AN!: This was an alternative to the Sentinel plot line that I came up with a few years back. It's not a real Star Wars crossover like the Sentinel was this is more of a Harry learns the ways of the force after watching the OG Trilogy. I'm posting the few chapters I have to clean up B0b's hard drive. If I get a lot of interest in this story I might continue it.
It was July 31, 1987 and Harry was spending his birthday like he did every year. He was cooking breakfast for his ungrateful family. A dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, a huge stack of pancakes. He even squeezed the orange juice. What did he get for his work? A slap in the back of the head for taking too long and a dry piece of toast that he had to make himself. As he sat down at the table his horse faced aunt turned on him.
"Boy, after you do the dishes you will head to Mrs. Figg's house. She has boxes for you to move. It will take all day. I don't want to see your face again today." She said giving him a look like she just stepped in dog crap.
"Yes Aunt Petunia." He said nodding sadly. There went his plans to hid outside all day in the back yard.
After washing the dishes he walked down the street to Mrs. Figg's house. He rang the bell and she answered the door with a smile.
"Good you're here, I have important VHS tapes to watch, and Popcorn to eat." She said making Harry stare at her with a gaping look on his face.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Well I bought a VCR from the store and I need to test it out. The man that set it up for me said I would need to run at least ten video tapes through it. It came with a few of them but I don't know how to put them in. I thought maybe you could put in a few tapes and watch it play to make sure it's working." She said with a smirk.
"Sure, uncle Vernon has a VCR and I know how it works." Harry said getting his brain working again.
"Good, but first I thought about having some breakfast. I got up a bit late today and I haven't had anything to eat. Would you like some bacon and eggs?" She asked.
"Um, if it's not too much trouble." He said looking at the two plates set on the table.
"Not at all, like I said you're helping me test out my new gadget. Come on, let's eat." She said.
After a good breakfast full of soft scrambled eggs, five strips of crispy bacon, and three pieces of toast covered in butter and jam Harry thought he was going to be sick. Harry cleared the table and she handed him a bag full of tapes and pointed to her good sized tv and the new VCR sitting on top. Harry took out the tapes and looked at the titles. He knew some of them because he heard Dudley talking about them with his friends. He saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom. He also saw the Karate kid, Back to the Future and Die Hard. But it was the three tapes in one box that held his attention. STAR WARS. Every kid in his school knew those two words. Harry had wanted to see it so badly and Dudley took extra pleasure in rubbing it in his face that he never saw it. He was going to see it now. He turned to see Mrs. Figg walk into the den.
"What are we watching first?" She asked with a smile.
"Star Wars?" Harry asked trying to play it cool. It was her VCR. She should have some say in what they watched. But he was really hoping she said yes.
"Oh good! They're my favorite. Have you seen the trilogy yet Harry?" She asked excitedly.
"No, I always wanted to." Harry said practically jumping up and down as he took out the tree tapes from the box.
"Great! I love seeing the reaction to some one seeing it for the first time!" She said closing the curtains to block out the light so they could see the tv better.
"This is going to be so awesome." Harry said to himself as he got the tv and VCR ready. He put in Star Wars and hit play. He took a seat next to Mrs. Figg on the couch and six cats took up spots on his lap and around him as the movie started up.
"This is going to change your life Harry." She said with a big smile as the words 'a long time ago in a galaxy far far away…' came on the screen. When the first hit of John William's score started Harry had a huge grin on his face. It didn't leave his face for the full movie.
That day Harry saw all three films and lived and died with every minute of them. He laughed at R2-D2 and C3PO. He cheered when Luke blew up the Death Star. He watched in horror as Darth Vader turned out to be Luke's Dad. He even got misty eyed at the end when Luke burned his father's body. That day Harry lived. When Return of the Jedi ended he turned to Mrs. Figg and looked at her with a shocked look on his face.
"I want to be a Jedi." He said nodding his head.
"You do, do you?" She asked with a smile.
"I do, I want to use the force, and carry a lightsaber, and fight evil bad guys." Harry said.
"Well if you try hard enough I'm sure you'll be a great Jedi one day, but it's getting late and you have to get home. But I think you're going to need to come over for the rest of the week to help me watch all these tapes and we're going to have to see the Trilogy again. Now that you know the end you have to watch it again to see everything you missed the first time." She said.
