Title: Out of the maze.
Author: Sakya
Summary: Sarah and Jareth kept wishing for a child, Dudley just wished his cousin away. What could go wrong in that? HP/Labyrint xover, AU
Rating: Oh, I think this one can be a "K".
Pairing(s): None
Feedback: desired, craved and very welcome.
Characters: Harry Potter and gang, Jareth, Sarah…
Betas: The Great Sarryn (if she still feels like doing it after this long).
Author's notes: It's just something that was growing in my head and I had to committed to paper. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine and not profitable… for me, that is. I've heard rumors that J. K. Rowling is doing terribly well, but she writes the originals, maybe it has something to do with that… Oh! And also, everything (but the misguided idea that originated this fic) belongs to her.
Chapter 01
After almost 13 hours Sarah finally made it to the castle beyond the goblin city. She was scared, tired and hungry and this last part of the journey was hers alone. That is how it is done.
She had left her friends at the throne room and entered the strangest place she had been in so far. It reminded her of an Escher drawing with stairs and archways going at every direction there was, very disturbing.
Toby was there, she could hear him and she didn't come this far to give up now, without hesitation she ran in to the room and started to climb one of the stairs. Only to find herself with three more stairs to chose from. She continued to run through the room but never manage to get any closer to Toby. She finally saw him a sitting on a ledge, a few floors below her. Still following her instinct, she jumped.
The room came apart around her as she fell until she finally landed in a stone floor with bits and pieces of walls and stairs floating around her. Sensing she was not alone she turned around and found herself staring in to a pair of amazing green eyes. Jareth was there.
"Sarah. Beware. I have been generous up until now, but I can be cruel" he said coming out of the shadows.
"Generous? What have you done that is generous?"
"Everything. Everything that you wanted I have done. You ask that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me. I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside-down and I have done it all for you. I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"
Sarah knew what he was doing; he was trying to confuse her. He looked so good right now, Sarah could not deny that she had been attracted to him ever since he showed up in her parents bedroom 13 hours earlier. She had to get out of there fast or she would never be able to save Toby. She needed something she was familiar with… the text from the book was the only thing coming to mind.
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City. For my will is as strong as yours and my…"
"Stop, wait. Look, Sarah. Look what I'm offering you" said Jareth conjuring a crystal ball out of thin air. "your dreams"
"and my Kingdom as great…"
"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you…and you can have everything that you want" pleaded Jareth.
"I can't let you have Toby" Sarah answered almost crying.
"Accept to become my Queen, Sarah, and all you will have to do is wish for me to take him home and I'll do it. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave"
"and he will be home, save?"
"He will be if you wish it" said Jareth offering Sarah his hand with a smile.
Sarah considered for a moment and then took his hand, feeling all the tiredness and hunger disappear as if per magic. She looked down at herself and saw that now she was wearing a beautiful dress in shades of red and gold. Jareth's outfit had also changed from the white and yellow one he was wearing to a red,gold and black one that matched her dress. They were both wearing crowns made of gold and rubies and standing near then was a goblin holding Toby in his arms.
"Toby" said Sarah running to him and taking him in a hug. "you are alright!"
She felt strong arms holding her and turned her head to see Jareth smiling near her.
"Are you sure you want to send him back? We could adopt him you know, by right we could keep him with us because he did spend more than 13 hours in our kingdom"
Sarah notices that Jareth did say "our" kingdom and, strangely, it made her happy. She was home; this place belonged to her as much as she belonged to it. She fitted there, but Toby didn't. It would be wrong to keep him and she knew it.
"No. We have to take him back. He is not ours, our child is yet to come" somehow she knew that, it was almost as she felt this presence, this awaited event which was close but had not happened yet "We should go, my Lord, we should take him home to his parents"
"Well spoken, my Queen. Let's take little sir Toby to his family and upon our return we will start to adjust our kingdom to match the beauty of it's new Queen"
Chapter 02
Jareth and Sarah appeared in a glittering cloud in the middle of the living room. Sarah was holding Toby in her arms tightly as she knew she would not be coming back to earth anytime soon. She kissed her little brother good bye and called upon a fae to pose as a baby sitter until her father and stepmother returned.
