I own neither Harry Potter nor Star Wars. I promise to do nothing with other people's characters they haven't had them do themselves. Of course, for Star Wars, that means I could have the wise Jedi hide Luke Skywalker from Anakin Skywalker on the farm where Anakin's brother lives. Not even changing his name, or telling him Uncle Owen was his father. Subtlety is for lesser beings than Jedi.
The Great Hall erupted into excited conversations among students and faculty alike. A loud series of cannon blasts from Dumbledore's wand restored order.
"Everyone will please remain quiet and in your seats!" Albus called out. "Mr Kendet, I believe it was?" Toma nodded. "If you don't mind, I would like to speak with you in my office after the feast. You are quite welcome to join us, of course."
"Thank you," Toma accepted. He turned to face Harry, who was still staring at Dumbledore.
"Nothing to worry about," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry. "Just some questions for registration purposes, and to get to know your background a bit. Please join the other students to be sorted into a house."
"May the Force be with you," Toma said to his Padawan, his head and shoulders dipping in a bow of respect. Harry bowed back to his Master.
"And with you, Master," he said respectfully. Dumbledore noted the phrase and concluded it must be related to this Jedi religion. He faced Toma.
"Please come around the head table and join us, Mr Kendet," Dumbledore invited. Toma made his way up and around the large table to sit next to the headmaster.
Harry joined the other students grouped near the three-legged stool. There were still about thirty students waiting to be sorted. Harry noticed it took some time for some students to be sorted, while for others, the hat shouted out a house name almost immediately. Three students had been sorted (a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, and a Slytherin) when McGonagall called "Granger, Hermione!" to the stool. She was a rather bushy-haired girl who gave Harry a shy smile as she passed him on her way to the sorting hat. The hat sat on her head for quite some time before it pronounced its decision.
"Gryffindor!" With a smile, she glanced back at Harry for a moment, then ran off to the Gryffindor table to be greeted by her housemates.
The sorting continued, as Harry noticed himself getting hungrier and hungrier. That was very odd, as his eating habits were well established by now and he'd not done any hard physical exercise other than his typical daily workout. Perhaps it was this 'magic' at work, to guarantee a successful feast. Eventually, after two twin girls named Patil and a short girl named Sally-Anne Perks, Harry's name was called.
"Potter, Harry!"
The Great Hall was silent as Harry came forward and sat on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. It fit over his eyes and ears. After a moment, Harry could feel a tickle in his brain like something was being scanned. It felt like something had taken all the books from a library, flipped through them, and then put them all back where they came from, all in a moment.
"Difficult, most difficult," Harry heard the hat whisper in his ears. "Plenty of courage, not a bad mind, either. With your drive to succeed, you would do well in Slytherin, but since you do not wish to succeed for your own gain, you'd stand out, no, no, not there. Very heroic, but with very little bravado, that shouldn't be a problem for Gryffindor. Your analytical mind would serve you well in Ravenclaw, but they wouldn't take kindly to your quickness to action. And while you're loyal, I do not see that as your defining trait. No, I believe it better be..."
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted the last word out for the entire hall to hear. Professor McGonagall lifted the hat from Harry's head, and he walked to the Gryffindor table. He saw Hermione Granger sitting at one end, and there was a seat open next to her.
"Excuse me, may I sit here?" he asked her. Hermione blushed slightly and nodded yes. He took his seat and watched the rest of the sorting. A red-haired boy named Weasley, Ronald became the last Gryffindor of the year. Finally, a dark-skinned boy named Zabini, Blaise became a Slytherin, and the sorting was finished.
After the ceremony, Dumbledore stood and addressed the school, saying he wanted to have a few words before they ate. Ron Weasley groaned slightly at the delay. His worry was for nought, though, as those few words turned out to be "Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment and Tweak." Everyone laughed and applauded as the headmaster then clapped his hands, said "Let the feast begin," and food magically appeared on the plates in front of them.
Harry had seen food dispensers plenty of times with the Jedi, but he had to admit the presentation was done with far more flair magically. The food was excellent as well. He kept himself to reasonable portions, though, knowing that to over-imbibe is to leave yourself vulnerable in a fight. It also would not do to have Master Kendet see him gorging himself like the Weasley boy was. Ronald was sitting directly across from Hermione Granger, and she looked a little green around the cheeks as she witnessed him attempt to stuff an entire chicken in his mouth. He succeeded, too.
