Magical World and most characters belong to J. . My books diverge from Canon from the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Note: This books will make more sense if you've read BOOK 4: Kidnap.

Summary: Beth was a very special child, but special children often have a difficult life.

Chapter 1:

A four-year-old child sat up in bed, laughing and chortling to herself, although it was quite late for a small child to be awake. She was round and plump, had a blunt, plain face, and wispy blonde hair. There was that wonderful feeling in the atmosphere again. Nearly always she kept herself awake for this time, she liked to feel that feeling before settling herself down for the night.

Three rooms away, Harry and Luna were making love, and little Beth shared their love, and their joy in each other, although the sexuality was outside her comprehension. Sometimes, it didn't happen and then she was disappointed. But there were bonus times, too, often in the early mornings, and sometimes in the day.

There was a walled garden on the estate. It looked like it had been there for a hundred years, although it was actually quite new. One of Harry's excess security guards had turned himself into the head gardener, and had learned the spells that made for the deepest softest grass, and that helped grow the most beautiful, but lightly scented roses. The day Harry had first returned home with his second wife, Kevin started work on this walled, lockable garden, and situated it a sufficient distance from the house that it was seldom visited.

Kevin had seen Harry and Ginny a few times as they emerged from a certain thick grove of trees, glowing with contentment. The trees were still there, but that had been Ginny's place, and Kevin thought Harry should have another place for Luna. He had never told Harry what he had in mind when he planned the garden, but felt himself well rewarded when he noticed Harry and Luna quietly slipping through the gate one day.

Kevin was good at seeing and not being seen, but not even Kevin noticed another little observer. Beth would often be found just on the other side of the high wall at these times, seldom hearing anything, but that glorious feeling would fill her being. Beth was a happy and easygoing child - people were in the habit of thinking of her as a good and obedient child, and no-one noticed how much she went her own way. She found it easy to slip away from John's muggle wife, whose job it was to keep an eye on her.

Beth was a very rare person, a true natural Telepath, but neither Harry nor Luna comprehended the full access she had to their minds and to their feelings. They each had some telepathic talent themselves, that had been enhanced with the closeness between them. But the difference between their telepathic abilities, and that of a Telepath, was enormous. For Beth, it would always take an effort not to feel the thoughts and feelings of those around her. For Luna and for Harry, it would always be an act of will to access those thoughts and feelings, except for odd times when there was a particularly strong surface thought that might come through. It was different, of course, between each other, but with other people, Luna never tried, and Harry only ever did it when there was a special need.

They never knew that Beth shared their happiness when they made love, and Beth had known for what seemed all her life, that they wanted solitude at these times, and was never seen if she came close. But her parents' happiness in each other was a major reason that she knew happiness within herself. A Telepath has a difficult life, and even those with just the tendency can strike problems. Luna had been shunned at school, although she had chosen not to allow herself to be made miserable by her solitude. Harry had never been shunned, but his ability had been more hidden.

It was summer, and Harry's son, James, had just left Hogwarts, with excellent marks, in spite of a reputation for fighting. James was thin and wiry. He looked a lot like his father, but his last few years at Hogwarts had been difficult, for Harry Potter was not only very well known, but a convicted criminal. His sentence of three years in Azkaban had been suspended, but he was still on Probation.

James felt the disgrace bitterly, and had scarcely said an unnecessary word to Harry since it happened. At the same time, the fights he so often fought were in defence of his father, and he was terrified that Harry would re-offend, and would either be imprisoned or leave England forever. James had become a silent and morose young man, but he was also a brilliant scholar. He would be going on to further study, and hoped eventually to do research in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, as his step-brother, Adam Bourne, was doing.

Harry had another two daughters, redheaded twins, Victoria and Margaret, and Margaret had two daughters and a son. He regarded his stepson, Adam, as his own son, also. Harry Potter now had quite a large family.

