FicWad

Hylian Bloodline

Author: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J. K. Rowling. Legend of Zelda is the property of Nintendo.

Author Note: I am just thrilled to bits at how well this story has been received and have working on and off this chapter for a bit now. I hope everyone likes this chapter just as much as the first.

This chapter is currently un-betaed.

Chapter 2

The nights and days and even weeks since the wedding Harry found to be harder than any year since he rejoined the wizarding world. While every year Harry had attended Hogwarts had ended up in some life threatening situation during the year Harry realized he and his friends had it easy compared to this year.

Billy and Fleur’s wedding had been nice, even though he and Hermione had to be in disguise to attend, up until Death Eaters had crashed the reception afterward after a warning from Shackelbolt had come telling everyone Voldemort had taken over the ministry. Harry, Ron and Hermione had bolted, finding a little café to hide it until they forgot that trice-damned taboo and uttered Voldemort’s name, leading them to their hiding place. Luckily they were able to hide at Grimmauld, Snape hadn’t given up the old place for some reason and it was still hidden under the Fidelius Charm.

Hedwig, his clever clever… whatever she was now had quickly found them hours later, hidden under mounds of charms that kept her hidden and safe from muggles and other wizards. Harry didn’t want to take any chance of his owl turned giant bird getting hurt or worse killed again. While at the house they discovered Sirius’s brother Regulus had been the one who took the original locket that Harry and Dumbledore had gone to retrieve the year before in the cave by the sea side. The locket in the cave turned out to be a fake and the real one had been at the old Black house the whole time. At least it had until it had disappeared, taken by the dirty thief Mundungus Fletcher and given to that bitch Umbridge.

Kreacher, the House Elf Harry had inherited from his godfather Sirius, had given the trio the full story of how Regulus had gotten a hold of the locket and what had really happened to the wizard. And how Kreacher had tried to destroy the locket at his ‘kind master Regulus’s orders’ but was unable to. This all lead them to Dung and him to Umbridge. The three young magic users had spied on the Ministry of Magic and had managed to steal back the locket.

But they were currently unable to destroy the locket, unable to use the magical fire called fiendfyre and now they were looking for the sword of Godric Gryffindor, the same sword Harry used to defeat the basilisk in his 2nd year. In the meantime the teens had been taking turns wearing the locket, goddesses only knew why. Harry had a hard time of it since the piece of Voldemort’s soul made his scar hurt like hell. At least one of the voices, goddesses or whatever they were, were always whispering in Harry’s ear trying to distract him from the dark whispers that came from the tacky looking locket.

But things had come to a head recently and Ron had stormed off one night in anger. Harry had been extremely mad at his friend at first but after he calmed down Harry started thinking and had a feeling the dark magics in the locket was behind Ron’s actions. Hermione agreed and they both hoped Ron would rejoin them… hopefully.

Right now Harry and Hermione were flying on Hedwig’s back toward Godric’s Hallow, where everything began for him. They both hoped that Dumbledore had left the sword with Bathilda Bagshot, the authoress of their A History of Magic book. Hermione was whimpering under her breath, clinging to Harry tightly as Hedwig carried them. She hated flying. On brooms, on Hippogriffs, on Thestrals and on bloody giant birds! When she could concentrate on the task, such as saving Sirius, she could ignore the whole flying thing but right now….

“Hermione calm down, Hedwig will never let us fall,” Harry said over the wind.

“Harry, don’t talk to me right now,” Hermione hissed, her arms tightening around Harry as Hedwig dove a tiny bit then seem to climb a bit higher into the air. “Just get us to this bloody town so we can land.” Harry shook his head slightly and a tiny smile crossed his lips, poor Hermione she really did hate flying. His amusement seemed to override the dark feelings of the locket around his neck, just for a moment or so it seemed at least. He didn’t really know.

He did as Hermione requested, or demanded really, and didn’t try to talk to her again until Godric’s Hallow came into view. It was early morning and they quickly found a thick patch of woods nearby with a small clearing in the middle that Hedwig was able to land in.

“Alright Hed off you go. Keep out of sight and keep safe,” Harry said softly as he gently petted the side of her long white neck. Hedwig gave a small cawing noise and ruffled Harry’s hair with her wing as she turned, flapping the large powerful limbs and took off into the air once more. The further away she got the less Harry could sense here until she was just barely there on the edge of his mind. He didn’t think he would ever get use to that but it was a comfort to feel her there all the same. He could have sworn he heard one of the voices giggle at him just now as well.

“I will never ever get use to flying,” Hermione said as she busied herself with making sure everything was in place in her moleskin bag.

“I guess not everyone is built for it,” Harry said absently as he gazed through the trees at the town.

“Are you alright Harry?” Hermione asked seeing the look on his face.

