Okay, well, the original version of this fic didn't quite go anywhere, so I'm hoping that this revised version will. I was dissatisfied at the three-way between Harry, Kori and Kara, so I decided to make it a strictly Harry/Kori pairing, and change the setting.I also had issues with how I introduced the contract between Harry and Kori, which felt too contrived, so this version, while still contrived, actually feels less awkward.
Unlike the previous version, Dumbledore won't be seen in a flattering light, but neither will he be evil. As I put it in the annotations for this chapter, he's in this story more like the Pointy-Haired Boss from Dilbert on one of the PHB's better days. Trying to be helpful, but getting it wrong as much as he gets it right.
PER VOLA SU NATA (REVISED VERSION)
CHAPTER 1:
A DREAM OF FLYING
"He has your eyes," one woman said to the other, smiling at a baby the other woman was holding.
"So I am told," the mother said. "But even so…we have to hide his looks, just like I had to hide mine. Humans…are not always welcoming of the different, and wizards even less so. The follies and foibles of any sentient species are amplified within them. I'm surprised that you came all the way out here, Your Majesty."
"Please, call me Luand'r. I am not queen of this world. I came merely to see whether any remnant of the Astur line remained, and to offer the hand of friendship if you wished to return. I wish I could have met your mother, Lilin."
"She died saving my life. I've been going out in secret, dealing with the Death Eaters, but I don't think I will be able to stop Voldemort. And with the prophecy hanging over our heads…"
"Indeed. You are going into hiding before long to protect your child."
"I won't be just cowering. I will go out and fight, but I will pick my battles. I have my son to protect."
"If he gains anything from you, then he'll be a fine warrior. My youngest daughter, Koriand'r, is about his age." Queen Luand'r seemed to consider something. "Perhaps that may be something to try."
"What?"
"Lilin, I have a proposal for you. It may sound odd, but I ask you to hear me out first…"
Harry stared at the letter his godfather had sent him. It was a few days shy of his sixteenth birthday, and he had been getting steadily more and more angry at being kept in the dark. But now, he had received this. The letter in of itself had been unremarkable, filled with banal nonsense, but there were a few key phrases here and there that had Harry, on a whim, use the phrase used to activate the Marauder's Map. And when he had said, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good,", he found a very different message. And this was how it ran.
Harry,
You'll have to sit tight for a short while longer. However, while I can't explain everything in this letter, I can explain a number of things.
First things first: the Ministry of Magic has launched a smear campaign against you and Dumbledore via The Daily Prophet. Some of the things they've written are beyond the pale, but Fudge is refusing to acknowledge Voldemort has risen again. I think some of the Death Eaters bribing Fudge have been suggesting this campaign.
Secondly, don't blame your friends for not writing to you with more detailed information. Blame Dumbledore. He ordered them not to, supposedly for your own safety. However, I know differently, and I will discuss this with you when we come. He's even forbidden Hermione from using Muggle mail to contact you, when virtually no Death Eater would even think of tracing Muggle mail.
Thirdly…I'm not sure we can trust Dumbledore, not entirely. Myself, Moony, and my cousin Nymphadora Tonks are the only adults you can trust, and out of your friends, Hermione and the Twins are the only ones I think you can trust. This isn't because of the others being malicious, it's because they're all beholden to Dumbledore, and, well, I know you'll hate to hear this, but…he isn't looking out for your best interests. After all, he sends you back to the Dursleys, year after year. And the situations you've been in, well, he could have done more to prevent. I don't think he's being malicious, just a control freak. Unfortunately, most here think that the sun shines out of his arse, and that includes the Weasleys. Well, save for the Twins.
Finally…I have a big secret to tell you. Like, a major secret. I haven't told you before because we've both had so many other things to deal with. But I think you're ready now, and besides, I'm sure you're sick of being kept in the dark. Just be warned, though, this will change your life.
Be ready. We'll be coming for you soon.
Yours,
Padfoot
PS. When we come for you, don't call Tonks 'Nymphadora'. She'll get angry at the bare minimum. At the worst…you'll need a cup. You know, like Muggles use for cricket. She kicks hard.
Harry didn't know what to make of that. What was this about a secret? And what was with Sirius badmouthing Dumbledore all of a sudden? Or telling him that the Weasleys couldn't be trusted? What the hell was this all about?
Harry didn't tell Hermione, or indeed any of his friends, but lately, he'd been feeling…odd. Well, beyond having these dreams of Voldemort that weren't quite dreams, he was sure.
