Hi

Hi! Another darkfic courtesy of Shadowphantomness productions!

Summary: AU. Ash is not the happy-go-lucky child in the anime, his mother abuses him and his father is dead. His pokemon journey is his only means of escape, but can he even survive the road to get there? Fortunately, he has some help…

Disclaimer: I own Charlotte, Destiny, new pokemon, etcetera. Nintendo owns pokemon.

Notes: <> indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and italics indicates translated pokemon speech.

Chapter 1: To sleep, perchance to dream

Five-year old Ash Ketchum slept fitfully on his bed. Ever since his father had died a year ago, his mother had undergone a drastic change in personality. Now, she hit him day in and day out and starved him most of the time. But she always acted nice when the authorities came to see if she could handle raising a child as a single mother, and his long sleeves hid his bruises and scars, so the government could do nothing. As for the emotional abuse, that left no marks. So nobody noticed.

From behind his closed lids, though, there was another story.

“Aniki, aneki, come back!” Little Ash called as he chased after the two fleeing figures. Aneki and Aniki had always been there for him, he saw them every night after he fell asleep, when he entered into the realm of dreams. Aneki was about ten, while aniki was seven or eight. They would play games with him and teach him interesting things and magic, and they were also his only friends.

Aniki had spiky red hair with gold and silver streaks in it and blue eyes, while aneki had wavy black hair and dark blue eyes. They both loved to play games with him, along with all the dreamscape creatures. In his dreams, Ash was much, much happier than he was in real life. Ironically, the dreams were the only things keeping him alive, because aneki and aniki would try to bring him food, although it was very difficult to do that, and the always gave him the little vials of gold and silver liquid to drink before he left. Ash wasn’t sure what it was, but it made him heal faster and not feel as hungry.

“Tag, you’re it!” Aneki said. She giggled and jumped on the back of a white Ponyta. Ash took off running as Aniki suddenly sprouted a pair of dark blue wings and flew towards him.

“Not fair!” He pouted, getting caught. “I don’t know that spell yet!”

“Aw, don’t worry, we’ll teach you as soon as you can master the other flight spells.” Aniki said in his good-tempered voice.

“Hai, aniki-chan!”

Aneki grinned. “So, anyone hungry? I managed to get some cookies past the dream guardian.”

“Yay!” Ash cheered. The three children giggled and ate cookies. Before he left, Ash remembered to drink the shiny liquid.

“Wake up, you little brat!” Delia hissed as she shook Ash awake. “Make yourself useful, go downstairs and start vacuuming the carpet! You won’t get breakfast until it’s all done.”

“Yes, mother.” Ash said meekly.

“And don’t call me that.” She snapped. “Call me Madame.”

“Yes, madame.” Ash whispered obediently.

Ash morosely vacuumed the carpet. It wasn’t fair! He couldn’t use magic outside of the dream realm because his house was locked tightly with a Void Shield. His father had been somewhat of a magician, and it had taken him three years to set up that ward, so that his many enemies could not attack. His mother had never approved and made sure to try and stop Ash from learning magic before he had the chance. She had burned all of his father’s belongings, and forbade him to even think about learning magic. He was going to be an ordinary child for the rest of his life, the child she had wanted.

“Stop sighing, you little lout! Or else there will be no breakfast!” Delia snapped. Ash kept his head down and kept vacuuming.

Delia crossed her arms in satisfaction and nodded. “Keep up the work, I’m going to see Professor Oak.”

She left the house. “And if you haven’t done all your chores, no dinner!”

Ash sighed to himself and kept vacuuming. * I wish Aneki and aniki could visit me for real…. *

That night, Ash was crying when the other two spirits entered the dreamscape.

“Ash, what’s wrong?” Aniki asked as he hugged Ash. “Did you mom hit you again?”

“No…” Ash sniffled. “No breakfast or dinner.”

Aneki looked sad. “I wish we could do something in real life for you… but we’re nowhere near strong enough. Technically, we don’t even exist outside of the dream world.”

“What?” Ash looked surprised. “But…”

“Well, I know I don’t.” Aneki said. “Because I’m a spirit. But Lance might.”

Aniki shook his head. “No, in the real world I’m an ice statue in Articuno’s cave. I’m not going to be free for at least a few hundred more years.”

Ash looked sad.

“We’ll try to figure out a way,” Lance promised. “Now then, why don’t you drink your potion and then we’ll teach you how to grow insect’s wings? That’s the easiest.”

“Okay!” Ash said. He quickly gulped down the vials of liquid and they began practicing.

Four years later…

Ash was in his room, practicing his martial arts and weapons training. Aniki had managed to sneak a sword and two daggers out of the dream world for him, and they sat on his desk, glowing faintly with white light. The sword was simple compared to some, a white-feathered hilt with a star-shaped emerald in the center, and the daggers were plain, good, serviceable wood with sharp blades. Ever since he had been beaten up by Gary two years ago, he had begged Aneki and aniki to teach him how to fight as well as magic. Aneki could only use long-distance weapons, but Aniki taught him how to fight hand to hand. And that was how he had discovered what the gold and silver liquid really was. Magic energy. Gold for fire, and silver for ice.

At first, he had been sickened, but then, his already skewed perspective on reality had assured him that it was all right. After all, if Aniki and aneki were going to give him their own magic, without telling him, it wasn’t his fault. And it was the only thing keeping him alive, Delia now gave him so little food that he would have starved in a week if he hadn’t been drinking his potions. So he managed to deal with it. Delia was no mother. A real mother wouldn’t treat him like this. He didn’t deserve it. Aniki and Aneki reminded him all the time, at first he had been convinced that he really was worthless, but he had been dissuaded by their sincere arguments. The dreams kept him alive, after all. Delia was no parent. If it hadn’t been for them, what would have happened to him? He did not want to know the answer to that question.

Delia was downstairs getting herself royally high, she had gotten herself hooked on morphine not long ago, and now craved the white powder with a passion, so much that their bank reserves were rapidly dwindling and would soon hit rock bottom.

It didn’t matter, though, Ash thought to himself. * Soon I’ll have enough magic to bring aniki and aneki out of the dream world, and I’ll be able to leave this house. I’ll have the friends I always wanted. * With that, he picked up his sword and began practicing again.

A couple of weeks later…

“Ash!” Delia screamed. “Get down here this instant!”

Ash hesitantly went downstairs. “What is it?”

Delia threw the bank statement at him. “You little thief! I know you’ve been stealing money from our bank account! Where is it?! Answer me!”

Ash stared at the paper. * So my prediction did come true… *

            “I didn’t do anything.”
            “You little brat! So now you lie to me, eh?” Delia screamed as she picked up her cane. “Bend over the table now!”
            “No!” Ash snapped, his patience finally coming to an end. “I won’t be your punching bag any longer!” His eyes flashed pure gold, as raw magic streamed from his body and literally ripped the no-magic wards on the house apart. “Never… again…” He hissed angrily, as he summoned his Umbreon from the dream realm. “Umbreon! Hyper Beam!”

Delia didn’t even have time to scream.

Ash collapsed on the ground, feeling the drain from magic usage. Somewhere, his mind began to register the sound of sirens. Which meant…

“I have to get out of here.”