"I would definitely like to see it again. Those were the best movies of all time!" Harry said getting up and shutting off the tv and VCR.
"Well run along, and we'll do this again tomorrow." She said as he walked out the front door.
Harry had a huge smile on his face the whole way back to his house. He was so high on Star Wars that he missed his cousin and his friends coming down the block headed right for him. Before he knew what hit him Dudley and his gang had Harry surrounded.
"Look what we have boys. It's the Freak!" Dudley said pushing Harry hard enough to knock him over. Harry popped back up and started to panic. He knew how this was going to end. His only option was to try to talk his way out.
"You don't want to do this Dud." Harry said looking for a way out of the group.
"I don't? why don't I?" Dudley asked. It was his simple confused look that set something off in Harry's head. He raised his right hand and waved it in front of his cousin's face.
"You do not want to beat me up." Harry said in a calm tone of voice. Wishing and hoping this worked.
"I do not want to beat you up." Dudley said in a dim witted voice.
"You want to let me go home." Harry said doing it again.
"I want to let you go home." Dudley said. Harry was totally shocked this was working. Seeing the rest of the group he went for broke. He waved at the whole group.
"You all want to stop picking on the neighborhood kids and stop being bullies." Harry said.
"We want to stop picking on the neighborhood kids and stop being bullies." They all said in a creepy tone as one.
"Move along." Harry said waving his hand with a smile.
"Move along." Dudley said letting Harry through.
Harry ran back to the house, if he was excited before he was on cloud nine now. He could use the Jedi mind trick! It worked! It was real! As he approached the front door he stopped and took a deep breath, he was winded, and tired. Using the force took a lot out of you. He walked in the front door and into his uncle Vernon.
"Boy it has come to my attention that today is your birthday. You know what that means." He said pulling out his belt.
Harry threw up his hand and waved it. "You do not want to hit me."
"I do not want to hit you." Vernon said dully.
"Weak minded indeed." Harry muttered before shrugging. "You want to treat me like a member of this family from now on." Harry said going for broke.
"I want to treat you like family from now on." Vernon said before shaking his head and looking confused. "Harry, it's getting late, why don't you get to bed?" Vernon said. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he headed to his cupboard. If he was winded before he was practically falling over now. "Why are you going in there?" Vernon asked looking confused.
"Because this is my room." Harry said turning around.
"Really? Do you like it down there?" Vernon asked.
"Not really. There are spiders and the bed is from a crib." Harry said too tired to realize how crazy this conversation was.
"Well why don't you take the guest bedroom for now. We'll talk about your room situation tomorrow. You look ready to fall over." Vernon said with what Harry thought was concern in his voice but he couldn't be sure.
"Okay." Harry said making his way up the stars. His eyes were drooping by the time he reached the top of the steeps and that's when he saw his Aunt. Before she could even ask him anything he waved his hand once more. "You will treat me like family from now on." He intoned half asleep.
"I will treat you like family from now on." She said looking confused.
"Good. Now I'm off to bed." Harry muttered walking into the guest bedroom. He fell onto the bed and passed out.
Harry woke up the next morning on a soft bed and he was confused. He got up and looked around. He was in the guest room. Suddenly yesterday came back to him in stark contrast. He was a Jedi! Well not really. He needed training first but he had the mind trick down. Now he just had to figure out the rest. He got dressed and went down to breakfast. His aunt was at the stove cooking. He expected to get yelled at but instead she turned to him and smiled.
"Good morning Harry, did you sleep well?" She asked.
"Yes I did. I slept very well." Harry said taking a seat at the table. She set a plate in front of him and Dudley looked around the table confused. That's when Harry forgot he didn't trick him yet. "You will treat me like family." He intoned.
"I will treat you like family." Dudley said back before smiling at him. "Hey Harry, what do you have planed for today?" Dudley asked.
"I have to help Mrs. Figg again." Harry said.
"Too bad, we were planning out going to the arcade." Dudley said.
"Good for you. Have fun." Harry said nodding. This was like a strange scene from a movie.
After having a good breakfast Harry gathered his things and headed off to Mrs. Figg's house. She let him in with a smile and she asked him if he wanted to have breakfast with her again.
"No thank you, I had a good breakfast at home this morning. I really wanted to re-watch those three movies again today if you don't mind?" Harry asked.