He was a very powerful wizard - his powers were unique in his world. Alone among wizards, he could work strong, deliberate magic, without the use of a wand. And with or without a wand, he had more sheer power than anyone else alive. All Harry's children were talented, but with the exception of Beth, they were normally talented.

But Beth was different. Perhaps because of her telepathic knowing of her father, Beth could also work magic without a wand, although she would never develop the power of her father. Neither Harry nor Luna knew yet what she could do. Beth, in her contented soul, found few needs that demanded magical intervention, and they had never seen her do any magic at all, let alone that very special brand that was her father's secret.

Harry and Luna, with little Beth, had been home for a month now, after three months abroad. Harry found it wise to spend much of his time abroad. Any transgression could have his sentence immediately put into effect, and there were many people who would like to see him provoked into an act that would accomplish that.

In spite of his great power, Harry Potter's specialty was perfectly benign. He took some pleasure in breaking 'unbreakable' spells that afflicted witches and wizards. Whenever he was home, closely watched by Ministry 'Observers,' he would do sessions of spell-breaking for as long as it took to clear the backlog.

He refused to feel an obligation to his patients, however. He had never chosen to be a mediwizard, and often, he felt, his patients brought the spells on themselves, usually as a result of duelling. So when he chose to travel, he never changed his mind merely because there was a constant supply of new witches and wizards, mostly irresponsible young wizards, getting themselves spell-bound.

**x**

Wednesday afternoon in July, Harry Potter joined Healer Hermione Granger in her office for a spell-breaking session. A Ministry Observer, who was supposed to double as a body guard, was also present. Harry hadn't seen Anna since his trial nearly five years before, and a shiver had gone through him when she had turned up, rostered as his Observer. It was not that he disliked her, it was just that the day of his trial had been traumatic, and for a moment, she brought back the memory of an all but intolerable humiliation. He told himself not to be silly, and greeted her with courtesy.

Anna, too, would have preferred to avoid this duty. Harry had stood proud and calm that day, refusing to hang his head as film of beatings, torture and rape were shown, himself as the helpless victim, as well as his subsequent ruthless execution of the perpetrators. But she had been close, part of his escort of aurors, and she remembered how he had started to shake when there had been an unexpected blast of sound that he had been conditioned to connect with torture, and how that shaking had continued on and on, as he remained coldly expressionless, pretending to be totally unmoved. Anna found it difficult to relate to Harry Potter as if he were just another person, and was uncomfortable when he greeted her.

She did her job, as she had been briefed. Making an occasional note, as the 'Observer,' being alert for danger, as his bodyguard, and efficiently and quickly steering out grateful clients, in order, Kingsley had told her, that Harry wouldn't make trouble about having an auror with him as he worked. Harry still thought of them as Ministry spies, although he knew they were mostly decent men and women just doing their job. But he seldom thought much about it any more, he had had to put up with the Observers for over twenty years now whenever he did this work.

This was a normal day to begin with, the patients were mostly young wizards with disfiguring and painful skin conditions, some with horns or antlers or furry faces. Harry Potter would wave his wand, mutter an incantation, and they would leave, freed of their problems. There was an occasional woman, but women seemed to have more sense, and seldom got themselves into the predicament.

But this day, a little girl of about seven, was led into the room. Harry could tell it was a girl, because she wore girls' clothing. Her mother held her hand. Harry looked at her, trying to stay unmoved. The girl's face was that of a bat. In the size of a human, a bat's face was horridly, incredibly ugly. He greeted her. "Hello Karen," remembering her name from the brief rundown that Hermione always gave before a patient was brought in, although he seldom bothered paying much attention.

Karen's mother said, "She can't talk." And as her mouth parts were that of a bat, Harry was not surprised.

"I'm going to try and cure you," he said gently, "All you have to do is trust me and stay still."

He waved his wand, although he already felt that this was not going to be an easy spell to break. When nothing happened, he held his wand raised and still, and a gentle tingling filled the air for a few minutes. Still nothing happened, the girl just staring at him with her great bat eyes.

