Harry Potter and the Icemaidens

"I'm gonna miss you, Harry."

Harry blinked, and then he leaned over to embrace Dudley. The Dursleys -- along with Joanna Spelthorne, Wilma Skegness, the Ropers and the Runcorns -- were standing in the living room saying their goodbyes to the Potter siblings. "Me, too, Duds," he said as he patted his cousin's back. "Try not to make too much trouble, okay?"

"Sure thing," Dudley affirmed with a nod.

"Will Harry still be going to school?" Petunia asked Lilian.

A nod. "Yes. There's a preparatory school -- Millfield -- close to where we live. Rose goes there; she's going to be in the reception year in September. Harry should be able to slip into his second year -- they run a pre-preparatory program there -- with no problem when school starts up again. Some of the other elves who served Sir Glaston are experts in dealing with bureaucracy; it'll be quite easy to get Harry's records over there so he can fit in right away."

"Lucky thing, too. He's never had friends," Dudley said before a look of guilt crossed his face. "Not that I did much to help that . . . "

"Oh, enough, Dudley," Lilian said as she patted his shoulder. "It's over and you can get back to your life." She then winked. "Though I would recommend you try to eat better in the future. Our cook would be shocked to see how much weight you have. If you're not careful, you won't be healthy when you get to be your father's age."

Dudley blinked, and then he nodded. "Right . . . "

With that, Harry turned and hugged Petunia before shaking Vernon's hand. "Grow up to be a good man, Harry," the latter said as he knelt before his nephew. "Don't be like your father in the long run. Be like your mother." A hoarse chuckle. "Be like these good people here," he added as he nodded towards Wilma, Napaeae, Hogan and Joanna. "You wizards have a right to be scared of us normal folk, but it doesn't give you the right to rub in what you can do to us. Try to remember that, alright?"

"I'll remember that, Uncle," Harry vowed.

"Well, let's get you both home," Lilian stated. "Hogan, is . . .?"

"It's down for elves," Hogan stated.

"Alright. Hold my hand, Harry."

Harry took his new guardian's hand, and then the Potter siblings and Lilian vanished with a pop! Dudley's jaw dropped in awe. "Wow . . .!"

"Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it?" Jane said before calling out, "Tanny!"

Another pop! heralded the arrival of a lovely raven-haired, blue-eyed woman in her twenties, dressed casually. "What is it, Mistress Jane?" Tanny asked.

"Tanny, be a dear and see to it Jane and Achelois get home," Hogan ordered.

A nod. "Of course, Master Hogan. Come along, girls."

Jane and Achelois headed over to join the former's elf, and then all three vanished with a pop! Once that was done, Wilma, Hogan and Napaeae all parted from the Dursleys before heading to the still-lit fireplace to take the floo back home. Once Vernon and Petunia were alone with their son and Joanna, the doctor/healer gazed on the young boy, smiling fondly. "Dudley, I'd like to speak to your parents alone for a moment. Would you mind going upstairs to your bedroom?"

"Okay!"

Dudley headed upstairs. "What's wrong?" Petunia asked.

A sigh. "There's something else I noticed in you two when I examined you to get rid of all the after-effects of those curses James put on you," Joanna warned, her voice touched with the flat accent of New England. Like her husband, she was dressed normally, wearing a blouse-and-business skirt combination with a doctor's smock over her shoulders. Atop being a trained healer who did her internship at Plymouth Magical Hospital in Massachusetts close to the Salem Witch's Institute (where she studied magic), she was a licensed M.D. who graduated from Harvard Medical School before setting up a private practice in Ripley, where she lived with her husband (Reevetor Surrey was located outside the village) and their son Tristan. "That curse also forced you to . . . well, put frankly, 'mark time' when it came to doing normal family things. Like having children." As the Dursleys blushed at the doctor's blatant words, Joanna smiled. "Don't worry about it. Petunia, you're more than healthy enough to have more children and I think you can use the chance to rediscover some things about yourself as you're raising them. And it will give Dudley a much better experience dealing with siblings." She reached into her smock and pulled out a card. "Here's my office number. If you feel you need to talk to me -- or to any other healer that works full-time in normal society -- give me a call and I'll make arrangements. Alright?"

