I do not own any of the work from which this story takes characters, settings, and anything else from. I do not own Harry Potter, RWBY, Call of Duty, or Deus Ex.
A figure, form concealed by a dark cloak, stood staring out at the ruins of a burning city from upon a cliff. Through his form was concealed, one could see the advanced-looking armor that he was wearing under his cloak, its presence made known by the armored hands and feet that were visible to all, along with the bulkiness of it showing under the thin cloth. The armored man is somebody of great importance, somebody who was destined for great things. He is a wizard, one that was known the world over for killing somebody who would see to its destruction while just an infant, and also the one that had failed to kill that same person again when he resurfaced years later. The name of the wizard is Harry Potter.
(WARNING: World-building)
The first seventeen years of his life would be considered by most as horrifying and difficult by some, but from his perspective, it was the easiest portion of the cluster fuck that he described his life as. He was orphaned as a one year old baby by a powerful evil wizard named Voldemort, a man known for dealing with his problems by blasting them away or torturing them into insanity. Many didn't know why the infamous Dark Lord was after the Potters specifically, only that they were his enemies in the war which gripped the nation. As it turned out, there was a prophecy about the two of them but was kept from the rest of the Wizarding world by Dumbledore, a prophecy which would put little Harry and Voldemort at odds. The evil wizard was so very powerful and evil, delving into dangerous and dark magics for his power, that scarce was the time that any escaped death once he wanted you gone. It was well known that the goals of Voldemort, or Tom Riddle when he was younger, was to rule the world, starting with the wizards, before moving on to the mundane world. When he came to kill Harry that All Hallow's Eve, the killing curse, a curse known my its sure-killing power, was reflected back to Voldemort, supposedly vanquishing him once and for all. Harry became known as the Boy Who Lived who could be identified by the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, the only mark that Voldemort left on his body from that fateful day.
While the Wizarding world was celebrating, Harry was left with his magic hating relatives to be raised due to the machinations of an old man. His relatives, being the worst sort for him to live with, began to abuse Harry physically, mentally, and emotionally starting when he was able to walk. He was not told his real name until he was about to start school, instead he was called freak and boy. He was treated as an indentured servant while being punished for doing better than his cousin. This atmosphere was enough to continually break his spirit, cultivating a meekness in him.
The Chief Warlock, the head of the wizard's legislative and judiciary body, or Wizengamot, was the one responsible for placing Harry in that negative environment. His name was Albus Dumbledore and was the headmaster for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He disregarded Harry's parents' wishes in their will which was sealed on his orders, which was legal thanks to the corrupt nature of the wizarding court. Dumbledore was, on the outside, a kindly grandfather-figure who saw the best in everyone and had the wellbeing of the wizarding world at the forefront of his mind. To those that truly knew him, they knew him as a highly manipulative man who desired to control the entirety of the Wizarding world by utilizing his fame, fortune, and the inherent sheep-like mindset of the wizard folk. Once he saw the world for what it was, he began using his fame from "killing" Grindelwald to place himself in positions of power legally. When the fame from that started to wane, he took to creating his own Dark Lord to face. His target had been Tom Riddle, a Halfblood who grew up in an orphanage and would later become known as Lord Voldemort.
All in all, Dumbledore had become a modern day Emperor Palpatine, the fictional person who rose through the ranks of the government only to overthrow it once he had acquired enough power, announcing himself as the Emperor. It would have worked too, if the prophecy about Tom Riddle and Harry Potter never came to light. Because of that, Dumbledore couldn't be the one to kill Riddle. Though, with prophecy now out, Dumbledore could plan around it, in order to further his plans. He would end up making several moves which would lead to his downfall.
The first step of his grand plan was for him to find the prophesied child and ensure that the parents would be killed by Death Eaters and removed from influencing the child. Magical blocks would be placed on the youngling to ensure the prophecy wasn't completely true. If the child was an "equal" to Voldemort, he or she would be monstrously powerful. Then he would have the child raised in a horrible way, abused and hated so that they were meek and subdued by the time they arrived in Hogwarts. To ensure this, he would charm the caretakers to be as heavy handed as possible, but have them refrain from killing their charge. The next step was to use his authority to seal any will that could remove the child from his control, while also setting up himself as their magical guardian so he could steal funds from their accounts. Once the child had grown up, it would be easy to plan the child's death within the walls of Hogwarts, especially if he lured Voldemort here in some fashion to do the deed. Once the dust had settled, he would be able to kill Voldemort and establish himself as a Lord of All of Magic, and control the world as he wished.
His great planning, however, didn't account for one thing. Lily " The Smartest Witch of Her Generation" Potter.
