Three Wandering Stars

Chapter 4:

Over the next few years, Ben taught Harry everything he new about The Force. And when he said everything, he meant everything.
He was at first hesitant to teach Harry some of what he had learnt as his time as Kylo Ren. He did not wish for Harry to go down the same path he did. He feared that if Harry was introduced to even the smallest amount of the Dark Side, then the child will fall just as he did. The Dark Side of The Force, if not handled properly, could have terrible consequences. Ben was afraid that, due to his living conditions, Harry would find it harder to balance the light and the dark within himself.
However, Harry both wanted and needed to learn all aspects of The Force, both light and dark. And Ben was surprised, once again, with his son's talent.
Not only was he capable of wielding the Dark Side, but he was also capable for controlling it, instead of it controlling him. Yes, at times when the Dursleys were particularly cruel to him, Ben could sense the Dark Side taking hold of him, but Harry soon learnt to control his emotions and not let the darker aspects of himself control his actions. When Harry had first started training, he found was difficult. However, as Harry's training progressed, so did his self control.
It was truly incredible. Ben could not help but be proud of the child he had helped create. And he knew that, if Rey could see him now, she would also be proud of their child.
From time to time, Ben went to check on Rey.
She never stayed in one place for too long, travelling from system to system. On her adventures, she had found and gathered quite a number of Force sensitives. Some of them were already adults, like the former storm-trooper whom Rey called her friend. Both he and Rey had been surprised when the man had revealed that he to, was strong in The Force. It was nowhere near either his or Rey's power, but it was still enough.
However, the vast majority of those Rey found were children.
At first, Rey feared that she would have to wait until the children were adults, so that they were not separated from their families as the Younglings of old were.
She had briefly thought about establishing a proper base on one system and allowing the students to visit their homes whenever they were not preoccupied with training. However, Rey knew that there were most likely Force sensitives on every system. If she were to establish a permanent base for the new order, then only the inhabitance of the system would be able to see their families on a regular basis and the ones who's families lived furthest from the system would hardly be able to see their families.
Finally, she was able to figure out a solution.
She and her students would continue to travel from system to system, and she will allow them to communicate with their families whenever they wished, as long as it did not interfere with their training. This way, they could still have some form of a relationship with the people they loved, while still focusing on their Force training. And no one student would have easier access to their families than the rest.
In only a few years, Rey's moving academy had become so large that she had had to find a bigger ship. She had ended up having to repurposed and redecorate an old Star Destroyer. At first, she was hesitant to use something that used to belong to the First Order. However, she quickly realised that this was the best option.
However, she did not wish to completely discard the Millennium Falcon. Ben remembered that Han Solo had been the first person Rey had ever seen as a Father figure. He knew that it would be hard for her to just abandon the old ship.
Ben also did not wish to see the Falcon go. Despite him once wanting it to be completely blown out of the sky, the ship held great sentimental value for him. He remembered playing on it when he was a child, even younger than Harry was now. This was where his Father had first taught him how to fly a ship. It was part of his families legacy. He remembered his Father sitting in the pilot seat and picking him up to sit in his lap.
"So, how do you like it?" Han had asked.
"It's amazing?" Young Ben had replied, eyes wide.
Han had chuckled.
"Yes, did I ever tell you that I completed the Kessel Run..."
"In twelve parsecs." Ben had replied. Han had been very found of that particular story.
Han had laughed again.
"Yeah, me and Chewy have had some pretty great adventures in this old thing." He had said, patting the ship affectionately.
"One day, I might take you on a few adventures of your own."
"Really?"
"Really." Han had replied, ruffling his hair. "And some day, you will take your kids on adventures..."
That was when Ben came up with a solution.
One night, he whispered a suggestion to Rey in her sleep. The next day, she had left her students under the careful watch of the former storm-trooper, whom Ben finally discovered preferred the name Finn, and had taken the Millennium Falcon on the last flight the ship would be seeing for the next several years. She had also taken Luke Skywalker's old X-wing. However, she had R2 control it as she flew the Falcon.
Through The Force, Ben had told her where to land the Falcon, and use The Force to hide it from all but whom she intended to find it. Once that was finished, Rey did not hesitate to go into the X-wing and fly away from the system. Ben supposed that she did not wish to stay, as she did not believe she could fight the urge to check on the child she had left behind.
The Millennium Falcon was now hidden in a forest, a few miles out of surrey.
