Another World:
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&st=0#entry=22002145' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Prologue</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22002266' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 1</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22003140' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 2</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22010093' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 3</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22012369' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 4</a>
~~~
Prologue - First impressions
~~~
Harry woke up feeling. . . odd.
Living a life filled with danger had forced him to develop a finely honed sense of situational awareness, which contributed to his many close escapes from death. More than a few times had his battle hardened instinct warned him of unseen spells, while his constant self-awareness allowed him to dodge, counter, and reposition, almost as second nature. He was, to a point, almost obsessive in observing and cataloging everything around him, always organizing the world in terms of utility and possibility.
A tiny pebble, almost innocuous, could be instrumental in life or death. Harry would know, he once killed a particularly nasty wanna-be dark lord by tricking him into tripping over a rain-slicked pebble.
So it was, that when Harry woke up, the fact that he had shrunk to the size of a little kid was immediately of notice to him. Moreover, his magic was fluctuating wildly, raging one minute then silent the next.
Something had happened, that much was obvious. A normal person might have been confused. They might have panicked.
But Harry wasn't a normal person. He didn't live to be his age, given his profession, by being normal.
Instead, Harry calmly examined his situation.
One, the physical and magical changes to his body had already been noted.
Two, he was on a bed inside an unknown room.
Three, he didn't remember how he got here.
And lastly, four:
A person who looked suspiciously like James Potter had just blasted open the door and was now pointing his wand at him, fear, resignation, and determination in his eyes.
Harry didn't know exactly what was going on, but being on the business end of a wand was something he was very familiar with. So familiar, in fact, that he was already acting before that fact had consciously registered in his head.
The pillow flew gracefully towards the James Potter look-a-like's head before being disintegrated in a flash of red light, but that was just a distraction. Taking advantage of the momentary blind spot created by the pillow, the much heavier alarm clock appeared immediately after.
The look-a-like's eyes widened in surprise and, too shocked to even think of blasting it away with another spell, instinctively ducked-
Only to be met by Harry's fist to his throat.
If Harry had been in his old body, such a blow might have ended the fight then and there. However, his smaller size meant that the look-a-like was only temporarily stunned, on his knees and gasping for air, but Harry wasn't finished.
Grasping the look-a-like's wand arm, Harry twisted, causing the look-a-like's hand to open reflexively and dropping his wand.
Quick, clean, and efficient, that was Harry's style. There was no need for showy or flashy spells, just basic movements, the minimum effort for maximum result. At least, that was his preferred style, but rarely does thing pan out for him. Often, the result of his many confrontations were broken rubble and scorched earth.
In this case, however, it worked.
Having reversed the situation with the look-a-like, Harry took a moment to let the look-a-like recover. He was in unknown territory, with a hostile enemy, and very little information. Normally, he would have already killed the man and be done with it, leaving an enemy alive was just asking for trouble, but the look-a-like might provide him with valuable information.
Judging that the look-a-like had sufficiently recovered, from the regularity in his breathing, Harry started to interrogate the man-
"Get away from James!"
And was promptly interrupted by a cry and a stunner heading his way.
Instinct told him to find cover, he immediately dove behind the bed, just in time to be missed by several more stunners impacting the space where he was.
Peeking out from behind the bed, Harry confirmed his suspicion, for 'Sirius Black' and 'Remus Lupin' were warily guarding the recovering 'James Potter'.
Harry thought that whoever was after him this time had a sick sense of humor.
"James, Sirius, what's going on?" a female voice called out.
Harry took another glance. 'Lily Potter' had joined the scene.
Yeah, a really sick sense of humor.
Harry reassessed his situation. It was three on one, and while he had a wand, his magic was unreliable. Worse, he had lost the element of surprise. Things were not looking good for him. So, he decided on a gamble.
"Wait a minute," he called out, pausing to see if they were listening, "I give up."
Flicking the, useless, wand across the floor, Harry slowly stood up, his hands up in the air.
"See, I'm helpless and unarmed."
