Edited 11/04/2022

I still can't get the description of Edmund right but it is better then it was the first time I uploaded.

Chapter Eleven: Time and memories

It was just over a month after the Pensives had taken the throne that I was able to find the time in order to look into the last black cloud that hadn't felt sick. Despite not having the time to look into this memory, I had been able to sort through all knew memories from the day I gained before going to bed each night which meant I was able to keep on top of everything I was learning and what was happening in Narnia without too much trouble.

The memory had been from about three days after the attack, in an office of some kind, with my parents, brother and a very old man everyone had called Dumbledore or headmaster. I was being held in mum's arms because my baby-self had taken too loudly complaining if he was put down or held by anyone else (accept Sirius) ever since she had woken up. Before then, I had preferred being held by Severus when he was there. For some reason, my baby self didn't particularly want to be held by dad – perhaps something had happened that I couldn't quite recall yet because it would be in one of the white clouds because it didn't have a significantly negative impact on my emotional state.

"Ah, James, Lily thank you for coming." Dumbledore greeted my parents with a smile. "I hope that everyone has recovered?"

"We have a couple of lingering bruises, but we're fine now." James responded with a glance to his wife. Lily had taken the most damage during the battle, and wasn't fully recovered but she refused to let him take their children to a meeting with Dumbledore without her.

"Why did you want to meet with us headmaster?" Lily asked bluntly, while using her fingers to keep me entertained because I was awake and she didn't really want me paying attention despite the fact that I was a baby and highly unlikely to ever remember what was said.

"Ah, straight to the point my dear." Dumbledore offered a smile before he allowed his face to become grave. "I wanted to discuss what happened on Halloween. Starting with the fight in Hampshire."

"We were visiting Alice and Frank when the alert came in. Since we knew that my mum and dad would be okay with the children, and the alert said that they needed all hands-on deck, we decided to join the fight." James started the explanation, his face twisting slightly in grief at the mention of his parents. "When the Death Eaters realised that we were there, they got more ferocious and started targeting us specifically to the exclusion of everyone else."

"Once the Death Eater's retreated, we were taken by portkey to Hogwarts and given sleeping drafts. Before we fell asleep, I told Sirius to go and check on my parents." James explained.

"Where is Sirius, I thought he would have come to visit us by now?" Lily asked, she had expected the man to be there when they woke up or at least at some point during that day. instead, she had woken to find Severus feeding Harry while James was holdling Charlie and glaring at his enemy and angrily hissing at him.

"I thought that would be obvious, he's been taken into custody by the Auror's." Dumbledore answered with a frown.

"WHAT!" Both mum and dad shouted causing both me and Charlie to whimper.

"Why?" James demanded.

"For betraying your location to Voldemort. And for killing Peter and twelve muggles." Dumbledore explained as though it should have been obvious.

"Sirius wasn't our secret keeper. Peter was." James told the headmaster urgently. "We've got to get him out of their before they send him to Azkaban."

"We will go straight from this meeting to the ministry." Dumbledore promised. "But before you face the public, you need to know what happened in your home."

James and Lily clearly didn't agree with this decision but they didn't argue against the headmaster.

"Now, from what I have been able to put together Voldemort managed to get past Charlus and Dora in order to get to your children. Based on their magic levels, and their scars, I believe that Voldemort attempted to cast the killing curse at Charlie who managed to rebound the curse on Voldemort, destroying his body. However, the rebounding curse did not kill him because I believe he has used magic to keep himself alive." Dumbledore explained, interlocking his fingers and leaning forward on his desk.

"How…. How is that possible?" James asked, holding Charlie closer to himself.

"I'm not sure, perhaps your mother did something to protect your children?" Dumbledore theorised. "But whatever happened, it's placed a target on Charlie's head. When Voldemort regains a body, and he will regain a body, he will come for Charlie."

"Well, we'll be there to stop him." Lily responded strongly.

"And when he's out with his friend? Or when he becomes an adult? You can't always be there for him. And even before he reaches Hogwarts age, he's going to be the target of Death Eaters, which means you need to start teaching him how to protect himself early on." Dumbledore informed them as though he had any say in how mum and dad brought us up.