Eight year old Harry had been amazed when Ben had first led him to it. The boy now had plenty of free time on his hands. Soon after learning how to manipulate The Force in more physical ways, Harry did not hesitate in using his new power by completing the extraordinarily long list of chores given to him by the Dursleys. His relatives did not bother him, as long as he did not do what they deemed to be "freakish", around them. This meant that, once Harry's chores were done, he was free to sneak away and do more Force training.
"Wow, this is so call." Harry had said.
Ben chuckled.
"Yes, it is quite a ship."
"Does it have a name?" Harry asked.
Ben hesitated for a few seconds. Finally, he decided that it was best not to lie to Harry.
"This, is the Millennium Falcon."
Harry's jaw dropped.
"The Millennium Falcon? You mean like, THE Millennium Falcon?"
"Yes."
"But... But this is the ship that helped Luke Skywalker blow up the first Death Star and the ship that did the Kessel run in Fourteen parsecs..."
"Twelve." Ben corrected.
"But how did it get here?" Harry asked.
Again, Ben hesitated.
"That is a long story, for another time. First, like in the storage compartment."
Harry frowned but complied. The frown quickly left, however, when he opened the compartment and saw what was inside.
"No way." He said, his eyes wide.
In his hand, he held the hilt of a training sabre. In the other, he held an old Jedi training orb.
"Yes." Ben replied. "While you are far exceeding my expectations in your Force training, you still have much to learn when it comes to using the more physical weapon of a Jedi."
"Thank you!" Harry had said. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Ben had laughed. "You're welcome."
Harry smiled. Then, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
"Ben?"
"Yes?"
"Can I live hear now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Harry should sheepishly. "I mean... I really, really don't like living with the Dursleys. I think that it would be better for my Force training and my sanity if I ran away. It's not liked they cared and you could teach me how to fly this thing and we can go on adventures around the galaxy and help people..."
"No Harry." Ben had replied. "I do not believe that that would be a good idea."
"Why not?" Harry had asked.
Ben had really not wanted to say this. However, harry had to know why, for the mean time, he had to stay with the Dursleys.
"Do you remember what happened after your first week of school?"
Harry frowned.
"Yeah. At first, everyone seemed to defend me and tell Dudley off for his bad behaviour and the principal was going to send Child Services after Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. And I still had Miss Bennet to help me and she was really, really nice and she promised me that she would help me get away from the people who hurt me."
"And, what happened?"
"And..." Harry thought, trying to keep hold of his sadness. "And then everyone just ignored Dudley's bad behaviour and no one from Child Services came to check on the situation with the Dursleys and... And Miss Bennet disappeared."
He could sense that Harry was about to cry, so he did what he always did whenever his son was upset. He rapped in intangible arms around him, in a makeshift embrace. Though Harry could not feel him, Ben knew that he could sense him and that the embrace always brought the young boy comfort. Though Ben wish to be able to do more, he knew that this would have to do.
"Shhh shhh shhhh." He hushed.
"And... And you said that she was compelled away." Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes." Ben replied. "There are certain people... Who wish for you to remain with the Dursleys."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because they believe it is the safest place for you." Ben replied bitterly.
Harry laughed.
"Safe... At the Dursleys?" He asked, gasping.
Ben sighed.
"Do not worry. Everything will be clear in a few years. All you have to do is..."
"Yeah yeah, be passant." Harry replied.
"I am sorry, Harry. I will I could tell you more, however, The Force is preventing me from doing so."
Harry sighed.

"I understand."
"Now," Ben said, trying to change the subject. "Let us begin your first Lightsabre lesson."
Harry face immediately lightened. Ben had chuckled and rolled his eyes. No matter what the situation, the prospect of playing with a glowing laser sword seemed to almost always cheer up a child.

Harry got up as he usually did every morning just before the sun rose to get in his morning jog before making the Dursleys' breakfast.
Ben instructed him to run every morning to improve his stamina and physical health. He had told him that this would greatly help him in combat situations. So Harry had agreed.
He used The Force to unlock the front door, then relock it once he was out. Then, he ran around the block a few times, before returning to the house and making breakfast as he did every morning.
It was now the school holidays, which meant that, after he was done with his chores, he would have the rest of the entire day to train.
Harry was extremely fascinated by lightsabres. Ever since Ben had first shown him to the Millennium Falcon, where he had found old Jedi training equipment, he had been curious about everything concerning lightsabres.
