(A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. It seems a number of you are happy I am finally getting this sequel out.
I would like to explain something since a number of people have brought it up. From what I can remember, whether Vulcans are generally telepathic or not is not very clear from the TV shows or movies. Therefore, for this story, Vulcans are only "touch telepathic", hence why the "Mind Meld" works.
Also, I mentioned in the first story that I left a little extra room in his Mokeskin bag for something. His [shrunken] broom is that something extra. Hey, Harry can't really go anywhere without a broom or he wouldn't be Harry Potter, would he? [smiley]
Oh, one more thing, the story starts about two weeks after Harry arrived, so as this chapter starts he has been in this dimension only a little more than three weeks. The point is, yes, Harry does still have a lot to learn and he will learn a lot and grow up a lot over the next year. Harry will be "different" by the time we reach the end of chapter six.)
Chapter 2
Late the next afternoon, Captain Picard looked up as Counselor Troi and Lt Commander La Forge came onto the bridge. He rose and said, "Lt Data, you have the bridge." He followed the other two, with Commander Riker following him into the bridge conference room.
Taking his normal seat at the end of the table he looked to his left. "Counselor, I believe you called this meeting." He was surprised to see the woman hesitate and take a deep breath.
"Yes, Captain. I asked everyone here to help me with a problem. In brief, I've made a rather large … blunder, I think would be the correct word," she told them.
Picard noticed that La Forge didn't seem surprised but Riker did. "If you would elaborate?"
She nodded. "For some reason, I'm finding it difficult to work with Harry Potter. It seems that every time I have a session with him, I touch upon something that he is sensitive about. We had our second session yesterday and it went as badly if not worse than the first session. He simply disappeared on me."
Riker leaned forward, looking concerned.
"Because he had a communicator this time, I could easily find him and since he was in main engineering I asked Commander La Forge to talk with him, hoping that would go better." Troi shook her head.
Riker looked at the engineer. "And?"
"I was able to clear up a small part of the misunderstanding," La Forge told them, "and I was able to gather a little bit of information, but in the end he's … hurting."
"He doesn't trust me and is actively avoiding me," Deanna said. "I tried to seek him out in his class today. I believe he saw me coming because when I went to where others said they had seen him moments ago he wasn't there at all. In addition, I was to see K'mpok this afternoon for her first session and she never showed. I have to conclude that Harry talked to her and convinced her she couldn't trust me."
"Why doesn't he trust you?" Riker asked, jumping to the heart of the matter. It was also the question Picard had been about to ask.
Troi looked down for a moment, and stayed that way while she explained. "In my preparation for the session with him, I noticed that I had not explained about me being a Betazoid and what that means. I do it for everyone to help promote honesty. Then again, to almost everyone on staff, they already know what a Betazoid is and that I only have limited powers isn't an issue."
The counselor finally looked up. "However Harry, and I'll assume K'mpok too, don't have that background so it was a surprise. Geordi managed to find out that Harry has had some bad experiences with people from his old world reading his mind and using it against him. I had no way of knowing that beforehand, but it shows me that I have not taken him and his situation seriously enough."
"Is anyone more prepared?" Picard asked. "There aren't many who travel forward through time. He's also the only person with his powers that I'm aware of."
"I don't know if anyone can be an expert in helping people like this," she agreed. "As you say, it rarely happens and he's unique."
"What exactly are you wanting, Counselor?" Picard queried. Although he had a guess, he wanted to know to be sure.
"Advice and ideas on what to do," she answered. "I don't think I can solve this, at least not directly and Geordi doesn't know either."
"We also need to solve this quickly as he'll be out of our reach in less than a week," Riker pointed out.
"Good point, Number One," Picard said thoughtfully. "Have you considered talking to him? You offered to mentor him."
Riker nodded. "I've briefly considered talking to him, but I think I need to hold off for now. I need to be ready if it comes up, but to seek him out would come across like a confrontation and probably drive the wedge deeper."
"That's probably true," Deanna agreed a little despondently.
"No, I think we need to expand the group of helpers," Riker said thoughtfully. "Yes, I can think of several people to enlist. They don't need to know the details, just that Harry needs a little help to understand you and your talent, Deanna. However, I think the best person to help with this is Worf."
"Worf?!" La Forge exclaimed. "Why him?"
"Yes, why him?" Picard asked, coming up blank as he'd heard Potter was a little skittish around his head of Security, even if he was taking a class from him.
Riker laid out his chain of thoughts on the matter while looking pleased with himself.
Picard raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That's surprisingly well argued, Commander. Do you think it will actually work?"
"I think it has a good chance," Riker replied. "However, we need to implement this very soon as I think we need to correct the root issue before we drop him off on Vulcan. His time there will help dull bad feelings, but we really need to help him before he leaves. I also have a concern on who can continue to work with him while he's on Vulcan." He looked at the ship's Counselor.
Deanna just blinked for a moment, caught in surprise. "I have no idea. It is a good question. I'm not even sure who to ask."
"I had planned to ask Dr Sorrd if she would agree to be someone he could go to for problems while I'm not there," Riker stated. "Let me ask her that question too."
"Thank you," Deanna said quietly.
"Very good, it sounds like we have a plan," Picard told them. "Everyone is dismissed except for the Counselor."
He waited until it was just the two of them. "Counselor … Deanna. I know you're feeling badly about this, but I don't know how you could have avoided it and we will find a way to make it better."
"Thank you, Captain, but this is the sort of thing I'm not supposed to … mess up," she told him. "I'm supposed to help people not drive them away."
"Let me ask you this. Now that we know what the problem is, in hindsight, what could you have done differently?" he asked leaning forward slightly.
"I could have prepared better. I should have taken into account that he wouldn't know what a full Betazoid can do and I should have had a better introduction and explanation," she replied.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea and something you can work up for future discussions," he agreed with a hint of a smile. "Anything else?"
