Chapter 3: Revelations, Explanations, and Resurrections

The three students, along with Professor McGonagall, entered the Headmaster's office to find only the Elven Prince, Professor Snape and the headmaster himself waiting for them.

"Before I begin," began the elf, "I must ask you to contact the one known as Remus Lupin, and bring him here. There are things he must hear."

Dumbledore nodded, as he made his way to his fireplace. Quickly taking a handful of floo powder, he called out Lupin's name, and stuck his head in the flames.

Moments later, he reemerged, followed shortly by a very ill looking Remus Lupin. It had been a full moon only two nights ago, and he was still not fully recovered.

"What's going on Albus?" asked Remus. "I'm really not feeling well at the moment, and I should be resting."

"I greet you, Remus Lupin." said the elf, as he rose from his chair. "You are a werewolf, correct?"

"Umm, yes. Why?" asked a somewhat nervous Remus.

"Then your illness comes as a result of an uncontrolled transformation into your wolf form?" asked the elf in a voice that implied he knew more than he was letting on.

"Err. Yes. Why? Wait, what do you mean uncontrolled transformation into my wolf form? It can't be controlled." said Remus.

The elf merely smiled.

"Can it?" asked a hopeful Remus.

"I had forgotten," replied the elf, "for a moment that you humans have not made the same advances in magical and non-magical healing methods. Silly me. In answer to your question, yes. It can be controlled. There is a spell that can be used, on the night of a full moon, to remove the curse of the werewolf from your blood. However, you retain the wolf form as an animagus form. If you are willing, I will perform this spell upon you on the next full moon."

"Of, of course. I, I don't know how to thank you! You, you. Wow." stuttered Remus.

"Now," said the elf, as he turned and returned to his seat, "I'm sure you are all wondering why I am here, and you desire some explanations. To begin this, I would like to know what you all know of the disappearance of my people." said the elf.

"Well," began Albus, "I've told them what little I know. That your people moved into hiding ages ago. We really don't know much more than that."

"Well then. That leaves me with much to explain. Firstly, you should know that not all of my people moved into hiding. Some remained behind, and disguised their elven forms, appearing to be human to all who saw them. Several families of our people chose this route, including one branch of the royal family. I am descendant from this family on my father's side. The reason that no one has had contact with these hidden elves is due to the fact that almost all the descendants of these elven families who chose to live amongst humans have no knowledge of their own heritage."

"But, what about the ears? Surely, they might suspect they might not be entirely human when they notice they have pointy ears." said Ron.

"When an elven child is born, they appear to be human. Even the children of the elves who live within our forest kingdoms are like this too. When an elf child reaches the age of 16, they undergo a transformation into their true form. This includes the ears. However, in order to undergo this transformation, the elf child must be within the holy confines of one of our elven temples, the powers of our gods granting us this transformation. This is how the families who lived as humans forgot themselves. With their children not being placed within a holy temple on their 16th birthday, they would not undergo the transformation. They would remain, to all appearances, human. The only difference being that they would have an instinctual knowledge of some things elven, and would have a bond with creatures of the light. They would also have a trace of the longevity that comes with being an elf." said the elf.

"Wow, that's cool." said Ron.

The elf smiled. "Indeed it is Mr. Weasley. Now, just for the sake of my own, shall we say, curiosity, exactly how old are you Albus?"

The headmaster seemed confused as he replied, "157, why?"

"Do you not think that this is rather old for a human to live? Has it never crossed your mind that you seem to be living a very long time? Tell me Albus, I know you recognized the rune that I placed upon your doors. How is it that you knew what it meant, when no human has seen or heard our language in millennia?"

"I don't know. It just sort of came to me." responded a confused Dumbledore, before his eyes widened in shocked realization.

"Yes. I see you understand. You, Albus, are an elf who did not undergo the transformation. Your ancestors are one of the families who chose to live as humans."