"Not at all, why don't you get started and I'll came in after I'm done." She said smiling at him.
Harry turned the tv on and put in a New Hope again and went to take a seat on the couch but it was full of cats. He thought about something and then waved at the cats. "You will not bother me today." He intoned and the cats all got up and walked off the couch. They lined up by the table and looked at him as if they were waiting for more instructions. "Go about your day, just don't bother me." Harry said and the cats all walked away and acted normal. "So it works for animals too." He muttered.
Harry sat through the trilogy again. This time instead of living the emotional rollercoaster through the three films he studied every line, and kept notes of the Force powers mentioned and the training Luke got. By the end of Return of the Jedi he was sure of a few things. The first being that Jedi not only needed to be physically fit, but they needed balance and agility too. They also needed to know how to sword fight. Harry was pretty sure the lightsaber didn't exist but he would need to do more research. Either way swards did exist and he was going to learn how to use one. He also had a list of Force skills to work on. He had the mind trick down pretty good, but he needed to work on pulling, pushing, and lifting with the force. There were a few other skills, like force choking, and lighting that he never wanted to use, but he knew he needed to learn.
Harry walked home and pulled out the phone book. He thumbed through the pages and found a Karate dojo close to his house. He wrote down the address and set it aside. Harry sat back on the couch and looked at the pen in his hand. He held it up and concentrated on the pen. He stared at the pen for a good ten minutes and he was sure it moved a few times but his Aunt calling his name distracted him. He shook his head and put the pen down before running into the kitchen to see what she wanted.
"Harry, I did the laundry today and I noticed your clothes were looking a bit worn out. I think we'll go clothes shopping tomorrow if you're not busy at Mrs. Figg's house." She said as she set out plates for dinner.
"Sure, I'll just run over there in the morning and tell her I have to go with you shopping. Can we make a quick stop off at the Karate dojo in town? I want to look at how much it is to sign up for classes." Harry asked.
"Why do you want to learn Karate for? It's a bit dangerous don't you think?" She asked looking concerned.
"Well I'm a bit skinny and weak for my age and a friend from school took Karate over the summer and came back the next year looking fit and strong. Plus it builds discipline and mental strength as well." Harry said
"You are a bit thin, you're a third of Dudley size, not that it's a good thing for Dudley to be that big." She said stopping to think about something. Harry watched her waver back and forth on his idea and thought about mind tricking her again, but then he stopped himself. Using his powers to balance the way things were was one thing but using them to get what he wanted all the time was another thing altogether. He would take whatever she said. He would not mind trick her again if he didn't need to. Harry didn't know it at the time but that decision to not use his powers for selfish reasons would set him on a path away from the dark side.
"Sure dear, maybe we can get both you and Dudley signed up. It would be something fun for you two to do together. You could bulk up a bit and he could slim down a bit." She said with a happy smile. Harry nodded and thought about her smile. Ever since he mind tricked her it seemed like she was happier. Vernon too for that matter.
After dinner Harry went up to his new room and sat on the bed. He looked at the pen on the desk and held out his hand. Nothing happened. He tried again and this time the pen rolled to the edge of the desk and hit the floor. "I guess I need more work. Maybe I need to get more physically fit to use the Force better? Or maybe I'm just tired." He said to himself before shrugging and slipping into bed. As his eyes were closing he waved at the light switch and the lights shut off. Harry was asleep before he realized what he did.
The next day he spent shopping with his aunt. He never really experienced what it was like to have a loving aunt to fuss over you, but as they headed into their fourth store that morning Harry was starting to realize having a loving parent was a double edged sword. But she was happy picking out clothes for him to try on and he was getting new clothes so he wouldn't complain. But try as he might he still felt uncomfortable around his aunt.
They stopped off at the dojo next and his aunt signed Harry and Dudley up for a six week starter class while she was handling the paperwork Harry wandered around the dojo. It was between classes so most of the instructors and students were stationed around the dojo working on different things. Harry took it all in with a nod and a determined look. He stopped in his tracks when he saw an older kid in his twenties doing hand stand push ups. Harry walked up to him and stood there watching for a minute.
"Was there something I could help you with?" The kid asked with a smile.
"Are you a Jedi?" Harry asked making the older boy laugh to himself.