“It’s a bit strange being here isn’t it,” Harry said as he turned away from the town to look at Hermione. “It all started here didn’t it, that Halloween night? I-I always wanted to come here, to see it ever since I heard of this place but now that I’m here…”

“It’s alright Harry,” Hermione said as she pulled him into a tight hug. “I suppose it can be a little overwhelming.”

“Just a little,” Harry said softly. “Do… do you think they were buried here?”

“Maybe… I don’t think it’ll hurt to stop at the graveyard and see,” Hermione said as she let her best friend go. “I think we have time for that before trying to find Mrs. Bagshot.” Harry gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes but showed how thankful he was for her anyway then cast the glamour spell needed to hide his ears. He didn’t bother most of the time when they were on the run as it tended to drain his magic a bit after a while and his two friends were quite use to seeing Harry’s long pointed ears almost all the time. Wizarding world didn’t seem to know that Harry wasn’t quite human anymore and if it had gotten out neither of them had heard about it. Muggles he had to keep them hidden from though one time he had slipped and forgotten in a hurry and a group of muggles had seen him. Surprisingly they had all expressed how good his ‘costume’ ears looked and how real they almost appeared and asked him if it was a part of a cos-play. Harry had no idea what they were talking about but Hermione did, bless her heart, and had said yes they were working on a cos-play outfit for Harry and giving the ears a test run. The muggles had walked off after that, chatting about Harry’s ears and where they could get something similar. Hermione then explained just what cos-play was, a muggle cousin of her’s from America was into that sort of thing, and then smacked Ron on the arm when he called the muggles mad.

At the edge of the town Hermione and Harry found the house. Harry sucked in his breath as he looked at it, gripping the fence so hard his knuckles were white. Harry wasn’t sure how long they lived in that house, if it had been since his Mum and Dad got married or if they picked it to hide in, but it knocked the breath out of him either way. It was two stories and such bad shape Harry was surprised it was still standing. It had to be magic holding it up, the damage to it should have caused it to crumble years ago. He could feel the tingle of muggle-repealing wards all around them, keeping anyone who wasn’t magical from seeing the house.

“Ohhh,” Hermione breathed softly as she looked at the gaping hole where his nursery had been at one time. “I am glad you’re here and everything Harry but I am so very surprised you lived through that.”

“I am too,” Harry said as he turned his eyes toward the plaque by the little gate in the fence, quickly reading over the words that proclaimed this as the place of Voldemort’s downfall on October 31st 1981. “I’m surprised he let this place continue standing,” Harry mused softly, careful not to say Voldemort’s name. The plaque was covered in graffiti, words ranging to how grateful they were to Harry for saving them to horrible nasty notes of how the dark lord would rise again.

“He likely left it for a reason, to remind everyone how he ended up coming back from the dead,” Hermione said. Harry nodded absently and turned away from the house, he couldn’t stand to see it anymore and wished the wizards hadn’t turned it into a rotting monument like they had.

The pair walked further into the small town, it was very quiet almost deadly so. Harry could see a house or two with lights on and a person or two stepping out of their houses to either fetch the milk or leave for work. Harry supposed those people were muggles as they were dressed normally and had cars in their driveways. He wondered how the wizards and witches kept magic hidden so long from the muggles that lived in the village.

In the square in the middle of the village Harry and Hermione found a statue that at first didn’t look like anything special. In fact Harry would have ignored it all together as they passed it if Hermione hadn’t gasped softly and stopped, staring up at it.

“Hermione?” Harry asked worried, glancing in the direction she was looking then staring himself. The monument in the middle of the square, which had before been boring and plain looking, had changed into a young man and woman, the woman held lovingly by the man. And in the woman’s arms was held a baby. It only a few seconds for Harry to realize that this statue was of him and his parents. The plaque on the base only confirmed it. Harry glared at the statue then turned away marching off toward the church he could see in the distance.

“Harry!” Hermione called as she quickly ran after him. “Harry, are you alright?”

Harry stopped by the gates that lead into the graveyard next to the church.

“I hate seeing all this,” he said softly. “That house, that statue in the village… it’s like they’re worshiping something and completely ignore the fact two people lost their lives and I lost my family. It’s just as bad as that whole bloody ‘Boy-Who-Lived’ crap, they only see the icon not the person I am.”

“Oh Harry,” Hermione said softly as she pulled her best friend into a hug. “Maybe when all of this is over we can do something about it.”

“Maybe…” Harry said with a sigh. “Let’s go see if my parents are here.”

Hermione and Harry silently walked through the graveyard, looking here and there for any names that might be familiar. Harry saw a lot of old looking graves with the surname ‘Peverell’ on them, there was something about that name as if Harry heard it before but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out where.

“Look at this!” Hermione called from one of the gravestones. Harry walked over to look, the gravestone she was looking at was very worn, he could barely make out anything on it.

/‘1291? No wonder it’s hard to make out,/’ Harry thought to himself.

