Chapter Twenty: A Touch of Cold

Star Wars + Harry Potter Crossover

A/N: Review responses are in my forums. If I didn't get to yours and just have to have an answer, feel free to post in those forums as well. It's what they're there for. That said, the attack on Harry was a mystery. Lots of folks were very quick to point out the obvious, which means the obvious is wrong. Like every mystery, you're not going to get all the answers at once. So, you'll just have to keep reading if you really want to know what happened. And if you don't care, well, then why are you reading in the first place?

Chapter Twenty: A Touch of Cold

The hardest moment for a child is not when he learns Santa Claus isn't real,

it's when he learns that Kyle Katarn is.

"Harry, you should really tell someone about the attack," Remus said when he showed up the day after Christmas for Harry's lessons.

"I did," Harry said glumly. "I was told that, and I quote, 'No one can simply disappear from Hogwarts.' Professor Dumbledore insisted it had to be a student prank."

"You don't believe him, I take it?"

"I couldn't sense the attacker. I can sense every student in the castle, which means whoever did it was able to hide themselves with magic. I just don't know of any students who could do that. I was able to go into a healing trance, so it's mostly healed anyway. It wasn't a deep cut."

"So what do you want to do?"

The question surprised Harry. Normally, it was he asking that of his master. Having the question posed to him felt odd. "Learn more, I suppose."

The two spoke in one of the many empty classrooms that filled the castle. Originally built to house three thousand students and staff, the paltry population of under a thousand left large portions of the castle empty. There weren't even any portraits in the room they selected.

"Well, onto other topics, Sirius wanted to know how the Ball went," the werewolf said.

Harry pulled his outer Jedi robe off. It was Kyle's idea that he wear his Jedi robes as a "school" uniform. "It went well," Harry said. "I enjoyed talking to Hermione, and she was a surprisingly good dancer."

"Ahh, Miss Granger, I remember her from last year," Lupin said. "A remarkably intelligent student. She turned out to be an ugly duckling, it seems."

That caught Harry by surprise, and even angered him a little. "What?"

Rather than be alarmed by Harry's disturbed state, Lupin laughed. "It's a fairy tale, Harry. The ugly duckling never fit in with his duck family, because when he grew up he turned out to be a swan. Ms. Granger was similar—she was a bit frazzled as a student early on, but she has grown into a truly lovely young woman."

Appeased, Harry could only nod and try not to let thoughts of that smirking smile of hers distract him too badly. "So, where are we?"

"I think we should review the 6th year curriculum before we move into the final NEWT subjects. I'd also like you to consider taking your OWLs this year, and maybe even your NEWTs. Having those tests on record will give you a certain legitimacy in the wizarding world. Now, explain to me the Principle of Artificianimate Quasi-Dominance in conjunction with conjuration and transfiguration."

Harry did so, and fielded many other questions before they moved into the practical exercises. In the course of the afternoon they reviewed an entire year's worth of charms and transfiguration. They paused for lunch and made their way down to the Great Hall for food.

Many of the students who returned for the Yule Ball elected to stay for the remainder of the holiday, so the Great Hall was far more crowded than would otherwise be the case. He noticed how many students greeted Lupin warmly, while others looked at him with thinly veiled fear for his condition as a werewolf.

They found a corner at the Gryffindor table and began to eat from the abundant food there. "Remus, how much do you know about the Hogwarts ghosts?"

"Oh, as much as anyone, I'd guess," Lupin said humbly.

"There is a ghost of a woman—tall, dark hair, very beautiful…"

"The Grey Lady," Lupin said immediately. Then he chuckled over his mug of pumpkin juice. "James and Sirius got it in their heads that they could woo her into telling them where the lost diadem of Ravenclaw was. Sirius was convinced he wouldn't be able to pass his NEWTs without it. I'm not sad to report their attempt failed miserably, but it was very funny. Your mum and her friends dressed Alice Mackenzie—Neville's mum—as the Gray Lady and used a mix of charms to convince Sirius she was the ghost and lured him into the Great Hall, where they vanished all his clothes in the middle of dinner in the Great Hall."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Why?"