A flash of light later, Ash had quickly packed his backpack with everything of importance, namely clothes and his weapons. Then, he quickly summoned Pidgeot from the dream realm and flew off.

By the time the police arrived, there was nothing there, aside from Delia’s corpse.

“Goodbye, mother.” Ash said to the empty air as the wind whistled past him. He nudged Pidgeot to go a bit faster, then smiled. * Mother indeed. She always told me I was no child of hers, that I was a freak, that I was only fit for slave work, that I wasn’t perfect, that I was worthless… but aniki and aneki taught me that I had a destiny, a way, something to accomplish. I owe everything to them. I wish I could repay them somehow… they’re the only people that care about me… *

End Chapter 1…

Whee! Chapter 2! Didn’t I warn you guys it would be dark?

Disclaimer: Not mine, ‘nuff said.

Timeline: Perhaps a week later or so

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, and italics for pokemon talking.

Possible History: This takes place after CCA, not sure how far into the future, but *shrugs* most of my stories are related.

Chapter 2: Dream or Reality?

Ash sat next to a fire in the Viridian Forest. Two figures sat next to him. He had finally managed to bring Charlotte and Lance out of the dream realm and into the real world. He had also gotten the shock of his life when he had discovered that Lance was in reality, a girl.

“Ash? You okay?” Lance asked.

“Hai, hai, aniki.’ Ash said. It would be too much trouble to change his way of thinking (and talking), so he didn’t bother.

“Just checking.” Lance said. “So, Ash, I dislike prying, but what are you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure…” Ash said. “It’s not like I can go on my journey now…”
Charlotte crossed her arms. “Well… I was thinking. Ash, you’re about ten, right? And your father was a sprite?”

“Hai.” Ash said. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“And you obviously know magic…”

Lance caught the drift. “You want to send Ash off to magic school?”

“Why not? It’s free, and it will give him something to do…”
Ash looked intrigued. “There are magic schools?”

“Yep. Indigo doesn’t have one, but I’m sure we can arrange something.”

“Well….” Ash said. “I’ll go if you two come with me!”

Charlotte smiled. “Why not?”

“Sure.” Lance said, shrugging her shoulders elegantly. “It will be an interesting experience.”

“Great!” Ash said. “So now what?”

“We wait for you to get a letter.” Lance said simply. “Don’t worry about it.” Her eyes flashed silver for a second. “There. I added you to the list of magically registered children.”

“But that’s a few months away, so what say you start on your pokemon journey?”

“But I can’t…” Ash said, drooping. “I don’t have any-.”

He stopped as Charlotte produced a dark blue pokédex. “Oh?”

“Hello. I am Dexter, registered for new trainer Red Silver from New Bark Town.” The pokédex beeped.

“How?!”

“Technology can easily be duplicated and improved by magic, my dear ‘Red’.” Lance said. “So, no more problem.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

Misty Waterflower was not having a good day.

It wasn’t so much that she had left the Cerulean City gym and was now working on her own. No, it wasn’t that. And it wasn’t the fact that she was lamenting her lack of beauty either.

No, she had been fishing for something decent in the river when suddenly she had fished up, instead of a nice water type pokemon, a half-drowned black-haired boy.

As soon as she had slapped him awake, she had begun yelling at him, as her nature demanded. Unfortunately, 0.2 seconds later, she had found herself tied up with a golden rope as two other kids had appeared out of nowhere. One had picked up the boy, and the second had been the one who had tied her up.

Now, she was stuck, and they were nowhere to be seen.

“Wasn’t the Ryuuseisui a bit much, Charlotte?”

“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked, twirling a spinning ball on her finger. “I didn’t use the Ryuuseisui on her, just the Golden Rope of a Thousand Knots.”

“Oh?” Lance raised an eyebrow as she sat Ash down and checked him over. “Good, he just blacked out. He’ll wake up soon.”

“That’s good.’ Charlotte said, sitting down. * Water… * She paled and was suddenly very glad that Ash had been the one who had fallen in, not her.

“Still hydrophobic?”

“Hai… its something I’m born with, I can’t control it.”

“It’s okay, get some rest.”

Charlotte smiled, poofed out a sleeping bag, and climbed inside. She was soon asleep. Lance yawned.

Soon, Ash awoke, but didn’t bother to move and fell asleep again.

The next morning, Lance woke up to find Ash somehow attached to her cloak, using it as a blanket. The Dragon Master sighed and unclasped the fabric, before getting up and heading off to the river.

“I wonder when that letter will arrive?”

Ash woke up to find himself covered with Lance’s cloak. He yawned and went through his quick morning routine, before getting out a pan and fixing pancakes for the group. Charlotte had vanished, presumably off to gather more sunlight. Ash stirred some chocolate syrup into the batter and waited for them to return.

A while later, Lance reemerged from the bushes, with dripping hair, giving Ash a clear idea of where she had gone. A few minutes later, Charlotte also came back.

“Guess what, Ash? I found an apple tree so I brought us a couple of apples!”

“Cool.” Ash grinned. “Pancakes are almost ready.”

“’Kay!” The three ate a quick breakfast and then set out for the closest city. Fuschia.

Ash walked along, smiling. His belt gleamed with black-and-white poke balls. The dream realm could only produce this kind, but they were more versatile than normal poke balls, and his belt could hold many more. There were four black-and-white braided loops, each one holding twelve poke balls. Dream realm magic was very powerful, but most magicians couldn’t use it.

Ash yawned a tiny bit.

“Tired already? We’ve only been walking for two hours.” Lance said.

“I know, aniki.” *Yawn* “But…”

“It’s okay,” Charlotte said. “We can stop for a quick break if you want.” The three trainers sat down and had some water and apple slices, before continuing onwards. And soon, a junior trainer reared her head.

“HALT! I challenge you!” She said. She had bushy brown hair, was dressed in a sensible blue-and-white checked jumper, and was carrying a pokédex and eighteen books.

“A challenger?” Ash asked. “All right.”

“I’m Hermione Granger! And your name is?”

“A-Red, Silver.” Ash said, remembering just in time.

“Okay then, Red, let’s battle!”

“Three on three? Let’s go.” Ash said. “Challenger picks first.”

“Crookshanks, go!”

A bushy orange-and-yellow striped Persian that resembled a tiger with a squashed face appeared, spitting madly. Ash instinctively backed up a step, before he felt Lance put an arm around his shoulders reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Ash, you can do it.”

Ash looked into those confident blue eyes and nodded. “Thank you, aniki.” He detached a poke ball and sent it flying. “Umbreon, you’re up!”

“Persian! Use Screech to lower its defense!” She said, while peering into a book of battling tips.

Charlotte smiled. * This should be easy, if she only fights by the book Ash can win with no trouble. *

“Okay, Umbreon, Confuse Ray!”

Persian developed little birds ‘round the head.

“Persian, use Screech again!”

Ash blinked. “Umbreon, Faint Attack!”

Umbreon disappeared and hit the Persian, knocking it into the air. Persian banged its head against a rock in confusion and fainted.

Ash grinned.

“Er… fighting types and rock types are good against dark pokemon. Okay then, Graveler, you’re up!”

“Graveler?” Ash asked. “Better switch then. Umbreon, return, Skarmory, Steel Wing now!”

Graveler shattered and fainted.