For his trouble, the last thing Harry saw were the faces of four dead persons and a flash of red.
~~~
". . .do you mean there's nothing?"
"I have. . .and the young Mr. Potter does not display any signs of dark. . ."
Harry focused on the conversation as he groggily came to, and found that he was tied to a chair. That was bad, to be sure, but Harry could feel that his magic had stabilized itself, which meant that he was in no danger. That he wasn't dead already also meant that they wanted him alive, which meant that his gamble had paid off.
Pretending to be asleep, he continued to listen, hoping to gain some more information.
"The wards were tripped Dumbledore, what else could it have been?"
Harry frowned.
"My dear boy, you know as well as I do that Harry shares an unfortunate yet unique connection to Voldemort. I believe that the wards were merely reacting to the mixing of the boy's accidental magic and Voldemort's own magical signature."
"You should have seen the way he came at me Dumbledore. He must have done something."
"And yet, didn't you say yourself that you had confiscated his wand?"
"I hate to admit it, but he is very resourceful. He could have hidden another wand."
"While that may be the case, it wouldn't do for us to wildly speculate when we could ask the person himself, now shouldn't we, Harry?"
Keeping his face blanked, Harry opened his eyes.
White beard. Long robes. A silly hat. In front of him was the form of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Wizard, Supreme Mugwump, and countless other accolades and titles.
Among them the conditional status of, dead for the past eleven years.
Yet here he was, in front of Harry, the kindly old face with the same damnable twinkle in his eye.
For the first time in a long time, Harry felt a furious rage welling within him.
Without a word, without a gesture, without a wand, Harry banished Dumbledore, flinging him against the wall, and surprisingly, through it. Putting that aside of his mind, Harry noticed 'Remus' and 'Sirius' reaching for their wands. They didn't get a chance to draw them before the wooden floor beneath their feet turned into disembodied hands and they were slammed into the ceiling.
The ropes tying his hands to the chair were cut with a silent spell, and Harry wasted no time flipping the chair in front of himself to protect him from a spell flung by 'James'. The chair, instead of splintering, was reflected back towards Harry.
'James' seemed to have remembered what had happened before, and was determined to not let it happen again. However, Harry was not where he had been. As soon as he had flipped the chair over, Harry had dashed behind the kitchen counter.
A Reductor crashed into the counter, blasting wooden pieces everywhere, signifying that 'James' was upping his ante.
Harry had no desire to let 'James' find his rhythm.
"Animatum," Harry whispered, sending the spell flying at 'James'.
'James' easily dodged the spell and fired off another Reductor, which whizzed over Harry's head as he ducked, and blasted the sink apart.
Water sprayed over Harry, slicking his hair to his forehead and running over his eyes, but Harry didn't even seem to notice. He was looking into the distance, focused in complete concentration.
'James' sent another Reductor at the counter, a deafening noise accompanying the complete destruction of Harry's cover.
Harry used the sound to mask his attack and struck.
The automaton, created from the pieces of wood, plaster, and various other debris that littered the room, tackled 'James' from behind, driving him into the floor and pinning him there.
It raised its arm, then brought it smashing down on 'James' own.
'James' let out a muffled scream as his arm was crushed.
Harry fired a full body-bind at 'James' then summoned him, cutting off 'James' cry as he was hit by the curse. As 'James' came to a stop before him, Harry looked into his eyes.
Harry only had a few seconds, but that was enough for his purposes.
"Legillimens."
A few seconds passed in total silence before it was broken.
"What. The. Fuck."
And then the wall exploded. Dumbledore had returned, his aura flaring around him, the light almost blinding. The air was saturated with Dumbledore's magic, so thick that it had a force of its own, pressing against Harry's skin and making it harder for him to breathe.
There was no faking this, this was Dumbledore's power, this was the wizard who had defeated Grindelwald and who even Voldemort had feared.
For the first time in a long time, Harry felt like he was out of his depths.
///
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22002266' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Next Chapter</a>
AN: Born from a reading binge.
