The Protector Chapter 3: A Life Remembered, Not Lived, a harry potter fanfic

AN: You may need this:

Telepathy/Thoughts

Parseltounge

DISCLAIMER: Not going here or any other chapter… see the prologue and ch1 for the disclaimer.

Chapter 2: A Life Remembered, Not Lived

Ollivander was thought to be human by the wizarding world because he looked human. Most witches and wizards assumed that the current Ollivander was the son of the last and so on and so forth. Had anyone really wanted to pay attention, they would have noticed that the man who ran the wand shop never seemed to age. Had they bothered to think about it they would have realized that the man who sold them their wand had also sold their grandparents wand and had just sold their grandchild a wand. You see Ollivander was one of the Undying, but unlike his brethren he looked completely human.

Ollivander felt the presence of one whom he thought would never grace his shop on a quiet, late November day. The bell at his door chimed announcing the arrival of four people. Of the three adults, he recognized all. Stepping from behind a shelf, the woman, The Guardian greeted him with a silent smile. The two men noticed him a moment later while the boy simply stood with his eyes closed. Ollivander was surprised at the boy's look of bliss as the energy of the store swirled around him.

"How may I help you today?" asked Ollivander.

"We are here to get this little monster his wand," said Sirius Black jovially as he ruffled the boy's head, allowing Ollivander to see the famous scar momentarily.

"I take it this boy is your apprentice, My Lady," commented Ollivander as he walked over to her.

She smiled, "It has been a while my friend, but no Harry shall not be replacing me at any point. He will become this Realm's Protector."

"I see…" he said quietly, "then why does he need a wand."

"Because the phoenix song called," said Harry cryptically.

"Really?" asked Ollivander, "So you are certain your wand will have a phoenix feather core."

"No," he replied, "The wand which will be sacrificed in the creation of my staff will be holly with a phoenix feather core."

Ollivander straightened in shock and looked at Serenity. Something flashed in his mind, a memory of an even yet to come which would not happen. In another place, another time, another life this boy would have taken the brother of Tom Riddle's wand and used it as a wizard does. In this place, this time, this life that same wand would combine with fire and earth to become the mage staff of the Protector who would one day kill Riddle. "I have a wand that matches that description," he said quietly.

He turned to walk to the furthest shelves. There he reached to the top and pulled out a black wand box, identical to most around it, yet as different as ice was from fire. He took the wand box back to his customers and opened it. Removing a polished gleaming wand Ollivander said, "Eleven and one half inches of holly delicately holding the tail feather of a powerful phoenix."

Harry accepted the wand from Ollivander and blue-green sparks flew out of the tip. Harry felt the magic of the wand, but knew that the connection was much weaker than it had been the first time he did this. "This is the final key to forming my staff," he said confidently.

"How much do we owe you Mr. Ollivander," asked Sirius as he removed his money pouch from his robe.

"Five galleons seven sickles," replied Ollivander absently as he turned back to Serenity. "Albus Dumbledore wished me to inform him the moment this wand was sold," he told her.

"Tell him five summers from now that a boy you believe to be Harry Potter bought it. Tell me, has he ever seen the wand?"

"He knows it exists, but no, he has never seen it."

"Wonderful," said Serenity. "If that is all, we will take our leave. Remember old friend, you are always invited to the castle."

Ollivander nodded and watched as the four left his store. He knew she liked him, cared about him as she cared about all of the Undying, but he knew the Undying of the Castle felt he had betrayed his sacred trust by becoming the wizarding world's wand-maker. Ollivander turned the sign on his window to read 'closed' and after locking the door went to his private quarters. He wished he didn't look human as he drank himself to sleep, something he hadn't done since the death of Gwendolyn Slytherin.

$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&&$&&$&$&$&$&$

Ever since his sixth birthday Harry had been different, at least in Sirius' opinion. The boy who looked like a young James seemed to mature overnight. He suddenly took his training more seriously and considering the way he treated them before that was nigh impossible.

