Chapter Thirty: The Dark Lord's Gambit

Star Wars + Harry Potter Crossover

A/N: Chap 29 review responses are in my forums like normal.

Chapter Thirty: The Dark Lord's Gambit

- Kyle Katarn never calls the wrong number; you just answered the wrong phone.

Harry walked among a small knot of wizards on the way back to Hogwarts, trying for the life of him to figure out what to do next. Dumbledore walked slightly ahead of him, while Remus Lupin and Sirius Black flanked him like bodyguards.

He knew behind him, under magical lights, the whole of Hogwarts and those guests from the other schools were enjoying a celebration to mark the conclusion of the tournament, with food and beverages. Harry never planned to go because, if he were honest with himself, he never planned to finish. In the back of his mind he was absolutely sure Voldemort was going to strike somehow.

The fact he did not left Harry feeling somewhat lost.

Remus and Sirius were talking happily over his head, recounting the various aspects of the tournament which evidently everyone could see through the clever use of charmed mirrors. Harry ignored them and concentrated on what their next steps were supposed to be. It never dawned on him to celebrate. The idea of celebrating victory was as repugnant to Jedi philosophy as throwing a tantrum for a loss.

Stars above, Harry, Kol is right. You do need to loosen up. Enjoy yourself, you deserve a break.

Harry rolled his eyes but made no effort to respond to Kyle's mental nudging.

"So what are you going to do with the money?" Sirius asked. Harry realized abruptly that their conversation now included him.

Harry was so caught up in Kyle's urging that he didn't immediately register the question. When he did, he looked up at the godfather he'd never even known about and blinked. "Er, well, don't know, really. Do want it?"

"Harry, you don't just give away five thousand galleons!" Lupin said with a strained laugh. "That's more than most wizards make in a year!"

"Oh." Harry looked down at the charmed bag of coins, then back to Lupin. He noticed the threadbare clothes the man wore, and how tired he looked due to his condition. Without a second's hesitation, he handed the coins over. "Take it."

"Harry, I can't…"

"Before we came here, I'd just saved the life of the Emperor of one third of the galaxy," Harry explained earnestly. "The Empress Regent gave me a pretty big estate. I don't need money, Remus. And even if I did, gold is not really as valuable in the greater galaxy as it is here. We have technology that can actually make gold through molecular manipulation. I don't need this. I don't even want it. It might as well go to someone who can actually use it."

Remus looked over Harry's head at Sirius, who shrugged. "I don't need it, I inherited the Black Estate."

"I…thank you, Harry," Remus said humbly.

"Consider it payment for all your tutoring," Harry said quickly. "You really did help me a lot."

"Well, there you go!" Sirius said jubilantly. "It's salary for services rendered. Not even your pride can argue with that, Remus."

"You're being awfully quiet, Professor Dumbledore," Lupin noted in an attempt to redirect the conversation.

The old man was walking with his gloved, conjured hand held tight against his chest. "Am I? Well, what is there to say but to congratulate Mr. Potter on a well-won contest."

"You were expecting Voldemort to attack, weren't you?" Harry said.

The other two men quieted, while Dumbledore merely gazed at Harry. "Yes," he said finally. "I did. The fact he did not, in its own way, is as troubling as if he had."

Harry glanced behind them back along the trail that led to the maze. Evidently the celebration was winding down. There were crowds of students slowly making their way back to the castle or to the wardline, but most were easily twenty to thirty minutes behind. There was no sign at all of anything threatening. The Force itself remained oddly quiet as well, but not a peaceful quiet. Rather, it felt pensive, if such a word could be used to describe the Force.

He looked around as they approached the courtyard in front of the main gates searching for some reason why things would be so oddly quiet on the heels of such a momentous occasion. But the courtyard was strangely empty—every single person in the castle had attending the games, staff included.

"Where is everyone?" Harry finally asked aloud. "Why are we the first ones back?"