"I'm sorry, Captain, but I can't come up with any other idea. To avoid this, I would have had to know his background first and his background was something I was trying to work out. It's my policy on explaining my background that got in the way, but I don't feel right not doing that."
"Ah, hmm, yes, I agree with your policy, so perhaps the better explanation is all you can do. None of us are perfect, Counselor." Picard didn't want her to beat herself up over this.
"I just don't know what else to do," she told him.
Considering it a moment more, Picard said, "Let's change topics slightly and perhaps this will help, as I do believe he will be aboard again after the ship is repaired and I'm sure we both agree it would not be good for him to avoid you while here."
She nodded her head in agreement.
"I'm going to give you an assignment. I want you to research how to work with and help those who travel forward in time." She looked surprised and Picard smiled at her. "I'm aware of at least one person who did it in James Kirk's time; I would not be surprised to know there are others. Surely there are research papers about this. Find out what troubles they had and see what you can learn and do in regards to them."
"That sounds like a good idea," she said thoughtfully.
"I try to have a good idea occasionally," he quipped with a smile and was pleased to see her smile for the first time since the meeting started. "I have faith that you'll figure this out, Counselor." He stood, feeling this was over for now.
She stood too, "Thank you, Captain." Deanna Troi walked out, her back a little straighter than when she'd walked in.
Harry and Kim went to school the next day. Harry was a little wary of Deanna Troi, and Kim had shared his concern when he told her, as she'd never heard of anyone being able to read the thoughts of others. Harry had felt a little bad about avoiding Troi, but at the moment his only thought was to get to Vulcan in three days then he could forget about this.
Kim had told him that Worf wanted to talk to her about what to do after school, in case she wanted to pursue extra learning while on Vulcan; so that left him alone for lunch. Walking into the main mess hall and looking around for any school friends, he saw Wesley waving him over.
"Glad I found you," Wesley told him.
"Oh? Why?" Harry asked as he sat down with his friend.
"Thought it might be good to talk, since we won't have much time for this soon," Wesley answered.
"Oh, right," Harry felt relieved it wasn't about the counselor. "You're still going to Starfleet Academy, right?"
Wesley sighed for a moment. "Yeah, I'll start in three months. It's exciting but I know I'll miss people here…"
"So you won't be here after the ship is repaired and I return," Harry sort of finished for him.
Wesley shook his head. "We can still send messages."
"So like letters?" Harry wondered out loud.
"Letters? I guess we could write the messages out, but it's a lot easier to just record a video message and send that. They don't take that long to travel around," the Acting Ensign explained.
"Sure, I'll learn how," Harry agreed, thinking it sounded more interesting the more he thought about it.
"We can still talk in the meantime, you know, if there's anything else you want to talk about," Wesley told him. "We have about three days."
Harry considered the opportunity, but decided to let it pass. "I'll let you know if I think of something." He noted Wesley looked disappointed for a brief moment but it was gone quickly.
"At least you have a girlfriend to go with you," Wesley smirked at him.
Harry smiled back. "That I do."
— — —
At the end of the afternoon, Harry left the school area headed for gym #3 where he was supposed to meet Commander Riker for their normal exercise time. He popped into his quarters to change into his gi before heading to the gym.
The commander waved him over and handed some pads to him. "Here, put these on. This one is a little different and you'll want those." As the boy started donning the pads, Will asked, "How's today going?"
"Fine, normal even."
"Always good," Riker agreed. "Still excited about going to Vulcan and the VSA?"
"I think so. Hopefully it won't be a problem for anyone," Harry voiced, a little concerned about making waves.
"Here, tighten it like this." Riker adjusted a strap on Harry's body armor and then handed him a helmet. "I think it'll all work out."
"Commander? The visor doesn't want to stay up," Harry told him.
Riker chuckled. "That's because it's supposed to be down. The sticks," he handed one over that was as tall as Harry was, "have a proximity detector on the small end. You use that to find your opponent and then hopefully knock him out of the ring with the other end, the padded one. Doing that without seeing your opponent is part of the challenge."
"Oh." Harry considered it and looked at it all.
"Unless you think it's too hard and have something you'd prefer to talk about?" Riker challenged him.
"No, I'll figure it out," Harry replied and stepped back, trying to find the balance point on the stick.
Riker hid his disappointment in not drawing the boy's problem out. "By the way, I'll be sending you a meeting invite for tomorrow evening to talk about Vulcan. Dr Sorrd will be there since she's a Vulcan and will be dropped off with you."
"All right. Now how do you do this?" Harry held up his long stick.
— — —
After the time in the gym, Harry took a quick shower. Kim returned from her classes; she looked very thoughtful. Harry didn't know why as they normally didn't sit together when they learned, so he wondered if something had happened to her in class.
"Harry, can we eat somewhere different this evening?" she asked.
"I think there are other smaller mess halls. Or maybe…" he brightened suddenly. "I know where to go; come on." He grabbed her hand and walked out of the room and to the nearest lift. She stayed unusually quiet the entire way.
A few minutes later they were in Ten-Forward. He found a table for two next to the front windows not far from the door. Kim hurriedly took the chair facing most of the room as he said, "I like coming here sometimes." The stars were slowly moving as the ship raced through space.
Guinan came over a few minutes later, her hat not as large as last time although this time it was a deep maroon instead of purple. "Good evening. What can I bring you? Just drinks, snacks too, or maybe," she paused and smiled, "some ship's gossip." At Harry's chuckle and Kim's snort, the woman added, "You never know what some people want to talk about."
"Can we get a dinner?" Harry asked. "We're tired of eating in the mess hall."
"I think I can make that happen," Guinan agreed readily. "How about something a little different. Is spicy acceptable?"
Kim nodded. Harry nodded but added, "As long as it's not too spicy. I'd still like to taste the food."
"I'll be back in a few minutes." Guinan left, her loose robes flowing as she walked.