Lily had caught on early to what Dumbledore was planning and, behind everybody's back, stocked her personal trunk with everything she could think of; potions, artifacts, food, knowledge, everything was grown in for preparation. Once done, she tied it to her son's magical core, ensuring that he would be able to call it to him whenever he would so desire. The next step which would ensure that nobody could control her son ever again was a special ritual the night that Voldemort paid his visit. Instead of a spell to create a Horcrux, Lily used a lighter version which would bind her soul to Harry's and would stay with him until his magical maturity at his 17th birthday. With this, Harry would have somebody to guide and teach him about life, magic, and science, and also be there for him as a friend.
When the ritual finished, and unexpected incident had occurred after her other ritual of protection removed Voldemort by rebounding his killing curse. It seemed that the Dark Lord was planning to make a Horcrux with the death of Harry, and, as his soul was already torn to shreds, the piece of his soul latched onto Harry's, seeking to take over its new vessel and the magic inside. The soul of Lily wasn't about to let anything of the sort happen and began combating the process the other soul piece was attempting on her son. It was inevitable, the light magical soul of Lily Potter against the dark fragment of Riddle's in a fight over Harry's body, magic, and soul.
The "battle" of the souls lasted until Harry's fourth birthday, each clash would inadvertently harm Harry, who didn't know any better considering the mental, physical, and phycological abuse that his relatives were constantly exposing him to. It came to a head when he fainted one day and met Athena, a being born in his mind that was the combination of Lily, Voldemort's Horcrux, and Harry's soul that came into existence during the clashes.
Thanks to Athena, all of the negative aspects of the abuse, magical blocks, and manipulations was negated early on. Also thanks to her, Harry had his first friend, one who would never betray him and always encouraged him to do his best. But the best thing about Athena, was that she began teaching him magic. The power to alter reality so excited a younger Harry that he took to the sessions quickly, becoming quite proficient in a few years. By the time he was set to start Hogwarts, he would be at the level of the Seventh years in wandless magic alone. Thanks to the trunk made by Lily, which came when called, he had a perfect working environment to experiment and perform magic at his leisure. It also helped tremendously that Athena was the combination of the magical juggernaut of Voldemort, the incredibly knowledgeable Lily Potter, and the flexible and new Harry, making her the best teacher in the world for him.
Athena taught him much more than magic. She, being a recreation of Lily, knew plenty of mundane sciences and philosophy, pushing Harry's understanding of everything. She also taught him to always strive for greater things, as she was his mother in a sense, and wanted her son to achieve greatness. The part of her that was Riddle warned him of the political and manipulative environment that he would experience in the future and taught him darker magics and the mind arts to prepare him, as well as how to be deviously cunning and arrogantly charming. With such a significant influence in his early development years, how could Harry be anything but what his mother wanted him to be. Though his magical potential was nurtured by the lessons, it was his mental and physical growth which remained unchallenged.
In order to fix specific areas of his abused and broken body, and to also help him accommodate his massive magical reserves that had grown due to the continual clashed Lily and Voldemort had while inside his magical core, Athena needed to alter Harry's body with the control she had over his magic. Being part of Harry, literally born from his soul, she had total control over his reserves as if they were her own. By channeling the magic into Harry's body, she began to alter his muscles, bones, nerves, and blood. Everything about Harry was flooded with an overwhelming amount of magic. As the process came to a climax, various areas of his body started to break down under the intense pressure the amount of magic placed on it. Literally tearing him apart. Athena, horrified at this unforeseen consequence, channeled more magic to heal the affected areas. As the hours past by, Harry's body was put into a cycle of breaking and mending, saturating it with potent magic.
Eventually, his body began to adapt to the energy that was killing it and started to absorb his magic, infusing it into his very flesh and bone. The result was a super charged body that granted him a few boons. Thanks to the magic, and Athena's intent flowing with it, all of his muscles, bones, nerves, and bodily functions were boosted to superhuman levels. He was stronger than multiple men put together, faster than sprinting animals, and quicker than a striking snake. His mind and magic also received a few enhancements. He could outthink geniuses, and retain any and all knowledge gained through his senses. His mind arts jumped to the level of a master within a shorter time thanks to his improvements. But, unfortunately, his body was also saturated in magic, which meant he would have to relearn all of his magical exercises and also be careful with his movements.
Because this transformation happened when he was younger, as he grows, there was the likelihood that the enhancements will grow as well.
Another benefit to this was that his magic was now almost utterly at his control. Wandless, wordless magic was now not only possible, but was looking to be the only way he could cast since wands wouldn't be able to handle his volume of power.
This growth was essential for his continued survival and individuality in the future. The only thing that Harry and Athena needed to prepare for was the entrance into Hogwarts. It had long been decided by the two to act the part that Dumbledore had wanted, fooling him into thinking nothing was wrong with his plan, which might lead to him directly interfering.
