Harry was asleep and dreaming, he had been dreaming for several hundred years now. The terraforming of a planet took quite a while but he had wanted a change. He knew in the end he would eventually convert the planet back to a lush garden but he always liked the challenge of changing a planet from a deserted wasteland to his garden. Gardening had always been his escape and now he had been doing it for several thousand years.
He slept in the centre as his planet changed around him naturally, perhaps it seemed like a boring existence to some but it was the peace and quiet he needed after the first few hundred years of his life. He had never wanted to be a soldier and now he never would be again, he was simply the caretaker.
The planet was almost ready, a few more months and he would awaken. Or at least that's how it would have been if a disturbance had not made its way through his wards setting off an emergency protocol to rouse him before the planet was ready. He was needed to take care of the newest threat. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much and he could return to his peaceful life without trouble.
Even with a possibly deadly threat heading his way, Harry grinned as he woke. His planet was welcoming him, singing its joy at once more having him walk upon its surface. The planet was not just a planet, it was all that remained of his home. As the Magical World had fallen to the more advanced muggles, Hogwarts had pulled up her roots and attached herself to him. Harry would never be alone and Hogwarts could continue protecting a child of Magic, the only child of Magic left in the entire universe.
Harry skipped through the tunnels from his sleep chamber to the surface shaft. Grabbing his broomstick that he had faithfully kept in good repair, he whooped as he sped upwards to the surface of planet Hogwarts. After several million years, the exhilaration of flying had not subsided in the least. He hadn't been allowed on the quidditch team in first year for nothing, the air was where he was free.
He stood on one of the many hills that Hogwarts had destroyed and recreated several times over and watched as a ship descended onto his planet, his sanctuary, his home. He didn't recognise it, only knew it to be a space ship because of the never forgotten memories of trying to watch what Dudley watched and seeing several fascinating things that wizards could never hope to create. It was all machinery and metal, probably quite a good ship. Harry would destroy it by walking too close.
So instead he stayed where he was and watched events unfold. Watched two humans and two non-humans exit the ship and start wandering around on his planet. One of the non-humans seemed to be directing the others, directing them towards Harry. He could see how the non-human moved around, wavering occasionally but always returning to a path that would eventually bring them to him. Quickly, Harry hid. He had no wish to interact with these strangers that had penetrated his wards.
Hogwarts laughed at him as he took shelter in one of her caves and he grumbled back at her, "I may be the most powerful and only wizard to exist but I am also a grumpy old man who just wants to take care of his home. Which, might I add, is you, my dear."
Hogwarts laughed again, this time it was accompanied by a warm breeze across his face and the feeling of love enveloping him. They had been together for so long, just him and her in their own safe haven looking after each other.
The leader was babbling now, crying out to a god that apparently resided in the centre of the universe. Harry's eyebrows rose at that, he and Hogwarts were at the very centre of the universe? Had somehow evolved into legend and become a creator of everything? He thought about it and then laughed, he could never be any type of god, he was simply a caretaker. But perhaps he could use this belief that there was a god on Hogwarts and use that to drive these strangers away.
Grinning mischievously, Harry rubbed his hands together and informed Hogwarts of his plan. She was perfectly happy to help out, having unruly students wander your halls most of the year tended to make an impression on a sentient castle. As for Harry, he was the son of a marauder, godson and honorary godson of two others, taught by the greatest prankster of all time-Severus Snape-and had the fiery spirit of his mother.
Towers of rock rose up around the group of four, the ground shuddering as it moved without natural cause. Harry made a blue gas slowly rise up and spoke from it, "Brave souls. Welcome," he intoned, supressing his laughter as best he could.
"Is this the voice of God?" the leader asked.
"One voice, many faces," Harry vaguely remembered something about gods being mysterious and able to take many forms. He made the blue mist twist into a human face. "Does this better suit your expectations?"
"Qual se tu?"
Harry had no idea what 'Qual se tu' meant but he rolled with it, "It is I. The journey you took to reach me could not have been an easy one." That seemed to be pompous enough for a god and the leader seemed to agree with him.
"It was not. The Barrier stood between us… but we breached it."
