Three Wandering Stars

Chapter 3:

From that night on, Harry had a constant companion. Now it did not matter to him that his relatives were cruel to him, or that he had no friends at school or that the teachers didn't seem to care that he was obviously being mistreated. He now had Ben.
Whenever Harry felt alone, he would instantly feel Ben's presence. Though he could not see his friend, he could still feel it when he was comforting him. It was as if he were being rapped in a cocoon of warmth, protecting him from all of his fears. Sometimes, Ben didn't even have to say a word. With Ben, he felt happy. With Ben, he did not feel so alone.
However, Ben's presence did stir up some questions in his mind. How exactly could Harry sense Ben so strongly. And why did it seem as if he was the only one he could hear him?
One night, Harry approached Ben with these questions.
"Ben?" He asked.
"Yes?"
"Why... Why can I sense you, even when your not talking? I mean, I know your kind of like a ghost, but no one else seems to be able to feel you like I do." He asked hesitantly. He was nervous about asked questions, as his Aunt and Uncle did not like it when he asked questions.
Ben was silent for a long time.
"The reason why you can sense me when other can't," He began. "Is because of your strong connection to The Force."
"The Force?" Harry asked. "What's... What's The Force?"
"The Force is an energy field, created by all living things." Ben replied. "It sounds us, it penetrates us and it binds us all together. Some have a very strong connection to The Force. This connection grants them powers unimaginable."
Harry's eyes widened.
"And I... I have a strong connection to The Force."
"Yes." Ben replied. "You are very, very strong in The Force."
Harry sat up on his thin mattress.
"And you have a strong connection to The Force... Errr... At least you did, when you were alive I mean?"
Harry could have sworn he heard Ben chuckle.
"Yes, when I was alive, I was strong in The Force. And when I died, my spirit passed on into the realm of the Cosmic Force, from where I am currently communicating with you."
Harry's brow furrowed.
"What about my parents? Were they strong in The Force."
"Yes." Ben replied.
Harry frowned.
"Then why did they die? I mean, if they had unimaginable power, then shouldn't they have been able to survive a car crash."
Ben was silent for a long time.
"Your parents... Did not exactly die in a car crash."
"What?" Harry asked, shocked. "What do you mean? But uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia said..."
"And do you believe them?"
Harry thought for a long time.
"No." He finally said. "But then... How... How did my parents..."
Harry could feel himself breaking down. Everything he thought he new was being put into question. He could feel fear, anger, hate, coursing through him.
But then, as soon as the feeling came, it was replaced by the comforting presence of Ben.
"Shhh, it was be alright Harry. The truth of how your parents died is a long, tragic story. You are too young to hear it now. However, be patient, for one day you will hear the truth."
"P... Promise?" Harry said.
"I promise." Ben replied.
Harry calmed down.
"So, is my connection to The Force the thing that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia keep calling my "Freakish Nature"?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Ben replied.
Harry frowned.
"But The Force sounds so cool. How can something so cool be bad?"
"Some people are just afraid of what they do not understand." Ben replied.
They were both silent for a long time.
"Ben?" Harry asked.
"Yes?"
"Can you teach me to use The Force?" He asked.
Ben was silent for a long time.
"If you wish?"
"Yes." Harry said, excited. "I want to learn how to use The Force so I can help the other kids at school to not get beaten up by Dudley and so I don't get so tired doing housework so I can do my homework and not get in trouble at school."
Ben chuckled.
"Calm down there. It will be hard work, and you will have to be patient."
"Okay." Harry replied.
"Well then," Ben said. "Will shall begin your training tomorrow. For now, you need your sleep."
"Okay." Harry said, yawning. "Goodnight Ben."

Learning how to use The Force, was not what Harry had expected.
He had expected to being learning how to harness energy and how to use incredible power like magic. However, Ben told him to sit on his mattress cross-legged, and focus.
"Concentrate." Ben said. "Feel The Force within you."
Harry breathed as Ben had instructed. At first, he did not feel anything. But, after a while, he began to feel something. Something inside of him. It was power. It was energy. It was The Force.
It flowed through every part of him. It felt warm, strong, beautiful, alive.
"I can feel it." Harry muttered. "The Force. It's... It's calling to me."
"Good." Ben said. "Now, extend your vision outward. Feel The Force surrounding you."
Harry did just that.