So when Hagrid came to take the young wizard to get his school supplies, he was met with the meek boy that didn't have any confidence in himself. When they arrived at Gringotts, Harry managed to convince the gentle giant to allow him to do his business alone. Once unaccompanied he met with his account manager, the one responsible for the Potter fortune and set things straight. Removing marriage contracts, stopping the drain on his accounts, and taking an inheritance test was what he did. After swearing the Goblin to secrecy and preventing the ministry from finding about his emancipation, Harry walked out of there Lord Potter, as well as the lord of other houses. He was, of course, surprised at the houses from Hogwarts being his, but was grateful for his luck either way. He had managed to snatch a couple of books and artifacts, along with plenty of gold for the stores, before he left.
Shopping went as was usual, getting the required items and never getting anything else at the behest of Hagrid, who was probably on Dumbledore's orders. It's not like Harry needed anything else considering all that was in his mother's, now his, trunk. Even the trunk itself was a feat of magical engineering with it being ten compartments instead of the usual maximum of 7, while also boasting much more room. The last compartment was a good 2,000 square miles, for Pete's sake, having been created by channeling the very magic of the Earth via ley lines into it!
When it came time to get an owl, they stepped into a magical animal trade store. Almost immediately Harry could feel the presence of two beings that were calling to him. After consulting Athena, he recognized the beginnings of a familiar bond, which were rare as animals normally don't have compatible souls with wizards. Going towards them, he discovered that a snowy owl flecked with black spots was eyeing him with interest. He decided to purchase her before going towards the other, which he discovered was in the back room.
Venturing forth, and making sure that he was out of sight of the shopkeeper, Harry found the second signature, which belonged to a pitch black cat that was locked in a small cage. Releasing it, Harry decided to smuggle the cute feline into his trunk, which he stored in his aether shortly after.
It was a fascinating find that Lily had discovered. An aether was what magicals used to conjure and vanish materials and objects, and it acted as a middle ground between intent and actuality. Whenever something was banished or conjured, they would take shape, or be stored in an aether of the witch or wizards, and then constructed or deconstructed with their magic. It was like a stepping stone into somebody's actual magic, and it made a great storage area. Obviously, Lily kept the discovery to herself, as it had a great potential for abuse.
Once they exited, after paying for Hedwig, his new owl familiar, they went into the wand store. Harry felt that it was a waste of his time, but Athena argued that he needed a wand in order to blend in. Finally getting fed up with the process, he made sparks fly out of the holly w/ phoenix feather wand with wandless magic, to the appeasement of Ollivander and Hagrid. With shopping done, Hagrid took Harry back to his relatives and bid him farewell.
Before the day of his first year, Harry spent more time with his new familiars. He had already named them Hedwig, the snowy owl, and Nyx, the black nundu cub. It was quite a shock that he had picked up a nundu cub at the magical alley, considering that they were class XXXXX dangerous magical creatures and the sale of which usually put you into magical prison. It was even more surprising that he had a familiar bond with one, something that was unheard of. Athena speculated that it was due to his massive reserves and magically saturated body and blood closing the compatibility. After all, he could be considered a magical creature with the amount of magic surging through his frame.
They turned out to be great friends for the still lonely Potter lord, and, even though they couldn't speak yet due to the fledging statues of the bond, they were expressing themselves with images just the same. Nyx turned into something of a protecter of Harry, which was ironic considering he was leagues stronger than her. He thought it was cute though, and did nothing to dissuade her. Hedwig was much the same, though took an interest in his health more than his physical wellbeing. He would often push himself physically and magically in his training sessions and it would be up to Hedwig to make him take a break.
School started for Harry, which meant his acting skills were put to the test. For some reason, considering it was supposed to be the safest place on earth, his first three years at Hogwarts were plagued with situations that could be considered hazardous to the health of the students, which required his direct intervention to solve most of the time. This had a side effect of dissuading his from staying in the wizarding world. First year had the philosopher's stone, a relic which could grant eternal youth and produce gold, being guarded by the most simplistic traps, second had a Basilisk and a Horcrux wreaking havoc on the student body, and third year was met with an army of soul sucking demons and an escaped convict who shouldn't have been in prison anyway. Each was met with a Harry Potter who acted like he was supposed too, with a few key differences.
In first year, he "rescued" the stone (Replaced it with a fake, which was destroyed shortly after), killing Quirrell in the process after scouring his mind with Legilimency. The accompanying Voldemort, or what passed as him, had no idea that Harry could perform such magic, or that his minion was without any protection whatsoever. Second year was dealt with in a simple way. Due to his being the Slytherin Lord, all it took was a flash of the ring and the Basilisk deferred to him. It now had a nice home in one of the compartments in his trunk, and had promised to behave. The Horcrux was also dealt with, having been sent to the goblins for purging and to also bring to their attention that the foul objects actually exist. Third year was easy as well. Convincing the dog, whom he knew was the animagus of Sirius thanks to Lily's memories, to enter his trunk and recuperate was easy. Dealing with the dementors was something else altogether. He had to learn the Patronus Charm from another of his father's friends, Remus Lupin. He didn't trust him though, since he was made to swear oaths to Dumbledore in order to remain at Hogwarts when he was younger.
