Harry Potter: Keeper of the Lost Cities (crossover)

After School

The rest of the field trip was uneventful, leaving Hardy plenty of time to think over Hermione's words.

Was he an elf?

He had never known his real parents... Except, if Emma Foster was an elf, wouldn't Petunia be an elf as well? He didn't have pointy ears, anyways.

But... He was pretty sure humans weren't supposed to hear other people's thoughts, and he hadn't been able to hear Hermione's mind.

Harry was the last in line to get on the school bus, still giving Dudley and his gang as much space as possible.

"Harry!" A female voice whisper-hissed.

"Hermione?"

"Yes. Come with me if you want proof."

Harry didn't have to ask to know what she meant by 'proof'.

"All aboard, hurry up kids!" The bus driver warned.

"Now! Before someone notices you're missing!"

Harry finally turned around to face the girl. His voice was dark when he said, "No one will notice I'm missing."

"Hm. Good."

The bus doors shut with the usual hiss of exhaust, and the hulking yellow vehicle rolled away.

"Where are we going?" Harry was only willing to trust the girl and her distinctly crisp(but not quite British) accent to an extent.

"I... can't tell you. Take my hand."

Hermione offered one hand, while she held up a want with the other. A multi-faceted crystal was set at the tip of the wand, and when the light hit it, a beam appeared.

"Whatever you do, don't freak out." Hermione made him promise.

Then they stoped into the light.

It was like dissolving into a million, dazzling white butterflies. Harry lost any sense of what was around him. When the butterflies flocked together, making Harry, well, Harry, again, he was in a totally different place.

A crystal dome rose out of the jagged rocks of an island, in the middle of what must've been the ocean. The two kids ducked behind an outcrop, just as fanfare blasted across the area. The doors of the building opened, and out matched a phalanx of 7-foot tall, gray-skinned beings. Each soldier wore black tights and had a sword strapped around their waist.

"Those are goblins," Hermione whispered.

"Goblins," Harry checked. Hermione didn't answer.

Twelve humans- although they were actually elves, Harry realized- followed the goblins out of the dome. These beings were nothing like their warrior comrades. They were tall and elegant, gowned in jewels and each balancing a silver circlet upon their heads. They looked like royalty.

"Are all elves like this?" Harry had to ask.

"Those are the Councillors, but we pretty much do," Hermione assured him.

Harry looked down at his outfit for the second time that day. How would he ever fit in?

"We have to go, before they notice us," Hermione said, pulling the crystal wand out of her pocket again.

This time, they reappeared on the tree-lined banks of a shimmering river. In the distance, a city of jewels stood against the horizon. Nearer to their hiding spot, twelve crystal towers sparkled regally.

"This is where they live. The Councillors, I mean."

"How is everything so... sparkly?" Harry wasn't sure if that was what he should have asked, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Hermione grinned. She looked especially cute like that- ugh, no. Harry was not going there.

"It's because we build out of gemstones, silly. You'll get used to it.

"Are you convinced yet?"

He almost was. There was just one more thing he had to ask.

"How come I can't hear your thoughts?"

"Hear my... You're a Telepath!?"

Harry fidgeted. He didn't want to be different in this new world, where he might belong.

"Yes? Aren't all elves?"

"No." Hermione shook her head. "Elves have a multitude of different abilities. Telepath is one of the rarer ones. And... Usually we don't manifest until we're twelve or thirteen. You're eleven, right?"

Harry hated to tell her, but... "I actually manifested 6 years ago. When I was five."

"Oh."

"Is that bad?"

"Not exactly. You must be the most capable Telepath in thousands of years."

Great. Just great. Harry couldn't fit in anywhere.

Hermione seemed to guess what he felt, because the next thing she said was, "Let's get you home. I can take you to my father tomorrow. He might have more answers than I do. One more thing, though. You don't like your family, very much, do you?"

"They're, not my family."Harry told her. He should've just said no, but he didn't. For some reason, he trusted the girl who had showed up in the middle of a field trip, and told him he was an elf. Maybe he even liked her. Maybe he even like liked her.

Ugh, so not the time, Harry. He thought to himself.

"Oh."

"My family died when I was little. The Dursleys adopted me." Technically, they were his aunt and uncle. They didn't feel like it though, so...

"Then... you wouldn't mind moving to the Lost Cities? The elvish cities?"

Harry blinked. He hadn't realized that being an elf would mean... freedom. Wishing on boa constrictors must be lucky.

"No- no, not at all. Should I pack my stuff when I get back?"

"Absolutely," Hermione beamed.