They returned around midnight and thanked the baby sitter as she walked out of the door, but they never saw her disappear as soon as the door closed behind her and they never realised that Toby was not sleeping in their room but in one of his own, a room full of stuffed animals that looked a little too used to belong to a toddler. And even though every now and again they would get the feeling that something was missing, they could never figure out exactly what.
Sarah kept watching them every now and then to make sure they were ok and they didn't remember her, but she had a lot to do in her kingdom. She took upon herself to organize the parts of the kingdom were the fae people lived together. For, even though all of her subjects were fae, no one could claim that all of them could get along as easily as she would hope.
She never stopped wondering just when the ways of the Goblin had become natural to her. Not that she would live in a place made only of stones like the Goblin City, or that she liked the untidiness of the place, but that was a Goblin place there for it was exactly the way it was supposed to be and she helped maintained.
Sarah created the High Fae City. A city of pure beauty with large streets, fountains and lots of threes and flowers, beautiful birds sang there all the time and the most beautiful of the faes would live and sing and dance and just be… fae.
She also created the Grand City of the Trolls inside the largest cave of the largest mountain in the kingdom with its large and little rooms, spider webs, large common bed made out of leaves and strange plants the could glow in the dark.
She created beautiful and complicated gardens and add them to the maze and the King ruled all the land and lured people in to the labyrinth.
The kingdom blossom under the rule of its King and Queen. But a shadow remained, for even with all of their doing the King and Queen felt something was missing. They would hold each other on the balcony of their castle, watching the sun set and for just a second, if you looked in the right angle.
So life went on like a fairy tale and many years went by like they always do.
------------
Sarah was sitting on a beautiful bench by the lake of dreams, the fairies were playing around her, chasing each other and tossing ripe blueberries. Almost all of them had blue stains on themselves as the game had been going on for quite some time. Sarah was laughing at the chase and tossing, that's how Jareth found his wife.
"Sarah" he greeted making all the fairies fly away.
"Jareth, came sit by me. I've missed you" said Sarah holding out her hand for her husband.
"And how are you today, my love?" he asked sitting at her side and pulling her to him.
"Humm, much better now"
All of the sudden they heard the voice of a boy echoing through the labyrinth.
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now"
"Looks like we are having company today" Sarah said smiling, she always enjoyed when a mortal would came to play.
"Yes, well, you collect whoever was sent here and I'll see to the happy wisher. What do you say?"
"Sounds like a plan to me, darling. Should we have dinner at the lost garden, say, around seven?"
"Perfect as usual. I'll meet you there as soon as the game starts" and Jareth disappeared in a cloud of smoke and glitter.
Sarah smiled and with a simple step sideways she was in the throne room at the castle to welcome her new guess. She stepped out of the shadows in a lilac dress that floated around her and a crown of flowers and leaves, her bared feet almost not touching the floor as she looked at the new arrival. Her heart missed a bit when she stared at the face of the child she knew it was her son.
Chapter 03
Sarah stood there for a moment looking at the child.
He had jet black hair like hers, standing at all directions like Jareth's, a mouth with full cherry coloured lips like hers and bright green eyes like Jareth's, his skin was a bit pale like it missed the sun, but showed a golden quality like the peaches she and Jareth loved so much. He was looking around frightened with tears running from his beautiful eyes, his oversized clothes making he look even smaller that he was and his tiny little arms wrapped around himself as he felt unprotected. He couldn't be older than six.
"Hello" Sarah said in her most sweet voice.
"Hello" he answered, it was barely a whisper.
"What is your name, little one?"
"Harry, Harry Potter, mam"
"And why are you crying, Harry?"
"My cousin made the goblins take me away and now I'm lost. If I'm not home before dark my uncle will be mad at me"
"Oh! And what will your mom and dad do?"
"I don't have a mom or a dad. Just my uncle, my aunt and my cousin"
Sarah opened an even bigger smile, no parents was good and, judging by the clothes, the family was either very poor or didn't care for the child very much. Either way, those were things they could use to keep the child, because by no force in the universe Sarah would give up the treasure she just found. She would never give up this child. Assuming that whomever wished the boy away solved the labyrinth, of course.
No this child was not going away, this child was home. He was HER child.