Harry had been a boisterous and happy toddler who grew into a disciplined child after he began training. Serenity had kept her word and his training had begun the day after his fourth birthday. During the two years which followed he had spent a minimum of seven hours every day training with Serenity. He already possessed elemental mastery and mind magic when he turned six.

The two months leading up to Harry's sixth birthday had been odd. He started to have nightmares and would wake up crying or in a cold sweat. Serenity was always there to comfort him. The night before his sixth birthday, Harry understood why the nightmares had begun. He remembered his previous life. The day of his birthday he remained by Sirius' side constantly.

Days turned into weeks and finally months. With Serenity's gentle guidance and love Harry came to terms with who he had been and who he was becoming. The day after he got his wand from Ollivander Harry sequestered himself with the elementals that frequented the castle. After two days with them Harry rejoined his Godfathers, for even though not official, Harry saw Remus as such.

Sirius knew Harry had a destiny, all Protectors did, but as the boy returned from seclusion, followed by a salamander and a gnome, he wanted Harry to escape his destiny. A week passed and Sirius finally asked, "Harry why are those two following you?"

"They will be gifting a part of my staff's core and in order for everything to work the three of us need to forge a bond over one or two lunar cycles," replied Harry calmly.

"Oh," responded Sirius inelegantly. Harry smiled and engaged his godfather in a game of exploding snap.

The night of the new moon, just over a month later saw Harry standing at a stone altar. He was at the center of five concentric circles which he had carefully drawn and formed during the fading light of day. To either side of the altar were cauldrons. One contained a merrily burning fire which the salamander danced around in; the other was filled to the brim with fresh dirt which the gnome was carefully preparing for planting. Harry ran his eyes over the two branches of wood on the altar.

Both were just over six feet long and each was rather straight. One was a branch from a very old yew tree the other was from another tree altogether. He didn't understand why that particular tree gave him a branch, but one didn't argue with the sentient World Tree. Placing his wand between the two branches, Harry began chanting in the ancient language he knew almost better than English.

The three bits of wood began to glow a bluish white and Harry reached a hand into the cauldron of fire. The Salamander plucked one of its fiery scales and placed it in Harry's hand. Harry dropped the scale into the glowing blue-white fire which had replaced the wood. It flared brightly and then turned green. Harry held his other hand out toward the gnome who proceeded to hop onto the offered hand. Harry raised the gnome to the altar and set the small humanoid form next to the green fire.

The gnome took the small gold dagger from the altar's surface and cut some hair from his head, placing it in Harry's hand. Then he took the same dagger and cut his small hand open. The gnome put his bleeding hand into the green fire as Harry dusted the gnome's hair into it as well. The fire dimmed but didn't go out as the gnome took his small hand out of the fire. The cut was gone, leaving a small gold mark as a scar.

Harry looked at the fire as he continued chanting, wondering why it hadn't gone out with the final ingredient when it suddenly flared blue-white again. Harry didn't even reach for the cauldron of fire before the Salamander jumped onto the alter, plucked another scale and tossed it into the fire. The fire shifted to red and Harry suddenly understood.

Taking the small gold dagger in his left hand, Harry carefully carved the runes of love, protection, and faith into his right hand. He then place his hand into the fire, closed his eyes and hissed in Parseltounge My staff is complete. Without opening his eyes he closed his hand around his now completed staff. He opened his eyes and nearly fainted at the beauty and power of his staff. Taking his new staff carefully in his hands he began to dismantle the circles while thanking the elementals who had guarded his working that night.

$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&&$&&$&$&$&$&$

The years had passed quickly at Guardian Castle. Harry Potter was much happier this time around. He had Sirius in his life from the beginning and Remus no longer suffered his lycanthropesy, instead he was allowed to revel in it as the wolves of old had. Harry had also been surprised and pleased to learn that Remus and Sirius had stronger feelings than friendship. Their relationship was discreet and Harry only learned of it by accident while practicing mind magic.