Harry was quite intrigued by the girl, who had quite overcome her shyness and started spouting off every little factoid she had yet learned about Hogwarts. Ron seemed quite annoyed at this, but Harry was very appreciative. He knew nothing of this place, and it was to his benefit to learn it as quickly as possible. His friendship with Hermione seemed to be getting off to a great start as he peppered her with questions about Hogwarts, her life before Hogwarts, and anything else that came to mind. Hermione's friendship with Ron Weasley, however, was quite a bit rockier. The boy peppered her with bits of food as he talked with his mouth stuffed with chicken and potatoes. It was one of the most interesting evenings Harry could remember.
Once the feast was over, the first years were directed to follow one of their prefects, Percy Weasley, to the Gryffindor dormitory. He was a tall boy with red hair whom Ron confirmed was one of his many brothers. Together, the first years left the Great Hall and followed the older boy as he showed them a few particulars about the castle, such as the moving staircases. Harry wasn't sure why you wanted an interior that changed configurations frequently but supposed it could be useful to repel an attack by confusing any invaders. After a fairly lengthy walk, they came to a painting of a large woman. The lady in the painting looked around at the children gathered before her and asked for the password.
"Caput Draconis," Percy said, and the portrait swung opened to let them in.
During the feast, Dumbledore had refrained from asking Toma any questions, not wanting to have the answers overheard by any students. He looked him over, though, and saw a man who appeared quite relaxed given what must be a tense situation.
After watching the students file out to go to their dormitories, Dumbledore gestured for Toma to follow. He led the Jedi Master, Professor McGonagall, a tall man with thin black hair, and a man wearing rather worn-out robes and having slightly yellowish eyes up to the third floor where a large gargoyle statue stood. The stone golem nodded at the headmaster and moved to one side. The wall behind where it had stood parted like an elevator door, revealing a circular staircase twirling up. The stairs were unattached to anything and moving on their own. Each of them took a stair and headed up the Headmasters Tower to his office.
"Please, have a seat," invited Dumbledore. Toma sat down in one of the chairs directly in front of the headmaster's desk, while McGonagall sat beside him. The dark-haired man sat on a tall stool to the side of the large desk and looked like he'd prefer to be standing. The other man took the chair beside McGonagall. "I trust you enjoyed the feast?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes, it was quite enjoyable," answered Toma.
"May I offer you a lemon drop?" offered the headmaster, holding out a bowl of sweets. McGonagall briefly acquired a slightly sour look to her features, and the black-robed man on the stool rolled his eyes slightly. Dumbledore offered the sweets to anyone who came into his office. He didn't have very many takers usually, and none today.
"No, thank you," said Toma.
"This is Professor Minerva McGonagall, our Transfiguration professor," Dumbledore said, introducing the woman sitting in the chair to Toma's left. "And this is Professor Severus Snape, our Potions Master. Finally, this is Remus Lupin; he was a friend of Harry's parents when they were at school here. Remus has been leading the search for Harry." Toma nodded at each in turn.
"Professors, Mr Lupin," he greeted. "I am Jedi Master Toma Kendet. How may I be of service?" Dumbledore levelled his gaze at the man.
"To begin with, I must express my surprise to find Mr Potter in your custody. I appointed his Aunt and Uncle as his guardians, and was quite distraught to learn of his disappearance," the headmaster said, his voice losing some of its grandfatherly cheer and turning somewhat stern.
"I am sorry if you were distressed," stated Toma calmly. He was not surprised this subject had come up and decided to deal from a position of strength if questioned about it. "If you were so worried about the boy's well-being, perhaps you could first explain why you dropped him off on a doorstep in the middle of the night with no protection." Dumbledore's eyes went wide at the accusation.
"I take it you were the one who took him, then?" asked Dumbledore.
"I was," confirmed the Jedi Master.
"I assure you that, whatever you observed that night, he was not left unprotected," Dumbledore began to explain.
"He was certainly unprotected enough to allow me to take him without any resistance, or difficulty," Toma interjected.
"Indeed," answered Dumbledore. He was not happy with how this conversation had started and did not want to get into blood wards. That the blood wards had obviously failed to protect Harry at all would not help his case. Dumbledore decided to try and gather more information.
