Title: Ex Sanguis (Version 2.0)

Author: Aytheria

Beta'd by: xxbreuddwydioxz (aka, my darling sister the grammar-freak)

Rating: PG-13 (for occasional swearing, life-threatening situations and over-enthusiastic elves)

Disclaimer: All unrecognisable material belongs to me, otherwise anything else belongs to J.K. Rowling...oh, and whatever you recognise of the pilfered and butchered language belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien

Summary: It's the summer after Harry's disastrous fifth year at Hogwarts and Harry, returning to his relatives for another summer of misery, suddenly finds himself whisked off to a different dimension where he discovers new family and a lost heritage. It all seems too good to be true, but what is Aunt Petunia not telling him? And is everything really as good as it seems? HBP Non-compliant.

My only pre-chapter AN is below. Please find the section pertinent to you and read before reading the actual story. Thank you.

Notes for returning readers: Firstly, I know you're all flaming mad at me for leaving you all on a cliffhanger for so long, and now you're going to have to wait even longer to get back to that point. But in the meantime, I recommend re-reading the story in its new version. You'll find a lot of things haven't changed, as a lot of the changes were superficial (writing style, grammar, etc...) but where I have made plot changes and/or added material, it's important that you read it.

However, I understand if a lot of you don't want to be bothered re-reading the same material, and so to compromise, I've decided to post a note at the beginning of each chapter briefly detailing what kinds of changes have been made (ex: grammar, syntax, spelling, dialogue, plot additions, etc...) so that you can decide whether or not you want to re-read that particular chapter. If I've done anything important like a slight plot advancement that wasn't in the old version, I'll recommend that you read the chapter. Pretty much any chapter with dialogue changes and more will have effected the plot in some way, so I recommend right now that you read those regardless.

Hopefully this is an acceptable system and won't be too irritating to new readers.

New readers: There is an old version of this story up on my author profile, which, if you're desperate enough, you can read at your leisure. I recommend, however, waiting for this story rather than 'reading ahead' as this newer version will have a) better writing, b) additional chapters/scenes that the old version will not have and c) have a large change in plot somewhere around chapter...hrm...not sure yet...14? 13?

To old and new readers: The chapters will come pretty quick as most of the material is already written and I'm merely editing them/adding to them, so my usual wait time of weeks/months will probably be narrowed down to days/weeks instead until I catch up with the amount of chapters in the old one (19?) after which I have the next chapter prepared. I've had a lot of messages from old readers asking me to post the next chapter on the old fic anyway while I'm busy with the re-write...but what's unfortunate is that when I suddenly decided to change the plot, it was while writing chapter 20 and so that new chapter already has elements of the new plot/timeline (I've changed some dates around) and it would be all around confusing to post that chapter as it doesn't quite mesh with the old version and people would be asking what's going on.

I hope that has answered any and all questions. Additional questions may be directed to me either via signed review or PM and I'll get back to you asap and/or in a general AN in one of the chapters. Any questions about the new plot/changes and spoilers will be dutifully ignored...so don't even bother trying to find out! Shh, it's a secret!

Ex Sanguis Version 2.0 chapter changes: minor internal dialogue editing, grammar, spelling, syntax changes

Chapter 1: Summer

Harry sat silently in the back of his uncle's car on the way home from his fifth year at Hogwarts. It was a very terse silence that permeated the atmosphere. His Aunt Petunia sat stiffly in the passenger seat in front of him while Uncle Vernon gripped the wheel a little too tightly as he drove.

So far only a few words had been exchanged since meeting up at the train station, but Vernon's beet red neck spoke for itself. He had snapped a few orders at Harry to get his things into the car so they could leave and then had proceeded to fume, working himself into a right state. Harry wasn't overly worried by this behaviour, because it was quite natural for his relatives, despite the circumstances being graver than usual. He was only glad Dudley had opted to stay at home or the car might not be so silent.

Harry much preferred the silence to his uncle's ranting or his cousin's piggy-eyed glares of promised pain.

The countryside sped by as Uncle Vernon finally turned off the M25 and onto the freer motorways.

His uncle drove like a maniac. He eyed the speedometer and estimated they were going about 90mph. However, he decided against pointing this out to either of his relatives and simply gripped the seat belt tightly. It was hardly as fast as he sometimes flew on his broom, but at least then he had had the reassurance of being in control himself. He supposed, if they crashed at these speeds, death would be pretty much instantaneous.