Harry knew that when he turned eleven he would go to Hogwarts. He had carefully researched a spell to remove a possessing spirit from a host body without killing the host. The spell was complex and would require the use of his staff, but Harry wasn't concerned. Unfortunately there was no spell to destroy a disembodied spirit; the best one could hope for was to trap it. Harry had memorized five such spells just in case.

Harry thought back to all the small mistakes he had made. He knew that Ron and Hermione's friendships were important, but he also sensed that he had made a mistake by shunning Draco Malfoy. He also realized as he grew and trained, that the sorting hat was right, he belonged in Slytherin. It was perhaps reading the journals of the last Protectors that convinced him. The journals had belonged to Salazar Slytherin and Gwendolyn Gryffindor Slytherin.

The two protectors had written of the founders and their duty. They had commented on their love for one another. They had told the tales of what a Protector truly does. They both sadly spoke of the child they had given up to Godric's daughter to raise. They had been powerful, cunning, sly, ambitious and noble. Together they had done more for ensuring that 'dark' beings received rights than any protector had before them. They also squashed more evil wizards than either had wanted to remember.

Harry had learned that Rowena Ravenclaw had been a seer. She had given the Slytherin couple a prophesy. It said that the next Protector would be of their line, mingled with that of Godric's and her own. Born of Serpent Line and Phoenix Fire Graced by Raven Wings The Protector Shall Come. Forged by Love and Hate Alike He Will Face Evil More Times Than the Years Allow. Triumph Comes in the Most Painful Hour When Hope is Lost and Darkness Reigns. To This World He Will Bring Long Awaited Peace for All His Final Days. Harry had memorized her prophesy, it wasn't nearly as bleak as Trelawney's. He felt it meant that he would eventually triumph over Voldemort and it also showed that he would live his life twice.

$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&&$&&$&$&$&$&$

His tenth birthday had come and gone, and summer gave way to fall. Harry could have been distracted by the prospect of going to Hogwarts in less than a year, but instead he threw himself even more into his training. This was why on the ninth anniversary of his parent's death Harry was engaged in a mock battle with seven of the Undying.

Harry's long dagger, nearly a short sword, was directed by his right hand. His wand, eleven and a half inches of twirling two toned wood, was in his left. He sent an area stunner at the four Undying to his left as he blocked the naganata aimed at his head. The weapons were specially charmed to numb, not cut, flesh, so even if Harry hadn't blocked no lasting damage would have occurred. Harry smirked at the male Undying with a battle axe and caused the ground to open beneath said opponent. Somewhat distracted by this he didn't notice the fireball until it engulfed him. Cursing under his breath, Harry absorbed the fire energy before it could damage him and ducked away from the two Undying who simultaneously swung swords at the exact place where he had been standing.

Sirius and Remus had rarely watched Harry's practice and were amazed. They watched as he seemingly danced around his opponents, blocking, dodging or absorbing their attacks. They had learned that the Protector, much like the Guardian, had the ability to absorb all human magics and most non-human magics. They had been shocked to learn that a Protector or Guardian could only be killed by physical means or if the Guardian or Protector willed themselves into the afterlife. Both men now understood why Harry survived Voldemort's killing curse.

After nearly three hours Harry had managed to 'take out' five of his opponents and was down to a simple two on one fight. His opponents were a male and female Undying. The male held his sword loosely as the female took up a dagger to counter the sword in her main hand. Harry sensed their telepathic communication and prepared for the attack. It came in the form of glowing weapons and the ground opening beneath him. Fire jumping to avoid the earth attack brought him to a spot behind them and with a area killing curse, a spell deadly to mortals while acting like a stunner on the Undying, knocked the two unconscious.

Sirius and Remus didn't like the fact that Harry used just as many 'dark' spells as he did 'light'. They also understood that as the Protector he had to be balanced between light and dark, to be gray in his magic. They jumped slightly when someone started clapping from behind them. Serenity smirked at them before approaching Harry.

"Excellent Harry," said Serenity as she waved a hand to revive the unconscious Undying littering the floor. "I believe it is time to take you into some real combat."