The law was clear. If you wish someone away you had thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth and get the person back or the underground could keep the person as one of its own. In that situation the person would be transformed in whatever species of fae he or she had most in common with and live with them forever. The only other option was a trade, if you came in to try to free someone else but fail, the person could return if you agree to stay instead. Sarah never really cared if the one who made the wish did solve or not the labyrinth for the game was always fun, but this time, oh! This time, Sarah had every intention of seeing this wisher fail and leave empty handed.
"Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't you come with me and see if we can find something fun to do while we wait for my husband and when he gets here we'll see how we can get you where you belong?"
"Something fun? Really?"
"Really, come on." And taking the boy by the hand Sarah took him to visit a few of her favourite places of the kingdom. To her delight, the boy didn't get scared by the strange creatures they met on their way. He seemed to enjoy everything, what was quite unusual for a normal human child, but pleased Sarah very much.
------------
Jareth arrived at a very well kept living room where a fat blonde kid was watching the movie Labyrinth on the TV. He stood by the boy who was gasping for air while looking at him with wide eyes.
'I really should thank who ever did this movie, I never had so many people down at the labyrinth.'
"You're the goblin King"
"Yes, and I have a present for you"
"Really, what is it?"
"It's a crystal ball, see, if you hold it like this it will show you all your dreams, but this is a special gift, for a special boy, not for a boy who has to watch over his cousin"
"You took him, didn't you? This is like a trade. I know, I've seen the movie before"
"So you know how it works. How is it going to be? Do you want the gift or do you want your chance at the labyrinth?"
"Me? Go to the labyrinth? To get that freak back? No way, give me the sodding ball"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah"
"Well, if this is what you want, we must play by the rules… How old are you, little one?"
"I'm six. Mother say I'm a big boy for my age" Dudley said proudly.
"Well, in that case you can keep the crystal ball, but because of your age, you have until your 13th birthday to change your mind. Just use the ball to call upon me and you'll get your chance at the underground" and with that Jareth disappeared, going back to his kingdom.
He hated these types of situations. The wisher was too young and by the laws of the underworld he would have to wait for another seven years before he could turn whoever the boy sent in to a fae. That would mean he and Sarah would have a guest for what could easily be seven years. Blast! That meant problems, he just knew, something like that didn't just happen in the underworld for no reason, that was something else to the matter and the sooner he found out what the better.
Chapter 04
Jareth arrived at his castle and started to look for his mysterious new guess. He just hoped it was not the beginning of a new fairy tale.
The birth of a fairy tale is always a dangerous time in the underworld because it meant it was a time of changes, and anything could chance. In a realm where life went on almost forever, very little changed. But in very few occasions, things would be set in motion and no one knew the outcome, there was no way of foretelling what would happen. The last time it was Sarah. He got himself a wife, his kingdom got a Queen… but now, now he could lose his kingdom, many of his friends could die, he could die, Sarah… Sarah, he could lose Sarah. He had to find this person soon.
Jareth began to feel something he almost never felt. He felt fear. He was almost running through his castle when he came upon a door which was almost never there. The door to the council. As he stood in front of them, the doors opened and he could see the whole council gathered inside. Not good.
"King Jareth of the underworld" a voice announced.
Holding his head up high, Jareth marched in and sat at his chair.
"My King" said one of the elders "it has come to our attention that a new fairy tale has started"
"I've notice that" snapped Jareth "what I need to know is if it is a small one or a big one so we can try to control the damage it makes"
"My lord" he heard someone say "is one of the major ones. There is simply no telling who much it will affect us"
"Well, don't just stand there, tell me all you know. Where is its focus?"
"It's on the new arrival, my lord"
"The mortal child? The focus is a human?"
"Not a common human, my lord. The child is a wizard"
"Fine" Jareth sighed "just tell me all you know"
----------
Jareth found Sarah sitting in the forest were the wild gang lived. She quite enjoyed their music and would come down here often to dance with them, especially now that they knew better than to try removing her head. She had became a very powerful fae.
"Hello, my love"
"Hello, darling, how is the game going?" Sarah greeted him smiling.
"Yes, the game… Darling, we have to talk"
"What is it, Jareth?"
"The boy's cousin does not want to play" Jareth notice that Sarah seemed very pleased at this.
"Then he is ours!"