"Wow. I must admit, I am rather surprised." said Dumbledore.

"If you think that's surprising, you had best remain seated. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Tell me Albus, did you ever sire any children?" asked the elf, in an amused tone.

"Yes. Yes, I did. I had one daughter. It was a long time ago. She, she vanished when she was only two." Dumbledore said sadly.

"Then I am certain you would be interested to know that your daughter did not die? That she lived, she grew, she married?" asked the elf.

"Are you serious?" asked Dumbledore in a hopeful tone.

"Indeed. She was adopted by a family of muggles. She grew, unaware of her heritage, and eventually wed a muggle male. She bore two children of him. Both daughters. Sadly, she died about thirty years ago."

"You mean it? Who did she marry? What was his name? What were my granddaughter's names? Are they still alive?" asked Dumbledore, astounded by the news.

"You knew one of your granddaughters, and knew of another. One of your granddaughters died shortly after the birth of her first son, your great grandson. He yet lives. I am sure you will realize his identity when I tell you the surname of the one your daughter married. I'm certain you will recognize it. She married a man by the name of Andrew Evans." said the elf.

"Evans? But that's Harry's mum's maiden- oh." said Hermione.

"Correct. As I have already told you, I am of the royal line by my father's blood, but on my mother's line, I am also an elf. My mother did not know who she was. My father did. My father's true name was Prince Falathin Eory Caldarain. But amongst humans, he went by another name. A human name. James Potter." the elf said, as his smile grew.

"HARRY?" Ron exclaimed, as Professor McGonagall fainted with a THUMP to the floor.

Harry leaned over in his chair, to get a better look at the fallen professor.

"Hmm. Well, that was certainly amusing. Wouldn't you agree, Grandfather?" (AN. I'm going to be using Grandfather instead of Great Grandfather, just because it sounds better,) asked Harry, as he turned to look at Dumbledore. Dumbledore merely nodded, tears in his eyes.

"Harry!" shrieked Ginny, as she leapt out of her chair to embrace him. "I knew you weren't dead. I knew it!" Suddenly she pulled away from him, and, in a voice reminiscent of her mother, began to yell. "HOW DARE YOU JUST VANISH LIKE THAT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE?"

"It wasn't as if I chose to vanish like that. Some elves just showed up in my room one night, I must admit, they scared the hell out of me, and took me to Falandais." said Harry, as he tried to calm Ginny. "I'm alright. See?" He said, as he waved his arms around like a maniac.

"Okay. But your not going anywhere until you've told us everything, and I mean everything." said Ginny, still trying to glare at Harry, but failing as it was impossible to glare at someone who had such a great smile and was waving their arms around maniacally.

"Right then." said Harry, as he sat back down in his chair. "You all might want to sit down. This could take a while."

FLASHBACK

Harry woke with a start. He wasn't sure why he woke up so suddenly, he knew he hadn't had a nightmare. It was almost as if something had told him to wake up. He looked at the clock. It was midnight. Only two more days until he turned 16. Not that he was really very excited about it. He knew he wouldn't be getting a birthday present from Sirius this birthday. Sirius. He still blamed himself. If only he had thought about using the mirror before, then he would have known to use it then, and Sirius would still be alive.

He'd been exchanging a lot of letters with Ginny. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could trust her to keep his secrets. He felt like he could open up to her without being judged. He told her everything. Even about the prophecy. He told her how he blamed himself for Sirius' death.

She insisted it wasn't his fault. That Sirius knew the risk when he went to the Ministry that night. She told him that Sirius would not want him to blame himself, to wallow in self-pity. It helped. It really did. He knew she understood his feelings of guilt. She had gone through the same things after her second year, she told him. She said she had blamed herself nonstop for hurting all those people. In explaining to her that it was not her fault, he realized that the same applied to him.