"Sirius was a bit of a dog to women," Remus admitted. "I assure you, he deserved it. He'd tell you himself. He's not a bad person, but he does have his weak points."

Harry's mind was already racing with the news. The Gray Lady, the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw … and suddenly he remembered. On Ossus, during his first trial, he'd had a vision of a tall, beautiful woman with long dark hair cloaked in a nimbus of silver, kneeling in a primeval forest with a beautifully wrought silver crown in one hand, while the other clutched a knife protruding from her stomach. Mother, forgive me, she whispered.

"She was stabbed," Harry whispered aloud.

"That's right—killed by the Bloody Baron," Remus said. "He then went on to kill himself in remorse for his actions."

"Where would I find her?" Harry asked.

"Well, she's the Ravenclaw ghost, so either in the Ravenclaw dorms, or the library. Although ghosts can really go anywhere they want in the castle."

"Okay, I have to go," Harry said. "I'll meet you back in the classroom in an hour, okay?"

"What…?" He didn't wait to hear the rest of older man's question as he left the Great Hall at a run. Unfortunately, he could not sense ghosts in the Force, but he was very fast, if nothing else. He went to the library first, and couldn't help but smile in relief when he saw the beautiful ghost sitting in an elevated alcove surrounded by exquisite stained glass windows of wizards fighting dragons.

"Um, excuse me?"

The ghost looked up at him, and though he could not feel her presence in the Force Harry could see the pain of her lost life etched in her face. "Hello," Harry continued, feeling completely out of his comfort zone. "I was wondering, may I speak with you?"

Her dark stare felt hollow, and not just because he could see through her. "You are the boy the others speak of."

"Yes." He climbed into the alcove and sat down in a plush chair opposite her. "My name is Harry Potter. And I need your help in understanding something."

"You seek my mother's diadem, just like all the others," the ghost said. She scowled and began to rise.

"No, I just need to understand a vision I had."

The ghost paused and looked back at him with one arched brow. "A vision?"

"Yes. When…when Jedi like me reach a certain point in our training, we undergo a trial of the spirit. It's a trek into a hot desert, unlike anything you can imagine, with only a little food or water. Mine lasted nearly a month, and during that time…magic showed me things."

"Like what?"

"It showed me a troll hitting a student in a girl's bathroom. It showed me a monster with a handsome face stealing the soul of a little girl with red hair. And it showed me a beautiful woman in silver, sitting in an ancient forest. She held a silver crown in one hand, and clutched at the knife in her stomach with the other. In the vision, she looked like you, but I don't understand why magic would show me something like that when I was so far away from here."

Slow, the Grey Lady sank back down into the seat opposite him, her eyes distant. "He moaned and cried when he realized what he'd done," the ghost whispered. "As if it were he who had been stabbed. Though I knew it would be my death, I ripped the blade from my flesh and flung it to him. I told him he was a murderer, and deserved no less. And he fell on his own knife. He actually died before I did."

"You were asking for your mother to forgive you," Harry said.

The ghost turned sharply toward him before relaxing. "A true vision you had then. I asked forgiveness for my crime, even though I knew none would come. I stole the diadem. I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it. My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts."

"And so the diadem was lost with you in that forest."

"Hidden, not lost. And it was found, in time."

Harry's mind was racing, not over the vision, but over his recent lessons with Dumbledore and the testimony of the now decease Barty Crouch Jr. "Voldemort found it, didn't he? Someplace in Albania."

"In my time it was known as Kutmichevitsa," the ghost said. She seemed lost in her memories. "The Bulgars wrested it from Constantinople. I was travelling to the city of Dyrrachium to seek refuge with my father's family there when the Baron caught me. I hid my mother's diadem in a tree outside the city. Today, men call the town Durres, in Albania."