"If you think I am ready, I will gladly accompany you," replied Harry with pride.

"Good. You remember where the room of mirrors is correct?" At his nod she continued, "Next time you hear one of the alarms, go there immediately and the two of us shall teleport to the location of the disturbance."

"Thank you Lady Serenity," said Harry.

$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&&$&&$&$&$&$&$

The thing standing before Harry and Serenity was grotesque. It was about fifteen feet tall and its girth was over eight. The creature had at least three dozen tentacle like appendages and seven eyes, or at least that's what Harry thought the orbs adorning its upper 'head' area were. In no less than three of the appendages were weapons on some kind while its mouth was full of sharp crystal like teeth.

At the base of the monster's body were the forms of two people, or at least that's what they had been. Serenity had told Harry that two muggles had managed to bring an other planar entity through, but it had killed them and broken their weak warding. Seeing the mockery of a true magic circle and the dead bodies was all the proof Harry needed to know her assessment was correct. Twirling his wand, transforming it into its staff form, Harry asked telepathically What now of his mentor.

Now we kill it. If it hadn't killed the muggles, we would have banished it back home, but the laws of the Realms is death for death. She told him as she drew a blade of obsidian from seemingly no where. Obsidian and amethyst are the two best materials to use against this particular plane's inhabitants, something of diamond or coated in diamond dust will also work.

Harry nodded and summoned his earthen power through his staff. The staff turned ebony black and transformed into a blade of black crystal as it flared with primal fire. Harry swung the obsidian blade as he dove under a tentacle. Serenity attacked from the other side. Black blades sliced into the creature. Don't let the 'blood' touch you, its acid. Harry acknowledged the comment by dodging a spurt of inky brown 'blood'.

Serenity held back as Harry hacked into the monster. She noted every small mistake as well as every excellent move. She felt intense pride as she watched Harry kill the creature who had thought to invade her, their Realm. Finally the invader stopped moving and Harry moved away from it. "Good work," she told him.

Harry looked at her and realized she had let him kill it on his own after the initial attack. A very small part of him wondered why he didn't feel bad for killing it, but the rest of him wanted to jump for joy. He looked at the carcass and asked, "How do we get rid of it?" Instead of a verbal answer Harry felt Serenity call on the power of the element of void and watched as the carcass vanished into a hole of emptiness. "That works," he said, "So I take it we head back now."

She shook her head slightly, "No, first we have to fix this 'scene' so that the muggles never realize that a 'demon' entered their world. It could easily destroy the muggle world if they learned the truth." Harry nodded and transformed his obsidian blade back into his staff. Once he was holding a six foot long staff of ebony and ivory twined wood ending in a hooded ruby eyed serpent head at the top, Harry joined Serenity in fixing the 'scene'.

$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&$&$&$&&$&$&&$&&$&$&$&$&$

In the months which followed Harry faced many beings that would be classified as demons. It was early April, before his eleventh birthday, that Harry received a shock. The alarm had gone off at dark thirty in the morning, but Harry had managed to grab his staff and fire jump to the mirror room. Serenity had grabbed his hand and void jumped them to the location.

He blinked for nearly a minute trying to register what he saw. Serenity had jumped into the melee and was attacking a large twenty five foot tall Velociraptor like creature. The Velociraptor was fighting a ten foot tall feline humanoid female looking being. Standing behind the feline was a human in his later years, holding a sword and seemingly protecting a 'litter' of human-cat hybrids.

Are you going to gape all day or help? The mind voice was caustic and conveyed Serenity's annoyance at his inactivity. He called the power of energy sight to his eyes and looked at the fight. He quickly saw that the Velociraptor only had physical weakness, specifically for something made of equal amounts iron, gold, and silver. Concentrating, Harry turned his staff into a blade of such a composition. He jumped into the battle, noting that Serenity was wielding a blade with the same material composition as him.

With three opponents the Velociraptor quickly died. Serenity nodded her approval to Harry and turned toward the feline woman and human male. "What happened?" she asked of them.

