Chapter 12
There is a breeze again, and the sensation of long grass carefully cradling his body.
"Hello, Harry." That mellifluous voice bursts his peaceful bubble. Harry frowns, before accepting that he seems fated never to be able to just enjoy this place.
"Have you thought upon last night's lesson?" Mika asked serenely as she poured them both tea.
"Do I get to ask questions tonight?"
She gave him a measuring look. "You may ask, but if I feel that you are not ready for the knowledge, I will not answer. And only after you tell me your thoughts about last night's lesson."
"It wasn't a lesson. It was a butchering of several Japanese fairy tales." He shrugged as he took a sip of his tea.
"Actually, it was the original version, lost in the mists of time. And it is not originally Japanese, although I did tell you that version."
Harry frowned at her.
"Let us not get bogged down in technicalities this evening. Surely you must have thoughts on the lesson behind this tale."
"Love hurts. Never trust dragons. Good people tend to die."
"Such cynicism."
Harry shrugged. "I'm a realist."
"Perhaps. Though it is sad to see it in one so young."
There was silence as the two stared at each other.
"Do I get to ask questions now?"
"Of course." She gestured at him with a single petite hand.
"What is this place?"
"This is you. It is... the place where your mind, magic and spirit meet."
"So... this is all in my head."
"Goodness no. It is far less corporeal than that. It is... not actually part of your body. And it is not merely an imagined place. Though it is completely yours."
"That makes no sense."
She smiled at him. "Then perhaps I can explain it as tonight's lesson. Look at this:"
She waved her arm and conjured a glowing golden sphere. Another wave of her hand and the sphere was cut in half to show two disks perpendicular to each other, the vertical one was red and the horizontal one blue. Another disk (this time green) then appeared and cut diagonally through the point where the other two disks met.
"This is a rough representation of the three dimensions that people live in. The x-, y- and z-axes of existence are all encompassed and represent the only things they can see- the only things they can harness and understand."
Another wave of her hand an the sphere closed over the disks again. A short twirl of her index finger and the sphere seemed to twist itself into two connected egg-shaped parts around a central axis.
A swipe of her hand and each was cut in half to reveal that the three disks were now somewhat warped- with the red one longer now, and crossing through the nexus of the two eggs, with its mirror image in the other egg.
The blue disk seemed to bleed out of the first egg, flowing out and moving clockwise into the other egg at a 45° angle to the red disk. The green disk did much the same thing, bleeding out to flow around the eggs and forming a 45° angle to blue disk when seen from the side.
"This is the full picture. There are actually six dimensions, though they do not often meet. But where they do, there are things called 'Malango'- or gateways in Swahili.
Or, in my earlier tale, the spots where the children of Tsuki and the Sun died. These are important places, and could be used by any mortal to access the other three dimensions. Which is extremely dangerous. We cannot allow this. Which is where you come in-
you are a Guardian. Or Hifadhi. It hardly matters, what thee original terminology is right now. Your job in life is to protect your gate with your life, if need be, from those who would abuse its power. And a great many have tried, over the years.
That is why only the Hifadhi know of their existence, and their locations. The knowledge was abused too much in the past, and so it was withheld from mankind as a whole."
Harry was staring at her now, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Let me get this straight... I'm some guardian of some magical portal that has infinite potential to be used for evil?"
"Yes. Which is why you must continue your training. Being a Hifadhi is no easy task."
"Do I get a say in this?"
"No- you were chosen by Magic itself. That is not something you can say 'no' to."
"Great... I still don't know where we are though." He scrambled, trying to get a grip on all of this.
She smiled at him, pouring him more tea. "We are in the sixth dimension."
"... You're shitting me."
Shaking her head, she gave him a wry smile. "No, all Hifadhi have an intrinsic connection to the sixth dimension. It is within us, and yet not within us. It is our sanctuary- and the source of our magic."
Holding up a hand she stalled his next question. "I am not quite certain how it works. I do not think even Malesotho knows."
"Male-who now?"
"Malesotho- the oldest of the Hifadhi. You will get to know her eventually."
"Alright... say I believe you..."