"No, but one day I hope to be. Master Jet is helping me but I'm still stuck on Dagobah." He said rolling to his feet. He stuck out his hand. "Oliver Whitley." He said introducing himself with a smile.
"Harry Potter. I need to train so I can be a Jedi." Harry said.
"Well you should start with some push ups and crunches. You know how to do those right?" Oliver asked.
"I do, they showed us how to do it in Gym class." Harry said.
"We'll start with those. When you can do 200 of those a day then you can move to inclined push ups and sit up. When you can do 200 of those a day you can move to handstand push ups and hanging upside down sit ups. You can also take the Yoga class here to stay limber and work on your balance." Oliver said almost laughing at the way Harry was paying attention. Like he was taking mental notes.
"I'll do that, good luck with your training." Harry said rushing off to leaving with his aunt.
From that day on Harry dedicated his life to becoming a Jedi. Not only physically but mentally as well. He studied eastern religions, meditation, the Bushido code, and the ways of the Samurai. He also practiced his Force powers every evening until he felt drained. The benefits of his training after two years were staggering. He got taller, muscular, and limber. His academic studies were way above average now that he could come home with test scores higher than Dudley. As for his Force abilities, he could push and pull the huge boulder in the back yard. He could lift it ten feet in the air with a wave of his hand. He could crush tin cans with a flex of his fingers. He could summon objects from hundreds of feet away.
But as he learned new things he would always stop himself and think about the ways he could use his new skills for both good and bad. Like the fact that he could shoot lightning bolts out of his finger tips and they hit the bolder he used for Force training with enough power to leave scorch marks. He knew this was a skill that could only be used to hurt, so while he learned it, he never used it on a person.
The mind trick was another skill he perfected. He used it to help his family get into shape by making suggestions to each of them. Things like: 'You don't need a third helping of meat and potatoes' or 'it's nice outside we should all take a walk' he never used this skill to get things he wanted, or to trick someone into giving him something but after a few dozen suggestions to his family in two years Dudley and Vernon were both down 100lbs and 200 lbs respectively. Even his thin aunt was a healthy 120 lbs, and fit. He also found he could compel people into telling him things, and not just change people's minds.
He perfected this skill when he went jewelry shopping with his aunt. She was looking for a watch for his uncle for their anniversary and the guy behind the counter showed her a horribly over priced gold watch and made some fantastical claims about the watch. Harry could tell he was lying but his poor aunt was buying into his crap. Harry waved his hand at the man and intoned.
"Are you lying about the watch?"
"Yes. This watch is a cheap knock off of a Rolex that I sell to housewives that know nothing about men's watches." He said before looking shocked and panicked. His aunt look shocked and affronted and they walked out of the store in a huff.
"How did you know he was lying?" She asked as they got in the car.
"He looked shifty." Harry said with a shrug.
"Well what are we going to get your uncle now?" She asked.
"If you plan on spending a thousand pounds on his gift then the pawn shop we got my fencing saber had a really nice Silver pigeon shotgun uncle Vernon was looking at. It was a few quid under a thousand pounds and it would give him an excuse to go hunting again, something I know he liked doing last year." Harry said.
"Harry that's genius! We can dust off our camping equipment and all go as a family like last year and he won't have to rent a gun." She said patting Harry on the shoulder as she headed into town.
The other thing he spent time on was his sword work. He started taking fencing and kendo to get both perspectives of sword fighting under his belt. during the summer of 1989 he advanced to a high level of fencing and was put on a local Junior league fencing team. His aunt and uncle were ecstatic. His first big tournament was the Greater Surry regional. The tournament was held in a big high school not too far from the house in Guilford. It was a two day long tournament held all day Friday and Saturday. His aunt drove him to the tournament.
The first day of the tournament was to rank the kids for the next day. There were 64 kids aged 7-10 broken up into groups of 8. They would face off with their group round robin style on eight mats. They would then rank the top four kids in each group and the next day those 32 kids would face off in a single elimination tournament. Harry and his aunt got his number and moved off to the back corner of the gym to his group. There were five boys and two girls standing around stretching and talking amongst themselves while their parents sat in the stands close to the group so they could watch the action. Harry pulled on his fencing jacket, set his face mask on the floor, and took his saber out of the case. He handed the case and bag off to his aunt and took a seat on the floor. He closed his eyes and took deep cleansing breaths. He opened his mind to the force and let it flow through him.