"Ji'val'on gave birth three days ago," began the man, "and everything seemed fine. Then about an hour ago we felt the wards flicker and the next thing we knew that Motrack was here."

"It's my fault," whispered the feline, with an accent Harry had never heard before.

"No it's not," responded the man as he pulled her into a gentle hug.

"So that is a Motrack?" asked Serenity. The two nodded. "In that case Ji might be right." The man looked at her with anger.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, trying to understand what was happening.

"Ji'val'on is from a dimension were Motracks roam as freely as Feirians. In her dimension Motracks can sense when a Feirian female is about to give birth, after she does, it steals into the nest while she is too weak to fight it and takes one to five of the kits. Feirian kits are Motracks main food source."

"That doesn't explain how it got here," said the man as he held tighter to the Feirian.

"He's right," said Harry. "And why is a Feirian here anyway?"

"Ji'val'on and Kevin met through dreams about twenty years ago. When he finally found a way to bring her here, I couldn't see any reason for separating two beings who were as much in love as they were," answered Serenity.

"Doesn't that break the Guardian code or something?" asked Harry, trying to understand.

"Not really… the Guardian can allow other planar beings to reside here so long as they don't cause trouble for the rest of the Realm."

"Which is why our manor is surrounded by Void based wards," said Kevin.

"So that other humans can't enter," finished Harry, understanding why Serenity had Void walked them in instead of using a different elemental jump. He glanced at Serenity, "You still didn't answer how the Motrack got here."

Ji'val'on answered, "It is said that every Feirian female who survives into mating age has a single Motrack which lives only as long as she does. My people see them as a type of parasite who are apart of our very aura, one that only manifests when our young are born. It is believed that the Motrack can find its female host anywhere and can never be denied its meal."

"It obviously felt you give birth, but because you were in another Realm it couldn't find you until now," said Serenity.

Ji'val'on nodded, "Yes, and now that it is dead, Kevin and I can raise our kits in peace." She moved from his arms and knelt beside the kit filled blankets. A sudden screech caught everyone off guard.

Kevin rushed to Ji and screamed, "No, oh god no," before he broke into tears and gripped Ji as she sobbed against his shoulder.

Harry and Serenity moved to the grieving couple. Harry looked at the blankets and grasped in shock. Their were five small forms, each seemingly mummified, and clearly dead. He looked at Serenity How in the world could this happen? That monster wasn't near the kits. Serenity shook her head. She had no idea how it had happened either. Harry and Serenity left after disposing of the Motrack's body.

1234567890000001234567890000001234567890000123456789000000

REVIEW RESPONSES

Heiress-To-The-Dark-Throne Thank you, I'm glad you thought so:)

Silver Warrior I hope you continue to find it so.

Lady Gallatea Ravenclaw He won't, serenity would never allow that.

Maben00 I shall endeavor to obey (bows)

Rkhiara This isn't my primary story, but I will update as I can. Thank you.

Blue Werewolf Boy Thank you… updates will occur when I can write them.

The Dark Lord Potter Glad you liked it. I'll update as often as I can.

andy-may Thank you… You and me both… I'm kinda letting this story write itself; which is why updates are so long in coming.

Shadow of the black abyss Um thanks I think… Did you mean odd?

steven1468 Thank you very much; I will update as often as it allows itself to be updated.

Lorency Thank you… I wanted Harry to have a chance at a truly happy childhood. And to give certain marauders (cough Sirius cough) time to mature properly. Harry will handle that as it comes…

NL Kaos As you saw his old memories returned when he was six… he also got his 'destined' wand after his sixth birthday.

lmill123 Even though it isn't stated, Remus did tell Sirius and Serenity about what Fudge was doing. As for proof being presented to the ministry or Dumbledore… that won't happen until he heads to Hogwarts… but perhaps to the goblins as you suggest after all the Guardian doesn't typically interact with the wizarding world (but non-humans are another matter), that's what the Protectors do.