POV – Ryn
The desert night shimmered in blue fire.
Ryn stumbled backward, sand biting her legs as heat licked the horizon. The camp's perimeter alarms screamed. Ker's metal frame whirred beside her, his sensors flaring red.
"Thermal anomaly, vector approaching fast, estimated mass: forty beings."
Raiders again. But these were different, torches in their hands, shadows marked with crimson tattoos. She'd heard whispers of them before: The Broken Chain, exiles who believed the galaxy owed them blood.
Per Te was already standing at the center of camp. Calm. Silent. Barefoot on the sand.
She raised her wand, heart racing. He only said softly, "No spells, Ryn. Not yet."
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POV – The Exiled Mandalorian
The first blaster bolt came like lightning.
He caught it on his vambrace, sending the energy harmlessly to the ground. Then he saw what Per Te was doing, hands raised, light flickering around him not like a shield, but like a breath. He was listening to the desert.
The Mandalorian swore. "You're going to get yourself killed."
"No," Per Te replied, voice calm even through the noise. "We are going to learn."
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POV – The Fallen Scholar
She felt it before she saw it, the hum beneath reality, the twin song of magic and the Force twisting together.
He drew the energy inward, fingers tracing glowing runes through the air, ancient Earth script blending with the fluid geometry of the Force. The patterns pulsed, resonating with the Uneti sapling they'd planted days ago. It was as if the galaxy itself paused to watch.
"Fire," he whispered.
But this was no flame of destruction. It erupted in a sphere of living light, fire that did not burn, only illuminated.
The raiders froze. Their torches guttered and died. Their shadows vanished in the radiance, replaced by a warmth so pure it drew sobs from even hardened throats.
The fire rose higher, revealing every face, the fearful, the angry, the lost. Per Te's voice followed, gentle but resonant:
"You came seeking vengeance. I offer you choice instead."
He extended his hand, palm aglow. "Stay, if you wish to learn another path. Leave, if you wish to remain blind. But do not harm those who already suffer."
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PAV – Because
Data log: Thermal fluctuation within acceptable range. Emotional signatures elevated but non-hostile.
Ker's processors struggled to define what he witnessed. By all measurable parameters, energy discharge should have incinerated everyone within twenty meters. Yet, biological life readings increased instead, cells rejuvenated, pain markers reduced.
Per Te had rewritten the laws of physics using will, intent, and compassion as variables.
"Observation," Ker murmured aloud. "Subject P has fused magical fire with quantum Force resonance, achieved stable equilibrium through empathy."
Per Te smiled faintly. "Precisely, Ker."
He turned to the exiled raiders. One by one, they dropped their weapons.
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POV – Per Te Vivebo
The light dimmed slowly, folding back into the earth.
He could feel the Uneti sapling's distant hum, pleased, almost proud. These first lessons were never meant to conquer; they were meant to connect.
He walked among the raiders, touching their foreheads gently. To some, he whispered words of forgiveness. To others, he offered silence.
When the last torch was out, the desert wind cooled to a whisper.
Ryn approached, wide-eyed. "What was that spell?"
"It wasn't a spell," he said, kneeling beside her. "It was a question."
She frowned. "A question?"
"I asked the galaxy if we could be more than what it expects of us."
"And what did it answer?"
"You're still here, aren't you?"
He smiled then, soft, weary, but proud. The Mandalorian chuckled quietly. The Scholar wrote furiously in her journal. Ker recorded it all.
And in the dunes beyond, the first of the reformed raiders laid down his weapon and began to walk toward the light.
That night, the first fire of Hogwarts was kindled, not in wood or flame, but in the hearts of those who finally believed they belonged.