He had asked Ben countless questions about them, and his ghost teacher had taught him much about them. He told Harry of the many colours, from the more common ones of Blue and Green, to the very rare ones of purple and white, to how the Sith would corrupt their Kyber crystals by causing them to bleed, resulting in the red colour.
Ben also taught him of the many different variations in design, and the people whom wielded them. From Darth Mall, with his double-bladed saberstaff, to the twin lightsabres used by Ahsoka Tano. However, the design which most struck his interest was the crossguard lightsaber, wielded by Kylo Ren. He did not know why it fascinated him so. Maybe it was because, in the few visions Ben showed him of it, the blade looked so wield, jagged, unstable, much as he had heard Kylo Ren had been. Maybe it was because he believed that the extra crossguard blades would provide some extra protection during a lightsaber fight. In any case, Harry was obsessed with this particular design of Lightsabre.
He had once, very hesitantly, asked why the crossguard blades had looked so jaggard. Ben had told him that it was because the crystal was broken. Harry had replied by asking why the crystal was cracked. Ben had replied by saying that maybe it was because Kylo Ren's own emotions were so unstable that the crystal could not handle it. Harry had let the subject drop, as he knew that anything to do with Kylo Ren was a saw subject with Ben.
Back to the present. Harry had just finished breakfast, in time for the Dursleys to enter the kitchen and plant their lazy behinds at the kitchen table. Harry gave them their breakfast before sitting down with his meager portion of food.
Throughout the meal, Dudley was constantly poking him with his blasted smelting snick. Harry had to resist the urge to use The Force to rip the stick right out of Dudley's hand and hit the frighteningly over wait boy over the head with it. However, Harry knew that this would not be a good idea. So he simply tried his hardest to ignore him and finish his breakfast.
Near the end of the meal, the door-bell rang and Harry could sense the postman drop some letters through the mail flap. Evidently, the Dursleys heard that it was the postman.
"Go get the mail Dudley." Uncle Vernon said from behind his newspaper.
"Make Harry get it." Dudley replied.
"Go get the mail Harry."
Harry resisted the urge to tell the large man that if he wanted the mail so badly, then he could go get it himself. He simply got up from his chair, accepting that Dudley would most likely take what was left of his food, and walked to the front door.
When he picked up the mail, he could sense that one of them was different from the others. After flicking through them, he found what was so strange.
A letter addressed to him.
That wasn't the strangest thing. It was written on what Harry believed to be parchment. On the back of it was a strange crest. And on the address, the letter described everything about his living conditions, including his cupboard. However, the strangest part was that Harry could sense The Force surrounding this letter.
Harry shook his head and hid the letter in his overly large shirt, planning to open it in the privacy of his cupboard.

Once he had finally finished his chores for the day, he sat in his cupboard, reading the letter from the light which fell through the slits of the door. He could sense Ben's presence near him.
"What do you think it is Ben?" He asked.
"The only way you will be able to find out is by opening it." Ben replied.
And so Harry did.
The contents of the letter was shocking, to say the least. A school for wizards? Wizards? Was that what The Force users of this world called themselves? And there were enough of them to warrant a school?
As he looked over the letter again, he thought that this was rather strange. There was nothing to explain what Hogwarts was, or anything about wizards in general. Surely they would have more information about the school, besides what the student needed. The Force could quite as easily come to someone who had no Force sensitive parents than someone from a Force sensitive family. However, this letter seemed to assume he knew everything about the school and the society.
Then he remembered. Ben had told him that both his parents had been strong in The Force. Meaning that his Mother was strong in The Force. Meaning that she would have quite possibly gone to this school. But, this would mean...
"Ben," He said, attempting to stay calm. "Do... Do the Dursleys know anything about this... This Hogwarts?"
"Yes." Ben replied. "Petunia knew perfectly well about your Mother's power, as well as the truth of her's and your Father's deaths."
Harry's hands shook, as did the contents of the cupboard. He took a deep breath.
"I.. Have been aware that they have been keeping secrets from me for years. But this...?"
He waved the letter around.
"To hide the truth of my heritage? No. I have had enough. Why did they...? Why would they...?"
Ben sighed.
"Because they feared you and your power." Ben replied. "They feared what you would do if you knew of your power, and so they hid the truth from you."
Harry clenched his fists.
"I understand why you kept it from me." He said. "The Force did not wish you to. And it is not a wise idea to ignore the wishes for The Force."
