HP- THE ARYAN LEGACY
By ArunabhAryan
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The Aryan Legacy will contain time-travel and a bit of dimensional travel. The time travel will be to the mid-1900s. The dimensional travel will be explained when the opportune moment arrives. However the time travel fact won't be much significant in the main story as our protagonists won't be too liberal with that piece of information.
A few things to consider before reading the fanfic -
The rating will mostly be T. There will be warnings if the rating is increased in any chapter.
Harry Potter gets a new identity, that of Ares Aryan; Lord of the Primordial House Aryan and will be mostly referred as such. He will be accompanied by Hermione as Athena Aryan.
There will be a lot of OCs as very few main characters from the 1960s were detailed in Rowling's plot.
The duo would be very powerful but reasons for the aggrandizement would be mentioned where needed.
Ares and Athena would not confide in Dumbledore about their past. They will pave their own path and forge new alliances.
The main pairing will be Ares Aryan/Cassiopeia Black. She will be one of the most important characters in the story. However as I find the actual familiar relations of the Blacks with other families confusing, I'll be simplifying matters. For the purpose of this story I request the readers to obliviate themselves temporarily of their present knowledge of the Black family tree.
Ares and Athena would be neutral, neither dark nor light sided but definitely on the side of good.
They would put into motion a lot of serious plans that would change the structure of the entire world.
Check up on the Aryan race if you don't know about them. I will bend a few things, no scratch that, a lot of things to suit the purpose of this story but I assure you it won't be outrageous in any way. And the most important thing- enjoy. I didn't write this for myself, I wrote it for you. If you find any mistakes, or like it, or didn't like something, please review. I'd appreciate if the criticisms are constructive rather than derogatory.
The Aryan Legacy is not BETAed yet. If anyone is interested in doing it, please PM me.
DISCLAIMER: I'm only saying it once. So please read it.
THE ARYAN LEGACY is a fanfic. So obviously I am borrowing the world of J.K. Rowling. Whatever you recognize from her series is her own. The rest are mine.
There are more than 80,000 fanfics of HP on this site alone, so there is a high possibility of a few things being similar with other publications. I'm not stealing anything from anyone. However I have been inspired by a few brilliant fanfic writers. It would be really difficult listing them all here but I owe a thanks to all the authors I've set as favourites. They have authored some really wonderful pieces of writing.
Prologue
Life after Voldemort's death was by no means easy. A staggering amount of the good people were already dead or incapacitated, the living populace had mostly broken down. There were no parties celebrating his death as the general mood was sombre, gloomy. There was, however, work to be done. The remaining Death Eaters had to be rounded up and again there was the issue of reconstruction and proper governance.
Harry Potter and his friends were not the ones to laze. They were the first of the new generation to join the Ministry. Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Ernie and Susan joined the Auror ranks right after the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione, Hannah, Padma and several others joined the administrative services. But it was not only them. People from all over Britain had volunteered to help the Ministry rebuild their country from the horrors of the Dark Reign in every way they could.
Four years later all marked DEs and most of the snatchers were caught and put to trial. The Malfoys, though disgraced, had helped in the captures to avoid Azkaban. They let the Unspeakables inspect their Dark Marks and provided information essential for building the DE Catcher, as it came to be called. The device was able to track the DEs through their Marks. That had led to most of the captures.
The supporters and sympathisers of Voldemort in the Ministry were rounded up too and put to trail. The dementors were recaptured and kept locked in at the base of Azkaban till a way to permanently kill them was found. Although the dementors' presence was still felt, the prison was guarded by specially trained Aurors now. The reconstruction of the various damaged places had been completed and several war memorials were set up. Diagon Alley was fully functional once again and Gringotts had restarted their services.
However these repairs only took care of the physical scars of the Blood War. The mental scars were still fresh even after four years of peace. Most of the people were dispirited and happiness became a foreign concept to many. Why wouldn't it be? Only a few families were still whole after the war, several were completely destroyed, many people were crippled. Perhaps the only reason people went on was because of posterity. The Ministry was supposed to lead the way and that is what it did. Those scars might fade a bit with time but they will always be there to remind them of the reign of the most evil Dark Lord since the days of Morgana LaFey.
Harry was made an Auror Captain after three years of service. He deserved it considering the hard work he did in rounding up the DEs and catching several other known criminals who had evaded justice for a long time. Ron was in his team along with several ex- DA members. Their hard work and dedication in service led them to be considered the best in the department by many. Hermione, on the other hand, was the second-in-charge of the newly created Department of Magical Species Cooperation, which dealt with Veelas, Merpeople, Werewolves, Vampires, Giants and other beings often classified as dark. The ministry didn't like them but at the same time they didn't want such creatures to join hands with any dark force in the future. Kingsley, being the Minister, had pushed forward for many new reforms. Everything was turning out just fine. Well, better than last time at least.
However, that would be considered an outsider's view. Nothing actually was perfect.
A few years of Ministry work had disgusted the golden trio. The blatant corruption and dirty politics still existed. Higher you go up the Ministry ladder; the more aware you become of the mentioned vices. Harry had hoped that with Voldemort's defeat, things would be good again, be normal. Unfortunately, that was the normal in the Ministry. Kingsley had tried a lot to remove it or at least censor it as much as possible, but even after being Minister, he could do very less. One cannot simply change lifelong habits with simple instructions, right?
According to Kingsley, the corruption had actually increased after Voldemort's downfall. Earlier people were a bit afraid to indulge themselves too much in it, but now, with the fear factor gone, everyone became busy fulfilling their own selfish interests and lining up their pockets. Things were not pretty at all.
The notion of pureblood supremacy though weakened, still existed and discrimination followed hand in hand. The organizational setup was perfect, however. The only distressing thing was it didn't work at all. Most of the things were just for show.
