The Count of Azkaban

Chapter 8

Harry was now totally bewildered. Thoughts were passing through his mind so fast that he could not even think properly. "'Son?' what the hell did he mean by that?" He disengaged himself from Cilera's hug and looked at him.

He was already taken aback by what he had seen in the magical recollection and reliving of his life. The missing link to the events of his life, were now clear as a day to him. Now he knew that due to his grief, he had a sort of magical breakdown and somehow, Voldemort had learnt of this. He had sent Draco, probably as an initiation or maybe with some help. Draco had taken his wand and killed the Dursleys with it. He had been sentenced without any defense. More so, no-one had tried to help him except for Madame Bones. He was sure that Dumbledore could have helped had he wished or tried. But it didn't seem so. The only two sympathetic eyes he could see were from Mr. & Mrs. Weasley. From there on, he had been sent to the place which was known to have driven all the wizards mad. It was only due to some quirk of fate that he had survived."

Thinking along the same lines, he suddenly came to a halt as another thought superseded all other. 'Cilera had called him son? Does that mean… no it is impossible! His parents were James & Lily Potter.'

Harry was thinking once more and Cilera could not help but smile at the young man in front of him. Despite all what the life had thrown at him, he had still retained the purity of heart that was a must for this to happen. He took Harry's hand and said, "Let's go to some place more comfortable." With that both of them disappeared from the forest.

(((o)))

Harry felt nothing. It was as if he had just stepped up and appeared in a new place. There was no sound whatever. He remembered the loud pops of the Weasley twins to Dumbledore's very slight pop. He doubted even they could have made such a silent transit.

Now he looked up and saw himself in a milk white castle. It looked- well the only word which could describe it was- pure. There was a small pond a few meters in front of him. He could see many beautiful flowers around one of the most beautiful gardens he had ever seen. He could almost feel Cilera standing beside him. Harry could feel Cilera looking at him. He turned around and looked at the elf. The first words out of him were "What do you mean by son?"

(((o)))

Cilera was looking at Harry with a sort of longing. It was as if he had found someone he had lost sometime ago. And it wasn't far from the truth. He knew that an explanation was in order. He waved him hand once more and a couple of sofas appeared with a table laid with refreshments.

"Why don't we sit as I give you some detailed history lesson? You remember I said we had hopes. They was been realized and as you are the hope, it is only fair that I tell you about it. Why don't you have some thing to drink while I tell you about it? I know you are hungry but I also feel that you would rather hear the story first."

Both of them sat down and Harry started to sip a blue drink. It tasted good. He was reeling under all the information that had been given to him. Still, he knew almost nothing about his circumstances here. It was a different world and he had no more friends, rather no-one he knew. He doubted he had many or any friends left. Though he had survived loneliness before, he hadn't known friendship then. But now, in this strange world, he was ill at ease.

He took a bite off a pinkish fruit and waited for the story to start.

Cilera closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair.

"Our story starts nearly two thousand years ago when the council decided to separate our plane from the wizarding world. At that time, the council was led by my father. After deciding that we would anchor our plane from the meditation chambers, the council spent several days in preparing for the ritual. However, there was one drawback to the plan developed by the council. Someone, a very powerful elf would have to stay back to ground the wards and the wards would take so much of his energy that he would become nothing more than the wizard equivalent of a squib. My father, the most powerful elf and the leader of our kind at that time assumed the responsibility. He stayed back and as all his magical energy was consumed, he could not use the portal."

Saying this, Cilera stopped a bit. His sadness at loosing his father was still apparent and Harry could feel it. Both of them bathed in the silence after the information had been given and received.

Harry's thought were in a state of disarray. Yet, he was sure that somehow, someway, both of them would turn out to be related. His fate had always played his cards close, but by now, a pattern had appeared. In his life, if something could go wrong, it will go wrong. He silently waited, expecting Cilera to come out and tell him how he was the heir due to the illustrious and old family and blood line of his father. Somehow, it had gotten pretty boring. Many a times, he had had heard of the illustrious Potter family. However, as he was the last living one, he didn't know much about the supposed greatness. As it is, in his life, greatness was so common. Great things happened to his quite commonly.

