CHAPTER 35:

SHADES OF THINGS TO COME

In the Dursley household, only one person had any concern for one Harry Potter. It was drowned deep within an ocean of spite and envy, but it was there.

As her husband snored loudly next to her, Petunia Dursley wondered, as she often did privately, why she had married the man. He was important, full of importance, and it seemed like the only way she could one-up perfect little Lily and beat her to marriage. She now had a son, a beautiful son, even if he was a bit big-boned and belligerent.

Harry had come into their lives at a critical juncture. She had railed and ranted, and it was only Dumbledore's personal intervention that guaranteed that she kept Harry there, despite what he said about blood wards in his letter. And she had then conceived the perfect revenge against Lily. She would use Lily's vile little freak boy as a servant. Have him do all the housework. Crush the magic out of him, that should have been Petunia's.

And then, that night, it had gone so wrong. Vernon had drunk too much, and had begun beating his nephew. Petunia never intervened. She had attacked Harry physically before with a frying pan out of pique, but she had never attacked him as viciously as Vernon had at times. And she feared, one day, that violence may be turned on her and Dudley.

And then, Harry had disappeared. Dumbledore somehow knew, and had left somewhat perturbed, for the boy had apparently not merely run away, but had actually used his magic to vanish. Petunia thought, good riddance, but a small, very very small part of her worried.

With Harry gone, though, the allowance they had been given by the wizarding bank, as well as by the government, had ceased. She had been forced to report her nephew as missing, at least initially, until Dumbledore had sent her a letter. He was alive, and well, though he would not be returning to Number 4, Privet Drive. The blood wards had collapsed, and they couldn't be re-established. Which meant, in theory, that the freaks could attack. But Dumbledore reassured her that few knew where she was, and in any case, no follower of Voldemort would think to check a telephone book, holding all Muggle innovations in contempt.

But now, so many months had passed since Harry disappeared. And she found herself missing him. Not just because he had done the housework, or his presence brought in money that they were now having to budget without. No…she had gotten used to his presence, despite holding him in contempt. And even now, she was a little worried about him.

She only hoped that wherever he was, he had found someone actually capable of loving him. Petunia could never do that. And she wasn't sure she loved anyone, save for Dudley. Certainly not the cacophonic walrus snoring next to her.

Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House, was not a nice person. In fact, he was a bitter, twisted, and callous individual who had trouble shedding a grudge. But to say that there was no light within his soul was to do the man a great disservice. There was a light, deep within, guttering and flickering, always in danger of being extinguished by the darkness, but it was there.

Dumbledore had taken Snape aside not long ago, along with McGonagall and Hagrid, and spun a tale so ridiculous, if it had come from any other man's mouth, Snape would have thought it ludicrous. As it was, he questioned whether the old man had finally gone senile. But he had produced letters, each with a distinctive magical signature that was definitely not that of Dumbledore's, or anyone else whom Snape was familiar with. It could have been like Lily's, and like James Potter's.

The letters by Harry spoke of adventures on another world. With Sirius Black, of all people, who had disappeared from Azkaban months ago. Snape didn't care that Black was innocent, though. Oh, he could believe it, once he examined what had been divulged by Black. He didn't know Pettigrew had been Voldemort's spy in the Order. If anything, he had shared the Order's opinion that it had been the werewolf, Lupin, even though he wasn't part of the Order of the Phoenix then. All he had known was that there had been a spy. But Black deserved to suffer, for sending Snape to a nearly fatal encounter with a transformed Lupin.

It seemed that the Potter brat couldn't keep out of trouble. Assuming the boy wasn't bragging (and Snape, given his tendency to believe the worst in anyone called 'Potter', refused to rule out that possibility), he had had quite the adventure.

Snape snorted as he lay in his own bed. The boy would soon learn that conquering monsters did not automatically entitle him to be king of Hogwarts, or even the respect of Severus Snape…

"…and so, Albus, that is why we've agreed to this plan of yours," said the strangely youthful-looking man with the swept-back white hair. "It's a rather dangerous one, but if your enchantments on the Mirror of Erised prove to be as good as they should be, then we can remove Voldemort, or at least his agent."

Dumbledore nodded. It had been some time since he had spoken to Nicholas Flamel, the famous alchemist, and the only known creator of a Philosopher's Stone, sometimes known by American wizards as the Sorcerer's Stone(1). "So…we shall have a decoy Stone in the Mirror, which itself will be charmed to eventually entrap Voldemort, or his agent. We will set a series of traps, designed mostly to keep interested students at bay, but not enough to deter a truly determined adult, and lure them into a false sense of security. Then, the trap will be sprung."