Fourth year was an experience and a half. With the two schools of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang attending as well for the Triwizard Tournament, a magical binding competition that he inevitably found himself participating in, Harry had plenty to keep him busy. He already knew that the defense teacher wasn't who he appeared to be because he could always smell the potion that he took every hour and recognized it as polyjuice. He didn't stop the man though, for he had been looking for a way to ease the magical world into knowing of his greater than average magical talent. What better excuse was there compared to a life threatening tournament?
The tasks were simple to him, though he made sure to lower his full potential. Instead of destroying the dragon, or slaughtering the underwater creatures in Black Lake, he only made an impressive show of outsmarting the magical creatures. It was also a great opportunity to slowly change his form, which he had hidden using his metamorphmagus talent, back into his original. By the time the second task had finished, his skin and eyes were already subtly glowing like they were after his transformation and his musculature was already improving. Excuses that he provided to the probing questions of the student body was that training was really paying off. His friends had an inkling as to the real Harry, but were still surprised at the rate he was changing before their very eyes.
The final task was a surprise, as he was transported to a graveyard after disabling Cedric, and came face-to-face with Peter Pettigrew, the real betrayer of his family. The rat had escaped the previous year thanks to the timely intervention of the dementor horde. The ritual that he was then forced to complete could have been stopped by Harry, but he knew it would be easier to fight the physical form of Voldemort than chasing his shade. He did substitute his blood for some extra he carried on him, which he would normally use to write more complex ruins. That would prevent the dark lord from attaining his impressive and magically charged blood to use in the ritual.
The fight, if one could call it that, that happened shortly after the revival and summoning of his inner circle was laughable. He was so sure of his ability and skill, that Harry didn't take it seriously and easily trumped Voldemort, who was still getting used to his body. Finally having enough, Harry grabbed Pettigrew and the cup, being whisked away to appear before the gathered mass of witches and wizards on the Hogwarts grounds. With Pettigrew in hand, it was easy to convince the minister to hold a trial for Sirius Black.
With Sirius freed, Harry was taken to Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the Blacks. There he discovered yet another Horcrux, this time in the form of Slytherin's Locket. Sending off to the goblins with Kreacher, the house elf that had been guarding it, Harry set about explaining everything to Sirius, whom he knew would protect his secrets thanks to the rigorous mental arts training that every child in the Black family received. He also told him about how Athena came to be and how Dumbledore was plotting to use him to some end; How he had been altered and was hiding much of his magical power for fear of Dumbledore attempting something.
Harry also explained how, during the years at Hogwarts-in which he appeared to be sub-par-he was really acting that way to the public, but would retreat to the Room of Requirement to learn and perfect various magics and the application of such. Finally, he explained how he sought to live his own life according to the ideals of himself, Athena, and Lily. Sirius was quick to get on board as he viewed it like an elaborate prank on Dumbledore, especially after he realized that Dumbledore was the one to send him to Azkaban to remove Harry from his influence. He even decided to help Harry with the darker aspects of magic along with some rituals to improve some of his physical and magical attributes, all of which were specialities of the Black Family. He even decided to help Harry become an Animagus like how the Marauders became ones. Sirius didn't know that Lily had already been one, a Siberian Tiger, and that Harry already had the process to becoming one down. It was fine for Harry, he was glad to learn from his only family left.
The animagus process granted Harry a never before seen result. Instead of one form which would represent the inner animal and which would reflect his soul, Harry had three. A giant feline, which appeared to be a blend of two of more large cats, a Dire wolf, and a Gyrfalcon. Sirius surmised that the extra forms may have been the result of the state of Harry's soul, which was occupied by the combined form of Voldemort's Horcrux, and Lily's soul. It would stand to reason that the extra souls had allowed extra transformations, each being reflections of the soul. Harry and Sirius both realized that the amount of time necessary to master these forms would take a while, and would probably need years to complete.
Towards the end of the summer, Sirius relented to Dumbledore and allowed him to house the Order of the Phoenix at the Black House. Though Harry wanted to attend and be a part of the Order, seeing as he was the one who was destined to defeat Riddle, the insufferable Molly Weasley kept him and everybody else out. Incidentally, Harry had the pleasure of finding out from Dumbledore that his relatives were set upon by a couple of Dementors. The Chief Warlock tried to guilt him with their deaths by saying that if he had been there, he could have used magic to protect them. It was ironic considering the head of wizarding law was essentially telling him that he should have broken the law regarding underage magic use.