His aunt took a seat next to a lady in a nice sun dress, and set Harry's bags down. The lady turned to her with a nice smile. She had long brown hair that hung down in loose curls and very little makeup on her face.
"Emma Granger, Which one is your?" She asked with a smile as she held out her hand.
"Petunia Dursley. Harry, The one sitting on the floor meditating. Your's?" Petunia asked looking at the group of kids.
"Hermione, The one reading a fencing book by the wall." She said shaking her head. "You know when she asked to take fencing lessons we thought she would become more sociable but she just dove head first into the books and she's still not meeting kids her own age." She said shaking her head.
"Well, Harry has been doing martial arts for the past two years and now he's diving into fencing. Is this your first tournament?" She asked smiling.
"Yes and no, it's the first time for fencing, but she's been in spelling bees and things like that." Emma said tapping her fingers with nervous energy.
"Relax dear, these things are mostly sitting around until your kid comes up." Petunia said patting the woman on the back as the judge for the group had the kids line up.
The first six fights were a breeze for Harry. Using his mix of styles, his high level of fitness, and opening his mind to the Force he dominated each opponent with ease. After six matches he was never touched once. He took out each opponent with the skill and speed of a grand master. But he never gloated, or lorded it over his opponents. He shook hands after each match and no matter how badly he beat them he always highlighted something they used against him and told them they were good. He spent the time between matches sitting on the floor off to the side deep in the force. As the day wore on he was sure he felt another Jedi in the room. Not a strong one, but a Jedi for sure. He could feel the pull on the Force in the room.
At just before noon he was called to the mat for his seventh match. He was facing a small brown bushy haired girl with big teeth and a cute smile. She walked up and shook his hand. The second he touched her he felt the Force. She felt it too by the look of shock on her face. Harry watched her as she backed up to her spot and put on her mask. He did the same thing. When the judge was ready he called go and Harry didn't move, he just stood there watching her as she stood there watching him. For a second they just looked at each other, and then she advanced. Harry blocked her attacks with ease but as he blocked her he felt her pull on the Force to attack faster. Harry blocked two quick attacks and slipped under her defense for a point. They reset and this time Harry attacked first scoring the quick point. They reset and this time she went on the attack first. Again she was no match for Harry but he was still in a state of shock over the power she was tapping into. He batted her saber away and rolled under her saber for a straight hit to the chest ending the match.
They pulled off their helmets and looked at each other as they met in the middle of the mat to shake hands again. This time the jolt was bigger. They walked off the mat and Harry tapped her on the shoulder. She turned back to look at him.
"How long have you been a Jedi?" He asked softly.
"What?" She asked looking at him like he was crazy.
"You heard me, how long have you been able to tap into the Force? And don't play it off, you felt it too." Harry said.
"I'm not…." But she stopped short when Harry pulled a water bottle from the ground to his hand. No one saw it but Hermione. "It's real." She said softly with her eyes as wide as dinner plates.
"It started two summers ago from me, I watched the trilogy and that night I mind tricked my family. I've been practicing ever since." Harry said.
"I've never… two months ago." She said looking at her hand.
"What happened two months ago?" Harry asked.
"This mean girl threw my book in a tree. I, pulled it out of the tree." She said.
"You channel it when you fight. You use it to move faster and hit harder. I felt it." Harry said.
"How did you feel it? How does it work? How can I learn?"
"I can teach you, I can… Shhh. My aunt is coming." Harry said.
"You two were something else." Emma said with a big smile.
"Thanks mom." Hermione said.
"So, what have you two been talking about?" Petunia asked with a smile.
"Fencing. Hermione has a good form, and she's very fast, but she could use more practice." Harry said.
"Well why don't you two come back to our house and you kids can practice in the back yard." Emma asked looking at Petunia.
"Sounds good to me. I would like to keep our conversation going." Petunia said with a smile.
"Great. This is almost over. I think Harry only has one more match. Then we can head out." Emma said watching as two boys clashed on the mat.
"Sounds good." Petunia said sharing a look with Emma.
Harry beat his last opponent and the four of them headed out after the two children got their ranking. Harry was ranked first having eight flawless victories, the only kid to do it, and Hermione got a respectable ranking of 24 after five victories.