"We really appreciate this," Vernon said as he took the card.

"You deserve it," Joanna stated. "There are people in this world that can accept the unusual and strange with considerable grace. There are others who can't. You fall now in the latter category, but I think you can eventually teach yourselves to be part of the former. It will take time. Most wizards in this country -- as I've long come to learn -- care very little for normal people. Look at the name they give you: 'Muggle.'" She shook her head. "Sounds like 'mugger' to me. That's a street robber where I come from." A sigh. "It'll take a long time for them to see the truth about people like you. Personally, I don't have much hope for a lot of them."

"Why did you come here, then?" Petunia asked; she had been able to guess Joanna's country of birth by her accent.

A smile. "Why did you marry your husband?"

The Dursleys laughed. "Good point!" Vernon stated . . .

* * *

Hogwarts . . .

In the headmaster's office, one of several devices Albus Dumbledore created in 1981 to monitor the general welfare of Harry Potter began to smoke and glow as a strange piercing noise filled the room. Unfortunately -- or fortunately, depending on one's viewpoint -- said headmaster was nowhere close by to see this happen; he was currently in London on business with the International Confederation of Wizards. Nor was a certain red-feathered bird there; Fawkes had recently endured a burning day and was currently flying around the country exercising his new wings and body . . .

* * *

Beckery Hill . . .

"We're here, Bessie!"

"Ah! Mistress Rose! Lilian! You came . . .!"

Bessie's voice caught in her throat as she noted that Lilian and Rose weren't alone today. Gazing on the handsome though thin boy to Lilian's left, the pretty brown-haired, brown-eyed elf (in human form, of course) with the round reading glasses could only gape before her eyes teared. "Oh, my . . .! Lilian, is this . . .?!"

A nod. "Yes, Bessie. This is Harry." Lilian stared at her ward's brother. "Harry, this is Bessie. Outside the Hill, she's known as Elizabeth Bunter."

Harry blinked. "Like in the novel?"

"That's right," Lilian stated. "Bessie, Harry's been badly malnourished and he'll probably need to get Doctor St. John to look at him. Can you make him . . .?"

A determined nod. "Of course I can!" Bessie asserted as she straightened her apron -- worn over a very pretty maid's uniform -- before she leaned down to gaze into Harry's wide eyes. "Don't you worry, Master Harry! I'll make sure you have all the good food you can eat!" And with a pop!, she was gone.

Harry watched her go, and then he blinked. "Wow . . .!"

"They all do that," Rose stated. "C'mon, Harry."

She took his hand before dragging him out of the reception room at the bottom floor of Reevetor Somerset, where the elves that lived and worked here normally ported in and out when business took them elsewhere. Lilian watched them go, and then she ported out of the building to head into the Reevewick to get some presents for Rose's just-arrived brother. Going upstairs to the second floor, Rose led Harry into a dark room glowing with torches on all sides, the floor solid stone and carved up with intricate runes and other designs that Harry didn't recognise.

"What is this place, Rose?"

"This is the Scrying Room," Rose stated. "This is where Grandpa Glaston came whenever he was working so that he would know what was happening anywhere in Somerset." She then closed her eyes. "This was the place where he found out about Voldemort's attack on Mom and Dad, then headed off to try to save us."

He blinked. "Who's Voldemort?"

She sighed. "Room, display an image of the Arch-Traitor called 'Voldemort.'"

Magic sparkled on the floor, then rose up to form a semi-solid image of a very thin -- almost starving -- man with white skin, no hair, bloodshot red eyes slit like a cat's, almost no nose or lips, and very thin, skeletal fingers. He was dressed in a dark hooded robe, the hood pulled away from his head. Seeing that, Harry blinked before his eyes went wide, and then he shuddered as voices echoed in his mind . . .

** ** **

"Not Harry! . . . please, no! . . . take me! . . . Kill me instead . . . "

"This is my last warning . . . "

"Please . . . have mercy . . . Not Harry! Please . . . I'll do anything . . . "

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"SOUSHITSU-SHI!"

** ** **

"Harry!"