Harry had never liked some of the Weasleys. Barring the Twins, Charlie, Bill (Whom he had never met), and Arthur, the rest of the red-headed family were firmly in Dumbledore's pocket. Through the use of Legilimency, Harry discovered very early on that Dumbledore and Molly had planned to marry Harry off to Ginny, in order to have direct access to his inheritance. Ginny had been brought up to believe that she was destined to marry him and become Lady Potter, while Ron had been paid off to spy on him and report everything to the Headmaster. Harry, who was acting at the time, pretended to be a friend to the youngest Weasleys, but this year, he planned to slowly distance himself while also bringing Hermione, one of his true friends, onto his secrets. He also had plans to bring his other friends with her as well. Friends like Daphne Greengrass, Luna Lovegood, Blaise Zabini, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Neville Longbottom, and many more.
Fifth year started with the introduction of Umbridge, a bigot to an insane degree and somebody who was personally after Harry for the disrespect he had shown towards the ministry. Throughout the year, she tried to produce an outburst from the Potter Lord, eventually doing so when said lord was tired of her obvious attempts. When he saw the blood quill that she had given him to write lines with, he knew he had her legally. A quick call to Susan's Aunt, Amelia Bones, and the toad was sent to Azkaban. It did cost him though, as he had to reveal his Lordship to the law enforcement. It inevitably got back to the ministry and Dumbledore, who all had a fit that a politically powerful Lord hadn't been snatched up by anyone.
Other than that, Voldemort, besides staying low, started to send visions to the Potter lord through their connection. Funnily enough, the connection didn't exist anymore and the only way Harry received them was through the Ravenclaw Diadam which he had found earlier in the year. The vision showed the entrance to the Department of Mysteries, which was the closest thing the Ministry had to a research and development division. Harry knew it was likely a trap, but was interested in going anyway. The wealth of knowledge that he could pilfer, along with making a fool of Riddle was too tempting. So Harry, along with some of his closer friends, who he had trained to a decent level, left for the Ministry at the end of the year.
Arriving, Harry had quickly stunned his friends, found the Unspeakable's library and stored everything he could find into his trunk, and then returned to his friends who he woke up, playing off the idea of a defense system. After an exciting chase through the department after retrieving the prophecy, they met in the room with the Veil of Death to make a final stand. Really though, Harry was just preparing to finish the fight, single-handedly, when the Order of the Phoenix showed up. The fighting broke out again, with both sides trading fire. Harry had to switch to stunners instead of the piercing spells he had been using earlier to save face in front of the Order.
Things were going well until Bellatrix moved her duel with Sirius toward the Veil. Though Sirius had the upper hand, having been recuperating for longer after the trial than Bellatrix had, he took his sweet time finishing her off. Before the final blow could be struck, Harry spied Dumbledore casting a spell at Sirius, which tripped him up enough to allow Bellatrix to blast him into the Veil. Fury was the primary emotion the Harry felt, at both Bellatrix and Dumbledore, but mostly at himself. He could have ended the fight ages ago if he would have fought with everything he had. What followed was a blur as he caught up to Bella near the atrium and used his knowledge of magic to wreak havoc on the deranged LeStrange's body, breaking bones, tearing muscles, and boiling blood. It was here that Voldemort showed up to save Bella before engaging the now appeared Dumbledore in combat.
When all was done, multiple deaths occurred on the dark side, and only Sirius Black died on the light side. Harry was sent back to his relatives by Dumbledore, who had the audacity to look smug when he ordered him there. He didn't put up much of a fight though, as he was still drowning in self-guilt at the death of his only family member left besides Athena. It took a while, but Nyx, Hedwig, and Athena managed to get him out of his funk and working on improving his understanding of mundane sciences, something which Athena stressed was important.
Later on in the summer, Harry received a message from Gringotts claiming that he was now the Lord Black, due to the will left by Sirius. Because of his new lordship, he now owned all of the assets that Black owned, which included the library, plenty of monies, and all of the properties, which included Grimmauld Place. He was quick to move, hating his confinement in house which brought nothing but bad memories. Another thing that he discovered was that he now owned Kreacher, the old house elf. Normally, Harry wouldn't want a house elf, but his interest was peaked when he ran some tests on Kreacher and also Dobby, who had demanded to work for him after Kreacher became his elf. Examining their magic revealed a complex curse that affected them in a severe way, deforming their bodies and constraining their magic. It also acted to enslave them by requiring them to bond to a wizard in order to receive a portion of their magic and survive. It was an insidious curse and one which Harry promised to Dobby and Kreacher to remove. He had to live like a house elf for the first decade of his life, and so felt a desire to help the House Elf race.
Sixth year started with Dumbledore using him to get the attention of a renown potion's master, Horace Slughorn. The man, while brilliant in his field, also possessed incredible connection skills, having a hand in many people's lives. Returning to Hogwarts, Harry found little to do besides privately study as best as he could and to work on his Animagus transformations. It helped that he had a bird and a feline familiar to assist him, though he had to interact with Nyx in private, lest the teaching staff become aware of a nearly full grown Nundu in the castle. There was no way they could ever go well.
