Harry Potter and the First Ones

Additional disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Babylon 5.

Author's Note: I am really sorry about the delay. Honestly, I submitted this August 9 and it said Pending for the longest time, then I got on today (August 22), and this chapter was just gone. So, here we go again.

Storytelling

Harry and his friends introduced themselves and selected Hermione to tell their story. She paused for a moment to order her thoughts.

"All right, I'll try to explain things in terms of what I think happened in this timeline, since things happened in a different order for us," she began. "We came to Babylon 5 before, a few weeks ago. At least, a few weeks ago for us. I can't really tell how much time might have passed here. We helped defeat a Shadow, but I have a feeling the main reason we were there was to introduce us to people, in preparation for when we were needed again." She proceeded to give an abridged account of their prior experiences with the residents of Babylon 5. She then moved on to the more recent events.

"Professor Dumbledore saw something in his office (you, I guess, but I'll get to that) that led him to contact Draal. Draal confirmed that we were due to come back, so he summoned us. Captain Sheridan was just leaving for Z'Ha'Dum, and Draal packed us into a ship with a pilot to ride along in his shadow. A few hours after we left, Ambassador Delenn of Minbar found out about Sheridan's trip, I don't know how. Distraught, she contacted Draal to help her get a message to us.

"Draal complied, projecting an image of her, along with a message, to our time. However, since he knew we were actually already with Sheridan, he made sure the message was sent to a time prior to our leaving. Harry and Ginny were the ones that happened to receive it. Apparently, no one else is supposed to know we're here, at least not yet.

"So we arrived at this planet, landed in an escape pod, and wandered around for a while trying to figure out what we were supposed to do. Eventually, we found this place and Sheridan and did what we could for him. Then you found us, and I guess you must have just appeared to Dumbledore at about the same time Delenn was talking to Harry and Ginny."

Hermione fell silent.

"Sounds kind of circular, doesn't it?" Ginny asked. "We were alerted to the fact that we were needed by events that didn't actually happen until after we got here."

"I hate time travel," Harry said, sighing. "It does sort of make sense, though. Our whole lives are in the past compared to now, so it really doesn't matter when things happened."

"Well, I reckon that catches us up," Ron put in. He turned to Lorien. "So, what's your story?" Lorien leaned back and regarded each in turn. Harry had the feeling the alien could see right through him.

"My people were the first sentient race in the universe, as far as we know," Lorien spoke at last. "As I said, we were naturally immortal. However, we could die of illness, accidents, or by design."

"Design?" Ron interrupted.

"He means murder," Hermione explained in a whisper. Ron made an "o" with his lips and said no more.

"Exactly," Lorien agreed. "Anyway, our civilization advanced, and we began traveling the universe. Eventually, we found other evolved life forms, the ones humans and the other younger races call 'First Ones.' Are you familiar with some of these?"

"If you mean Vorlons and Shadows, then we know a little about them," Ginny responded. Lorien nodded.

"Those are the two races who decided to remain involved. Many of the First Ones have already passed beyond the rim. Others simply reside in unpopulated parts of the galaxy, spending their time in quiet contemplation."

"Beyond the rim?" Harry queried curiously.

"It's a little hard to explain. Essentially, it's the edge of the galaxy. I am the last of my kind. The rest all died from one cause or another."

"So, what do you do?" Hermione asked.

"I observe, mainly. I stay here most of the time, but I travel a little."

"Nice place you got here," Ron commented sarcastically. Lorien smiled faintly.

"It did not always look this way," he answered, and he would say no more about it.

"And the others?" Ginny wondered. "The Vorlons and Shadows, what do they do?"

"Ah, yes. That is the real story. They chose to stay behind to guide the younger races. This seemed like a reasonable idea at the time, but they developed radically different methods of helping. The Vorlons value order above all else. They believed the best way to assist was to enforce their own ideal, make others after their own image, you might say. The Shadows, on the other hand, sought to bring about chaos. They noticed that the greatest technological advances occurred in times of upheaval, so they decided to encourage this by sowing the seeds of war at intervals."

"So that's what's happening now," Harry realized. "The Vorlons stick around all the time, whispering in ears. Shadows crawl out of their hole about once every 1,000 years to stir up trouble."