Harry was royally fed up. He didn't have the same zeal he once had for his work. So he decided to quit. The Potters were quite wealthy, being an old pureblood family and he didn't have to work to live. The goblins had confiscated almost half of his wealth as payment for the damage during the dragon escapade that too without informing him, but still the Potter wealth was substantial.
Hermione and Ron shared his feelings but as none of them were financially strong as he was, they had to continue their work.
Being in full control of the Potter finances, Harry decided to travel. There was nothing binding him to Britain anymore. His relationship with Ginny never returned to their earlier intimacy and she didn't show much interest in its renewal. So Harry decided to explore the world. He had developed a thirst for adventure and he planned to fulfil it. Moreover there were many other magical cultures with their own unique magicks and Harry had always been fascinated with magic. In a nutshell he decided to enjoy life to the fullest.
And invest, of course.
Most old pureblood families did that, investments and politics. Harry's grandfather Charlus Potter was a well renowned politician and a respected member of the Wizenagamot. He was a good businessman too. Investments ensured a good income without doing a good paying job.
So Harry did that too. However he was very cross with the goblins. Aside from being disrespectful to everyone except themselves they had neglected the Potter account. As a result the earlier investments had been laid aside to be almost non-existent. And there was the dragon damage confiscation issue too. So he withdrew his entire account and deposited it in different muggle banks investing almost 90% of it in the technology based companies.
After taking care of his finances and saying his goodbye to his friends, Harry started his odyssey…
\m/\m/\m/
45 years later when he returned to England he was a changed man; powerful, dexterous and knowledgeable. But he was wrong to think that everything else would be the same back home. He realised it the hard way.
Harry had apparated directly to the Burrow from his last stoppage in South America. His training in the last four and a half decades had made it possible for him to achieve such a feat. However his high hopes of seeing his best friends and their family was squashed when he arrived there. There was nothing around him except ashes.
A sudden dread crept inside him. What happened to the place? Where were his friends? Heart hammering fast, Harry looked around trying to observe every single detail. What he concluded didn't please him at all. There were ashes in every direction as far as the eye could see. He knew very well what could cause such destruction and it was most definitely not magical in nature.
Nucleon-quark bombs.
The 21st century successor of the atom bomb and ten times more lethal than its predecessor. Harry would know, he was a member of the team that designed it.
When Harry visited America as a part of his world tour, he had come across a squib genetical engineer, John Vigil. A few hours later, he was jovially introduced to a group of squib scientists and by the next day he was a member of the group itself. The group, led by John Vigil, was devoted to the sciences. A few members of the team had designed the prototype of such a bomb.
In his desire to learn more about magic he had mostly ignored the muggle world during his travels. When John Vigil, the scientist, started teaching him, he found that the technology of 2004 was vastly different from that of 2035. A few years of co-living with John rectified his deficiency in that brand of knowledge. But it was not only that, the entire group had taken him as an apprentice and instructed him in their respective specialities.
Harry sighed wearily and sat down on the ash covered ground. He knew that if the Weasleys were present in the area when the bomb detonated, they were amongst the ashes surrounding him. Tears leaked out of his eyes unbidden. The first friends he ever made were dead. The family which had accepted him when his own relatives shunned him was destroyed.
Harry didn't know how long he sat there, lost in his mind, but when he got up, his eyes were burning in a greenish inferno. Squashing the terrible pain inside him he disapparated to Diagon Alley. He decided that he would find out who was responsible for this destruction and make them pay for it.
When Harry arrived in Diagon Alley he stumbled upon a sea of people. He quickly cast a wandless glamour on himself and tried to navigate through the crowd. He didn't want people fawning over him. However, unlike his belief, the crowd wasn't moving forward, in fact, it wasn't moving at all.
A sharp pain suddenly returned as he realised the probable reason of the phenomenon. Controlling his feelings he tried to listen to the conversations around him. After half an hour of listening and discreet questioning he found out what was going on.
World War III.
Being out of the loop for last three years, he was unable to follow the news. Apparently terrorists had managed to steal three nucleon-quark bombs from the United States Military stronghold and detonate it in England, China and Russia. Tens of millions were already dead. Though reeling from the attack, the affected countries as well as many other nuclear powered countries were gearing up for war. They believed the stealing part was a strategy by the States to prevent the blame from falling directly on their heads.
The UNO had failed spectacularly as well. All kinds of international relations were tense.
According to Harry's findings several places in Britain had taken a hit. This was one of the reasons why the other countries were in an uproar and didn't listen to USA's version of the events. One bomb cannot make more than one blast, right? Right, but the nucleon-quark bombs were of a completely different breed. They were compartmentalised and if desired, can break up into several deadly parts. Aside muggles, hundreds of magicals had died and a few hundreds rendered homeless. The Ministry of Magic, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were filled up with people trying to find information or shelter or sources of food. The Weasley family was mostly dead. He found out that only Hermione and her daughter survived as they were both in Hogwarts during the tragic incident. Andromeda and his godson Teddy had died too.
Unable to control himself, Harry sat down on the porch of the nearest shop and wept. This was the first time he wept after almost 5 decades. The memories of time spent with his friends flooded his mind. They were dead, and he didn't do anything to prevent it. A part of him also cursed himself in his part of building the bomb. Although he had lived without his loved ones for 45 years, Harry knew that the void created by their death can never be fulfilled by anyone, especially Ron's. He was special in his own way. He was not Harry's best mate for nothing.
Wishing to see his remaining oldest friend, Harry stood up and wiped his tears. It wouldn't bode well for Hermione to see him crying. She herself must be shaken terribly with the death of her husband and most of the family. He had to be her support in such a time. Dispelling the notice-me-not charm he had cast almost unconsciously, he apparated directly to the Hogwarts gate, he was not in a mood to pass through Hogsmeade.