The only other interesting things this year were the lessons that Dumbledore made him go through in a way to figure out who the man was, which was funny considering that all of Voldemort's memories were available to Harry through Athena. It was also humorous to him when he discovered that Dumbledore foolishly placed a Horcrux on his finger, the ring, which gave him a lethal rotting curse. It could have been cured with help from the Philosopher's Stone, but Harry wasn't about to let the Dark Lord in White recover from his mistake. It was also fun watching as Malfoy attempted to assassinate the Headmaster with various items and poisons. All failed of course, as the old man was quite crafty, despite his handicap.
At the end of the year, Harry was taken on a Horcrux hunt with Dumbledore, who then made Harry force him to consume all of the potion impeding their progress. Whatever the potion was, which Harry assumed it to be a Dementia Potion based on Dumbledore's babbling, it was accelerating his death. Returning to the school, they were met with Snape who told the Headmaster of the multiple deaths of various Death Eaters who had attempted to come through a Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. Harry had already realized Malfoy's plan and sabotaged the cabinet to eviscerate any who attempted to go through it. At this time, Snape killed Dumbledore as he had apparently made an unbreakable vow to do the deed. It wouldn't have mattered as the headmaster was only hours away from dying from his curse anyway.
With Dumbledore's death passed off on age, Snape became the headmaster, and not much changed that year. When the year was over, Harry went back to Grimmauld Place to finish spending time with Athena, who was spelled to disappear upon his 17th birthday. It was a sad affair when the date passed, as Athena had been the one to help him the most. Before she finally dissipated, she told Harry to never wallow in self-doubt and to always cherish the good times they had. In one final act, Athena channeled the remainder of her impressive magic into Harry's, boosting his reserves and allowing him to keep the Animagus forms which Athena's existence contributed to. Harry took Athena's advice to heart and threw himself back into fixing the elves, which had become top priority for him.
It was easy once he figured out the nature of the curse to remove it. Once removed, Dobby shot up to Harry's height of 6' 5", and his form filled out. Like other renditions of elves in fiction, Dobby's skin, eyes, and silver hair seemed to glow with an inner power, much like a tamer version of Harry's. His control over his magic also increased as well, making it so he could most likely out perform any witch or wizards sans Harry and Voldemort. Dobby's mentality also changed. Whereas before, one could call him stupid and inept at things and conversation, he was now an intellectual that could keep up with Harry and his train of thought. Through Dobby, Harry had him contact the other elves in order to fix them as well, knowing it would remove a significant resource from the dark side of the coming conflict. Because of the ritual also removing the need to bond, as well as any existing bond, he could free them from their masters.
It took a couple of weeks, but he was able to change the entire population of the House Elves into, as Dobby calls it, the High Elves. The name change was reflective on their literal statues change from being slaves, to being a sentient and powerful magical race. Though the elves had no need for a master, not having anybody to answer to, as well as go, made them feel out of place. Harry suggested that they occupy his trunk, which had plenty of room for a new society of elves. Dobby accepted on behalf of his new race, which had quickly taken to seeing Harry as their lord and leader.
When news of the lack of house elves reached the magical population, their were nearly riots in the streets as people found themselves with none of the chores done and none of the food prepared. It came as no surprise to Harry, who knew the wizarding world was incredibly lazy. News also reached the Goblins about the deed that Harry had performed for the elves and quickly contacted him. They told him that the same organization that had placed the curse on the elves so long ago had also targeted what they used to be, Dwarves. Of course, Harry had always wondered where the Dwarves went, as the short people brought in by Lockhart couldn't have been the actual Dwarves. He was surprised at the effectiveness of the curses used by this organization, but knew they were probably long gone, goblins were just vicious like that. Still, Harry promised to look into helping the Goblins with their curse as well.
Seventh year started with Harry and the gang of friends training in the room of Requirement. He knew that at the end of the year, something would go wrong as was usual. And he was right, as in the final couple of weeks of the school year, Voldemort showed up with an army of dark wizards and creatures. Harry had excellent foresight and managed to gather all of the light forces in Hogwarts to fight. He had also managed to save the majority of the aurors thanks to equipment he had enchanted and donated to the force. He also distributed more of this enchanted equipment to the older students and teachers who were getting ready to fight. These included armor made from various skins of animals along with jewelry to enhance certain aspects of combat for the wearer. He also supplied them with many potions which were essential to long engagements that he had the now smarter elves in his trunk brew. All in all, the Hogwarts forces were ready for war.