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&st=0#entry=22002145' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Prologue</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22002266' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 1</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22003140' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 2</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22010093' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 3</a>
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22012369' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Chapter 4</a>
~~~
Prologue - First impressions
~~~
Harry woke up feeling. . . odd.
Living a life filled with danger had forced him to develop a finely honed sense of situational awareness, which contributed to his many close escapes from death. More than a few times had his battle hardened instinct warned him of unseen spells, while his constant self-awareness allowed him to dodge, counter, and reposition, almost as second nature. He was, to a point, almost obsessive in observing and cataloging everything around him, always organizing the world in terms of utility and possibility.
A tiny pebble, almost innocuous, could be instrumental in life or death. Harry would know, he once killed a particularly nasty wanna-be dark lord by tricking him into tripping over a rain-slicked pebble.
So it was, that when Harry woke up, the fact that he had shrunk to the size of a little kid was immediately of notice to him. Moreover, his magic was fluctuating wildly, raging one minute then silent the next.
Something had happened, that much was obvious. A normal person might have been confused. They might have panicked.
But Harry wasn't a normal person. He didn't live to be his age, given his profession, by being normal.
Instead, Harry calmly examined his situation.
One, the physical and magical changes to his body had already been noted.
Two, he was on a bed inside an unknown room.
Three, he didn't remember how he got here.
And lastly, four:
A person who looked suspiciously like James Potter had just blasted open the door and was now pointing his wand at him, fear, resignation, and determination in his eyes.
Harry didn't know exactly what was going on, but being on the business end of a wand was something he was very familiar with. So familiar, in fact, that he was already acting before that fact had consciously registered in his head.
The pillow flew gracefully towards the James Potter look-a-like's head before being disintegrated in a flash of red light, but that was just a distraction. Taking advantage of the momentary blind spot created by the pillow, the much heavier alarm clock appeared immediately after.
The look-a-like's eyes widened in surprise and, too shocked to even think of blasting it away with another spell, instinctively ducked-
Only to be met by Harry's fist to his throat.
If Harry had been in his old body, such a blow might have ended the fight then and there. However, his smaller size meant that the look-a-like was only temporarily stunned, on his knees and gasping for air, but Harry wasn't finished.
Grasping the look-a-like's wand arm, Harry twisted, causing the look-a-like's hand to open reflexively and dropping his wand.
Quick, clean, and efficient, that was Harry's style. There was no need for showy or flashy spells, just basic movements, the minimum effort for maximum result. At least, that was his preferred style, but rarely does thing pan out for him. Often, the result of his many confrontations were broken rubble and scorched earth.
In this case, however, it worked.
Having reversed the situation with the look-a-like, Harry took a moment to let the look-a-like recover. He was in unknown territory, with a hostile enemy, and very little information. Normally, he would have already killed the man and be done with it, leaving an enemy alive was just asking for trouble, but the look-a-like might provide him with valuable information.
Judging that the look-a-like had sufficiently recovered, from the regularity in his breathing, Harry started to interrogate the man-
"Get away from James!"
And was promptly interrupted by a cry and a stunner heading his way.
Instinct told him to find cover, he immediately dove behind the bed, just in time to be missed by several more stunners impacting the space where he was.
Peeking out from behind the bed, Harry confirmed his suspicion, for 'Sirius Black' and 'Remus Lupin' were warily guarding the recovering 'James Potter'.
Harry thought that whoever was after him this time had a sick sense of humor.
"James, Sirius, what's going on?" a female voice called out.
Harry took another glance. 'Lily Potter' had joined the scene.
Yeah, a really sick sense of humor.
Harry reassessed his situation. It was three on one, and while he had a wand, his magic was unreliable. Worse, he had lost the element of surprise. Things were not looking good for him. So, he decided on a gamble.
"Wait a minute," he called out, pausing to see if they were listening, "I give up."
Flicking the, useless, wand across the floor, Harry slowly stood up, his hands up in the air.
"See, I'm helpless and unarmed."
For his trouble, the last thing Harry saw were the faces of four dead persons and a flash of red.