“Harry, that’s the mark in the book!” Hermione said excitedly. The book Hermione was talking about was called ‘The Tales of Beedle the Barb’, a collection of children stories written in runes that Dumbledore had left to Hermione in his will. One of the tales was called the ‘The Tale of the Three Brothers’ that seemed to fascinate Hermione. Both she and Ron, who had heard the story as a child from his family’s old worn copy of the book, had told Harry the story once and it sent shivers down Harry’s spine for some reason.

The symbol that Hermione was excited about was on found in the book, it looked like a triangle with a circle and line inside, the line starting at the top point of the triangle all the way to the bottom, going through the circle. Something about it intrigued Hermione, the same way the symbol on his medallion that Luna had given him on the last birthday had for a while.

“Yeah… it could be…” Harry said as he squinted at the worn out etches on the gravestone. It did look a lot like the Deathly Hallows sign in Hermione’s book.

“It says Ig- Ignotus I think…” Hermione said as she tried to make out the name on the stone.

“Wasn’t that one of the brothers?” Harry asked.

“Well yes… but it’s just a story, this can’t be one of the brothers from the tale,” Hermione said with a frown.

“Many stories are based on truth,” Harry pointed out.

“Maybe….” Hermione said. “Let’s keep looking.”

As they continued looking Harry started to notice other names, one that surprised him was Dumbledore. Two graves side by side had the names Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore etched into the stone. It look Harry a few seconds to remember where he heard those names before, they were the same people from the Rita Skeeter’s articles about his old Headmaster, his mother and younger sister. Ron’s great aunt Muriel at the wedding had stated that she believed Dumbledore had been behind his little sister’s death.

“I found them!” Hermione called up ahead. Harry quickly jogged to her side, his stomach feeling like it was filled with lead as he looked down at the graves of his parents. He reached out and gently touched the cold gravestone of his mother, tears in his green eyes. “Why don’t I leave you alone with them for a moment,” Hermione offered softly as she stepped back to give her friend from privacy, deciding to look at some of the other graves in the meantime.

Harry barely noticed as she left, sinking down to the snow covered ground in front of his parent’s resting place. He didn’t know what to say or do as he stared at the graves, reaching up to trace the words etched into the stone.

”/The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,”/ Harry read softly as his eyes traced over the words on both graves. ‘That’s… a very odd thing to put on a gravestone,’ he thought to himself.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said softly after a few minutes. And he really didn’t, he had dreamed of visiting his parent’s grave one day and had come up with millions of things he would say once he was there. But now, sitting on his knees in the cold wet snow, looking at the two cold gravestones that bore Lily and James’s names… he couldn’t find a single thing to say.

Say what’s in your heart little one The ghostly voice that reminded him of water whispered in his ears.

No matter where they are, your parents are watching over you a second voice added, the one like a mother, that ghosted over him like a soft breeze. Harry licked his lips, the voices… the goddesses?... had a point. While he felt silly doing it, Harry poured out his heart to his parent’s resting place.

“I don’t know if you’re proud of me, I know I’ve been bumbling around in the dark this whole time. I got Cedric killed by suggesting he take the cup with me, I got P-Padfoot kill…” Tears sprung to his eyes as he thought of his beloved godfather. What felt like a warm breeze swirled around him for a moment, feeling almost like a hug. “I hope you can forgive me for getting your best friend kill Dad. And I really hope you two aren’t disappointed that I’m not as human as I was before… not that I can really tell a difference,” he muttered the last part under his breath. Really, other than his ears being pointed now, there wasn’t any difference between the human form he had before and this strangely normal Elven one.

“J-just know, one way or another, I will end this with /him/. I’ll avenge your deaths and try to save everyone else,” Harry said as he slowly stood brushing the snow from his legs. Hermione slowly came back over, a wreath of flowers that she transfigured in her hands made of lilies.

“Here,” Hermione said as she handed the wreath over. Harry gave her a sad thankful smile then gently placed it between his parents’ graves. Then the two young magicals turned and walked away, heading back into the village. As they arrived at the square where the horrible statue of Harry and his parents stood, they found Bathilda Bagshot, the very woman they had come to see.

*****

Harry could feel there was something very, very wrong with Bathilda Bagshot since they moment they met. When she spoke there seemed to be a slight hissing sound to her voice. It reminded him of all the times he heard a snake speak after learning what Parseltongue really was and would listen to the hissing undertone. He didn’t like it and liked it even less as he followed the old woman up the stairs, she hadn’t wanted Hermione to come with them and Harry knew this was a trap. Hermione knew as well and was on her guard.

~There….~ Bagshot said in softy in a hissing voice, nodding her head toward the far side of the room.

~The sssword isss here?~ Harry hissed back just as softly, noticing that Bagshot’s eyes were drawn to the locket around his neck.