He wondered if Sirius's death had been like that. His face had shown a brief moment of surprise and then he had slipped behind the veil. Had he had time to think? Realise what had happened? That he was dying - or even dead?

With a carefully hidden sigh, Harry closed his eyes against the yellow glare of the evening sun and reeled his mind back in. It would not do to let his mind wander. Having an anguished sob in front of his uncaring relatives would garner no sympathy.

It was an hour's drive to Surrey from London, but with his Uncle's driving it only took them 45 minutes. When the car finally swung into the driveway of Number 4 Privet Drive, the first thing Harry's relatives did was leave him alone in the car as if he didn't exist.

Shrugging, Harry exited the car and opened the driver's door to pop the boot. He grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's owl cage (fortunately not with Hedwig still in it, he'd sent her on ahead earlier) and proceeded to heave them up to the front door. The trunk seemed heavier this year, though Harry supposed it was the lack of weightless charms and the addition of books collected during his fifth year.

He made it to the door and was relieved to find it wasn't locked. His relatives liked to pretend he wasn't real, sometimes taking that delusion too far. Grunting, Harry pushed the door open with his shoulder and dragged his trunk inside.

Dudley was waiting for him on the stairs, a bowl of ice cream in one hand and a coca cola in the other. Harry didn't return the sneer sent his way and instead pushed his things up against the wall and went into the kitchen. Hopefully, Dudley would get bored of blocking the way upstairs and he would move.

As it turned out, Harry didn't have to wait that long. No sooner had he entered the kitchen than Uncle Vernon began proclaiming loudly to his wife that he and 'Dudders' would be going out to visit the gym before dinner. Apparently, Dudley was still boxing and he and Vernon were exclusive members of a health club that would allow Dudley to build up muscle for his fights. Harry couldn't have possibly thought of a more fitting sport for his large whale of a cousin. The boy was a bully to the core.

Dudley was forced to abandon his ice cream and soda and thump up the stairs to get his things. Harry waited in the shadows for Dudley to come back down before he started trying to haul his belongings up the narrow staircase. He was half way up and panting heavily by the time he heard the car drive away.

Now it was just him and Aunt Petunia, and Harry was quite grateful. With any luck, Uncle Vernon and Dudley would go out to the gym often during the summer hols and leave Harry some room to breathe - and time to grieve.

"Stop thumping that thing, boy!" Aunt Petunia suddenly screeched from behind him, making Harry jump. He certainly hadn't heard her come out of the kitchen. He craned his head around and spotted her by the base of the stairs, glaring up at him angrily with her cooking apron on and a wooden spoon in one hand.

"Sorry, Aunt Petunia," said Harry, who was not really very sorry at all.

Aunt Petunia harrumphed and stalked back into her domain. With a sigh, Harry finished pulling his trunk up the stairs and quickly went back for Hedwig's cage. Gripping it tightly under his arm, he bounded up the stairs, and was safely tucked away in his room in record time.

Sitting on his bed, Harry contemplated opening his trunk and getting his books out, but decided against it after thinking of the huge essay Snape had assigned them for Potions. He already had his wand, and he never unpacked (who knew when he would need to make a quick escape?), so he left the trunk as it was and flopped down with his head on his pillow. Then, Harry felt his stomach growl and he sighed again. He was going to have to get used to the meagre scraps off of Petunia's table again.

It turned out that crisps, an apple, and a piece of bread were to be Harry's only dinner that night, so he went to bed with a rather empty stomach and dearly wishing he'd saved some chocolate frogs in his trunk. Fortunately, Harry's internal alarm clock managed to wake him early enough that he was able to nick a decent breakfast and be back in his room before the Dursleys even began to stir. Harry had very good survival instincts - they were well honed from years of practise.

Two more days passed in this manner before Harry decided to vary his schedule a bit. Instead of appearing in front of his uncle only to be ordered to get to work doing something or other in the garden, Harry stayed shut in his room and broke out his textbooks.

Hermione would be so proud, he couldn't help but think as he started on his gruelling Potions essay first.

But Harry soon grew bored of looking up ingredient reactions and thinking intellectually and so switched to something less stressful like his Care of Magical Creatures summer homework. Bless Hagrid for being such an easy grader. Indeed, Harry was quite fond of his larger friend.

Harry managed to sneak more food than he was given for dinner that evening and was feeling inordinately pleased with himself when he went to bed that night. He'd even managed to spot his guard out the window as well and waved. A disembodied hand had waved back.