~~~
". . .do you mean there's nothing?"
"I have. . .and the young Mr. Potter does not display any signs of dark. . ."
Harry focused on the conversation as he groggily came to, and found that he was tied to a chair. That was bad, to be sure, but Harry could feel that his magic had stabilized itself, which meant that he was in no danger. That he wasn't dead already also meant that they wanted him alive, which meant that his gamble had paid off.
Pretending to be asleep, he continued to listen, hoping to gain some more information.
"The wards were tripped Dumbledore, what else could it have been?"
Harry frowned.
"My dear boy, you know as well as I do that Harry shares an unfortunate yet unique connection to Voldemort. I believe that the wards were merely reacting to the mixing of the boy's accidental magic and Voldemort's own magical signature."
"You should have seen the way he came at me Dumbledore. He must have done something."
"And yet, didn't you say yourself that you had confiscated his wand?"
"I hate to admit it, but he is very resourceful. He could have hidden another wand."
"While that may be the case, it wouldn't do for us to wildly speculate when we could ask the person himself, now shouldn't we, Harry?"
Keeping his face blanked, Harry opened his eyes.
White beard. Long robes. A silly hat. In front of him was the form of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Wizard, Supreme Mugwump, and countless other accolades and titles.
Among them the conditional status of, dead for the past eleven years.
Yet here he was, in front of Harry, the kindly old face with the same damnable twinkle in his eye.
For the first time in a long time, Harry felt a furious rage welling within him.
Without a word, without a gesture, without a wand, Harry banished Dumbledore, flinging him against the wall, and surprisingly, through it. Putting that aside of his mind, Harry noticed 'Remus' and 'Sirius' reaching for their wands. They didn't get a chance to draw them before the wooden floor beneath their feet turned into disembodied hands and they were slammed into the ceiling.
The ropes tying his hands to the chair were cut with a silent spell, and Harry wasted no time flipping the chair in front of himself to protect him from a spell flung by 'James'. The chair, instead of splintering, was reflected back towards Harry.
'James' seemed to have remembered what had happened before, and was determined to not let it happen again. However, Harry was not where he had been. As soon as he had flipped the chair over, Harry had dashed behind the kitchen counter.
A Reductor crashed into the counter, blasting wooden pieces everywhere, signifying that 'James' was upping his ante.
Harry had no desire to let 'James' find his rhythm.
"Animatum," Harry whispered, sending the spell flying at 'James'.
'James' easily dodged the spell and fired off another Reductor, which whizzed over Harry's head as he ducked, and blasted the sink apart.
Water sprayed over Harry, slicking his hair to his forehead and running over his eyes, but Harry didn't even seem to notice. He was looking into the distance, focused in complete concentration.
'James' sent another Reductor at the counter, a deafening noise accompanying the complete destruction of Harry's cover.
Harry used the sound to mask his attack and struck.
The automaton, created from the pieces of wood, plaster, and various other debris that littered the room, tackled 'James' from behind, driving him into the floor and pinning him there.
It raised its arm, then brought it smashing down on 'James' own.
'James' let out a muffled scream as his arm was crushed.
Harry fired a full body-bind at 'James' then summoned him, cutting off 'James' cry as he was hit by the curse. As 'James' came to a stop before him, Harry looked into his eyes.
Harry only had a few seconds, but that was enough for his purposes.
"Legillimens."
A few seconds passed in total silence before it was broken.
"What. The. Fuck."
And then the wall exploded. Dumbledore had returned, his aura flaring around him, the light almost blinding. The air was saturated with Dumbledore's magic, so thick that it had a force of its own, pressing against Harry's skin and making it harder for him to breathe.
There was no faking this, this was Dumbledore's power, this was the wizard who had defeated Grindelwald and who even Voldemort had feared.
For the first time in a long time, Harry felt like he was out of his depths.
///
<a href='http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Fanfiction_Forum/index.php?showtopic=21332&view=findpost&p=22002266' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Next Chapter</a>
AN: Born from a reading binge.