Hermione wasn't surprised when he spoke again, gently, to the girl, as if she understood exactly what was happening, although most who saw her automatically treated her as if she was an imbecile. He asked her courteously to wait until he finished the other patients, and he could then give her all his attention. Her mother led her back into the waiting room.

Harry was abstracted as he automatically waved his wand at the further eight patients that filled his schedule, sometimes even forgetting to mutter the words. He usually did the incantation, as people seemed to feel better if there was some sort of ceremony when he broke the spells. He often thought that they'd be even happier if he performed a real song and dance about the simple process, but he didn't think he owed them that much.

The day's list was finished except for the bat-girl, and Harry sat, staring into the distance, frowning.

Hermione prompted him, "The bat-girl?"

"In a minute," Harry said. "I have a feeling she's not going to be easy," and then he looked up, "Have you got anything to eat?"

Without comment, Hermione went to her desk and pulled out an unopened packet of sweet biscuits. Harry opened the packet, and politely handed them around. Hermione took one, to keep him company. She knew he was self-conscious about his need for food when he had put all his effort into breaking a spell. It looked like this time, he had decided he needed to stock up first.

Harry ate a couple of biscuits, looking into the distance. He wondered how anyone could have done that thing to an innocent child. She had been afflicted for the past six months.

He finally rose, stretched, and nodded to Hermione. Harry carefully explained to the mother and to the child that there would be a scary feeling in the air as he worked at breaking the spell. He wanted the woman to stay, but warned her in detail what she would experience. If she suddenly fled, or if the child fled, the sudden interruption could hurt him.

He looked at Anna, too. "What about you? Will you be all right?" Anna raised her nose and said haughtily, "I'm an auror, of course I won't get frightened!" and Harry grinned at her.

The mother braced herself, holding the hand of her daughter. Her daughter stayed calm, relaxed, staring at Harry with total trust. Harry raised his wand. Beginning with the tiniest tingling, the feeling of magic built up and up.

As Harry had suspected from the start, this was a difficult spell. He was giving all he easily could, but still he felt as far away from breaking the spell as he had done at the start. Sometimes, in the past, he had pushed himself until he collapsed in a faint, but those were the times when he could feel that the spell was on the point of breaking, and he would push just a little harder and a little harder, and sometimes the spell would finally break, but leaving him collapsed on the floor, and sometimes the spell would not break, and he had another name to add to his list of failures.

The sustained thrumming of strong magic in the air almost, but not quite, hurt those in the room. The girl's mother had to use all her courage not to bolt, although Anna was wearing a mask of calm, modelled, if he had known, on his own. Karen just looked at him, great eyes staring, trusting. But he was still no closer to the breaking of the spell, and he did not, this day, push himself to collapse.

The magic in the air quietly died down. Harry was pale and sat back in his chair. The girl's mother bowed her head. The greatest wizard in the world had failed her daughter. There was no-one else to try, no-where else to go.

Karen slipped her hand from the hand of her mother, and went to the greatest wizard in the world, who slumped in his chair, looking very ordinary, white and exhausted, his eyes closed. She took his hands, and thought to him, Don't worry, you did your best.

Harry squeezed her hands, and thought back. Is this how you always talk?

She answered, Since it happened, but you're the first person ever who's spoken back like this, and he felt her shame and knew that her voice had become squeaks and squeals in a hundred variations that bats might know as language, but humans did not.

But he'd also been reminded that telepathy was not a common skill, and he had a Ministry Observer in the room with him. His next comment was verbal. "Do you want to try again, in a different way? Maybe in a couple of days?"

She looked at him with her great eyes, and solemnly nodded.

Hermione took them out with her to the waiting room, and arranged an appointment for two days time. The receptionist suggested the following day instead, but Hermione knew that Harry had exhausted himself. Although a fit and vigorous man, he still took a while to recover from the sort of effort he had made that day, and when she went back into the room, she found him still in his chair, head back on the high headrest, eyes closed.