The car ride to Woking where the Grangers lived was short and Harry spent the twenty minute trip in deep contemplation. What did this all mean? Was there a lot of Jedi in the world? If so that meant he could seek out a skilled master to teach him the things he didn't know yet, like Yoda. It also meant that lightsabers were real. Harry found himself extremely excited by the idea.
The Granger's house was a big two story four bedroom three bathroom brick house at the end of the lane. It looked similar to the other ten houses on the street but it was more secluded. While the adults sat down in the den and had tea the two kids headed out to the back yard. Harry checked the yard over to make sure no one was watching them, something he learned to do after having to mind trick Mr. Katz after she saw him practicing his Force powers. But he didn't have to worry about that here. The Granger's driveway was on the right side of the house next to the neighbor's driveway giving the house a huge hedgerow to separate it from the only neighbor. The other side of the house and backyard bordered the woods and there was a big eight foot tall fence. Confident that he wasn't being watched Harry finally turned to Hermione.
"So you can pull objects, have you practiced any other Force powers?" Harry asked.
"No, and I only did it that one time." She said.
"Well, from my studies so far, there are six Force powers. Push," Harry took a empty tin can out of the trash and pushed it to the other side of the yard. "pull, levitate, Choke, lightning, and mind trick. I have mastered all of these powers to the best of my abilities as you can see." He said showing her each skill." I also found that I can tap into the Force to help me move faster and jump higher. You can do it too. It's how you won your matches." Harry said.
"Wow it's all real." She said falling to the ground as her legs stopped working. "But it's things from a movie. How can it be real." She said looking at the crushed and scorched can.
"I don't know, I think the movies are some kind of legends. Like king Arthur and the knights of the round table. It even says a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. We see aliens in the movies. What if an Alien brought the stories here to earth and they made the movies. I thought I was the only one. Now that you have the Force I'm thinking some of the other things are real too. Like Master Jedi. What if Yoda is real? Or someone like him. And lightsabers! For now I can train you in the Powers I know. I can also help you with your fencing skills and fitness. The body is a tool, if you don't keep it sharp you can't use it when you need it." Harry said sitting across from her in the grass.
"You can teach me?" She asked looking excited.
"Yes, but it will take a lot of hard work and dedication. I found the more fit I was the easier I could channel the Force. I will also teach you meditation and yoga for balance and flexibility. It will help you with your fencing." Harry said with a smile.
"Where do we begin?" She asked with a smile.
"With some yoga and meditation. Your mother is watching us through the window." Harry said without looking at the house.
"How can you know that?" She asked shocked.
"I can feel her. I can feel everyone around me. It's the next level in battle meditation. It's how I'm so good at fencing and martial arts. I can, feel, the next move for lack of a better description." He said
"How are you two doing out there? I have sandwiches and juice boxes for lunch, do you want me to bring it out or are you going to come in?" She asked with a smile.
"I think we'll come in." Harry said popping to his feet with an unnatural grace. He helped Hermione up and her mother's smile got bigger.
They sat at the counter and Emma set two plates in front of them with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a banana, and apple juice boxes.
"What are you talking about out there?" She asked with a smile.
"We were talking about fencing. I was telling Hermione that I could help her train and get better. She has the potential to be very good with some training we were going to start with yoga and meditation to help with balance." Harry said.
"Well don't work too hard." She said leaving them in the kitchen.
"So we're going to work on yoga and meditation first?" Hermione asked.
"To start, then we'll move into the fun stuff." Harry said with a smile.
That day Harry made a promise to train Hermione. He rode his bike five miles to her house every morning and spent the summer working with her. He taught her the physical fitness side of things during the morning and after lunch he taught her to use her Force powers. It took some time in the beginning but soon she had Push, Pull, and levitate down. Everything was going great. Her parents loved the fact that Harry was at their house everyday to hang out with Hermione. Even her father, Dan, got used to Harry when he saw how much Hermione loved training with the boy. The first major problem came a week before the end of the summer. Hermione had progressed up to the darker Force powers and she was having trouble getting them to work. Harry talked her through Force Lighting a bunch of times but when she pointed her hand at the pipe Harry stuck in the ground in the back corner of the yard nothing happened. He tried everything he could think of to get her to the place she needed to be mentally to use the dark side of the Force but she just couldn't get there.
