Chapter 7

"What does this mean, North?" Jack asked. He'd never seen North react like this. He'd been brought in after the last incident when Pitch had already made an appearance at the Pole. Maybe North had been like this then. All Jack knew was that North's current disposition was fearsome. Was this what he meant early when he described being a warrior? Until now, Jack had never noticed the way North normally carried himself. He could now recognize it as similar to what had set him off about Harry. Before the alarm went off, North had looked relaxed but after seeing how quickly he reacted the instant the alarm sounded Jack was half convinced that North had been expecting it.

"We must summon the others," North said to himself, while at the same time answering Jack. He strode over to the control panel and activated the signal. He gave a quarter turn counter clockwise and depressed the handle. The Aurora Borealis sprung up from around the globe and radiated rosy pink and light green across the sky. Hopefully, the others would respond expediently.

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The attack came suddenly and without warning. The very fact that Harry was caught unawares was perhaps the only reason the ambush was successful in the first place. The shadows snuck up from behind him, disguising themselves in the natural shadows of the trees and rocks until they were close enough to pounce. They moved so silently that Harry wasn't aware of their presence until they were on him. It was all he could do to try and resist the invasion.

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"Well, I suppose I can at least be grateful that you didn't summon me right before Easter," Bunny said indignantly as he hurried to the large hearth to warm his frozen extremities.

"Believe me Bunny, I wish I hadn't had to summon any of you in the first place," North said, directing his response to include Sandy and the newly arrived Tooth.

"What's happened North?" Tooth asked, having caught the tail end of the exchange.

"Pitch is back," Jack answered instead, eliciting shocked and surprised reactions from the others. "We need to hurry and stop him."

North gave him a disapproving look for his impatient announcement. Jack couldn't stop himself from flinching slightly at the reprimand. While the alarm had detected dark activity, it would be folly to assume it was Pitch without further information.

"We do not know that for sure," North countered in a commanding voice. The confidence in his tone prevented the onset of the others' overreactions. "You can see that alarm has indicated dark activity in north part of Scotland but we have no way of knowing for sure if it is Pitch or some new darkness."

"It can't be Pitch, though, can it?" Tooth asked, nervousness and uncertainty clear in her voice. "I mean it's been less than a century since we last defeated him. Surely he couldn't have regained his powers so quickly."

"While that is true, Pitch has managed to surprise us before. The fact is I can think of no one else who it could be. Have any of you noticed anything unusual?" North countered, directing the question mostly to Sandy and Tooth who had more contact with the human world throughout the year.

Bunny remained silent while Tooth consulted with the four Baby Teeth that had accompanied her and Sandy shook his head negatively. Jack for his part tried to hold his tongue after the chastising North had given him earlier in his office. However, even after North's explanations Jack couldn't shake the feeling that there was something innately different and dangerous about the death spirit.

Several minutes passed waiting for Tooth to finish conversing with her fairies. In the end, she reported that none of her fairies had noticed anything out of the ordinary in the last few decades. Jack couldn't take it anymore. Even if North was right about Harry the others should still be informed of his existence and power.

"I met a spirit who could possibly be connected," Jack finally announced. Bunny, Sandy, and Tooth and her fairies all looked his way awaiting more details. However, North shot him such a disapproving and disappointed look that Jack nearly wished he could withdraw his statement. Too late for that now.

"He said his name is Harry. I met him just the other night in a little boy's hospital room. He has strange powers. I'm not sure what all he can do but one thing for sure is he said his purpose was to escort children across the realms when they die." His last sentence electing looks of shock from everyone but North including a gasp from Tooth.

"Let's not be too hasty," North said, "even if his purpose seems dark to us we may not have all the information."

"Are you kidding?" Bunny asked in disbelief. "There's a spirit out their hopping between realms and you honestly think he's not a threat?! You've been drinking too much hot chocolate, Mate. Any spirit with that kind of power cannot be trusted."

"Wait, wait," Tooth flew between North and Bunny, effectively cutting off their argument before it got out of hand. She then turned to Jack and asked, "you said this spirit's name is Harry." She had a nagging feeling of familiarity in the pit of her stomach but she needed more information to confirm her suspicions. "What else do you know of him?"

So Jack told them everything about the night he met Harry and all his suspicious he'd discussed with North.

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Darkness and pain, those were the only sensations Harry could register at the moment. It was strange to be surrounded by complete darkness when he could feel that his eyes were still open. The pain on the other hand was the bigger problem. It was unbearable to be sure but what was worse was that it was a pain he had experienced before. He could not recall exactly when or where he had felt this way but it inspired a deep fear that chilled him to his bones.