Ah yes, the breaching of his wards, "Magnificent. You are the first to find me," and hopefully the last he added on silently.
"We sought only your infinite wisdom." Harry nearly lost it at that, infinite wisdom? Him? His wards were more important though.
"And how did you breach the Barrier?"
"With a starship!"
Really? A starship? They couldn't find a better name than 'starship'? It's a ship that sails the stars, what shall we call it? Puddle Jumper? Air Taxi? Space Yacht? No, they went for 'starship'. Why didn't these idiots leave already? Then he remembered something Snape had taught him, make them focus the other way.
"This," he hesitated but forced himself to use the term, "starship. Could it carry my wisdom beyond the Barrier?" And you with it so that I no longer have to deal with you?
Leader Man seemed almost ecstatic, "It could. Yes!"
"Then I shall make use of this starship."
"It will be your chariot!" Leader Man declared only to have one of the humans whip around to stare at him.
"Excuse me?"
Harry ignored him, he seemed to have some brains and he was just focusing on Leader Man whilst rolling his eyes at being forced to play god, "It will carry my power to every corner of creation."
"Excuse me. I'd just like to ask a question. What does God need with a starship?" Harry groaned to himself as Smart Curly Hair showed intelligence that might make the others think and focus on him instead of where he wanted them focused.
"Prepare the ship."
"I said, what does God need with a starship?"
The other human looked aghast at Smart Curly Hair, "Jim, what are you doing?"
"I'm asking a question," Smart Curly Hair, now known as Jim, replied simply. Harry needed to get things back on track.
"Who is this creature?"
"Who am I? Don't you know? Aren't you God?"
Leader Man spoke up to answer Harry's question, "He… has his doubts."
"You doubt me?"
"I seek proof."
"Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his ID," Other Human hissed and Harry nearly lost it right then and there. He managed to hold it in and instead sent a low powered expelliarmus towards Jim. Enough to knock him back a bit but not enough to hurt."
"There is your proof."
Jim picked himself up and asked, "Why is God angry?"
"Why? Why have you done this to my friend?" Leader Man demanded.
Harry groaned, this was not going as planned. He just wanted them to leave! "He doubts me."
Other Non-Human stepped forward, "You have not answered his question. What does God need with a starship?"
Harry sent a slightly more powerful expelliarmus his way, annoyed with their attempts to be logical and not leave his home, "Do you doubt me?"
"I doubt any God who inflicts pain for his own pleasure," Other Human stated. It stopped Harry short, that wasn't what he was doing at all. He was throwing them around a bit, sure, but he wasn't really hurting them. It was their fault for coming to Hogwarts in the first place.
"Leave," he growled but Leader Man seemed too distraught to listen to him even as the others were picking themselves up, he was muttering to himself.
"What have I done? This is my doing! This is my arrogance, my vanity."
"Sybok!" Other Non-Human called but Leader Man wasn't listening.
"Forgive me, brother. Forgive me," he stopped muttering and focused on Harry's mist. "I couldn't help but notice your pain."
"My pain?"
"It runs deep. Share it with me."
Harry started to really panic as Sybok moved towards his mist. If this non-human could feel pain then he would not survive walking straight into Harry's. Yes, the mist wasn't him but it held part of him and part of Hogwarts. Two beings that had been alive for millions of years and seen all they love die.
"No, don't. Don't go any closer! Please! You don't know what you're doing! Leader Man listen to me! Stop! Please, just stop!" But Sybok didn't listen to Harry, he probably thought Harry was trying to save himself instead of Sybok.
As soon as Sybok made contact with the mist, he screamed in agony as Harry himself had done so many times before. All of Hogwarts' and Harry's pain flooded the male, pain from losing children in her walls, pain from years of abuse by the Dursley's, pain from losing the innocence of Tom Riddle, pain for killing Tom Riddle, pain for not being able to protect their people.
It all flooded through Sybok and back into Harry and Hogwarts. Together the three of them screamed. Sybok's mind was broken, Harry's went blank and Hogwarts cried for everything they had lost with tremendous heaves of earth. The other three of the party stumbled back from the wave of sorrow as the Hogwarts trembled beneath them.
They ran towards their ship but Jim stopped the others as a different sound filtered through to his ears, "Listen! Do you hear that?"