Harry gasped, his eyes wide with fright and horror, before he blinked and turned to stare in bewildered confusion at Rose. The younger Potter looked worried, her eyes wide and tearing, as she grasped his arms. He blinked before leaning over to embrace her, his body still stiff since being held like this still seemed so alien to him. "What's wrong, big brother?" she whispered. "What's wrong . . .?"

He blinked before staring once more at the evil image in the middle of the scrying room. "I remember when Mom died," he whispered, his own eyes misting. "Mom was begging the bad man to do something with her and then he . . . " He closed his eyes. "He shouted out two words . . . it sounded like 'Abracadabra' . . . "

"Avada Kedavra?" she whispered.

He blinked again, and then he nodded. "Uh-huh."

"That's the Killing Curse," Rose said as she pulled away. "One shot and you're dead. It's like being shot with a gun." A lazy grin. "'Cept you don't bleed."

He nodded. "But there was something else, too. Someone else shouted something."

She blinked, and then she asked, "Soushitsu-shi?"

He nodded again. "Yeah. What was that, anyway?"

"That's Japanese, by the way," she said. "In Latin, it's called Desidero Infantis. The Lost Child spell. It's what Grandpa used to save me."

Harry blinked in confusion. "But you weren't born . . . "

Rose giggled. "I was still in Mom's body," she said before gazing towards the image of Voldemort. "Room, show the image of Her Majesty's late Magical Shire Reeve of the Loyal County of Somerset, Sir Glaston Bernard Tore."

Voldemort vanished to be replaced by a more healthy man appearing to be Vernon Dursley's age. He was dressed in very formal clothing: A grey suit with waistcoat, white shirt and tie, a bowler hat on his head and a folded umbrella in hand. Seeing that, Harry was immediately reminded of an old television series Petunia liked to watch reruns of. "This is Grandpa Glaston," Rose then said. "He graduated from Hogwarts back in 1939 and became the Magical Shire Reeve of Somerset."

"So what does a Shire Reeve do?" Harry asked.

She smiled. "I'll show you."

* * *

"So, young Sheriff. You've rescued your brother."

Harry's jaw was now somewhere down around his knees as he gazed on the handsome man -- if one could really call this being a "man" given that everything from waist down was in the form of a very sturdy draft horse -- standing beyond the open doorway of Reevetor Somerset. He was dark skinned with a fine coat of very thin fur covering the human parts of his body and face, his hair coarse like a horse's mane, wavy black. His eyes were the deep blue-green of the ocean, taking in all he saw with ease. "Yes, Uncle Cyllarus, I did," Rose stated before she blushed. "Well, actually, Uncle Reggie, Uncle Hogie, Auntie Napaeae, Auntie Jo and Grand-auntie Wilma helped, too!" She then gazed on her brother. "Harry, this is Cyllarus. He's the leader of the centaurs that live here in Reevewick Somerset. That's the village there." She pointed down the hill to their north, where a quaint village that wouldn't be out of place centuries ago was located. "Uncle Cyllarus, this is my brother Harry."

A nod. "A pleasure to meet you, young Harry," Cyllarus stated as he smiled, reaching over to gently grasp Harry's hand in both of his own. "It is good that you are now able to live with your sister. It was wrong for the wizards of the Ministry to try to separate you, much less force you on your relatives."

"Thanks." Harry then blinked before he asked, "Are you really a centaur?!"

Hearing that, Cyllarus laughed, a booming sound that made Harry duck. "You are quite observant, young Harry!" he declared as hoof-falls heralded the arrival of someone else. "Ah! This is my wife, young Harry. May I present Hylonome."

Harry turned, nodding pleasantly as he took in the lovely centauress. Like her mate, Hylonome was quite muscular as human women could be in the primate side of her body, with long, wavy hair that was discretely draped over a pair of round breasts. Her skin appeared to be a more fair shade of golden brown in comparison to Cyllarus', which matched the colour of sunflowers when it came to her head. Her eyes were the same shade as her mate's. "Hello, Harry," she said, her voice friendly. "Young Rose is quite lucky to have a very handsome young stallion like you as her brother."