Little did he know how wrong he was?

"Harry! What do you know of your mother's family background?" Cilera asked.

Harry's mouth hung open like a goldfish. But as the answer was pretty short, he didn't have to think about it. He said, "I don't know much. I only know that my mother was named lily Evans nee' potter and had at least one sister, petunia Evans nee' Dursley. I am not aware much about anybody else."

Cilera nodded, as if expecting the answer.

"Harry! My father's name was Rassit of the elven, like mine is Cilera of the elven. The family of the elven are the leaders of the race. Before he gave up his magic to save his world, he decided that should he continue as a normal human, he would name himself as Robert Evans."

Harry sat down, speechless. He could see the connection very easily; as easily as it was being implied. A beautiful light of hope came into his eyes. He looked up and saw that Cilera had now stood up and was standing in front of him, tears falling from his eyes. Harry stood up with a jerk and embraced Cilera. He had a family; maybe three thousand years older, but a family none the less and at that moment, Harry was the happier than he had ever been.

(((o)))

In this world, he met Cilera's wife, his many times grandmother, Sana. He also met their children and grandchildren, all of them, many centuries older than him. Cilera and Sana adopted him in a magical ceremony. He was happy and had a huge family with him being the kid. He was spoiled and he was loved.

Due to his unique ancestry, he was taught many things. Or more like, he had to learn many things to live with his family. After his fusion with the elf magic, he had undergone many changes. His magic had grown up a lot and had become powerful and different. As Cilera once told him that it was a strange fusion of elven magic who guided the magic and the wizarding magic, which molded the magic. He now had his own brand of magic. As it was different, it was immune to both elven as well as wizarding magic. Another change in him was his new thirst for knowledge. After the change, he could learn a lot quicker and understand it even better. It was as if all his abilities had become more focused and had become finer. But the best thing was that he was happy.

Twelve years passed very quickly. Harry had only felt betrayal from the wizarding world and was in no mood to ever go back. He was happy and that was all he ever wanted. Now, if one could see him, they would not recognize him. He was nearly six feet, had the same black hair but they had been grown and now hung in a pony tail. His frame had grown muscular and the shoulders had broadened. But the most significant change one could see in him was his eyes. They were truly happy now.

(((o)))

We join Harry one day, nearly a year ago as he is in his usual meditative trance. He is sitting on smooth green grass with the bliss of morning due all over the garden. The sun had just begun to rise and we can see golden rays reflecting off the lake nearby. Even in the stance of rest and inwardness, there is no doubt that the person sitting is powerful. Any elf worth his salt could tell you the strong aura surrounding this person. But there are more telltale and objective signs of the power almost leaking off this young man.

The grass is greener and the fragrances from the flowers seem to be gravitating towards this young man. A small flit of air seemed to be just revolving around him. He seemed unaware of the tall man, he had come to regard as his father come behind him and stop. Cilera was waiting for Harry to get up.

(((o)))

Cilera regarded Harry as he remembered and compare his son now to what had appeared nearly a dozen years ago. He did not see the physical change or the greatness of power enveloped in his son. What he, as a father, saw was a happy and content young man. A child by elvish standards but sometimes was older than many of them. His joy was to see him happy and content and it broke his heart that he must interrupt the sedentary life his son was leading now.

As if sensing, which he probably did, Cilera, Harry receded from his trance and smiled at Cilera.

"Hey Cil!" he said happily, using the term of endearment which he himself had christened a few years ago. Then his smile receded. Because the normally happy father looked a lot worried. His state immediately shook Harry to the core. Countless thoughts crossed his mind. Although the present realm he was living in was not violent, accidents were known to happen. He was completely sure after looking at the pain in Cilera's eyes that someone he lived was in pain. As he loved everybody that Cilera loved, he naturally grew worried.