"Perhaps," he invited, "you would be so kind as to describe what occurred from your point of view."
Toma obliged him, describing in significant detail events that had happened almost ten years previously. Toma's account matched Dumbledore's memories of the events. The headmaster was not pleased at all with how his actions appeared through the eyes of a third party. It was clear that Professor McGonagall was agreeing with the stranger's position as well, which did not surprise the headmaster. McGonagall was quite loyal in most things, but he well remembered how vigorously the Transfiguration professor had objected to the boy being left there in the first place. Seeing Harry happy and healthy had cemented in her mind the idea that she was right. He was quite well aware that Harry would not be nearly so happy, nor as well-fed, if his plan had been followed.
"Perhaps," drawled the hawk-nosed Professor Snape, "you would be so kind, as to inform us of what a 'Jedi' is." Toma noticed that Snape spoke very calmly, but with a hint of menace behind his words. He inserted pauses in odd moments in his sentences as if he were a droid whose processing cycles were suddenly taken over by too much input and temporarily paused speaking to deal with the information flow. He was also forthright, staring Toma directly in the eyes as he spoke.
"A Jedi is a member of the Jedi Order," explained Toma. "The Order has existed for more than ten thousand years by the way you measure time. We are diplomats, students, teachers, and ambassadors. The Jedi are a peacekeeping group, dedicated to maintaining balance and peace in the galaxy. We do this by studying, using, and being vessels for the Force." Snape's eyes squinted at this information.
"Galaxy?" asked Lupin, shocked.
"The Force?" inquired Dumbledore. Toma answered Dumbledore first.
"The Force is an energy field that is created by all life. It is ever-present, and it binds the universe together. Certain people are born able to manipulate, and be manipulated by, the Force. In the Republic, Force-sensitive children such as Harry are trained as Jedi."
Toma turned to Lupin to answer his question. "The Republic is a democratic government which spans a third of the galaxy. It currently represents almost two hundred thousand planetary systems. It was formed approximately twenty-five thousand of your years ago, and the central system is Coruscant. That is where Harry and I live and study in the Jedi Temple."
Lupin sat back in his seat, stunned.
"Well, I suppose it was a UFO, after all!" he remarked.
"I beg your pardon?" asked Toma.
"Oh," said Lupin. "I've been trying to find Harry all of these years. The night you took him, muggles in the area reported seeing a UFO. That stands for' unidentified flying object.'"
"Muggles?" asked Toma.
"A certain portion of our population can use magic," explained Dumbledore. "Those who are capable of doing so are invited to attend one of the magic schools around the world. The vast majority of people do not have this capability, however, and are known by us as 'muggles.'"
"I see," said Toma. "Perhaps the Force and what you call magic are one and the same?" suggested Toma.
"Perhaps," Dumbledore allowed. He decided it was in his best interests to cooperate with Kendet, seeing how close he was to Harry. He still needed Harry, and he didn't think Kendet knew about the prophecy. Information was power, after all, and since he controlled the information flow, he directed the situation.
"Well, it grows late, and we still have a few things left to discuss. We did not receive your owl confirming that Harry would be attending. Did you receive his letter?" the headmaster asked.
"We did receive his acceptance letter, but we were uncertain of how to respond. We were also unsure where we could purchase supplies," answered Toma.
"I see," said Dumbledore. "How did Harry receive his letter if he was on… Coruscant, did you call it?"
"Yes," answered Toma. "It was quite remarkable. We were on the balcony of our quarters in the Jedi temple, and a large bird we believe to be an owl appeared, with a letter for Harry."
"An owl delivered a letter to another planet?" asked Professor Snape, his scepticism readily apparent.
"Yes," confirmed Toma. "We were unable to explain how it was able to make the journey, as we have confirmed your species has not yet ventured farther than your moon. The owl departed a few minutes after Harry took the letter, and it disappeared."
"I see," said Dumbledore. "That is the typical behaviour of a post owl. They will wait a short time to see if you wish to send a reply, but it will leave if you don't tell it to remain."
"We have visited the moon?" asked McGonagall. "When?"
"Muggles first landed on the moon in 1969, but the project only lasted for a few short years before being discontinued," informed Dumbledore. He made a point to keep far more up to date with the progress of the muggles than the vast majority of wizarding society. He was quite well informed about their technological advancements. McGonagall was stunned at the news.