"I like this," Kim said after a moment. "The Q'vat didn't have anything like this place. People sort of gathered in the mess halls, but it's different here."
Harry looked out the window again. "I like it here too. However, it'll be good to be back on a planet again, don't you think?"
"I suppose…"
"Kim, is something wrong?" he asked with a hint of worry.
Before she could answer, Guinan returned with a large tray and set it on the table next to them, giving the Klingon teen some relief. "I had to guess on the drinks, but hopefully they go well with the meal." She set plates of very colorful food in front of them. "These are some traditional Andorean dishes. They are different so you can sample food from each plate if you want. Is there anything else I can get you, including gossip or even good information?" she finished with a smile.
"No, this looks and smells good," Harry told her.
Kim stood and leaned over so Guinan leaned closer too. After Kim finished whispering in her ear, Guinan looked at her. "I'll see what I can find for you."
"What was that about?" he asked when they were alone again and as they started eating.
"I asked for something special. I don't know if she'll have it or not," she replied.
Harry studied her for a long moment as he chewed and then swallowed his current bite of a very red root that was a little spicy but not too much, maybe with a hint of cinnamon too. "So a surprise? Hmm, I've never seen you do that before."
"There are probably a lot of things you don't know about me yet," she teased.
They each continued to eat, sampling a little off of the other's plate at times. Looking over his shoulder, she could see Worf and Riker come into the room from the other door and sit at the bar in front of Guinan. She knew why they were here and they'd sat there so they could keep unobtrusive watch. Kim knew it should be comforting but it actually made her a little more nervous than she already was.
Kim could see Guinan pour two shot glasses for the pair of officers, then pour from the same bottle into two small goblets, which were set on a tray for the woman to bring over. She was glad that was all behind Harry where he couldn't see. Just as Harry couldn't see Guinan stop by a table not too far away, speak a few quiet words, and the two women stood and moved further away.
"Here you go, I actually found some." Guinan set a small goblet in front of each teen. "I'm sorry, but that's all you get as I don't have much. Enjoy and cheers." She turned and left, heading off a party of three who were about to sit nearby, redirecting them to the other side of the room in a low-key way.
Oblivious to the goings on behind him, Harry sniffed the goblet and his eyes lit. "Bloodwine? I'm surprised. Wait! What is this for?"
Kim picked up her goblet and held it up. "I've been here for two weeks and things are going well. I thought that was cause for celebration. Of course, any time strong drink is involved is a good time for celebration among Klingons."
Harry laughed and tapped his goblet to hers before each sipped. "I wouldn't want this all of the time, but I'm surprised by how much I like it."
There was no more waiting. "I talked to Worf today," Kim started then took another sip as did Harry.
"Right, your talk about careers. I'm glad it wasn't me as I'm not sure what I want, other than to be an engineer of some type somewhere. Do you know what you want to do?" He took another sip, almost emptying the goblet.
"I've considered security, like he does," she replied, "maybe. We talked about what it was really like. He also gave me some files to read for other ideas."
"That sounds helpful," Harry said.
"He, uh, well, he told me a few other things," she finally got out after her initial hesitation.
"Like what?" He finished off the goblet and set it down. "That was good. Thanks!" He smiled at her.
Kim finished hers off too, wishing there was more for a little more time. She felt so unsure of herself with this; she'd have preferred a good fight instead. She smiled back at him and hoped for the best. "It was good." She took a deep breath. "Harry, Worf told me something you need to know."
"Oh?"
She slowly reached out and took one of his hands with hers. "Did you know there's no one on the ship that can stand in a room with you and read your mind?" She felt him stiffen and start to pull his hand back but she held tight, glad for her superior strength. "Harry, you really have nothing to worry about here."
He tried to stand and pull away again, but she held onto the one hand and lunged forward, grabbing him by the waist and pulling him to her, wrapping him in a hug as they stood together, her head next to his so she could whisper. She could also see Guinan, Worf, and Riker looking at her and each of them looked tense.
"Let me go!" he commanded and tried to push away.
"No!" she hissed and held on. "You will listen to what I have to say!"
"Let go!" he growled tried to break her hold on him.
"I'm not letting go so you can disappear. If you leave, you'll take me with you. Harry, you need to know and I like you enough to tell you the truth. You're my best … friend."
Harry didn't completely stop struggling, but he wasn't trying very hard now after her declaration.
"Please listen. It's not like you think. Worf explained, swore to me on his family honor, Deanna Troi doesn't mean you harm. Yes, she can feel if you have a strong emotion. She can know if you're happy, or angry, or afraid; but that's all she can know. She also doesn't try to feel others' feelings unless she thinks it's really important. She believes in privacy and tries to let you have that."
He wasn't struggling any more and was only clinging to her.
"Your thoughts are your own, Harry. I know you told me people had hurt you before. Although I don't know what was done to you, I don't believe it will be a problem here. Please believe me," she begged him.
The three at the bar were still watching, more discreetly now but still purposeful. A few others at tables were glancing at them too, but they were being left alone as she'd asked, something she was thankful for.
"Harry?" she whispered. When she tried to pull back to look at his face, he gripped her tighter so she couldn't. Then suddenly they were being squeezed through a tube and were standing in their quarters. "Harry?"
Kim let herself be pulled down to the couch where they continued to hold onto each other.
It was several minutes of just holding each other before he finally loosened his grip. She leaned back and looked at him carefully. She didn't think he'd been crying, but the edge of his eyes were red and he looked sad or maybe upset.
He took in a deep breath and expelled it quickly in a heavy sigh. "I know parts of my life have sucked, but I've been a bit of an arse about this mind reading thing, haven't I?"
"I don't know," she told him honestly. "Maybe you had a good reason to be."
Harry shrugged and started playing with her hand. "Maybe, but maybe not. I think what it does is show me that I'm not over the war and some things in my past. I probably need to go apologize for disappearing on her, but I don't feel like it now."