On the way to the castle he removed the glamour and tightened his Occlumency shields. Trying to keep a blank face he entered the castle. He was about to go towards the teachers' common room when he noticed students going to the Great Hall.
It must be lunch time so everyone was probably in the great hall. Damn! He wanted to meet her alone and avoid the crowd but fate wouldn't smile upon him so easily. Sighing he marched silently towards the Great Hall. As he pushed open the partially opened huge oak doors, the creaking sound made everyone turn towards him.
Harry was used to the staring by now but somehow he felt a bit uncomfortable today. The entire hall became quiet, eyeing the newcomer. Harry observed that the number of students in the hall were more than the students in his time. Must be a result of Voldemort-less environment, he thought. He quickly scanned the staff table. There was no Hermione. In the central chair sat someone else. The black haired man sitting in the Headmaster's chair had a disbelieving yet relieved look on his face.
"Harry?" The person asked hesitantly.
Immediately murmurs erupted around him. Harry looked at the person carefully. He recognized the face of his friend Neville Longbottom. However there were a few distinctive changes. The man had dark circles around his eyes and looked frail and a bit ill.
"Nice to know that you still remember me Neville." Harry replied with a small smile.
Neville reacted by hurrying towards him and a giving him a tight hug. Hug would perhaps be unsuitable as he held on to Harry as if he was his lifeline. Harry patted his back softly as few tears came to Neville's eyes. Sniffing his tears, Neville released his hold on Harry after a few seconds.
"Most of them, Harry... Most of them are no more." Neville barely managed to whisper out before choking on unshed tears.
"I know Neville, I know." Harry replied in a grave voice. As much as he wanted to cry out like Neville, he knew it wouldn't do any good. Controlling his feelings again Harry continued, "Control your emotions Neville, you are a mess. People here look up to you. Don't disappoint them. You have to be strong, if not for yourself then for your staff and students."
Neville nodded, a bit ashamed at his conduct. "Thanks Harry, I needed to hear that." Observing his friend Neville continued, a slight smile on his lips, "You haven't changed much Harry. You look no older than 35."
It was true. Harry's time with Guru Shankar Acharya had been immensely beneficial.
Returning a small smile Harry said, "True Neville. I'll tell you the secret someday. Now, where's Hermione."
Neville's face turned gloomy again. "She is in St. Mungo's with Lily."
"St. Mungo's? Why? And who's Lily?" Harry asked, dread creeping inside him.
"Lily is her youngest daughter. She's an Auror. When she went to help in the affected areas, the radiation got her. Hermione's with her in the hospital." Neville informed him.
Radiation...
Harry suddenly got the answer to many questions revolving in his mind. It took him immense strength of mind to stop himself from releasing the pent-up rage and its accompanying power.
Those bastards. They must have negated the radiation suppression chemicals before unleashing the terrors of the bombs. Harry cursed the ones responsible for the blasts.
Taking care not to betray his actual emotions, Harry gave a brief nod to Neville and left the castle quickly before anyone could interrupt him. As soon as he was out of the wards he disapparated to the St. Mungo's lobby. The sight which greeted him was not at all pleasant. Patients were sitting and sleeping in rugs laid serially on the floor of the lobby and corridors. Harry approached the welcome witch.
"Hello, I'm looking for Hermione Gra- Weasley. Her daughter Lily Weasley is admitted here?"
The welcome witch didn't look up from the papers she was perusing.
"Name?" She asked after a moment.
Harry hesitated a bit but replied truthfully nonetheless. "Harry Potter."
The witch immediately looked up. Seeing him actually standing in front of her, she stuttered out, "Mr Po-pott-er?"
Harry restrained his irritation. He hated such behaviour. "Yes. In which ward are the Weasleys?"
"Ward No 413, fourth floor. But it's not visiting time yet." The welcome witch replied avoiding the stutter.
"Are you sure you can't make an exception? I really need to see them." Harry asked, adopting a charming smile. His travels and experience had taught him the power of charms.
Blushing a bit the young lady replied, "I believe an exception can be made."
Thanking the welcome witch for her help he rushed towards the elevators without paying attention to something the lady was telling. Ten seconds later, he was in-front 413. Knocking once, he entered without waiting for a reply.
The room was just like any other hospital ward. In the centre was a bed where a young lady was lying with several instruments attached to her body. She appeared to be sleeping. The woman sitting beside her turned her head towards the door hearing the knock. Her bushy hair was dishevelled and there were large black circles around her eyes, puffy from crying. Seeing the newcomer the flow of tears restarted and Hermione jumped on Harry, embracing him.
Harry felt her tears on his neck, soaking his shirt. He didn't mind. He murmured little consolations in her ears and rubbed her back soothingly. They remained in an embrace for almost five minutes till Hermione apparently ran out of tears.
Harry led the distraught woman to the two-seater sofa at one corner of the room. Harry still had one arm around her as she embraced him again from the sides.
"Why Harry, why did they have to die?" Hermione sobbed.
Harry took in a deep breath. He was never the one for consoling others. But he had to do it this time.
"Life and Death are one of the few things that we just can't control, Hermione. The same thing happened about 80 years ago when Voldemort rose for the first time. People were killed, families destroyed. We either have to fight against it or leave it as it is. We fought last time. But this time it's not possible to do that in a similar way. We might be looking at the beginning of something much more devastating than that, a world war. It would definitely be much more deadly than the earlier two."
Hermione looked up as Harry continued, sobs forgotten.
"There was no way you could have known about the blasts. We have only one option Hermione, mourn them and move on. They will always remain in our hearts if not in a physical form. Moreover death might just be the beginning of another spectacular journey. It might even be possible that they are observing us now from where they are and I don't think Ron or any other family member would like you crying for them. You have Lily and me now. Consider yourself lucky that you are still alive to continue the legacy. Be optimistic."