"So how did an owl get to this… Croissant, was it?" asked a flustered McGonagall.
"Coruscant," corrected Toma. Professor Snape gave a snort of derision.
"Clearly it did not," he stated. "As amusing a tale as this is, I'm afraid I don't believe in little green men." Toma did not understand the reference but smiled at the description.
"That's a shame," said the Jedi Master. "One of the wisest men I know is both little and green."
"As we've never left our planet, owl deliveries between worlds has never been attempted before," said Dumbledore. "I hesitate to say it must have been magic, but that is likely the best explanation we can give at this time. I would be interested in performing some experiments on the travel of owls to other planets at a later date, but I feel we must move on for now."
"You say you were unable to obtain his school supplies?" asked McGonagall.
"The letter did not state where to purchase the materials from," Toma replied, "and the items were quite… specific."
"That can be remedied," Dumbledore said. "Classes begin at 9:45 tomorrow morning, so if we get an early start, we should be able to get you to Diagon Alley and back before then. I'll ask Hagrid, our groundskeeper, to escort you."
"If we are on a tight schedule," suggested Toma, "perhaps it would be more advisable to have one of Harry's professors escort us. Without intending offence to your groundskeeper, I'm sure a teacher would be able to expedite the purchases with greater ease. Professor Snape, perhaps?" The potions master's eyes grew wide at this.
"Headmaster," Snape objected, "I have classes to prepare for and have no time to escort a late student to purchase supplies that should have been obtained well in advance."
"Nonetheless," replied Dumbledore, "I agree with Mr Kendet. While Hagrid has my complete trust, time management is not one of his many strengths. I would like you to do this for me, Severus." Professor Snape gave his largest eye roll of the conversation and turned to Toma.
"You will arrive in the Great Hall ready to depart by portkey at 5:45 AM sharp," he instructed. "I do not have time to waste, and I would appreciate your being prompt." Toma nodded his agreement.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, and we will be ready," answered Toma, bowing his head towards the potions professor. He turned back to Dumbledore. "I will be renting quarters in the local village for the duration of Harry's time here at Hogwarts. In the interests of ensuring we do not inconvenience Master Snape longer than necessary, would it be possible for me to stay here for the night?" Snape's eyes twitched slightly at the title of 'Master' that Toma had addressed him with. Dumbledore nodded his consent.
"We will have a house-elf ready a room for you," the headmaster offered.
"Thank you," Toma acknowledged. "May the Force be with you." Toma rose from his chair. McGonagall stood and addressed him.
"Mr Kendet, I am Minerva McGonagall. I am Harry's head of house. I will inform him of your errand tonight, and will ensure he arrives at the Great Hall on time."
"Thank you, Professor," Toma replied. With that, the meeting concluded.
After being shown the Common Room, Harry and the four boys who were also placed in Gryffindor first year climbed the stairs to find their beds. Dean Thomas was a tall, black boy who got along very well with Seamus Finnegan, a rather untidily dressed boy with a thick Irish accent. Neville Longbottom was a rather chubby and forgetful boy who seemed quite sad. He was clutching a large toad as if he were afraid he'd lose it. Finally, Ronald Weasley, who seemed quite fascinated with Harry, was telling him all about the Chudley Cannons.
Ron seemed quite put out that Harry had never heard of Quidditch before. Neither Ron nor Harry were particularly tired, so Ron decided to educate Harry on the sport. As Dean and Seamus were already starting to lightly snore, Ron dragged Harry back down to the common room to tell him all about the positions and rules of the game. They had been at it for quite a while when McGonagall entered to inform Harry of his trip to Diagon Alley in the morning. Harry noticed her entrance, but Ron kept his lecture going as the deputy headmistress came behind him. She cleared her throat, and Ron finally noticed her.
"Mr Potter, I have just come from a meeting with your… With Toma Kendet," the professor said. "You are to travel with him and Professor Snape to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning to obtain your school supplies. Please be in the Great Hall promptly at 5:40 AM. It will not do at all to be late."
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said.
"It's going to be a busy day for the two of you, particularly you Mr Potter," the stern-faced woman said. "Perhaps you can regale him with tales of the Cannon's prowess at Quidditch another time, Mr Weasley?" Ron looked quite affronted at this.