"I won't raise my children to be warriors." Lily snapped protectively.

"Lily, he's right. Voldemort doesn't care how old someone is. If they've caught his attention, he'll do everything he can to get to them. We can't just leave Charlie and Harry without the means of protecting themselves." James said softly. "My family have a couple of children's training programmes back from during the wars. You can look through them and see which one you think would be best."

Mum pursed her lips at that, but didn't disagree with her husband.

"Where will you stay once Madame Pomfrey lets you out of her care?" Dumbledore moved the conversation on once he had gotten their agreement.

"I need to speak with the goblins about getting the Lordship ring and opening the manor house back up." James responded.

"Will the house be inhabitable?" Dumbledore asked in concern.

"When my parents moved out and sealed the house, they ensured that the House Elves could repair the damage done from the Death Eater attack. Although, we'll have to get the Goblins to ensure there isn't a whole left in the wards."

"Very well." Dumbledore accepted this explanation since it was quite common for Lords to leave their houses in the care of house-elves. "Now, I would like you to hear me out before you get up in arms against me for the next thing I'm about to say."

"That's not ominous at all." James muttered, shifting Charlie around in his arms since he had started to get a bit restless. But it didn't really work, Charlie continued trying to escape from his arms.

"Here." Lily pulled out her wand after moving me so that I was just resting on her one arm. With a flick of her wrist, she conjured a brightly coloured play pen. "He's just board."

Jame placed Charlie in the play pen where he added a couple of coloured toy blocks and teddies for him to play with. Lily kept a hold of me since I didn't have an issue with being held against her and listening to everyone's voices.

"Have you considered how this is going to affect Harry?" Dumbledore questioned as though he was hesitant to bring forth the idea, but looking back on this moment I noticed that his eyes were still twinkling.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked with her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"With the target being on Charlie, is it best to keep Harry and Charlie together?" Dumbledore suggested in a way which was meant to be delicate.

"I'm not giving up one of my children." Lily snapped sharply holding baby me close to her chest in a protective manner.

Having now broached the topic, Dumbledore started arguing his point. The majority of his argument seemed to evolve around the safety of both of them, and the fact that there was a chance Harry would turn out jealous of his brother. Mum refused to even consider giving me up, while dad was slowly brought round to the idea. Accepting that it would be better to focus all their attention on the one child while the other was placed somewhere safe.

Finally, mum had enough of the argument and stood up. "Enough. I will not abandon one of my children. I will be in the hospital wing when you find your senses." Mum turned and marched to the door. She was a step away from the door when she was hit with a spell from behind which caused her to freeze on the spot.

"I'm sorry my dear. But it will be best for young Harry if he's placed somewhere safe. James, could you?" Dumbledore said in a tone which was meant to be grandfatherly.

"Of course." James took me from mum's frozen arms, avoiding looking in her eyes which were burning with anger. "Where will he go?"

"Oh, I know of a place that will be very safe for him. He will be well looked after I promise you." Dumbledore said mysteriously. "And you can take him back into your home when his Hogwarts letter comes. He will be old enough to understand the truth then."

"Alright." James accepted that decision picking up Charlie from his crib. "What should I do about Lily? She's going to fight to get Harry back."

"I can handle that." Dumbledore pointed his wand between Lily's eyes and spoke a spell. "Obliviate scio, confundus." Mum's eyes glazed over for a moment before she was knocked unconscious with Dumbledore's next spell, "Stupify."

"Lily will wake up with no memory of this conversation. We will simply have to tell her that Harry was injured during the attack and for medical reasons he has been placed somewhere better for him. You may have to use your authority as Head of House to get her to comply if she tries to get Harry back or hunt him down before he turns eleven." Dumbledore turned to James and explained what he had just done.

"Thank you, headmaster. Will you tell me where you're taking Harry?" James asked curiously.

"I will place him with Lily's sister so he remains with blood." Dumbledore explained after a moment. "I will ensure that the house is well warded so no one with magic will be able to get him. Now, I think it's best if you take Lily and Charlie back to the hospital wing while I leave Harry at his new home and then we can go to the Ministry and free Sirius."