"It is not a question of believing. Surely the wards have begun to accept you as their master by now?"
"The... you mean the spinning disks?"
"Yes. They are olden wards- from a time when Magic was pure still, and those from beyond the gate walked the earth freely."
"Those from behind the...?"
"Another time, Harry."
"Wait- Mika no-!"
And then he was once again sitting bolt upright in his bed, the alarm screeching gratingly against his ears.
Harry fell back into the sheets and ran his hand over his face with a groan.
BaB-HP-BaB
The weather, the cloaked figure decided, was entirely too warm for its taste.
Surrounded by mountains, covered in green grass and sheep, with a little boy on a Sotho pony singing merrily as he herded them into a boma(1).
It was all too rural and the smell of dung made assaulted its nose with its stench. The grass made it itch and the heat made it sweat. It wasn't quite sure what it had expected from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, but this suffering and lack of air conditioning was just too cruel.
At least it was cooler near the waterfall.
The figure looked up, toward where it knew the cave lay behind the fall.
That was where his target lived. In the arse end of the arse end of the world. Almost completely isolated- and that would be their undoing. A cruel smile twisted what little could be seen of the figure's mouth.
This was going to be fun.
Careful of any wards it may have missed it began its ascent, slowly circling around the bottom of the falls on its broom before zooming up and behind the curtain of water.
It breached the mouth of the cave with such speed that the old woman barely had time to react- but react she did.
Her magic was so strong that the figure had to let go of its broom in order to crouch closer to the floor. The crack of its broom snapping into splinters against the wall of the cave barely even reached its ears.
The target was an old woman- her ebony skin wrinkled with age and her eyes alive with wisdom, the blanket around her shoulders woven with many bright colours.
She also looked pissed.
And then there was the girl.
Her ebony face was young and pretty, with huge amber eyes and full lips.
An unexpected complication- but hardly something to worry about.
The old woman gave him a stern look. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I, old woman, am your doom."
"Akga dinaô(2), Letatsi!"
"Empa(3)..."
"Akga dinaô!"
The girl seemed torn, but the figure was through talking. It drew its sword with a heavy metallic clang, throwing its wand out at the old woman and causing her to hit the back of the cave with a loud crack.
"MALESOTHO!" The girl cried, but another flick of its wand sent her crashing into another wall.
"AKGA DINAÔ LETATSI!" The old woman cried as she once again made a complicated wave with her hand and promptly sent him flying into a wall.
Still, he found his footing far easier than she did, he was pretty sure he'd done a lot of damage to her old bones with that move.
But an old dragon never dies easily.
Another complicated hand movement, followed by her clapping both hands together, and suddenly it found itself facing a bolt of angry red fire.
The figure threw itself out of the way just in time- but the smell of singed fabric filled the cave.
"You old bitch!" The figure growled as it pointed its wand at the woman- who was starting another frantic spell. But she there was blood flowing down her temple and she was slowing.
"Crucio!" The figure hissed, watching in satisfaction as the old woman writhed in agony on the floor.
Finally releasing the spell the figure stepped up to the old woman, smiling a twisted smile as its sword dropped into her stomach. It would be a long and painful death, the figure knew, pulling out a knife and firmly wedging it through her hand into the dung-floor of the cave.
Ugh. Such barbarism from these savages. The figure thought in disgust.
And then it turned to finish off the girl- there could be no witnesses after all- only to find that she was no longer there.
Shit.
BaB-HP-BaB
"Fleur! Wake up! Or you'll be late for breakfast!" Henrie's voice filtered through the haze of sleep that seemed to hold Fleur's mind captive.
With a groan she looked at the Tempus charm next to her bed.
It confirmed Henrie's statement, unfortunately. She was not at all impressed that they would all be going to classes- and eating- with these stupid British kids.
She, at least, would be doing extra projects in order to achieve her AP subjects. But Madame Maxime had insisted that she also attend regular Hogwarts classes.
Joy.
Well, today she'd be putting her name in the Goblet of Fire at least, so that was something to look forward to.
As she stretched like a cat and threw the covers back her eyes came to rest on the cloak that the strange boy had given her. Frowning, she got up and took it from the heap she had thrown it in.