"But I've barely got started," he protested. Professor McGonagall gave a slight smile and departed.
"Well," Harry said to Ron, "I do need to be up pretty early. We'd better head to bed."
Ron reluctantly agreed, and together they climbed back into their dormitory, crawled into their beds, and fell asleep.
Harry woke before any of his roommates, dressed in his Jedi robes, and met Professor McGonagall just as she was approaching the entrance portrait. She was quite impressed at his promptness, and they made it to the Great Hall at 5:38 AM. Professor Snape and Master Kendet were already there, waiting on him. Professor Snape took a piece of rope out of an inner pocket and showed it to the two Jedi.
"Have either of you ever travelled by portkey before?" the potions master inquired.
"No," answered Toma. Professor Snape began to lead them out of the Great Hall.
"You will simply need to grab hold of this rope at precisely 5:45 AM. It is set to return to the Hogwarts courtyard at exactly 9:30 AM this morning, so do not become separated." They had exited the castle, and the professor stopped short at the sight of the two Jedi starfighters that were still parked on the courtyard lawn. He stared at Toma and Harry for a moment, and then asked, "These are yours, I presume?"
"Yes," answered Toma. "They will not be remaining here, however."
He called out to the two astromech droids that were waiting for instructions in the fighters.
"R5, R8! Close up the ships and take off. Use standard evasion protocols and engage the EM cloaks, try not to be detected. Fly to Earth's moon and land in a safe location. Set up a monitoring station and listen for any Jedi transmissions. Relay any instructions from the Jedi Council directly to me. Remain there until you are summoned."
Snape's eyes went wide as the two droids whistled, beeped, and spun their head domes to acknowledge their orders. With the droids plugged directly into the sensors and controls, preflight took only a few seconds. The engines rotated and whined. The robes of the Jedi and the potions professor billowed around them as the vertical thrusters came online.
The two Jedi starfighters rose twentynfeet into the air and raised their landing gear. They tilted back to point their noses at the sky, then accelerated rapidly under their main engines. Within 20 seconds, they were out of visual range. Snape shook his head slowly in disbelief. He took a pocket watch out of his robes and checked the time.
"It is time," he declared. "Grab hold of the rope, and do not release it until we have arrived." Toma and Harry each took hold of an end of the rope, with Snape holding onto the middle. At precisely 5:45 AM, Harry felt an odd sensation like a hook pulling at his navel, and they were gone.
Within moments, they had landed in Diagon Alley. Harry fell over, not expecting the abrupt stop. Toma nearly did as well but managed to keep his balance. Professor Snape did not even sway. He gave Toma a look of grudging respect at keeping his feet and began walking briskly past shops and stores towards a large, white building with crooked columns in front of the tall wooden doors. Toma helped Harry to his feet, and they rushed to keep up.
"Where are we going first, Master Snape?" asked Harry.
"Your supplies must be paid for, Mr Potter," answered Professor Snape, again starting at the title of Master. "We must first visit Gringotts bank to obtain an adequate supply of Galleons."
They arrived at the bank shortly before it opened at 6:00 AM, and were first in the doors once they opened. As they walked quickly up the central aisle, Harry observed strange creatures counting vast piles of gold coins and enormous gemstones. Being quite used to different species of an incredible variety on Coruscant, he did not question this, but he did observe them quietly. They reached the row of teller stations and waited for the goblin behind the desk to acknowledge them.
"May I help you?" asked the teller.
"I am escorting Harry Potter to his vault," explained Professor Snape. The goblin looked Harry over closely. The goblin was quite well dressed. His long, crooked nose extended four inches out from his face and supported square-framed glasses that did nothing to conceal the intelligence in his eyes.
"And does Mr Harry Potter have his key?" he asked, suspicion evident in his tone of voice.
"Of course," answered the professor, placing it on the counter before the teller. The goblin looked it over and apparently approved of it.
"This seems to be in order," he said. "I will have someone assist you." He gave the key back to Professor Snape. "Griphook!" he called out. Griphook was a shorter goblin who was dressed in an impeccable suit. He reported to the teller goblin at once.
"Take these customers down to vault 687, please," the teller instructed.
"Follow me, please," Griphook said. "He led them to a cart that was in a boarding station near the teller windows. They boarded the cart and Griphook grabbed a large lever and pushed it forward. The cart moved forward, quickly picking up speed and rushing them down into the depths of the bank.
