I own neither Harry Potter nor Star Wars. I promise to do nothing with other people's characters they haven't had them do themselves. Of course, for Star Wars, that means I could have brothers kissing their sisters, but that's a different story.

Prologue

The two Delta-7 Aethersprite-class starfighters rotated as one as they prepared to enter the atmosphere of the blue-green planet. As the first tendrils of air began to heat the skin of the fighters, the pilots engaged a broad-spectrum electromagnetic cloak. Cloaking would not render them invisible but would help prevent them from being detected by any of the fragmented military forces of this planet. None of these posed serious threats to them. It was still better to not be detected at all than it was to have to defend themselves.

As they sped through the upper atmosphere, they dropped their speed. Still moving far faster than any native aircraft, they made their way across a vast ocean. The lower atmosphere was thick and bled off even more speed as they descended.

The fighters, their altitude now below ten thousand feet, manoeuvred to follow a wide channel between two large islands. Dropping to subsonic velocity, they passed nearly unnoticed over shipping traffic. A few deckhands on the ships below heard them pass, but most took no notice.

They passed over a few small islands just as the sun was beginning to set. The pilots could see their target landmass in the distance ahead of them. With deep lakes and rolling hills, the isle was mostly lush and green at the end of a relatively mild summer. As the sun dipped below the horizon behind the fighters, the trees shone in the last light of day. The leaves reflected hints of the oranges, yellows and reds of the approaching autumn.

As the craft made landfall, the few remaining beachgoers certainly noticed something as the unusual aircraft passed overhead only a few hundred feet above the coast. The engines produced a far different sound than the fuel-guzzling jet fighters anyone on this planet had ever encountered. They were travelling far too fast for anyone to get a good look at them in the darkening sky. Most of the witnesses thought they were a new type of prototype stealth fighter. The few who suggested aliens were laughed at and quickly dropped the subject.

The light quickly melted into darkness as the pair sped inland. Now flying in the dark of night, the pilots switched on enhanced night vision. The cockpit showed the landscape around them as if the sun had come back up, though tinted slightly green. They observed rail tracks that followed the valleys through wild terrain towards the lights of a small village.

One fighter was slightly ahead of the other as they banked and turned in unison, following the contours of the land below them. They followed the rail tracks until they were able to catch sight of a large, magnificent castle in the distance. The fortress was awash with the light of many torches. It shined like a jewel in the night.

The castle, bordered by a thick and forbidding forest to the east, was perched atop a cliff. Several hundred feet below lay a large, dark lake. The castle was in remarkably good shape for its age. A path took a winding route through the northern edge of the forest, connecting the castle grounds to the nearby village.

The fighters banked towards the castle. They made their approach over the forest at treetop level. Many animals were startled by their passing. They sped past the last of the trees to fly over extensive, well-kept grounds. The moon, mostly unobstructed by clouds, illuminated the speeding craft from above with a silvery light.

As the starships passed over an aqueduct, they retracted their wingtip stabilizers and came to a stop above a large courtyard. The fighters hovered for a moment, then lowered themselves into the enclosure.

Deploying their landing gear, they gently touched down next to each other off to one side of a paved walkway. The engines wound down from a high-pitched whine to a low hum. Finally, they fell silent.

Astromech droids integrated into the wing of each fighter began post-flight maintenance as the cockpit hatches slid open. The pilots exited the cockpits and began to walk towards the main entrance of the castle.

The taller of the two wore a light tan tunic with a dark brown cloak. His younger companion was wearing dark grey clothes of the same cut. Both of them wore their hoods up, concealing their faces.

Once they entered the castle, the two found themselves in an entrance foyer. Opposite the massive doors was a grand staircase leading up to the upper floors. It was bordered by two smaller staircases descending below the ground level.

No one was there to greet them, save for some empty suits of armour to either side of the great oak doors. Connected to the foyer was a large dining hall. A feast was about to take place. They opened the doors to the dining hall and entered. The ceiling appeared to be transparent, projecting a glorious view of the night sky overhead. Four long tables divided the Great Hall. Each seated nearly two hundred and fifty children of varying ages. Many of them were craning their necks to observe a ceremony occurring towards the far end of the Hall. A three-legged stool sat before the head table. Upon this sat a young child wearing a pointed hat so over-sized that it slipped over his eyes and ears to obscure his face.

The two newcomers approached the head table. The children sitting at the tables gawked at them, following their every move. The silence the students had maintained for the sorting ceremony was broken. The children hissed questions at each other, trying to guess the identity of the mystery guests. A stern-looking woman wearing black robes and a pointed hat was standing next to the child on the stool. She looked with some concern at the approaching pair.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted out, using a rip near the brim as a mouth. The woman next to the stool moved as if on autopilot. Still staring at the strangers, she took the hat off the child's head. Oblivious to the newcomers, he started walking to one of the tables near the middle of the Hall. Halfway there, he noticed the cloaked figures still making their way up the aisle towards him. He froze, not knowing where to go. Several older students at the Hufflepuff table pulled him away. They seated him on the far end of the table from the unknown visitors.

The line of children still waiting to be sorted was able to get a very close look at the cloaked strangers. Even the hat seemed interested in the pair. It squirmed in the woman's hand as it twisted around to get a good look.

At the head table, sitting in a throne-like chair was a white-haired, long-bearded old man. He wore midnight blue robes and gold framed half-moon glasses. He rose as the two newcomers came to a halt before the head table. Another man with a careworn face also stood, looking eagerly at the approaching strangers.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the strangely dressed old man, staring at them with twinkling eyes. "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of this school. To whom do we owe the honour?"

The taller of the two reached up and lifted the hood of his cloak, revealing a weathered face with a greying beard. He had the look of a man who had seen many battles.

"I am Master Toma Kendet," the stranger said, "and I am here to deliver a student."

Headmaster Dumbledore's eyes flicked over to the smaller of the two strangers.

"And does this student have a name?" the Headmaster asked. His tone was full of curiosity.

The grey-clad figure brought his hood down to reveal his face. He stood proudly next to Kendet. His bright, green eyes studied each of the adults at the head table in turn. A single braid of hair hung down his right shoulder.

"My Padawan learner," presented Toma Kendet, "Harry Potter."