"Then don't. Send her a message that you'd like to talk to her for a few minutes tomorrow," she suggested. "In fact, do it now. I have to go to the bathroom."
With a nod, he stood and pulled her up. While she was gone, he sent a short message requesting a few minutes of her time to Troi.
When Kim returned, Harry pulled her back down on the couch and snuggled. It wasn't romantic, it was just being close to someone else. "Can I tell you a few things about me? Maybe like me thinking out loud?"
"Only if we can go to one of the gyms after you're done," she returned.
"Why?"
"Because I'll want to move around and what better way to do that than to practice some of the moves we've been learning from Worf. Or we can work on the weight machines," she told him.
He started chuckling and then laughed. "You're as weird as I am at times."
"I am not!" she insisted. "Now, what did you want to tell me?"
After a moment he said, "I went to a school to learn magic when I was eleven. I want to tell you about my teachers…"
— — —
The next day, Harry was standing outside Deanna Troi's office during lunch. He had to force himself to push the alert button. A few seconds later the door opened and he could see her on the other side of the room in her chair.
"I'm glad to see you today. Won't you come in and have a seat?" she beckoned him.
"Sorry, I think I'll stand in the doorway. Listen," he hurried on, "I wanted to stop by and tell you I'm sorry I left in such a rush the other day. I was a bit of an arse about the mind reading thing, but you touched on something a little sensitive for me. I understand that now and I'll work on it. It's not your fault, you couldn't have known."
"Why don't you come in so we can talk about it?" she tried again.
Harry shook his head in emphatic tiny motions a few times. "Thanks for trying, but I'm sorry; I'm not ready for that yet. I'll work on it and get back to you in say … six months." He turned and left before she could even call out to him.
Deanna reached out a hand slightly on instinct, but it was a useless motion she realized and dropped her arm as the door finally closed. She decided that he had to be her most frustrating patient ever. He was normal most of the time, but he also had some very deep wounds that he refused help on. Worse, Vulcan had no one like her on the planet, unless the person was a visitor. Vulcans just didn't seem to need services from her profession. One of his phrases at the end hit her suddenly. She wondered what he meant by "he'd work on it".
Harry and Kim stood in line with a small group of twenty or so to be beamed down to Vulcan. He was surprised that most of the group weren't Vulcans; so he guessed that like himself they had other business there. They had stopped at another planet yesterday to drop others off while the ship was getting repaired.
Dr Sorrd and her husband were in front of them with a large crate apiece. Because of Shrinking spells and Feather-weight spells, all of his and Kim's belongings were in a single small backpack that he'd conjured and carried easily on his back. While everyone didn't have to take all of their things with them, Riker had explained it would be best.
At their meeting last night, Riker and Worf had told them that Dr Sorrd would be their contact if they needed anything, since the two officers would be staying with the ship and helping with the repair and retrofit. Harry was glad the issue with Deanna Troi had not been brought up. While Harry had told Kim about his conversation with the counselor, apparently Riker was keeping out of it and letting Harry work it out himself - which he appreciated.
When it was their turn, they stepped onto the transporter platform and beamed down. They arrived in a very neat room, much like the one they'd just left; the difference was that this room had a window with sunlight streaming in. Dr Sorrd said, "This way," and led them out.
The first thing Harry noticed was the heavier gravity of the planet. It wasn't impossible to deal with, but it did make him a little uncomfortable. He knew he'd get used to it in time.
They didn't have to go far before she stopped in front of a young Vulcan. Harry couldn't tell how old he was other than probably a little older than he was. He also wasn't sure how she knew that was the person to meet, until he saw a small pin on their guide's lapel, which he supposed indicated the Vulcan was from the VSA. The two spoke in another language for a brief moment.
The young Vulcan looked at Harry and Kim. "Good afternoon. I am Sovan and I am here to guide you to where you will be living during your time here. I will also return to guide you to the Vulcan Science Academy tomorrow morning."
"Is there anything you need of me at the moment?" Dr Sorrd asked. At Harry's "no", she added, "If you have need of me, send a message and I shall reply as soon as I'm able. Good luck, Harry Potter and K'mpok Akhil."
Sovan said, "Follow me please." He led them through the building and to the outside where a warm breeze hit them.
Outside, Harry quickly noticed the second big difference about this planet: it was hotter. Again, he was sure he'd get used to it in time, but it was a change from the Enterprise which kept the temperature close to Earth standard.
They noticed everything seemed to be very orderly. Despite it being spotless, there was still a person cleaning, checking the trash. He thought it also unusual that person was a human, or at least looked like one, and wasn't a Vulcan. He quickly dismissed it though.
Sovan led them to a platform where something that looked like a train was waiting. It only had two cars, each was short, and there didn't appear to be an engine like was on the Hogwarts express. It also seemed to be on a single rail, not the double rail of "normal" train tracks. It's operation was very smooth, much like the Enterprise's turbolifts.
Sovan pressed a button near where they were standing and said, "Destination Green 21 to connect with the Blue rail." The panel, or really the computer connected to it, beeped.
"In each transportation car is a map of the system," Sovan explained. "You can look at it and tell the system where on its route you want to get off and it will stop there. Quarters for long term visitors and the Academy are each on the Blue line, so you will not have to transfer. The computer in your quarters can provide the location of any place you may need to travel to and what route you need to take. The monorail system is capable of providing transportation to the most popular facilities and within walking distance to most other places you will need get to. If you have a datapad, you can sync it with the computer to help yourself. If you do not have a datapad, you can get one at the Academy."
The monorail car slowed and then stopped. When the door opened, Sovan led them out and so they could walk to the next platform. A moment later a train of two cars pulled up for them to enter. "Southern end of the line," the young Vulcan told the system.