"But why would he want your mum's diadem?"

"He told me it was to make him as wise as me," the ghost said softly. "So pretty. All the professors sang his praises, and he sang mine. He made me feel…alive again. And so I told him where to find it." Suddenly her sadness flared into anger. "And does he use it as mother intended? No! He defiled it! He defiled my mother's most prized possession with Dark magic, and it was my fault. Always, my fault!"

With that, the ghost shot skyward until she disappeared through the high, arched ceiling. Harry leaned back in his seat, desperately trying to figure out exactly what he just learned. In the midst of his mental turmoil, he felt a sudden, unexpected flare first of heat, and then of comfort.

Somehow, his padawan bond had reformed. He almost jumped out of his seat and screamed for joy, until he felt a sense of caution through the link. None can know, came the whisper of Kyle's mind. We can hear you due to a subdermal transceiver. The diadem must be a horcrux. We are hunting them in secret, but we need your help. Quiz Dumbledore about where and what they could be, but in the meantime, find that diadem.

Speaking through a Force bond was not easy. Harry had to still himself and concentrated on the words before projecting them. How can I?

We've been tracing His steps and patterns. He's an egotist who considers himself an heir to Slytherin. And where else would the heir of Slytherin keep a piece of his soul? The Force tells me that diadem is in the castle. It's your job to find out where.

Harry nodded and then thought: You cut our bond, Master. Why?

Harry, I thought I was about to die. I never wanted you to feel that. I did not come through unscathed, either. But I also needed everyone to believe we were dead so we could operate more efficiently. I am sorry for your anguish, Padawan. More than you can ever know. But I am not sorry for my actions.

The answer was so typically Kyle Harry could help but smile. I understand, Kyle. I'm just glad you're still alive.

For now, Harry. This battle is just starting. But if we are lucky and the Force is with us, we will finish the battle before it becomes a war. Find that Diadem.

He felt Kyle's presence fade as the contact ended, but the bond they had shared since Harry was a child remained, filling him with a warm sense of hope.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked and realized with surprise that he'd been crying in joy. He wiped his eyes and saw Hermione standing with three large books pressed against her chest, concern written clearly over her face. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Harry said. "I'm just…thinking of Kyle. But I'm okay, now. Better than okay. It's going to be alright, Hermione, I just know it."

Impulsively, she reached out to take his hand, and it felt warm in his. "I'm glad, Harry. So does that mean you've figured out the clue to the Second Task?"

"No, I…wait, what?"

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

"Kyle?"

Kyle Katarn blinked, thrown off balance by the fact that only one eye closed, and cleared his throat. Amelia was looking at him in understated concern—a concern carefully crouched in her professional reserve.

Around them in the sitting room of the safe house, the rest of the team was looking on with various expressions of interest. While the transceiver on Harry could not capture the sound of a ghost's voice (other than an inaudible whisper that sent chills down their spines), they heard Harry's side of the conversation clearly. And based on that conversation, they were able to add another horcrux to the list.

Horace Slughorn was still sleeping off an obliviation in his home, but the team itself had been hard at work going through Slughorn's copied files. "I'm fine," he said after clearing his throat. "So, where does that bring us?"

"Well, if what we heard is to be believed, Ravenclaw's diadem," Amelia said, ticking off one finger.

"Right," Kyle said. "And Slytherin's locket."

"The diary Dumbledore told Potter about," Alastor Gumboil said.

"The Gaunt ring Horace said Tom wore during the last two years at Hogwarts," Aura Devereaux added.

"And Hufflepuff's cup," Robards said.

"So that's five items," Kyle said. "One's already been destroyed, and one is almost certainly at Hogwarts."

"That's an awfully big assumption," Amelia noted.

Kyle shrugged. "Harry's there, he might as well look. But the Force tells me that's where we'll find it. Something that dark will resonate with Dark Side energy that we'll be able to feel, I'm certain of it. So, we need to find the cup, locket and ring."