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Jack sighed in impatience. The other Guardians had been debating on what course of action they should take regarding the threat in northern Scotland for the past ten minutes. After Jack had finished telling them about Harry, Bunny of course was still skeptical about this new spirit but Tooth and Sandy had both dismissed Jack's concerns with more conviction than North. At that point, North had stepped in to draw their attention back to the original reason he had summoned them.

They were getting nowhere with all this discussion. That wasn't to say Jack considered it irrelevant or a waste of time in the wider view of things. However, right now, at this very moment, they had more important things to do. Every second spent in this ill-timed conversation was one more second that Pitch, or whatever darkness had arisen, had to make an escape.

"Enough!" he shouted, cutting off Bunny midsentence. Well now that he had their attention he'd best make his point before Bunny got on his case for the interruption. "We don't have time to keep arguing about what to do. Whatever caused the alarm to go off will be gone from the scene by the time we get there if we don't leave now. I'm going, with or without you." And with that, he leapt from the railing to the top of the globe and out of an open window in the skylight calling the wind to catch him. The others were soon to follow.

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It may have been due to fatigue or his wandering thoughts and subsequent inattention or a combination of both but Harry's defenses were down long enough that whatever was attacking him had gotten a hold. The agonizing sensation made him think of the searing pain of the Cruciatus mixed with the dreadful, bone deep chilling suction of being nearly kissed by a Dementor. No matter what he tried, he couldn't push this strange force away. The cold sunk deep within him through his mouth and nose and down within his chest. Once there, it wrapped around a part of Harry's being and drew it out.

Harry began to panic. This was unlike any attack he'd ever faced. With the war against Voldemort, he'd become well acquainted with the feelings and effects of mind attacks. Despite his dismal achievements in Occlumency, he'd still managed to find his own way to evade the worst of the mental invasion. This, however, was something he didn't know how to defend against. He didn't know what the purpose of the attack was and therefore couldn't implement counter-measures. All he could do was ride out the pain and hope he came out of this in one piece.

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In the dark of his underground hideout, Pitch chuckled darkly as he absorbed Harry's trans-realm powers. He usually tried to avoid involving neutral parties in his coups to overthrow the Guardians because they had a bad habit of allying against him. This was an exception since taking Harry's powers over the Realm in-between would completely cripple the spirit and put him out of the game.

He first started taking notice of the new spirit once Harry had gotten control of his powers. He'd been able to feel a drastic decline in the fear of children about to die and soon after had figured out Harry's purpose and abilities. He hadn't been pleased to find one of his few remaining power sources being cut off. However, his anger soon turned to excitement as he considered the possibilities of such a power, when used properly, to cause greater fear instead of eliminating it.

He'd learned from his mistakes with trying to recruit Jack. Unlike his premeditated strike against Sandy, Jack hadn't been in his plans. He hadn't accounted for Jack to be a serious player in the game so all of his actions to win the snow spirit as an ally had been made on the fly. His misjudgment of MiM and Jack had been his downfall. He couldn't afford to risk losing again. It was much less of a hassle to just take what he wanted instead of having to deal with an unpredictable player.

Oh the things he could do with these abilities. The possibilities were endless. It was such a pity Harry Potter hadn't been around when he'd tried to take on the Guardians fifty years ago. No matter, he had the power now. The Guardians wouldn't know what hit them. Things were looking up.

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"You! I knew it!"

Harry looked up at the sound of the angry voice. He felt surprisingly much better than he expected after what had just happened. He had expected to feel like a black hole had opened in his chest and was going to consume him. Instead he felt drained, a little out of breath, and shaky. What he wouldn't give at that moment for a bite of chocolate.

He didn't have long to ponder his personal health as he pulled himself onto his feet. He barely had time to stand straight before he had to dodge a blast of frost. That was close. With his limbs aching worse than after a four-hour Quidditch practice with Wood, it had taken all of his reflexes to avoid being hit. He came out of the roll on his feet with the tree next to the lake between him and the enraged winter sprite. He called up the last of his magic to hastily cast the strongest shield he could on the tree as he got into position within a five-meter radius of it. He was too out of it to concentrate on maintaining a personal shield. By using the tree as the vessel, Harry only had to put in the initial power to sustain the shield so long as he stayed within range of its protection.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Tooth demanded as she and the others finally caught up. She was enraged by Jack's attack. It was completely impulsive and entirely uncalled for.

