Chapter Text
SHE HADN’T INTENDED FOR THIS to happen. Really, she hadn’t.
But when she’d looked into that mirror, she’d seen her parents. For the first time ever , Hadriana knew what the man and woman who had given her life looked like. The realization brings a lump into her throat, and she swallows it as she stepped forward. Her parents aren’t alone – they are surrounded by others with other pairs of green eyes like hers, other noses like hers, other mops of the same untamable black hair Aunt Petunia always complained about. House Potter’s entire ancestral lineage waits for her just beyond the threshold of this strange mirror.
That’s not what makes this whole encounter so remarkably peculiar, though.
What makes this encounter as peculiar as it is are her ancestors’ eyes. They aren’t regarding Hadriana with the same disgust as the Dursleys do, nor are they regarding her with the wide-eyed idolization of hero worship; they’re regarding her with warmth and compassion. Hadriana has never quite been able to fathom just how little love she’s experienced in her life, but in that moment, the sad truth hits her like a sledgehammer. She blinks away the tear that threatens to fall from her eye, mentally scolding herself for showing such weakness.
Weakness or not, one fact remains: no living soul has ever looked at her with so much kindness .
So, who can blame her for stepping just a little bit closer to drink it all in? Who can blame her for reaching out – and who can blame her for being so utterly entranced by the sight before her that she doesn’t even notice it when the faces in the mirror change completely?
Then, Hadriana's trembling hand makes contact with the surface of the mirror, and her entire world goes dark.
IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR, AWAY, only Grandmaster Yoda’s fervent knitting of a half-finished scarf is able to keep him calm. He’s hardly a temperamental being, but today feels different . The same atmospheric Force which breathes life into the Jedi Temple is suffocating rather than comforting, and the entire Council is affected . They’re a powder keg about to explode under the pressure of oppressive tension – the kind that only comes with immense anticipation of an event which cannot be anticipated. Something will happen today, but what precisely that thing is, none of them can quite determine.
Strangely enough, this tension doesn’t have anything to do with the recently arrived Skywalker boy. That much Yoda knows, and on top of the pre-existing tension, this worries him. Who or what could affect the Force to a degree so palpable that even the supposed Chosen One cannot? He doesn’t know. None of them do, as they’ve discovered in the hushed conversations hastily held between young Skywalker’s testing.
Yoda heaves a sigh as heavy as a thousand suns, amber hues looking up from his knitting to and flickering around the room to observe his colleagues. Beside him, Mace Windu is studying Skywalker as though the boy is a specimen he’s observing under a microscope, but the almost imperceptible jiggling of his leg betrays the apprehension haunting the stoic man. If even the austere yet gentle Master of All Jedi is so obviously anxious, then what does that mean for the nature of the unknown ordeal that lies ahead?
Mace isn’t alone. All of the other Council members seem to radiate anxiety through the Living Force, and even Anakin has evidently started to pick up on the room’s collective heightened emotions. The poor lad is fidgeting with his hands as his wild gaze darts nervously from council member to council member, emulating behavior reminiscent of some unfortunate small animal caught in the path of an oncoming speeder.
“W-Why does everything feel so … heavy?” Anakin finally works up the courage to speak and break the pact of silence which had unwittingly formed in this brief pause, his voice small and trembling with fear. “Did … did I do something wrong?”
Yoda is about to answer the boy, to reassure him that he is not to blame for the way that the Force seems like it’s going to lash out at any moment, but Qui-Gon naturally beats him to it.
“No, child. Not at all.” Qui-Gon murmurs, placing a gentle hand upon Anakin’s shoulder. Young Obi-Wan looks away from the pair, his shoulders tensing. This does not go unnoticed by Yoda, who frowns and furrows his brow as he observes the Stewjoni Padawan. Perhaps he ought to converse with Obi-Wan at some point ? He thinks, filing the idea away for later as he idly returns to his knitting. “It’s just that–”
Qui-Gon is cut off mid-sentence as the pressure building up within the Living Force explodes . Without warning, a violent flash of golden light erupts from the center of the council chambers, bathing the room in its entirety. Those present find themselves needing to close their eyes to avoid being blinded by the light, but they can all hear it as a figure plummets from the heavens themselves and crashes unceremoniously to the floor of the Council chamber.
As the light fades away and Yoda regains his bearings, he’s accosted by the sensation of something awakening within his soul. A long-dormant Bond he thought to be lost forever has awakened, and the realization is like a punch to his gut. Yoda goes completely still, his eyes widening and lips parting in open-mouthed shock.
It can’t be.
Crumpled on the floor in a heap of pajamas two sizes too big for her petite stature is a girl he — and the entire galaxy — believed to be dead. Yoda scrambles hastily to his feet, not daring to breathe lest this all be one single dream. In fact, the entire room is not daring to breathe, as its occupants have been stunned into silence.
This should be impossible.
Yet there’s no denying the girl’s resemblance to her father, which is equally as startling as the sudden nature of her appearance. She’s the man’s spitting image — identical to Yoda’s fond memory of Dooku at that age — albeit female presenting, of course, and this alone confirms what he already knows deep down in his heart.
He’s looking at Hedrisa Jenza Serenno-Nu, his goddaughter and the long-lost Heiress of House Serenno.
“…what the kriff?!”
The silence is broken once again by Anakin, whose stunned exclamation pretty much sums up how they’re all feeling. What the kriff, indeed. A startled laugh escapes Obi-Wan’s lips, and the sound causes the young girl’s head to snap up in his direction. Dear Force, she’s got Master Jocasta’s eyes.