"But if there are seven items total, where are the other two?" Emmon Savage, another of the aurors, asked.

"Six," Amelia corrected. "Voldemort himself is the seventh. As for what the sixth is, think it'll be something he keeps close to himself. We'll know more as we go, but for now we should concentrate on what we know, and do what we can do."

"So where do we start?" Tonks asked.

Gumboil held up a news clipping. "The sea cave in Kent," he said. "Whichever one it might be."

"Then we go," Kyle said. "Tonight."

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

Harry stared at the golden egg in consternation. Hermione sat across from him with a Muggle-style notebook and ball point pen, making notes and brainstorming with him. Nearby, Remus Lupin was paging through a book. The rules said that the staff of Hogwarts could not assist Harry with the tournament, but nothing in the rules prevented him from seeking outside help.

"The translation charm didn't work," Hermione said as she scratched that off.

"The egg isn't magical," Remus noted from the book. "It just holds the magical recording."

"Are we sure it's a recording?" Harry asked.

"Not one hundred percent, but given all the champions had the same egg, it's a good bet," Hermione said. "Can you open it one more time?"

Nodding, Harry braced himself for the screeching, grating noise and opened it. He let it play for as long as his ears could stand it until finally he had to close it. Hermione looked just as shaken the tenth time listening to it as the first. "It sounds almost as if they made it sound as painful to human ears as they could."

"Maybe it wasn't meant for human ears," Harry said. "I mean, there are other magical creatures, right? Could one of them have made this sound?"

"That's not a bad thought, Harry," Lupin said. "Perhaps we should be studying magical creatures—that might even be the hint in and of its self."

Suddenly Hermione dropped her pen. "Star Trek!"

"Star what?" Harry asked, dumbfounded by the sudden shift.

"Star Trek IV!" Hermione continued excitedly. "Aliens send a probe to Earth to talk to whales!"

Harry blinked again. "Is this a movie? Because it sounds really stupid. Who would want to send a probe to talk to whales?"

"This coming from a boy whose first girlfriend had brains in her hair," Hermione said dryly.

"They were lekku, and she wasn't my…" Her smile caught him. "Right, whatever. So, what are you talking about?"

"Well, in the movie no one can figure out what the probe is saying, so the heroes put it through a computer as if they were listening to it under water! And that's how they learn its whale song."

"Mermish," Lupin said suddenly. "Miss Granger, you truly are the brightest witch of your age. Mermish, Harry! They could be speaking perfectly legible English, but their voices are designed for speaking under water to each other. Above the water, they sound like claws on a chalkboard."

Looking from one to the other, Harry said, "So I take the egg under water and listen to it?"

"Precisely!" Hermione and Lupin both declared.

"Okay, where? I've only seen showers here, are there baths?"

Hermione frowned, obviously not knowing herself. Lupin, however, merely grinned. "As it happens, the prefect bathrooms all have rather large baths—the size of small swimming pools, in fact. I'm sure if you were to ask, Professor McGonagall would allow you entry for tournament purposes."

Because classes were still out for the remaining few days of the holiday, it was easy enough to find McGonagall in her quarters near the Gryffindor tower. The first portion of her quarters in fact served as an office where she could receive students, and it was there she met them.

"You wish what, Mr. Potter?"

"I would like to request access to the prefects bath for no more than an hour or two, if even that long," Harry said.

"May I ask what for?"

"For the tournament, Professor," Harry said. "It is my belief that the clue to the second task can only be understood while underwater. I believe it was recorded either in Mermish, or in English spoken by a merman."

She pursed her lips and studied Harry for a long moment. "I must say, Mr. Potter, that I am very impressed with you."

"How so, professor?"

"Given your recent losses, you have purported yourself with a dignity and self-control very, very few people of any age have, much less a teenager."

It was a fight not to smile at the thought of what Kyle would say. "While I may not have Kyle any more, Professor, in a very real sense he is still with me. And for his memory as well as my own sake, I do not ever wish to shame him. My outburst in the hospital wing was bad enough, I do not wish to lose control like that again."