Remus and Sirius both looked at each other in surprise, having not considered it. It was at that precise moment that Harry heard a distinctive crack not ever heard before in the castle. Dumbledore staggered, his face set in an expression of confusion more than anything else, while Remus and Sirius pulled their wands.

They were too late. As Harry gripped his saber, purple and black curses crisscrossed the courtyard, catching the two wizards in the cross-fire before they could even draw breath to cast in their defense. One of the curses clipped Harry as he dove forward. It felt like a fiery hammer slammed into his upper hip and sent him spinning.

He landed on his feet ready to fight when another spell struck him. With light and magic flying back and forth, it was impossible for him to say for sure, but it looked almost as if the spell came from Dumbledore himself.

Harry's legs locked to his horror and he fell to the ground. Desperately he tried every counter-jinx he knew, but nothing worked. He had time to look up as a figure shimmered into existence in time to cast a simple disarming charm against Dumbledore, who continued to simply stand and stare. However, as Harry watched he saw the red stain marring the headmaster's silvery robes at his chest.

Frowning, Harry stared at the newly visible figure. He recognized the white hair and sickly complexion as Draco Malfoy, and in his hand he held a Muggle pistol. In his other he held both his wand and now the Headmaster's. All around the barely-lit courtyard dark wizards began to shimmer into visibility.

Harry realized with the type of clarity that only came with great pain that if he relit his saber, he would not survive—not with his legs locked. Though he hated to do it, he reached into the pocket of his Jedi robes and removed the invisibility cloak Dumbledore had given him. Without a word, he pulled the cloak over his crouched figure and just in time.

"Where's Potter?"

Harry's stomach roiled when he saw Severus Snape approach the frozen Draco.

"Don't know!" another wizard said.

Snape raised his wand. "Homenum Revelio!"

Every time he'd heard that charm, Harry had felt himself blasted into visibility. But just as the Headmaster had said, this time Harry remained hidden under his cloak. "The boy must have fled," Snape declared. He then walked to Draco's side. As he did so, Draco dropped his gun to the flagstones as he continued to stare at Dumbledore.

The headmaster had not moved, nor fallen to his knees. He simply stood and stared back at Draco without expression while his blood continued to soak the front of his robe. Snape walked casually to him and leaned forward to whisper something Harry could not hear. Only then, having heard the former professor's words, did Dumbledore fall stiffly first to his knees, and then face-first to the stones.

"You've done it, Draco," Snape said coolly. "You have saved your family. Give that wand to the Dark Lord and all will be forgiven."

As soon as Dumbledore died, the charm freezing Harry's legs faded. It did nothing to alleviate the fire-like burning at his hip but he could at least now move. Gathering the Force and magic about him, Harry did just that. Without a sound, he burst from underneath the cloak toward the nearest Death Eater and bisected the man from head to navel with his saber.

Other wizards shouted, but Harry was already moving on. He cast a powerful bone-exploding curse at the wizard running toward him while diving forward and thrusting his saber into the chest of another. He felt spells burning past, but unlike his last meeting with Snape, this time Harry kept moving.

It was not Snape, however, that he was aiming for. He sliced through another pair of Death Eaters and one man in red auror robes who was fighting with the villains until he came face to face with a red-eyed, exhausted-looking Draco Malfoy. Without hesitation Harry thrust his saber into the other boy's chest.

Draco's eyes bulged and a strange, gurgle came from his lips. Just as quickly he shot back away from Harry before he could pull the sword side-ways to finish his enemy off. He saw Draco collapse into Snape's arms.

"You are a fool, Potter, just like your father!" the dark wizard cried moments before he disappeared with Draco in his arms.

Only then did the first students and staff arrive at the edge of the courtyard, where they witnessed the carnage of dismembered bodies, cursed wizards, and a perfectly still Dumbledore. Harry spun around, looking for more Death Eaters to fight, but like Snape they somehow had apparated or portkeyed out, as if the wards had fallen.

With a shock, he realized that's exactly what had happened.