"That, and," Ben replied. "I believed that the information would be to much for you while you were so young."
Harry nodded.
"Yes, you were not thinking of yourself. You did this for my benefit, and while I am a little mad that you keep secrets from me, I understand your reasoning. But this... The dursleys have selfishly kept stuff from me for too long."
"Harry." Ben said, startled as Harry suddenly got up from his thin mattress. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to teach the Dursleys that keeping secrets his not a good idea." Harry replied. "And I'm also going to get some answers."
"Harry." Ben said in a warning tone. "Don't..."
"Don't worry, Ben." Harry replied. "I'm not going to go all Palpatine on them."
Before Ben could reply, Harry had already left his cupboard.
He walked into the living room, where the Dursleys sat, stuffing their faces and watching the TV. Harry walked straight in front of the screen, blocking the view of whatever show they were watching.
"Hey, get out of the way!" Dudley yelled.
Harry smirked.
"Make me." He said.
The fat both instantly got up and waddled to him, preparing to hit him with his smeltings stick. However, before Dudley reached him, Harry stopped the larger boy with The Force. Dudley's eyes were now wide, only a foot or two away from Harry. Harry lifted his hand, preparing to do a trick that he had practiced on random people around the streets for years.
"You don't want to hit me with your Smeltings Stick." Harry said, waving his hand in front of Dudley's face.
"I don't want to hit you with my Smeltings Stick." Dudley repeated, dropping his stick.
"You want to go to your room and rethink your life."
"I want to go to my room and rethink my life."
"Then go."
Dudley turned around and walked straight to his room. Uncle vernon's face immediately went a bright shade of purple and Aunt Petunia screamed at him loudly.
"What did you do to my Duddykins!"
"Why you little... You dear use your freakishness against my son!"
Harry lifted his hand again and used The Force to silence his relatives.
"Don't worry, I probably did him a favour. Who knows, maybe he'll be a better person after he sits down and thinks. And anyway, I didn't want him present for things."
"What... What are you doing!" Aunt Petunia screeched.
Harry replied by pulling out his letter.
"Dear Mr. Potter. You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
He could sense the fear increasing in his relatives. Harry smirked.
"Shall I continue?"
"You... You..." Uncle Vernon stuttered, his face flickering from white, to red, to purple, and back to white again. Harry was momentarily concerned for the man's health. And then he remembered the years of torment he had suffered at his hands.
"Now, I have some questions. For starters, did you, or did you not know about this?"
"Knew! Of course we knew!" Aunt Petunia screeched.
Harry could sense the anger building inside of her. Evidently, she had been holding this back for years.
"How could I not know, with my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that... That school... And came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was... a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"
Harry was beginning to sense the anger and jealousy radiating from Aunt Petunia.
"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as... As... Abnormal... And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"
Harry could feel his own anger rising. He of course knew that the old story about his parents dying in a car crash was a complete lie, Ben had told him so years ago. However, it was still maddening to hear Aunt Petunia talk about his Mother's deaths in such a callus way.
"Blown up!" He found himself yelling. "You told me that they died in a car crash."
"Oh, as if something as normal as a car crash could kill freaks like that." Uncle Vernon scoffed. "No, they lived like freaks and they had to go and die like freaks too."
"Oh, then how did they die?" Harry retorted.
Much to Harry's aggravation, Uncle Vernon shrugged.
"Don't know, don't care. All we know is that they got what they deserved, messing around with such freaks. They were useless weardoes that got what was coming to them..."
Harry suddenly extended his hand, is anger hitting him in waves. Using The Force, he picked Uncle Vernon up by the throat. Hanging a few feet up from the floor, Uncle Vernon sputtered and ganged as Harry chocked him. Aunt Petunia was screaming.
"Stop it! Put him down! Put him down!"
Harry glared up at Uncle Vernon.
"Never... Insult... My parents... Again!"
He dropped Uncle Vernon to the floor. The man landed with a heavy FUD, but quickly recovered and sat up to spit in Harry's direction.
"Why you little, ungrateful freak!" He yelled. "After all that we have done for you. We took you in from the kindness of our hearts, fed you, clothed you, and this is how you repay us! I should have dumped you in the nearest rubbish bin. Then the world would be free for you, just as it is of your freakish parents!"
Harry's anger had reached it's boiling point. He used The Force to summon Dudley's Smeltings Stick into his hand. Then, using The Force to enhance his strength, he proceded to take his anger out on the TV. He whacked at it, again and again, until it was nothing more than a pile of plastic and sparking electronics.