He could feel The Force running through the house, the ground, ow air. He could feel it within his relatives upstairs, though nowhere near as strong as he had felt it within himself. He could feel it in the garden that Aunt Petunia made him tend everyday. He could feel it in the people next door and all down the street. He could feel it in the trees. He could feel it in the birds. The Force was everywhere, flowing through him, binding him to the rest of the world.
He focused back into his small cupboard. He could see what appeared to be the figure of a man. His presence in The Force was different to the rest. It was as if he was part of The Force. Could this be Ben?
Harry extended his mind to the figure.
Suddenly, his vision changed.
He could see blurred images. A sword made of glowing light, appearing jagged, unstable...
A figure, dressed in black with a strange mask. The Force warring within him...
Two figures, standing on a bridge above a large chasm. The jagged red sword activating, penetrating one of the figures...
A girl, holding a blue glowing sword...
A strange connection between the black figure and the girl...
A room, full of dead bodies. The dark figure, unmasked to reveal a man. He is extended a hand to the girl, but she does not take x...
Pain... So much pain...
He could hear words both loud and quiet.
"Ben...!"
"I will finish, what you started..."
"Murderous snake..."
"My son is alive..."
"There has been an awakening..."
"Join me..."
"Ben, don't do this..."
"Please..."
Harry snapped out of the vision. He collapsed onto his mattress.
"Harry!" He could sense Ben's concern through The Force.
"What... What was that." He breathed.
Ben was silent.
"Ghosts of the past."
Harry frowned.
"Who... Who was that... That man?"
"His name, was Kylo Ren." Ben replied.
"Kylo Ren?" Harry muttered. "He was... Strange."
"How so?" Ben asked.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows.
"I could sense... Conflict, within him."
Ben was silent for a few seconds.
"Kylo Ren... Was torn... Between the dark and the light sides of The Force."
Harry frowned.
"The Force has sides?"
"Yes." Ben replied. "In times of old, the Light Side was harnessed by the Jedi, and The Dark Side by the Sith."
Harry's mind raced.
"And what was Kylo Ren?"
Ben was silent for a long time.
"He served The Dark Side of The Force, but was still tempted by The Light. This caused him to feel conflict within himself."
"Did you know him?" Harry asked. "I mean, I was focusing on what I think was your Force presence when I saw the vision."
Ben was silent for a long time.
"You could say... That he was like my dark twin."
Harry was silent while he thought about this statement.
"You mean he was your brother?"
"Of sorts." Ben replied mysteriously.
"What happened to him?" Harry asked.
"He died."
"How... How did he die?"
Ben was silent for a long time.
"A girl, whom Ren attempted to turn to the Dark Side, destroyed him and saved me. Then, I saved her, at the cost of my own life."
"Wow." Harry said, his eyes wide. Then he had a thought. "Was she the girl from the vision?"
Ben was silent. Harry was getting tired of these long silences.
"Her name was Rey." He finally said.
"How did she defeat Kylo Ren?" Harry asked.
"Love." Ben replied after yet another pause.
"Love?" Harry asked, skeptically.
"Yes, love." Ben replied. "It is truly a powerful thing."
Suddenly, Harry yawned.
"Now," Ben said. "I believe it is time for you to rest. You have really exerted your energy today."
"Are we going to train again tomorrow?" Harry asked.
"Yes, of course." Ben replied. "We must train everyday so you can become stronger."

As the months passed, Ben continued to teach Harry the ways of The Force.
Harry learnt how to feel The Force in the world around him, and how to sense people's emotions. Ben told him of the many ways of manipulating The Force, such as levitating objects and enhancing his own attributes.
Harry learnt how to make himself faster, stronger, and more agile with The Force. He also found that he could learn much easier with The Force.
However, Harry was particularly interested in, what been called, a Jedi mind-trick.
"So I can get anyone to do what I want?" Harry had asked on one February night after his relatives had gone to bed.
"Anyone who is weak-minded, yes." Ben replied. "However, you must use this wisely, and not for ill intent."
"Why do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Well," Ben began. "Say there was someone who was standing on the edge of a cliff. Now, this person desired to jump off of it."
"But, that would hurt." Harry said, shocked that anyone would do such a thing.
"Yes, it would hurt very much." Ben agreed. "Now, with the Jedi mind-trick, you could convince this person that they do not wish to jump off of the cliff."