So Harry went to sleep that night, not knowing that he, and the rest of the Dursleys, would be woken the next morning at just past dawn by a commotion in the living room.

Vernon was the first up, although Harry had found himself awake and listening sleepily to the sounds of hushed voices and a bit of banging coming from downstairs. In fact, it took quite some time for the sounds to register in Harry's mind as being part of reality and not some strange dream he was having. It was this thought that had him grasping for his wand in one hand and slowly drawing back the covers with the other.

He had just hidden himself behind his door when a harsh whisper came through the keyhole.

"Boy!" hissed the voice.

Harry jumped and almost let loose a curse until he realised that it was only his Uncle Vernon.

"What?" he hissed back.

"Go check downstairs! Someone's broken in! It might be your lot," Vernon Dursley ordered his nephew, his own well-being obviously foremost in his mind.

Harry really shouldn't have been surprised at the utter selfishness and self-preservation that his uncle was currently displaying, but he still found himself wordlessly working his mouth up and down.

"No way!" he finally managed.

"Now, boy!" Vernon's voice was louder this time and the voices floating up the stairs paused momentarily.

In the end, Harry concluded that he was the only one in the household actually capable of defending himself, so really, it ought to be him that ventured downstairs to see what the problem was. Of course, that didn't mean he had to like the situation.

Glaring heavily at his uncle, who was peering at him (along with Petunia and Dudley) from the safety of Dudley's room, Harry cautiously poked his head around the corner of the stairwell and gazed about. He didn't see anyone, but he could hear shuffling from the direction of the living room. Taking a deep breath, and trying not to think about how thoroughly stupid he was being, he started creeping down the stairs.

Fortunately, in Harry's many years of honing his survival instincts, he'd also learnt all the ins and outs of the Dursley household staircase. This of course included knowing precisely where to place his feet in order to prevent squeaking. Stealthily, Harry crept down the stairs and reached the bottom without a single sound.

By now, Harry had determined that the voices were most definitely coming from the living room. He stilled and tried to work out some of the frantic whispering. It didn't take him long to realise that the intruders were speaking in a different language. It was a beautiful language, full of soft sounds, strange trills and lilted voices. Harry could have stood there and listened to it all day, but another thump and what might have been a curse managed to draw his attention back to the matter at hand.

Now, he had quickly come to the conclusion that the intruders were neither Death Eaters nor Order members, which didn't leave many options. If he took into account the strange language these people were speaking then that left virtually no options at all. Harry was stumped. Either way, he wasn't going to find out standing hidden behind the wall. Telling his thumping heart to calm down, he slowly poked his head around the wall...

And almost gasped out loud.

There were two, well, Harry didn't think it was fair to call them people, because they weren't - they were beings - standing in the living room. Or rather, they were exploring the living room, rather akin to a curious child.

Harry couldn't tear his eyes away; they were unlike anything he had ever seen before. He could tell they weren't human. They were humanoid, but only to a point.

He studied them in more detail, trying to figure out what they were. He didn't think he'd learned about them in Care of Magical Creatures, Defence or History of Magic. For a brief, silly moment he thought they might be aliens. He peered closer still, eyes narrowed.

They had their backs turned to him, but from their backs alone he could see they were well muscled. Thin and sleek, but strong nevertheless. And tall - but hardly gangly. The strange leather garments they wore in the way of armour were very fitted, and the type of cloth that made up the rest of their clothes seemed to have a life of its own.

The strangest thing though, was the way their skin shone. At first he thought it was a trick of the light, but after closer observation, he realised their skin was actually emitting a strange kind of luminescence. It was uncanny - but strangely beautiful.

Suddenly, one turned its head, and Harry froze, ready to duck out of sight. Fortunately, it didn't look over its shoulder and he was saved. But what caught his attention before the being turned back to its partner, were the long, slender ears. They must have been several inches longer than human ears and tapered to a point. When he let out a slightly heavy breath, one of the visible ears twitched. Harry figured he had overstayed his welcome. If he wasn't careful, he would be discovered - who knew, maybe they had already heard him; those ears had to be good for something after all.

More of the sun's rays crept through the partially open blinds, and Harry felt that now would be an opportune moment to retreat back upstairs and inform the Dursleys of his findings. He had the feeling that Vernon was going to be none too happy at the blatantly magical beings in his 'perfectly normal' living room. He would take quite a lot of pleasure in informing his relatives and watching their reactions. Maybe Vernon's face would take on that fascinating days-old-porridge colour that it sometimes turned. Or Dudley might run and hide his bottom again. Harry still had such fond memories of that incident.