Harry and Kim had been watching out the window as the monorail train zoomed down its line. The area was built in completely, yet there will still some strips of greenery. It was so uniform he thought they had to be crops of something, but felt a little too intimidated to ask. He noticed Kim wasn't asking either. He was certain at least a few of the places had to be blocks of flats for people to live in, and there were some shops as well.
When the train started to slow down, Harry noticed that in the distance the scenery wasn't as green, turning more reddish-brown with splotches of gray. Exiting the train, which soon zoomed back the way it came, the couple noticed small houses, or at least he was sure of it even if they looked a little odd in ways he had trouble figuring out. There was something about the style that was subtly wrong.
Sovan pressed his hand to an Identity Pad next to the door. It beeped and let them in. Inside, he keyed the house to them so they could lock and unlock it, as well as removed himself from the access list. He also showed them how to access the computer interface before he said, "I shall return at oh-seven-thirty," and left.
Kim looked at Harry. "I don't think he said anything beyond what was absolutely necessary."
Harry snorted. "I don't think so either." He pulled the backpack off and set it down. "It's not luxurious but it's enough. Let's unpack."
— — —
Harry finished his conjuring work on the small back patio with a settee and small table that barely fit after his other work.
Kim looked at the work and nodded appreciatively. "Very good; in fact, very convenient." She handed the small goblet she'd been holding for him to him after she sat down. Looking out over the view of the rugged landscape that eventually turned into a desert she added, "Perhaps it's not what I would have preferred, but it does have its own beauty."
Harry took a sip of his Bloodwine, enjoying the warmth from the crackling fire in front of him as the evening cooled because of a soft cool wind coming off of the desert in front of them. "It is interesting," he said slowly. "When there's time I'll have to go flying out there to see what it's like."
"You'll have to be checked-out on a hover sled first," she pointed out then took a sip from her own small goblet.
He smiled and chuckled softly. "No, I have my own way and I'll take you if you like." At her inquisitive look he set his goblet on the small table so he could open the Mokeskin bag that he normally carried around his neck. Poking around with a finger for a moment, he eventually pulled out something.
"What's with the funny looking stick?" she asked.
"This," he told her as he held it up, "is a broomstick. Sure, I've shrunk it down as it should be a little over a meter long, but with this I can fly and if you're willing to sit very close to me you can go too."
"You're joking," she accused him.
"Is your bat'leth sharp?" he retorted.
"What does my weapon have to do with your claim that you can fly on an old looking broomstick?" she shot back.
Harry laughed and her eyes narrowed. "Sorry, that was a joke and a rhetorical question to answer your question. It's something we do or say sometimes." At her little growl, he hurried on. "I asked a question whose answer was obviously yes, which meant that yes I really can fly on it. I'll show you."
They both heard a beeping from inside the house behind them. Harry set the shrunken broom on the little table too and went inside to answer the computer. Pressing the button to answer the call he said, "Hello?" as the screen changed to show what looked like a middle-aged Vulcan woman in some sort of uniform.
"Mr Potter?"
"Yes, how can I help you?" he replied.
"I'm with Planet Security. We have detected a fire near your assigned residence. We ask you to look outside for the source of it. We want to know what equipment to send to extinguish it."
Harry blushed a little. "Uh, I created it." It was small, but her expression changed and made her look severe, reminding him of McGonagall. "Don't worry, it's completely contained and won't burn anything down. I was careful about that."
"Can you show me or do we need to send someone out to verify?" she all but demanded.
"Uh, sure, hold on a moment." They each had brought a datapad with them, so Harry grabbed his off of the nearby counter and pressed on the controls to link it. "Can you see me from my datapad?"
"Yes."
"Great." Harry walked to the back patio and pointed the camera in the device around the area and ending with a good look at the fire. "As you can see, we're just sitting here enjoying the evening with a small fire for warmth. It's in a metal … firepit, I guess you'd call it, and it's completely under control. I thought we'd do this for an hour or two as it'd burn out by then. If it's really a problem, I can put it out now by dousing it with water."
He turned the datapad back around so he could see her on it. He's swear she looked very puzzled, certainly not as severe as before.
Slowly, she said, "This is not a situation we've ever envisioned before. Guest residences don't come with that equipment and I fail to understand how you could have it. Please explain."
Harry blinked at the woman. He also noticed that Kim was smirking at him as she sipped her drink, obviously enjoying watching him deal with this difficulty. "Well, I guess you could say I brought it with me." He wasn't sure how much he wanted to explain to her. He was sure that his talent would eventually make it's way to become public knowledge, but did he want to start this soon?
The woman from Security turned to the side for a moment, as if looking at another screen, which Harry figured out she probably was to check on something. Her expression flickered very briefly before she turned to look at him. "I don't see how you could have brought it with you as you only brought a size two crate and that was for two people."
"Oh, right," he agreed and heard Kim snort at his predicament. "Well, you see, I have some extra abilities and that's why I'm visiting the Vulcan Science Academy, to understand them. Those abilities allow me to do things like this."
The woman continued to stare at him, obviously trying to determine what to do … and possibly even if he was telling her the truth.
"Since the fire is contained, can we continue? Or do we need to put it out?" he asked, trying to end this call and avoid a lot of questions.
She turned to the side again for a moment before looking back at him. "You may continue for the next hour. We would like to send someone by tomorrow to check your equipment."
"Uh, sure. I'll leave it on the back patio and they can look it over as they like if we're not here. I don't know what time we'll be back from the Academy," he told her.
"I'll schedule a time for when you are there in the evening," she told him. "Thank you." The communication ended.
Kim's laughter burst out. "That was funny."
Harry dropped back into his seat, setting the datapad down and picking up his goblet for a drink. "That also means I'll have to make more permanent versions of these things as I would expect them to disappear while we're sleeping."
Kim started to laugh again while Harry started to summon good-sized rocks from the desert in front of them and transfigure them into the "equipment" that he already had after removing his conjurations. The small fire had almost burnt itself out by the time he was done with the rest, so he put out the fire and did the firepit last. As they went back inside the house, he wondered what other problems he was going to have here.