"Not quite"
"What? But the law…"
"His cousin is a child, love. He has another seven years to demand his turn at the labyrinth"
"Oh!" Sarah seemed lost at this, she kept looking at some point over his shoulder.
"What is it, darling?"
"He is not going back"
"Sarah! You know the rules, we can keep him until his cousin comes for him and if he solves the labyrinth we have to let them both go"
"No, I refuse" Sarah stood up and paced a while. She seemed to reach a decision and stopped in front of Jareth, taking his hand "Darling, I want you to meet someone"
Sarah led Jareth through the forest, towards the wild gang's music. Jareth could hear them play way before he could see them. The wild gang was all there playing and dancing like always, but what caught Jareth's attention was a little boy dancing with them. Just one glance at the boy and Jareth knew he was in for a world of trouble and he also knew he would die in a bloody battle before he would allow anyone to take the child, because dancing happily with the wild gang was a perfect mix of his and Sarah's traits. It was their child, the new fairy tale was the birth of the Underground prince.
"Harry" Sarah called "come here"
"Oh! Look is King Jareth and Queen Sarah" and the wild gang started to jump up and down around them making a big fuss over their visit.
Harry was laughing so hard it took him a while to notice Jareth kneeling down next to him.
"Hello, Harry. How do you like my kingdom?"
"Oh! Hello" said the boy suddenly very shy "I like it very much, sir"
"Good, how would you like to live here for a while?"
"Really?" Harry's eyes lit up in hope, only to be cast down again "but my uncle won't allow it"
"Well, you see, he doesn't have a choice. Your cousin is the only one that can try to get you out of here and until he decides to try, you have to live here, that is the law"
"You mean it?"
"Yes, I mean it. How do you like that?"
"I get to live here with Sarah… I mean, Queen Sarah and you sir? And the wild gang and the goblins?"
"Yes, of course, with all of us"
"I would love that, sir"
"Than is settled" said Sarah taking Harry by the hand "and for as long as you live here you can call me, mom, and you can call Jareth, dad, and you will be Prince Harry. How is that?"
"wow" Harry was astonished, that had to be the very first time his cousin ever did something nice to him. He couldn't even begin to describe how happy he was.
Chapter 05
Jareth and Sarah took Harry back to the castle and had a room prepared for him with new toys and clothes that fitted on him perfectly. They hired the best tutors among the fae to teach Harry and named Sir Didymus his personal body guard… with Hoggle's and Ludo's assistance just to make sure everything was ok, as Harry was quite found of exploring the labyrinth and getting himself into trouble.
So, by the tender age of ten, Harry knew the labyrinth inside and out, had friends all over the underworld and had more adventures than any other fae his age. His powers were quite astonishing as well. His natural ability as a wizard combining with his fae education kept his tutors impressed enough to forgive him when he pulled a prank on them. He was, after all, a normal ten years old fae prince with a bit more power than average, or so they like to explain to their beloved Queen who was not as forgiving as they were when she found half of her court hanging from the trees in the middle of the spring ball.
Jareth came in the balcony were Harry and Sarah were having breakfast. That was unusual because Jareth was suppose to be on earth, attending a few meeting with the magic creatures who lived there.
"Darling, what a nice surprise" said Sarah waking to Jareth and kissing him passionately "Did you decide to cut your trip short this time?"
"I had to, actually. I had a very interesting visit yesterday"
"Really, who was it?"
"Harry, why don't you go see if the new unicorn is born yet… and stay clear of the nymph valley" said Jareth to his son as the boy ran inside to call sir Didymus and be on his way.
"Jareth? What is it?"
"Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts paid me a visit while I was in London. He has invited Harry to attend Hogwarts, if we wish it"
"but that is good, right? I mean I know is a school on earth but it has a very good reputation, right?"
"Oh! Yes. Indeed it does, but there is more to it…" and Jareth started to explain to Sarah what he had learned about Harry's past and about the birth of the fairy tale.
"So, what you're saying is that you believe it is his destiny to go to this school but also that this probably leads to grave danger and that we all could be affected by it?"
"Yes" said Jareth looking out the balcony to his kingdom
"You know I'll do everything in my power to protect him"
"and so will I, but we are fae and even if we live in a apparently free way we abide by the laws. It is part of what we are"
"What are you saying?"
