Chapter Eleven

 Harry woke up in his own room, Lilith and Jaram were sitting with him and he blinked at them. "Peter!" He suddenly exclaimed, about to leap to his feet again.

 Lady Lilith placed her hand gently on his arm, pushing him back down onto the bed. "We told you, Panther, that the world you know differs from our greatly. Our friend, Mus Muris, startled you, and we looked into your memories of him to find out why … he asked us to say that he is sorry for what happened. He thought it best that he did not come, as it might startle you more."
 "I am sorry," Harry told them. "But it just startled me so much … Peter Pettigrew, as you must know by now, betrayed my parents."

 Lilith nodded her head. "But here he is different, your other friend, and godfather, is also here, after a fashion, his name, actually, remains the same as it did in your time, as his form is a dog. Mus Muris means rat, or mouse, and as that is the form that he takes, this was the name that he chose for himself."

 "Some things don't change," Harry remarked. "But you two don't have names to go with your forms, surely?"

 "We would have, were we anyone but who we are. As the ruling couple we keep the names that we were given at birth, all rulers here have no defined form after they take the throne. Both of us can change into any animal we like, therefore a name such as the others choose would be stupid," Jaram replied calmly.

 Harry nodded his head. "So, you want me to choose a name for myself on the same grounds," he guessed.

 "Yes, if you would," Lady Lilith nodded.

 Harry thought back to the Latin lessons he'd had at the Seekers Academy. "How about Pardus Fulgor-Oris?" he said, this mean Panther Lightning in English.

 "A good choice," Lady Lilith murmured, while Jaram went white as sheet. Harry was about to ask what was wrong when one of the guards appeared at the door. "My Lady, my Lord? There is a Council Meeting in ten minutes," he said.

 Lilith and Jaram stood up immediately. "We'll come back, Karanolth should be around later," Jaram told the boy and hurried from the room with his wife.

 Harry sighed faintly. Another question that was conveniently put away for another day. When the two monarchs were gone he stood up and had a shower, dressing in the style of this world.

 When he stepped into the corridor, Karan was about to knock on the door and ended up knocking on Harry's head.

 "Oh! I'm sorry!" Karan cried out, eyes widening.

 "It's ok, just a little tap," Harry replied with a faint smile. Karan nodded in agreement. "So what are we doing today?" Harry asked his guide.

 "Well, I thought that you might like to see the Garden of the Spirits … I warn you, surprises lurk there, though I've no doubt that you will find them nice ones. If you choose to go there, I will not accompany you – the things you experience in the gardens are your own to tell when you are ready."

 "Well … Very well, I'll see this Garden of the Spirits place," Harry said after a moments thought. Karan nodded and led the way down the complex myriad of passages that made up the palace.

 Finally they reached a small wooden door, beautifully crafted, yet almost plain. "The Garden of the Spirits," Karan said, smiling slightly. "You'll know why it's called that when you enter," he added, and was gone before Harry could say anything.

 Harry sighed and pushed open the door. He wasn't sure why he was trusting Karan – or anyone here for that matter – when everything he'd been taught since the beginning of the holidays screamed to trust no one. Those lessons had been ingrained deeply in his mind, why would he just allow himself to forget them?

 He sighed. Maybe it was that here real evil such as Voldemort did not exist. He strode through the open door without a backward glance. Inside Harry stopped dead – this was an exact replica of the dream world where he had met his parents.

 He overcame his surprise without a pause and stepped forward calmly, hiding his surprise completely. He walked into the room-garden place and stopped when he reached the centre of the clearing.

 Unnoticed until now, Harry could hear soft voices in his mind, growing louder, as if the speakers were approaching him. He looked around, but saw no one. I can't be going insane! I can't! He thought to himself.

 'You are far from insane, my child,' a gentle woman's voice spoke into his mind. 'We have not been heard by mortals for a long time now … I suppose it is coming time for the gift to rise again.'

 Harry thought hard – he'd heard the voice before. The phrase 'my child' caught his attention. 'Mother?' He asked the voice in his mind.

 'Yes, my son. It is me, Lily. Your mother!' The voice – his mother! - seemed happy that he'd worked out who she was. 'You will come to know us all – we are your parents and grandkin, and we all want to have a part in the legend that is your life.'

 Harry blinked. 'My life is no legend,' he protested, laughing.

 'To you, perhaps not, but to us … we can see you, for you are us and we are you, in some ways.'

 'What do you mean?' Harry asked sharply. Suddenly the garden around him exploded in colour and sound. There were people everywhere.