Recalling how I had come to be at the Dursley's was a devastating blow, and yet it also gave me hope. Although my father had abandoned me based on the manipulative words of an old man, my mother hadn't. She had refused to give me up and I was taken from her forcible. From their words, this was only meant to be a temporary solution until I turned eleven which meant I would be able to get to know my mother when I entered the wizarding world. I would also be able to meet with my uncles Remus and Sirius to see where they stood on the matter and perhaps see if Severus would be able to help my mother. Even if the only time James used cohesive magic on my mother was in regards to me, that was still abusive and I very much doubt that my mum would willingly remain with the man who stole one of her children. Severus showed so much love and caring to me and my mother – he wouldn't let her remain with a man who wouldn't allow her any control.

After accepting what the memory had shown me, I settled into my role as friend and advisor to the Kings and Queens of Narnia.

Within the borders of Narnia, I quickly became a shadow to the Kings and Queens. When Edmund travelled to speak with the people, to learn their stories and ensure that all was right, I was by his side. When Peter went to settle disputes in the land, rebellions from what remained of the White Witches armies, I was at his side. When Lucy went to visit her many friends, I was at her side. When Susan went to the woods to wonder, I was at her side.

The people called me the royal shadow, because outside of the palace they could not recall a time when I wasn't with the Kings and Queens.

When Edmund and Susan ventured to the human settlements outside of Narnia, I went with them. It was obvious that they were young, and the kings of the other lands tried to take advantage of them, but they were too secure in their place to allow such. Since no respect would be given to a body guard or adviser who looked like a nine-year-old, I took to wearing a cloak whenever I left the boarders of Narnia or a party of humans came to the land for trade or negotiation. My skills with a blade, tendency to stop assassinations, and silence against anyone who was not my King or Queen meant they called me Narnia's Protector.

Edmund developed quite a silver tongue which was why he was the one sent as ambassador to the other lands. Susan was sent with Edmund because they felt it was better to travel as pairs outside of Narnia and they didn't want to send the two youngest out together, just encase. That, and if often through the kings when Susan spoke with the same authority as Edmund, and she enjoyed seeing their faces when she drew her bow against them.

The people of Archenland became close allies of Narnia. Nine years into their reign, Edmund led a battalion of Narnians' beside King Lune to stop the Calormein army from taking Archenland and using it as a base to launch an attack on Narnia through the Arvana passage. Due to his experience training the fighters of Narnia, and working with king Lune and his men, Edmund quickly over took his brother in terms of skill with a sword until he was considered the best swordsmen across the lands. Very few people knew that in a fight between me and Edmund we regularly ended in a draw if I was only using the Katana. If I was using the daggers as well, I would win more often but Edmund had been known to defeat me. However, with my magic in play Edmund could never defeat me, even if I never used it externally.

Besides my role as a guard to the Kings and Queen, I quickly took control of the library. During my time, I read every book and scroll that had been written before the White Witch took control and every book that was added. I had Mr Tumnus get together with a collection of historians from across the species to write an account of the hundred years of winter, including personal points of view from across the species – even from those such as the Minotaurs who had been forced to work for the Witch because their children had been taken and threatened. All treaties, trade contracts, laws, and other legal documents were copied and placed in the library (the originals going to the document vault). Every year the Kings and Queens would add their diaries to the collection, and many of the people would also donate their books to the library upon their deaths so that future generations could learn of their lives during the reign of the true kings and queens.

As Aslan said the first day that we met, I slowly began to get control of my magic. I learnt that focus and intent was very important to my casting. As well as an understanding of the world around me. I cast protection spells on the books in order to protect them from age, fire, water and damage. But in order to do that I needed to understand the 'feel' of parchment. I had to do something similar when I began enchanting the castle.

I started with the library and vaults. I made sure that damage could not be done unto the walls, no one meaning harm or ill intent could cross the threshold and it would withstand the test of time. I also cast a charm over the entire grounds, that in effect let me know everything that was happening in Car Paravel, but the information would be filtered in my brain unless an alert was triggered or I was focusing on the information. It was using this 'ward' that allowed me to find anyone in the castle no matter what. A trick that greatly annoyed people – especially if they had wanted to be left alone in order to sulk.