Staring at him for a few moments, Hermione smiled a bit, perhaps the only smile since the incident. The pain inside Harry quelled a bit after seeing her smile. He had always thought of Hermione as his sister although he had never mentioned it aloud. They had a very special and close relationship even stronger than the one he had for Ron in certain aspects.
"You have changed Harry, you have changed a lot. Where did you learn to talk like that? And how come you look so young?" Hermione asked with a slightly teasing smile.
"Well you have rubbed off on me, I guess. The years with my Guru helped too. As for looking young, I might tell you the secret if you stop moping." Harry returned playfully.
She laughed. Not the full blown laugh but still, it was a start.
"Oh, you have definitely changed. I like this you better than your earlier scrawny impulsive self."
"Not fair 'Mione, you know the Dursley environ was not exactly a nourishing one." Harry almost pouted before remembering he was 68 and not 8. "And how did you know that I am less impulsive now?"
"Finally remembered your age Mr. Potter?" Hermione almost smirked. "As for impulsiveness, I don't know, you seem more powerful and ... mature."
"About time then." Harry grumbled in a low voice, but she heard it nonetheless.
Hermione smiled at him fondly and embraced him again. "It's good having you back Harry."
"Okay, okay, enough of the emotional times. What's the condition of Lily now?"
The mood turned sombre again and Hermione answered slowly, trying hard to avoid breaking down again.
"The healers say it's critical. The radiation damaged her lungs and livers. The heart is affected too but the damage there is considerably less. The doctors have sedated her to spare her the pain she was going through."
Harry cringed at the answer. He had been hoping that by some miracle this wouldn't happen. He didn't know what to tell her. Should he tell her that Lily's death was guaranteed or stay innocent of the whole matter. He decided to tell the truth.
"She is as good as dead then, Hermione."
"What? Why?" Hermione panicked.
Harry sucked in a deep breath and explained, "The radiation triggers a chain reaction eroding away all the vital organs slowly. Considering the fact that she was hit with the radiation ten days ago, she will die within the next five days."
"How do you know that, Harry? The doctors said that there was a 50-50 chance of recovery." Hermione was almost in tears now.
Harry braced himself. "I know Hermione, because I was a member of the group who designed the bomb."
"B-but-" Hermione didn't complete the sentence. A fierce fire suddenly lit up her brown eyes. Before Harry could say anything Hermione screeched, face contorted in rage, "Get out. GET OUT NOW!"
Harry knew Hermione was beyond reason now and that he couldn't do anything to control or lessen that. He knew that Hermione had only reacted due to the pain she was suffering from, so he didn't mind. He moved towards the door. But before leaving he gently reminded her, "Don't give her category 4 potions, Hermione. Tell the healers, they would get the idea. I'll be just a patronus away if you need me." And he was gone.
Hearing her friend speak thus, Hermione instantly regretted her words. Deep inside her, she knew that it wasn't actually Harry's fault; she would have to apologize to him later. Remembering the happy moments she experienced with Harry and her family brought tears to her eyes, again.
After leaving Hermione, Harry apparated to one of the hillocks near Hogwarts. He was a complete mess too. His occlumency had protected him from breaking down earlier. But now, with no restrictive situation around, he faced his emotions properly. Sitting down on the green surface he began to go through almost every memory he had of the deceased, crying and laughing as the situation in his memories demanded. This technique was very old but effective in getting distressing emotions and memories under control. There is no other better option than facing the grief inside oneself instead of drowning in them.
Two hours later, he felt peace again as he observed the setting sun covering the castle, the lake and the forest in reddish-orange glow. That method never fails. Moreover Guru Shankar Acharya's ideologies had influenced him a lot too. He remembered the time spent with the Guru in the Kailash Mountain quite well.
Flashback
He had been looking for an ancient Indian temple dedicated to the Lord Shiva in the Kailash Range when a blizzard separated him from his guide and he blacked out. When he woke up two days later it was on a hard cot in a very plain stone room. There wasn't much there except the cot on which he had slept and a small table by its side. His wand and glasses lay there. He quickly wore his glasses and pocketed his wand. There were two windows on adjacent walls and a door. After observing his surroundings, he noticed that he was wearing a long white kurta and pyjamas (as he came to know later).
Getting up from the cot he looked out of the window to found himself looking at a green forest. The other window presented the same picture. He went towards the door and pulled it open. Another stretch of forest lay before him, no sign of his rescuer. However there was a small trail on the side which went uphill. He decided to take it.
Harry didn't stop till he reached the top, but when he did and took a proper look around, he was mesmerised. A huge temple stood proudly before him, unblemished by time or nature, yet it was definitely ancient considering the architecture of the structure. So finally, he had discovered the mythical Kailash Temple. But that was not what captivated him, it was the majesty of nature that surrounded the temple. A forest of thousands of acres stretched around the temple covering the entire mountain. He could see the entire Kailash range and its snow covered peaks. Strangely not a single snow flake was to be seen in the mountain he was on. The sun was near the horizon, about to set. Flocks of birds flew over his head back to their homes. Deers and squirrels moved about the temple complex without any fear.
Speechless at the beautiful panorama before him, he sat down on one of the temple stairs and took it all in. He was so engrossed in the scenery that he didn't notice when an old man clad in a white dhoti sat beside him.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Harry jumped away in shock but relaxed after seeing the old ascetic. Despite his advanced age, he looked fit and somehow ... saturated with power. As he was the only human in the mountain that he had seen, Harry guessed he was the priest of the temple and his rescuer.
"Yes, it's enthralling. I really must thank you for saving me from the blizzard, sir." Harry replied in gratitude.
"Well, I guessed that you were worth saving." The ascetic/priest replied in a gentle voice.
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, who are you? Are you the priest of the temple?"
The priest/ascetic laughed softly. "This temple is not dedicated to the God Shiva, my son, it is the place where the Lord Shiva practiced the inestimable arts he knew. This temple doesn't need a priest."