~Yessss, what you ssseek isss here,~ she responded. The danger level in Harry went up as he slowly walked across the room. He couldn’t see the sword anywhere but his attention was drawn to a photo album on the dresser. He opened it and slowly turned the pages, inside were photos of two young men. One he recognized as his mentor and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore just much, much younger, the other with him in the photos was the same man from the photo he saw downstairs. He had asked Bagshot who it was, the man in the photo was familiar but he couldn’t put his finger on why, but she hadn’t answered his question.

Careful child, never turn your back on a snake The voice like fire suddenly warned.

Behind him he could hear the sound of something shifting and falling to the floor. He quickly spun and saw Voldemort’s snake Nagini rise out of the crumpled body of Bagshot.

~Now you die!~ Nagini hissed as she lunged at Harry who quickly grabbed a chair to fend the snake off.

Meanwhile downstairs Hermione lit her wand with a Lumos spell and started to explore. Like Harry, she could feel something was wrong in the house. Walking down a narrow hallway filled with books, one caught her attention. She briefly read the small note pinned to the top before reading the title. Her lip curled in disgust as she saw ‘The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore’ on the front and turned it over to see Rita Skeeter’s ugly mug on the back.

‘I should have squished her when I had the chance,’ Hermione thought to herself as she slipped the book into her bag. Walking further down the hallway Hermione slowly pushed open the door at the end, she could hear what sounded like dozens and dozens of flies buzzing about. Lifting her wand Hermione saw blood on the ceiling then heard the thumping sound of a fight going on up ahead.

“Harry!” She cried and quickly turned to go help her friend, cursing as she tripped over the piles of books in the hallway.

Upstairs Harry used the chair to fend off Nagini the same way lion tamer would fend off a lion. She had already broken off one of the legs in her powerful jaws, hissing and cursing at him as she attacked again and again. Finally she pushed her whole body into Harry and the chair, sending them both through the wall in the row house next door. He was thankful the people who lived there wasn’t at home, even more so when he saw he was in a child’s nursery.

Now that the chair was out of Harry’s grasp Nagini took it as her chance to lunge for Harry’s neck. Thinking quickly, Harry grabbed a nearby brick and slammed it into the snake’s head then quickly scrambled to his feet to run past the dazed snake.

“Harry!” Hermione yelled as she ran into the room. “Look out!” Harry turned and lifted his wand as he heard Nagini hissing in outrage behind him while Hermione cast a spell at the same time. Hermione’s spell hit Harry’s wand, knocking it from his grasp, then hit Nagini knocking the snake back. Harry climbed behind an overturned couch with Hermione, looking over the edge.

“Bloody hell!” He cursed when he saw his wand laying in two pieces on the ground.

“Harry I’m so sorry!” Hermione apologized when she saw what she had done.

~I’m not done with you child!~ Nagini hissed as she once again lunged out of her hiding spot. Harry yelped in and held out a hand, blasting Nagini out the window with a blast of magic before Hermione could get her wand up.

“Harry you-“ Hermione started to say amazed but was cut off as Harry hissed in pain and pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“He’s coming Hermione!” Harry said the magic in his scar telling him Voldemort was close. “Come on! We can’t stay here!” He grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the window.

“Harry wait!” Hermione said in alarm, “we can just appira- eek!” Harry pulled Hermione into his arms as he leapt out the window on instinct, Hedwig soaring under just in time to catch her wizard and his friend. Harry could hear spells being cast from down below as his vision started to go black, Hermione grabbing on to him as he fell into a vision from the night his parents died.

******

The weeks after their escape from Godric’s Hallow had been hectic, chaotic, and filled with both heartbreak and triumphs. Harry had learned from Rita’s book just who the young man in the photo had been, Gellert Grindelwald the pervious dark lord before Voldemort. Harry had found out more about Dumbledore’s past that had frankly shocked him to the core, he knew the man wasn’t prefect but still…

The good news was Ron had returned to the group and they had finally found Gryffindor’s sword within a frozen pond and had destroyed the locket at last. Hermione had beat Ron senseless when they returned to the tent but Harry knew she was happy that the red headed teen had returned. From there they had learned about the Deathly Hallows from Luna’s father, of which Harry’s cloak was one, before the man had betrayed them to Voldemort and the ministry. Harry did understand the reason, Luna had been taken by Voldemort’s Death Eaters to Malfoy Manor and Mr. Lovegood had hoped that his only child would be returned to him. Did it make the betrayal any better? No but it was dark times right now and these sort of things happened.

Things at Malfoy Manor had… well it had been a mess. Hermione had been tortured by Bellatrix after they had been caught but in the end they had saved not only Luna but the goblin Griphook and Mr. Ollivander with the help of Dobby the House Elf. Dobby had given his life to save Harry and the rest, but unlike Hedwig there had been no coming back for the loyal brave little House Elf.