How was she going to give it back? And did she really have to? It was warmer than her other cloaks, that was for sure, mostly because there were several warming charms worked into the stitching. A very complex piece of magic that.
It felt... strong. And warm.
Whoever made this really cared for the person who wore this. And the person who usually wore it had just... given it to her.
Of course he just gave it to you- you're part Veela! The thought made her scowl. Mostly because it was true, she tended to make men forget everything but her.
Stupid boy. Maybe I should keep it- that should teach you to be vulnerable to Veela charms!
"FLEUR!" Madame Maxime's voice ripped through her inner monologue.
"I'm coming!" She almost-yelled back.
Her shower was quick and utilitarian, and she avoided wetting her hair since it would only make her colder.
She was extremely grateful that today was a Saturday and Madame Maxime had allowed that their uniforms were far too flimsy for crappy British weather, so she was allowed to dress in her own clothes.
She made certain that she wore her hooded gold and green dress, with her own cloak and then the stranger's cloak over it. When she had finished pinning her hair up, she put a fur-brimmed russian hat over her head and pulled the hood over it.
The others were waiting for her by that time, but she just ignored them.
"Very well, now that we are all finally here. I shall be taking you in to the local village today, we will be looking for cloaks you can wear over your uniforms. So that you do not freeze to death in this awful weather. Alright then- have you all written your names on scraps of paper? Yes? Good. Follow me!"
They marched across the cold grounds and Fleur thought that these many layers really weren't comfortable, but at least she wasn't freezing. She was cold, and yes, it put her into a bitchy mood, but it was better than last night at least.
When they finally arrived in the dining hall, the Goblet of Fire was awaiting them. They lined up and put their names in, one by one.
When she put her name into the Goblet, she felt the magic scanning her, causing a sort of updraught which caught her by surprise. And then there was something that felt like approval.
That was weird.
A sudden cry of dismay came from one of the four tables in the hall, and Fleur turned to see a girl with golden blonde hair rush from the hall with her head in her hands.
Ah, the girlfriend then.
Bastard.
She was definitely keeping the cloak. That would teach him to cheat on his girlfriend!
Or he could just be a gentleman... and technically it's hardly cheating.
Fleur squashed that voice with the same ruthlessness as she crushed her opponents. Men never really worked that way, as a part Veela she knew all too well that men were too weak willed to resist her.
Fucking assholes.
And fucking ridiculous girl for running out like that and crying over a man.
She sat herself down at the nearest table and promptly ignored the stares that she garnered as she looked at the oily, heavy foods on offer.
Disgusting.
She finally helped herself to some grilled tomatoes and a single egg. She heard someone mutter something about her being on a diet and frowned to herself.
It wasn't that she was on a diet, it was that she had a very sensitive digestive tract. Another thing to thank her Veela blood for. And Hogwarts seemed quite unconcerned with her dietary requirements.
Fucking British.
Fucking weather.
Fucking food.
This was going to be a long year.
BaB-HP-BaB
Harry Potter was currently scarfing down a bacon sandwich, while rereading one of his favourite arithmancy texts.
Because if what that woman- Mika- had told him was true, well, then it had to make a difference in the knowledge that they currently had. What did it do to arithmancy? What did that mean for potions? For healing, for transfiguration and charms?
Okay, he even wanted to know what it did about Ancient Runes.
Maybe it was more interesting in another dimension?
He doubted it, but it was a possibility.
A pounding on the other side of his door had him on his feet with his wand pointed at the wood before he could even blink.
"HARRY POTTER! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! GET OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!" The voice of Pansy Parkinson yelled at him.
Completely nonplussed, Harry opened the door to see Pansy, Millie and Tracey standing in the room commons looking thoroughly vexed.
He raised an eyebrow at them.
The next thing he knew, Millie had him in a headlock (and it took all his willpower to overcome his reflexes and not hit her), and Pansy was pointing her wand at him.
Then it all went black.
BaB-HP-BaB
Miranda Vector swore.
Again.