Harry was confused. "Umm... what's the difference?"
"The Lord Shiva was a real person who lived millennia ago. You can say that he is the Vedic Merlin. Magicals believe in him. The God Shiva is a myth created by the non-magicals."
"Oh, so you are the um... teacher here?"
The ascetic chuckled softly. "I'm more popular as a Guru."
"Oh, yes." Harry smiled sheepishly. He had forgotten the Indian style of addressing a teacher. The Guru smiled and continued watching the sunset.
In the meanwhile Harry's brain was working overtime. There were only a few real magical Gurus left in the world. It is an opportunity of a lifetime.
"Guru-ji?" Harry asked hesitantly adding the ji to be more respectful.
"Yes?"
"Will you take me as your disciple?"
The Guru turned to look at him, gazing at his emerald eyes. Harry suddenly felt bare. Although he didn't feel any intrusion in his mind, he knew that he was being scanned. Fearing that the guru might not take him as a disciple after learning about his knowledge of dark magic, he put his shields up to their maximum strength. His time in the Albanian University of Magic had not been wasted.
However a major part of his conscience immediately opposed the decision. He was what he was. He should not hide his true self. If the guru didn't take him as his disciple he shouldn't be disgruntled or angry. It was the guru's decision after all.
He withdrew his shields after that and bared his mind. A few moments later the guru asked him, a small smile gracing his lips. "What do you want to learn?"
"Anything and everything you decide to teach me." Harry replied eagerly.
"And why do you want to learn more? You already know enough."
Harry took his time to answer that question.
"I don't know. I'm hoping to find the answer here." He really didn't know and that question had been plaguing him for years.
"Good. You chose to tell the truth despite your initial fears. Truth is one of the first steps in building a true and long lasting relationship. We start tomorrow at 4"
Flashback ends
The 8 years with his guru had been the most educational in his life. It was the guru who had first told him the importance of the greater good. Harry was initially annoyed with Dumbledore's mantra but as he began to understand its main concepts he realised its necessity.
The brewing war brought a lot of questions and worries in his mind. Deciding to find out more about it he apparated to the Leaky cauldron and went to muggle London searching for an internet cafe. Vigil had taught him all about the present digital appliances in use. After finding one nearby, he sat in front of a computer and read almost everything related to the pressing issue on the net.
What he found indeed alarmed him a lot. He didn't need any seer blood to declare that the world would be a pile of ashes within 5 years. Magical interference would not help considering that international magical relations were not that strong. And if he was correct, there has already been some magical intervention considering the unexplained inconsistencies. Had it been the 1980s, no one would have known, but with the advanced technology of 2048 in hand, remaining incognito had become very hard. The magicals had probably intervened to protect the knowledge of their existence.
The unfortunate thing was that even the strongest of magical wards would not last before a nuclear or nucleon-quark bomb. So, an end to the muggle world would also bring down the magical world.
Harry paid for his time in the cafe and took up temporary residence in a muggle hotel. He stayed there for the next three days. The only work he did was to think of ways to save the world. It was again up to him to do that, considering that the Ministries were busy trying to protect their identity. Moreover if the advanced people tracker system codenamed "Odin's Vision" was launched anytime soon, the magicals would be discovered instantly.
Harry didn't just care for himself anymore. His life philosophy had changed a lot. The Greater Good was indeed necessary. If he had the power, the skill and the capability to help, he should.
At the present moment only one idea was revolving in Harry's mind, the 'Shift'. He had come across the plan while perusing the Aryan library. It was not yet complete and unfortunately he was not skilled enough in Arithmancy to do that. He needed a lot of time and someone who could finish the designs. Time he could manage; it was the Arithmantic genius that he was short of.
Hermione's name immediately came up as a suggestion. She had completed her mastery in Arithmancy before joining Hogwarts as the Arithmancy mistress some 10 years ago. But he didn't think that she would help him after their last encounter. Well, as he couldn't possibly trust anyone else, he would have to do it himself.
Harry sighed and after gathering his things, left the hotel. He had a lot of things to do.
Harry first withdrew his entire investments which amounted to several billions of pounds. He would need money in his plan. After converting the entire sum into galleons, he collected the other essential things he would need where he was planning to go. After that he started his collection. Books, potion ingredients etc. He also bought every book he could find related to the muggle technologies. Of course he had to turn back several thousand galleons into pounds but he was satisfied with his efforts. Ten days later he was ready.
Harry was about to apparate away when he got a patronus from Hermione. She wanted to meet him. As he was already feeling a bit guilty for thinking of leaving without informing her, he readily agreed. Two hours later Harry arrived at the muggle restaurant Hermione had told him of. She was already there. He went towards her table in one of the corners and sat down at the seat opposite to hers.
Harry had expected a few tears in her face but was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't so. Hermione had a determined look on her face. He now had to find out the whats and whys.
"Hello Hermione."
"Hello Harry." She replied.
"You wanted to see me?" Harry prompted her to talk.
"Lily's dead, Harry" Hermione deadpanned.
Nothing strange there. Her death was determined the moment she got the radiation.
"When did she die?"
"Two days ago. I just arrived from her cremation ceremony."
Harry frowned. "Cremation?"
Hermione sighed wearily; apparently the tough determined look was draining her fast.
"The doctors said that it was best if a radiated body is cremated instead of buried."
Harry nodded, understanding the simple yet unnecessary reason.
"I'm sorry Hermione. When we designed the bomb, it was innovation; moreover the radiation factor was nullified by certain chemicals. The terrorists must have isolated them from the external chamber. Anyway the radiation, which spreads in a gaseous form, becomes inert after 15 minutes. Why? We never found out."
"It's not your fault Harry. I'm sorry I over reacted that day."
Harry shrugged.
"So?"