He turned to see that both Dursleys were steering at him, wide eyes full of fear.
"That," He said, panting. "Was for insulting my parents just after I told you not to."
He dropped the stick, which rolled along the ground.
"Now, some things are going to be changing around here. For starters, I have had enough of my cupboard. So, I will be moving to Dudley's second bedroom, understand?"
Both Dursleys nodded.
"Good," Harry continued. "Nice of us to have this chat."
And with that, Harry left the room, the wreckage of the TV still smoking.

Harry quickly moved his meagre belongings into what used to be Dudley's second bedroom. Thankfully, it seemed that Dudley was still actually thinking about his life. Harry hoped that the results of his Jedi mind-trick will help in improving Dudley's behaviour. While his cousin had been cruel to him and many others, Harry knew that the majority of his behavioural problems stemmed from a lack of discipline at home. Dudley was given what he wanted, whenever he wanted it.
Once Harry was finished moving his things into his new bedroom, he sat on the old bed and curled into a fetal position.
How could he have let himself lose control like that? He had just felt so angry... And the fact that they kept insulting his parents didn't help much. But still...
Instantly, he felt the familiar comforting presence of Ben.
"Shhh, it's okay Harry."
"B... Ben." He stuttered. "I... I'm sorry. I... I let the darkness control me..."
"Shhh shhhh." Ben hushed. "It was not your fault. They provoked you. It's a wander you didn't choke that oaf to death."
Harry sobbed again.
"B... But I wanted to. Ben, I could feel it in the back of my mind. I wanted to... To hurt them so badly."
"But you didn't." Ben replied.
"No." Harry agreed. "But I didn't have to destroy the TV. I can't believe that... That I through a temper tantrum like that. I... I was worse than Dudley."
He could hear Ben chuckling.
"Oh, you should have seen the tantrums thrown by Kylo Ren."
Harry blinked.
"Kylo Ren threw temper tantrums."
Ben chuckled again.
"Oh, did he ever. When he got angry, he would pull out his lightsaber and destroy whatever was closest. Every peace of equipment would be in fragments and every storm troop would be absolutely terrified."
Harry chuckled at the thought of the big bad dark figure that he had seen from that one time he had touched Ben's Force presence throwing a temper tantrum.
"There, do you feel better?" Ben asked.
"A... A little." Harry replied.
He sat back and pulled out the letter again.
"So what do you think Ben? Should I go to this Hogwarts?"
Ben was silent for a few seconds.
"It is up to you." Ben finally answered. "What do you want to do?"
"Well," Harry began. "I would like to go. I mean, my parents did go there, and I think they would want me to. And I think it would be both interesting and useful to learn how the Force users of this world harness their power. And plus, it means that I'll be able to get away from the Dursleys. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to find people to teach what I've learnt from you. If that's okay?"
"Yes, I welcome you to spread your knowledge." Ben replied, chuckling. "As long as you be careful with whom you choose to pass on your knowledge to."
"I will." Harry replied. "But first, I'm going to need to write a response to this letter."
He immediately went to his old school bag, where he kept a pen and some loose paper. For the next hour, he thought about what to write. Finally, after many drafts, he had something that he hoped was good enough.
"Ben," Harry began. "What do you think of this?"
Harry began to read his letter.

To Professor McGonagall,
I am honored to be accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I look forward to attending this year.
However, I am afraid that I do not know much concerning Hogwarts or anything to do with magic in general. So I ask if it is possible for you to send me a letter, if not a representative of the school, to assist in providing me with the knowledge I lack.
Yours sincerely,
Harry Potter.

He waited for Ben to reply.
"That sounded good." Ben finally said.
Harry smiled.
"Great, now all we need to do is find a way of sending it."
As if on cue, Harry heard a tapping on the window and he could sense something out the window. He got of from where he had been sitting at the desk to open it. Much to Harry's surprise, an owl swooped in and landed on the desk, it's leg held out, it if waiting for something.
"Errr..." Harry said, unsure.
"I believe that this is a form of... Communication?" Ben theorised.
Harry shrugged.
"Well, when in Rome." He said as he grabbed a peace of string, rolled up his letter, and tied it to the leg of the owl. It immediately ruffled it's feathers and flew straight out of the window.
Harry let out a breath that he had not known he had been holding.
"Well, that's that." He said. "All we can do is wait."