"It's just not going to work Harry! I've tried and I can't do it." She said dropping into her meditating pose, sitting crossed legged. "Besides why do I need it? It's a dark side power Harry." She said.
"There is no such thing as dark side and light side, there is power and the responsibility to use it for good reasons. You need to know everything. Maybe you just need a different target?" Harry said force lifting her and holding her upside down.
"Harry!" She called out in shock.
"Hit me with lighting and I'll let you down." Harry said.
"No." She said crossing her arms.
"I'll throw you. Hit me with lighting." Harry said waving his arm and making her sway back and forth.
"Harry stop it right now!" She said.
"Make me." He said lifting his hand and making her go higher up off the ground.
"Harry Stop!" She yelled.
"Make me." He said shrugging.
"Fine!" She said feeling panic set in as she lifted up six foot off the ground upside down. She threw out her right hand and shot white lighting out of her fingers. It shot at Harry and at the last second he held up his left hand and blocked it.
"OH MY GOD!" Yelled Emma from the back door. Harry set Hermione down and turned to her. Her eyes were wide and her hand was holding her chest. Dan was in the doorway behind her, his eye wide and his mouth was open.
"Mrs. Granger, Mr. Granger, I can explain everything." Harry said approaching them with his hands up but Hermione rushed up to him and stood between Harry and her parents.
"No Harry, no mind tricks! We just have to tell them we're Jedi." She said holding out her hand.
"Okay, go ahead. Let's see if this works. If not I can fix it." Harry said shrugging.
"Mum, dad. Um…." She started to say but stopped short.
"Jedi!?" Dan said in a voice somewhere between a confused question and a shocked yelp.
"Yes. Harry figured out he could use the Force a couple of years ago. When we met at the fencing tournament he felt my connection to the Force and he's been training me how to use it." She said.
"The Force." Dan asked looking between the two children.
"Show them Hermione. It's the only way to really convince them." Harry said pulling a coke can from the garbage and tossed it to her. She stopped it in mid air with her right hand.
"Look, he showed me how to force push." She said pushing the can across the yard. "And Pull," She said pulling it back to her. She stopped it a foot in front of her face. And it hovered. "He showed me how to levitate to. We were working on the more violent powers next. Harry show them the other two powers." She said holding the can up for him. Harry crushed the can and hit it with lighting frying the can leaving it black and smoking.
"And the mind trick?" Dan asked looking at Harry.
"It's how I learned I could use the force. My aunt and uncle used to beat me and mistreat me. After I watched Star Wars I mind tricked them into treating me better." Harry said.
"Beat you?" Emma asked shocked.
"Yes. But I'm starting to think they were under the influence of a mind trick to begin with. After I mind tricked them they changed totally, and not just towards me. They became better people to everyone, even themselves. I put it out of my mind at first because I was the only Jedi I knew of. After I met Hermione I was sure there were more Force user out there in the world, we can't be the only two. I've been training her, but I've also been meditating in the Force trying to feel out and find more Force users. I've felt them. They are out there. And if they are out there then the rest of the movies must be true. The light side of the Force and the Dark side. It also means there are masters out there that can further our training some day. Until we meet one we have to get as good as we can on our own. I think this is another reason the story in the movies is told that way." Harry said seeing the elder Grangers calm down and start to accept the facts he was telling them.
"Told how?" Emma asked.
"Luke grows up a normal boy on a farm. He dreams of something bigger. He finds out about the Force. He trains on his own to get a basic knowledge and then Ben Kenobi tells him to seek out a Master to further his training. I think to get a Master you have to lock down the skills the movies taught us. I think once we can go no further in our training the Force will guide us to a Master. It might also be an age thing. Maybe we have to be older to gain a Master?" Harry speculated.
"I think this is all a bit crazy. But then again…?" Dan said waving his hand at the scorched can.
"Trust me. The first few days of figuring this all out on my own were a bit crazy. I've lived with this knowledge for two years now. Hermione has had a few months. This is a bit of a shock for you. Feel free to ask me anything you want to know." Harry said.
From that day on Harry spent more and more time at the Grangers. The combination of not having to hide his skills and Dan and Emma's amazement of what Harry was teaching Hermione was too a good of a cocktail for Harry to pass up. By the end of the summer Harry was spending most nights at their house and he even got to leave some of his things in the guest room across the hall from Hermione.