Harry was quite surprised to find that he had a small fortune in gold coins that were left to him by his parents. He noticed that Professor Snape seemed quite angry to see it, but the teacher did not say anything. Harry wasn't sure if it was the amount that angered the professor, or if he was angry at the presence of Master Toma. Toma did not respond to Snape's rudeness or taunts, and it seemed to infuriate the potions master. Snape was certainly a surly man, Harry mused. Harry paused after about 6 large fistfuls of gold had made their way into a red drawstring bag Griphook provided, with the Gringotts logo embroidered on the front. The bag was quite remarkable. It didn't seem to matter how much gold went into it, as it never filled nor bulged like a bag of gold should. Harry felt the need to check twice to make sure the gold was actually in the bag.
"Master Snape, how much should I take?" he asked. He didn't want to waste time by coming back later if he didn't obtain enough, but he didn't want to annoy the professor by taking too long shoving gold in a bag, either.
"What you have now will be more than sufficient, Mr Potter," replied the professor, impatience eating away at his words. "We must leave."
Harry stood immediately, closed the drawstring bag, and they left the vault. Griphook handed Harry his key after locking the vault door and ushered them into the waiting cart. In a matter of minutes, they were delivered to the lobby of the bank, and they walked out into the morning sun.
"Where to next, Master Snape," Harry asked.
"Why do you keep calling me 'Master', Mr Potter?" asked Professor Snape. He led them back down the alley towards a cluster of shops. He gestured for Harry to answer him while they walked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but aren't you the potions master?" the young Jedi asked.
"I am," answered Professor Snape. "However, the title 'Master' is not generally used for the position. You may call me Professor, or sir."
"As you wish, Professor," acknowledged Harry. They approached a small store with the name 'Olivander's' written in faded gold letters on the marquee above the door.
"This will likely take the longest of any of our tasks this morning," explained Professor Snape. "We should start here."
They entered the store, and a small, white-haired man came out from the rows of shelves that were situated behind the counter.
"I wondered when I would see you here, Mr Potter," said the man, clearly recognizing who was in his shop. "It seems only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands."
"If you don't mind," interrupted Professor Snape, "we are on a very tight schedule and have little time to waste. Mr Potter and I need to be back at the school before classes begin, and your shop is only our first stop this morning." Mr Olivander was not pleased with the interruption but obliged to get Harry measured without regaling him with tales of his parents. After getting his measurements, he had Harry try out wand after wand for what seemed like hours. Harry was getting quite worried about the time, especially after seeing the sour look on the potions professor's face. Finally, he took hold of a Holly and Phoenix feather wand and was rewarded with a burst of wind and a glow of magic that surrounded him.
"Curious!" exclaimed Mr Olivander.
"Finally," drawled the exasperated professor.
Toma looked intrigued but knew Professor Snape would not stand for any further delay. The Jedi Master decided he would come back on his own to learn all he could. He was intrigued by the idea of a wand, and Mr Olivander seemed like he would be a good source of information.
Harry purchased the wand for seven Galleons. Mr Olivander took his time about boxing it, however. He was obviously still offended at being rushed by the professor and seemed to be taking a great deal of pleasure in finding any excuse to slow the process down. He insisted on giving the wand an extra polish, instructed Harry in proper wand maintenance, and even tied a ribbon around the wand box, even though it was empty. Harry was still holding his wand.
Professor Snape, who was growing increasingly impatient, looked like he was about to drag Harry out of the store. Olivander began telling Harry that his wand was the brother to the wand that had caused Harry's scar. Professor Snape immediately grew quiet and still. He looked thoughtfully at Harry and did not even complain when Harry added an arm holster for 2 Galleons. He stood thoughtfully gazing at Harry even when the young boy took the time to put the new holster on and fit his wand into it. Finally, they left the store.
They next had Harry fitted for wizarding robes. Taking off his outer cloak to be measured, Professor Snape noticed a silver cylinder shaped like a muggle flashlight hanging from a belt on Harry's waist. The fitting did not take long as there were no other customers. Harry ordered several sets of robes, and Madam Malkin agreed to ship the parcels to Hogwarts when they were finished. Professor Snape stated that his Jedi robes would suffice until his school clothes arrived in a few days.