"We will do everything that we can, but in the end he will follow his destiny and we can only hope we've prepared him well enough to do it"
"Yes, I know" said Sarah wrapping her arms around her husband. Her chest felt tight in worry. "so, what did you and this Dumbledore man decided?"
"He gave me this letter. We will have to acquire his schools supplies. Diagon Alley is suppose to have everything he will need."
"Do you know this place?"
"Yes, we have a bank there… I believe Griphoop is still in charge. We will pay him a visit… oh, here. Dumbledore gave me this book so we could get familiar with the school. He also invited us for a visit if we want to get to know the place personally"
Sarah looked at the book Jareth had placed in her hands. It was a large book entitled "Hogwarts, a history".
"They sure are modest, aren't they?" and with that, she began to read.
Chapter 06
Author's Note :
Ok, so that everybody understands my little underground world:
1. Not everybody can wish somebody away. There has to be magic involved. For instance, Jareth was in love with Sarah and gave her the power (as said in the movie) and Harry is a wizard (and although his cousin isn't, is Harry's destiny being messed around, so, it's allowed).
2. If you wish someone away you have one chance to solve the labyrinth. You have 13 hours to get to the castle and get the person back or the person belongs to the underworld.
3. The person you wish away must "belong" to you. You have to be in charge of this person even if its just temporally (Petunia most likely told Dudley something like "watch him while I…-whatever it was-" and that put Dudley in charge of Harry and with the power to wish him away).
4. A child may wish someone away but she has 7 years to make up her mind about getting the person back and you are only a child until you are 13. Harry and his cousin are six, therefore Dudley has until he is 13 to go and get Harry.
5. When you became part of the underworld you became fae, your original traits define what kind of fae you will became.
6. The underworld is pretty much stable. Almost no changes at all (a few unimportant births, deaths, marriages or other minor changes) unless a fairy tale is born. The new legend will change whatever it needs to make room for itself, in this case major changes may occur.
Harry woke up at sun rise and almost jumped out of bed. He was going to the human realm today. The place where he and his mom were born. They told him he was to attend a school with other children his age and he was nervous. He could remember going to school before he came to the underworld and the other children were not nice to him.
"Well, if they decide to play with me, I'll just have to play with them too he though with a smile. There was no way that Prince Harry, heir of King Jareth, would allow anyone to walk all over him. Let a goblin (or most of the fae for that matter) do that and you are in for some serious pranks and a lot of pain.
"Good morning, father" said Harry entering the balcony where his mother liked to have breakfast.
"Ah! Harry. Good morning, son. Excited about our little trip?" greeted Jareth setting aside his papers and looking at his son, a miniature Jareth with black raven hair standing up in all directions, black trousers and boots and a golden silk poets shirt.
"He looks more fae each day Jareth though with pride.
Harry was now 11. Today was in fact his birthday and this little trip was being treated was a birthday gift to ease his mind about going the whole affair. It had been Sarah's idea and it seemed to be working, Harry was warming up to the idea of going to school. Either that or the little chat he secretly had with Harry about how fun it would be to defend himself from the bullies... Sarah would not approve of that even if the said bullies were wizards and witches and not common humans. Oh, well. As long as she didn't know it would be ok.
"Father, do you think we'll meet a lot of humans?"
"Yes, Harry, but I think they will all be wizards, not many plain humans at Diagon Alley"
"Oh! Ok" said Harry drinking his juice "How are we going to get there?"
"We will go through the bank. Griphook will send us a cart in a few minutes and someone from school will be waiting for us at the bank"
"Good morning" said Sarah. Harry looked at his mother and saw that she was wearing what she called normal human clothes. It was a grey suit with a white silk shirt underneath. Her hair was tied in a bun and she had small diamond earrings on her ears and a short pearl necklace.
"Harry, dear, you need to get change. We are going shopping in the non magical part of London after we shop for you school"
"but, mom, I don't have human clothes anymore, remember. Hylte dropped mine at the bog of eternal stench"
"Oh! That's right. Blasted goblin and her crazy ideas. Well, it's not a big problem, darling. We will just get you new ones. You are growing very fast, anyway, those clothes would probably not fit you even if they could still be brought in the castle"
"Well" said Jareth getting up and kissing Sarah's face "I, madam, am ready and at your disposal"
"So am I, mother" said Harry imitating Jareth´s action.