He lay there in the darkness, thinking about her. He seemed to be doing that a lot this summer. Thinking about her fiery red hair, her deep brown eyes, her pretty face. He tried to stop himself from thinking about her like that, this was Ron's baby sister for Merlin's sake, but he couldn't. He just felt drawn to her.

As he lay there quietly thinking, he didn't notice the light that was beginning to glow in the center of his small bedroom. He didn't notice it until it flared up, nearly blinding him, before it faded. When he was able to see again, he noticed three tall figures standing where none had been before.

He was terrified. His wand was on his desk, on the other side of the room, and there was no way he could get to it if they tried to curse him. He couldn't tell if they were Death Eaters, it was too dark, but he couldn't tell if they were friends either.

"Who are you? How did you get here? What do you want?" Harry demanded.

"We are here for you, young Prince." one of the figures said.

"What do you mean? And why did you call me a Prince?" Harry asked.

"Because that is what you are." One of the figures answered. "You are our prince, and we have come to take you home."

With that the nearest figure reached out and caught Harry's wrist. In a flash of light, Harry Potter was no longer to be found on Privet Drive.

End Flashback

"See, I told you, they didn't exactly give me much time to send out notices that I would be leaving, or even to write a note." said Harry sheepishly.

"Well, alright. I guess we can let you off the hook for scaring us, it wasn't your fault after all. Still, what happened next?" asked Ginny.

FLASHBACK

The next thing Harry knew he was standing in the middle of a forest. It was daylight out, and he could see the three figures quite clearly. The first thing he noticed was their ears. They were pointed! Then he noticed how they stood. They looked to be at ease in the forest, yet there was no denying that they were could be very dangerous if they wanted to be.

They began to walk through the forest, and Harry followed them, for lack of any other idea of what to do. He couldn't help but notice that they moved through the woods with no sound. While his feet were snapping twigs, and making sounds, they made no noise as they made their way deeper into the woods.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"We are in the forest of Glendon. We are approaching Faladais, my Prince."

"What is Falandais?" Harry asked.

"It is our kingdom, my Prince." One of the elves responded.

"Oh. So, why are we going there?" He asked.

"We are going because the time of you transformation approaches. You must be prepared for the changes that will come." Another of the elves said.

"What do you mean, transformation? What changes?" asked a confused Harry.

"You shall see." One of the elves replied mysteriously.

They continued on through the forest in silence for several more minutes. Just as Harry was beginning to wonder just how much longer they would be traveling, he caught a glimpse of a light ahead.

"Welcome, my Prince," said one of his escorts, as he pushed aside some overhanging branches, "to Falandais. Our home."

As Harry stepped through the branches, he gazed in awe at the sight before him. He was standing on a ledge, overlooking a valley. Rising up above the treetops within the valley, roofs of buildings could be seen. Elegant, flowing roofs, curving beautifully. The buildings seemed to blend into the forest around them. The city spread out for miles in every direction, flowing through the trees, and the few clearings in sight had huge flower gardens.

"Wow." Harry said in an awestruck voice. "Its amazing. I've never seen anything like it. It, its beautiful."

"That it is. That it is." said one of the elves in agreement.

"So where are we going? When will someone explain to me what's going on?" asked Harry.

"We are going to the Royal Palace. There, things will be explained to you by the royal family." One of the elves answered.

They set off down a trail that led down into the valley. It was only when they reached the floor of valley that he realized just how tall the trees really were. The nearest trunk was easily 20 feet in diameter, and stretched high up into the sky. Looking up he could see walkways linking the tree to others, and figures moving along them. Buildings were perched high in the tress, smoke rising out of their chimneys, to twist amongst the treetops.

As they continued deeper into the forest, Harry noticed a surprising number of children who appeared to be human. He didn't see a single elven child. He didn't have long to wonder about this, because as the rounded a corner, he caught sight of a building which had to be the Royal Palace. It was massive. Yet, even with its size, it still seemed at one with the trees around it. Trees rose majestically from within the walls of the Palace, making it obvious the building had been carefully built to avoid damaging a single plant.