"It's him. He's the only spirit here. He's using Pitch's power." Jack accused.

"You saw him using Pitch's magic?" Tooth asked in surprise. There was no accusation or doubt in her tone, Jack noted, but there was an edge to it that he recognized. She was trying to use logic to make him realize how foolish he was acting. Well he was determined not to fall for it this time.

"I'm sorry but what are you talking about?" Harry asked from the safety of his shield before Jack could answer Tooth. He hadn't meant to be rude by interrupting their conversation but he wasn't about to stand aside while they talked about him as if he wasn't standing three-feet from them. Since he didn't trust the Snow Cone not to freeze him the second he got the chance, Harry could only get their attention verbally without leaving the zone protected by his shield. From here he was able to see and hear the motely crew of Guardians that had congregated on his doorstep. He recognized Jack, North, and, of course, Sandy from his previous meetings with them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the six-foot rabbit was the Easter Bunny and that the brightly coloured one with the high-pitched voice and wings was the Tooth Fairy.

"North set up an early warning system to tell us when Pitch or his associates were causing evil. It just went off and led us here," Bunny calmly explained before Jack interjected.

"And you're the only spirit around so-"

"So what?" Harry interrupted Jack. "So that automatically makes me the bad guy. Where's your proof."

"You're standing right there that's all the proof I need." Jack retorted.

"Silence," North exclaimed, quieting Jack and Harry's arguments. Both stood with their attention on him, Jack's mouth still open ready to let fly his next accusation. "Let's talk about this civilly."

"Fine." Jack quickly closed his mouth and opted to stand with his arms crossed and a frown on his face to show what he really thought of North's idea. Harry privately thought that the pose made him look more like a pouting child. North watched Jack for a moment to ensure he'd hold his tongue before addressing Harry.

"Now Harry," North began, sounding to Harry as if they had all just sat down to tea to exchange pleasantries instead of standing outside on the grounds of Hogwarts in the middle of the night. "I know some of us are acquainted, yes, but we are not really knowing one another. Tell us, how did you become spirit?"

"Well it's a bit of a long story," Harry warned. When North only nodded, he proceeded to tell them the Cole's Notes version of his life.

"MiM prepared my for this, sort of. He told me about each of you: you histories, how you became Guardians, your conflicts with Pitch Black. He made sure I had some training and knew the roll I was to play." Harry explained to the assembled Guardians. He remembered his initial reaction to MiM's proposition and idly wondered what the Guardians thought of it.

This was it? After all he'd done, all he'd fought for, and all he'd lost he still wasn't free? How could MiM do this to him? It was all he could do to keep from breaking down.

"But I never asked for this," he protested. "All I ever wanted was to be myself, with people who love me. Just Harry," he said as calmly as he could with a lump in the back of his throat and tears pooling in his eyes.

"That is why you are the best suited to the task. Do not be alarmed," MiM said a little hurriedly when he saw the panicked look start to creep into Harry's expression. "You will not be called upon to become a Guardian until you are needed."

Harry took a moment to collect himself before he registered the implications of what he had just been told. "But you at least suspect I will be needed in the near future. You just said you'd been planning for it almost my whole life."

"Yes, it is true. I think I will need to call on you sooner than I have the others. That is why I have arranged to train you. I am preparing you in a way that was not necessary with the others because you will have less time to get accustomed to you role."

Harry felt the constricting band around his lungs release with the panic. He could not be angry at MiM for conspiring against him in this way. Unlike Dumbledore and the Wizarding World, who all had made plans without his input, MiM was trying to do right by him. Even if MiM was withholding some information from him, he was giving Harry most of the main facts. More importantly, MiM was going to train him to be ready for what he had to do, not just pat him on the head and send him off to play expecting him to later pull a miracle out of his arse. Harry felt his respect for MiM deepen tenfold.

Sometime during his tale, everyone had made themselves comfortable. Sandy had fashioned himself a comfy looking chair from his dream sands, Bunny was sitting on his haunches, Jack was casually leaning on his staff, Tooth was somehow hovering in a reclined position midair with her wings, and North had seated himself cross-legged on the ground. Harry himself had needed to sit down with his back to the trunk of the tree just to keep himself upright.

"But Harry, what I don't understand is why you didn't come forward when you first met any of us," Tooth asked honestly. Harry was unable to find the light accusation in her tone offensive since he could clearly read from Tooth's mannerism that she genuinely cared about his well-being.

