FicWad

Harry Potter and the Celestial Zone
Chapter 2
30th June 2005


"This seems a lot like my previous existence, totally imprisoned with no explanations." Harry frowned at Xing Yun, and Senior Green seemed to arch an eyebrow, whatever he had of it any way.

Harry had been under the Green Dragon Lake for a week and a half, but hadn't received a full explanation from either of his mentors yet. Senior Green, a Chinese snake-dragon didn't open his mouth often, and then only once that Harry had seen, but was perfectly capable of communicating his intent any way. Xing Yun was more open, but spoke more of Harry's training and power development than anything else.

Said mentor frowned, contemplating his answer. Finally, he seemed to come to a conclusion, "alright, I will explain why I will not permit you outside Dragon cavern and Green Dragon Lake. However, you must promise me not to leave no matter how much you may want to, till I give you the go." Seeing Harry's nod, he began.

"I'm sure you've heard of the martial arts, with sects that specialize in different techniques and such. Ours is an example; while the martial arts circle is their own, we had to separate our martial arts from theirs, which is where you get the Celestial Zone.

"Now, in our world there are both evil and righteous sides, though the lines are often blurred. Regardless, there are powerful exponents out there with varying alliances. I myself am among the top, but still nothing compared to the likes of Chi Xue, the destroyer of evil, or her partner, Xing Ling. But then those are on our side, so logically they won't want to do away with you, unlike the evil side.

"Now on the evil side, there are new heirs to the Xuan Hua, Ling Huan, and Moon sects. These are also very powerful and looking to do away with us, especially you. They often keep an annoyingly close watch on the celestial dungeons like our lake, so it is safe to say they'll get to you before any of our side do." He paused here in his lengthy explanation, waiting for Harry to absorb what he'd been told, "so given the risks your undeveloped power represents to you, will you promise not to venture out till I give you the go?"

Harry reluctantly agreed; he hadn't intended to do more than run around the lake, but at least his mentor was being honest with him. And it wasn't as if the exercises and all weren't helping, he'd brought along nearly everything he owned, and his wandless magic showed vast improvements already.

---

Back in Britain, the Order was having a meeting called by Albus Dumbledore. The headmaster's office was fuller than it had been in quite a long time, but the atmosphere was tense. Seeing that everyone was in attendance and ready, the headmaster got to his feet, "this order meeting is called to order. Firstly, as of not so long ago, Harry Potter went missing. The only signs of magic were Harry's, and they were from lumos charms. There was no smell of evil in the room, which Remus can attest to, and no sign of Harry has turned up.

He took a breath before continuing, "he left this book as an example of the training he'd been putting himself through prior to disappearing." Albus slid the book forward so everyone could see. Minerva spoke first, "Albus, are you sure? He's not even in 7th year and even then we don't teach most of the transfiguration in here." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "yes, older traces show that Harry indeed successfully completed much of what is in that book.

"The point I'm making here is that Harry is not infallible, that no amount of practice and study will be enough, and that he needs others around him that are trained properly to help him. To this end, I propose we induct the people closest to him: Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom." The uproar was instantaneous, Molly Weasley was practically crying about how they were still children and much too young to be in the Order.

On a surprisingly similar note, Severus Snape was complaining loudly about Harry, and by extension Gryffindors, was getting "special treatment they do not deserve". Most others, though, felt the headmaster's opinion was enough for them, and wanted them to be in. The eventual outcome was most of the Order accepting them in.

Of course, Dumbledore chose about that moment to drop another bombshell, "I felt these 3 were the best choices, since I'd have tried for 5 if young Ms Weasley and Ms Lovegood were older." This brought another round of arguing, and this time the motion was overruled, so neither of the coming 5th Years got in. Mrs Weasley still fumed, but at least felt good that she'd kept her daughter out of it.

Wisely, Dumbledore decided to move on, "we shall induct them next meeting perhaps?" he paused for them to take note of it, "moving on, I personally feel Harry is safe, and that he should be trusted to return in time for the school term. The subjects he wants, though he didn't know about his results, are in this list. Minerva, Filius, Ponoma, please look them over?" he slid the list across the table.

"With that done, our guard can be shifted elsewhere. Any progress in finding the Death Eaters' base of operations?"

---

Hermione sat on the grass, watching the half-hearted game of quidditch above. Ron had let in several goals, not up to his usual standard; Ginny was missing shots by quite a wide margin, and Neville being there probably wasn't the reason, since he himself was letting in quite a few. Luna alone seemed unaffected, though she didn't actually try for that many shots, letting Fred shoot. Even with his twin nearby, George didn't seem to be getting into either the game or their usual happy mood.

Harry's loss had hit them all hard. Ron and Neville were without their best mate, Ginny needed her other brother, and the twins were probably worried about their silent partner. And herself? She was probably the worst affected; the one constant, moody, brooding, angry, or caring, she'd known apart from Ron being around to pester her, which he didn't do any more, was gone.

She sighed again. She'd been allowed a look at the book he'd left, and had been very interested. She herself was taking transfiguration, but that didn't hold her long enough, and she went back into depression. News that the Order wanted to induct her, Ron, and Neville was welcome, and brought her out for a while, but again her thoughts returned to Harry, and she decided a shower and bed were just what she needed.

---

In the basement of number 12 Grimmuld Place, a circle flared to life. The heir to the Black line had come of age, and all over the world, assets belonging to the Black line flared to life in response to the main Black circle, realigning themselves to a new holder. On the tapestry in the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, a new person appeared, lined to the main Black line, and linked to Sirius by a dotted line. Harry Potter had come into his own in accordance with Sirius Black's will.

---

Quite a way away, in a manor that sat in the middle of a large plot of land, another circle flared to life. The heir had come of age, and as with the Black circle, everything linked to that circle realigned themselves to the new lord.

---

Far away, under a lake, Harry Potter's practice was interrupted by a sensation of something rushing through him. The sudden interruption made him go limp as he felt power suddenly filling him till it threatened to overwhelm him; fortunately, his own power reserves expanded to accommodate the influx, and continued to grow as the in pouring continued.

Xing Yun watched as his heir suddenly went limp and groaned. He didn't remember anything like this from his discussions with Seniors Green, and Jian Ao, but all of a sudden Harry's power energy levels started growing at an alarming rate. Power beads condensed around him, and started to clump, similar to when a spirit weapon was drawn.

Then Harry opened his eyes, and power seemed to pour out of him, and the clumps of energy seemingly exploded and Harry fell unconscious.

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A/N: Ah! The pieces are starting to come together. What has happened to Harry? Next chapter people, R/R in the mean time please!