The start of the engagement was quick and decisive. the Dark forces couldn't keep up with a prepared light side, though they were more ruthless and wild with their casting. Both sides began to take heavy losses before Voldemort came to join the fray. He had been holding back and letting his minions do the heavy lifting. When he finally arrived to the front lines, he took it upon himself to take out the support that Harry had. Unleashing a slew of the darkest and most twisted curses, Harry's friends were ill prepared to defend themselves. Tired as they were from the prior conflict, they could only watch helplessly as dark fire, freezing ice, corrosive acid, and many more implements of death crashed into their number. They tried to brave it and return fire, but they didn't account for Voldemort upgrading his body to nearly match Harry with dark rituals. They were cut down until only Luna Lovegood was left alive, and even then, her death was still assured.
In a rage more terrible than when Sirius died, Harry lashed out and his magic, which was much more in tune with his will than any other, shot out to vaporize Riddle. Due to his distraction, he missed most of the inner circle gathering around him to take one more parting shot before departing. Being told by Voldemort that Harry could not die by any other hand than his, they sought to cripple him and make their conquest easier. Torture curses, fire, flaying curses, bone breakers and much more were cast upon his body, healing just as quickly as it was destroyed. Annoyed at the lack of disfigurement, the darkest of curses were used to scar his skin. Eventually, two specific curses were used which would stick with Harry for the rest of his time on Earth. A dark cutting curse was applied to his left arm, removing it while also preventing it from healing. And finally, a sinister curse was cast upon Harry's magic, one that would make itself known in the coming weeks.
Through it all, Harry kept his eyes locked with Luna's, braving the pain in an attempt to at least ensure her safety. When his torturers finally finished, he crawled over to Luna and performed Legilimency on her. Within her mindscape, they spent the time that they had talking, which was lengthened due to the speed of thought. Talking gave way to love making, as Luna had been one of his lovers during his time at Hogwarts. Towards the end of the time they had left, Luna told Harry to keep living, and to never allow himself to wallow in grief and self-doubt, that to do so would disrespect his friends and family. It was almost the exact same thing Athena had told him before she, too, had passed away. Harry promised her before the light finally left her eyes.
That day was forever remembered by Harry as the Hogwarts Massacre, for so many on both sides had died because of the desires of a madman. He later found out the curse applied to him and its devastating effect. His very magic stopped responding to his commands, and started to attack anything and every living being near him. It was termed Magical Disassociation, for his magic failed to respond to his will. With it, interaction with anybody became too hazardous, especially magicals, who's magic triggered a stronger reaction from the curse. With nothing else left to do, Harry went into isolation to the Potter Manner. He was still inclined to research and development of magic and mundane studies, and sought to use the free time to develop a cure for himself and the Dwarves.
Time seemed to pass until Voldemort made his surprising return. Though thought to be dead, he reappeared in a G8 meeting to officially declare war on the mundane world in a fit of insanity. Using his magic to decimate armed forces sent to stop him, he quickly made it know to the entire world how there were many more like him inside each and every nation. Of course, Riddle didn't account for the stubbornness and ingenuity of humanity. Instead of cowering under his power, like Voldemort thought would happen, the leaders of the world came together to fight the magicals.
The war that followed would dwarf any other war in history. Countries all united in fighting a race of super powered individuals the thad long since hidden within their very borders. When engagements started, mundanes found out the hard way that magic was the most versatile weapon at the time. In response, an arms race began. Improvements into science, technology, weapons, medical practices. A revolution in technology was born to combat magic. Witches and wizards also began to improve as well, being dragged out of the antique age they pretended to live it when the mundanes actually began pushing through wards and racking up kill counts. Voldemort was the most vicious in his attacks, going for "soft" targets rather than military ones. His whole doctrine of fear didn't work nearly as well on the mundanes, who saw him as nothing more than a terrorist.
Years later, when Voldemort began augmenting his troops with dark rituals and demonic summonings, the mundane world decided that magic was a plague that had to be eradicated for the survivability of Humanity. Muggleborns were killed at the first sign of accidental magic, along with their parents to prevent the spread; magical communities were burned, as sophisticated sensors could now detect magic in the air, and the world saw it as a disease. P.O.W.s were either killed or experimented on in horrendous ways, being deemed non-human and therefore didn't needed to be treated humanely.
This retaliation of the mundanes was all the justification Voldemort needed to rally the magicals to fight under him. He had become the king he had wanted to become. With the world's magical societies under one banner, they started to push back against the mundane advance using stealthy strike teams to sabotage them. The massive military movement and economic drain of the scientific advancement began to alienate many countries who didn't want to participate in the genocidal war. The mundanes eventually divided into two factions that began a separate war.
Harry, who had recognized his error in allowing Voldemort to begin this mess when he was the one who had to kill him, loaded up his trunk and cloaked himself in a special robe of Basilisk skin that had been enhanced with runes to contain his curse. He then, with the help of the Dwarves, made his way to America to offer his aid to the people in their war against the magicals. At first, because of the magic surrounding him, he was thought to be a hostile. After convincing them of the curse, and his desire for revenge, they accepted his help in their science division. As he was without an arm, and the curse prevented excessive interaction with many people, they had him research anything to achieve and edge over the magical forces.
