"I can't believe that in a few days, it'll be our last official day as Freshmen. Can you all actually believe this?" Lucas asked as he, Harry, Darian and Aki sat together playing video games in their living room.
"I know. It seems like it was just yesterday that I found myself here in Magix..." Harry said as he pressed a couple buttons roughly on his controller. "I win! I told you lot that I had improved with these video game things. They're a nice distraction from problems you may have..." Harry stood up, smiling slightly.
"Speaking of problems, what are you going to do over the summer? You made it quite clear you don't want to stay in your home world..." Aki said.
"I'm thinking of doing some travel across the different magical realms. Broaden my scope, maybe learn a few useful spells and battle tactics..." Harry shrugged.
"Sounds like a good plan. My family's going to stay on Melody for the summer, though we'll be going on a nice vacation to a resort on the other side of the planet from where we live. I'm looking forward to it." Darian smiled.
"Nothing particularly special for me. I'm headed back to Spectra for the summer. I'll finally be able to speak my native language again. It's been strange being amongst you all for so long without hearing a single word of my language..." Lucas said.
"Wait... English isn't your native language? I couldn't tell!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.
"Me either..." Aki raised an eyebrow at the navy-blue haired Specialist.
"I speak Spectran as a native language and the degree of our accent varies by region. For example, if you were to listen to our Queen Tiana without knowing that she was from our world, her accent is very noticeable as people who grow up in the capital city Caillin tend to be. She's graduating Cloud Tower this year, same as Rainer's sister Nephele..." Lucas explained.
"Wait... we had a queen going to school here in Magix and we never knew this?!" Harry asked in mild shock.
"You never asked about my homeworld and you know that I don't volunteer such information unless asked specifically. Her Majesty's parents died when she was fifteen and her uncle Marcus is her regent until she graduates so she's technically a Queen but she hasn't officially taken up the role. My father is a General in the Spectran army so he may be called to help oversee security for her official coronation but I haven't heard whether or not he was called so if he's not, it'll be an ordinary summer for us..." Lucas shrugged.
"I'm sure if he was that good enough to become a general, he'll be called. Meanwhile, I'm not travelling, not going to some fancy-schmancy resort and I'm not likely to be invited to any coronations any time soon. You lucky bastards..." Aki joked.
"Uh-huh... I'm going for a walk..." Harry got up, but paused when the signal that a school-wide announcement was coming.
"All students, report to the auditorium immediately. All students to the auditorium!" Professor Lexagos' voice came over the intercom.
Harry and the others looked at one another.
"Let's go see what happened this time, shall we?" He led them out the dorm.
Harry and the others managed to find seats next to one another near the front of the almost-filled auditorium.
The professors all filed into the auditorium looking grim and waited until Professor Saladin entered before taking their seats.
"Students of Red Fountain: I have an unfortunate announcement to make. Last night, the prison where the Trix were being held was broken into and they were freed. Seven guards were killed in the assault and the number of deaths may rise since eleven more were also injured." Saladin spoke with no prelude.
The auditorium was completely silent as the students listened to their headmaster.
"Of all the times that the Trix were broken out of or escaped prison, this has been the most violent assault yet. Never have there been this many assaults and injuries, which given what they have done in the past is a wonder. The people who did this are a relatively unknown entity to us though they did leave behind an insignia of some sort, which we are not yet cleared to reveal to the general public. You will learn more about it eventually when details become available to the public."
"You came here to learn how to fight, how to serve your planets in the art of war. We believe that this may be a sign of things to come. So you must keep up your guard at all times and do not slack off in what you have learnt here, whether you are returning to us next year, graduating or transferring to another institution. It may well save your life."
Saladin spoke some more around the subject, giving general facts, but no specific details.
"With that being said, you may leave. Remember what I have said. Be careful." When Saladin finished, he looked directly at Harry, who couldn't help but feel some wariness.
As they left the auditorium, Cordatorta called him aside.
"The Headmaster wants to see you. Immediately. Come with me." Cordatorta instructed.
Harry glanced back at his roommates, inclining his head slightly towards them as he followed the burly instructor.
"I seem to be coming into your office almost as often as I went into Professor Dumbledore's office, Professor Saladin..." Harry noted wryly as he entered the office behind Cordatorta.
And took in several people that he didn't recognise as staff at Red Fountain, but were all wearing army type uniforms.
"It seems like it, doesn't it?" Saladin nodded. "Anyway, down to business. Harry, these are people from the Magix Correctional System and the Magix Defence Force."