Harry woke up the next morning feeling better than he had in a long time. He would have said it was because he'd slept longer than normal but that wasn't true. As he dressed, the only conclusion he could come to was that being on a live planet made a difference, as if his Anaphasic generators didn't produce true magic, just something close enough to work. On the other hand, he really liked being in space even if being on a planet seemed healthier.
After they finished eating, Harry and Kim left their house and started walking to the monorail a few minutes early. Each had their datapad, but Harry also had a tricorder and of course his wand - his holly and phoenix feather wand - under his strap under his left sleeve like normal.
They had waited at the station for the monorail for less than a minute when a car arrived that had Sovan on it. He raised an eyebrow in surprise but beckoned them to join him.
"We thought we'd save you the walk to the house and back," Harry told him.
"Thank you, that makes more efficient use of the time," Sovan replied before he told the car, "Stop at the VSA." Looking back at Harry he asked, "Did you experience any problems I can help with?"
Harry and Kim looked at each other and smiled, each thinking of the call about the fire. "Nothing we couldn't work out," Harry replied. "Can you tell us what will happen today?"
"I was told to help you to the section for Life Sciences R & D before I guide your companion to the primary school section." Sovan looked between them but said nothing about his observations or thoughts.
There was a single stop to pick up someone else before the car stopped in front of a large modern looking building that appeared to be four or maybe five stories tall. The three headed for the building.
Inside, Sovan turned right and led them a little way in and stopped in front of a set of double doors. "They will be waiting for you here, Mr Potter. I shall guide Ms Akhil to her instructor."
"I'll meet you at home," Harry told her. Kim nodded and left with their guide.
Not really sure what else to do, he opened the door in front of him and entered. While there was no large table for the conference room, there were a lot of chairs, although few were being used. There were about fifteen people, all adult Vulcans of varying ages, standing and talking quietly in small groups. Maybe a third of the people were women. One very old man and one young woman only a little older than Harry were sitting; she on the far left and he on the far right.
The old man had a plain staff, the first he'd seen here. His age was apparent from his wrinkles and short white hair, but his eyes still looked sharp and he sat up straight. He might have been the first to be aware of Harry's entrance, but the others didn't take long to notice as all turned to him.
One of the men in the middle took a few steps forward. He was slightly taller than the others and had a extra stripe on his sleeve, but otherwise he looked to be about the same as the others. "Greetings, Harry Potter. I am V'lostras, the current administrative head of Life Sciences. We are looking forward to working with you.
"There are three of us who would like to lead the project with you. I am one," he held his left hand to the side, "Terrev is another," he held his right hand to the side, "and T'kiavik is the last. Please select one of us to lead the project."
Harry blinked, `Pick based on what, looks?` He considered the group. "Who are the others?"
"They are possible assistants," V'lostras answered smoothly.
Yet a few seemed to … bristle maybe, definitely twitch, Harry noticed. The girl about his age on the left seemed to be working some device, perhaps for recording the meeting. The old man on the right continued to observe with interest. He had little resemblance to Dumbledore even with the white hair as the hair was short and there was no beard, and not to mention the brown eyes and pointed ears; but there was something special about him, his eyes Harry decided. The man would miss little he could tell.
Harry took a few steps to the right and stopped about half way. "Who are you?" he asked the old man. In his peripheral vision he noticed V'lostras sway just slightly, as if about to move but stopped himself maybe?
The old man tilted his head slightly. "I am Straarelk; the previous head of Life Sciences. I represent the guiding board of the Secondary level of the Academy."
"For those beyond primary or mandatory classes? Or as my world called them, a university?" Harry asked.
"Yes, this is equivalent to a university on Earth," the old man replied.
Looking back, Harry could see interest on each person in some way, except for the girl recording the session. Back to the old man he asked, "May I ask you a few questions in private? You don't have to get up."
Straarelk moved his staff a little closer. "We could move to the corner and speak quietly, but Vulcans have excellent hearing."
"Allow me to take care of that, if you don't mind." Harry saw the man nod, so Harry pulled his wand out from under his left sleeve and murmured, "Muffliato".
"To muffle?" the man asked.
"Yes, they will not hear our words now; it will be as if they are hearing insects buzz or a breeze," Harry answered with a smile.
"Fascinating."
"Can you tell me about the three?" Harry queried. "I think I know who I don't want, but I may be choosing incorrectly. I don't know enough about each of them to know whom to choose."
The man nodded. "What did you wish to learn about each of them?"
"The main one, V'lostras, as the current head of Life Sciences, he won't have a lot of time for this, will he?" Harry would have sworn he saw one corner of Straarelk's mouth twitch.
"I doubt it. I was kept quite busy in that position."
Harry looked back at the three, who were watching him intently. Back to the old man he asked, "Does either of the other two stand out, for good or for bad?"
"I've always found Terrev to not be as … imaginative as others. T'kiavik has shown he likes a team around him."
"So T'kiavik understands he may need help occasionally when pursuing something difficult?" Harry wondered out loud.
"That is a valid interpretation."
Harry almost stopped the spell but hesitated and lowered his wand because he had a feeling, maybe his intuition. "There is something about V'lostras that seems off to me. Are you very busy in your duties?" The man's eyes widened ever so slightly and Harry felt he'd surprised him.
"I am an overseer now. We have competent people as managers or they would not be managers." While mostly flat, there was a hint of rebuke.
Harry took and let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry; I think you misunderstood me, or more likely I wasn't clear. V'lostras looks different from the others but I can't tell why. Do you have some extra time to do other work when you want? Also, are you curious about my magic or are you just overseeing the process now?"
Straarelk nodded. "I understand now. It is an interesting thing you ask. I have some time to myself and I would not be here now if I didn't have some curiosity."
