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A/N:
What I am about to offer you is a Harry Potter fanfiction...sort of; let me explain. You see, if you have read any of my other stories, than you already know of my track record, or rather, "habit" of creating alternate universes. Never will I use the materials,or characters at hand that would of course be synonymous or otherwise necessary to label a certain story a *insert title here* fanfiction. No...that doesn't do it for me.
I like to take things in a different direction; out of context.
I like to take chances.
That's why I call myself Skunkworks (if you don't know the actual definition, look it up.) I'll always want to take something perfectly functional and apply my own twist to it. The idea may be the same, but the execution will undoubtedly be much different.
Which brings me to where I am now. While this is a Harry Potter fanfic, don't expect there to be a Hogwarts castle of witchcraft and wizardry; a Hogwarts express; or any of the cast of characters we all know and love. If anything, it will be necessary for me to undermine, slander, and pretty much decimate each and every last one of those topics. But however, the IDEA of the Harry Potterverse will be alive and well, only alot different from the norm. I've read quite a few Potter fics on this site, and I've seen none that have taken this direction before (if I'm wrong, I apologize. I can't possibly read over six hundred and sixty-six thousand fanfics myself, what do you want from me?)
They pretty much stick to the facts and the hard magical canon of the story. In other words, they play it safe.
But I don't wannna do that.
I don't mean this to be a slight on any of the author's parts (some VERY talented people have written these fics) it's just that there's alot of the same out there. This, on the other hand, will be a little different. Maybe not the best fanfic ever written on the subject; but different.
At any rate, please enjoy the story.
-B.D. Skunkworks
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*Chapter 1*
The Magician
** I am the living flame, and I teach the holy games
teach the secret of the dance
throw the future in the runes
kick the sand in Satan's face
I'll put Jesus in his place
Shaman or priest it's all the same
The magician is my name**
-Bruce Dickinson- The Magician
...
It was half past ten on the breezy westbound platform. (If this inadvertently leads you to believe that the time was indeed different anywhere other than on this platform, then feel free to run with that notion.)
A young woman of an indeterminate age of adolescence was standing just a little ways from the rest of the morning commuters. Her earbud headphones were plugged into her Samsung galaxy S4 as her head swayed this way and that with the music flowing into her ears.
"I'm happy. I'm feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag. I'm useless, but not for long. My future...is comin' on...is comin' on..." Despite her distance from the people around her, her voice carried clear through the chilly air, earning her more than a few annoyed glances. Her attention, however, never deviated away from a young man directly across from her on the opposite platform. He took no notice of her as his head was buried intently in a book. The young woman groaned to herself; if he was anything like the others, there was absolutely no doubt as to what he was reading. "My future. Is comin' on...is comin' on...is comin' on..." And she stepped across the yellow safety line and clear off the platform.
...
Sander Glass had his whole undivided attention on the excellent book he was reading; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Needles to say, everything therein fascinated him. The thing was, Sander was...well, to put kindly, he was a nerd. And I mean a NERD nerd. He made other nerds look like jocks. If you ever saw his room, you would probably agree. Actually, one look at his attire would give you the clue; black skinny jeans and matching steel-toed boots; a slim fit t-shirt with The Legend of Zelda logo printed on it; and two thick rubber bracelets on his wrists; a purple one with the name Twilight Sparkle on it; and a cyan blue one that said Rainbow Dash. And a Halo: Reach messenger bag slung across his shoulder.
Oh yeah...he was nerd.
Funny thing though. If you looked at him in the right light...and if maybe he cut his overgrown brown hair... and breathed with his mouth closed, he could be damn good-looking. But he was never too worried about attracting girls, not with the pursuit of his nerdly ventures being oh-so time consuming.
Which is why he took so long to notice the girl that was sitting directly beside him on his left. Just how did she get there? The escalator from the lower level of the station was to his right, which means she would have had to walk in front of and around him to get to where she was sitting now, but he never sensed any movement; never saw the shadow of a human body cross his reading light.
Sander heard the rumble of the oncoming train and instinctively looked up to his left; but no, it was the westbound train coming in, not the eastbound. Sander meant to go back to his book, but he suddenly found his attention focused on the girl. Her head was turned in the same direction his was, so she didn't notice him staring his way down her body. Her..slim...wonderful body. Torso clad in a midriff-bearing tank top covered by one of those impossibly small hoodies that only girls could wear. Her thin legs were crossed left over right; her cutoff pants showing her slender ankles and her perfectly small feet clad in black ballet flats. Oh yeah. She was hot.