 Almost all of them had the unmistakable Potter characteristics, the others he knew where those who had married into his family.

 "But…" he stammered. "How are you here?"

 "Doesn't the name of this place give any hints? Spirits can come here and converse with the living. That's one of the reasons we can talk to you here. But you can hear us in your mind … that only gives me the assumption that you can hear us anytime you want to. Talk to us even. But we can test that out later! What's your name here?" Lily replied, excitedly.

 "It's Pardus Fulgor-Oris," Harry replied, and Lily smiled.

 "When we came, James was Prongs and I was Vixen," she remarked, smiling in remembrance. "We had a great time here, didn't we James?" She remarked to the man beside her.

 "Yeah, it was wicked," James said with a grin. "You wouldn't believe what these people know about things! Actually, you can help out one of my friends, Remus –"

 "I know him, he was a teacher at school for one year," Harry interupted. "We found out about his condition too."

 "Ah, that's good. You see, there is a cure for Lycanthropy here, and when you leave, you can only take a few things with you, we had more … I won't say, important, but things that would help lots of people, not just our friends when we came here. So we took them instead," James explained.

 Harry nodded his head. "And you want me to take back the cure for Remus when I leave?" he asked them after a moments thought.

 "Yes, if you have nothing else that you must take for the good of the world," it was Lily who spoke this time. "Let me introduce you to your family," she continued.

 Harry spent the next several hours there, meeting many people in his family, and learning a lot about them.

 When he pushed open the door to leave again, his head was a whirl of names, occupations, faces and voices. He shut the door wearily, and saw Karan waiting for him.

 "Hello," he said to the doctor, who smiled and nodded in greeting.

 "Pardus, I was wondering if you would like to see our training yards?" Karan asked, and Harry nodded enthusiastically. Karan led the way, laughing at Harry, who was bouncing happily across the room, looking incredibly happy about this.

 When they reached the training yards, Karan left, saying that, as a doctor, he had little to do with fighting, and would leave Harry in the hands of the experts.

 Harry stayed there for the rest of the day, even in the Seekers Academy, he'd never had such a good work out. These people were as good at fighting as they were at healing.

 By the end of the day Harry was completely worn out – it didn't help that he was still recovering in energy and stamina from when he had fought at the attack on Hogwarts.

 "You should get some rest, come back tomorrow afternoon, it was fun," one of the men who Harry had been fighting with suggested with a smile.

 Harry smiled and nodded back, walking outside to once more find Karan waiting for him. "I thought that you people didn't like violence?" he said to his guide.

 "We do not support violence against other humans and life forms," Karan explained. "But we do eat meat – it's needed for a balanced diet – and so we have hunters who kill and such, and also many people see it as an excellent way of keeping themselves fit."

 Harry nodded in agreement. "I can see what you mean. And the moves that you use in there are not ones that would be used to kill. I can see how they could be changed to use to kill, but I won't bring the hate from my world into this one."

 Karan smiled. "You really must tell me more about your life, Pardus," he remarked. "It seems very interesting, and it must have been somewhat hard, for you to know how to change a move to series hurt or kill someone."

 "My life was hard, and with the Death Eaters rising again, being able to kill someone might mean the difference between life and death. I hate killing," Harry remarked. "I mean, I was trained as a weapon for death, but I still hate it."

 "That's because your on the light side, Pardus," Karan told him gently. "If you liked killing, you wouldn't be the Hero of the Light side, would you? I know that there are some who are killers who do the Light a good service, but they are more easily persuaded to join the dark side."

 Harry sighed. "You people have an answer for everything, don't you?" He remarked, green eyes dancing.

 "Quite right," Karan replied with a grin. "Perhaps you'd like to eat your room tonight? Mus Murris is still here, and I understand that you a little nervous about him?"

 "Yeah. For tonight I'll eat in my room. Will Mus Murris be here long?" Harry said after a moments consideration.

 "Yes, he should be hear for the next week or so. Why?" Karan replied.

 "I would like to meet him. In my world he was a friend of my parents until he decided to betray them. Here, then, he will be a friend of my parents without the factor of betrayal, so I would like to get to know him at least a little," Harry explained.

 Karan smiled and turned, leaving Harry at the door to his room. Harry walked inside, thinking of what he had done that day. He'd never felt so good as he did here. The magic that allowed him to know when to trust people was singing of trust now, and it was very pleasant. No one here lied, which made his head unburdened by those magics that had given him headaches in the Seekers Academy with all the lies that were told there.

 He walked into his room and flopped into a chair, removing his sheathed swords from his shoulders so that he could lie down in comfort.