Hermione’s eyes became saucers. “No way! I’ve never seen that pokemon before! Or the other one either!” She frantically flipped through her notebook, while Ash waited patiently for her to send out another pokemon.

“This is it! Hoothoot, you’re up!”

Ash forcibly restrained himself from laughing out loud as Hoothoot’s peck attacks did nothing to dent Skarmory’s steel body.

“We should finish this. Skarmory, Steel Wing again!”

No more Hoothoot…

“Wow…” Hermione said in amazement as she paid Ash. “You’re pretty good. Which school do you go to?”

“I don’t know yet.” Ash admitted. “I’m waiting to get a letter from a magic school.”

“Really?” Hermione’s eyes widened to dinner plates. “No way! So am I! I’m going to be a third year student at Hogwarts school of Magic!”

“When do you usually get your letter?”

“Oh, in a few weeks.” Hermione said. “This is so cool!” She began to babble, while Ash tuned her out and only focused on the important information. * So a few more weeks, hmm…. I’ll have to be ready. *

End Chapter 2

Chapter 3!

Timeline: 4 weeks later…

Chapter 3: Hope in Dreams

Ash’s hands trembled as he opened the letter from Hogwarts. “YES!”

Charlotte and Lance smiled at him. “Looks like you’re going to wizard school after all.”

This stopped Ash for a second. “You aren’t coming?”

“Ash, we didn’t get any letters. Besides, we’re only spirits, even if we do have human forms.” Charlotte said.

“Don’t worry, though,” Lance said, smiling. “We’ll still be with you.”

Ash blinked for a second, before he ‘saw’ his mind opening, and inside, were three rooms. One was dark blue and covered with silver dragons, one was red with golden phoenixes, and the last was the room of a child and an adult all in one, with toys and games as well as books to peruse, a soft, warm bed and a table laden with food.

“These are our soul rooms, we will stay inside until you need us. We’ll basically live through you.” Lance said.

Ash didn’t even bat an eyelash, before he smiled and hugged each spirit in turn. “Thank you so much, Aneki, aniki!” The two spirits smiled, before they vanished inside the rooms and Ash felt the mirage disappear. When he opened his eyes again, he saw to his slight amazement that there were two gold streaks in his hair and his eyes were now a dark, stormy blue.

< Sorry, but now we’re a part of you. > Charlotte said.

< Yes, the hair and the eyes, sorry about that. It was the least change we could make. > Lance added.

Ash smiled, hearing their voices inside his head, reminding him that they were always there for him. < It’s okay, aniki, aneki! Now everything will be all right. >

The next day, Ash entered Diagon Alley and began searching. He soon had purchased most of his school supplies. “Hmm… let’s see, I’ve got almost everything on my list already, still need a wand.”

< No you don’t. >

< Ne? What do you mean, aniki-chan? >
Ash ‘felt’ Lance smiling inside of his soul room. < You have the key, don’t you? Take it out, please. >

Ash blinked, but procured from his backpack a key with a golden star inside a blue moon with a little pair of wings inside it. With a soft ‘chink’, two other keys fell into his hand. One was white with a golden sun, and the other was black with a silver moon and dragon’s wings.

< You have the key of the stars, Ash, > Charlotte said. The two other keys vanished. Ash suddenly remembered something. Holding the key softly, he began to chant.

“Key… that hides… the power of … the star, reveal your true form… before me… your master under the…seal of contract… Ashura commands you… Release!” The key gave a startling, triumphant, spin, and began to glow with white light. When it cleared, Ash was holding a staff. It was taller than he was by a few inches, a dark blue body with a golden five-pointed star at the top, in the middle of a light blue moon, with two pairs of white wings at the side, and a silver inlaid black gem underneath the star, along with a clear crystal ring.

“My… star staff…” Ash gasped, as memories from a lifetime ago surrounded him with pulsing waves of magic. A few minutes later, he stood, still slightly shaky. “Then, all the dream spirits are…”

< Your ‘Ash cards’. > Lance said in a soft voice.

< Lance-chan… Char-chan… this is my fault, isn’t it? I let Mistielle escape our realm just because she cried when I was about to use starlight invocation… >
< No, Ash! > Charlotte said forcefully. < Do not blame yourself. This is our fault. The blame cannot be placed on one alone. Serebii is testing us. We cannot give in. >

Lance appeared in front of Ash and wrapped him in a warm hug. “Do not worry, it will be all right. If anything, it is my fault for falling in love with you, because my darkness created your shadow.”
“Yes…” Ash whispered softly, as he felt a tear make its way down his cheek. “Destiny destroying and Hope restoring, and it will all be all right…”

They stayed locked in place for a while, none of Diagon Alley’s other patrons noticing. Finally, Ash dried his tears and Lance vanished back into her soul room, disappearing. Ash’s star staff shrank down into a twelve and three-fifths inch wand, dark blue with a gold, white, and silver streak winding around it. With a slight sigh, Ash pushed himself to his feet and headed towards the last shop to purchase his robes…

Some time later, on the train to Hogwarts…

Harry Potter stared at the little boy with glazed eyes, sitting all alone in an empty compartment.

“You okay?” He asked as he walked in. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

There was no response.

Harry decided that the kid was probably a first year and too scared to talk…

“Harry! Oh, here you are!” Hermione said as she and Ron burst in. Hermione was the first to notice the other occupant.

“Oh! I know you! Hi, Red!” Hermione said, smiling brightly.

Ash’s eyes slowly came back into focus and he looked at Hermione. “Hi, Hermione.”

“You know him?” Ron inquired.

“Sure! We met during the summer, while I was out training pokemon.” Hermione said. “He told me he wanted to go to magic school, but didn’t know when he would be getting his letter.”
“Oh.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ron Weasley.”

“And I’m Harry Potter.” Harry told him. He expected Red to react, but was surprised when he didn’t receive a glance at the scar.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley.” Ash said. “But Red is just a nickname. My real name is Ashura Dragynstar.”

“Dragynstar?!” Hermione gasped.

“What’s wrong, Hermione?”

“The dragons and the Stars were two great clans 500 years ago, they were wise and often intermarried, creating the stardragon and dragonstar clans, named for the clan the fathers were from. But both clans, as well as the dragonstar clan was wiped out by the dark wizard Falafel about a hundred years ago, leaving only a few members of the stardragon clan as survivors…”

“There were two great wizards, one was named Charlotte Starr, the founder of the star clan, and the second was Lance Dragyn, the founder of the Dragon clan…”

Ash raised his eyebrows slightly as he felt the silent laughter of his two companions in his mind.

< That’s funny, I don’t remember founding a clan. That would mean I was married right? That’s disgusting! > Charlotte said.

< Still, it is rather amusing. > Lance replied.

Ash smiled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Ash said. “I’m just thinking about my family.”

“Oh.” Harry said. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Um… I have a sister and a… brother, and the rest of my family is dead.” Ash said. * Theoretically, true. *

< Somewhat. > Lance agreed.

“That’s terrible!” Hermione said. They didn’t bring up the topic anymore and instead talked about what the courses would be like, with Hermione doing most of the talking.

They were almost at the castle, happily eating chocolate chip flavored chocolate frogs (new), when the train suddenly lurched to a stop.

And that was when the freaky, evil, black-cloaked thing walked in while hissing.