She thanked Anna, so that the auror had no excuse to linger, then pulled out her monitor, and had her readings before Harry roused himself enough to object. It was sneaky, but she now knew something she hadn't before. Not just that Harry was very, very tired, but that the LV reading, loosely translated as 'life vigour,' or maybe 'essential life force,' really was distinctly abnormal. Hermione had modified her monitor, the former possible top reading had been 115. As normal was between 98 and 102, with an occasional rare person reaching maybe 105, this was quite sufficient.

But now she finally knew that Harry's true reading, assuming that it wasn't lowered because of the recent energy expenditure, was 127, far higher than for a normal person. But Harry wasn't easy to fool. When she looked up, she saw him regarding her, a quizzical look on his face. Guiltily, she quickly put away her monitor, and told him that he was not to apparate. She did not discuss that other finding with him, which was good, as Anna was innocently sitting in the waiting room as if waiting to escort Harry away, while a little voice in her ear from her listening device told her everything that was said in the room.

Harry's best friend for very many years, and Hermione's husband, Ron Weasley, took Harry home that night, as two hours later, Hermione still said that he was not to apparate. Harry's home was hidden, even from the Ministry. Only close friends and family knew how to get there.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had a very good idea where it was, but he had never told anyone else. Kingsley was the head of the Auror Department, and had been talking of retirement for years. He was a very large and very black man, with startling white hair. He liked to accuse Harry of being the cause of that white, as under the former Minister, he had been responsible for looking after Harry.

But now Harry was a convicted criminal, under Probation, and while the new Minister for Magic, John Daunt, liked to have Harry watched, Kingsley suspected that he only wanted to discover Harry in some transgression as an excuse to put into effect his prison sentence and have him locked away. Daunt didn't like having a wizard about that was too powerful to be easily managed.

Harry visited Hermione Thursday evening, wanting to discuss the little bat-girl with her, away from any Ministry Observers. He was going to use a new skill, and he preferred that the Ministry not know about any of his abilities that they didn't have to. They still didn't know that he could turn into a hawk, he thought that they still didn't know that he could perfectly easily apparate to the other side of the world, when the limit was supposed to be a few hundred miles - but they had known since the trial that he could hold a wizard frozen, tell him what to do and to think, vanish large items without a wand, and kill with a thought.

Hermione and Ron were looking quite middle-aged these days, Ron was greying and no longer as strong as he had been in his younger days, and Hermione was rounded and grey-haired. But Harry had known them a very long time, he knew the people, and scarcely noticed the surface changes. Harry, himself, looked little different from when he was much younger. He had touches of white in his hair, a sign of trauma from the time when he had been kidnapped, and his cheeks were slightly hollowed, a leftover from a severe illness in his thirties. He was now nearly fifty-five, but his body was as young and vigorous as ever.

The three were easy with each other. They had been close friends since they were just eleven years old. They liked to hear about Harry and Luna's travels and research, and Harry liked to catch up on what was happening at home. Still another five years on Probation. Very good for learning to control his temper, he told Ron with a gleam of humour - he wasn't even game to burn the hands of men who patted his bottom these days!

They spoke about each other's children, as parents do. Ben, their son, was planning to become a mediwizard, and appeared to be doing sufficiently well so far at school to gain the marks required.

It was not part of their conversation, but Hermione was particularly pleased about this ambition. She was thinking what to do with Harry once she was too old to be his healer, not that he allowed her to even do a routine annual examination these days. But no doubt, the need would come again, and he had a distrust for healers. Maybe her own son, Ben, could inherit him. She was positive now that Harry would be one of those very rare wizards who was not going to age normally. She wondered when she should mention it to him. He was always uneasy when his health was discussed, and she suspected that any hint of talk about his abnormalities would be quickly terminated.