"I want in." Hermione simply said.
Harry was taken aback.
"Whoa! Where? Where do you want in?"
"I'm not a fool Harry. I know that you have a plan to save the world and I want in."
"How did you know that I was planning for such a thing?"
Hermione huffed in irritation.
"Seriously Harry, you are an open book to me. You have definitely changed in these years but still I know what you would do."
Harry smiled sheepishly before a huge grin surfaced.
"We might just yet save the world."
Hermione smiled a bit at his oldest friend as the waiter arrived with their food.
"I hope you don't mind Harry, I already ordered."
"No problem 'Mione." Harry eyed the Tandoori Chicken and added, "I haven't had Punjabi for a long time."
"What are you waiting for then? Break in!"
Harry obliged her quite happily. Hermione laughed.
Half way through the meal Harry suddenly stopped. "Thank you Hermione, for being with me. You know how I am. I need you to succeed in my plans. But know this Hermione, once it starts, we cannot abort. We are only going to get one chance to change it all."
"I know Harry. I'll always be with you. I just wish Ron was here too." Hermione added sadly.
"No power can bring back the dead Hermione. Moreover we are going to start our lives anew if the trip is successful."
"What's the plan?" Hermione asked curiously. "I thought that we were going to solve this war issue?"
"The plan is much more complicated than that Hermione. But there won't be any war if we are successful."
"And if we fail?"
"We can't afford to fail. But if we do, things will happen just the way it happened this time. But that won't be our concern anymore as we might die in case of failure."
"Just what are you trying to say? You are making it confusing." Hermione looked unconvinced as well.
"This is bigger Hermione, bigger than just stopping a war, bigger than we have ever faced. This is the right time to say if you don't want to come with me. Later you won't be able to change your mind. If you come with me the probability of the plan becoming successful increases a lot but I won't force you."
Hermione took her time before answering. "I trust you Harry. I'll come with you but there is a condition. You will have to tell me everything there is to tell. No secrets."
Harry gave her a bright smile.
"Welcome to the team then 'Mione for I wasn't going to keep anything secret."
Hermione simply smiled and they continued the rest of their lunch in silence.
They paid for it when they were done and then separated for the day. Hermione went to Hogwarts to pack up while Harry double checked everything. They met again outside Hogwarts the next morning.
"Everything ready?" Harry asked cheerfully.
"Yup. So where are we going?" Hermione asked, a bit excited. She was still hurting inside, Harry knew that. But this is going to be something big, Hermione knew that quite well. Harry could just see a bit of the old Hermione back.
He held out his hand to Hermione. As she grasped his hand, he moved closer and whispered in her ears, "Cambodia." But before Hermione could react, Harry disapparated to the mentioned place.
Hermione felt the sensation of appartion but unlike the usual short feeling, this appartion was long, almost 5 seconds. When it stopped, she felt off balance and was about to fall down when strong hands grabbed her. Harry stood beside her, surrounded by a dense forest. Hermione was puzzled. She didn't expect to be in a forest. She turned to Harry.
"Where are we Harry?"
"Impatient, aren't you. Let's walk." Harry laughed and led Hermione through the forest. "We are in the forest near Angkor Wat. You know, the-?"
"The kingdom of the Khmers. So we are in Cambodia? We aren't supposed to be in some other country without permission, by the way." Hermione cut in before he could complete. Harry smiled and nodded. Same old Hermione. "I've always wanted to visit Angkor but why are we here? Is it essential to the plan?"
"I didn't say that we were going to Angkor, did I?" Harry replied slyly.
"Damn it Harry, you promised, no secrets." Hermione hated being out of the loop.
"Wow! The day Hermione Granger cussed. I've got to write that down." Harry cut short his laugh when he noticed the fury in her eyes.
"I am not a model teenage student anymore!" She almost shouted.
"Calm down Hermione, it's a surprise, not a secret."
Hermione calmed down a bit as her eyes grew weary, tired.
"It's just that I don't want to be surprised after what happened, Harry."
They had come to a clearing when Harry stopped, hearing Hermione. She was looking down and trying to push back the tears that were threatening to spill. Harry moved towards her and embraced her. The tears broke through.
"Shh, don't dwell in their memories, Hermione. You agreed to move past that. We are going to start our lives again, from the start. I would like to explain more but I think it's better to keep it for later. Because now" Harry moved back a bit and waved his hand to highlight what lay before them, "I present to you the lost city of Devagiri, the capital of the Aryans.
Tears immediately stopped flowing from Hermione's eyes as she viewed the almost mythical capital of the Primordial Aryan Family. Before her lay a huge lake with the bluest waters she had ever seen. The lake surrounded a hill where the city stood. At the top of the hill was a huge castle, probably large enough to house two Hogwarts castles. The entire city was in ruins but to Hermione it had a special charm because of that. To say that Hermione was awed would be an understatement.
"The lake runs around the city, the first line of defence. It is 3 km wide in an average throughout the circumference, actually, even 3.5 km in some areas. It was, is, filled with crocodiles, sharks, sea snakes and other deadly creatures to stop intruders. Only one narrow bridge connects the city with this forest. Starting from the lake boundary, there are anti-appartion, anti-portkey, anti-broom and several other security wards. So, once the bridge is broken, there is no entrance to the city, unless you want to swim of course."
"Amazing. But sharks are marine creatures, how-?"
"The Aryans were experts in almost every branch of magic. Never underestimate them. We are going to be one of them too."
"What? How can we be one of them?" Hermione was puzzled.
"Well, I'll tell you about the city later then. The plan is the priority now."
"Wait, before that, tell me how you found the city when experts had searched for it for over a millennia without any success?"
Harry laughed.
