Harry Potter and the Call of the Force

Chapter Five; Leaving Earth Behind

"Haven't I told you he's not going?" Uncle Vernon hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and seen those weird messages and he needs all sorts of rubbish -- fancy robes and magical... kyber crystals and --"

"Go he must, and stop him you will not," said Yoda. "Stopping the son of Lily and James Potter from becoming a Jedi like them! Hmm, no. His destiny, he must accomplish. Join the New Jedi Order, he must, before it can be ended by the works of Darth Sidious. Proper training, he will have, alongside young ones like him. The boy's time has come. Stay with you, he may have to at times, but train himself in the ways of the Force, he--"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FREAK LIKE YOU TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS WHILE YOU GO FROLICKING ABOUT THE BLOODY UNIVERSE!" yelled Uncle Vernon.

But he had possibly gone too far. Yoda leaped up and turned around, glaring at Vernon with the same silent anger that had filled the room before. "Quiet yourself," he growled, "and do not underestimate the power of the Force. Or the need of this boy to finish his training in the ways of the Force to truly bring balance to it. Stand in the way of saving the galaxy, I cannot allow you to. Show you the true power of the Force, I will, to make my point clear. Oh, and pay for him, you will not need to."

Then he held up his hand toward Dudley, and said, "Act like a brainless pig, you will."

A feeling, no, a force of some kind, seemed to sweep through the room, flowing right out of Yoda. Dudley's eyes went blank and his mouth fell open, and then he said stupidly, "Act like a brainless pig, I will." He then proceeded to fall on his hands and knees and crawl around on the floor, squealing like a pig.

Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and the unfortunate Dudley into the other room, he cast one more terrified look at Yoda and slammed the door behind them.

Yoda lowered his hand and stroked his chin.

"Surprised, I nearly am, that it worked,"  he said with a rueful chuckle, "Mind tricks like that... only on the weak-minded do they work. It seems that like a pig, the boy already was."

He cast a sideways look at Harry.

"Grateful, I would be, if you would not mention that to Obi-Wan," he said. "Let him think that mind tricks are acceptable among younger Jedi, I do not yet want to."

"Why?" asked Harry, curious as to what Yoda had just done to Dudley.

"It matters not," Yoda said, shaking his head. "Sleep, you will need. Yes. Rest."

He held his hand out to the blanket, which had warmed up after being by the fire for so long, and it floated through the air toward Harry.

"Warm enough in that," he said, "you should be."

*   *   *

Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.

"It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a little green alien called Yoda came to tell me I was going to another galaxy to learn to be a... whatever it was called. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard." But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.

There was suddenly a loud vibrating noise reverberating throughout the house, which was not a sound one would ever hear in the Dursley house.

Harry quickly sat up and the warm blanket fell off him. It was still  warm. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, and Yoda himself was sitting crossed-legged on the floor with his eyes closed. He seemed to be meditating.

Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open to see what was making the enormous noise.

And he saw a spaceship floating just outside the hut.

"Er... Master Yoda?" he said warily.

"Turned it on, I did, with the Force," Yoda said, eyes still closed. "Our way of leaving, it is. Ready, are you, to leave?"

Harry nodded slowly, still staring up at the gleaming starship as it floated just outside the hut. It was beautiful, and strange, and mysterious, and...

"Master Yoda?" he asked again.

"Hmmm?"

"Where are we going?"

Yoda finally opened his eyes and stood up. "Leaving to find you the proper Jedi robes, we are. Then, leaving are we to build you a lightsaber."

"A... what?"

"A lightsaber," said Yoda, "is the weapon of a Jedi, used for defense and protection. Learn more about it later, you will. For now, leave we must. Yes."

He hobbled over to the door, then pushed it clean off its hinges again with a wave of his hand. "Come with me now, you must. For the good of the galaxy. For the good of the Force."

Harry was just following him out the door when he thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.

"Um -- Yoda?"

"Hmm?" said Yoda, who was hobbling outside with his cane as if knocking the door down again meant nothing to him.

"I haven't got any money -- and you heard Uncle Vernon last night... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."

"Worry about that, you will not need to," said Yoda, looking out over the sea thoughtfully. "Remember what I said. The need to pay for what you require... there is none. Find what you need, we will."

Harry nodded, feeling a little better about it, then looked up at the starship as it turned around in the air and a back door opened to let them both in.

He was about to climb in the back of the ship as a ramp lowered for them to reach the inside. Then he looked to the side, and saw a giant laying unconscious on the ground. Or at least, a giant of a man. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out closed eyes and a mouth under all the hair. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide, and he had on an enormous black overcoat.

"Um -- excuse me," Harry said, pointing, "but who is that?"

Yoda turned to look at the giant. "Just another who was looking for you," he said. "Allow him to find you, I could not. A more important destiny than being a wizard, you have. Unfortunate, but true. Now come," he said as he entered the ship. "Much to do, we still have."

Harry felt like he was only beginning to understand what was really going on as he followed after Yoda. Wizards? Magic? Jedi? The Force? Who was Harry really, and why was he so special?

Time would tell, he figured.