Nicholas Flamel nodded. Eventually, he said, "It would be dangerous to allow one of Voldemort's underlings, or what is left of the man himself, to come into the school."

"Voldemort is not a complete fool, even knowing what I do about the man. If he came in person, it would only be by possession of another, and he would risk bringing himself to my attention if he did anything truly overt to the student body. I am perhaps the only person he is truly afraid of."

Again, silence reigned. And it was once more Nicholas Flamel who broke it. "I hear interesting rumours amongst my contacts in the Unspeakables. That Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, was the first person in so very long to use the Goddess' Gate. That the tales of the Cetra Exodus were true after all."

"You don't seem surprised at the last, old friend," Dumbledore said, long since inured to his old friend and mentor knowing things he shouldn't.

Flamel smiled sadly. "I am perhaps one of the few people alive to remember more about the Cetra Heritage than what myths and legends tell us…"

In an isolated shack, deep in the middle of nowhere, a tired-looking man stared at the calendar, knowing that the time was coming too soon. The full moon. As if he didn't need enough anguish already. Tonight was the 24th of July, 1991. Two nights from now, it would be the 26th, and with it, the full moon he so hated(2).

Remus Lupin had a hard time of it in the world. Few employers in the magical world would willingly take on a werewolf. And he had a hard time keeping down a job anywhere in the Muggle world, save for the most menial, given that a magical education didn't help as much with qualifications there.

And if that weren't bad enough, Dumbledore had sent him a letter recently detailing the most shocking news. Harry had gone missing from the Dursley home. So too had Sirius Black from his cell in Azkaban. And if Dumbledore's letter was to be believed, they were together.

Lupin didn't know what was more unbelievable: that Harry and Sirius had travelled to another world, or that Sirius was innocent, and that Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. He had spent so long hating the man who was a brother and more, it was hard to believe otherwise.

And yet, it did make a perverse kind of sense. Pettigrew was always the weakest link in the Marauders. Although Sirius' idea to switch Secret Keepers made sense in theory, Pettigrew had been the weakest link. Unfortunately, they had overlooked him, as they so often did. Everyone looked at Lupin as Voldemort's spy, simply because he was a werewolf. And when Black had been captured, everyone, even Lupin, had believed that Black had reverted to his family's reputation of Black by name, and black by reputation.

Tears trickled from Lupin's eyes, as he wondered if he could ever make amends with his old friend. Or at the very least, find Pettigrew.

Pettigrew, at the moment, was sleeping on the chest of the boy he had been given to. In his Animagus form, of course. He had no qualms about this. He had few qualms about anything.

But this is not about him. This is about the boy he was sleeping on, who was reading the latest fan publication for the Chudley Cannons.

Ron Weasley was the youngest boy and the second-youngest child in the massive Weasley family. And he had felt overshadowed by his siblings for much of his life. You had Bill, the curse-breaker, Charlie, the dragon-wrangler, Percy, the perfect prefect, and the twins, the trouble-makers. And, of course, Ginny, the only girl in the house, and thus fussed and doted over by his mother.

Ron was by no means neglected or abused. But because of the relative poverty of the family, he was usually the one stuck with the hand-me-downs. Scabbers, the rat currently sleeping on his chest, used to be Percy's. But because Percy made prefect, Percy got an owl of his own, and Ron got Scabbers, fat, useless thing that he was. Even his Hogwarts uniform and wand had come from his older brothers' wardrobe. And being the youngest brother, he was also often the target of Fred and George's pranks, though Percy, given his increasing officiousness, was thankfully a more inviting target now.

If Ron had some self-reflection, he would have realised that there was one small thing that set him apart from his brothers. He was a chess prodigy, despite his old set with the insolent pieces.

And there was one thing that he shared with his sister: an interest in Harry Potter. And hopefully, in becoming his friend. True, he wasn't as fanatical as his sister, but Harry was apparently due to come to Hogwarts this year. And Ron hoped to be friends with him. He'd heard his parents' tales of the Potters and the Marauders. Harry would be a good guy, and a good friend. Plus, he'd been with Muggles all his life, apparently, and he may need someone to show him the ropes.

If this sounds rather bad for Ron and his attitude, remember that he is a child, wanting to get out from his brothers' shadows. His desire for friendship with Harry Potter was genuine. And soon, he would get his chance.

Ginny, elsewhere in the Burrow, eagerly read one of her Harry Potter adventure books. She devoured them and believed them as ardently as they were fact. Had she heard that these adventures were utter nonsense, she would have bawled and wept. Had she heard that he had a more extraordinary adventure than any one of these, then she may very well have fainted on the spot.