It had started, albeit subtly, after the Dementor swarm at the end of last year. It was as if their attempts to eat his soul had loosened…something. Like there was something within him, struggling to break free. He wasn't sure what, but he found himself yearning for more sunlight. Sometimes, he felt like he could fly, fly fast, fly forever.
But he couldn't. Without a broom, he was essentially earthbound. And that frustrated him no end…
It had happened later that day. He had spent most of the day doing his assigned chores. He had to admit, Sirius had a point. Despite protesting to Dumbledore about his treatment at the Dursleys, Harry always was sent back here. It wasn't as bad as Azkaban, given Sirius' tales of it, but until he got his Hogwarts letter, he was treated little better than a House Elf, and it was only a little bit better since. He had his own bedroom, and the chores were reduced, as was the physical abuse, but that was about it. He was still the Dursleys' servant and verbal punching bag for too long in the year.
He was sent outside to do the weeding, and then, as he was plucking them out of the garden, he heard a hissed "Stupefy", and was knocked unconscious before he could do anything. And when he did wake up, it was in a chair. One, thankfully, he wasn't tied to.
In fact, it was a very comfortable chair in a decently-lit lounge room. In addition, Sirius, Remus, Hermione, the Twins and a rather punkish-looking young woman with bubblegum-pink hair were sitting around in the same room.
"Sorry about that, Harry," Sirius said. "But we needed to get you away from there, and I know you would have asked so many questions, we couldn't get away cleanly. Even now, we don't have much time."
"Time for what?" Harry asked, feeling his anger well up.
Sirius held up a hand. "It's past time that I told you something, Harry. I meant to do it later, when I thought you were ready to know, but I overheard something that had me worried you'll never hear it from me. It's something your parents told me to tell you when you came of age, but I have to tell you sooner."
"And what's that?"
Sirius gathered himself, before dropping the bombshell. A bombshell that demolished everything Harry thought he knew about the world, about his life, even more so than when Hagrid told him he was a wizard. "You're not wholly human, Harry. Neither was your mother."
Harry stared at him blankly. In a flat, dangerous tone, he said, "What."
Sirius held up his hands. "Please, just listen to me first before you ask any questions, okay? I'm trying to explain as much as I can. It sounds stupid, but I promise you, it's true. Actually, Hermione, you're up. You know a bit more about the background than I do."
"What?" Harry asked, as Hermione came over.
Hermione nodded. "Harry…what do you know about the Teen Titans?"
Harry blinked at the question. "Umm…that's like the junior version of the Justice League, right? The one that started up a couple of years back. I know the Batman's protégé Robin is a member, there's a little brother of Superman, and there's that shapeshifting kid, Beast Boy or something. There's Cyborg, there's that spooky mage, Raven, teen versions of the Flash and Green Arrow, that teenaged girl version of the Martian Manhunter, and some other alien girl called Starfire."
"Okay, so I don't need to explain it. That's good," Hermione said.
"Dudley's a fan, even if Vernon and Petunia calls them freaks," Harry said bitterly. "But what do the Titans have to do with anything?"
"Well, that's the thing. It's not the Titans in general, but apparently one of them in particular," Hermione said, before giving the floor back to Sirius.
"You won't know this, Harry, but your mother and your aunt were only half-sisters. I'm not sure if Petunia knows, though I wouldn't be surprised if she did, the spiteful hag. Petunia's mother died in childbirth. Not long afterwards, your grandfather met another woman, and fell in love with her. But as it turned out, this woman was actually from another planet. She fled here to escape an assassination attempt on her family, as they were nobility on said planet. She adopted the name of Daisy Aster, an English version of her own name, Deizin Astur. She gave birth to Lily, and used the same means of concealing her alien features as she did with herself. Your grandparents died after an attack by Voldemort, but Daisy went out fighting. Neither the Death Eaters nor the Aurors at the time would admit it, but she took out a dozen Death Eaters before her husband's death distracted her long enough for her to be hit by the Killing Curse. Lily knew because she was there at the time. She had to be stunned and dragged away by James, as she was pregnant with you."
"…Then why did she die? Why did she sacrifice herself for me if she was so powerful? Couldn't she have killed Voldemort and then survived?"