After the escape they had gone to Shell Cottage where Harry was shocked to learn that not only had Remus married Tonks but they had a baby together. Harry was a little betrayed that Remus hadn’t at least told him that he and Tonks were an item and mad that the werewolf had ran off scared that he had inflected his son. Harry’s heart seized a bit as he thought of his Godson Teddy, he had only briefly met the babe once and already the child have a special place in his heart. And now he was leaving the baby as he marched to his death.

‘At least he still has his grandmother,’ Harry thought. Andy loved her grandson and at least Teddy would grow up loved. After Shell Cottage everything started to come to ahead. He, Hermione and Ron had snuck into Gringotts with Griphook to get Hufflepuff’s cup then had to escape on the back of a dragon. They had just recently returned to Hogwarts where they destroyed the cup and found Ravenclaw’s diadem in the Room of Requirements. They had honestly hadn’t been the ones to really destroyed the diadem in the end, Malfoy and his two flunkies had found them in the room and Crabbe had stupidly cast a Fiendfyre which had killed the boy. Harry and his friends did managed to save Malfoy and Goyle as they escape the flames and the diadem had crumbled within Harry’s hands.

That was when things really came to ahead, Harry had witnessed Snape’s death by the hands of Voldemort via Nagini’s fangs, the snake beheaded by Neville, and had been given memories by the dark man. Harry knew now what he had to do.

He, Harry Potter, was the last Horcux. His death would ensure Voldemort, Tom Riddle, could be destroyed once and for all. Somehow he honestly wasn’t surprised that it came down to this, the strange connection he had with Voldemort should have been a clue, how the scar always burned when the man was near and his visions. The idea that he have been hosting the dark wizard that had hunted him down for so many years and had killed his parents disgusted Harry to no end and if his death meant saving his friends and his little godson… saving the wizarding world that he loved even if he disliked a good amount of the people… well Harry was glad to do it. He had even used the Deathly Hallow called the Resurrection Stone to speak to his parents, Sirius and to Remus who recently died. He wasn’t sure if it was really them or just an illusion the stone created but it gave him peace either way.

Harry didn’t know what to expect when he died, the afterlife wasn’t something Harry really thought about. He didn’t know if it would be nothingness or if he would go to heaven, or some afterlife like it, and see his family again. He even wondered if he would end up in some sort of hell for everyone dying around him and not stopping Voldemort sooner.

What he didn’t expect was to be standing in some sort of temple that overlooked a lush green land as far as the eye could see. Or to see three women standing in front of him.

“Who the bloody hell are you!?” Harry yelped in surprise.

“You know us Harry Potter,” One of the women said in a calming voice like water.

“We’ve been speaking to you for almost two years,” The second woman said in a voice like fire.

“I’m happy to finally meet you face to face Harry!” The third woman said in a chipper voice that was childlike and reminded him for the forest.

“You’re…” Harry’s mouth slowly dropped open in shock as he pointed at the women. “You’re the voices I’ve been hearing! You’re real, not just something in my head!”

“Yes, we’re real Harry,” the first woman said with a kind smile. “I am Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom.” Nayru was a beautiful woman Harry noticed right away. Her skin was fair and her hair was long, reaching all the way down to the back of her knees. Her hair was strangely enough a blue the shade of a clear lake on a warm summer’s day and flowed around her like water. Nayru wore a light blue dress that was tight fitting at the top then flowed around her legs gracefully and long bell-sleeves that reached down to her hands.

“I am Din, the Goddess of Power,” the second woman said in a smoky voice. Like Nayru, Din was also beautiful but in a much stronger way. Din’s skin tone was much darker and her hair the shade of red that reminded Harry of fire. It was pulled up in a high pony tail that swayed behind her like a flame. Her dress was skin tight and sleeveless, the skirt of the dress only reaching halfway down her thighs. She also wore gold jewelry on her wrists and around her neck.

“And I’m Farore, the Goddess of Courage!” the last woman said with a grin. Harry couldn’t help but smile back, Farore was very child like. She was younger looking, as well as shorter, than the other two women, skin a healthy shade of peach and her hair was the same shade of green like you would find in the forest. It was long and pulled up in twin pigtails on top of her head and Harry could see little vines with tiny leaves growing on them woven into her locks. Unlike Din and Nayru, Farore didn’t wear a dress but a forest green tunic and brown buckskins. He could see a quiver of arrows just over her shoulder and she held a bow nearly as tall as her in her hands. “I’m so happy to meet you at last.” (1)

Harry looked from goddess to goddess, he couldn’t believe that Ron had been right about that, and noticed something else about them. All three women had Elven ears just like he did.

“I don’t understand, where am I and why are you three here?” Harry asked as he finally found his voice again. “And wasn’t there a fourth voice?” The three goddesses looked at each other then sighed softly.