Harry's cheeks reddened. "Now, dear, that's enough," Cyllarus advised as he gazed fondly on Hylonome. "This is his first day here and he needs much time to adjust to being where he should have always been. Don't tease him."

"But he's so cute, love!" Hylonome stated.

"Hylonome . . .!"

Rose sighed. "Grown-ups . . . "

Harry blinked as he stared at her . . .

* * *

"How long's this village been here?" Harry asked.

"It was first founded in 1692, the same year the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy came into effect," Hylonome replied as she, Cyllarus, Rose and Harry walked down the cobblestone main street of Reevewick Somerset. "It's proper name, even to this day, is 'Beckery-under-the-Hill.' But ever since your King William III and Queen Mary II bestowed Sir Glanmore Peakes the duty of being the first Magical Shire Reeve of the County of Somerset, it's always been called 'Reevewick Somerset.'" She indicated the stone statue of a handsome man in his late twenties with a thick beard and dressed in a naval uniform of the era, a wicked dagger in his hand, standing in the middle of what seemed to be a small market square, gazing in the general direction of London. "He's known to the wizard humans who see themselves loyal to the Ministry of Magic; he slew the Sea Serpent of Cromer back in . . . " She hummed. "Oh, it was 1699, I believe. He was visiting his counterpart in Norfolk, Dame Elena Peach -- the two were classmates at Hogwarts, in fact -- when a badly wounded and diseased sea serpent washed ashore and began scaring the normal fishermen who lived there. Dame Elena stunned the creature unconscious, but couldn't bring herself to put the poor thing out of its misery. Sir Glanmore used a Reductor Curse to rip open the serpent's neck and allowed it to bleed to death, then he teamed with Dame Elena to obliviate all the normals so that the Statue of Secrecy would not be violated."

"'Obliviate?'" Harry asked.

"It means to suppress or remove the memories from someone, young Harry," Cyllarus stated, and then he perked as someone approached them. "Director Erlking. A good day to you, sir. May your gold always flow free," he stated with a bow of his head and torso.

Harry turned to see someone about his height stop before him. The man -- as what Harry felt he should be -- was fully humanoid, almost similar to a house elf in some ways, but with greater muscle mass and ears that stuck straight out (instead of drooping as Lilian's ears did when she reverted to elf-form at the Dursley home). He was a black-eyed fellow with a full head of silver hair. He was dressed quite formally in a style that had been in fashion during the Age of Enlightenment. "Lord Cyllarus, Lady Hylonome, a good day to you both. May your vision be always true and bear fruit for your herd," he stated as he gazed on the centaurs, and then he bowed to Rose and Harry. "Dame Sheriff Potter, Lord Potter. Lord Potter, I bear greetings to you from Chief Director Ragnok, the leader of all goblins in the United Kingdom. May your gold always flow free and may your enemies always fall before you."

Rose bowed her head. A second later, after noting what his sister was doing to the goblin, Harry did the same. Noting that, Erlking nodded in approval; he knew Harry had just arrived at Reevewick Somerset and was just now getting acquainted with the magical society he had been separated from for the previous half-decade. "I thank you very much for your greeting, Director Erlking. May your gold always flow free and may your enemies always fall before you," Rose answered politely as she had been taught, and then she straightened herself, gazing fondly on him. "How is Grand-uncle Ragnok, Uncle? I trust everything's okay in Diagon."

The goblin laughed. "Again, Rose, you flatter me by addressing me as kin," he stated as he stared fondly at her. "Everything is well. We sensed it when Sir Reginald set up the null-magic shield around your brother's former place of residence, so we'll know to avoid the area in the future. Still, I should warn you all that the Ministry -- not to mention Albus Dumbledore and his friends -- will take notice of what he did, then go into a panic over what might have happened to your brother."

"Can't you just tell them that I'm okay, Uncle?" Harry asked.