They stood as still as they could manage and caught the faint strains of a different scream; a young scream. As one they scrambled towards it to see a teenager curled in on himself as he screamed. Just as they reached him, he passed out and all they could do was stare at this inhabitant of a planet they thought uninhabited.
Another heave of the planet and they rushed to the teen's side, gathered him up and ran towards the Enterprise. Jim was yelling at Scotty to get the transporter up and running as they went. The transporter could only take two so Doctor McCoy and the teen went. As soon as the teen materialised on deck, the Enterprise's lights flickered and died along with the rest of the ship's systems causing it to crash down onto the planet.
Close by another ship shut down as it maneuvered close to the Enterprise. The Bird of Prey flickered into sight as it followed the Enterprise to land unforgivingly on the hard rock surface of Hogwarts. Jim and Spock stared as the two ships fell from the sky, crashing against hills and ending up in ditches.
Harry woke surrounded by Hogwarts. He couldn't remember going back to sleep, he had been woken early and the problem hadn't left. Why had he been sleeping? Sounds filtered into his ears as he lay there trying to remember what had happened.
"I don't know what to tell you Jim. I could only get a preliminary reading off of him before that shield sprung up and it told me he was human. I don't have anything else for you, we're just going to have to wait until he wakes up."
"Yeah well, I'd just like to know why a kid is on a planet in the centre of the universe and why both the Enterprise and Bird of Prey have lost all power. Scotty says the power died as soon as this kid was beamed up, is it him or just a coincidence?"
Memory sparked in Harry's mind and he groaned, it looked as if the strangers wouldn't be leaving anytime soon if he was aboard their vessel. Nothing like a bit of magic to fry every single electronic thing in the area.
"You might get your answers soon, Captain. He's awake."
Harry opened his eyes to see two humans looking at him speculatively. He knew both of them, Jim and Other Human. Although if he was on their ship he might need to get Other Human's name as there was sure to be other humans apart from Other Human. He pointed at Other Human and said, "Name."
Other Human looked flustered for a second before stating clearly, "Doctor Leonard McCoy of the USS Enterprise, and you are?"
"Harry, of Hogwarts," Harry grunted, now more interested in his surroundings. He could see the slight shimmer in the air that meant Hogwarts had created a barrier of her magic to keep him safe and calm whilst he recovered. Which reminded him, "Did your friend survive?"
"No, he was burnt up by whatever it was he tried to do. How did you know about that? Are you connected to the one who called itself a god?"
Harry ignored the questions from Jim, "I'm sorry, I tried to warn him but he wouldn't listen. Nothing could survive the amount of pain he tried to take on in one hit.
Jim hummed, "Perhaps I should introduce myself and you can take down whatever shield you have protecting you so that my colleague can look you over. I am Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise, the ship you are currently on."
Harry studied both men intently before deferring to Hogwarts' better judgement and she lowered the shield protecting him. "How did I get here?"
"We heard you screaming and carried you here after you had fallen unconscious, there was a massive earthquake and we weren't about to leave a kid like you without any sort of defence."
A snort stopped Doctor McCoy's examination of him as Harry descended into full out laughter. They stared at him, wondering just who they had saved as the kid rolled around on the medbay bed clutching his stomach and gasping for air.
"Did you say something amusing Captain?" Spock quirked an eyebrow as he entered the medbay to scene that was occurring.
"Not that I'm aware of Spock. He asked how he got here and I told him, then he just started laughing."
"I see."
Harry managed to get a hold of himself, "I'm sorry. It's just so funny! You think I'm a-" he dissolved into laughter again.
"Did you assume him to be something he is not, perhaps?" Spock enquired.
"I have no idea."
After another minute of false starts and failed explanations Harry finally managed to explain. "I am not a child and there is nowhere on this planet that I am unsafe. This planet is my home and has been for about eight thousand years. To me, you are the children."
"Now come on! You couldn't be more than twenty-five and even that's pushing it. There's no way you're over eight thousand years old!"
"It is quite possible Captain," Spock said calmly. "My own race is quite long lived."
"Yes, but he's human! Humans don't live that long, they don't live anywhere near that long!"