She was honestly befuddled about these wards. Logically, they should never have let the students from the other school in. They were- as far as she could tell- supposed to keep everyone not recognized by the castle as being students her out.
Like Death Eaters and all that.
When she'd told Albus in no uncertain terms that this shouldn't be possible, he had merely twinkled dementedly at her and said that it had all worked out.
No need to worry or puzzle this out, it all worked out in the end.
But she did worry. And it did puzzle her, and she was powerless in the face of a puzzle of such complexities.
And to make things worse she was currently working with just library books on runes, since Dumbledore had also twinklingly informed her that Batsheba Babbling (the runes teacher) had gone on a romantic weekend getaway with her paramour.
That she had met on that blasted singles cruise.
In a fit of temper (probably her tenth that day) she threw the book she was currently trying to puzzle out on the floor.
A few seconds ticked by...
… and then she sighed and picked up the book again.
It wasn't the book's fault that Bathsheba seemed to have turned into a complete idiot since this mystery man had entered her life. That was all Bathsheba's fault.
Obviously.
"Vector, are you currently dying?" The dry voice of Severus Snape barked outside her door.
"No!" She snapped at him.
"Then why were you absent from breakfast? You are hardly voluptuous enough to afford such ill eating habits."
"SHUT IT SNAPE!"
"Ah, yes. Apparently you are truly not dying. That was merely the groans of your last brain cell giving up."
Miranda stormed to the door, opening it with such force that Severus arched an eyebrow in surprise.
"My last brain cell will never give up!" She shouted at his chest, since she was quite a bit shorter than he.
And then she realized what she'd said.
Snape was looking far too amused.
"Not that I only have one brain cell, mind you, I mean, obviously not! No, no. No me- I have more brain cells than you, you... Greasy git! Ha!"
"More than I?" Severus drawled. "Then why is it that you fall up the stairs Miranda?"
"Because I have bad large motor skills and they keep moving!"
"Perhaps if you had more brain cells..."
"Oh shut up you dungeon dwelling dimwit."
"Tsk. So unoriginal."
"Ugh! Impossible man!" She said, waving the book in the air. The book caught Severus' attention and he grabbed her arm to get a better look at it, frowning as he read the title.
"What on earth are you doing with the sixth year prescribed text for Ancient Runes, you daft woman?"
"Wha-! I'm doing research! And I have to use this because Bathsheba's off gallivanting with her lover boy, so I have no other option!"
"Stupid woman, I have a rather brilliant understanding of the subject. You could merely ask me."
"I could? I mean- you do?"
"Hm. I did my second Masters on the effects of runes in cauldrons on healing potions."
"You did?"
"Of course. It was a logical topic."
"Oh."
"Yes."
That was when Miranda realized he was still holding her wrist captive. She jerked away from him with a "Let go!".
Unfortunately Severus was unprepared for this event and they both ended up tumbling backwards onto the floor.
Even more unfortunately, the new Defense teacher- Tamara Dey- was walking by at exactly that moment and promptly turned a rather interesting shade of red before stammering an apology and running off.
The two teachers stared at each other a bit more before Miranda finally spoke up in a shrill voice.
"Get off me!"
"You are the cause of this, you numerical nitwit!"
"Yes well... you're obviously not completely ignorant when it comes to personal hygiene... I mean- get out! Out!" Miranda yelled, as she threw the nearest piece of clothing at him.
"As if I would wish to stay." He snorted, catching the offending garment and promptly leaving.
BaB-HP-BaB
When Harry finally opened his eyes again, he was pretty sure he was still dreaming.
He blinks rapidly, not really knowing why he'd dream of this exactly.
The entire female population of Hogwarts is staring at him- and he's pretty sure they're sharpening their pitchforks mentally.
"What een ze name of Merlin eez zis?" An angry female voice asks from beside him, and he recognises the girl he had given his cloak to last night.
Wait- what? That made no sense...
"The meaning of this, sister," Says an obviously pissed Li Su, "is that you're on our turf now."
The HWA.
The HWA had kidnapped him.
"Excuze moi?"
"You heard me. You're encroaching on our turf. And you-" she turns on Harry suddenly and viciously, "you are going to stop playing games with us right this instant!"
