Harry Potter and the Dark Lord of the Sith

Chapter 7.

When he came back from the bathroom (or "refresher", as they called it here), Harry found Ron engaged in a game with Chewbacca at the checkered table in the corner of the lounge. Strange-looking holographic creatures were moving over it. The game appeared to be based on a concept similar to chess, although even Harry could see that it was more complex. Harry smiled. Maybe this world wasn't so different as it first appeared.

"I wonder if you can make it listen. You know, just tell it to make a certain move, instead of pushing these buttons?" Ron asked the Wookiee.

Chewbacca growled, without emotion. "He said," Threepio translated, "that they can't afford a voice-activated game board."

"Oh," Ron said, embarrassed. "I understand." No, Harry thought. Not that different.

Leia entered the lounge from the cockpit and sat down with a sigh of frustration. Harry sat next to her. "Er,"--he stared-- "how should I call you? Your Highness? Or is it Princess? I've never met royalty before."

She smiled. "Leia will do, at least in private," she said. "I never liked all the formal receptions anyway. And I'm only three years older than you."

Harry nodded. "Okay. Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"That black-clad man with the red lightsaber back on the station, who was he?"

"That was Darth Vader," Luke said, sitting down next to them. "Former Jedi Knight and now a servant of the dark side of the Force."

"Huh?" Hermione interrupted. "What does that mean?"

"Sorry." Luke was embarrassed. "A few days ago, I was as ignorant as you are--maybe more. Me, trying to explain what the Force is... All right, I'll tell you what Ben told me--which isn't much, I'm afraid."

"Ben? Was he the old man who..." Harry asked.

"Yes," Luke answered. "Ben, or Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight. The Jedi," he continued, "have certain powers, which they derive from an energy field generated by all living things. This energy field is called the Force." Luke paused. "The things you did on the station," he asked, "what are these powers? Where do they come from?"

"We don't really know," Hermione conceded. "Most acts require a use of a wand,"--she took hers out and handed it to Luke-- "and an incantation, but some a wizard can do with no equipment at all, just pure will power."

"Can anybody do it?" asked Leia, who was now inspecting Hermione's wand.

"No," she answered. "Most can't. In fact, in our world, most people don't even know such abilities exist at all. What we do know, is that while these abilities do run in families, there's something else at play. There are wizards born into Muggle families, and--"

"Muggle?" Luke was curious.

"Sorry. Non-magic people-- it is not," she emphasized, and then corrected herself, "usually not a derogatory term. The majority of wizards try to live as isolated from Muggles as possible, to keep the existence of magic secret."

"Hmm..." Leia muttered something.

"Anyway," Hermione resumed, "there are wizards, like me, born into Muggle families, who can be trained, and there are people with no magical powers born into wizard families--we call such people Squibs."

"I think I understand... somewhat," Luke said, almost to himself, and then proceeded with his explanation. "The Force has a light and a dark side. The Jedi Knights served the light side, and were the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. Darth Vader, a student of Ben, went over to the dark side, and into the service of the Emperor. He helped the Emperor to destroy the Jedi, killing many of them personally. Including," Luke breathed out with difficulty, "my father."

Harry's eyebrows went up. "You know," he said, "just five minutes ago, I was wondering how similar our worlds really were. Now I realize they're more similar than I thought." And he proceeded to tell them the story about him, Voldemort, and his parents, and his encounters with the Dark Lord in the last seven years. When he finished, he looked around and realized that everyone on the ship was here. Luke, Leia, Ron, Hermione, Han, Chewbacca, and even the two droids were all listening.

"That was some story, kid." Han was the first to break the silence that followed after he finished.

"Thanks," Harry got out. He turned to Luke. "Now," he said, "I told you about my scar, and how it hurts when Voldemort is pleased about something, or when his anger at me erupts. It also hurts when he or other dark wizards are nearby. It hurt when Darth Vader looked at me. That was the last thing I expected in this world."

"Interesting," Luke said. "I wonder what that means.... Say," he asked, "can I try do some magic?"

"Uhm, sure," Harry said. "Try the levitating spell. Point at the object you want to lift, and say, 'Wingardium Leviosa!'".

"Okay." Luke unclipped the lightsaber from his belt and tossed it on the floor. He pointed Harry's wand at it.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he said.

The lightsaber lifted off the ground and hovered. Not steadily, as an experienced wizard would be able to do, but it remained in the air without support. Luke lowered his wand and the saber dropped. He picked it up.

"It can't be that simple," Han sneered. "Let me try," He turned to Ron. "Can I borrow your wand?"

"Yeah, whatever. Just be careful," Ron warned.

Han carefully inspected the wand and pointed it at a small metal ball lying in the back of the lounge among other strange items.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he said, carefully pronouncing the words.

Nothing happened. Han repeated the spell, louder this time. Again, nothing. Han grunted and returned Ron his wand. "Looks like I'm a Muggle," he joked. "I probably wouldn't have believed a word, but seeing this 'magic' with my own eyes..." He sat down.

"May I use your wand?" Leia asked Hermione. "I want to know which category I fall in."

"Of course." Hermione handed it to her again.

Leia looked around and finally pointed it at the blaster rifle she had carried aboard the ship. She took a deep breath and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The blaster floated into the air. It hovered, lower and more unstable than Luke's lightsaber had, but it did fly, although the moment Leia turned to look at the wizards, it crashed to the floor. Leia returned the wand to Hermione.

"Thanks," she said. "That felt... unusual is the only word I can think of."

"I wonder what this means," mused Ron. Harry nodded. He was thinking the same thing.

"I don't know." Leia looked around. Luke shook his head.

"There is some connection between this world and ours. Our magic works, some people here can use our wands," Hermione walked around, thinking, "and Harry's scar hurts. The question is, how did we get here, and how are we going to get back?"

"I don't know," Luke said. Nobody tried to argue.

Ron gulped, and Harry suddenly felt cold. "Can we get back?" he asked.

"I don't know that either," Luke told them. "You might be stuck here."

Harry couldn't think of a reply. Han broke the long silence.

"Let's get some sleep," he said.