"Thank you," Harry told him and waved his wand, silently taking down his spell. He also noticed the girl was pointing her device in his direction, so perhaps scanning too, or so he wondered.
Walking back to the middle of the room he looked at the three. "Professor V'lostras, thank you for your offer, but I would not want to cause you hardship by doing this project in addition to your usual duties as head administrator here as I'm sure that keeps you very busy. Between the other two of you, I admit I'm sort of picking at random. Professor T'kiavik, I will pick you to lead the project for now. If you find it not to your liking, perhaps Professor Terrev will be willing to try."
T'kiavik nodded slightly. "I'm honored to be picked."
"I would like Professor Straarelk to be on your team as well. I find him interesting and would like his insights." Harry looked over and saw the old man raise an eyebrow in surprise. "That is if he is willing and you agree."
The two Vulcans looked at each other and each nodded after a few seconds. "It will be as you say," T'kiavik agreed. "I will also invite Meraak and Taurrik to join me on the team." One of the women stepped forward as did a man; each was slightly younger than T'kiavik.
"It is decided," V'lostras said. "I will expect a report at the end of every week." He walked out; the others not on the team followed the minister.
"Meraak," T'kiavik introduced the woman, "and Taurrik", the other assistant was introduced. Each nodded at Harry. "Would you follow me to our lab?" T'kiavik asked and then started walking.
Harry followed, after a glance to see that Straarelk had risen and was following as well, although a little slower. A moment later they came to a lift, which T'kiavik ordered to the fourth floor.
The lab was a short distance away and quite large, perhaps thirty meters long by ten meters wide with the ceiling five meters high. The last ten meters on the left was empty; all of the equipment - and there was a lot - was on the right two-thirds of the room.
They allowed him to look around for a moment. As Straarelk entered the room, T'kiavik said, "Please come to the bio-bed; we'll start with some scans. A blood sample will also be drawn."
Harry wasn't surprised by this and walked to the bed indicated. Taurrik started the scans while Meraak took the blood sample.
Straarelk said, "The schedule will be working with us in the mornings and your normal school in the afternoons, six days a week. The seventh and eighth days of the week are free for you."
"You have eight days in a week?" Harry asked in surprise. "Dr Sorrd didn't mention that nor did I read that. It seems I didn't read enough in my preparation." He thought the old man's eyes laughed at him, although his expression didn't change.
"It would seem you have much to learn about us; perhaps as much as we have to learn about you." The old man found a chair near him and sat down to watch.
It was near lunch time before they had him do a few spells for them to record and scan. He did the Lighting spell, a Tickling charm, and a Levitation charm. He asked for a glass and a tube that he saw. He dropped the drinking glass and then repaired it to their astonishment. Lastly he transfigured the rubber tube into a glass for them to compare against. Of course, that led to him having to give an explanation of what transfiguration really did, as opposed to what charms were.
Based on a few comments, one whispered, he knew they had barely started on the tests.
— — —
Lunch was in a large room that looked a little like the main mess hall on the Enterprise. He ate by himself since he didn't see Kim. He received a few looks but didn't worry about it. Sovan found him and guided him to a teacher for the afternoon. Again he did self-study as he was in varying levels in the courses.
When class let out for the day, Harry found a secluded place and just Apparated home and dropped into a chair. He closed his eyes and just relaxed.
He wasn't sure how long he "rested", but the door opening caused him to open his eyes … Kim was home too.
She too dropped into a chair. "That was … hard. I think they have a higher standard here."
`Like a bunch of Ravenclaws,` he thought but didn't say as he knew she wouldn't get the reference. "I think you're right."
"I wonder if we'll be done by the time we leave? I was looking forward to that," she told him.
"It was always going to be longer for me," he said wearily, "as I was further behind. Oh well, all I can do is do my best."
They sat in silence for a little longer before she sat up and looked at him. "You said you'd take me flying. I'd like to see how you do that."
Harry sat up too and smiled. "Great idea!" He dug out his broom from the pouch around his neck and expanded it so she could look at it. "Come on."
He led her out the back door and straddled the broom. "The seat should be large enough for the two of us if you'll sit as close to me as you can, which you'll want to do so you can put your hands around my waist and hold on. There's only one set of stirrups for feet, so I'll probably have to put my feet on top of yours. It'll be a little crowded but we can do it."
"It looks uncomfortable to sit on a stick like that." Nevertheless, Kim threw her leg over the broom and sat right behind him. "Oh, there's something like a seat that I couldn't and still can't see."
"Yeah," he agreed, "I don't know why they make it invisible other to make the broom look more sleek or something. They don't bother to hide the stirrups for your feet. Ready? I'll start slow."
She put her arms around his waist and feet in the stirrups. "I'm ready."
Harry willed the broom to fly and urged it forward and up. The broom responded and off they went. It was only a few seconds before Harry realized he'd missed this - a lot. He grinned as he sped up a little and headed out into the desert. He did a large clockwise loop to get his bearing as to where he was.
Kim gripped him a little tighter, so he sped up and really shot forward, urging almost the best speed the broom could do. He heard a whoop from his rider and grinned even more.
There was something like a little valley carved into the rock. He dove for it and threaded through it for few seconds before pulling out of it and heading almost straight up for a few seconds before leveling off. He also started another large clockwise circle to look around.
"That was fun!" Kim shouted. One at a time, her hands dug under his shirt and held onto his skin, sort of caressing him. "More!"
Enjoying the moment, Harry didn't answer except by tipping over to the left and going into a shallow dive before taking a tight turn around a "chimney" or a thin tower then heading further out into the desert and flying around to see the various features.
Finally he spied something he'd been watching for, curving and swooping down for it before landing on the small plateau or perhaps large island sticking up from the floor below.
Kim understood his landing and climbed off. "That was a lot of fun, but why stop here?"
Harry had climbed off also, just holding the broom by his side as he looked around. The city was still visible but it looked very small from here. "It's the first large flat area I saw."