 He asleep before dinner could arrive, and the person who'd brought it to him simply left again, taking the food with them. Harry slept easily throughout the night, dreaming of nice things for once.

 In the morning he was woken by his parents voices in his mind. 'Come on, wake up kid!' His father said impatiently. Harry shot upright.

 'I guess I can hear you even out of the garden,' he remarked to the voices in his mind.

 'Sure looks that way,' James agreed. 'Now can you get up, get dressed and all that stuff! I want to see how things have changed here!'

 'James, be patient. For once in your life,' Lily grumbled.

 'Why? Being patient is boring,' James replied cheerily.

 'You are supposed to a parent James Potter,' Lily told him firmly. 'You are not setting your son a good example.'

 'Since when does any Potter male give anyone a good example?' James retorted. 'Don't listen to your mother kid – she'll turn you into a law abiding goody-goody in seconds if you let her!'

 Harry smiled. He could see he was going to have an interesting time with these two in his mind for most of the time. Blocking their argument, he got himself ready for the day and clipped on his swords.

 He sat down and read for a while, before Karan came to get him. "I thought today we could go to the science labs," Karan remarked. "For the first little while you'll just be shown around, see what we can do with things here, and then you'll start learning it. By the time you leave, you'll have learnt all that you wanted to learn while you are here – you get to choose what you want to study, and what you don't."

 Harry nodded his head. "Ok, let's go the Science Labs then," he said with a grin.

 At the labs, Harry saw the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. It was a cross between the Muggle Science, Potions and Alchemy. Looking around, he saw people doing all sorts of things, making various different liquids, solids, gasses and the like.

 "What are all of these for?" he asked Karan, eyes wide and amazed.

 "To further our learning. Besides, there are some things that continue to effect us, even though we are far more advanced than what you are used to. Different things will always spring up, illnesses and such. We are simply trying to keep one step ahead," the doctor replied.

 Harry easily spent the better part of the day here, looking at everything, and even then, he didn't see the half of the things that there were to see.

 Harry managed to find his own way to the training courts, though Karan stayed by to make sure he got there alright. Once there, Karan left, and Harry did a solid three hours work before he was sent away from the courts before he dropped.

 Karan was once more there to collect him and get him to his room. The next day was a resting day (rather like Sunday) so Harry would meet up with Mus Murris and get to know the man who, in Harry's world, was responsible for Harry's parents deaths.

 Harry slept soundly through the night and woke in the early morning. Karan was not there to wake him up, but Harry usually woke up early anyway.

 He was reading when a soft knock came at the door, Harry went and opened it to find Mus Murris on the door step. He stood back to allow his visitor in.

 "Hello Pardus," Mus Murris said, his voice was gentle, almost kind. "How are you adjusting to life here?"

 "Well enough, Mus Murris," Harry replied, smiling faintly.

 Mus Murris nodded. "Please, call me Mus," he said. "I understand that you want to get to know me, because in your world I was once your parents friend?"

 "Yeah. But then … things happened. Voldemort came, lured Peter – that's the name of your other world person – to the Dark Side … and now if I tried to get to know him, I'd probably end up Voldemort's prisoner," Harry said with a sigh.

 Mus nodded sadly. "Before we get any farther in the conversation, I would like to apologise for the qualities that this Peter lacks," he said.

 Harry spent that day with Mus, and found that the other man, while soft spoken and sometimes hesitant, was a nice enough person who was quite funny. If Peter Pettigrew had been like this, he could see why his parents would have been friends with him.

 Over the next month, Harry learned to find his way around without Karan's help, he became firm friends with Mus, Sirius, and the man that was Remus in his world, called Lupus here.

 Lupus had taken the cure for Lycanthropy, what it did, Harry had found out, was to subdue the power of the wolf, change it a little and that would turn it into an Animagus transformation that could occur whenever the person wished it.

 Harry was glad, for Lupus was a lot like Remus, but younger, the hardships of life had to taken the toll on him that they had on his other being.

 He'd also made friends with several of the children who lived nearby, they just called themselves whatever they felt like, not having an Animagus form or defining talent yet, so names were liable to change every day.

 Harry had been relieved to find that Quidditch was as popular here as it was in his own world, he joined one of the kids teams – they didn't really have competitions, just played whichever of the other teams that they felt like.

 Quidditch was odd with his father screaming 'go! Go! Go!' every time  he saw the Snitch or dived or something, and listening to his mother trying to make him shut up, but Harry got used to it remarkably quickly.