Harry nodded.
"Okay, that sounds right." He said.
"However," Ben continued. "You could just as easily convince a person who doesn't want to jump off of the cliff, that they really want to."
Harry's eyes widened.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" He asked. "Well, maybe Dudley, as a joke or something."
"As you can see," Ben continued. "With great power comes great responsibility. You must learn to use the powers granted to you by The Force wisely."
Harry nodded.
"I will."

Throughout his training, Ben also told Harry the history of the galaxy. Harry learnt about the Jedi, the Sith, the old republic, the empire and the From Order. He was fascinated by all of this. Though, there was just one question which lurked in the back of his mind.
Eventually, on one June afternoon when his Aunt and Uncle had taken Dudley out to an amusement park, leaving Harry looked in his cupboard with nothing more than a dry loaf of bread and a bottle of water, Harry asked the question that he had been dying to ask Ben for months.
"Ben?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yes?"
Harry pursed his lips.
"When you first told me about The Force, you said that it's supposed to bind us together."
"Yes, it does."
"Well, and then you said that there is a Light Side and a Dark Side."
"Yes."
"And that the Jedi used the Light Side and the Sith used the Dark."
Yes. What is your point?"
"Well," Harry began nervously. "How can there be a Light and a Dark, and yet, The Force still being able to bind everything together?"
Ben was silent for a long time. Harry pressed the issue on.
"And well, from what you told me the Jedi used their power seemingly for good, while the Sith used their power for bad. But, you have mentioned cases where the Jedi have done some morally questionable things, and where the Sith were trying to do good. I mean, didn't Anakin Skywalker turn to the Dark Side because he wanted to save his Wife from dying?"
"You make a fear point." Ben conceded.
"And anyway," Harry continued. "Anakin wouldn't have been tempted to the Dark Side so easily by Palpatine if the Jedi weren't so strict on no attachments. And that's something else I don't understand. How is loving someone bad?"
"Sometimes love can cloud your judgement." Ben argued.
"I know that." Harry replied. "But it can also make a person better. And I don't see how fear can be as bad as the Jedi said. I mean, fear can lead to people making bad decisions. But it can also stop them from being reckless."
"That is... A very good observation." Ben said, a note of surprise in his voice.
Harry felt overjoyed. It was very rarely that anyone ever praised him for accomplishing something. This encouraged him to continue.
"And as you said before, you can use a mind trick to harm someone just as easily as you can to help them. I think you can probably do the same with a lot of Force powers."
"That is true." Ben agreed.
"I know that this might sound silly, but... But I think it has less to do with what aspect of The Force you use, and more of how you use The Force. I mean, yes the Dark Side is fueled by more negative and chaotic emotions. But how does that make them necessary bad?"
Harry took a deep breath.
"And... I remember you telling me about Kylo Ren. About how he served the dark but was tempted by the light, and this caused him to fill torn. What if... What if he felt this way because he was trying to be one or the other? What if it were possible to be both?"
Ben was silent for a long time.
"You make... Some interesting arguments. Perhaps... Perhaps you are correct. I shall have to look further into this."
Harry beamed.
"Thank you."
"Now," Ben continued. "Onto today's training."

Ben Solo was honestly astounded. He had sensed how strong Harry was in The Force. He was truly powerful, just as his parents had been. However, he had not expected him to be this powerful.
He remembered the first time Harry had meditated. He had so much raw, untapped power. So much potential in The Force. He not expected Harry to be able to be able to tap into the Living Force as easily as he had. And yet he had been able to sense The Force flowing through the entire street. More than that, he had been able to sense Ben himself. This had been shocking enough. However, he had then touched Ben through The Force.
And then he had had a vision of Ben's past.
Ben was thankful that Harry had not seen a clear vision of his history. Ben did not wish to scare his son off with his history. Ben could sense that now was not the time for Harry to know the truth of his family history. But at the same time, he could tell that Harry would be able to tell that he was being lied to. His strength in The Force was too powerful.
So Ben had told him a half truth.
It was not hard, as Ben thought of Kylo Ren as a separate entity from himself. He truly felt that this aspect of him had died on the wreckage of the second Death Star. So he had referred to his past self as a dark twin. He had been amazed that Harry believed the tail. However, Ben supposed he should not underestimate the power of a child's innocence.