A shriek brought Harry's attention back to the gate to see Professor McGonagall running toward Dumbledore. "What happened?" she cried.

"Draco Malfoy shot him," Harry said, right before the flame in his own hip overcame him, and he collapsed just like Dumbledore had. "Snape was here, with more Death Eaters. Remus and Sirius need help too!"

As more and more people arrived, the pandemonium grew. Every student could see Dumbledore lying still in a pool of blood in the middle of the courtyard, not to mention all the men Harry slaughtered, and the increasing cries of dismay were making conversation difficult, much less retaining order.

Finally McGonagall stood and cast a loud blasting charm into the air. "All students are to report to their houses at once. Heads of houses are to take an immediate head count. Professor Babbage, please handle the Gryffindors for me. Professor Sinistra, please fetch the aurors as soon as you can."

Reluctantly at first, and then more energetically as students finally had some leadership, the student body began to circulate widely around the fallen body of their headmaster. Harry saw tears and fear in many eyes.

What he did not see, however, was Hermione. A witch he did not recognize knelt down beside him with a cool, professional manner and began casting medical diagnostic charms. Her eyes widened when she saw his hip. "Mr. Potter, my name is Andromeda Tonks. We have a mutual acquaintance. And we need to get you to Saint Mungo's immediately, or you will lose your leg, and possibly your life."

"But what about…?"

"Hush, now, Harry," she said, a moment before stunning him. He'd felt no danger from her in the Force and so had no defense as the darkness took him.

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

Harry woke in the one place he never thought he would wake from—the cramped med station on board the Preening Crow.

The ship's medical droid, 10-5C, stood in the corner, its glowing eyes staring at him intently. "Good morning, Master Potter. You'll be pleased to know that you are fully healed."

"Er, right. Thanks."

Healed, but not dressed. He quickly pulled on his Jedi robes and left the med station but found the rest of the ship completely empty. After finishing his exploration of the craft, he walked toward the cargo bay and found the ramp open. Just outside, he saw a small log cabin surrounded by a thick copse of woods.

It was not the Force that guided Harry, but rather the series of loud explosions which led him around the cabin into a clearing where Amelia Bones stood on her one good and one artificial leg, casting powerful blasting curses at the nearby trees while spewing a long, constant stream of invective.

Kyle sat nearby on a conjured folding chair, one leg of his dark pants pulled up to reveal his heavily muscled, hairy leg. The exposed knee was wrapped in bacta patches and a strong black brace. Behind him, several adult witches and wizards stood looking worriedly at Amelia. One or two of the younger ones looked as if they'd been crying.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

The stream of invective stopped, as did the cursing. Amelia spun around, and he was surprised to see that the strong, older witch had obviously been crying. Without a word, she stomped awkwardly past him and the others and disappeared into the house.

"Kyle?" Harry asked.

"Come here, Harry," the old Jedi said.

The others broke up and stared heading into the house. Harry felt their sympathetic eyes on him as he approached his master. When they were along, Kyle reached into the breast pocket of his old leather flight jacket and handed Harry a piece of parchment. As he unfolded it, he noticed it had blood stains on it.

The ink, in fact, looked as if it were written in blood, and opening himself to the Force he could feel pain emanating from the parchment like heat from a fire. With a concerned look at Kyle's stony face, Harry read:

A fair trade. Two lives for one. Bring Harry Potter to Diagon Alley at Midnight and we shall bring Granger and Bones. Fail to bring Harry Potter to Diagon Alley, and we shall only bring pieces of Granger and Bones.

The parchment was not signed.

"Kyle?"

"McGonagall confirmed privately to Amelia that both Hermione and Susan never returned from the tournament. Killing Dumbledore wasn't his only goal that night, it seems."

"So what do we do?" Harry asked. "Kyle…I can't…what do we do?"