As it turned out, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Ash had not been having a good day. He had woken up to discover that Pika-chan had reappeared in the real world thanks to him discovering his staff, and had eaten every single food item he had packed. He had also discovered that he was having ‘feminine pains’, probably caused by the fact that the two possessing spirits were both girls. He had been forced to listen to Harry Potter’s quite boring conversation for hours, Hermione’s chirping was finally grating his nerves, and he was about to snap.

“Eterneon, Light Ray now!” Ash said, annoyed beyond all recognition. Before the Dementor could blink, the light type eevelution had finished it off, turning it into nothingness.

Ash smiled and petted his wand, before wincing in pain as he felt himself falling again.

< Baka, > Lance said affectionately, before she used her healing magic to get rid of the worst of the backlash.

Hermione was gaping in open-mouthed shock, as were the other two.

“That… that…”

“What?” Ash asked, wincing in pain. < Gomen, Lance-chan. >
< Can’t you stay out of trouble? > Charlotte chided gently.

< I’ll try… >

< You weren’t supposed to attract attention to yourself! >

< Sorry… >

“That was a Dementor!”

Ash blinked, before wincing as he poured himself some hot chocolate out of his thermos. * I now know how girls feel… * “A what?”

< Don’t worry, Ash, it’s only for two days, and then the pains will go away. >

< But it hurts! >

< At least this way it’s only once every four months, Ash. Think about being in this much pain every month for a week. >

< Point taken, aniki, aneki. >

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was quiet, broken by occasional gasps as Ash looked at the beautiful Hogwarts Scenery.

Hermione and Harry didn’t stop looking at him.

Ron was just too freaked out to do anything.

And then, they entered the great hall…

End Chapter 3

Chapter 4: Realizing a Dream

As Ash placed the sorting hat over his head, he suddenly realized exactly where he would be going. * Aniki would have been in Slytherin, for darkness, Aneki in Gryffindor, for light, but I am shadow… and there’s more dark than light in this shadow… which is why Serebii is testing us… *

“SLYTHERIN!” Shrieked that hat, as soon as it touched his head.

“No way! He seemed so nice!” Ron exclaimed.

“Not all Slytherins are slimy gits, I guess.” Harry said, a bit reluctantly.

“That’s impossible! I would have guessed Ravenclaw!” Hermione said. She blinked at the weird looks the two gave her. “What?”

“…”

“Hermione…”

Ash smiled as he walked over to the Slytherin table.

“Nice meeting you.” A boy with cemented white hair said. “I’m Draco Malfoy.”

“Ashura Dragynstar.” Ash said, shaking Malfoy’s hand. “The pleasure is all mine.”

Harry decided that he would have to warn his new friend about the Malfoys later… once he got him away from the crowd surrounding him.

“But of course you’d be in our house! You’re a pure-blood, after all.”

“Hn.” Ash smiled quietly to himself. * True, true, it’s good they don’t know the extent of my true power… * A faint sparkling mist disappeared into his wand and Ash busied himself with the food as Malfoy chattered about Quidditch.

“Please pass the potatoes.” A girl said in a simpering voice next to him. Ash turned and saw the pug nose of Pansy Parkinson and giant eyes staring at him.

“Here you go.” Pansy nearly swooned when their hands accidentally touched over the bowl.

“You like a little old to be a first year,” Draco commented.

“Um, just a little tall for my age, I guess.” Ash said. “So, what position do you play on the team?”

“Seeker.” Malfoy said proudly.

“Oh, the one who goes after the golden snitch?”

“The very same.”

“Wonderful.” Ash busied himself with the many wonderful desserts, and was well fed and happy when they walked back up to the Slytherin tower.

< This seems like an adventure. >

< Probably, little brother. But be careful not to reveal the true extent of your power. > Charlotte warned.

< Okay, aneki. >
< Draco may or may not be trustworthy, his name is a dragon after all… > Lance mused.

< But take care of yourself, okay? And don’t show off in class. >

< I’ll try… >

The next morning, schedules were passed out in the great hall. Ash sadly bade farewell to the rest of the third-year Slytherins. “Wish I could have classes with you.”

“Same here, watch out for the Gryffindors!” Millicent warned him. Ash nodded and headed off to his first class, Charms.

Charms turned out to be fairly easy, while History of Magic was absolutely boring. When Ash left, all he had was a scroll of parchment covered with pictures of goblins that slowly turned into ugly hags. His two possession spirits couldn’t contain their amusement and spent quite a while laughing at his plight.

“It’s not funny…” Ash said, shoving his scroll into his backpack. “I already read the book over the summer…”

< Don’t worry; you can use the free time in history of magic to practice your own magic. >

< Aniki taught me how to turn paper into objects, I wonder if parchment will work too… > Ash mused thoughtfully as he walked back into the Slytherin tower.

Herbology and Astronomy were neither good nor bad, Defense against the dark arts was… interesting, since they were learning the basic shield charms from Professor Lupin, and he hadn’t had Potions yet.

But Potions passed with quite flying colors as well, Snape did favor the Slytherins, and so, all was quite normal and mundane, everyone settled in.

A few months flew by in an instant, and soon, it was time for Christmas.

“Wish you could come to my manor,” Draco said regretfully. “But father’s not allowing me to invite any guests.”

“It’s okay, Draco.” Ash said, sighing. “I’ll just stay here over the holidays. I mean, its not like I have a choice.”
“I’ll send you your present,” The blonde promised. “Take care of yourself. And don’t let the Gryffindors get the best of you!”

Ash winced when he recalled the time he had stepped into the boy’s bathroom near the second corridor, to receive a face full of multicolored water balloons. Lance had nearly emerged and strangled the laughing redhead prankster, but Charlotte and Ash had both kept a tight grip on her. Then there was the time when he had been in flying class and fallen off his broom when a pasty-faced little twit had knocked him off his broom, luckily he had summoned Haunter with anyone noticing, and the time when Colin Creevey had waylaid him outside of the Transfiguration classroom and accused him of cursing Harry Potter, before using the tickling charm on him, and the time… Ash stopped his series of recollections when he noticed Malfoy’s sympathetic look.

“Don’t know why they’re being so hard on you, Ash, but you’ve got to stick it out.”

“And do I know it.” Ash sighed. “At least the castle will be fairly empty this time.”

“Good luck, you’ll need it.”

“Just what I need to hear…”

It was a quite morose Ash Ketchum who headed down to the hall on Christmas day. It wasn’t the lack of presents, oh no, because having Charlotte and Lance with him all the time were worth more than some silly glittery things. It wasn’t the fact that Sirius Black had attacked the castle weeks ago, and everyone was on alert. It wasn’t even the fact that he had no home to go back to. It was just the fact that ever since he had been sorted into Slytherin, the three friends he had met on the train had ignored him, and he was afraid they would tell Dumbledore about Eterneon.

< Don’t worry. >

Ash smiled a little as he felt Charlotte put her arms around him, still in spirit form. < We’ll take care of you. >

< Hai… >

Lance ruffled his hair, before fading back into her soul room. < Just don’t do anything reckless… >
< Me? Reckless? I’m not the one who tried to slit someone’s throat because they hurt my ‘little brother’. >

< Point taken, but at least I didn’t send anyone up in flames… >

< That was an accident! > Charlotte protested. < And I wiped his memory. >

< Still… >

As Ash sat down in the great hall, he noticed just how empty it was. “It just feels wrong….” He murmured. “All that space…”

“What did you say?” A voice asked. Ash nearly jumped out of his chair, when he realized that it was Hermione Granger.