"So?"
"I'll be right back." He set his broom down and Apparated back to their house and returned a moment later with two items, handing her training bat'leth to her while keeping his. "It seemed like a good place to practice."
Kim grinned at him and whooped after she'd stepped back and swung the training weapon around once. She stopped and started stretching as she'd noticed Harry stretching.
They did each of the four katas that Worf had taught as a warm up. Then with a lot of enthusiasm, Kim all but attacked him. However, Harry had been prepared and easily parried her blow outward; and quick jab hit her lightly in the stomach.
"You didn't think that through, as Worf would say," he told her as he took a step back for some space.
Kim frowned but leapt forward to attack again, this time with the blade being jabbed forward. Harry had little choice but to meet the jab, twist a little to lock the weapons before pushing back as he stepped back. A stalemate was about the best he could do in that situation. She grinned as she started circling, weapon held at the ready.
"Don't forget," he reminded her, "I don't really know healing spells and we don't know where the doctor is yet."
"Live on the edge," she retorted and pounced.
Harry blocked and brought an end around to catch her on the arm but she'd moved to avoid that. In fact, she was swinging the bat'leth around at knee level. He jumped, bringing his feet up high behind him so his knees where the lowest part of his body, allowing the sweep to go under him. He let go with his right hand and used his left to fling the blade to the left after her, catching her arm. It'd bruise only a little since he hadn't hit her very hard; the important thing was it caused her to pause while she scowled at him so he could step back to safety.
"Why do you do so well? This is from my culture!" she accused with a scowl.
"I got lucky with that hit." He didn't want to really answer her question … besides he didn't really have an answer.
She charged and he had to be careful with her strength. He parried a few times before she caught him with a glancing blow to the side of the head. "Hold!" he yelled as he stumbled back and grabbed his head, Kim aborting the followup hit by stopping it just before it hit him, showing it would have been a killing blow had she been using a real bat'leth.
Harry touched his head gently and was relieved to see no blood on his hand when he pulled it away to look. "That's going to leave a mark. Good thing the bruise will be covered by my hair."
Kim came over and gently looked at where she'd clipped him. "It's part of training," she said, not sounding overly concerned.
He almost protested before he stopped himself as he realized that probably was the normal Klingon view of this. "Perhaps I should wear a helmet next time."
With a shrug and a smile she answered, "Where's the fun in that?"
He slowly shook his head, not wanting fast movement at the moment. "Not my idea of fun. Come on, let's go back. I'm getting kind of hungry anyway."
"We can come back here and do it again?" she asked with some eagerness.
He picked up his broom and slid his wooden weapon over the front of the broom so it could hang there. "This seems like a good place unless we can find a gym somewhere." He took her weapon and placed it over the nose of the broom too so they were both in front of him.
They climbed back on and flew back to the house mostly in a line, just a few curves as Harry needed to adjust their course to get to their house. He landed in the very small back garden on what looked like a light purple grass. He wondered if it was real or artificial.
Harry put the broom and weapons up as Kim "made dinner", since they'd decided to take turns. Of course, with a replicator that really meant "ordering" it as no cooking was involved. The small replicator created the plates of food one at time, as that was all it could hold: one plate or up to four cups of beverages. It could also do small items as the inside was only twenty centimeters in each direction.
After dinner, they were about to start their homework when the door alert sounded. Harry looked at Kim, who looked as confused as he felt. Not expecting any problems here, he didn't worry too much about going over and opening the door.
There stood a Vulcan male in a uniform like he'd seen on the woman who'd called them last night; he had a tricorder slung over his shoulder. "I am Hatte from Planet Security. I've come to inspect your fire equipment."
"Oh right," Harry said with a nod and stepped back. "I'd forgotten. Please come in. I'll show you what we have."
The man's glance at Kim was a little longer than than might be expected, but then there probably weren't any other Klingons on the planet either.
Harry took him out the back door to the little patio. "As you can see, it's not big, but it's metal and shaped like a pit so the fire stays inside. I wouldn't start a fire if the winds were too strong."
The inspector moved closer and looked at it closely for a moment, then he looked around at the couch for two and a small table. "You said you brought these with you. How did they fit in your travel crate?"
Harry sighed. He supposed that more than the professors would learn of this one day anyway. Slowly pulling his wand out so the man wasn't alarmed too much, he waved his wand at the couch and thought of a shrinking spell and the furniture shrunk down until it was only about four centimeters tall. He picked it up and handed it to the man. He thought this would be a better explanation then conjuring, but either way he was going to get a lot of questions.
The man's eyebrows jumped as high as they'd go as his eyes went wide. It was the largest reaction he'd seen on any Vulcan so far. The glances moved between the toy sized couch and Harry several times. It was only then that Hatte remembered he had a tricorder and pointed it at the little couch for a reading. Still, the voice was steady as he asked, "How did you do that?"
"It's a power that I have." Harry heard a quiet snort from behind him.
The man didn't even look at Kim, he was still looking at the little couch with a few glances at his tricorder. "But it registers as normal."
"Because it is." Harry took the couch and set it on the ground before waving his wand over it and silently willing it to return to normal, which it did. "So, are we good having fires here as long as we're careful?"
The inspector looked at his tricorder again before he slowly said, "Yes, as long as you're careful with the wind."
"Splendid, I'm glad we could clear that up," Harry said and led him back into the house and to the front door. "Have a good evening," he said as the man left, still looking confused and without a word.
Kim had her head down on the table resting on her arms, her bushy hair covering her face, her shoulders shaking. She sat up now and started howling with laughter.
Harry grinned and sat at the table too. "At least he didn't ask where we got the wood from so I didn't have to go into the bedroom to conjure some and bring it out to pretend we brought that too."
That set Kim off and she started laughing again.
"Or ask how we started the fire…" Harry wondered if Worf would find the story as amusing; he had little doubt Riker would.