The idea of Hermione hurting made Harry's stomach ache worse than even the Goblet did when it was trying to force him to come back to Earth. The mere thought of her in pain filled him with such panicked dread he could barely think. He had to…

He felt a hand on his shoulder, but when he looked Kyle appeared bleary. With a start, Harry realized he'd been crying. "Kyle, I can't let her be hurt. Not because of me."

"I know, Harry. Amelia was worried that you'd want to leave Earth. The tournament is over. She doesn't know you well enough to realize you wouldn't leave, no matter who it was. Especially not for Miss Granger."

"But what do we do, Kyle? Not even you could really beat him. Do you think…do you think we could com Master Skywalker?"

"Ossus is a week away. The nearest Imperial forces are at least three days away. That's why I picked Earth, it was far away from everything. We're on our own."

"So what do we do? We can't just leave them! We can't!"

Kyle studied Harry's face in silence, as if searching for something only he could even know existed. Finally, though, he nodded. "I know, Harry. And we won't. We know Diagon Alley is a trap—that Voldemort wants you did because of this prophecy. But we can't kill him first until Nagini is dead."

"So…?"

"So, we meditate and seek answers in the Force," Kyle said.

"Do you think it will help?"

"Probably not, but that was always Luke's suggestion and it seemed to work for him."

~~Katarn~~

~~Katarn~~

"Master, he did as you tasked. Dumbledore is dead, witnessed by the wand in your hand. Please, my lord, please have mercy on my family."

Severus watched with a stony face as Lucius Malfoy prostrated himself on the floor of his own manor before Voldemort, begging pathetically for the lives of his family. Draco lay upstairs, recovering slowly from Potter's blasted weapon. The curse Snape struck the boy with should have put him down; he never accounted for the boy's own alien magic enabling him to do so much damage after the fact.

Voldemort sat in silence, staring down at his once proud but now groveling servant, and then at the wand he held in his hand—Dumbledore's wand. "Indeed, the boy managed to succeed, having only lost six of my strongest supporters, including Runcorn, my best source in the Aurors."

"But master…we captured the Granger and Bones girls," Malfoy said, his face still pointed to the parquet tiles of the floor. "Amelia would never let her niece come to harm, and Severus said…"

"I know what he said, Lucius."

"Yes, master."

Voldemort turned to Snape and nodded. The potions master walked quickly from the room until he reached the corner where Naricssa Malfoy floated in a trap of unending agony. He levitated the granite platform that held the spell in place, and with it came Narcissa herself, trapped like a life-sized mannequin. Upon his return to the room, Malfoy turned and saw him, and could not help a sob.

"Your son succeeded where you failed," Voldemort said. "His sacrifice has bought you my mercy, Lucius. But do not fail me again."

"Never, Master!"

Voldemort pointed his wand with a firm thrust of magic that Severus, despite his years of study, could never master. Instantly the shimmering amber field around Narcissa disappeared and she collapsed to the granite square. The silence of the room was broken by her ragged inhalation, followed by a harrowing scream.

Nor did the screaming stop. Lucius scrambled from his feet to his wife who continued to lay on the granite screaming just from the memory of the agony. He gathered her in his arms and ran with her from the room, while her screams continued to mark his progress.

When silence had returned to the hall Voldemort turned to Snape, and the potions master knew he was about to receive orders to bring the two captive girls. So far, neither had been harmed, but he also knew it was just a matter of time. Already Greyback and the Carrow siblings were frothing at the mouth to play with the two attractive teenaged girls.

However, before he could speak, a young Death Eater recruit came running into the hall, stumbling over the threshold so that he almost fell before Voldemort rather than bowing. "My lord, the alien has sent a reply."

If Voldemort had eyebrows, Snape had no doubt they would be raised at the moment. "A reply? Then by all means, let's see it."

"Er, sir, it's uh…a machine of some sort. The owls dropped it off just outside our wardline."

"My Lord, it could be an explosive," Snape cautioned.

"Perhaps, but I do not think so, not with our guests," Voldemort said. "Bring the machine here."