Ginny was a girl with a crush. One day, she would have to confront these feelings, and deal with them. She was still a good girl in the end, loyal to her friends, and brave. But she had a childish crush, and one that she would have to confront the reality behind very soon…

That night, after finishing talking with Flamel, Albus Dumbledore dreamed a dream, of a place with scintillating green ribbons of light that danced and writhed. It was so beautiful, he thought.

Out of the green mist came the figure of an armoured woman, magnificent and with a proud bearing. "Hello, Albus," said the woman. "My name is Minerva. I am the Goddess you have been hearing so much about lately. And we need to treat, you and I, on various matters. Including Harry Potter…"

Meanwhile, a girl looked up at the ceiling from her bed, her face, hair, and eyes pale in the moonlight. Rather appropriate, given her name.

Many thought her eccentric at best, and mad at worst. Sanity and normality were highly overrated, in her opinion. They didn't see things the way she did. They couldn't see memories of a long-lost past.

Had they known what she really was, they may have tried to destroy her. This was something her mother warned her about, before a spellcrafting experiment took her away. Her parents had created her as an experiment, with her father deliberately Obliviating himself afterwards. Now, he believed that she was just his daughter, instead of being so much more. An heir to a great and terrible legacy.

She knew that things had changed, across the gulf between worlds and universes. The call, once filled with malice and darkness, was now gentler, more maternal. And perhaps, one day, she would be able to answer that call.

"I hope I get to meet you soon, Jenova," Luna Lovegood said, as she lay on her bed in the moonlight. "We are, after all, well-overdue for a Reunion…"

HARRY GAINSBOROUGH WILL RETURN IN…BIRTHDAY.

CHAPTER 35 ANNOTATIONS:

*exhausted panting* Okay, I rock! Now STOP MAKING ME PROVE IT!

Sorry, couldn't resist a Freeman's Mind reference. Great series by the way. Go watch it if you like Half-Life. You'll never be able to look at it, and Gordon Freeman, the same way again.

So, things are getting interesting in the Potterverse, and it seems that both Nicholas Flamel and Luna Lovegood have secrets linking them to the Planet. You'll have to wait some time, however, before you can find out exactly what they are.

Anyway, it's been a marathon, hasn't it? Harry Potter and the Cetra Heritage was my first fanfic published on this website, and it has remained the most popular. And I'm surprised, given the amount of unfinished fanfics, that I managed to complete it, let alone how fast I did so. Over 110K words, over 140 follows and over 115 favourites, with 56 reviews. Oh, and there's been 22.5K views. All of this, in just over a month of hurried writing and publishing. I'm amazed, and I thank you, the readers, for making it so.

The story of Harry Gainsborough, nee Potter, however, won't end here, obviously. As mentioned before, the next fic (which will be some time coming) in what I am now calling The Cetra Heritage Saga will be an interquel, Birthday, set during Harry's eleventh birthday. Once that is done, I will begin the monstrous task of writing Harry Gainsborough and the Philosopher's Stone. However, this time, I will be doing these at a more sedate pace, and I also want to concentrate on my other fanfics, as well as my normal writing. I am bloody exhausted after this marathon writing.

One last review-answering. Blurb, amongst other things, told me that they had the same theory as I did about Jenova being similar to Minerva, being another world's consciousness. I'm actually surprised, but I guess I shouldn't be. I just made that theory up more or less on the fly some time before writing Chapter 21. I have read at least one fanfic where Minerva and Jenova converse, true, but I didn't know that this was a theory thought of by anyone else. Goes to show. So much for me being remotely original. J

Now, before I go, I thought I'd give you a taste of what's to come in Birthday. Minerva allows Dumbledore to bring six people, along with himself, across the Goddess' Gate for Harry's birthday. Which six, well, you'll have to wait and see. But I'd like to see what YOU guys think. There'll be some that are easy, and some that'll be tricky. Post your opinions as reviews. It won't change who I already have in mind, though…

1. A reference to the American title of the first Harry Potter book. Seriously, what was going through the publishers' minds?

2. I Googled it, and there was a full moon on the 26th of July, 1991. Which is a good thing for the story.

And on that note, be seeing you!

CHAPTER 35 SOUNDTRACK:

Night Thoughts: Hedwig's Theme, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, composed by John Williams. Particularly the most famous, tinkly bit at the start, looped.

L-U-N-A: The Nightmare Begins, (FTG).