"What's wrong?" the question was short, simple and direct. But the tone in which it was said betrayed otherwise. It was filled with concern. Cil nodded and said, 'Come with me. We have a few things to discuss.' With that, Cilera turned and started to walk towards the castle at a brisk pace. Harry was following him, an agitating breeze behind him at all the times. He was worried about his adopted mother, his cousins, Myrna and Halli as well as his nephew and niece, the twin bundles of troubles, Feanor and Eamane.

As he reached the center of the study, he was amazed to find several other council members in attendance. In his many years since his return, he had grown close to many of them and knew all of them. Being the spoilt son of their leader did have its perks. But he had never seen them this worried. They all sat down at the conference table. His father was at the head of the table while he sat just opposite to him, at the other end of the table. He could feel the worry radiating from all of them.

He had had to learn much over the years and though he had learnt a bit of patience, he was from being the coolest one.

In the meantime, Cilera had sat down and looked at Harry once more. "Harry. We have a problem and you are the only one who can help us." It was a statement, the answer to which was never in doubt. Harry loved his family and would die in instant, better; he would go to hell and back to live for them. His eyes said it all.

His father nodded and continued, "For the past one year or so, our anchor to the physical world is getting weaker. There is so much darkness around in the wizarding world that it's starting to erode our anchor. We have to restore balance or in a few years, the anchor will snap and we all will be stuck in a limbo. None of us are able to go there. But you can. Only you."

The words were said and the meaning was clear. So was the decision made by Harry. He stood up, signifying his readiness to go then and there. He said, "I will leave in a few minutes as soon as you give me details of what is happening in the god forsaken world."

"No. there is no such hurry. We must make plans and decide. Wait for me in my study in an hour. We will discuss the matter then before taking any step." Cilera said. It was a notice of dismissal from the meeting. The older Harry would have paced around, worrying and waiting. The new Harry was far more deliberate. He went to the library and decided to read up all the information on the anchor and separation of the worlds.

An hour or so later, he was interrupted by Cilera. Both of them sat down.

"Harry. We are sorry to send you back to the place…" before he could continue, Harry stopped him.

"You all are the family I never had. You have loved me and allowed me to love you all. I am doing it for my family and not for anyone else. Just let me know what is to be done and exactly how to do it?" Harry said. His tone was quiet. It was a powerful and confident tone but you could almost see the sincerity underlying the statement.

There was a silent look shared between the both of them and they understood each other perfectly.

"Harry, Voldemort has undergone many rituals which are of very dark in nature and are conflicting directly with our anchor. We don't know what or how, but the link is eroding. You will have to go and find out. This is something we have felt happening for sometime. As a matter of fact, an year or so after you arrived; the wizarding world went out of balance. We have certain assets in place which will give you nearly unlimited wealth and power it affords you. And a few people you can trust."

And over the next few hours, Harry had learnt a lot about the corporate structure he was supposed to inherit. The elves had always had some involvement with the wizarding as well as muggle economies. They had always been untraced. Ten years ago, they had started to consolidate them, ever since they had seen the erosion. Goblins and House elves were cousins of the high elves and had been working on their behalf.

Nearly one year ago, he had come back to the wizarding realm and met his new confidantes. He had always put off knowing the fate of people he knew. That part of his life still held much pain for him. To avoid all that, he immersed himself in taking control of the empire at his disposal and several key steps took place. It had been an arduous work to plan everything and get all the pieces in their place. And now was the time to make all the effort worthwhile and save his family. Now was the time to exorcise his nightmares.

Still thinking about all that had to be done; Harry's mind was now immersed in his future plans.

A few hours later, daybreak came. With it began the chain of events which would change the entire wizarding world.

Author's notes:

I am sorry for the delayed update, but I have been away for some days.

I have left a few key events out. They need to be told at a proper time.

Hope you like it.

gt