Thinking these happy thoughts, the wizard snuck quietly back up the stairs and searched for his 'family'. He found them huddled in his aunt and uncle's room.

As soon as he closed the door quietly behind him, Uncle Vernon practically pounced on him. Beady eyes staring feverishly into Harry's own, Vernon demanded to know what was happening and if they should call the police.

"Oh I wouldn't do that, it might cause a commotion," Harry told him with relish. He waited a second or two for the implications to sink in. When they did, he was not disappointed. Vernon's face turned a lovely shade of mauve-ish purple.

"Then it's your lot!" his uncle practically spat.

"Nope!" said Harry cheerfully.

Vernon blinked at this and Harry heard Dudley whimper.

"If it's not your lot, then who is it?" The man demanded.

"Well," began Harry, feeling disappointed that his uncle had mastered his shock so quickly, "I'm not sure really."

"Are they robbers?"

"No, at least, I don't think so."

"Murderers?"

"Pretty sure, no."

"Blazes, boy! Are they the neighbours come round for tea! Who is it?"

Harry stopped playing games with his uncle, afraid the man might keel over dead from exertion.

"Okay, I really don't know, but I can describe them to you," he began.

"Describe?" Petunia asked from the bed.

Harry nodded at his aunt and thought about how best to describe other-worldly creatures to his magic-fearing muggle relatives.

"They're tall," he began again, only to be cut off by Vernon.

"TALL?"

"Shhh, Vernon, not so loud!" Petunia hushed her husband frantically, flapping her hands about like a twittery bird.

"Right," Harry continued, "they're tall. They're also wearing weird floaty clothes which look pretty elaborate and speaking some weird whispery language too." At the words 'weird whispery language' Aunt Petunia made a funny choking noise in the back of her throat. Harry hoped she wasn't asphyxiating. "Mm, definitely not a language I've ever heard before. Anyway, they're all kind of glowy with funny ears," Aunt Petunia made another odd choking noise. Vernon quickly became concerned and patted her heavily on the back. "Oh, yeah," said Harry, deciding to make matters just that bit worse, "kind of reminded me of elves. Like from the movies."

Aunt Petunia fainted.

Uncle Vernon let out a strangled yelp and Dudley squeaked out a horrified, "Mum!"

This was shaping up to be a lively summer, Harry thought, as his uncle and cousin frantically tried to fan Petunia back into the land of the living. He stood quietly by the door, keeping one ear on what was going on downstairs (or more importantly, whether what was going on downstairs was moving upstairs) and the other on Vernon's frantic callings of, "Pet! Come on, Pet, wake up!"

Finally. Aunt Petunia stirred and moaned. She sat up with the aid of her husband and put a trembling hand to her forehead.

"What happened?" She asked, clearly confused.

"I was telling you about the 'elves' downstairs and you fainted," Harry told her helpfully.

Aunt Petunia turned that odd shade of days-old-porridge.

"Pet?" Vernon asked anxiously.

"This is a dream right?" whispered Petunia hoarsely.

"No, I already checked." Harry pinched himself again just in case.

"Th-this shouldn't be happening. It's not true, tell me it's not true!" Aunt Petunia was hysterical. Harry began to suspect that perhaps his Aunt knew more about their situation than she let on.

"Care to enlighten us?" he asked, subtly informing her that he knew she knew something.

Petunia's eyes met Harry's and suddenly he knew with certainty that his Aunt really did know.

"I..." she tried.

They waited in silence, both Dudley and Vernon having caught on as well.

"I...I don't...I can't...It's..." Petunia's voice trailed off, mouth working helplessly.

"It's okay, Aunt Petunia," Harry soothed, feeling a little guilty about his aunt's state. But apparently not guilty enough, because he added next, "Shall I go tell them you'll be down to speak with them in a few? It'll give you time to compose yourself."

Harry made as if to leave the room, but Petunia's muffled shriek stopped him. He looked back over his shoulder as she scrambled from the bed and raced to the door where she physically blocked him from going further.

"Pet..."

"No, Vernon. I-I need to speak with them alone." Petunia was slowly regaining her colour, though she still looked frightfully pale.

"But...those...creatures...could be dangerous," her husband protested.

"Don't go, Mum," whimpered Dudley.

Aunt Petunia shook her head 'no'.

