PROLOGUE

The stone bridge protruded from the stony beach and disappeared into the reef, a rough texture against the smoothness of the blue sky above and ocean below. The man with the white bandana wrapped around his head was showing something to Ron and Hermione. A starfish. "We believe that when a star falls in the Ocean, it breaks into a billion pieces and from each piece emerges this creature." Hermione smiled at this ridiculous notion. Ron only nodded his head. "They are magical creatures," the muggle continued, "they are more powerful wish fulfillers than shooting stars." "Indeed" Hermione raised an eyebrow. For a witch, she could be a bit too sceptical at times. "I wish for a hot cup of tea to appear in my hand." She held out her hand palm up as if a teacup would fall from the sky into her hand. It didn't. The man smiled indulgently. "It doesn't work like this, memsahib. You need a spell." I was intrigued. "Oh is it abracadabra?" Hermione questioned in the high pitched tone of Umbridge during interrogation. "Nahi. No." The man waved his head from side to side. "Very well, tell us the spell," Hermionie commanded. "Its a spell from a book of magic. You have to perform a ritual, you see, with the starfish. If you want it, you can buy a copy of the book." "Now you want us to kill the starfish, do you?" Hermione huffed and walked away. Ron got pulled along. I asked for a copy. "Very well. Teenuuuuu," he shouted for his son, "Get the saheb a copy of Jalcharangi." The boy climbed up the rocks that led to the beach and was soon down with the book. The book was full of rituals. "Are you a wizard?" I asked at the blatant dismissal of the International Statute of Secrecy. "Ha, ha. What are you saying, sahib?" the man asked. His eyes showed that he thought I was joking. Must have gotten the copy from somewhere. He took the book from me and showed me the page where the starfish ritual was. Oddly, the ritual was copied with a marker pen under each line of the printed ritual. What was the need to write the same thing twice? I dismissed the thought. It was a simple ritual that required no wand or sacrifice, maybe not a real magical ritual at all but muggle imagination. "Come on, try it." The man urged. My mind screamed at the idiocy of doing an unknown ritual but something unknown was just asking me to perform it. "Do it, do it," my mind whispered. If Hermione had stayed, she would probably have stopped me but she had walked far away. So, as instructed in the book, I cupped some water from near the pit the starfish was in and murmured "shish-shal-shon" three times over. I poured the water on the starfish and wished for the pain from the deaths of my numerous friends and family members to go away. Nothing happened. I was still drowning in the losses when I opened my eyes. I paid the man for the book and ran to catch up with my best friends.

Ron and Hermione were looking up at the stone bridge. "This arch is beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione said. "Looks like the veil of death really, with the curtain missing," Ron said. "Ron," Hermione reproached and looked at me with worried eyes. Sirius. The veil of death. Falling. I couldn't look at the arch anymore. I couldn't stand near it. I tried to run away but my foot stuck on the rocks and I fell backwards through the opening below the arch. I tried to hold onto Hermione. I was pulling her along. Ron caught onto Hermione's shirt. Something other than gravity was pulling me very fast into some dark void. Where had the void come from? It was too much. I let go before Hermione could get a firm grip on me. I fell.

…

Darkness. Darkness so profound that my hands were invisible. I whipped my hand. The wand came out of the invisible holster. "Lumos maxima," I cried. Nothing. Complete and utter darkness. A fall. Falling. Falling. Falling...A force pushing me out. A thump on the hard rock. Pain muffled any thoughts. I could feel liquid on my hand. Blood. There were people shouting around me. "Sahib, sahib." I fell unconscious.

…

I opened my eyes to see the bleary vision of a teenager applying some sort of paste to my head. My vision focused after a few moments. It was the man with the bandana. He had no bandana. He looked much younger, much too young. He was lapping some sort of paste on me. "You are awake. You took a pretty hard fall. We didn't even see you before." The voice was grating on the already building headache. "What year is it?" my voice came out hoarse. "Um...he looks like he has lost his memory," the teenage-man said to someone.

"It's 1979. Do you remember what your name is?"

Shit, shit, shit. What the hell was I supposed to do?

"Yes, yes. Harry."

"We should call the doctor. He had a look at you. He wanted me to keep him informed. I will call the doctor."

"No, no, wait. I am fine. I will be fine."

I checked in my pockets for the healing potions I would carry around. They were not there. Must have fallen in the whole ordeal. First stop: St. Mungo's.

"I am fine. I will go."

I got up and walked as fast as I could. My head felt like it was going to burst, "Sahib wait. You are not well enough to walk," the teenage-man called after me. I walked away. When I was sure no one was following after me, I activated the emergency portkey that hung on my neck. It was supposed to take me to the magical hospital at any time, from anywhere, even international tourist destinations. Perhaps a bad judgment call. I had barely landed inside St. Mungo's when I fainted. I felt a pair of strong arms grab me before I fell unconscious. Surprisingly, at that very moment, after a very long time, I felt completely safe.