"Eyes up, degenerate," she said suddenly. Sander retreated to his book with a guilty haste. "You were staring, weren't ya?" She said, finally turning to face him. Sander was only able to look back at her because her tone of voice was not angry, it sounded more like, 'I get that all the time'. "Don't worry, I get that all the time," she said.
'Nailed it' Sander thought.
"See that guy over there," she said, with a jerk of her head towards the opposite platform. There was a middle-aged man there who quickly averted his gaze, no doubt alarmed at the two young people staring intently in his direction. "Mo fo been starin' at me since I got on this damn platform. I'll give 'em something to stare at all right." She uncrossed her legs and withdrew a long silver-colored rod from an apparent holster on her right thigh. She pointed it at the man across the platform and his coffee thermos exploded, sending hot black liquid cascading down his face. "That'll learn ya," she said.
"How did you do that?" Sander breathed. It couldn't have been...
The young woman smiled mischievously. "You know what that was," she said.
"But it can't be," Sander said. He didn't dare believe it.
"Say it," she said back.
"That shit isn't real!"
"Say it!"
Sander took just a moment before whispering the word "...Magic..."
The young woman leaned back on her bench seat, apparently contented. "And now that you know that, I can fill you in."
"Fill me in on what?" Sander said with a disbelieving impatience. "That you expect me to believe that you can do magic? What, are you from a magic school and are gonna start sending me letters through my fireplace? Well, joke's on you, bitch, I don't have a fireplace!"
"Oh please," she responded coolly. "We already know everything about you."
"Say what?"
"Your name; where you live; how long you've lived there; and what you do when you think you're alone. And you should be very ashamed of yourself. You don't sleep on that pillow, do you?"
"Wait, what?"
The woman laughed. "Actually, that last part is untrue, but we do know who you are, Sander Glass." She punched a few keys on the touchscreen of her galaxy S4. "You took long enough to show up, but at least we finally found you."
"Wait a minute, who the fuck is we? And what do you mean by 'found you'?"
The young woman tucked her phone away. "You see, you're what we call a neoteric, or a neo for short; someone who just grew into their newly discovered power. And it's my job to find neos and to bring them to the Centre."
"What the hell is the Centre?" Sander's brain was working furiously to keep up with what she was saying.
"The Centre is basically the base of our operation here in Philadelphia," she responded.
"You expect me to believe that you're from Philly?"
"Oh, there's gonna be alot harder things for you to believe in a little while, trust me."
Sander rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that you're a witch."
Her eyes suddenly adopted a hard edge. "Don't ever call me a witch again," she said.
"Well, let's see," Sander said with mock thoughtfulness. "You think you can do magic, you work for a magical place called, 'The Centre', and you claim to know everything about me. Pretty much makes you a witch."
The woman ground her teeth together. "Let me see that book," she said.
Sander looked to the closed book in his lap. "For what?" he said dubiously.
"Just hand it over," she said with an impatient motion of her hand. Sander handed her the hardcover volume. The woman took it and frowned at the cover. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," she growled. "Well, you're right about the fire part." And then she touched the tip of her rod to the front cover and the entire book burst into flame.
"What the fuck!?" Sander gasped.
Apparently, the fire that consumed the book was not even hot, or natural, or both, for she continued to hold the flaming book as though nothing were wrong. "And now..." and with a gentle blow of her lips, the fire was immediately extinguished, and the book, and the flames, simply vanished as though they never were.
"What...the fuck...was that?" Sander didn't know whether to be amazed or angry. On the one hand, he was out a twenty-five dollar book. On the other, something just happened here that was way out of the ordinary.
"Listen to me," the woman said. "Before I tell you anything more, you have to forget anything you think you know about magic. Forget Harry Potter, forget J.K. Rowling; all that shit."
"Why?" Was all Sander could say.
The woman grinned, showing all of her teeth. " 'Cause I'm about to rock your fucking world, baby," she said.
*End of chapter 1*
A/N:
Yes, that's right, another note, just hang tight. This chapter is really only supposed to serve as an introduction to our two little characters here. And I apologize for all the name dropping and what not. I don't mean to take shots at or insult the amazing Mrs. Rowling in any way shape or form (believe me, I fucking love Harry Potter as much a the next guy, no, more than the next guy) But her verbal dismemberment is going to have to be a necessary element of my story. Sorry for stepping on anyone's toes here, or being loose or disrespectful to the canon, but again, bear with me. Anyhow, hope you guys enjoyed, I'll update again as soon as I can.
-B.D. Skunkworks