"MiM told me that he would teach me what I needed to know, but that when I woke I wouldn't remember how I'd learned it until such a time when the events around me triggered the memories," Harry replied calmly, as if MiM's explanation was the last word needed on the matter.

"That still does not explain what happened tonight. I for one do not think you are the evil that called us here but since you are the only one we have come across perhaps you have saw things," North subtly question. It was good to hear the reassurance that Harry had been chosen by MiM and was not a minion of Pitch but that left a bigger unknown of who then had been the one to trigger the alarm.

Harry lowered his head; in weariness or shame North could not tell. "I honestly have no clue. I came back here after the incident in Mexico where I met Jack only to be attacked from behind shortly there after."

"Attacked?" Tooth asked alarm. "Are you hurt?" She looked ready to mother him if he was, Harry though.

"That's the other thing. It was painful and I feel exhausted now but I can't tell you what exactly attacked me or what the attack was. I've never experienced anything like it before."

"Someone does not attack without reason," North said thoughtfully. Harry turned to him and nodded in agreement. A shared understanding amongst warriors passed between them. "If you were not attacked to debilitate you physically then you were targeted for something else. Take a moment. Do you feel different?"

Harry considered the suggestion. In all the kerfuffle with the arrival of the Guardians and Jack's almost immediate attack, Harry hadn't had a moment to fully assess his state. He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing as he took stock of himself. He was tired to be sure, that had been easily noticeable right away, but it was not just physical exhaustion. His magic was depleted, his thoughts were slow to focus, and he had a bit of a headache. He blamed his mental exhaustion on the fact that he had failed to notice that his spirit powers were almost nonexistent. Now that he was aware of its absence, he searched desperately to find any remaining evidence of it. All he could feel was a very soft pulse from what had formally been hundreds of pulls on his spirit alerting him to the children in need of his company.

"It's gone," Harry mumbled as he pulled out of his inner awareness. "I can't feel it anymore." It was impossible for him to believe that the weak pulse was all that was left of a power that had be overwhelming at times. He hadn't been too far off the mark when he'd compared the attack to that of the Dementor's kiss. He may not have lost his soul but his spirit was almost completely gone.

North and Tooth both reacted in shock and anger towards whoever was responsible for Harry's state.

"?" Sandy mimed with his sand. He was just as distressed as the others. However, being mute meant that the others often overlooked him. Harry answered him though as if he had spoken the question aloud.

"My spirit powers, the powers I have over the Realm in-between, they're gone," Harry clarified somberly. However his self-depressing train of thought was abruptly cut off by Jack's interjection.

"Oh come on guys!" Jack exclaimed with incredulity. "You can't honestly believe what he's saying? It's ridiculous!" He could not remain silent any longer. Jack was convinced there was no way Harry was telling the truth. The biggest indication was that nonsense about being trained by MiM. That couldn't have happened. There was no way Jack would believe that this spirit got special training when MiM had left Jack to fend for himself with nothing but his name for centuries.

"Jack! Show some compassion," Tooth reprimanded in a stage whisper, her anger inhibiting her ability to speak any more softly. Jack wasn't having any of it. He continued on as if he hadn't heard.

"Bunny, you haven't said anything since we arrived, help me out here," he implored, interpreting Bunny's silence up till this point as support for his cause.

"Sorry kid, no can do," Bunny replied.

"What do you mean? How can you of all spirits not suspect this guy? You gave me hell when I was called to be a Guardian but you take sides with an unknown without question?" Jack asked in disbelief. Of all the Guardians, he had expected Bunny to be his greatest ally in this argument. Now it was looking like he was on his own, again. The unintentional betrayal hurt more than Jack wanted to admit.

"I gave you hell because you were always a little shit with no interest in helping anyone but yourself."

"Easter of '68, again, will you never let that go?" Jack mumbled in exasperation.

"Besides," Bunny continued as if Jack hadn't spoken, "he's not an unknown."

"He's not?" Jack asked, looking at Bunny like he had never seen him before. North and Tooth, too, wore expressions of curiosity. Only Sandy was nodding his head in agreement.

"Nope. He's the Potter kid." This declaration was met by mixed reactions. The most notable of which was Harry Potter's expression of abject shock.

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A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating everyone. I hope after this long wait that you like the chapter. Thank you for your patience and support. Reality caught me around Christmas time (I got a job and moved across the country) and this is the first chance I've had since to write again. It also helped that the RotG movie finally came out to own so I got a bit of re-inspiration in the story. I'm not going to say anything on when I expect to get the next chapter up because I honestly don't know. Please bear with me though.