Erlking blinked, and then he smiled. "You also flatter me by addressing me as your kin, Lord Potter. May I call you Harry?" After Harry nodded his permission, the goblin continued, "With you, my boy, it's not so simple. You're quite well known among the wizards who live full time with other wizards and allow the Ministry to govern them. Almost as well known as Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort." He stared knowingly at Harry as they walked towards the community hall. "Just saying that you're 'okay' will not be enough for most of your kind in places like Hogsmeade, much less those currently attending Hogwarts. They will wish to know EXACTLY where you are, Harry. And some will not stop until they get an answer. And while I don't believe Rose or your guardian have had the chance to explain things to you about this, there is a stronger veil of secrecy between the Ministry of Magic and Her Majesty's Magical Shire Reeves as a whole than what exists between magicals and normals. A veil that has been kept rigid and unbreakable since the first Shire Reeves were appointed three centuries ago."

"Indeed, Master Goblin, you are quite correct," a new voice called out from somewhere ahead of Harry. "And as long as the Ministry does not properly represent the wizards and witches of Their Majesties' Realms, it must always remain that way!"

Harry blinked as he looked around in confusion before he noticed his companions all staring at a portrait located on one wall of the community hall's entranceway. It was an image of the man whose statue he had seen outside on the main street, in full living colour! As his jaw dropped in awed disbelief on seeing the man in the picture actually MOVE, Rose walked up to bow her head to him. "Good afternoon, Grandpa Glanmore. How are things between yourself and Grandma Elena today?"

"As delightful as passionate as always when we were still among the living, young Rose," the picture-spirit of Sir Glanmore James Peakes -- Harry was quick to read the name under the picture, followed by the post-nominals K.G. and M.O.(III), that in turn over the caption First of Their Majesties' Most Noble and Just Magical Shire Reeves of the Loyal County of Somerset (1677-1761) -- stated as he nodded pleasantly at her before his eyes locked on Harry, a delighted grin crossing his face. "Ah! And you have your brother finally with you as well! Smashing! Simply smashing!"

"You're a picture!" Harry exclaimed.

Laughter echoed from the crowd around them. "How very astute of you, young Harry!" Glanmore stated. "I know from Glaston that you've just returned to the magical world today, so a lot of things, I believe, will be quite strange to you. Keep an open mind and heart, lad!" he said as he raised a finger in warning. "Even if you are not bound to become one of Her Majesty's Magical Shire Reeves as your delightful sister is, it will do you much good if you always accept things as you confront them."

Harry took that in, and then he nodded. "I'll remember that, Grandpa."

"Good lad!" The portrait's smile then turned lurid. "Now, if you will both kindly excuse me, dear Elena wishes me to go visit her. Cheerio!"

And with that, he literally walked behind the right side of the frame and disappeared. Harry watched him go, and then he gasped, "Wow!"

"That is quite amazing, isn't it?" Cyllarus asked.

"Can your people do that, Uncle?" Harry asked as he pointed to the now-empty portrait frame before he followed everyone else through one of the wide -- and quite TALL -- doors into the main hall. "I mean, do you actually . . .?"

"Hello."

Harry stopped before staring ahead to gaze on a pair of legs covered in furred boots then went to mid-calf. He blinked for a moment before his eyes turned up . . .

And up . . .

And UP . . .!

. . . to stare at the face of a very pretty woman with flowing golden brown hair and deep brown eyes, looking pretty much like a girl from Scandinavia.

If you ignored the fact that said woman was also six metres tall!

Harry blinked, and then he gulped. "Um . . . h-h-hello . . . " he sputtered.

Rose sighed. "Relax, Harry. She won't step on you," she said before looking up. "Hi, Auntie Skadthi. Did you just come back from the mountains near Ostia?"

The giantess smiled. "Oh, yes," she replied with a voice that, despite its gentle nature, seemed to rattle hard in Harry's ear canals. He tried to not wince too much at it. "It was good hunting; I got myself a couple nice ice mammoth cloaks." She thumbed the silver fur covering her body. "Zthrymr and Freyja were with me. He carved up the tusks to make new knives for me." She indicated the leather scabbards hooked to her belt, each of which were almost as long as Harry was tall. "He's so sweet."

"Be careful, old friend," Hylonome warned as she wagged her finger. "I sense he's still trying to decide which of you he desires as his mate."

