Chapter Seven: Subtle Dissimilarities
Author's Note/ Prologue: Obi-wan and Anakin gave them a tour of most of the building. Well, enough of it. Something warned Obi-wan that the Strangers---Sirius and Harry ---weren't quite ready to see all of it. Obi-wan suggested they all go to their quarters, but Sirius was eager to see more, so Obi-wan asked Anakin to escort Harry while he gave Sirius a more extensive tour. So now we find Harry and Ani alone in their quarters with nothing to do and no choice but to get to know each other.
"Is this a dream?"
"No."
"Hallucination?"
"No."
"A prank?"
"You think someone could make all this up?" Anakin said, making a gesture with his hand to encompass the Temple.
"I know some very… skilled people." The people Harry was of course thinking of were Fred and George. Harry was just a little embarrassed and confused about the painful "pull" in his chest. Suddenly so far away from home, he ached for something---anything----from Hogwarts or the Burrow. When Harry came back to Earth (ha!), Anakin was just staring at him. To break the silence more than anything else, Harry asked, "So…what is this place?"
"I thought you thought it was a prank?"
"I didn't say I didn't. "
Anakin rolled his eyes. Then, he took a deep breath and tried to find the words to describe the Temple. "Well, I guess you could say it's a sort of training facility. And it's the closest any of us have to a home." For a moment, Anakin's eyes darkened, but it was gone as fast as it came and Harry wasn't even sure he saw it. Anakin continued, "When they're really young, Jedi are…recruited I guess you could say. They come to the Temple to be trained to use the Force."
"So the Temple is kind of like Hogwarts for aliens?"
"What's Hogwarts?" Anakin asked, suspicious. He didn't like the Temple being compared to some kind of blemish.
The Stranger smiled for the first time since he'd arrived as he said, "Hogwarts is a lot similar to your Temple except wizards don't leave home until they're eleven or so and—."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Wizards? You mean like pointy hat, sparkly robes, magical wands wizards?"
"Hardly any of us wear the hats and the robes are quite tasteful but, yes." Harry replied, just a bit mad he'd been interrupted. "I can accept that aliens exist but you can't believe I'm a wizard?"
Anakin actually laughed a little before saying, "I guess that's fair." Almost against his will he kinda liked this new kid. "So that other guy…"
"Sirius," Harry provided.
"Is he a wizard too?" Harry nodded.
"And let me guess, that stick is your magic wand?"
Harry didn't like the condescending way he said 'stick' or 'magic wand' but he coolly replied, "Actually, it is."
"You know, us Jedi have something a little like that."
"Really?" Harry asked intrigued. This place was starting to seem more and more like Hogwarts.
"Yea," Anakin said with a devilish smirk on his face. Before Harry could even wonder why, Anakin had drawn a bright blue glowing blade. It happened so fast, Harry didn't even see Anakin's hand move. Between one second and the next, the sword just…appeared. Almost like magic.
"Whoa!" Harry exclaimed. He jumped and his chair almost fell backwards, but he kept himself from falling flat on his back through a combination of willpower and luck. "What is that thing?" Against his will, Harry was impressed.
"Oh, this?" Anakin said, relaxed and at ease, as though everyone drew wicked swords of super-concentrated light out of their pockets. "Do you like it? It's called a lightsaber."
Harry daringly leaned forward for a closer inspection. "You mean…"
"Yea."
What Harry had first taken to be merely a ridiculously polished blue sword was actually a blade that was somehow made out of light. Now, Harry wasn't sure what kind of damage that kind of weapon could do, but something about the way Anakin held it told him it would be more rather than less. For the billionth time that day, Harry wondered where the bloody hell he was. But rather than ask more questions (he was starting to hate feeling clueless) he drew his wand.
"Well can your lightsaber do this?" He used the first spell that popped into his head. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
For half a second, Anakin was surprised that the fruit bowl was levitating, then, he connected the dots. New Force signatures, Master Yoda and Windu acting to weird, giving strangers a tour of the Temple. Harry and Sirius were Force-sensitive. But then why do they need the sticks? All this ran through Anakin's head very quickly. A moment later, he'd slipped back into his mask of bored disinterest. He made a mental note to talk to Obi-wan about it later.
"I don't need my lightsaber or a piece of wood to do that." So saying, he deactivated his 'saber and clipped it into his belt. With an outstretched hand, he directed the bowl of fruit through a lap of the kitchen before setting it back down on the table.
Harry was more than a little miffed. Then he thought of something: yet another link between the magical world and…wherever he was now. He'd seen something very similar to what Anakin had just done. Non-verbal magic. Hogwarts professors did it all the time. In fact, Harry couldn't remember a time when Dumbledore wasted his time saying a spell out loud. Even Voldemort for that matter. He only wasted his breath on Unforgivables and Harry suspected that was just for show. But, not only did Anakin not say a word, he didn't have a wand. Now, Harry himself had done his fair share or wandless magic, but never on purpose. As a kid, magic had sometimes eked out accidentally (and gotten him locked in a cupboard) but Anakin seemed very much in control of what he was doing.
"But…how did you—"
"The Force," Anakin said simply.
Anakin could tell Harry had more questions to ask, but he was saved the trouble of explaining when the door slid open and Obi-wan and Sirius walked in.
Obi-wan smiled and asked, "Who's ready for dinner?"
Four hands shot up in the air. It had been a long day.
Author's Note: So there you go. All of you guys were sniping about longer chapters (some more kindly than others) so I decided to see how long I could stretch this one. Depending on the feedback (or lack thereof) the chapter lengths may stay the same or even get longer. But, of course, if I don't get any reviews, they might go back to 500 words.
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Please and thank you,
La Nanita