The underline bowed and scrambled back clumsily to his feet. Moments later he returned carrying what looked like a small black box on wheels. The moment the device came within sight of Voldemort, the wheels began to spin, startling the underling so much he dropped it.

The box hit the floor hard on its side but somehow managed to right itself. It spun about on its four small wheels and spit a few odd beeps and whistled at the startled underling before spinning back and rolling to the center of the floor. It came to a stop ten feet away from Voldemort, and the moment it did the air shimmered until the alien Kyle Katarn floated before him.

"Voldemort," the old man said.

"Is this a pensieve memory?" Voldemort whispered to Snape.

"No, I can see and hear you," the image of Katarn said. "This is the normal means of communication for all the millions of worlds beyond this insignificant little speck of dirt you call Earth." The old man's disdain and contempt was obvious. "You have power, wizard. I acknowledge your magic. I respect your strength, even if your character is pathetic. But you seem to be under a mistaken impression of your place in the universe. So I would like to show you something before we discuss your demands."

The alien disappeared, and in his place the air solidified into what looked like a modern city not too unlike London, save for differences in architecture. Voldemort leaned forward, genuinely fascinated, as the clouds over the city began to boil. From them, a great dagger-shaped craft floated down majestically over the city, held aloft by magics not even the Dark Lord himself could imagine. The craft was so large it seemed almost to dwarf the city itself.

Suddenly, the underbelly of the great floating machine began to spit out green bolts of light, and where each bolt of light struck, the city did not just burn, but exploded so powerfully Voldemort leaned back in shock as mushroom clouds began to burst up from the city, while the ship continued to float above the devastation unaffected.

The image cut away to leave Katarn once again watching. "What you witnessed as the final engagement of a civil war fought over thirty years ago. That ship was under the command of the Galactic Empire.

Know, Voldemort, that Harry Potter has been adopted as an honorary member of the Imperial Family by the Empress Regent. That if any harm befalls him, the Empress will not hesitate a moment to reduce the whole of Great Britain to glass. It would take one ship less than one hour to do so. You have powerful magic, yes. But you are a primitive, ignorant barbarian on a backward, uncivilized planet. Don't let your arrogance lead to the death of your entire world. We will meet you in Diagon Alley, and you will return your hostages to us unharmed and then walk away. Or you, and everything you know, will be utterly destroyed."

The image disappeared and the droid suddenly began to shake before it caught fire and melted quickly into slag. Voldemort stood, not saying a word as he considered the message, before finally bursting out in laughter. As with all things, the laughter held no humor.

"The fool thinks he can bluff me!"

"Master, perhaps…" Snape began.

"Silence!" Voldemort shouted, all sign of laughter gone in a second. "If the fool had that kind of power, he would have used it already. Your own reports say that this Katarn belonged to an order dedicated to protection, yes? A knight Templar in the stars. No, one such as him would never indiscriminately destroy a civilization. He was bluffing. But…"

He paused in thought. "But, I would be a fool to believe I knew the full extent of what alien tools he does have with him. We will not harm the hostages, not yet. We will take them untouched to Diagon Alley as he asked. But once there…then we will show him just how much power we do have. Death Eaters, prepare for battle. Tonight, Harry Potter and all who support him will die!"

The Death Eaters in the hall cheered because Voldemort expected it, and to not meet his expectations could be lethal. Voldemort stood and motioned for Snape as he left the room. "Not you," he said softly. "You, Snape, are to stay here to guard Nagini. Just in case."

It was a startling admission to Severus that the Dark Lord acknowledged risk. The Potions Master bowed low. "Thank you for your trust, m'lord. I shall not fail you."

"You had better not. If Nagini is harmed in any way, you will die. But you will die very, very slowly."

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A/N: This is the second week that I was unable to actually upload my .docx version. I've reported the problem to support, but just be aware that if you find any weird formatting, it was because of how I was forced to get the story out. I despise having to cut and paste.