“Oh, that there’s so much space.” Ash said, knowing that it sounded stupid. “You didn’t go home for the holidays?”

“Nope, parents are busy. More people come in with cavities this time of year.”

“That would explain a lot.”

“So, um, how has school been for you?” Harry asked to try and start a conversation.

“Fine.” Ash said, not bothering to explain further. “It’d be better if I had some more friends, but I guess you’re too busy to bother with a first-year like me.”

The dream team at least had the grace to look slightly guilty.

“It’s just that with, Sirius Black and everything-.’

“Harry!” Hermione shushed him. “Don’t say anything about that!”

“Yeah, you’re not supposed to know.” Ron chorused.

Ash silently stirred his hot chocolate and waited for them to resolve their argument.

< Should I be concerned? >
< Not unless this Sirius Black is after you, no. > Aniki sent.

< Hai! >

< Which I doubt he is. After all, he wasn’t muttering your name in his sleep. >

And a very delicious dinner later, Ash headed into an empty classroom to get some practice.

“It’s been so long since I’ve summoned you…” He whispered as he enlarged his wand into staff form. “My friends…”

The room filled with flashes of light as pokemon and a few spirits began appearing out of the dream realm. Finally, Ash collapsed to his knees.

“That’s enough, Ash.” Lance said, taking solid form and wrapping her arms around him. “You’ve summoned all of them.”

“I… have?”

Charlotte appeared as well, but still a spirit, it took less energy that way. “Yes you did. Now I suggest you get back up to the tower and get some sleep, and you’d better take three vials each of the potion to replenish the energy, you’ve really drained yourself.”

“O…kay…” Ash said. He somehow managed to make it up to the tower, and gulped down four vials each of the potion, before falling asleep on the nearest bed.

The next week was spent in empty classrooms, hiding from the Dream Team, and practicing all the magic he could remember from aniki and aneki. It was a good thing he had been training in secret for two hours each night in the dream realm, or else he would have run out of endurance and energy.

Ron finally caught him one night.

“Ash, what are you doing in this old classroom?”

“None of your business.” Ash said smoothly. “Thought you didn’t want anything to do with me, since you guys were too busy trying to figure out some mystery, plus the fact that I’m a Slytherin…”

“I can’t tell you what our secret is.”

“Then why are you talking to me right now? I’m busy.” Ash said. He rolled up a piece of parchment, wrote ‘apple’ on it, focused his chi, and blew. A shiny red apple appeared. Ash picked it up and took a bite.

Ron’s eyes bugged out. “You can do wandless magic!”

“That’s what you call this? Its just chi manipulation.” Ash said, finishing the apple.

“But, but…”

“I’ve been learning it for years. Siblings taught me. It’s a ‘clan’ thing.”

Ron took off to find Hermione, leaving Ash alone.

< Was that a good idea? >

< Point taken. >

< Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… >

< Looks like someone’s asleep. > Lance took control of Ash’s body, and flew back up to Slytherin tower. A password later, they were inside.

It was a three weeks and another Gryffindor Tower break-in later when Ash saw the group again.

“What do you want?”

“Can you teach us how to do wandless magic?”
“Um…” Ash paused. “You have to have an aptitude for that sort of thing. And you have to start when you’re very young.”

“Can we at least try?”

“Well, all right.” Ash said a bit reluctantly. * What’s the easiest spell I know… *

< If you really want to teach them, have them focus their chi first. >

< Right. >

Ash concentrated and formed a tiny ball of white flame that danced on his fingertips. “All right, so you focus your magic in a concentrated ball…”

End Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine, need I say more?

Notes: <> for telepathy, or soul-talk, ** for thoughts, italics for pokemon speaking.

Chapter 5: Dreaming of…

An hour later, none of the Gryffindors had had any success. Ash was bored watching the flickering sunlight on the dusty walls of the classroom.

“I think I’ve proved my point.” Ash said. “Find me again if you can actually create the chi. See you later.” He dusted off his robes and walked back towards Slytherin tower.

“He may be helpful, but he’s still an arrogant Slytherin.” Ron muttered darkly.

“Ron!” Hermione said.

“What! You couldn’t do that thingy he said either.”

“I obviously need to study more.” Hermione said as she raced to the library. The two boys watched her leave and sighed.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea, with my anti-Dementor classes from Lupin, I’m really tired.” Harry moaned.

“You’re right!” Ron said. “Why bother with this! We’ll just keep practicing with our wands.”

Ash put down his binoculars and shrugged. “It’s none of my concern.”

“Hey Ash! Come play Wizard’s Chess with us!” A voice cried.

“Coming!”

Charlotte and Lance sighed in relief as they stared at each other, both ghostly and transparent.

< He still needs us to take care of him. >

< He is still the little Thunder’s child, we must be careful. >

< Now let’s go, I think he’s calling you… >

The spirits smiled and vanished back into the subconscious of their ‘host’.

It was only a few days later when Harry and his group found Ash again. The first year was sitting on the lawn with his eyes closed.

“Hi, Ash! What are you doing out here?”

“Divination.” Ash said simply. Nine cards in a diamond pattern were laid out in front of him, all face down, while he shuffled a deck and drew out a tenth. None of the cards looked like a normal tarot deck.

“Oh?” Hermione asked.

“Aw, c’mon, we all know that Trelawney’s an old fraud.” Ron said. “Besides, McGonagall said it was an imprecise branch of magic.”

“Maybe, but it looks cool!”

“Cool? Hermione? Did I miss something?” Harry asked. Ash slowly flipped over the three center cards.

“Suicune. Umbreon. And… Pidgey?” Ash asked. “Suicune can stand for deception, or for a mirror unseen. Umbreon stands for the darkness and the moonlight. But… Pidgey is a messenger card, delivering information, or a playful child. This does not make sense…”

He then flipped over the top and bottom cards on the diamond.

“Pidgeotto in connection to Pidgey… maturity or friendship. And Skarmory, for an unknown defense, and finally…”

The last card was revealed to be Ninetails.

“Loyalty… interesting, or cunning.”

“So what does it mean?” Hermione finally asked.

Ash gave her an unreadable glance. “I’m not sure myself… but probably a combination of all of those events will occur in an unpredictable way in Harry’s life.”

Harry gulped. “Me?!”

“Yes, you. I’m not reading the spread for myself.” Ash said. “Don’t have to.”

< No, I guess you don’t. That was quite accurate. >

< Lance-chan, are you going to tell me what will happen? >

< No, I don’t trust my future sight that much. It’s all right. >

Charlotte chimed in.

< Don’t worry, nothing will happen to Ash. >

< *Laughter* >

Ash snapped back to reality when he noticed Ron waving a hand in front of his face.

“Earth to Ash! Come in, Ash!”

“I’m awake, just a little tired.” Ash said, stifling a yawn.

“Oh, okay then. We’ll talk later.”

“Do you think he was telling the truth?”

“How would Ash know divination?” Harry asked. “He’s never been to magic school before.”

“But the clans train their children, remember? He told us that!” Hermione argued.

“I thought you didn’t believe in telling the future!”