"Indeed." It was all she said, but the word was enough. She leaned forward and began searching through the drawers in her heavy wooden desk until she found a playing-card sized wooden sheaf. She touched her wand to it and handed it over. "This will grant you temporary access to the Prefects Bath on the fifth floor of the hospital tower. I recommend you go during the day, as it is most busy at night and in the mornings."

"Thank you, Professor."

Not intending to waste any time, Harry left her office and went straight to the bathroom in question. The sumptuously built bath was easily large enough to fit ten students comfortably, and with a blush Harry wondered just what type of bathing occurred here, since there did not appear to be a different boy's or girl's facility.

Still, he felt a need to rush and stripped out of his Jedi robes and moments later sank into the ever-warm water. He had to admit it felt wonderful, and for a brief moment he simply soaked in it. The moment passed; with a sigh he took the egg, saturated his body with oxygen with several quick, deep breaths, and then sank under water and opened the egg.

The difference in the sound astonished Harry. Where before he heard a painfully loud, high pitched screaming, now a beautiful, angelic chorus permeated the water.

Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this;

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late it's gone, it won't come back.

He rose above the water, memorizing the message, only to see a beautiful woman's face hovering inches from his above the water.

Jedi or not, Harry screamed in a particularly girlish fashion and pushed back so fast he slammed his head on the edge of the bath. The ghost rose slightly from the water, unaffected by it, and simply stared. It was the Gray Lady again, staring at him intently.

"He…hello?"

"You are well-formed for such a youth," she whispered. "When I was a student here, the keep was not yet finished. We lived in thatch huts while mother and the rest built the castle. I still remember the day when Godric and Salazar sacrificed Humfrey Kilbowy on the rocks to power the wards of the castle. He screamed and cried, but all of us, even me, were in the lottery. Godric held him down while Salazar cut his throat. I remember so well because Humfrey was keen on me. I've often wondered if he truly lost the lottery, or if Salazar's son William asked that he be killed."

It was difficult for Harry to understand what she was saying. Not intellectually—it was clear enough. What he had difficulty with was believing that the castle around him was built on human sacrifice. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

She hovered close to him. Because of how the sunlight shone through the stained glass windows, for a brief moment she almost looked alive. "If I still lived, would you kiss me like you did that girl at your ball?"

The question caught Harry unprepared. He gaped as she moved closer, her parted lips so close he could feel the cold emanating from her. The water no longer felt as warm. And yet, there was no questioning the fact that she was beautiful.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I think I'd be too terrified by having you in the bath with me to actually think about kissing you, as beautiful as you are."

He waited for her anger to explode, but it did not. Instead, surprisingly, she pulled back and smiled at him. "You are not like other boys. You still have honor."

"Er, thank you, I supposed."

She reached out a cold hand and pressed his cheek. "Humfrey had honor too, I think. He was sacrificed for the witches and wizards of England. I think you too will be sacrificed, Harry Potter, and it saddens me."

"Dumbledore?"

She neither nodded nor shook her head. Rather, she continued to touch his cheek with her cold. "What you seek is on the left-hand corridor of the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas and his dancing trolls. Walk past it three times and think intently of the Room of Hidden Things."

"Thank you," Harry said. He could feel frost forming from her touch.

"I would be saddened if you died," she said. "But given great solace if your soul were to linger. Think kindly of Helena Ravenclaw, Harry Potter. Think kindly of me."

With that, she floated up out of the water and disappeared through the ceiling.

A/N: The actress who played Helena Ravenclaw, Kelley McDonald, was the same to play Diane, Ewan McGregor's underaged love interest in Trainspotting. Ewan, of course, played Obi-Wan in the prequels. It seemed a fitting connection. Thanks for reading.

A/N the second-the circumstances and location of Helena's passing are my own invention, based loosely on what details the book provided. I've not read anything on Pottermore, and probably won't.