"Believe me, she tried. She actually attacked Voldemort, but he was good at countering her. And she couldn't do too much unless she was in disguise. You have to remember, Superman was just starting out at the time, and so was the Batman. Vigilantes of any kind were treated with suspicion, and your mother was seen as a murderous inhuman creature killing Purebloods, even by Dumbledore. At about this time, Lily was tracked down by one of the royals of her mother's homeworld, Queen Luand'r. Luand'r made a most extraordinary offer: her oldest child had been afflicted by an illness that would probably rob her of her ability to fly, and she was worried about genetic stagnancy. So, she asked for a marriage contract to be put into place, between you and her youngest child." He sighed. "Her sacrificing herself to save you was to be a last resort, but Voldemort blocked Portkeys, Apparition, the Floo, he even stopped your family from leaving through the doors. The ritual she used was actually from her mother's world. That's why the feat hasn't been replicated. Magic is rare there, but it's not unheard of."
"So she sacrificed herself as a last resort." On Sirius' nod, Harry asked, "Okay, so why didn't you or Remus tell me?"
"Harry, I was probably the only one outside of your family that knew. Remus was looked on with suspicion as a traitor," Sirius said. "I doubt Pettigrew would have known either. And when we first met, I'd just been in Azkaban for over a decade, and I had almost forgotten. I was more fixated on getting Pettigrew. And with everything else going on with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, well, if I removed your bindings at the time, people would have noticed. Okay, I guess I'm making excuses. But the thing that reminded me was when I sent Moony into Gringotts to check on your finances. I had this nasty suspicion that Dumbledore might have helped himself to some of your inheritance, as he did persuade James to help fund the Order of the Phoenix during the last war. Thankfully, he's done no such thing. But we found the marriage contract."
"Oh God, I'm going to be married, to someone I don't even know," Harry groaned, putting his head in his hands.
"Harry…it might not be so bad," Hermione said.
"Of course it isn't, my dear Hermione," Fred said.
"After all, Harry is marrying a princess," George added.
"Oh, even better," Harry muttered sarcastically. With his luck, she'd be like Malfoy with tits.
Except…now that he came to think about it, he only knew of three girls on the Teen Titans. He assumed that was why Hermione brought them up. There was Raven, Starfire, and that Martian girl. He didn't know enough about them to know which of them, if any, were alien royalty.
"Harry…here, I'll undo the bindings," Remus said. "Sirius showed me how." And with that, he waved his wand. Harry Harry felt something shatter within him. Then, suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain in his scar, heard an unearthly screech, felt something drip down his face. As the pain faded, he felt something vaguely snap into place, like he was something stretched out of shape, and then let loose.
And then, he felt the gentle burning fire through his veins. He felt lighter than air, like he could fly. He felt like he could just point at something, and it would go…
He did point at something, and suddenly, with a brief screech, a bolt of green energy smacked into the wall, leaving a scorch mark. Harry stared down at his hand, only to start. His vision through his glasses was blurry, so he took them off, and realised, he could see VERY clearly indeed. His skin was orange-coloured. Rather like…
Harry blinked. "Do you have a mirror?"
Tonks handed over one, and Harry stared at what he saw reflected in it. His appearance, after all, had changed somewhat.
His skin was now a vibrant orange. His hair was now a deep burgundy, a dark reddish brown. His eyes, while still green, had sclera a lighter shade of the same colour. His scar had faded. Everything else was, more or less, the same, though his body had changed somewhat beneath his clothes, he could tell. He felt stronger, faster, better.
And now, he knew who they were talking about. "Holy crap…am I…?"
"You are. A quarter-Tamaranean. The marriage contract was between Harrin 'Harry' of the lines of Potter and Astur, and Princess Koriand'r," Sirius said.
"Which means, Harry," Hermione said, "you're engaged to Starfire of the Teen Titans."
CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:
Well, if it isn't one thing, it's another. Harry learns of his heritage, and now, he's in an arranged marriage with Starfire.
Part of the problem with the original version of the story was that it was a bit too happy, lacking in character conflict, and so on. Plus, adding Kara to the mix was troublesome. So, no harem or threeway, just Harry/Kori. In addition, getting the contract into the story seemed a bit awkward, and while this version still is a bit awkward, it's less awkward than before, frankly.
Also, if you're worried that I'm going to be bashing Dumbledore…well, he's not going to be a villain in this fic. He's going to be a hindrance as much as a help, but he's more incompetent and manipulative than evil in this fic. He will still try to help Harry, though. A bit like the Pointy-Haired Boss from Dilbert on one of his good days.
Little bit of trivia: a good chunk of this, including Sirius' letter and the initial parts of Harry's kidnapping, were actually adapted from my first draft of my Homestuck crossover Kakistocracy, which was fairly different to the version I eventually published.
The title of this chapter was inspired by the title of the first volume of Alan Moore's run on Miracleman, by the way.
No numbered annotations this time.