 Harry was fast becoming something of a legend at the training courts now, since he had completely gotten over the weakness he'd had at his arrival, and he was learning everything they could teach him faster than they could believe, although he had had a lot of former practice, so that could easily explain it.

 Harry was studying everything he could while he was here, and his days were completely taken up. Rest days were for Quidditch or hanging out with Mus, Lupus and Sirius.

 He'd almost forgotten the look on Jaram's face when he'd told the Lord what he'd decided his name would be, and every time he had the opportunity to talk to the pair of them, he forgot about it again, which was annoying.

 Now Harry knew how to make the antidote to Lycanthropy, but knew that he'd never be able to replicate it in his own world, because most of the fact that only a very few of the ingredients could still be found in his time and world.

 Spells and potions took on a whole knew meaning and understanding, Harry could see the beauty and delicacy required to mix the potions for maximum effect, though with Snape as a teacher, this had never been apparent.

 In the months that he spent in Atlantis, Harry had never worked so hard or well in his life. Nor had he enjoyed himself so much. He made many friends here, and loved them all – at Hogwarts he was never sure if the people who wanted to be friends with him wanted to be friends with Harry Potter, their school mate, or Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. Here, though, he was accepted.

 It was almost four months later that Harry saw Her.

 She was beautiful, long black hair shining in the sunlight, pale ice-blue eyes that were at once chilling and warm and friendly, she was tall, almost six foot, her skin was flawless and she moved with perfect dignity and grace.

 Her name, he found out from one of the boys on the Quidditch team, was Sky Dawn, and she was a well known heart-breaker. Oh, she certainly never really realised that men threw themselves on the ground at her feet, or went giddy with excitement if she so much as smiled at them, she never realised that pretty much every man on Atlantis was smitten with her.

 She was a studier of Animals, and knew more about them than any of her teachers, she could call them to her, speak almost all of the animal tongues (speaking to animals was a fairly common thing in Atlantis, although many did not have the time to learn the many languages they communed in.)

 She never paid much attention to anything beyond her studies, and the only time she noticed the menfolk was when one of them fetched her something she needed, or she needed their help with some operation she was performing.

 She was even prettier than Cho Chang, Harry thought to himself, and in that moment he realised that his long time crush on Cho Chang was finally at an end – he knew that they'd never work out together, he didn't want to try and take Cedric Diggory's place in her heart.

 But he did know that she was the one that he'd love all his life, even if he could never have her, since he did not even belong in this world … sometimes he wished he did – the dangers and negative emotions that pretty much rules his world were all but non-existent here, and, truth to tell, he liked it.

 He knew that it could never be, however. It was approaching the time that he would have to leave – he was remembering things from his world now, thick and fast the memories came, threatening to swamp him.

 Lady Lilith and Lord Jaram had told him this was a normal sign that came near the end of a Potter's visit. Finally he knew that he would have to go that day.

 He approached the Throne Room, where he knew that he would find Lady Lilith and Lord Jaram. There would be no people around at the moment, there was an hour for a lunch break at the middle of the day.

 Harry walked in, his heart aching as he looked around the familiar palace walls. He felt safe here, and he knew that when he returned to his own home, 'safe' would be an impossible dream.

 "It's time?" Lilith asked, seeing the look on Harry's face.

 Harry merely nodded. "I've said goodbye to all of my friends here," he remarked, after the silence had stretched out a moment. The two rulers nodded.

 "Well, Pardus, it has been a nice visit. You are a ready and willing learner, and really, our people have taught you all that they could. You have learned perfect control of your Animagus form, from it's physical boundaries of strength and power, to how to fly properly and how to change in a split seconds notice.

 "You have learnt everything you can in the areas of Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Divination and many others. You are ready to go home," Lilith said, smiling proudly.

 "Almost."

 That was Jaram. Harry turned his head towards the man. "What do you mean, almost?"

 "I mean that is almost time for you to return to your home. But there is something that we must tell you first," Jaram sighed.

 "We suspected when you first arrived, and it was proved when you chose your name. Pardus Fulgor-Oris. Panther Lightning. You are one who has been long prophesized here," Lilith said, and her husband continued.

 "Back just after our world separated from yours, there was a prophesy, made by the same Seer who had warned us of the approaching danger in time for us to create a separate plane of reality to escape from the danger," Jaram said.

 "This prophesy spoke of the Potter's who would come to us for tuition, but it also spoke of someone special, in more ways than blood," Lilith told him. Harry immediately guessed that this was him. But what had the prophesy been?

 "It was said that one day one of the Potter's would come … one who would be changed during one of his visits here. It was not said how he would change, only that after the change took place, he would be able to travel between our two worlds at will, for ever," Jaram told him. Harry frowned.