"Why did you call me up here specifically to talk to these people...?" Harry had a sinking feeling about the reason.
"Professor Saladin tells us that you have... experience fighting the people who broke the Trix out of that prison." One man said, sounding sceptical.
"Death Eaters. Death Eaters finally breached Magix's borders haven't they?" Harry sighed. "It was only a matter of time..."
"That's what this group is called? 'Death Eaters'?!" The man from before raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I didn't name them. They're pretty much the lackeys of an evil wizard bloke who calls himself Lord Voldemort back home on Earth..." Harry said.
"This Voldemort and these... Death Eaters are from one of the hidden magical communities on Earth?" The man asked.
"Yes they are, sir...?" Harry raised the end of the statement, questioning.
"General Baxter of the Magix Defence Force. I was a student here under Saladin himself so I trust that he knows what he's doing when he says we should involve you and that you know more about these... Death Eater characters than anyone else here." The man said. "Now, you were telling us about Voldemort and the hidden magical communities?"
"Well for starters, 'Lord Voldemort' is actually a man called Tom Marvolo Riddle. His mission is to kill Muggles (what we in Earth's wizarding communities call non-magicals), Muggle-Borns (witches and wizards born to the Muggles) and anyone who disagreed with him as well as gain as much power as possible. He wanted what we call a pure-blood (no traceable Muggle ancestry) society that he'd rule. However, that's rather hypocritical of him, since he's a half-blood himself. Muggle father, pure-blood mother. I myself am a half-blood. Muggle-Born mother, pureblood father. My fight against him is personal you see, as he tried to kill me when I was a mere toddler and killed my parents to get to me..."
"So if such a powerful wizard was out to kill a toddler, how did you survive if your parents did not?" General Baxter asked.
"That's why I'm famous in Britain. Normally when Voldemort decides to kill someone, they don't live very long afterwards. I'm the only exception to that rule. In our magical world, there are three Unforgiveable Curses. Imperius (incantation Imperio) which is for mind control, Cruciatus (incantation Crucio) which is the torture curse and... the killing curse. Avada Kedavra... This here..." Harry lifted his bangs and pointed at his scar. "... is the only mark that he left after he tried AK-ing me. Before you ask, no one in our world knows exactly why. That's why they call me the Boy-Who-Lived." Harry rolled his eyes at the title.
"Is this Voldemort's signature?" Another man asked, holding up a projection image of the Dark Mark that Bellatrix had cast when she and the other Death Eaters broke the Trix out of prison.
"It is. It's called the Dark Mark. He and his followers would cast that in the sky above any area that they carried out an attack in. I last saw the Mark like that nearly three years ago when a bunch of his lackeys caused trouble at a sporting event I was at..." Harry frowned at the memory.
"You see? I have told you all that he knows things. He may be young and not yet graduated, but he's seen and experienced a lot more than the average student has. If he agrees, he'll help you with your Trix and now Voldemort problem." Saladin said.
"I could always do with some more help taking down Voldemort myself. Queen Nebula has already sworn to put all she can behind me in order to help me beat him ever since he organized Dana's kidnapping. However, there is much more to tell if we're going to beat that snake-faced git..." Harry growled.
"You said you fought him and his Death Eaters before?" General Baxter asked.
"Quite a few times since I went to Hogwarts (Britain's wizarding school) actually. Far more times than I would have liked..."
"We are holding a meeting tomorrow at the Grand Hall. If you would consent to allowing the Memory Projector to read your memories of him and project them to those in attendance, it would certainly help in establishing a strategy to fight him..." General Baxter said.
"Is Queen Nebula going to be there?" Harry asked. "She will want to see this, I am sure..."
"I invited her to attend already since we knew about one of her subjects being kidnapped by these people when she tipped us off about him possibly coming here now that he has access to fairy magic... She will be there."
"Good." Harry nodded. "Then I will be there as well. Is there anything else you need to know from me now?"
Saladin looked around the room and received various shakes of the head from everyone present.
"No. Not for now. However, keep what was said here to yourself for now. Exceptions to that are your roommates, but if you tell them, make sure that they tell no one else. They deserve to know as they might well end up fighting alongside you someday..."
Harry took that as his cue and stood up. "And that's one difference between you and Dumbledore that I appreciate. You keep me informed and allow me to participate in plans to defeat the enemy. None of that 'you're too young' nonsense, Sir..."
And with that, Harry saluted the Headmaster and turned around to leave the office.
"Holy shit. These Death Eater people managed to breach Magix borders?!" Aki asked in shock as he, Harry, Lucas and Darian sat in the dorm later.