"I'm sorry, I must." She seemed to draw herself up, suddenly appearing taller and far more self-assured than she usually did. Harry was impressed. Who knew his aunt could command such an air about her?

"Stay here," she instructed, then pulled open the door and left.

Harry, Dudley and Uncle Vernon were left staring at the door. They exchanged looks, for once not hateful, and then all simultaneously offered to go follow Petunia and spy on her.

"It has to be me," Harry insisted.

"Why you?" Dudley sneered.

"Because, Dudders," Harry eyed his cousin's heavy bulk, "you would set off every creak and crack in the house. They'd know you were there in a heartbeat."

"Then I'll go!" Uncle Vernon exclaimed.

"Uncle," Harry said exasperatedly, "same goes for you. I'm the only one that can sneak around in this house. So I should go."

"Absolutely not," argued Vernon.

"I still think it should be me, I can too be quiet!" Dudley whined.

Harry rubbed his temples.

"Do you want them to know you're listening?" He finally asked after man and son had exchanged a few more lines.

There was a simultaneous "No!"

"Then let me go," Harry cried, his curiosity now burning passionately.

"Fine!" Uncle Vernon snapped, "We'll all go!"

Harry rolled his eyes. There was no way Petunia and their...guests weren't going to know they were there.

"Then we might as well not sneak and just walk in," he decided.

Silence. Then, "Fine."

All three males headed for the door and had a brief scuffle as to who would go first (Harry won), and they finally exited single file, Vernon in the back. As Harry padded down the hall and Dudley waddled (while Vernon thumped) after him, Harry likened the situation to a mother duck with her ducklings. Then the thought made him go green, so he frantically banished it from his mind and headed down the stairs, not bothering to be quiet.

Squeak. Creak. Groan. The stairs protested having not only Harry, but also Dudley and Vernon all crowded onto them at the same time. Any voices that had been talking in the living room fell quiet. There was a shuffling and then Petunia appeared at the foot of the stairs looking angry. Harry froze like a deer caught in headlights and Dudley almost knocked him down when he bumped into his back.

"I told you to stay," she hissed, face pinched.

"But, Pet..." whined Vernon.

Petunia glared.

Harry licked his lips, said, "Curiosity killed the cat," and shrugged apologetically.

"Go," ordered his aunt.

However, before she could brow-beat them into returning to the bedroom, the two beings from earlier came out to investigate the noises. Harry's breath caught at being faced directly with the beautiful, but alien, creatures. Dudley squeaked and Vernon choked.

The beings' strange cat-like eyes flicked from one person to another before finally coming to rest on Harry. They stared at him in what, if Harry didn't know any better, could almost be described as awe. It didn't make sense, so he dismissed the thought as absurd.

Suddenly, one of the beings spoke a word. It sounded like a single word, faintly whispered in breathy tones, but it was enough to make Aunt Petunia pale and shriek, "NO!"

She whirled around and tried to herd the elfin beings back into the living room, but they evaded her grasp and came right up to the bottom step of the staircase. They were close enough to touch.

And then one did.

The being reached out with a light hand and grasped Harry's chin. Or, he held his hand out as if grasping Harry's chin and some invisible force did it for him. Harry froze and stared straight into the creepy, glowing eyes of the elf-like being. All of a sudden, it smiled, showing straight, white teeth with surprisingly sharp eye-teeth. He spoke the same word as before and abruptly let go of Harry's face, making a strange gesture with the hand instead. Then, Petunia interposed herself and forced the being to step away. She stood in front of Harry and tried to push him back up the stairs. Even if Harry had wanted to move (which he didn't, he was fascinated), he couldn't have because Dudley was still standing directly behind him and wasn't budging. Rather, he was unusually quiet and still and Harry suspected he'd gone into shock.

Petunia was trying to argue with the being. The elfin male was adamantly repeating the word Harry had heard earlier over and over again interspersed with others in what were clearly several sentences. Harry had to wonder how his Aunt Petunia knew what the being was saying. He eyed her suspiciously.

"No, no no!" She was still fending off further attempts to touch him again, but the beings were getting steadily more stubborn, and, it seemed, almost angry. Finally, the second being snapped something harsh sounding and Petunia stopped moving. Her shoulders slumped as she wilted in defeat. The being (this one was female) snapped off a few more phrases and Petunia moaned and put her head in her hands.

Harry was starting to feel somewhat alarmed. This situation was getting stranger and stranger by the second and it was beginning to lose its marvel. Not to mention, where was the Order? Shouldn't they have noticed these beings and be in here interrogating them by now?