"Well it's a long story, but let me summarise it for you now. I spent 8 years under the tutelage of Guru Shankar Acharya. After my training was over he suggested me to visit ancient civilizations. He said that nuggets of knowledge can still be attained from minute observations. When I visited Angkor Wat, I felt this pull on my magic. It was very gentle yet insistent. As I couldn't detect any maliciousness, I followed it here. I managed to find out the library in the castle, which was assuredly 3 times bigger than the Hogwarts library and unblemished by age, where I found everything about the Aryans and their magic. My plan is actually one of their contingencies. Wanna see?"
Hermione nodded eagerly, enthusiasm clear on her face. Suddenly it was
"Now, as you can see, the bridge is no more. So we'll use another method of travel." Harry grabbed her and called his magic to him. Within a second they were engulfed in flames and disappeared.
Hermione tensed as she felt her body heating up. Although it was not uncomfortably hot she felt very dizzy and automatically closed her eyes. When she opened them she stood in front of huge doors inside what looked like the castle. "What was that?" She almost shrieked.
"That, my dear, was flame travel. Similar to phoenix fire travel but without a phoenix." Harry was enjoying surprising Hermione. During their school days it was always Hermione who had the answers and not he.
"Where did you learn that? Will you teach me?" Hermione asked, clearly impressed.
"Well, I got a probable theory at the Albanian University of Magic. Guru Shankar Acharya showed me the practical part. And sure I will."
"Albanian University of Magic?" Hermione was dismayed for missing a chance to visit the famous magical knowledge centre of Europe. "I knew I should have gone with you."
Harry laughed. "Don't worry Hermione, this is much better than Albania." Saying thus he pushed open the doors of the library.
As Hermione saw the sheer size of the library, her dismayed face turned giddy with excitement. The vast hall was stacked with row after row of books, the shelves almost touching the high ceiling. There were a few clearings in different parts where reading tables were laid out while the entire library was bathed in yellow light as if it was illuminated by invisible lamps.
"Welcome to the Aryan library, Hermione." Harry said with a flourish but Hermione was too busy looking at the books to see his dramatics. Harry sighed looking at Hermione in full library mode.
"Hermione." She didn't listen.
"Hermione." Same thing.
"HERMIONE!" Harry shouted.
"What?" Hermione retorted. She didn't like Harry disturbing him one bit.
"Most of the books are in Sanskrit and other old languages. You will only be able to understand the Latin ones at the moment. Moreover we will have ample time later to look at the books. They aren't running away."
"Right." Hermione replied a bit sheepishly. Harry just shook his head in amusement and led her to the private study room at the rear of the library. He offered her a seat and took one himself. He gathered his thoughts.
"So?" Hermione prompted.
Thinking that Hermione would better understand the actual designs of the plan, he took out the charts he had prepared, from the nearby drawer and presented them to Hermione. It took her some time to fully understand it but when she did, she was shocked.
"Is it even possible?"
"It is, Hermione. But as you can see, the formulas are incomplete. It needs some more work."
"What I don't understand is how can you be so sure that it is possible when the design itself is incomplete?" Hermione looked at him as if he was mad.
"Because it was purposefully left like that." Harry replied with a smirk before continuing. "The incomplete formulas are the parts erased away. The way I see it, it is the only chance of long lasting peace."
"How Harry?"
"Think Hermione, since the start there has always been a conflict between the non-magicals and magicals. It's not an issue that can be solved by discussing openly. The non-magicals are unsure of us, they fear us. But it's not their fault, its human nature; we always fear what we don't know. Remember the witch burnings in the medieval age? The situation is still the same. Magicals are viewed as freaks of nature. We are abominations in their eyes, not gifted. There can be only one solution to it, total separation and this plan might just do that."
"I understand your reasoning Harry, but what about the muggleborns?"
"We can take care of the details on the way but first we need to get away from this time. The muggles were developing."
"Don't tell me you have the means to time-travel. You do?" Hermione added in shock noticing Harry's smug look.
"The Aryan library has a lot of secrets."
"Enough. Tell me where the Sanskrit manuals are."
Harry laughed.
"There are no manuals Hermione. It's a University level library not school level. However as I'll need two days to make the preparations for the time travel, I'll give you my memories of the time when I learnt it."
Harry conjured a small glass jar and the pulled out copies of selected memories. After storing them in the jar, he gave it to Hermione.
"I'm going to get the required materials for the ritual and food for two days. We go back in time day after tomorrow. In the meanwhile look though the memories. There is a pensive in the upper closet."
"I'm so excited." Harry smiled. It was good to have the old enthusiastic Hermione back. But then, she said it. "We're going to see Ron again and in a few years even Rose, Hugo and Lily. Thank you Harry, for giving me another chance.
Harry was frozen. Hermione had it all wrong. But how to tell her? She looked ecstatic at a probable chance to see her family again. But who wouldn't? A part of him asked.
"You are mistaken Hermione." Harry said softly.
"Mistaken? Why?" Hermione's happy look changed to confusion.
"When I said that we would be starting our new lives, I didn't mean with them."
"You didn't?" Hermione looked a bit fearful as well as disappointed.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you Hermione but I did mean it when I asked you to move on. We won't be going back to our past. We are going before that, to the year 1950. We'll need about ten years to get ready. So we'll start our new lives there at around 1960. By new lives I mean new looks, new identity, new history. We will cease to exist as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."
"But why? We could change so much. We know Voldemort's secret. We'll be able to end him before he strikes and your plans would also be completed by the time we need it." Hermione asked frantically.
"Not everything is about us or Voldemort, Hermione. Shall I remind you the problem we are facing now? Detection by the muggles, not crazy evil dark lords. But you are right we should stop Voldemort too. But stopping him after his reincarnation won't be enough. People like Malfoy will remain the same. Voldemort showed the pureblood extremists a way. What makes you think that there won't be any more dark lords after him? What makes you think that they will leave the muggles alone? If we talk about my plans with them in such a situation, do you think that they will agree?