Not that his child had been given much of a chance to be innocent.
Ben could only watch in regret and anger as his son was mistreated by those who he was forced to call family. He new that if he had still been Kylo Ren, then he would have single handedly destroyed the entire street a long time ago. However, he was no longer that monster. Nor could he do more than teach his son the skills required for him to help himself. Ben could only hope that this was enough.
Over the months of Harry's training, Ben had been surprised time and again by Harry shear power. He was truly gifted within The Force.
More than that, he had a truly kind heart. Despite him not receiving an affection himself, he cared for the wellbeing of others. And for the rare people who showed him kindness, he returned with unwavering loyalty.
Ben had seen this when the boy Harry was forced to call cousin had, yet again, broken Harry's glasses. Yet again, Harry had been forced to tape his glasses back together. Ben had suggested that he use a Jedi mind-trick on the Dursleys, to get them to buy him a new pair. Harry had refused, but not for the reasons that Ben had feared. Ben had suspected that Harry would refuse, as he would see this as manipulating and immoral. However, this was not the reason why he refused to use a mind-trick on the Dursleys for new glasses.
"No Ben. I don't want new glasses." Harry had said firmly.
"Why?" Ben had asked.
"Because, Miss Bennet gave these to me, and I want something to remember her by." Harry had replied.
It warmed Ben's heart to see how kind and loyal his son was, when the world had denied him so much needed love and affection.
However, was latest display of Harry's intelligence and kindness had shocked Ben to the core. For Harry, who was a month away from being 6 years old, had made an analysis of The Force worthy of Jedi Masters.
Unlike countless Jedi and Sith, Harry did not see the Light Side and the Dark Side. He saw just The Force as a whole. More than that, he, while acknowledging that there were different aspects of The Force, also stated that this did not necessary make either aspect good or evil, but that it depended on the intention of the user.
Ben was immeasurably proud of his son's show of intelligence. However, he still needed to discus this with someone. Someone who could understand this matter better.
So, he reached through the Cosmic Force to find the one who sort. In a matter of seconds, his grandfather materialised in front of him. Ben was surprised to see a small smile on his face.
"Grandfather," He began. "I need advice. Harry and I have just had quiet an interesting conversation..."
"Yes," Anakin said. "He is quite an intelligent child, isn't he?"
"So you heard what he said?" Ben asked.
Anakin just nodded.
"And? Is there any truth in his words?"
Anakin looked at him for a long time. Finally, he spoke.
"Long ago, the Jedi believed that I was destined to bring balance to The Force."
"Yes, I am aware of this." Ben said, beginning to become annoyed. "And since then it's been the duty of the Skywalker bloodline to maintain this balance. I do not see what this has to do with..."
"Do you remember what Harry said about Kylo Ren?"
Ben blinked.
"He said that he believed Kylo Ren was torn between the Dark and the Light because he was trying to be one and not the other, and that... That he could have ended his pain if he tried to... To be both. But I do not see..."
Anakin shook his head.
"You will be surprised how amazing the mind of a child is. Sometimes, they can see what others cannot."
Ben scowled.
"I do not understand."
Anakin shook his head again.
"You are of the Skywalker bloodline, my bloodline. The Force runs strong in our family Ben. Not just the Light, and not just the Dark. Just, The Force, as a whole entity. For your whole life, you were tempted by the dark..."
"That was Palpatine." Ben argued.
Anakin shook his head.
"Palpatine may have amplified the temptation. However, the Dark Side would have called to you regardless of his influence. And once you began to serve the Dark Side and became Kylo Ren, you were drawn to the Light Side. Do you not see? When you served one side, the other side called to you. This is because you were meant to serve The Force as a whole, and not just one part of it."
Ben frowned.
"And what does this have to do with Harry?"
"This has everything to do with Harry." Anakin replied. "He is the last of the Skywalker bloodline. However, he is the first Skywalker who is not influenced by either the Jedi or the Sith. This will greatly help him. He will not be restricted by either order, and will learn to use The Force in it's entirety. However, he is in need of a teacher. And you are that teacher."
Ben frowned in confusion.
"Why me? Why not you?"
Anakin shook his head.
"It has to be you Ben. The Force has much planned for you still. However, all you can do now is teach Harry and ensure he is able to reach his full potential."
Anakin looked at him seriously.
"And when he reaches his full potential, he shall finish what we started."