“I just don’t believe Trelawney.’ Hermione said grumpily. “There is some basis in fact for what he’s doing.”

“Oh.”

“Stupid stuck ups.” Ash muttered as he shuffled his cards. “I almost want to summon some of them to deal with those Gryffindors.”

< False friendship? >

< Why not? >

< Good plan to me. > Charlotte said. < And you’ve manipulated them into feeling guilty about you. >

< Exactly. So they won’t spill my secrets. >

< Because it would be ‘un-honorable’ for the ‘noble’ Harry Potter to do so. > Lance said in a mock-dramatic tone, causing Ash to smile.

< Lance-chan… >

Pika-chan appeared, carrying what looked like a month’s work of cakes and candies with her.

“You’ve been down in the kitchens, I see.” Ash said.

Pika-chan grinned and shoved it all into midair, a simple spell to send it to Ash’s subspace ‘area’. The food would stay fresh there. Pika-chan then began munching a chocolate-caramel bar.

Ash snatched a mint bar from her and ate it himself as he headed down to the library.

He was happily cloaked in invisibility, reading a book in the Dark Arts section when he realized that hours had passed and it was now three in the morning and he had missed dinner.

< Ack! >

< Don’t worry, we sent Twin to copy for you. >

< Thank you aniki! >

< What would you do without us? >

< Don’t know, aneki-chan. >

Ash quickly teleported back to Slytherin Tower and relieved Twin of his job, before falling asleep in bed.

The next morning, he headed off to breakfast as normal.

“Morning, Ash.” Draco greeted, as his eagle owl dropped off a package of sweets. “Lovely new robes.”

“Thank you.” Ash said, grinning. He had enchanted his black robes with a nifty little design spell, and they now had silver embroidered dragons blowing tongues of flame across his back.

“New spell?”

“Oh no, my mail order arrived.” Ash lied effortlessly. Not that Draco would care if he practiced the dark arts, but it was information he would rather keep to himself for the time being, not wanting to be expelled.

“Cool.” Draco replied, before turning his attention to the pancakes.

The darkness swirled around him in a beautiful display of silver and sparkles, and Ash laughed as he felt it flood through his body, replenishing his energy. A child’s laugh, but born of darkness with the light.

“Beautiful.” Ash smiled, as the last of the energy faded away into his being, forging stronger connections with his cards, and making him more powerful. He could feel the love and comfort of his pokemon flowing down their links, and he shrouded himself in shadow before returning to his common room. Beautiful darkness. And it was his to wield.

Their power…All three of them, the light, the dark, and the shadows.

< Isn’t it? The night… >

< Of course you would. You’re a child of the light. >

A gentle laugh in his mind.

< Aniki? >

< Yes? >

< Will you always be here for me? >

< Of course. >

< You too aneki? >

A gentle hug, and a nod of reassurance, and Ash happily vanished back into the Slytherin common room.

End Chapter

I’m ruining J.K. Rowling’s book… oh well… I’m a fanfic writer. NON-CANON

Disclaimer: Don’t own Harry Potter or Pokemon, I’d love to own pokemon, can’t say the same for HP, but remember, Destiny n’ new pokes n’ new attacks are mine! So is the CCA idea and stuff.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics in case a pokemon talks.

Chapter 6: Dreams of hidden moonlight

Ash was sitting by the lake, contemplating whether or not he should go swimming. So what if it was the middle of January?

< You are being very brave, Ash. >

< Hai, aneki! > Ash said. < But Hope can easily swim, and it will make me feel better. >

< Then go ahead. > Aniki’s voice laughed.

Ash nodded as he transformed into Hope, spreading his silver fins and jumping into the water. His white robe stayed pristinely immaculate, and he spent a fun two hours swimming around and playing underwater tag with his pokemon cards.

< Gotcha! > Mudkip chirped happily.

Ash smiled and swam after the fleeing Vaporeon card, tagging it.

Vaporeon pouted for a second, but then went after another nearby victim. Soon, they were all floating in the water aimlessly, under the surface, just relaxing and soaking up the energy the water itself provided.

Afterwards, Ash went to dinner in the Great Hall. However, his eyes were still sea green, and a faint silver tinge remained in his hair. He hadn’t noticed the change, but a few of the Slytherins did.

“Maybe he’s the heir of Slytherin.” Pansy whispered to Millicent.

Draco overheard this and leaned over. “Who’s the heir of Slytherin?”

“Ash, look at him! For one, he is an Eastern magician we’ve never heard about, and he’s supposed to be pretty powerful. Secondly, look at his hair and eyes! If that’s not a sign of Slytherin I don’t know what is!”

Malfoy stared. * When did that happen? *

“Ash! Your hair….”

Ash blinked, as he pulled out a mirror. “Eh? My hair- what happened?!”

“You don’t know?”

“No.” Ash lied. * I guess I didn’t completely de-transform*

“This is amazing. Like a sign from Slytherin! You were meant to be in our house!” Draco declared.

“Looks like it.” Ash said.

< Well, that was unexpected. >

< But it’s actually a good turn of events, for the most part. >

< But what about Harry Potter? Now that it seems I’m destined to be in Slytherin, won’t he tell Dumbledore about Eterneon? >

< Maybe, I guess you should try trusting him. >

< And if he betrays you… >
Ash nodded as he touched his wand.

Harry’s jaw dropped. * Is he the heir of Slytherin? He can’t be, that’s Voldemort! Maybe a charm spell backfired on him… *

“Did you hear that?” Ron hissed. “We shouldn’t trust him!”

“We don’t have enough information yet!” Hermione retaliated. “Don’t judge at first glance!”
“Oh yeah?”

“Whose sister was writing in a diary that summoned up Voldemort?” Hermione snapped back.

Ron glared.

< If discord rips them apart first, there ought to be no problem. No worry of discovery under those circumstances. >

The two spirits nodded to each other.

< Hai! > Ash responded.

A small entourage of second-years escorted Ash back to Slytherin tower, although he protested the royal treatment.

“It’s nothing, really!”

“Nonsense!” Draco said grandly. * I have to write to father about this. * “This sort of thing doesn’t happen normally, and we should seize the opportunity.”

Ash blinked in confusion, but sighed and submitted to the pampering.

< But I’m not the heir of Slytherin. >
< Well, you never said you were. Enjoy a bit in the sun. >

< You can always fake it if you have to… >

The next morning, Ash received a letter from Harry by owl, requesting to see him at two in the afternoon. Checking his schedule revealed no classes during that period, so he agreed, although he doubted it would be pleasant.

< Will it be ok? > He asked as he stirred crushed snake fangs into his potion.

< Relax. > Lance reassured him. < We’ll protect you. >

A small smile flitted across his face at her words. < Thank you. >

Potion completed a few minutes later, Ash left the class along with a gaggle of students, before he ducked into the bathroom, and then teleported out to the front lawn of the castle.

Fortunately, there were no witnesses to his arrival. Shuffling a few cards, he waited for the trio to arrive. He was only a few minutes early.

“Ash.”

He looked up and saw the three approaching, Ron being restrained by Hermione and Harry.

“Y-you traitor!” Ron accused. “You slimy Slytherin git! First you betray us, and then you steal Hermione’s affections!”

Ash blinked.

Hermione slapped Ron. “What are you talking about?!”