But now he was hinting at another abnormality. With his next attempt to cure Karen, he said, he was going to try a different attack. He didn't really know exactly what he was going to do himself, he said, but he thought that somewhere inside himself, a person knows what he is supposed to be and to look like. If he could find that 'place' or awareness, maybe he could just give it a nudge, and with that reminder, maybe restore the person to what they were supposed to be.

He didn't explain it very well, and Ron just looked confused. Hermione had some idea, but Luna had comprehended easily when he had told her what he planned to attempt, and he realised again what an exceptional communication he had developed with his wife. Hermione gathered that he would be using some form of telepathy, and he frankly asked her not to discuss it in front of the Ministry Observer. He even said that she was not to discuss it when Anna was outside the door, as he suspected that the aurors liked to listen in. The older he became, the less he liked to be seen as something different, even by Ron and Hermione whom he trusted implicitly.

So Friday afternoon, when Hermione finished all her other patients, Karen and her mother appeared once more in her waiting room, and jumped as Harry silently appeared in another corner. He had thought that he'd best not apparate directly into her office as usual, as she might not be finished with other customers.

Anna already waited with them, but to Harry's surprise, Kingsley suddenly appeared also. Kingsley strolled easily over to Harry, greeting him.

Harry liked Kingsley, but Kingsley was too knowing. He didn't think he wanted Kingsley watching what he was about to attempt. There didn't seem to be much choice, however, so he settled on suggesting that one Observer was enough, and that Anna wasn't needed. He was beaten even on that point, as Kingsley just said that he surely wouldn't deny Anna the experience of watching unusual magic.

Harry said tetchily, that he didn't see why they wanted to watch in the first place, there was really nothing to see.

Everyone was introduced, and then Harry tried to forget about his audience, at the same time concealing just what he was doing from Anna and from Kingsley. He said to the others that he might be silent for a time, but they were not to interrupt, he just needed to concentrate. He sat and organised a chair for Karen just in front of him. He didn't know how long this was going to take.

On his silent prompting, Karen reached out again and took his hands, as she had two days ago, when Harry had discovered that they could communicate with just their thoughts, and he asked her silently if he could look at her mind and could maybe find another way to restore her to normal. Karen could feel that he only wanted to help. She could feel that this was a good man, and she looked at him trustfully and told him, silently with her thoughts, that he was to do what he needed.

Harry looked into her eyes, but after a moment, closed his own as he felt and he searched. She had suffered, this little girl, and again he felt a surge of anger at the person who had done it to her. Harry was a novice at this communication, and had not yet learned to shield his own self from others.

Karen felt that anger, and knew its cause. She felt other pain that he felt and never shared with others, although there were some who thought they knew. And she felt his compassion that is never fully developed until a person has suffered.

It took a long time this first time. After twenty minutes, Anna and Kingsley were looking at each other, wondering what on earth he was doing. After another twenty, Hermione was getting worried. Had he somehow become lost and could not help himself? But suddenly something was happening. A gentle nudge, scarcely magic at all, and the body of little Karen was reminded of how she was supposed to be, and the bat face melted back into the face of a little girl.

Harry sat back in his chair, an enormous smile on his face. He was looking to Hermione for applause, as he had never done before, but this was an achievement! He had done something completely different, and a patient was now cured whom he had not been able to cure before.

Little Karen tentatively put her hands to her face, feeling her now human nose, and mouth, and ears, and she flung herself into his arms, giving him such a hug of joy that he bent his head over hers and his own eyes were wet. Karen's mother was frankly crying, and even the aurors felt the emotion, although Anna, trying hard to be tough, showed nothing.

Harry usually wanted his grateful patients out of the room as quickly as possible, often being thoroughly embarrassed when such a tiny effort from him was thanked with such fervour. But this time was different, his smile was spread all over his face, and neither Anna nor Kingsley made any move to hunt out Mrs. Vilner, who was now giving Harry a bear hug as well. There had been a breakthrough, and Harry was now hoping to go back through his list of failures and try again. Maybe Karen was different, maybe Karen was a one-off, but Harry was full of hope. He always hated to fail his patients, and now he had a new weapon in his armoury.