"Well, off we go them" said Sarah taking Jareth´s arm. Harry followed them to the dungeons of the castle, where in one of the hallways a goblin was guarding a door. He opened the door and bowed to the royal family as they walked in.
Inside it looked like an old mine with many rail tracks going at all directions. It was the connection room between all the banks at all the realms, his father had explained to him long ago. From there they could get to every branch of Gringotts anywhere.
The small cart arrived almost immediately, they got in and the cart started to move through the tunnels taking them to the Gringotts at Diagon Alley.
Chapter 07
The little cart zoomed through countless tunnels before stopping at a platform where a elderly looking goblin was waiting for them. He bowed almost to the ground when they climbed off the cart.
"Your majesties. My prince. Welcome to Gringotts Diagon Alley." He said opening the door leading to a large hall where all the goblins stopped their work and bowed as the royal family stepped in.
"Thank you, Griphook. Now if you would be so kind to escort the Queen and the Prince to meet with the person from Hogwarts who is expecting them. We could focus on that report you have been promising me"
"Of course, your majesty." He said in another bow "This way please, My Queen"
"Thank you, Griphook, but I would like you to alert the goblins not to bow to us in front of the patrons. We wish to go about unnoticed for now"
"As you wish, my Queen" he said escorting them through a corridor "We have arranged for a privet meeting with the man from Hogwarts, your majesty, so that any details could be settle away from prying eyes"
"Very good, Griphook"
The goblin led them to a room where the biggest human being Harry had ever seen was waiting for them.
"This is the boy you were waiting for, Master Rubeus Hagrid. Prince Harry, this is Hagrid Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts.
"Blimey, Harry. You've grown!" said Hagrid.
"Do you know me?"
"Yeah! I was t'one who found ya… I'm really not t'one to tell ya 'bout that… well, I delivered ya to the Dusleys m'self. Sorry 'bout that. Glad to see ya found ya'elf a better place" he said with a warm smile before turning to Sarah "Nice to meet you, M'dame"
"It is very nice to meet you, master Hagrid. I understand you will act as our guide for the day?"
"It'll be an honour to help anyone who makes Harry happy"
Sarah gave the half giant a shining smile. She liked this man, she decided. He smelled honest and good hearted and her fae senses were never wrong about one's true nature, they were an enhancement from her human senses, Jareth had explained to her once, even as a human she knew who to trust, and naturally as a fae that sense had only grown stronger.
She went with them for the first few stores and left as Harry went to get some school robes and Hagrid to get refreshments for them. Her attention was caught by an animal store were she spotted a beautiful white owl. It reminded her of Jareth and she decided that it would make a lovely pet for Harry.
Meanwhile, Harry entered the store where the sign said "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions"
"Hogwarts, dear?"
"Yes, first year" Harry answered with a smile.
She showed him to a room where another boy was having his robes done. He was pale blond and had grey eyes like Harry had never seen before.
"I bet he has fae blood" he gave a small smile to the boy and received a smirk. "and what is his problem? Do I have something on my face?"
The boy's attitude annoyed him, even after he told the obnoxious blond that his parents were wizards too.
"and where are they?"
"They are dead" said Harry shortly "I'm adopted now, my mother should be here in a minute"
The boy paid no more attention to Harry's explanation about his family and went on and on about everything that he wanted and didn't want and finally the subject was not himself, not that Harry was pleased with the new one.
"I say, look at that man"
"That's Hagrid, he works at Hogwarts"
"is that a muggle next to him?"
Harry looked at the front window where Hagrid was handing Sarah an ice cream cone. They turned around and smiled at Harry, who smiled back and waived.
"That is my new mom"
The blond was looking at him in shock. He knew Harry was a wizard and his parents were wizards too, but his adoptive mother was a muggle and that placed Harry in an uncharted territory. He simply did not know how to treat the raven haired boy in front of him.