"Exactly," Lorien agreed, nodding. "Eventually, both races forgot their original purpose and began competing over the destiny of the younger races. They don't dare face each other directly, for fear that it would tear the universe apart. Instead, they use proxies to further their causes. Among other things, Vorlons adjusted the genetic makeup of individuals on some worlds, creating telepaths."

"That's where telepaths came from?" Hermione said, looking shocked. "Vorlons made them? Why aren't there any in our time?"

"The Vorlons would say that Earth was not yet ready to join this conflict," Lorien replied. "However, the Shadows showed an interest some time ago, so it stands to reason that the Vorlons would, also. I happen to know that there was an earlier experiment, one that did not turn out exactly how the Vorlons expected." Lorien looked at each of them in turn, and Harry felt his eyes widen in shock as he began to understand.

"It's us!" Ginny exclaimed with a mixture of fear and amazement. "The Vorlons created wizards and witches!"

"Only our DNA did something they didn't expect it to," Harry put in. "It caused a totally new mutation."

"Of course," Hermione mused. "That explains why Vorlons are mentioned in some of our books. They must have stopped in from time to time to check on us. Maybe they wanted to see if we'd eventually turn into the telepaths they were trying to make."

"There were other reasons, as well," Lorien added to her conclusions. "The Vorlons do not generally allow outsiders to know this, but they do not always agree. There are different factions on some issues. There were those who wanted to destroy all of your kind and start over. Others thought they might learn from this error."

"We could have been used as weapons, too," Harry thought. "They might have been looking at that possibility."

"Indeed they were," Lorien informed them. "However, they feared you would be too powerful. You have some abilities even they lack. There isn't much point in having a weapon you can't control. In the end, they compromised. Vorlons manipulated events on your world to ensure that witches and wizards would live apart from the rest of the population."

"The Vorlons caused the panic of the witch-hunting days?" Hermione almost shrieked.

"You mean, these aliens modified us, made us what we are, then when it turned out they'd messed up, they tried to sweep it all under the rug?" Ginny asked. She sounded more astonished than angry. Harry frowned, remembering some things he'd read while researching an essay for school.

"The panic didn't actually kill any real witches, but a lot of innocent Muggles died," he commented, beginning to get a little angry himself. "Who do these...things think they are?"

"It's chess," said Ron quietly. He had been silent through the whole of these revelations. Now he wore an expression that was a mixture of dawning comprehension and faint illness. Hermione took his hand. He squeezed hers gently, then released it and stood up.

"I can see it now," he went on, beginning to pace around the cave. "A great, cosmic chess game. Imagine two players facing each other across a board the size of the galaxy, one black and one white. You can't say good and evil because it's not that simple. The black king represents chaos, and the white king is order. The other pieces in the king's row are individuals selected by each side to fight this war for them."

"So you're saying Sheridan's the queen?" Ginny questioned him. Ron looked at her as though trying to determine whether she was making fun of him. When she put it that way, it did sound a little silly, though Harry could sense that this was deadly serious. Apparently satisfied by whatever he saw in her face, Ron answered her question.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. He may think he is, but I think it's more likely that Delenn is the queen. Half Minbari and half human, she probably has more moves open to her. I also suspect she knows a lot more than she tells anyone, including him." Ron indicated the body lying on the ground.

"It is often said that a Minbari never tells anyone the whole truth," Lorien put in, though he did not sound at all judgmental. He was merely stating a fact. Ron acknowledged this with a nod and continued.

"More likely, Sheridan's a knight. Kind of limited in the paths he can choose, but capable of moving in unique and unexpected ways. That Morden person we saw on the station is probably a key piece on the other side, a bishop maybe. Of course, there will be others we don't know about. The pawns are everyone else in the younger races. Who thinks twice about sacrificing a pawn? No one.

"But it goes even further than that. None of the pieces mean anything to the players, any more than my wizard chess set back home means to me. It's the game that's important. Any piece, other than the king, can be sacrificed if you think it will win the game for you."

There was silence as everyone took in this analogy. Ron looked over to Lorien.

"Am I about right?" he asked.

"Yes, you have made a surprisingly acute observation," Lorien acknowledged. "I have played this wizard's chess with Albus, and I see what you mean."

"But you cared about Harry and me when we were playing that big chess game at Hogwarts," Hermione put in.

"Of course! You're my friends!" Ron seemed offended at the suggestion that he could have felt otherwise. "That made the game even harder because I had to make sure none of us got...captured." Harry remembered what "captured" had meant in that case, and it was very frightening.