Skadthi shrugged -- and then, to Harry's surprise, literally shrank before his eyes to a closer-to-human height of two-and-a-half metres -- before she leaned over to whisper in the centauress' ear, "Actually, Hylo, Frey and I decided to share him."

Hylonome blinked, and then she laughed, a sound that had the touch of a horse's bray in it. "Well, if THAT works for you, Skad, I won't say anything more!"

Cyllarus also howled with delight as Erlking shook his head, his mouth wide with a very amused grin and Rose rolled her eyes, muttering, "Grown-ups . . .!" As Skadthi walked out of the hall and reverted to her normal height before heading off down the street, Rose took a deep breath before beckoning Harry with her. "C'mon. I'll introduce you to some of my friends here, big brother," she said.

Harry blinked, and then he sighed as he followed her inside . . .

* * *

Two hours later . . .

"Are you sure the food's good, Master Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Yep!" he said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "It's great, Bessie!" He then reached for the gravy to pour over his roast beef.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, Harry," Lilian advised.

Bessie beamed with delight before turning to her own food. Everyone was in the dining room of the Reevetor, on the fourth floor of the five-level tower. The Potter siblings had returned from the community hall a half-hour before, after Rose introduced Harry to many of her friends, including Hamilton St. John, Nancy Snagge and the leader of the local vampire clan, a lady from Hungary who fled to England before the Grindelwald War, Kamila Bathory. And that did NOT mention representatives from a dozen magical species, some of which were unknown to mainstream wizarding society!

All of the elves that worked at Reevetor Somerset were at the table enjoying food; even if house elves normally didn't have to eat as humans did, the elves at Reevetor Somerset normally remained in human form for Rose's sake and acted as humans did. Sitting beside Lilian now was Modesty (who used the outside name "Modesty O'Donnell"), who served as the driver for the 1929 model supercharged Bentley 4 ½ Litre -- also known as a "Blower Bentley" -- when she took Rose (and soon would Harry) to Millfield Preparatory School, located on Route A-361 to the southeast of Glastonbury Tor. She was quite pretty in a tomboyish way, with raven black hair cut very short and very dark brown eyes. Beside Bessie was blonde, blue-eyed and downright sexy Jane (who used the outside name "Jane Porter"), who served as Rose's teacher when it came to all things magical and intended to do the same with Harry. Also present was the groundskeeper of the Reevetor, a very stern-looking woman with dirty blonde hair and blue-green eyes named Clare ("Clare Phillips" to those humans outside Reevewick Somerset who knew her); and the "social secretary" (Harry didn't really understand what that meant), Tamara (known to the outside world as "Tamara Simmonds"), a woman with wavy raven hair, almost black eyes and very pale skin which gave her a slightly sickly sheen. All were dressed normally -- or at least as normally as Harry could understand the concept -- and enjoying the wonderful food Bessie had made.

"How soon will you be able to get Harry's records, Tamara?" Lilian asked.

"I'll pop over to his old school and get them after supper," Tamara replied. "It should take a couple of days to get everything straightened around."

"That's good."

"Is it a good school?" Harry asked.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty okay. I don't have many friends, though."

"You should try to make more friends, Mistress Rose," Jane noted.

"Jane! Mistress Rose's destiny is already set!" Clare stated. "As much as Master Harry's destiny is set, too! There's no sense in forcing them to try to make friendships when they'll be going off to Hogwarts when they become eleven!"

"Clare, even if they do go to Hogwarts, they still have to decide which world they're going to live in," Lilian stated, moving in to cut off the growing argument between Jane and Clare, which had repeated itself every week for the last year. "And I doubt that, given that Rose WILL take Sir Glaston's place as Her Majesty's Magical Shire Reeve of Somerset, Harry will move anywhere else for the time being."

"Does Rose have to be the Magical Sheriff?" Harry asked.

Lilian sighed. "Yes, she does, Harry. One of the things Jane will teach you is the concept of magical life debts. Your sister owes Sir Glaston -- even if he is dead -- her life when the Dark Lord came to kill your parents and must honour that debt if she doesn't want to lose her magic." She held up a finger. "You'll have to be careful when you do things after you go to Hogwarts, Harry. You're quite famous among wizards in Britain. There are a lot of people who are grateful for what you 'did.'"