“Hylia is no longer with us child,” Nayru said. “You were hearing her voice from the edge of time where she watches all of her children.”

“She gave up her goddess-hood to seal away a powerful demon on the world we created,” Farore added.

“You created?” Harry asked.

“Far far away from this world Nayru, Farore and I created a world of our own,” Din said spreading her arms.

“Our world fell into war with a demon named Demise,” Nayru explained. “He desired a magical artifact our magic left behind when we finished with our world called the Triforce. Hylia hid away the Triforce and the people under her care within the sky.”

“The sky…” Harry remembered the wistful feeling of behind up high with Hedwig, feeling at home there.

“Yes, there they were safe from Demise as she and the other races on the surface fought against and sealed away Demise,” Nayru said.

“So how did I end up as an Elf?” Harry asked.

“Oh you’re not an Elf, you’re a Hylian,” Din said.

“Your ancestor was a powerful sage that helped fight against Demise before Hylian took your people to the sky,” Farore said. “He used a really powerful spell in battle against Demise and the other demons but it sort of sent him through a portal here to this world.”

“And here he was found by the Potter family and married into it,” Nayru added. “By the time we were able to find our lost child, he had already settled into life here and was happy. We offered him the chance to return home but he declined, staying here to help raise his children. His children too decided to stay here on Earth and in time the Hylian bloodline started to weaken.”

“Until you came along of course,” Din said. “Your magic was powerful enough to handle being one of ours and we were able to speak to you.”

“Alright… so what now? Not that I wasn’t curious about what I am but why tell me this now after I’m dead?” Harry asked. What they told him was quite frankly amazing but he didn’t see why it mattered.

“Oh you’re not dead, at least not all the way,” Din said.

“Huh?” Harry asked. “I don’t understand.”

“He can tell you,” Nayru said, nodding to someone behind Harry. Harry quickly turned and saw Dumbledore sitting on a stone bench with that old twinkle in his blue eyes and wearing a brightly colored purple robe with gold stars all over it.

“Professor Dumbledore,” Harry said surprised.

“Hello my boy,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “I must say, this is much better than were I originally thought I might see you.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

“Umm… we might have highjacked this meeting,” Farore said with a sweet laugh. “We wanted to talk to you and between worlds was the best place.”

“Yes, I though you and I would be in something like Kingscross station but I believe this place is much better,” Albus said with another smile as he looked around. “Much more pleasant.”

“Sir, I don’t understand, how can I not be all the way dead,” Harry asked as he sat next to Dumbledore on the bench. The three Goddesses went to the other side of the temple to give them some time alone. Dumbledore sighed and looked up at the ‘sky’ above them.

“First Harry my boy, I must apologize to you. I have made many choices about your life than I am not proud of. When I learned you were a Horcux I searched endlessly for a way to save you from death,” He said mournfully. “Then you told me about the ritual that Riddle used to regain a body. I found and studied the ritual in books within the Black home and realized that Riddle had given you a chance.”

“How?” Harry asked.

“Just like Riddle had a connection with you through the piece of soul you housed in your scar, you two had a connection to him through the blood he took from you,” Dumbledore explained. “As long as that connection exist you have a chance of returning to your body.”

“But I was hit by the killing curse,” Harry said.

“Yes, but the curse only needs to take one soul,” Dumbledore said, looking at something behind Harry. Harry turned and let out a sound of disgust, jumping up off the bench to move away from the thing.

“What is that!?” He asked. It appeared to be a really ugly baby, its skin wrinkled and gray. The baby thing looked up at Harry and hissed, mouth full of sharp teeth and eyes a blood red color. “Is that… Voldemort’s soul?”

“Ugh… not very good looking is it,” Din said as she came over to see what had Harry all up in arms.

“The killing curse only needed to take one soul…” Albus repeated. Harry gagged, that thing had been in his head the whole time.

“What about me?” He said turning away from it.

“Well you have a choice,” Dumbledore said. “You could return to your body, free of Riddle’s soul piece, or you can come with me to the afterlife.” Harry rubbed his arm thinking it over for a moment, part of him wanted to see his parents, to see Sirius and Remus… but another part of him didn’t want to die. Not yet. He thought of Teddy and of his friends…. Of his other half Hedwig, the big beautiful bid wanting on him.

“I think… I’ll go back,” Harry said at last. “Sir… thank you. Even after everything I know you had your heart in the right place.”

“Thank you for forgiving a foolish old man,” Albus said with a chuckle. He stood up and walked over to the Voldy-baby. “Now, I believe I should take my leave. I will be taking this with me.” He smiled at Harry one final time, a twinkle in his blue eyes as he and the soul piece faded away. Harry took a deep breath, holding it for a moment then slowly letting it out.

“So what now?” He said turning to the Goddesses.

“Now we return you to your body,” Nayru said. “There is also a third choice the old man didn’t mention.”

“What’s that?” Harry asked.