Only then does Hadriana seem to realize that she’s no longer in Hogwarts. “No way.” The child breathed out in an accent Yoda couldn’t quite identify. She scrambles to her feet, nearly tripping over the hem of her oversized pajama pants in the process.
Then, Hadriana’s eyes settle on Yoda, and she audibly gasps. Recognition flickers across her features for more than one reason. Amidst the fact that every fiber of her being is telling her that she’s finally home , there’s also the sobering realization that she’s seen this weird little creature before. He’s this eccentric mentor figure, in one of Dudley’s favorite movies he loved to watch on the Telly — but that should be impossible because Yoda is just a puppet, right ?
“You’re not real.”
The words slip out of her traitorous mouth before she can stop them.
Yoda raises a brow, tilting his head. Bold of her to claim that he is not real, when she is the one that he believed to be dead. If he wasn’t so deeply shaken by her appearance, perhaps he would’ve chuckled at the irony. But he doesn’t. His gaze is frozen on Hadriana, and he’s waiting on tenterhooks for her to elaborate.
“Subjective to each of us our definition of reality is – but perfectly real I am, I assure you.” He eventually quips, only for Hadriana to shake her head in response.
“No. You’re a space muppet .”
More silence.
It is Master Windu who breaks it, even as he examines Hadriana with the same scrutiny he usually reserves for the Senate’s most corrupt politicians.
“What in the nine Corellian hells is a space muppet?”
“It’s … it’s …” Hadriana stammers out, trying to form some semblance of a coherent response that could explain The Muppets or Star Wars to someone who doesn’t know anything about these masterpieces. “Nevermind.” She grumbles, giving up in her endeavor with a shake her head. “But I …” Her eyes dart around the room, and much like Anakin did earlier, she begins to fidget anxiously with her hands. “ This is a dream . It has to be a dream. Where the heck even am I, and who the heck are all of you?”
“We ought to be asking you the same question, young lady.” Ki-adi Mundi pipes up, gazing at her through furrowed brows.
“Master Mundi is right.” Windu agrees, as he rests his chin on his hand. “It’s not every day that someone literally falls through the ceiling into these chambers. ” He also sees the similarities of the girl’s physique to Master Dooku’s, but he doesn’t dare voice this observation. Not yet.
“I’m, uh … I’m Hadriana. Hadriana Potter. But I dunno why I’m introducing myself to you, when obviously I’m dreaming and will wake up at any moment.”
That’s the wrong name, and Yoda knows it. He’s pretty sure everyone else on the council does too, because they’re all exchanging raised eyebrows with each other in a silent questioning of her claim. She claims she’s Hadriana Potter, but the Force is screaming at them that she’s someone else. But an almost imperceptible shake of Mace’s head startles Yoda out of his trance, keeping him from revealing the truth right then and there. They have to play this carefully, to keep her from freaking out more than she currently is.
“A pleasure it is to meet you, young Hedri—” No. Stick with the name she knows for now . Hadriana catches Yoda’s slip up, of course, but the poor girl is too confused and overwhelmed to point it out. “—Hadriana. Rest assured, dreaming you are not.” Yoda responds, setting his knitting project aside in order to fully focus his attention on the young girl who might actually be his long-lost goddaughter.
Maybe he’s the one who’s dreaming.
“No, no — I totally am.” Hadriana objects, shaking her head. “I mean, come on !” The exclamation comes as she gestures vaguely towards the Council, her movement wild and erratic. “You guys are wearing Jedi robes, aren’t you? I recognize them from Star Wars , ‘cause Obi-Wan wears robes like that in A New Hope . Which means you all could be Jedi.” She’s only caught a few glimpses of Obi-Wan’s scenes through the tiny little shutter window in her cupboard, but those robes are distinct enough in her memory for her to put two and two together.
“I have no idea what a Star Wars is, but you are correct, child. We are Jedi, and you have stumbled right into our Council chambers.” Windu offers Hadriana a small smile as he confirms her suspicions, nodding once as he speaks. “How did you—”
“No way.” Hadriana cuts Windu off, taking a step back as though she’s trying to get away from him. “Even if this is real and not a figment of my imagination, the Jedi were wiped out in the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan says that in … uh … Return of the Jedi , I think? Maybe A New Hope ? I’m not sure which movie it was, but all I know is there shouldn’t be enough Jedi to make an entire council of you lot.”
If the silence was oppressive before, this time it is damning. The Jedi Order, wiped out? It seems too unfathomable to be true, and at first, the room’s collective instinct is to reject her claims. But when they look down into the Living Force for desperately needed answers, the sheer extent of the confusion radiating from Hadriana is their answer in and of itself — a confusion so strong that its presence in the Force overpowers their own emotions.
Yoda looks as though he’s just seen a ghost.
Windu’s expression hasn’t changed, but he radiates an unease which those he knows best would deem unprecedented.
Yaddle is stunned, but her expression is also filled with deep concern as she gazes at Hadriana.
Ki-Adi-Mundi’s mouth opens once more like he’s about to argue with her, only to snap shit when he realizes that there’s no adequate way to respond to such a statement.
Even Qui-Gon — usually the perfect picture of unshakeable serenity — looks deeply unsettled, his expression troubled.
Because Hadriana Potter — the same woman who they believe might in fact be Hedrisa Serenno — has just dropped a galaxy-shattering revelation right into their laps while struggling to process an earth-shattering revelation of her own. She touched the Mirror of Erised, got pulled out from behind Hogwarts’ protective wards, and is now standing in a room full of supposedly fictional Jedi.
But before any of them can question her further, before she can get the answers to her thousands of questions, the doors to the Council chamber burst open.