"If we follow your plan Hermione, we will only be starting a war against all the muggles. The purebloods will never agree to move away and like it or not they are the backbone of the wizarding world."
Hermione huffed in anger. "I don't agree. You are talking like a typical pureblood, Harry."
Harry sighed. It will be difficult to change Hermione viewpoints.
"Okay Hermione. Let's do one thing. We'll go to 1950 as per my plan and in the meantime you try your best to become proficient in Sanskrit. There are a few books here that I would like you to read. After reading those books if you still want to go to the 1990s, I won't object. You can do whatever you want to do there. Just remember, you will still be 66 when you get back. Ron will just be a child there. You will be there too, your younger self I mean and the interesting thing is you can't be seen by those who recognize you."
"What? Are you sure?" Hermione asked, hurt clear in her eyes. It was then Harry realised that he had been harsh.
"Yes Hermione, I am." Harry replied gently. "That is why I told you about starting our lives anew. After the time travel we will be not be Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Time-travel does not place us back as we were in a certain time. It's not like rewinding a disk. For example if you go back to our fourth year during the time of the Tri-wizard tournament, it will be in the form you are in right now. The Hermione Granger of our fourth year will remain the same. If the theory is correct, you won't be Hermione Granger anymore, just a non-entity, a living body and you won't be able to influence her life directly."
Hermione nodded.
"Trust me on this Hermione, you don't want to go there. Imagine how difficult it would be, seeing all of our loved ones again but not being able to tell them who we are. And the drawback of the ritual is that um- you cannot go to the future as it is not yet set."
Hermione looked at him incredulously. "Then how would I have gone to 1990 from 1950?"
"Uh- waited it out?" Harry replied sheepishly but seeing Hermione turn cationic he held out his hands in placating manner.
"Hold it Hermione. The reason I want to go back to the 1950's is because we'll have ample time to mould the opinions of the people in the right direction before Voldemort starts influencing them. I know for certain that he would come back to Britain after 1969. So we'll have 9 years of new life, friends and challenges before his arrival. After disposing him off, we'll continue with our new lives. And if everything goes well we'll be able to see our old families in one or two decades."
Hermione's rage lessened considerably and she was silent for a while. She had been looking down the entire time Harry explained. When she finally met his eyes, there was a fierce determination in those brown orbs.
"I will stay by your side Harry, I did promise you that. I don't understand everything now and I believe you have a lot more to tell me. But no matter what, I'll support you, just like the old days. After all how can I desert my only brother in all but blood?"
Harry smiled, gratitude and affection clear in his eyes.
"Thanks a lot Hermione. I promise, I'll never keep anything from you."
"No, thank you Harry, for giving me another chance at life."
"Say, would you like to be my sister for real?"
"What do you mean?" Hermione was perplexed.
"Just give me the answer Hermione. Would you?"
"Of course. We stay together, right?"
"Of course. Study those memories Hermione and learn the language. I'll do the rest for now."
Two days later the duo was in the ritual chamber. Every surface of the room was filled with drawings of various runes in some reddish-black ink. Hermione could recognise some of the Sanskrit and Norse runes but everything else was new to her. In the centre of the room was a large circle surrounded by a hexagon which in turn connected the runes on the floor, the walls and the ceiling in series. Hermione turned to Harry.
"What now Harry?"
"Well first you need to help me put these inside me, and your wand of course." He indicated to his wand and three matchbox sized objects and removed his shirt.
Hermione didn't understand. "What do you mean inside you?"
"Well," Harry explained, "The time travel ritual only transports living things. So I can't simply put these in my pockets during the ritual. Now, I would have simply swallowed them but the trunks are lined with lead to avoid its contents from interfering with the ritual. And frankly speaking, I don't want lead in my stomach. So you will have to put them under my skin, your wand included."
"Skin?" Hermione looked horrified.
"Don't fret Hermione, I'm used to pain. Just follow my lead, Okay?"
Hermione nodded uneasily.
Harry wandlessly made three rectangular cuts on his left arm and then smoothly peeled of the skin covering it. Hermione was shocked to see Harry skinning himself without even wincing. Truth be told, she felt queasy after looking him do that.
"Quick now Hermione, pour the blue potion over the open flesh." Harry indicated to one of the potion vials by his side and Hermione obliged.
"Good, now place the boxes there and pour the red potion over it." As Hermione did that Harry began to chant in a low voice and within 30 seconds the wounds had closed, new skin stretched over matchbox sized mounds.
"Now, for the wands. Make a long shallow vertical cut on each side of my vertebral column, long enough to hold our wands, put our wands over the cuts and then pour the red potion over it. No need to use the blue potion this time."
"Done. See? It was very easy." Harry said jovially as Hermione finished doing the minor operation.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "You have a lot to tell me Harry. You can start after the ritual on how you had that level of pain tolerance."
Harry chuckled. "Of course Hermione. I promised, no secrets."
"Good, what next?"
"It's simple now. We lie down inside the circle. The ritual is designed to start automatically within the next 2 minutes."
Hermione did so and Harry joined her after closing the door properly. They could see the runes starting to glow in various colours as the room began to fill up with magic. They could feel the room saturating.
Hermione grasped Harry's hand as the room heated up.
"I forgot to mention two things Hermione." Harry said.
"What?"
"It might be a little painful and…"
"And what, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"We'll be naked when we arrive."
Hermione didn't have any time to retort as it started then; excruciating pain tearing her apart. She had faced Bellatrix's Cruciatius before but it was a love tap in comparison to the pain she was feeling at the moment. She screamed her throat raw but instead of lessening, the pain increased with time till she couldn't take anymore and blacked out.
\m/\m/\m/
A/N: Hehehe, I love Cliffhangers. Don't forget to make it fav or comment! PM me if you want to BETA it.
ArunabhAryan out \m/
…To be continued