Harry got out of the fitting stool, thanked Madame Malkin, making sure his robes would be ready for him by the end of the day and hurried out side to join Hagrid and his mother for ice cream. He remember to ask Hagrid about the house names the blond had mentioned and Hagrid explained a bit of how the school worked. Sarah help a lot with all she learned in the book Dumbledore had send her andmade sureHarry knew that even with Slythering's reputation he could not judge a house sole based on rumours. After all, many faes had bad reputation and they knew some of them did not undeserved it.
Harry loved his visit to Diagon Alley. He couldn't wait to go to school. He didn't remember the mortal world to be this fun when he lived there.
Chapter 08
Sarah and Harry got out of the muggle cab at the train station. They were both wearing muggle clothes and although Harry could see one or two goblins hiding around the station (he knew there were more of them, but most of them had done this sort of thing for too long to be spotted), he was feeling pretty much like a normal child.
He had to actually beg his father for this, his father wanted him to get there like a full fledge goblin prince. That was the last thing Harry wanted. He wanted to be just another kid, to be treated like everybody else for once… or at least at first, anyway. Could you imagine the kind of pranks he could pull if everybody though he was a normal kid and not the prince of the underworld? They would never see it coming!
They arrived at the platforms 9 and 10 with just a few minutes to spare. They looked around and could not find the platform 9 ¾ they were suppose to get to.
"It has to be here someplace" said Sarah a bit worried, it had been years since she came across a secret door she could not find in less than 3 seconds, but then again, she had never came across a secret door in the mortal realm and the rules here were a bit different.
"Every year is the same… full of muggles…" said a plump red head woman pulling a girl by the hand, four boys were following her, all pushing carts with trunks like Harry's and all with flaming red hair.
"Percy, you first" the woman said and the boy went forward, the last second a group of people blocked the way, but it had been enough for Harry and Sarah to figure out what they needed. They decided to wait behind the red headed family and watched them go in.
The twins pulled a prank at their mother making her believe she had got their names wrong and Harry liked them immediately.
"Looks like you won't be the only prankster at school, Harry"
"Yeah… but maybe I can be THE prankster of the school. What do you think, mom?"
Sarah laughed. Harry was too much like his father for the school safety. Dumbledore did assure her they could handle him, but still…
"Well, I would like you to focus on your studies rather than on your pranks."
"but my pranks are my study… I have to be a good goblin king someday"
"Nice try, but you practice enough pranks at the underworld, in school you practice… whatever it is that they teach. Clear?"
"Yes, mother"
They made their way to the platform and saw the famous Hogwarts Express for the first time.
"You know, we don't have anything like this in the underworld... I'll have to talk to your father about it. It's beautiful" said Sarah with her eyes shinning.
Harry just rolled his eyes. His mother was always adding beautiful things to the underworld, which was ok, but he liked the not so pretty parts of it too, they were the funniest. His mom was just too girly sometimes.
Harry notice the twins coming towards where they were standing and decided to make friends with them. He had no idea how this would work in the mortal realm, but in the underworld the law said they had to talk to him first, so it was a matter of what would make them talk to him… maybe if they though he needed help… he started to make a big show of trying to put his trunk in the train and letting it fall a few times, making sure he did hit foot at least once and looked like he really needed help.
"Want a hand?" wow, too easy.
"Yes, please" Harry panted.
"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"
"Thanks" said Harry once the trunk was safely delivered to a compartment. Harry pushed his sweaty hair out of his eyes.
"What is that?" said one of the twins pointing at Harry's lightning scar.
"Blimey , are you…?"
"He is, aren't you?"
"What?" what, can they tell what I'm just by looking at me? How powerful is a wizard?
"Harry Potter" they said together.
"did someone announced I was coming? Oh, him, I mean, yes, I am"
The twins looked at him with their mouths open, what really annoyed Harry. The twins mother called them outside and Harry was left alone. He was mildly pissed now. If everybody knew he was a prince he would never be treated like a normal person. Sarah came in to find a frown in her son's face.
"Harry, what happened?"
"Does everybody know I'm the goblin prince?"
"No, of course not. We didn't tell a soul and the headmaster promise not to divulge that information. Why?"
"The twins just asked me if I was 'him', Harry Potter. They knew about someone named Harry Potter. How come?"