Harry leans as far back from this clearly deranged girl as he possibly can, noting that she's definitely not safe to leave Hermione or Daphne around.
He supposes Millie could probably take her on- physically.
"Now- is this your cloak?" She asked, pointing accusingly at the garment the French girl still wore.
Harry nodded, deciding to humour her while he worked on his bonds.
"Did you give this girl this cloak?"
"Zis girl 'as a name!" The Frech girl snapped.
"Shut up." Li hissed at her. "Now answer the question Mr Potter!"
Another nod from Harry.
"And why would you do such a thing? Hm?"
Harry shrugged. She'd been cold, and she obviously had Veela blood. Experiences with Draco had taught him that Veelas didn't do well in cold.
"He shrugs at me- he shrugs at me!" Li screeched at him. Millie stepped up and put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"I weel be going now. Zees ees just seely!" The French girl said.
"Shut up." The entire congregation chorused.
"I weel not!"
"Millie, shut her up."
Millie moved toward the other girl just as Harry's magic erupted wildly from him and sliced through the ropes, knocking the gang of girls back quite a bit.
He grabbed the French girl around the waist and high tailed it out of there- the French girl cursing and hitting him wildly all the while.
When Harry reached the front lawn and found it devoid of any girls suffering from mob mentality, he put her down and used his boot knife to cut the ropes around her wrists.
She promptly slapped him.
"What do you seenk zat you are doing? No one touches moi wheezout permeession!"
Harry gave her a shocked look- the second time that a girl had slapped him in as many weeks. He'd actually been helping her.
Another slap.
"And zat eez for cheeting on your girlfriend! You 'orrible man! And I am keeping ze cloak!"
And with that she stormed off to the Beaubaxtons carriage.
HP-BaB-HP
A/N: This chapter is for Goldrune09- who so hoped the HWA kidnapped Harry. Not quite what you were hoping for, methinks, but it did happen.
Ah, the poor HWA, meddling and getting a bit of what they deserve. Harry will be glaring at them intensely later.
And Fleur is a bitch. Yes, yes she is. But she gets better. She's a teenage girl with issues- some girls cry, Fleur slaps guys who are nice to her. Obviously she has trust issues. :D
Thank youto all my reviewers and fav'ers and watchers. You're like caffeine to me. Addictive and tasty.
Chapter notes/ translations:
(1) Boma- a cattle enclosure, made of stone usually.
(2) Akga dinaô- the equivalent of "run" pretty much. My Sotho is terrible, so it's not gramatically correct...
(3) Empa- "but"
(4) Malesotho- a name meaning Mother of Lesotho.
(5) Tamara Dey- defense teacher. Yes, I know, it should be Umbridge, but do you see the ministry taking over the school in my fifth year AU? Nope. Thus it couldn't be Umbridge. "Tamara Dey" is the lead singer of a very cool SA band. So I figured I'd pay her a bit of tribute. :D
Hopefully the description of the different dimensions made sense. If not, let me know and I'll try to fix it. Although I bet you weren't expecting that. :D
Fleur's a bitch, and this chapter was more of her talking at Harry (or being horrible to him) but hey, at least I didn't make you wait another twelve chapters for it! Yes, all you disgruntled readers out there. I heard you.
As to why it's so slow moving... this story has grown ridiculously out of proportion since I started it. It's now a trilogy (yep, a trilogy damn it) since I think a fanfiction reaching a hundred chapters is a bit ridiculous. That's just my opinion though.
The point is, the plot just got so damned thick that I had to split it into three parts and this is the first part. Fleur and Harry won't be getting any action in this book. But he and Daphne will. Sorry.
On a related note: Wow. The poll result stunned me! There was actually a pretty big percentage of you guys who thought it could be fun to have a spin off. The first chapter is posted- go check it out. It's called Notebook of a Numerical Nitwit.
Coming up: What happened to the Sotho girl? How's Daphne taking this development with Harry and Fleur? How do you stalk a Quidditch star? And can Mika get any more cryptic? Can Fleur handle Hogsmead? Stay tuned!