“I’ve never done anything!” Ash defended himself.

“Oh yeah?! Pretending to be all nice on the train, when you were the heir of Slytherin!”

Ash glared. “I was being nice. That wasn’t a fake. And I never claimed to be the heir of Slytherin.”

Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ash. “I don’t believe you.”

“Ron!” Harry said, grabbing his arm and forcing his wand down. “Don’t just go around cursing people! We don’t even have the entire picture yet!”

“If you weren’t a dark wizard, how did you manage to get rid of a Dementor?!”

“I used light magic.” Ash said stiffly.

“You’re just a first year! There’s no way you’d know that!”

Ash jammed his hands into his pockets, feeling frustrated. “Fine. You don’t have to believe me. I saved you, and now you’re accusing me.”

“He does have a point, Ron. Calm down.” Harry said.

Ash’s eyes began to shine with a golden light, as he felt Destiny’s power fill him. “You… you think you’re so high and mighty, don’t you?”

“Expelliarmus!” Ron declared, sending Ash’s wand flying into the air, afraid that Ash would curse him.

“Ron!” Hermione chastised.

Ash’s eyes changed into a solid gold color, as his hands formed a series of seals in front of him.

“Machamp!”

The towering pokemon card immediately appeared in front of Ash, looming over Ron.

“Give me back my wand.” Ash said.

“NO!” Ron was still being rather defiant.

“Fine then… Machamp, Fissure- wait, no, that’s too harsh. Karate chop and try not to break anything.”

Machamp nodded and chopped at Ron’s arm, making him drop the wand, which instantly flew back to Ash.

“I’m not a dark wizard… and I owe no allegiance to Voldemort.” Ash said softly, as he picked up his wand.

“But… I don’t like people trying to hurt me for no reason either.”

The hair on the back of Harry’s neck prickled as Ash’s eyes went completely blank.

“Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true form before me! Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commandeth you, Release.”

The wand twirled and spun, before it enlarged into staff form, resting comfortably in Ash’s hands.

“Baka… I’m a Master.” Ash said, smirking.

The dream team suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

“Poliwhirl! Amnesia!” Ash said. “Erase all their memories of me.”

The frog pokemon appeared and quickly did his master’s bidding, before fading away again.

Ash nodded and teleported away, and when the Slytherins came looking for him later, they found him in the library, busy finishing up his History of Magic essay.

“Hey Ash, looks like the Gryffindors are getting worse.” Draco said, noting that his face was covered with red spots.

“Some curse… I don’t know how to counter it.” Ash said. “And they itch.”

“Don’t worry,” A sixth-year said, performing the counter curse. “Those Gryffindors… they just don’t get how inferior they are, do they?”

“I guess so.” Ash said, gingerly touching his face. “Thank you!”

“No problem.”

End Chapter!

^_^

Review please! I know I’m being biased… but I’m sick of seeing Ash in Gryffindor and best friends with the HP crew…

Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine, do you get that?

Timeline: 3 months later, April

Chapter 7: Ending a dream

“Baka Gryffindors.” Ash said, as he looked distastefully at his robes, which were splattered with ugly yellow and red streaks. They clashed horribly with his still green-tinted eyes and silver-streaked hair. Only now there were six silver bands in his hair.

“What did they do this time?”

Ash made a gesture towards his robes and checked his watch. “And I have Charms in 4 minutes, no time to change.”

“Here you go.” Pansy Parkinson said. “Stain remover.” She handed him a small bottle.

“Thank you!” Ash said gratefully, as he ran down the halls to the Charms class. He barely made it in the door in time, causing snickers from several first-year Gryffindors.

Ash ignored them and quickly applied the stain remover.

< Baka students. >
< Don’t worry, aneki, I can handle it. >

< You sure? We can take care of some of them. > Charlotte said, as her mental voice seemed to smile evilly.

< No, I’ll be okay. Besides, Dumbledore isn’t supposed to know about my shadow magic. >

< Or your dark and light magic either. >

< That too, aniki. >

“Well, class. Today, we are practicing the Summoning Charm.” Professor Flitwick squeaked.

Ash grinned. * Easy. *

< Isn’t it? >

< True. >

Ash flicked his wand carelessly and looked at a book sitting a few feet away. “Accio.”

The book immediately flew into his hand.
“Wingardium Leviosa.” Ash added; levitating it into the air and making it fly around for a few minutes, before he used the Banishing Charm to send it back to its original location.

The Gryffindor shot him a dirty glare.

< Show-off. > An affectionate voice said.

< What, aneki? >

< Just be careful. >

< Ok! I will! >

“Well, you’re doing fine, Ash.” Flitwick said tightly. “Practice on your own.” Ash noticed that he didn’t award Slytherin any points, as he had done so to Gryffindors on many previous occasions. * Biased people… *

Ash nodded, went to a corner of the room, and ran through the first twenty pages in his charms textbook.

< Compared to my guardian training, this is easy. >

< Oh yes. >

After a while, Ash put up a Void Shield around himself, shrouded in the illusions, and began summoning his pokemon cards from the dream realm and training with them. Three hours later, the double class ended, and Ash left.

He pulled a flask of starshine potion out of his robe pocket and drank down the entire bottle, before adding another small bottle of mixed sunspark and moonglow potion. They all restored energy from the celestial spheres. Then, he sat by a large castle window in the sunlight as he waited for the next class to start.

< Take it easy, you just expended a lot of magic energy. >

“Hey you!”

Ash winced, hearing Ron again. < I’m starting to get annoyed, aniki… they keep coming back. And I have to wipe their memories every time. >

< Just make it quick. >

< Hai! >

“Release.” Ash said, whipping out his staff. “Mewtwo. Psychic.”

All three Gryffindors went flying, before Mewtwo used Amnesia again.

Ash sighed, recalling the card. * Annoying idiots… I hope something interesting happens soon… aside from the exams, of course. *

“Charizard! Flamethrower!”

Charizard roared as he nodded and flamed the bush.

Ash peered in and saw a cowering Gryffindor with a bottle of potion. “So, what were you going to splash me with? Hmm…”

“A dragon!” The Gryffindor screamed.

Ash sweatdropped.

Charizard quickly grabbed the student with his claws and the potion with another, before depositing the student in front of Ash.

“Thanks, Charizard.” Ash said, as the Gryffindor fainted from shock.

Charizard huffed out some smoke and smiled. Ash quickly took a look at the potion.

“Nightshade… trying to poison me?”

< Looks like it. >

< You’d better dispose of it. >

Ash replied as his eyes flashed once and both the student and his concoction vanished from view.

The next day, he was called to Dumbledore’s office.

“Ashura, it has come to my attention that one of the Gryffindor sixth-years have vanished.” Dumbledore said. “Might you know where he is?”

“Why would I?” Ash asked.

“He was last seen on a trip to…” Here Dumbledore coughed. “Poison you.”

“I wouldn’t help even if I knew.” Ash retorted. “All the Gryffindors hate me.”

“Ashura…”

“I don’t have to answer to you, old man!” Ash snapped before he stomped out of the room.

Or at least he attempted to, before the door clanged shut in his face.

Dumbledore stood up, suddenly looking quite impressive. “You are one of Voldemort’s agents then?”

“As if! I don’t work for anyone.”

“Then why have you gotten rid of one of my students?”