“We take you and your Loftwing back to our world,” Farore said with a smile.

“Loftwing?” Harry asked.

“That is what Hylia changed your owl into,” Nayru said. “Loftwings are her creatures and she pairs one with each of her children. A Hylain and Loftwing are each one half of a pair. Your Hedwig is your half.”

“Oh… I’m not sure if I want…” Harry frowned and rubbed his arm. “I mean I have friends back home… and a little godson…”

“Then return home,” Din said. “It’s that simple. We’re not going to force you to go if you want to stay on Earth.”

“But know this child,” Nayru said with a smile. “You are always welcome to return to your people.” She reached over and gently picked up the medallion around Harry’s neck, tracing her fingers over the symbol on it. The triangle symbol started to glow under her fingertips. “Just wish here upon the Triforce and you will be taken home.”

The medallion was dropped back down to Harry’s neck with a gentle thump, the token feeling warm against his skin.

“Good luck child,” Nayru said as everything started to fade around Harry.

“May you strike fear in the heart of that snake,” Din added.

“Win the battle Harry!” Farore’s cheer was the last thing Harry heard before everything became white.

*****

Luna smiled as she found Harry finally, curled up in a out of the way hidey hole curled up against Hedwig’s side as the Loftwing preened his messy looking hair. It was days after the final battle and the side of good had come out on top… but not without its share of losses. Everyone had spent days cleaning and repairing what they could of Hogwarts, gathering both the dead and the remaining Death Eaters.

Right now Ron and Ginny were with the rest of their family, mourning the loss of Fred Weasley and trying to give what comfort they could to Fred’s twin brother George who had lost his other half. Hermione was helping the healers in the hospital wing while Neville did what he could to help the Aurors on the battle grounds. Harry had been helping as well wanting to do his bit but the staring and whispered had gotten to the young hero and now here he was, getting at least a little bit of well deserved rest.

Everyone in the wizarding world now knew that Harry wasn’t as human as he had appeared to be, his ‘death’ had canceled out the glamour on his ears, showing them in their full slender pointy glory as he defeated Voldemort. Luna was sure a few purebloods were grinding their teeth about being saved by a ‘half-breed’ but then again those same purebloods would be unhappy either way since they were saved by a ‘half-blood’. There really was no pleasing some people.

“Caw!” Luna’s white raven flew down and landed on her shoulder making Luna smile as she held one finger up to her lips.

“Shhhh,” she said softly. “You don’t want to wake them do you Blinky?” Luna’s crow Blinky, named after one of those delightful looking ‘ghosts’ in that muggle game, settled down on her shoulder puffing his white feathers out. Luna smiled again and sat down close to Harry and his Hedwig, scratching the chest feathers on Blinky’s chest.

Harry sighed and shifted in his sleep, the medallion hanging around his neck glinting in the afternoon sunlight and catching Luna’s attention. It caught Blinky’s attention as well, it was so shiny… it would look so good with the rest of his horde…

“No Blinky, that’s Harry’s,” Luna scolded as she caught her raven hopping down her arm to get closer. The raven cawed and ruffled his feathers again, taking off to sit and sulk on the broken wall nearby. Luna turned her attention back to Harry and looked at the medallion around his neck, smiling happy. She had so glad she was right about her friend liking it and it warmed her heart to see him wearing it all the time.

How she got the medallion in the first place wasn’t how she told Harry she got it. Luna didn’t find it in a store in the USA or anywhere else for that matter. It was made just for Harry by the little Minish living in her house. How they knew what Harry would become was a mystery even to Luna.

‘I do hope the Minish here in the castle is alright,’ Luna thought to herself, she would have to go and check when she had the chance.

“Hmmff… Luna?” Harry’s sleepy voice caught her attention and she turned to give Harry a dreamy smile.

“I hope your dreams were pleasant?”

“Yeah, surprisingly they were,” Harry said as he sat up, his long ears twitch a bit as he ran a hand through his messy hair. He had dreams of huge beautiful forests and large sparklingly lakes so clear you could see the bottom. The forest in his dreams was nothing like the Forbidden Forest or any other woods he, Hermione and Ron camped in during the last year. They were beautiful as they were wild, and Harry had wanted to just walk through them for hours clearing his mind. Want to swim in the cool waters of the lake that was nothing like the Black Lake at the school.

“They are showing you their world,” Luna said. Harry blinked and turned to look at Luna again.

“How do you do that?” He asked. “You always seem to know what someone is thinking or just know things before other people do.”

“Now that… is a secret,” Luna said pressing a finger to the side of her nose and winking at Harry. Harry grinned and laughed softly, shaking his head. (2)

“Alright, keep your secrets then,” he said. “I’ll figure them out one day. So you think Din, Farore and Nayru are sending me dreams?”