"Yes. It looks like they held Dana under the Imperius curse and made her create a portal here to Magix. From there, they found the prison somehow and slaughtered whoever they had to get the Trix out..." Harry said.
"This whole thing just got even more serious..." Darian rubbed his temple.
"I know. Breaching not only international, but inter-dimensional borders with their... atrocities. I don't believe that Voldemort has done that before. Most of his crimes were committed within Britain and in a few cases in some Eastern European countries... He's really stepping up his game and now that he's got the Trix in his grasp, who knows what he'll do next? I can only hope that my friends at home will be okay..." Harry said worriedly.
"If they're not, we will help you fight. We might not have personal grievances against him or have our worlds been touched by him but what he's doing... It's not right obviously. And if I can help in any way, I will." Lucas declared and the others nodded in agreement with him.
"I've known you guys for less than a year and yet... Why?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"We're Red Fountain students. We're meant to help with magical threats when needed. Plus it's the decent thing to do and counting the fact that this Voldemort guy has breached Magix borders, it's only logical to assume that he might try stirring up trouble here as well..." Aki pointed out.
"Yeah, Saladin did mention that, plus the fact that the schools here have come under attack before..." Harry said.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but this makes me want to practice even more in the gym for what is to come..." Darian stood up.
"Sounds like a good idea..." Harry and the others agreed with him and they proceeded to get ready for some gym time.
"By the age of sixteen, you went through all of that?!" One councilman said at the meeting the next day where Harry explained all he knew about Voldemort and the Death Eaters and allowed the most relevant memories of his experiences with them to be displayed.
"Yes. Without fail, every year since I've been at Hogwarts, something has happened to me that has been caused whether directly or indirectly by him." Harry said as he removed the Memory Projector's headgear and set it aside on a small table next to him on the platform.
"What concerns me... is that memory of your encounter with this Voldemort character in the Chamber of Secrets. He was supposedly dead at that point, but he was not. I have my suspicions but... can you confirm them?" Griffin asked from where she sat with Faragonda and Saladin.
"I can link that, the experience with Quirrelmort and the experience in the Little Hangleton graveyard. Note that in the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle emerged from the diary or at least some sort of preservation of him, which when I destroyed it with the Basilisk fang, it immediately... died, so to speak. Another... preservation of him also inhabited Professor Quirrel that was eventually repelled. Then that horrible baby thing in the graveyard that contained his essence and allowed him to return to a full body after the ritual... Rightfully when the Killing Curse rebounded at him, he should not have been alive in any form..."
"A Soul Jar..." Griffin whispered. "Did Voldemort create a Soul Jar?"
The Hall immediately burst out into horrified chatter at the mere suggestion of it.
"If you mean an item that a person could split piece of their soul and put into it so that they wouldn't die if their body was attacked, then yes. In my world we call that a Horcrux and during my last... rather eventful visit to Britain, Dumbledore told me that he might have created as many as six of them, three of which have already been found and destroyed."
The Hall muttered several expressions of revulsion at this revelation.
"And just... how do you make these... Horcruxes in your world?" Griffin asked.
"I don't know the exact mechanics, but I do know that murder has to be committed by the person making the Horcrux in order to do it. Voldemort might have intended to make one off my murder, but he didn't succeed with that obviously..."
"It's the same thing as here then, except that they call it a different name." Professor Griffin turned to the hall. "It is a little known fact, but many followers of the Ancestral Witches had what Harry here knows as Horcruxes. Luckily, many of them weren't very good at hiding them and they were destroyed, which is not an easy thing. You can't just shatter it into pieces. You have to damage it so badly that it's beyond magical repair."
"Well that just adds to the work we have to do in order to take out Voldemort and the Trix, but rest assured, after all the information you've given us here today, we'll be glad to give you any assistance necessary to take him down." General Baxter declared.
"And my declaration of the same still applies." Nebula said.
"We've heard what we need to from you today, Mr Potter. Please, take your seat." A councilman said.
"Gladly." Harry left the stage and sat in the one remaining seat near the front as the councilman took the stage and spoke for a bit before ending the meeting.
"So... Tomorrow is your last Hogsmeade weekend before you leave for the summer?" Harry asked as he sat alone in his dorm room later that evening.
"Indeed it is. I'm not sure we should go though. Voldemort's been abnormally quiet since he abducted that Bixley fairy. He's planning something. I know it!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I know. It just doesn't feel right. But I say we should go, but just be careful of our surroundings. Try to enjoy ourselves, but don't let our guard down, you know?" Ron said.