He raised an eyebrow at Anna, and the Vilners were finally ushered out, but then Anna came back into the room, and said, oddly formal, her congratulations, shaking his hand.

Kingsley had a twinkle in his eye. He had his suspicions about the methods Harry had used, but had also noticed the complete lack of comment from Hermione, and had a shrewd suspicion that Harry wanted to keep some things private. But he, too, thought that there had been a breakthrough in Harry's work, and suggested that they adjourn to Fortescues for an ice-cream.

Harry was well aware that Kingsley did not like to sit out in public and eat an ice-cream, but agreed straightaway. He thought he deserved a very large and very fancy ice-cream, and was pleased when Hermione, Linda, her receptionist, Kingsley and Anna all joined him, each of them with their celebratory ice-cream. Kingsley tried probing for Harry's methods, but Harry only laughed and put him off, saying that he never had been able to explain his own magic.

He had Hermione recall some of his old failures, then, although some had died. It had taken a long time to find a way to help people when pure power had failed. Unfortunately, the method was fraught with problems.

There were no other children on the list, and Harry had asked to try the women next, as he tended to think these were more often innocent victims.

He succeeded with the next two women, much faster than with Karen, but instead of gratitude, they gave him puzzling looks almost of resentment and hurried away. He didn't know quite what was happening, as his telepathic skills were a long way from fully developed. He probably would never have stumbled on this method of undoing spells if little Karen had not tried to develop her own telepathic talents when her human voice had been cut off.

But then there was a young woman, whose reaction gave him a clue to the problem. She became acutely sexually aroused, and Harry, in close contact with her feelings, couldn't help but respond. If he had not already been at the point of success, he might have fled. As it was, he fixed the lady and pulled himself free from her mind, red-faced, and refusing to look at either Hermione or Anna, who was still the rostered Observer.

He left very quickly that day, prising himself free of the woman's reaching hands. She had felt his spirit, she thought, and her body's reaction was to urgently want his physical presence also. She couldn't help it. It was just her body's reaction to the intrusion of another mind, and a mind that had a distinctly male flavour.

That was the last of the women, but he had Hermione revisit the first two and try and find out what they had felt. And now he knew, the intrusion of his mind, and his pushing where he needed to go, was felt almost as a rape. It appeared that his breakthrough was not the miracle it had seemed, although according to Hermione the women appeared to have forgiven him and offered their thanks.

He went back to the little girl, and asked her what she had felt. But Karen thought herself a willing participant, and was simply overjoyed to look human again, to be able to return to school and not be shunned as a monster.

"What do you think?" he asked Hermione. "Is it worth proceeding with, or am I doing more damage than they already had?"

But Hermione had seen that the method did work, and suggested that they try and warn the patients, and that maybe he could even try and get the person to help.

The next patient was a vigorous and powerful wizard in his thirties. Harry carefully explained how the women had felt, but thought maybe the wizard would experience it differently. Once he'd established telepathic communication with the wizard, he told him at each step what he was trying to do. Without little Karen's telepathic talents however, there was not the reciprocal knowing that took the sting out of the process, and suddenly the wizard revolted at the intrusion, and Harry, who had still not learned either the necessity or the method of shielding, was hurled away so energetically, that he was thrown onto the ground, holding his head in pain.

He was still sitting on the floor, holding his sore head, when the wizard took out his wand, and went to curse the man who had tried to help him. But Anna was there and his wand went flying, and even then, the wizard took a step forward, and threw a punch at Harry, who managed to avoid it, but wasn't ready for a fight, trying to dodge, but swaying unsteadily.

Anna finally stunned the furious wizard, and Harry collapsed back into his chair, still holding his head and saying unsteadily, "Easy to see why that one got himself cursed!"

He left it a bit after that. He and Luna were due to go to Paraguay to see the seasonal phenomenon of the Ixicrossing.

***chapter end***