"I don't know. Why don't we find out?" Sarah closed her eyes for a moment and Harry knew what she was doing. She was using a fae gift, one of the crossed paths gift. It was a very mild use of the gift, you just made sure you were on the right place at the right time to get a piece of information you would need.
They looked out of the window and sure enough they could heard the twins talking to the rest of their family just outside of it, they were picking on their older brother who had became a prefect, whatever that was (he did look like someone who deserved to be in the receiving end of many pranks), promising her not to blow up a toilet (which was pretty basic, but if you got just the right person sitting on it, it could be fun) and he heard when they told her they just met 'Harry Potter'.
"… and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"
"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there… like a lightning"
Harry and Sarah looked at each other. Scar? What were they talking about? How did the scar gave away the fact that he was the goblin prince?
"Poor dear… is he all alone? How did he got here?"
What?
"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-know-who looks like?"
Who?
"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school"
The whistle sounded indicating that was time for the train to leave.
"What was that all about? You-know-who? And what does all this has to do with my scar?"
"I will find out and let you know. How does that sound?" said Sarah kissing and hugging Harry.
"Ok. I'll see what I can find out around here too" said Harry kissing his mother back.
"Be good and don't get in to too much trouble. Anything you need just send an owl" and Sarah left Harry to settle himself in the compartment more comfortably. He looked out the window and saw that she had made her way to the red-haired woman and they were talking like old friends.
Harry smiled, his mom would know everything there was to be know about what had just happened before the end of the hour, but it didn't mean his curiosity would be satisfied soon enough… unless he did something about it. A little concentration and voilá, the door slid open and the youngest red-haired boy came in.
"Anyone sitting there? Everywhere else is full"
Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. The boy sat in silence, pretending not to look at Harry's direction but Harry was having way too much fun with this to stop now. He decided to use just a little bit of his gift again. The twins stopped by and made the introductions which made the conversation start to flow.
Ron, his new friend, told him a bit about why Harry was famous among the wizards and You-know-who, but couldn't bring himself to say his name. It did annoy him a bit, apparently he would not be as unknown as he wanted, but at least nobody knew he was a prince yet.
They talked about Hogwarts and the houses and how he wanted to be in Gryffindor, like everybody else in his family had been. Eventually, the conversation shifted to their families.
"I was adopted" said Harry.
"By whom? A wizard?"
"Oh, no. My parents, Jareth and Sarah, are pretty much like everybody else back where we live"
"Oh!" and that was all there was to it. Harry couldn't help the huge smile that came to his face.
A nice woman came by with the food cart and Harry brought enough to throw a small party, it was the first time he saw any of those foods and he wanted to taste all of them, he and Ron had a blast sharing what Harry had brought. Later on a very annoying girl came by looking for somebody else's toad and hanged around enough to see Ron making a fool of himself with a bogus spells his brothers had given him (Harry really liked those guys), but at least she knew enough about Harry to give him a name: Voldemort. He made a mental note to talk to the annoying girl some more and learn more about his past.
Ron was explaining to Harry what was Quidditch when the door slid open again. Harry could tell before whoever was outside had even touched the door that it was not a pleasant visit.
It was the blond boy from the robe store with two big guys that looked like they were bodyguards. Crabbe and Goyle, said the blond boy.
"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes"
The blond smirked.
oh, it would be so fun to mess with him though Harry.
"Good, my name is Draco Malfoy"
Ron gave a slight cough, which may have been hiding a snigger. Draco looked at him.
"Think my name is funny, do you? No need to ask your name, red hair, freckles, second hand clothes… you're a Weasley"
Ron's ear went purple and Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco. Now, there was someone in a desperate need of a 13 hour tour around the labyrinth. No one would insult another person and get way with it so easy in front of him. All he needed was a good plan. Malfoy was talking again.
"You will find out that some families are better than others. You don't want to go around making the wrong friends, Potter. I can help you there" he held out his hand but Harry didn't shake it.
"I think I can tell the wrong ones for myself. Thanks" oh, he is going to pop a vein
Malfoy really looked like he was going to pop a vein or something, he send a few threats and finally left.
Well, I got myself a brand new friend, a mystery and, right now, a project: piss Malfoy right in to the labyrinth, and all this even before my first year actually begins. This school thing is going to be great
The end (for now anyway, someday I'll write a sequel to this one).