"Yeah. Have you been keeping up with those practice sessions with the others?"
"We have. In fact, we intensified them. We even managed to come across some ancient element spells in the library after quite a bit of research. I mean, after I saw Percy use that fire spell back in the attack on Diagon Alley and Luna dug up some sort of air spell and used it in a practice session... Everyone's been eager to learn. Though Seamus has been causing more explosions than actually controlling the fire..." Ron snickered.
"Some things never change, do they?" Harry chortled as he remembered the incident in their first year where the young Irishman had accidentally blown up his quill instead of levitating it like he was supposed to with the Winguardium Leviosa spell.
"Indeed." Hermione laughed. "So... We've had these mirrors for months now and the bracelets too and I still can't figure out how you got them to work like this. I really want to meet the girl who made those bracelets for you... us..."
"I have been thinking about it and a lot has been happening on this end lately... I'd like to introduce you to her. She's been wanting to talk to my two best friends for a long time... What time were you planning to head into Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Harry asked.
"We were planning to head there early so we could spend a bit of time and still have time to come back and practice in the Room of Requirement before we leave the day afterward..." Hermione said.
"We could always go to the cave that Sirius hid out in and talk there if you still want to keep things secret on our end..." Ron suggested.
"I have a feeling that things won't remain secret on your end for long, you two, but yes. I'd prefer that for now..." Harry said.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at that. "Okay then. Tomorrow. We'll call you with the mirror when we get there."
Harry nodded. "She and I will be ready. Until tomorrow..." He ended the call and as soon as he did, he took up his cell phone to call Roxy.
"Hey Harry! How are you doing?"
"Okay, considering recent developments..."
"Oh. The Death Eaters breaching Magix borders thing... My aunt's told me what of it she could..."
"Listen: I want to introduce you to Ron and Hermione. Along with the gifts that you made for me to give to them, I had worked on these communication mirrors based on what Sirius had done for me and him..." Harry bowed his head for a moment.
"Oh... Well of course I'd like to talk to them! We can meet in the park or something, can't we?" Roxy asked.
"Sure. You know, that park is apparently one of Hedwig's favourite places to visit now. She goes there to hunt and rest sometimes..."
"Maybe she'll meet a nice Mr. Owl there..." Roxy giggled.
Harry rolled her eyes. "I doubt that. Anyway, I really should let her out for her night time wanderings soon. She's giving me the look..." He glanced over at the snowy owl in her cage, who was looking at him rather reproachfully.
Roxy laughed at the look that Hedwig was giving him.
"I think I'll give Artu a walk around the courtyard too... Bye Harry!" She blew him a kiss before ending the call.
Harry put aside the phone and turned to Hedwig's cage.
"About bloody well time!" She exclaimed.
"Don't you start." Harry growled playfully.
"Just hurry it up and let me out..."
"Fine. There you go." Harry unlocked the cage and reached for some owl treats. "Snacks for you..." He tossed a few onto the bottom of the cage.
Hedwig ate the treats and hooted at him before flying out of the cage and soaring through the opened windows, out into the cool, Magix air.
Hogsmeade was deserted at this time of night. The stores were closed and the inhabitants of the village asleep.
Owls hooted from their perches in Hogsmeade's trees and the stars shone brightly in the night sky.
Three flashes of light formed in a more deserted area of the Wizarding village. One a bright blue, one dark purple and the other a dark maroon.
When the flashes cleared, Icy, Darcy and Stormy stood in those spots.
"So this is that Hogsmeade place that he wants us to attack tomorrow, huh? Doesn't look like much..." Stormy raised an eyebrow.
"He said it's the only village populated entirely by wizards in Britain. If we take this down, then it'd be a major defeat for these wizarding folk..." Darcy said as they walked around the village.
"And that must be Hogwarts in the distance..." Icy pointed up to the large castle out in the distance.
"Cloud Tower looked better than that..." Stormy scoffed.
"Looks can be deceiving. You never know what treasures a school of magic can hold..." Icy said. "Anyway, let's go. Us real witches must be well rested in order to show these wizards what the Trix are well and truly capable of..."
The three witches snickered as they disappeared from the village, just before Madam Rosmerta turned on the light in her flat above the Three Broomsticks.
Pushing aside the curtains and looking out into the street below, she shrugged.
"Hmm... I thought that I heard something out there. Perhaps it was just me being paranoid..." She shut back the curtains and found a book to read in bed before she could fall asleep again.