"I was human, Captain Kirk, a very long time ago. And while I still retain most of the characteristics of that race, I am the only one of my kind that had ever existed and ever will exist. Now," he clapped his hands, "I assume you want to get off my planet and seeing as that is what I want as well, I shall take my leave."
"Hang on a minute, I still have questions."
"I'm sure you do but I do not have to answer them. Although I do have a question for you that was not adequately answered before, how did you get past my wards?"
"Your what?"
"Wards, you call them the barrier, I think."
Jim went to answer but Spock spoke before he could, "It does not seem to be a fair trade of information. You have a question you want answered and yet refuse to answer ours. As we are both in the pursuit of knowledge would it not make sense for us to do so in a trade-like fashion? A question for a question?"
"I like him," Harry said, pointing at Spock, "he's Bushy Hair but calmer. Bushy Hair really needed to learn how to be calm."
McCoy and Kirk examined Spock's hair in all its very calm and not at all bushy-like state before joining Spock in sending a questioning glance towards Harry. Spock dismissed the comment after a moment of Harry simply gazing at him and through him, "Do you agree to a trade?"
Harry jolted, "What? Oh yeah, sure. You ask me a question, I ask you a question. Long as you leave at the end of it, I don't mind. Although maybe you could stay, I liked Bushy Hair." He stared through Spock again and Jim cleared his throat.
"Why do you call this your planet?"
"Because it is, well, kind of. She's my home and was long before she was a planet. We are the last of our kind, me and her. How did you get past my wards?"
"We flew through the Barrier, nearly tore the Enterprise apart. No one has ever done it before. What do you mean when you say you knew the planet before it was a planet?"
"She, before she was a planet. Bushy Hair would know the answer to that, does your Bushy know? It's all in the research after all and Bushy Hair was exceptionally good at researching."
Spock thought it over logically, if this boy had been alive for over eight thousand years it stood to reason that there would have been different sciences that had been lost to time. Perhaps one of those sciences had been on how to make planets from existing matter. Doctor McCoy and Kirk were looking at him and he stated his theory.
Harry grinned at him before leaping off the bed and bounding over to the Vulcan to hug him extremely tightly. Spock stood in shock as he was gripped around the middle without any warning, Kirk had pulled out his gun and McCoy had started forward in an aborted motion to stop Harry.
"That was brilliant, Bushy Hair! Absolutely brilliant! I knew you could do it! You're a bit scary sometimes but brilliant and I just bet you need to sort out your priorities. First Red said that you did after Fluffy. My name's Harry by the way, did you know that? You did, didn't you because you've read all about me except you shouldn't believe everything you read.
"You'll learn that soon, I'm sure. And you'll also learn how to sort out your priorities because I'll help you. And we'll find First Red and then together we'll get you sorted so that you don't always have to hide in the library even though you like it there. You can go outside without worry, you'll see. It'll be okay Bushy, it'll be okay."
Harry drifted off into tears as he clung to Spock, burying his head in Spock's shoulder. The first officer felt his shirt get wet as tears poured from the no-longer-human human that was hugging him desperately. He also felt a pressure build up around him that seemed to be telling him to comfort the one clinging to him.
So he did, he placed his arms around Harry and held him as if to say, I am here. He had no idea if he was doing it right, having not indulged in his human side often, but the pressure eased off and became a comforting presence all on its own. Most likely, it was more comforting then his attempt at something he had no skill in.
Spock sent an almost pleading look towards his Captain and Chief Medical Officer but they shook their heads and offered absolutely zero help. What use were crew members if they didn't aid you when you needed it. The pressure seemed to notice his unease and shushed him gently, surrounding both him and Harry in the same comforting field.
They remained in that position for several minutes before Harry calmed down enough to pull away. He wiped at his eyes sheepishly and gave a wet laugh, "I'm sorry, Mister Spock. You seem to have caught me at a bad time. Dreams take a while to fade, you know?"
Spock nodded mutely as Harry stepped away from him and collapsed back onto the bed he had been placed in when he had first arrived and the Enterprise had landed. He lay there as the others in the room watched him, unsure how to treat him after witnessing him breakdown and be comforted by a Vulcan of all things. Half he may be, but Spock was still a Vulcan through and through.
