In the beginning the Eternals were created from necessity. Their life started in the state of adolescence, the idea was that at this age of development they would create their own rules and assignments, which they did. For a measure of time that doesn't exist in this universe they argued and fought until they came to an agreement. When they left that meeting, they simultaneously left childhood and became the roles assigned to themselves. As time passed they became familiar with their tasks and eventually, in a way, became perfect at performing them. The only way in which they failed to perform their task was because their perfection caused a lack of ingenuity. This led to boredom. Boredom led to our story.
Harry Potter was not having the time of his life, I can tell you that. The boy was chased around the back his primary school by his enormous cousin and his equally unpleasant friends who were known as "Dudley's Gang". As I was watching, Harry rushed into the area where the kitchen bins were kept and used his accidental magic to jump like he had superhero power onto the school roof. Dudley's gang quickly glanced at the smelly bins before running off to finish their hunt.
To say that Harry was confused would be an understatement. The boy simply had no idea how he had managed to jump to roof. His mind rushed through several scenarios of what could of logically happened and finally settled on a strong wind, rather then the most logical answer. In that moment I was about the turn my eyes and find someone else to observe, this moment could never bring any long-term significance in the boy's life – only another denial, when something very remarkable happened. Harry was hit in the back of the head with a book.
He gave a short cry of surprise, grabbing his head to take a better look at the book. Confusion spread across his youthful face as he stared at the title. Breathing heavily, he sat down, leaning against a ventilation shaft. Questions began to form in his mind that none of the Dursely logic could answer. Was this a trick? A cruel and unusual punishment? The answer to both of those is no, but Harry didn't know this. Gently, almost as if he was afraid that the book would bite him, Harry opened to the first page. Harry slowly turned each page trying to comprehend what they said. The first few pages of reviews and a title page confused him, but the page beyond that only caused him to gasp.
A ringing school bell brought Harry back to his surroundings, the roof of his school. Both he and I know that he would have to find a way off the roof in order to not be caught. If Harry were caught the number of chances he would have to exam the book would dramatically decrease. The reading light of his cupboard had never been particularly good.
Quickly, Harry checked the edges of the school roof. Unfortunately, on most of the sides there were windows, while they did make efficient footholds would definitely alert the teachers that there was a student out of place. I forced down a chuckle, imaging a surprised teacher gasping at the sight of a skinny seven year old, clinging onto her window frame. On the last wall Harry found a metal gutter that he determined, after shaking it to test if it would hold his weight, that he could climb down it with little difficulty. After stuffing the book down his pants, Harry started to make his shaky decent downwards. He silently groaned as he realized that his movements were causing the drain to hit against the brick, making a loud rattling noise. Harry started to climb faster in hope that nobody would hear him. I watched as a school janitor, Mr. Elis rose from his cup of tea to investigate the noise.
Harry was very close to the ground by the time Mr. Elis reached the door closest to the gutter Harry was climbing. Only a few more meters until sweet earth would be reached. So close in fact, that it looked that rather then climbing down from the roof, Harry had been trying to climb up to it. Harry stopped instantly after hearing the heavy fire door close. It was only then; seemingly to late that he heard Mr. Elis's footsteps. Laying his scared forehead on the red brick, Harry felt the disappointment rush through his body and prepared himself mentally for the yelling that was to come. But there was none. Mr. Elis had just stared at the gutter, muttered to himself about getting a new hearing aid and stalked off. Mr. Elis hadn't seen anything but an unmoving gutter, certainly not a young boy. Harry stayed stunned in stunned disbelief for a few seconds before scrambling for the ground, sighing in relief as his scuffed sneakers touched the solid earth.
I do remember one very significant thing happening in the children's park that Harry escaped to that afternoon. While it typically wouldn't be considered a terribly romantic place, two young lovers had first met in the park when they were very young and the man had decided to propose there. It was very sweet; he had chosen a beautifully warm spring day and had bent down on one knee while she sat on one of the rusty swings. Pity she said no.
But Harry had no idea of this occurrence so his thoughts stayed full of the book and its possible contents as he strolled over to an old oak tree and sat at it's large, twisted base. Harry returned to the page with the publishing details. According to the small print this book had been published ten years from now, in 1997. Harry couldn't fathom how this was possible. The only conclusion he could come up with was that this was a joke, some elaborate prank played by one of his tormentors. But how would of they have known that Harry was on the school roof? The book had also been dropped onto Harry 's head, which didn't make any sense. Harry knew he was missing some puzzle pieces, so he turned the page to read further, figuring that reading the book would be a good start to seeing the bigger picture.
Dappled light of late afternoon fell onto the letter contained in pages of the book. Earlier Harry had read it, barely breathing, and hadn't moved since finishing reading the signature of the sender.
Dear Harry Potter,
My name is Death. Please do not be alarmed at the notion of being contacted by myself. In fact some would consider it an honor, I do not speak to many of the living. I feel as if I must make you understand my role in life. I am not, as many people mistakenly say, a force but a result. I have never killed anyone; I am a collector of the souls that have left this world. I have been performing my job since before time, in millions of universes that exist.
You are Harry James Potter, born to James and Lily Potter on July 31, 1980. Your parents were both wizards and you are one as well. It was not a car crash that killed your parents but another wizard by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle who has taken to calling himself Lord Voldemort, a name that roughly translates from French to flees from death.
Now that I have introduced the two of us, I will inform you of what this book is and why you have received it. This book is the story of your first year at the magical school of Hogwarts. As you can see the book says that it is written by J. K. Rowling. Rowling doesn't exist in this universe. She wrote the seven part series about your life her own universe. Ms. Rowling doesn't believe that you are real, she merely thinks that your life is an idea that came to her when riding on a train. There are millions of people in every universe who are just like Ms. Rowling and they are known as writers.
As I said earlier there are seven books about your life, one for each year of your life from the age of 11 to 17. I suggest that you read them all as these books not only contain a vast amount of knowledge about who you are they can help guide you in life. They can even help you create your own future, a choice you would not of received if you did not have these books. In order to fill the pages of this book with the words of another, simply tap the next book in the 'also written by J.K. Rowling' section of the book. You will, however only be able to read the next book, you cannot skip from, say, the fourth to the seventh.
I wish the best of luck with your life and hope not to see for a very long time.
Yours truly,
Death.
As I finished reading the letter that left the little body of Harry Potter so silent, I sighed. What on earth was my old friend getting into?