It was a year after the true Kings and Queens took their place that I finally found the time to look into the final black cloud memory. Unlike all the other clouds, the memory contained within wasn't just one day or moment, nor did the memories belong to me. They were a life time's worth of memories. A young boy who grew up in an orphanage, bullied by the children and ignored by the staff because he was different. When he was eleven, he journeyed to Hogwarts, a school of magic, where he made friends with the children of Slytherin, and learnt that he was a descendent of a great man known as Salazar Slytherin.

He was a boy, and then a young man, with big hopes and dreams about equality. Dreams that never happened. Despite his friends, and his own title, he was unable to make any changes. In his anger and frustration, he left to travel the world. When he returned to England, he was different, his sanity slowly slipping. From the objective view that I was granted, I could see the changes as they happened. He started a civil war, at first avoiding death as much as possible, trying to show that the system was wrong. But as his sanity continued to slip, the methods he was using started getting bloodier and there was senseless killing. Killing that ended the day he attacked my grandparents.

It was through these memories that I learnt so much about the wizarding world, and the magic of my home world. While on my own I practised some of this magic, starting with the basics that Tom was taught at Hogwarts, although I had to adapt since I wasn't using a wand. A skill that became easier when I assimilated Tom's memories of how he harnessed the wandless magic that he had been wielding when he was a child in defence of himself. The theory that Tom used was very similar to the magic that I was using before I accessed these memories, except I had a far greater scope in what I could do and the power I could use without draining my 'core' because I was also using the magic of the world around me.

15 years since the battle

Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan went out for a hunt. Since they were all together, I chose to remain behind. A decision that I began to regret when the scouts returned with four horses and no royals. Their weapons and Susan's horn were still attached so if they were taken, they hadn't put up a fight. I joined the search parties that looked for them, sending my magic out as far as it would go searching for them. I followed their trail to the lamppost before losing them.

"Harry?" Oreius asked when I blew the horn that I carried in the pattern which signalled everyone to return to the castle - the search was over.

"They've returned to where they came from." I answered sadly, staring into the ferns. "They'll only return when we need them the most. For now, Narnia stands on its own."

With the four Kings and Queens gone, the control of the kingdom fell to me. I implemented a council which had two representatives from each of the beings, with a five-year rotation. A vote ensuring that the best representative of each being was in place. I taught them everything they needed to know to lead the Narnians, ensuring that the next rotation was taught how to lead before they took up their places.

I could feel it in my very soul, I was going too returned home soon. Despite that, I didn't withdraw from the people. I continued as a protector of Narnia, ensuring that the Calormene didn't see the loss of our royals as a weakness to invade. I wouldn't leave until I knew that they could support themselves.

I finished casting protection spells across the entire castle and a little bit of the land around it, including the orchid that Lucy had finished planting the day before they disappeared. I secured the property of the Kings and Queens in the vault, leaving only Susan's horn out. The horn was placed on a pedestal to the right-hand side of the thrones. On that pedestal was a prophecy, of a future king blowing the horn seeking aid from the True Kings and Queens of Narnia. There was no enchantment fixing the horn to that pedestal because the time would come when the castle would be abandoned and the horn would be place into myth.

Of my own belongings, I ensured that Raafxet and Mr Tumnus knew that when I disappeared, they were to take my things and place them in my vault – which was attached via a side room to the vault of the Kings and Queens. Although I didn't have a lot, I wanted to ensure that my weapons and personal note books were taken care off for when I returned. My wardrobe, and the few items of wealth I hadn't been able turn down were not something that I truly cared for but they would be kept safe.

All the beings of Narnia knew that my time with them was coming to an end. Only my duty to ensure that the country did not fall in the absence of the True Kings and Queens kept me there for as long as it did. But just as they all knew I was leaving; they also knew that I would return when Narnia's need was at its greatest.

I managed to remain in Narnia for another three years before I went to bed and woke up the next day back in my clearing, everything exactly as I had left it.