Then Harry sat up, "Do you mind if I went out for a bit? Hogwarts suggested I do some gardening, it helps me concentrate. Bush- sorry, Spock can come keep an eye on me if you're worried about me running away. Although I don't know why you would be, unless you intend to keep me. Do you intend to keep me? No, you wouldn't, that's not who you are. Anyway, gardening?"
Without waiting for an answer, Harry strolled from the medbay and down a random corridor. He was back a few seconds later, poking his head in the doorway, "Could one of you maybe show me how to get out of this Falcon?"
"Only if you tell why you called my ship Falcon," Jim replied as he made his way to the exit hatch with Harry, Spock and McCoy following him.
"Oh, it's just something I thought earlier. You made a spaceship and you called it a spaceship. It wasn't very imaginative so I decided to call it a Falcon. I think there was a ship with that name at some point, I don't fully remember. That happens when you get old you know, you start to forget things."
The three crew members of the USS Enterprise digested Harry's words as they walked through their ship and out onto the surface of the planet. Harry gave a loud whoop of joy as he stepped out and immediately raced across the rocks to fall down and give, it seemed, every single one of them a hug. He grinned at the three who had followed him, "Come on, then! Let's go!"
He raced away from the two ships that were currently residing in connecting ditches and towards a small cave out of sight. They went after him and caught up just as he sat down in the shade and closed his eyes.
"This is gardening?" Jim asked speculatively.
Harry cracked open an eye and grinned at him, "Just watch, Mister Captain." So they watched and as they watched a single flower started to crawl out of the dry earth. It grew and unfurled to reveal a white lily where before there had only been rock. "I always start with this one. The lily is the first to grow and the last to retreat. Then it's time for the grove so that Prongs can come if Prongs wants to come."
The sound of dripping water reached their ears and they watched as slowly, a small river formed. It came from the back of the cave and wound its way towards the lily, forming the lily's spot into an island and continuing on down the hill. Grass started to sprout under their feet, more flowers following it and, occasionally, a tree sapling would sprout up.
"You can ask questions now, if you want. I am as calm as I am ever to be with you still here."
"How are you doing that?" McCoy burst out, "How can you create life from barrenness? We've tried but it didn't work out so well."
"Bones," Jim hissed, "that's confidential information!"
Harry laughed, "It doesn't matter to me if something is supposed to be confidential. After all, who am I going to tell? As for how I do this, I have had many years of practice and a few good teachers at the beginning. Why did you call your doctor Bones?"
"It's a nickname that appeared one day and never left."
Spock asked a question before Jim could, "Why start with a lily?"
"Lily means mother, means birth of new life. What else could start a new world so well?"
"You do this a lot?" Bones asked and Harry held up a hand as he chuckled.
"It's my turn to ask a question, Mister Bones, but yes, I do this a lot. I maintain a garden and then reset the world so that I may have a new challenge. Why did you come to Hogwarts and will you leave soon?"
"We came for my brother, he was convinced he heard a call from god that was leading him here. I am sure we will leave when we have managed to repair our ship."
Harry gazed at Spock, "I'm sorry for your brother, I couldn't stop him, you weren't like TwoReds were you?"
"TwoReds?" Spock raised an eyebrow.
"Same soul, different bodies. TwoReds lost half and was never whole until all was lost. TwoReds never smiled after but smiled just before being lost. You are whole, yes?"
"I do believe I am. Thank you for your sorrow."
"I have so much sorrow and yet I gain more, it is that which caused your brother to burn. He could not handle my sorrow, perhaps I should erase it all." A sudden wave of intense pressure bore down on the group and Harry winced, clutching his head as the others staggered. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry Hogwarts! I'll remember! I will keep my promise, I will not let him down!"
The pressure lifted immediately to be replaced by a cool breeze and a tapestry creating itself to form the image of a snake curled around a lion protectively that was then hung on the cave wall. Harry gazed at it and smiled softly. On the lily island a pattern of a wolf, dog, deer and snake chasing each other in a ring around the lily slowly appeared.
"This is your life," Jim said softly.