The potions professor showed the most patience in the apothecary, where he actually advised Harry on which ingredients to purchase in addition to what was on the school list. Harry took a chance and asked why the extra ingredients were needed.
"If by chance, you have inherited your mother's potion ability, the extra ingredients will be well used," the professor explained. "If, on the other hand, you inherited your father's lamentable skills, the extra ingredients will be used to correct your improperly made potions," Snape said.
Harry asked no further questions after that.
The rest of the morning was spent in a flurry of activity. The final stop was to obtained Harry's schoolbooks at Flourish and Blotts. They had just exited the bookshop when a huge man showed up and greeted Professor Snape.
"Hello, Professor," greeted the giant man, cheerfully. He had a large, round package covered in paper in one hand.
"What are you doing here, Hagrid?" Professor Snape asked.
'Dumbledore sent me to help ya bring Harry's packages to the castle," explained Hagrid. "And because I never got yer a birthday present," he said to Harry, "I got yer a little summat." He ripped the paper off of the package to reveal a beautiful white owl on a perch in a brass cage.
"Thank you!" exclaimed Harry. He took the cage from Hagrid. Boy and owl looked each other over for the first time.
"She's a post owl," explained Hagrid. "Owls are dead useful; deliver yer mail and all."
"That is indeed very useful, Hagrid," interrupted the impatient Professor Snape. "I can quite understand how increasing the package count is helping us." Hagrid didn't look offended at all.
"Now don't ya worry about a thing," Hagrid said. "Just give it all to me, and I'll have it back at Hogwarts in a jiffy."
Harry set aside the books that Professor Snape confirmed he would need on this first day. He added a quill and ink set, and a package of parchment. Harry already had his wand in his holster. He gave the rest of the packages to Hagrid, who was able to carry it all without even appearing overloaded. Not even the owl's large cage added appreciably to his burden. The groundskeeper took it all and left to make his own way back to the castle. Their arms now unburdened, the two Jedi gathered around Professor Snape. Snape took the rope out of his pocket and checked the time on his pocket watch.
"Grab hold," he instructed. "It is time."
Taking one end of the rope, Harry braced himself for the return visit. All three were able to keep their feet on landing this time, and Harry once again found himself in the Hogwarts courtyard. Professor Snape immediately left to enter the castle, ignoring the thanks that Harry called after him. When they were alone, Harry turned to his Master.
"Why did Professor Snape escort us, Master?" he asked. "He clearly doesn't like me."
"No, I'm afraid he does not," Toma answered. "The headmaster was going to assign Hagrid to the task, but I requested that he change the assignment to Professor Snape, instead."
"May I ask why, Master?" inquired the curious Padawan.
"Because," answered the Jedi Master. "Professor Snape was the only person in the room who, to the best of my knowledge, had nothing to do with either leaving you on a doorstep or searching for you later." With that, Harry had to be content. He only had ten minutes left to rush to classroom 2E in the Charms corridor on the third floor to get to his first class on time.
"May the Force be with you, Master," Harry said, before running into the castle. Toma watched him as he entered the large oak doors. He stood there for some time after.
"May the Force always be with you, Harry Potter," he said quietly to himself, before beginning his walk to Hogsmeade to rent a room.
After the Jedi Master rounded the corner and was out of sight, a man in tattered robes and a thoughtful expression removed the invisibility cloak he was wearing and looked in the direction that Toma Kendet had walked. Remus Lupin was standing to one side of the gravel path that led up to the castle doors. He had made sure he wasn't standing on the grass to avoid leaving footprints he was confident the observant Jedi would notice.
He was quite certain that James and Lily would not be happy with him for eavesdropping on their son, but he was under orders from Dumbledore to try to obtain as much information on the Jedi as possible. To his surprise, he found himself quite liking the Jedi Master as he tailed them through Diagon Alley this morning. The calm manner in which he handled Snape's increasing irritation certainly got the professor's crooked nose out of joint. Though Remus was far too professional to say such a thing out loud, he certainly approved of anything that made the dour man's day that much less pleasant.
Toma Kendet was quite attentive to Harry, Remus had noticed, and clearly cared a great deal for him. Remus turned to face the castle door, where Harry had entered to join his classmates.
"May the Force be with you, indeed, Harry Potter," he said. Remus Lupin stowed the invisibility cloak in his robes and left to report on his findings to Dumbledore.