Harry looked confused. "What did I do?!"

"You survived the Killing Curse, big brother," Rose said, and then she pointed to his head to indicate the scar over his right eye. "That's where you got this."

Harry blinked. "Oh."

* * *

"So if the Killing Curse always kills, why am I still alive?"

Lilian smiled as she placed a glass of orange juice -- pumpkin juice always gave Rose an upset stomach -- on the table before him before sitting in her chair. The Potter siblings and the elves had, with dinner complete -- and after Harry had moved to clean up before a teary-eyed Bessie stopped him -- relocated to the living room, located on the same floor as the dining hall but overlooking the eastern side of the clearing around the Reevetor. Looking out the window, Harry knew he could see a big circular courtyard similar to what could be seen at places like Stonehenge. When he had asked about it, Jane told him the patio was called "the Garden of the Galaxy." She had also told him something incredible happened there in 1936 and that it was a very sacred place to all the beings living at or around the Reevewick. She didn't explain further, but promised Harry that he would soon understand the whole story.

"Because your mother did something very remarkable to keep you alive when the Dark Lord came to kill you," Lilian stated. "Sometime before you were born, a woman named Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy. It's a prediction about something that could happen in the future," she explained on seeing Harry's confused look. "In that prophecy, Sybill predicted that someone would be born at the end of July of 1980 with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. This person would have been born of those who had stood up to and fought the Dark Lord three separate times, defeating his forces every time that happened. Of those who were fighting the Dark Lord at the time, there were two couples expecting children who matched that prediction. Your parents were one of them. The other couple was Frank and Alice Longbottom, who graduated from Hogwarts a few years before your parents did. You were born on the thirty-first of July that year. Frank and Alice's son, Neville, was born the day before you."

"So why did Voldemort pick me?" Harry asked.

A sigh. "It's hard to say, Harry. No one knows what the Dark Lord was thinking at that time. Even now, people still don't understand how a brilliant man like Thomas Riddle evolved -- or perhaps, devolved -- into the monster who had killed so many for so long." Lilian closed her eyes. "Your mother discovered very special magic based on her own blood -- which you and Rose have -- that she hoped would protect you if the Dark Lord came." She then smiled. "And it did. After your mother was struck down, the Dark Lord attacked you . . . " She pointed to her forehead over her right eye. " . . . but the bolt hit your mother's magic blood-shield and rebounded back."

"And it either killed the Dark Lord or made him become a bodiless spirit," Jane finished. "No one is actually sure of which, though many of the older Magical Shire Reeves like Mistress Napaeae believe the Dark Lord is still alive."

"But he doesn't have a body to use," Rose finished.

"So where is he?" Harry asked, fear crossing his face.

"No one knows," Tamara stated before sipping the rest of her juice, and then she stood up. "With your permission, Master Harry, I'd like to get your school records and move them over to Millfield so that you can go to school there in September."

He blinked, and then he nodded. "Okay."

One pop! later, Tamara vanished. "Will I be safe here, Mama?" Harry asked as he looked at Lilian. "I mean, if Voldemort's alive -- he's probably mad 'cause he doesn't have a body -- what's to stop him from . . . w-well, you kn-know . . .?"

Instantly, five pairs of warm arms embraced him, which made Harry jolt before he felt tears in his eyes. "Don't worry, Master Harry," Bessie stated. "You still have your mother's blood-protection. You'll still be safe from the Dark Lord."

"And with you now living with Rose here, the protection your mother gave you will now mix with the protection Sir Glaston gave her, not to mention all the wards that protect the Reevetor and Reevewick from the outside," Lilian added.

Harry blinked. "'Wards?!'"

"You ever see Star Trek before?" Jane asked.

He blinked. "Um . . . I don't think so."

Lilian laughed. "Modesty?"

"Tapes?!" Modesty asked.

"What do you think?"

"Right!"

Pop! And away she went. "Wait until you watch this, big brother," Rose said as she leaned over Bessie's shoulder to gaze on Harry. "You'll love it."

* * *

To be continued . . .