As they approached the front doors, a squadron of elves, all bearing weapons, formed an honour guard around them. They entered the Palace, and were led to a room which made Hogwarts' Great Hall seem like a closet. Harry began to get nervous, as it seemed the attention of everyone present was focussed on him. He got even more nervous as he was led to the raised dais at the head of the room, where sat a man and woman, both looking very regal, and wearing crowns.

"Umm. Hi." said a very uneasy Harry.

Both of the elves wearing crowns cracked wide grins at this, as the man stood.

"Greetings. I am King Nethari Lan Vanashi, and this is my Queen Eralia Melin Vanashi. Tell me, do you have any idea what we are?" Asked the King.

"Uhhh, really tall people with pointy ears?" Harry said, trying to make himself feel somewhat less nervous with a little joke.

The King grinned. "We are high elves. Ages ago, our people lived side by side with humans. However, due to reasons I need not go into, our people went into hiding."

"What does all this have to do with me?" asked Harry.

"You, child, are an elf." The King said.

"No I'm not. See? No pointy ears." Harry said, pointing to his head.

"Hmm. I see you aren't going to be easily convinced. Ah well. There are easier ways of making you understand." The King said, as he approached Harry. He reached out with a hand, and placed it on Harry's forehead, closing his eyes.

Harry almost fell over, as knowledge flooded into his mind. How elven families had gone into hiding. How elven children resembled humans until their 16th birthday. He found within him the knowledge of the elven languages, and understood his heritage. He was an elf.

"Holy shit!" Harry exclaimed, before collapsing into a heap.

-Pagebreak-

Harry woke, and looked around. The King and Queen were there, watching him.

"Ahh, you have awoken. I must admit, I was rather worried at how long it took you to regain consciousness. Then again, the knowledge transfer spell hasn't been used in so long, that your unconsciousness may have been perfectly normal." The king said.

"Hang on. How long was I out?" Harry asked.

"You were out for almost 30 hours. We were beginning to get worried you would awaken too late." The Queen responded.

"What do you mean to late?" asked Harry.

"Too late for your transformation. If you search your mind, you should know of what we speak." The king said.

Almost immediately, the information came to the front of Harry's mind. The transformation. The changes.

"Whoa. I gotta admit. This whole knowledge thing is kinda cool." Harry said.

"I'm sure it is. Now, we must get you up. We must take you to the temple to be prepared.

-Pagebreak-

It was a few minutes before midnight, and Harry was sitting in front of an altar in the Royal Temple. He had been poked and prodded for several hours by the High Priests, as they cast the necessary blessings to enable the transformations. Now he sat waiting. He'd been told it would be painful, so he was expecting the worse.

50 seconds

'What are people going to say?'

40 seconds

'What are Ron and Hermione going to say? And Ginny?'

30 seconds

"I wonder how bad this is going to hurt.'

10 seconds

'Okay, I'm starting to get nervous now.'

5 seconds

'Uh oh.'

3...

2...

1...

'OH MY GOD! I'M GOING TO HAVE POINTY EARS!'

Then there was pain. It seared through him. Power flowing through his veins, threatening to burn him alive. He fought it. It didn't fade. His heart felt like it would burst from the strain. He surrendered. He gave in to the power. Then it struck him. The power wasn't trying to hurt him. It was trying to merge with him. He felt it absorb itself into his blood. He felt himself changing. Growing, gaining power. Then he blacked out.

END FLASHBACK

"So that's pretty much what happened. I transformed, as you can see, and I gained power. I spent the next month training. It would take a human years to learn what I did in a month."

"Wow, that's an incredible tale. I can scarcely believe it." Albus said.

"That's not all! Hehehe." Harry said merrily.

"What else could there possibly be?" demanded Professor Snape.

Harry looked at them all in turn, his smile growing steadily wider.

"My parents aren't dead!"