroy their society.
As dawn arrived to the highlands of Scotland, wizards and witches began to apparate onto the grounds of the venerable old school. With almost all the school's wards still down, it was a simple matter to do so. The ten or so Order Members who arrived brought with them easily fifty witches and wizards, all of whom were determined to stand up at last to the threat that was Voldemort.