“They want to show the world you could have, if you wish,” Luna said as she drew her legs up to her chest. “Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking, who knows.” Harry had a feeling Luna was right but he didn’t feel pressured into choosing the Goddesses’ world and really, dreaming for calming forests was much better than dreaming of his usual nightmares. At least now he would never get a vision from Voldemort again since the wizard was as dead as a doorknob now, not that many got through to him when the Goddesses has mostly blocked them before. He sighed as he leaned back against Hedwig’s side, looking up into the sky.

“Knut for your thoughts?” Luna asked. Harry’s lips quirked slightly into a smile.

“I would think they would have been worth more than that,” he joked then sighed. “Just thinking on everything I guess. I don’t have to worry about Voldemort getting into my head any more, about him hurting me or the people I care about and I finally know what I am… it’s all a little surreal.”

“You’ll get use to it,” Luna said.

“Hmm…” Harry closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the wind as it blew through the damaged school. He sighed and sat up again to look at Luna. “So… what are they all saying about me now?”

“Well you’re hailed as the new hero of the wizarding world of course,” Luna said as she started picking clovers out of the grass to make a clover chain. “Many of them are swooning over your ‘Elven’ blood and looks.”

Harry rolled his eyes a bit and sighed, scratching a spot behind the crest of feathers on Hedwig’s head as the large bird placed it in her master’s lap. “Bet there are some people who don’t like that an ‘Elf’ saved them.”

“You know how people are,” Luna said as she finished one clover crown and placed it on her head. “They’re only a small group and they’re not going to say anything out loud.”

“And I’m not even really an Elf,” Harry said with a laugh. Other than pointy ears he had nothing in common with any of the Elves he saw in books. They grew no body or facial hair, Harry had stubble on his chin from not shaving the last couple of days which he absently scratched at. Real Elves had lean willowy bodies, Harry had some lean muscles but he was mostly just short and skinny. Real Elves had excellent eyesight, Harry still needed his glasses. The list just went on really. And even knowing he was a Hylian, he couldn’t really tell anyone other than his close friends. Hylians weren’t native to this world after all, they came from a whole different planet.

And boy had Hermione gotten excited when he told her that. She had always been a big believer that there were life on other worlds, loved reading about UFO sightings in her spare time. Ron still didn’t understand what it meant. So to know that one of Harry’s ancestors had been an alien, even if he didn’t come to Earth via a spaceship or anything, had made Hermione very happy.

“They are also calling you the next Merlin,” Luna said as she started another chain. Harry groaned and rubbed his forehead.

“For Goddess sake why?” Knowing that Din, Farore and Nayru really were goddesses, his kind’s goddesses, it only felt right to say it that way for Harry.

“Well, you didn’t use a wand now did you? You used wandless magic to defeat him,” Luna pointed out while dropping the second crown of clovers on Harry’s head. Harry blushed slightly as he had forgotten that part. Ever since Hermione had accidently broken his wand and he had channeled magic through his hand to blast back that evil snake, Harry had found using magic without a wand to be easier than with one. Much like how spells came easier to him since his race changed from wizarding Human to Hylian. The magic just seem to flow better. So he practiced when he could, seeing what spells he could and couldn’t cast without a wand. Some spells could be cast easily without a wand, mostly the lower level spells he learned in his early years at Hogwarts. The more powerful spells still needed something to channel his magic through, at least so far.

But the battle with Voldemort had been about mostly raw power, and luck. If the Elder Wand hadn’t considered Harry to be its true master, therefore not working at its full power against him when Voldemort cast deadly spell after deadly spell, Harry would have been a greasy spot on the ground. Between that bit of good luck and tossing what felt like pure magic when he used the Disarming spell against Voldemort’s Killing Curse, Harry almost couldn’t believe it was over. It wasn’t until he was sharing a three-way hug with Ron and Hermione that it really hit home that he was finally free.

Speaking of the Elder Wand, Harry had snapped that thing while in the Headmaster office when speaking to Dumbledore’s portrait. The painting of his onetime mentor had approved of Harry’s actions, the Elder Wand was just too powerful and had too long of a deadly history for any one man or woman to wield. Harry had placed the two pieces in Dumbledore tomb late in the night, thinking it would be safe there. As for the Stone, Harry had lost that somewhere, dropping it in the forest after speaking to the images of his parents, godfather and Remus when he went to die. He had no idea where he dropped it and no plans of going to look for it. Better that became just another stone on the forest floor.

The only thing he did keep was his cloak, it was the safest out of the three Hallows and had been a great help in the years since it was given to him.

“I just hope things die down soon, I just want a normal life for once,” Harry said as he petted Hedwig. Luna’s lips quirked slightly, Harry’s life would be anything but normal that is what made him Harry Potter.

***

(1) I semi based the Goddesses off the Oracels of the same names from Orcle of Ages and Seasons.

(2) Me thinks Luna watches too much anime.