"In the end, you sacrificed yourself to let us go on," Hermione reminded Ron, standing and looking up at him.

"There was no other way," he muttered, not looking directly at her. Hermione slid her arms under his, and Ron automatically embraced her as well.

"Have I told you recently that I love you?" Hermione asked him softly.

"Earlier today, I think," Ron answered. "But I don't mind hearing it again." Taking his cue, he bent down to meet her mouth with his. Harry politely averted his gaze. Unfortunately, he set his eyes on Ginny, which only made him think how much he'd like to be similarly occupied with her. Feeling a flush creep across his cheeks, he looked down.

"That's another disagreement, isn't it?" Ron said a little while later. Harry looked up to see that his friend seemed to have received another revelation. "Some of the Vorlons do get attached to the pieces and might even work against the others to save them."

"Again, you are very astute," Lorien said, his expression now unreadable. "I believe that is what happened with this one, though it his hard to communicate with him while his host is unconscious." He indicated Captain Sheridan. Hermione was now catching on, as well.

"So Kosh, the real Kosh, sacrificed himself for Sheridan?" she asked.

"What do you mean, 'the real Kosh?'" Harry demanded.

"Remember what we heard Captain Sheridan say to Delenn, Harry?" Ginny answered him. "Something about the new Kosh."

"Oh right, the new ambassador took the name of the prior one to cover up the murder, right?" Harry recalled.

"Did he?" Lorien said rhetorically. "Yes, that would fit with the Vorlon attempts to create a unified front to others. In answer to Hermione's question, I don't know for certain. I only suspect that Kosh may have sacrificed himself for Sheridan, or maybe for more than that. In any case, he got involved to a degree that his people would not all have approved."

"The Shadows must have come after him because of something he did for Sheridan!" Harry exclaimed, starting to piece things together. "They probably felt like he broke the rules of their 'game.'"

"That means that the new Kosh is an unknown quantity," Hermione mused, leaning against Ron as if reluctant to leave his side now. "He could even be dangerous. There's no way of knowing what side he's on."

"There's no point in worrying about that now," Ginny pointed out. "That's all back at the station, and there will be time for it later. At the moment, we need to figure out what to do about Sheridan and how to get back to the station, as well as find out what we've missed."

"We cannot go anywhere while Sheridan is in this condition," Lorien agreed. "However, it could take some time for him to be ready. I may be able to help him, but he must make some decisions and discoveries first."

"How is he supposed to do that while unconscious?" Harry asked in genuine confusion. Lorien gave another of his mild smiles.

"I can speak to him in his mind," he said simply. "You might say it's one of the gifts of my people."

"How long is this likely to take?" Hermione inquired.

"It's difficult to say, but several weeks would not be out of the question."

"Several weeks!" Ron repeated agitatedly. "We don't have enough food to last us that long! And it doesn't look like it's easy to come by around here."

"Indeed," Lorien's tone remained mild. "I can place you all into a kind of hibernation until this is over. As for transportation, I have a ship here."

Harry looked at his friends and saw the same questions on their faces that were running through his own mind: how did they know Lorien could do what he said, and would he revive them when the time came?

"You will have to trust me," Lorien told them, as if he could read their minds. Harry regarded him for a long moment before coming to a decision. Harry instinctively knew that the others would accept whatever he said, so he took it upon himself to answer for all of them.

"All right. We'll do it."

Lorien asked them to lie down at the edge of the cavern opposite to where Captain Sheridan lay. Wands were stashed away, and other belongings arranged nearby. Lorien touched them each in turn, and they seemed to fall into a kind of sleep. Harry was last, and after Lorien placed his hand on Harry's chest, the world dissolved before his eyes, and he knew no more for quite some time.

Author's Note: Yes, this was mostly an explanatory chapter, and a lot of it was for those readers who might not be Babylon 5 fans. However, I hope it also helped to put things into context for everyone. Everything with Lorien in the series is open to interpretation, so this is just mine.

The next one will skip a lot of time. For those of you who are familiar with the show and remember Season 4, the first four episodes deal mainly with what is happening back on Babylon 5 before Sheridan gets back there. It takes about two weeks, and it would be really boring if I just had everyone sitting around in a cave swapping stories for that long.