Harry looked around, but he saw only his aunt and the two elfin creatures. No Order.

Petunia finally began to respond to the beings' words, her English surprisingly grating in comparison to the previous language.

"Fine. Fine," she was saying, "but I come too, do you hear me?"

The being said a few things. He obviously understood English.

"No I don't want to you fool!" Aunt Petunia snapped.

A few more unintelligible syllables.

"Just because! I made a promise to that stupid old fool of a Headmaster, so I will be coming."

Harry immediately became interested. What promise? His aunt had made a promise to Dumbledore?

The being frowned and shook its head slightly. He said something else.

"Don't you give me that!" Aunt Petunia snapped harshly. "Either we both come or no one comes! I'll call the wizards down on you if I have to."

The two beings exchanged glances, before the one who had spoken previously nodded jerkily.

Aunt Petunia smiled in triumph. "Give me a moment. I'll have him collect his belongings."

Wait, what? Harry jerked as Petunia turned around to face him and glared at him.

"Go fetch your belongings, boy!" She snapped, still very, very upset.

"Wait a minute, Petunia!" Vernon finally found his voice again.

"Don't argue with me, Vernon, this has to be done, or neither you nor I will like the consequences." Petunia's voice was stony. Harry felt he was viewing a whole new side to his aunt that he'd never seen before.

Vernon stopped his blustering at his wife's words and quieted down, most likely remembering all the other unfortunate encounters he'd had with anything magical - Harry included.

"Come along, Dudders," the beefy man finally muttered grudgingly.

Dudley seemed to come back to himself and made a few garbled noises before following his father back up the stairs. They both disappeared and a door slammed shut with a bang.

"Don't just stand there," Harry's aunt snapped again, "get a move on!"

Hesitantly, wondering if it was really a good idea to listen to his aunt right now, Harry stepped back up the stairs. Still thinking furiously, he gathered his belongings, most of which were still packed in his trunk, and briefly debated whether or not to bring Hedwig's cage. However, since Hedwig was with Ron at the moment and wasn't likely to come unless she had a letter, Harry decided to leave it. Worrying his lip between his teeth in anxious thought, he dragged his trunk out of his room and only got about as far as the stairs before he was stopped. Both the beings had stopped him, smiled, and were now directing Harry's floating trunk down the stairs for him.

"From the living room then." Aunt Petunia had changed into something a little nicer than her pyjamas. Harry belatedly realised he was still wearing his. Oh well.

He followed her into the living room where the two beings were standing next to Harry's trunk in the middle of a large circle. Harry stared at the circle. Where had that come from?

The circle was made out of a strange mixed powder that had been sprinkled in an unbroken ring. He watched as Aunt Petunia stepped into it without breaking the line and followed her example, still wondering if he should be doing this.

It's okay, Harry, he told himself, Aunt Petunia wouldn't do anything like this if it was going to harm her, so I'm safe.

Then, the beings began to chant.

The circle glowed and a barrier shot up from the floor, encircling them all within a pulsating shield. There was a frantic thumping from upstairs as both Vernon and Dudley stomped down the stairs. The last thing that Harry saw before his vision was overcome with white, was the gormless, gaping expressions of his uncle and cousin as they stared at the circle of light from the living room door.

Then it was white and Harry was weightless.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the new and improved ES, as I'm rather anxious to know if it has, in fact, improved at all! Well, later chapters will show more evidence of this...so the more I post the more you'll hopefully see the difference. The first ES started off as a mock-parody of all those Harry-is-whisked-off-to-the-land-of-the-elves stories out there (among other parodies) which turned quite serious after a few chapters, so I'm hoping the newer, more thought out version will show more of this seriousness instead of my previous on-the-fly writing.

Also...was anyone else aware that now spaces your paragraphs for you even if you don't do so on the original ? Weird!

On a side note: Reviews: I discovered a fair amount of my readers are not native English speakers, therefore if the reason you don't review is due to a language barrier of some kind then anyone who also speaks French, Japanese or German, please feel free to review in those languages instead, as I can read, write and speak both French and Japanese and have a passable knowledge of German. I will also most likely be able to muddle through most Spanish, Italian and Portuguese with a bit of help from native speakers, so go ahead and review in those languages as well (I'll just rope one of my friends into helping out!). Rest assured I read every single one and will not let a foreign language prevent me from doing so.

Edited: 26/01/11