“He was trying to kill me.”

“But he didn’t!
“No. Because I had protection and he didn’t.” Ash said quietly, leaving Dumbledore quite confused.

“What-.”

“You always favor the Gryffindors, you know.’ Ash continued. “Its Harry Potter, isn’t it?”

“I do not-.” Dumbledore began, but Ash cut him off.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m switching to another school next year. I’m sick of all the fawning.”

Without further ado, Ash ran through the door and down the stairs out of Dumbledore’s office.

< Calm down, we are leaving as soon as school ends. >

< Hai… >

< With our luck, something will. But maybe it will be more dangerous this year… perhaps…>

Ash smiled as his eyes lit up.

T-minus four days and he was ambushed again. This time, Ash simply whipped out his staff and sent a Shadow Ball attack at all six Gryffindors. He debated using Dark Lightning, but decided to save it for later.

A month in the hospital would certainly do wonders. Or at least they’d be out of his hair for that long.

Dumbledore stared dumbfounded.

“It’s not possible… he can’t be that powerful.”

“But its true.” The seventh-year protested. “He summoned a dragon! I saw him!”

“This bears looking into.”

“Expel him, sir! It’s against the rules!”

“I cannot – not yet.”

The Gryffindor pouted and headed back down the stairs.

“I shall have to deal with him somehow…’ Dumbledore sighed.

END CHAPTER!

Timeline: Yep, Sirius Black finally attacks

Chapter 8: Realm of Nightmares – dreams can’t last forever

“Finals are over.” Ash smiled. “I should pass everything.”

< Of course! If you couldn’t finish first-year syllabus… >

< Aniki! >

< Well, you’ve been doing magic for much longer than these wand-waving idiots. Right? >

< True… >

Ash was sitting by the lake again, soaking in the sunshine with his eyes closed. He ignored the prattle of the dream team as they walked by him.

< Baka… >

< You know what will happen. >

< Why should I interfere? >

< Good point. >

< You did warn him though. >

Of course, the next day, was when the news blew over.

Sirius Black had escaped Hogwarts.

Dumbledore was patting Harry Potter on the head and looking like the cat that ate the canary.

And Harry Potter himself, just as he mentioned his wonderful Patronus, remembered something.

He had seen back on the train…

Ash closed his eyes as he shut down his yellow compact. “Looks like he finally told Dumbledore.”

“What?” Malfoy asked. “You all right?”

“I wish Harry Potter had been killed by Sirius Black, but no.”

“Maybe you should go to the hospital wing.”

“No, don’t mind me, Zabini. I’m going up to the common room to get some more sleep.”

“’Kay,” Several girls said, but they sounded worried. Their own hero was sick! Oh no! What had the Gryffindors done this time?

Ash watched the minutes on the wall clock tick by as he sat huddled in his black robes, cloak wrapped tightly around him.

“Do you have a cold?” A first-year inquired.

“Not sure…” Ash whispered, pulling his knees against his chest. He sneezed a few minutes later, repeatedly.

“Looks like it. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital wing?” Another student asked.

“No.”

Half an hour later, Dumbledore summoned Ash up to his office.

“I knew it.” Ash muttered.

< Calm, little one, calm. >

< I’ll try to be… >

“Ash, is it true that you are a Summoner?” Dumbledore asked.

Ash blinked. “What?”

“Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger all testify that they saw you summoning a creature on the train ride here.”

“I saved them from a Dementor with it.” Ash snapped.

“But its true?”

“Yes.” Ash muttered through gritted teeth. * Just you wait… *

“Ash, this is dangerous. You should have told me as soon as you arrived at Hogwarts. For a first-year with that kind of power, you could be a target!”

“Funny.” Ash said sarcastically. “Only a few weeks ago you were convinced that I was working for You-know-who.”

“I confess I was otherwise distracted-.”

Ash stopped.

“By what? Harry Potter?”

“What do you have against him?” Dumbledore wondered.

“Why does everyone seem to bow before him?” Ash retorted. “Including yourself, Headmaster.”

“You overstep yourself! Potter does not have a perfect home life like you might think!”

“Neither did I. At least he wasn’t whipped and beaten.” Ash said, staring straight ahead. “At least I’m an orphan now.”

This got Dumbledore’s attention.

“It’s no good being a half-blood, when your mother is a mortal who fears magic beyond all else.”

Ash’s eyes stayed blank and unfocused, and no matter what else Dumbledore asked, he didn’t move.

Dumbledore finally sent the boy to the hospital wing, where he stayed immobile until three days before school ended.

“Are you sure its safe to go home?” Malfoy asked again.

“Yes.” Ash whispered. “I don’t think I’ll be back next year. I hate it here. Maybe I’ll go to Durmstrang.”

Draco looked disappointed. “What happened?”

“Long story. Make Harry Potter’s life a living hell for me please.” Ash whispered.

“I will. But…”

“And I will tell you someday, my friend.” Ash said. “But it’s not only my story to tell.”

“I understand. But will you tell me someday?”

“Promise. On the sun, moon and stars.” Ash said softly.

“All right.”

Ash suddenly stiffened as he felt a presence behind him. He fixed Harry Potter with a glare that could have shattered iron.

“What do you want, Potter?”

“I’m surprised Dumbledore didn’t expel you.”

“I was in a coma, he would have been a heartless old man if he had.” Ash replied. “No thanks to you. If you could have kept your mouths shut after I saved your lives perhaps it would have helped.”

“Oh yeah?”

Ash smiled as he felt shadow energy fill him. “Let’s duel.”

In a flash, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco were all transported into the dream realm.

“Where are we?!” Ron demanded.

Ash smirked. “We’re in the dream realm, an area where only the most powerful guardians can enter. This is separate from the normal realm of time. So whatever happens here I shall bear no responsibility for.”

Ron immediately went for his wand.

Draco noticed. “I’ll take care of him.”

“’kay.” Ash said softly as he held out his wand, and it shifted back into the familiar key form. “Key that hides the power of the stars, Show thy true form before me. Your master under the seal of contract Ashura commands you, Release.”

The staff appeared, and Ash smiled at the horrified look on Hermione’s face.

“This is bad…”

“Mind you, I’m not using any of this modern magic.” Ash said. “Umbreon! Confuse Ray!”

Hermione dived in front of Harry to protect him, and was hit with the attack instead.

Harry gasped. “Expelliarmus!” He shouted, trying to disarm Ash, but the staff didn’t budge an inch.

“Sorry, something weak like that won’t work.” Ash said. “Scyther!” He shifted the staff into a blade and slowly walked towards Harry, malicious intent in his eyes.

“Harry!” Ron shouted, from where his feet were dancing on the ground due to a hex. “Move!”

Ash walked until he stood no less then a foot in front of Harry before he drew a card out of his pocket and tossed it into the air.

“Lock.”

Harry gasped as he felt himself suddenly drained. “What did you do?”

“Simple. I sealed away your magic. It’ll wear off eventually.’ Ash whispered before he knocked Harry out and transported them back to the normal realm.

“Good-bye.”

And with that, the shadow master vanished. Both from history, and the annals of the magic world, until an enterprising young writer finally discovered the true tale…

THE END!

Good lord, that wasn’t how I wanted it to turn out! *sighs* Well, go ahead and review.

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