 A Potter could only come here three times in their lifetimes, it had always been this way. What could ever change that?

 "It is not known what that change will be, but it was time that we told you – in case the change happens when you leave, or when you next return… it is unknown. What three items from our world do you wish to take with you?" Lilith asked.

 "I would like to take my broom, one of the potions to cure Lycanthropy, and Lia," Lia was a baby Dothae, a species that seemed to be a cross between a wolf, a unicorn and a fairy.

 It had a body that was covered in wolf like fur, with build that crossed between wolf and unicorn. (for those of you who know neopets, it's a little like an Ixi in build) it had a horn, and two large, butterfly wings that it could use for flight on its back.

 They were near impossible to kill, for when they died of anything but old age, a new baby was created in the fur and would grow up just like it's 'parent', which, in fact, it was. They lived for around one million years, but one of the females only gave birth once in a life time.

 Harry knew that Lily had taken a Dothae back with her, all he had to do was find it, and hopefully the species would be able to begin repopulating his world.

 Otherwise, he could always bring more back when he came the next time if he did not need anything else.

 "A good choice. You will find them waiting with your book in your room," Jaram said, smiling gently.

 Lilith hugged the boy who would be her son one day, and stepped back, unshed tears bright in her eyes.

 Harry looked at them for a moment, before turning and walking quickly from the room. They had never seen him cry – no one but Sirius had seen him cry, and he intended to keep it that way.

 Reaching his room, Harry paused for a moment to look at his reflection. He'd grown a lot taller in the months – almost year – that he'd been here.

 He was now six foot three, his body more powerful even than when he'd been at the Seeker's Academy, he'd gotten a tan, though his eyes – his eyes still held that expression of distrust, hidden now, but there. They were wary of everything, the touch of gold was slightly more obvious now, for he'd been working for a long time with Wandless Magic.

 He knew that when he returned to his world, he would be back the way he had been when he'd arrived in Atlantis, though some things would have changed.

 He'd be healthy again, for one thing, his eyes would remain the same, and the work he'd been doing with his body would have paid off, though it would not be evident physically.

 He reached the door of his room and pushed it open, he saw the three things that he'd asked to take back with him there, and smiled slightly. The book was beside them, it's key resting carefully on top of it.

 Harry saw that all of his things had been packed, and smiled when he saw that all of his weapons had been returned to him. He carefully arranged them about his body, before unlocking the book and dragging his things up close to it.

 Finding the days date, Harry touched it, and immediately the world swirled away before jolting back to reality. Harry looked around the room – it was Hogwarts.

 He smiled to himself then petted the Dothae baby gently to calm it, then gathered the few things that he'd taken with him, as well as those he'd brought back.

 He left most in the room, though he put the potion that would cure Remus of Lycanthropy in his pocket, after changing into the robes of the Seekers.

 Harry took off all of the illusions that had bound him, and smiled at the result – not even Ron and Hermione would properly recognize their friend now!

 He spoke to the Dothae, explaining that he had to leave it here for a little while, placed the books back in their holders, set the broom (of a much more advanced design even than the Firebolt) up against the wall and then walked out.

 Both of his swords were crossed over his back, and everyone could see that they were the blades of a blade master.

 Looking at the Marauders Map, Harry smiled to himself to see that everyone was at dinner – a good time for Harry Potter to turn up.

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Ok, it's not as long as the others, but I thought that was a good place to leave off … see you all next chapter! Don't forget to review! *sniffs* I wish I had been able to think up a little better cliff hanger for you, NO ONE ever said that they hoped I'd be ok after my x-ray and bloodtest …

Oh, and sorry for making Harry faint … I know it wasn't ALL that startling, but NO ONE EVER makes Harry faint from things like that *grins* so I thought I would.

Thanks To:

Wquad, dragonmaster, Rachel A. Prongs, atalante, icedrake, lexi-formerly Katy999, Bob33, BigDaddy753, Songbreeze Swifteye, MusicalHermione, Star Mage, silverleaf, fantasydima, SlytherinAtHeart, justagrl, Dog Stars Crush, Maxx77, Clare, Jess S, PhenixRising, etfrompo, athenakitty, princess55, Li Kota Dawn, Lady Prongs, Jordan, Pamel-Potter-24, Sugar Quill, Them Girl, Flying Goat, and melocketry! *puffs* 31 reviews! Just another 7 reviews and I'll have 300! Come on guys, be nice!!!!

Thanks to my beta reader, Queen of the Jungle!

~WolfMoon~