"Yes, it is quite calmer then what it used to be. I like the calmness. Your ships should be alright now, they generally are after some time has passed."
"I suppose you want us to leave."
"It would be appreciated Mister Captain, I have to check my wards."
"What about the Klingons? They are unlikely to go as peacefully as us. Come to think of it, why haven't we seen any come out of the Bird of Prey?"
"Hogwarts has kept them away, Mister Captain, they would have caused me harm and Hogwarts does not allow harm to come to those under her care. She will let them go when you are ready to take them. Although I think they have better naming skills than you, Bird of Prey is a much better name for a spaceship than spaceship."
"I'll be sure to tell my superiors that, Harry."
"Do."
With that the three officers of the USS Enterprise turned and walked down the hill to their ship. They had only made it a little way down when they were stopped by a cry, "Wait!" Harry skidded to a halt in front of them. "If you want… That is, if you need… You can come back, for a visit or when you feel you're ready for calmness. If you send me a message I can take the wards down enough to let you in and Hogwarts says it's good for me to interact with something other than her and what I create. You'd be safe here and you wouldn't have to worry, you could even come here for holidays or vacations or days off if you wanted to, there's no pressure or anything. I just thought…"
"I believe it would be pleasant to return to Hogwarts, Harry. Although I do not know how we would send you a message to inform you of our imminent arrival."
Harry grinned at Spock and hugged him impulsively, "I can give each of you a beacon that you just have to say the magic words to and it will tell me where you are and you can send me messages with it too. Wait here."
He dashed off back to the new garden, leaving the three standing there. "Well, I'd say you've gotten your quota of hugs, Spock." Jim remarked.
"Indeed, I do not believe I have been hugged quite as much since I was a child."
Bones grinned, "We should definitely come back here. It's good for Spock to get in touch with his human side every once in a while. You can be logical Vulcan on the Enterprise but when you need to, you can come here and not worry, just as Harry said."
At that moment, Harry came racing back and once again skidded to a halt in front of them. He handed each of them a small charm, Spock received a book, Jim a knight from chess and Bones a potted plant. "When you want to activate them just say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'. If you want to send a message say, 'message' and then when you've finished say 'mischief managed'. Okay?"
They nodded and Harry beamed at them, "We'll come back soon, Harry," Jim promised and Harry nodded happily.
"I know. Now go, I'll put the wards down so you can get out but then they'll be back up and stronger so don't try to get in without telling me." He gave each of them a quick hug and ran back up the hill waving at them as he went.
Once more they turned their steps towards the ships and this time they made it. The Enterprise was functional and took off without a hitch. The Bird of Prey was no longer trying to attack as the Klingon Ambassador aboard the Enterprise had had a few stern words to the captain. Together the two ships lifted up into the sky and out into the atmosphere.
The Barrier was gone, space was open to them and a course was set for Earth. Just before they went into hyperspace; Jim, Bones and Spock glanced back to see the shimmering lightning storm that was the barrier back in place and smiled. They would be back.
Harry was dreaming when a ping sounded in his head and he heard Jim's voice, "Harry, we're coming to see you."
Instantly awake, Harry bounded out of his cave and looked up to the sky, knowing he wouldn't be able to see them but imagining he could. They were close, almost at the wards in fact. Hogwarts was there by his side and together they lowered the protections to let their friends in before raising them again.
Hogwarts was no longer the barren wasteland in had been when the Enterprise had originally landed. It had been transformed once again into a lush garden with tall trees, numerous flowers and lakes with the occasional creature to be seen poking its nose through the foliage. In the cave was the first lily surrounded by all of its protectors.
The tapestry of the snake protecting the lion still hung and underneath it was where Harry slept. Next to that tapestry was another one, on it was his Bushy Hair, First Red, TwoReds, Lady Red, Mother and Father Red, Dragon Red, Rule Red, Egypt Red, Blonde Moon and Brave Plant. It was in that cave that he was with family and it was home within home.
The USS Enterprise touched down in the special clearing he had created and Harry raced down to greet his newest friends. He would hug them all and probably babble a lot but that was fine, they were safe and protected here. He could give them the calm he had wanted for so long and then he would hug them again as they left to protect and explore the universe. But they would be back. They would always come back.