With the resources of a nation at his command, and the wealth of knowledge he gained from them, he built magnificent devices, weapons, and resources that skyrocketed him up to one of the most important researchers or the United States. With a bigger "blank" check, Harry began constructing a cybernetic prosthesis to replace his left arm. This fit in with the technology of the time, as people began to embrace transhuminism to circumvent magic. After all, a majority of the dark curses wouldn't work if the area struck was metal. With no blood to boil, no soul to attack, no flesh to rot, and no bone to break, many curses lost effectiveness as more and more people had limbs replaces with cybernetic ones. After replacing his arm, Harry began to develop armor that could resist both magical spellfire and mundane firearms and explosives. His cutting edge armor also provided him a containment for his curse, allowing him to interact with people again. The only down side being his permanent confinement to the suit. He was just glad his breathing didn't emulate Darth Vader, for many things about the fictional character did.
Armed conflict gave way to Automatic drone warfare, which were later hacked, leading to major damage to cities across the globe. In response, anti air defenses were created and supplied all over the world which could remove any airborne threat with guided energy discharge. With air assaults now completely useless, the world turned to robotic and augmented human forces to fight their conflicts. Open warfare gave way to surgical strike forces and guerrilla tactics practically overnight. These forces were oftentimes augmented with cybernetic limbs or power armor of some type. Most of the countries now implemented the D.E.A.D. systems, anti air energy weapons which worked on both mundane and magical air forces.
Human augmentation drew a response from those with differing morality than that of the military, sparking a revolution in humanity. Of course, the war and the rest of the world was not without its shadow groups and organizations, who manipulated populations, news, and other areas to produce a world that they had more power in. Harry had to deal with those as well, when they began trying to either recruit him, or silence him for his efforts. Eventually, Neural interfaces and complex next-gen processing gave way to artificial intelligence, some good, some bad, and some had to be taken care of lest they cripple anybody with cybernetic augments. The C.I.A. were directly responsible for the creation of one particularly nasty A.I. that had to be destroyed with Harry's assistance.
For decades, the war waged. Harry found himself celebrating his 66th birthday before the beginning of the end happened. As the entire world was either engaged in conflict, or trying to recover from previous conflict, Voldemort, with a decision truly showcasing his declining sanity, infiltrated a secure military installation and forced the men there to launch the entire nuclear ordinance of the United States of America at various targets. Riddle's lack of understanding once again made itself know as the rest of the nuclear capable nations launched their stockpiles as well. As the massive number of destructive implements rose from the surface of the planet, silence prevailed as the world breathed its collective last breath,
And Harry watched, from within the Potter wards along with the elves and dwarves, as the world ended in fire. As the great monuments to mankind vanished under the cleansing flame; as the tools of war finally laid still, after decades of ceaseless use; and as the relentless pursuit of humanity ended.
And Harry listened as there was no more form of defiance, no last retaliation, and no cheer of triumph. When the dust settled, the world was silent. Even the survivors had nothing to say, as they, too, died from the fallout, silent as their soon to be graves.
And Harry felt as the magic of the world responded to the loss of so much life. As the ley lines shuddered and summoned massive storms with the energy they released from their bleeding wounds; as the color of the plants lost their vibrant hue, reflecting the somber mood; and as the air felt a little colder, the warmth of the planet expiring along with its life.
And Harry wept, as he watched the world he promised to himself to help save die at the hands of the one person who was his prophesied foe, his responsibility. Because of him, this world had fallen. Because of him, there would be no tomorrow for humanity. Because of him, he would never be able to face his loved ones in death.
Steeling himself as he felt the wards to Hogwarts flare, as the owner could do so even from across the world. He knew that the last of Voldemort's army would be there, along with the man he so hated. He would end this tonight.
He told Dobby of what he had to do alone, and the elf that had stood by him the longest wished him well, returning to the trunk to wait for the end.
Before he left, he went to the newly made cliff overlooking what used to be London, some of the areas were still smoldering and red-hot. No signs of life anywhere. He spent a few minutes reflecting on his life while staring into the radioactive remains of the capitol of Britain.
(2046: Harry Potter)
Sighing to myself, I turned and made my way north of the ruined city, my armor making depressions in the soft ash which served to muffle my footsteps. As I journeyed to the outskirts, I began to reflect on the war and all that I had to do to my fellow magicals. It wasn't like I had any remorse about fighting them, for they had long since twisted themselves into abominations with the rituals that Voldemort used. The only thing I regretted was that I miscalculated the last Horcrux, misunderstood Voldemort. In my reliance on the memories I obtained on that faithful night, I never stopped to consider that he'd had made another one shortly after his revival.
Finally a respectable distance from the irradiated city, I mentally called upon my ride. Instantly, a flash surrounded the area before me before it died away, revealing a sophisticated looking hovercraft. As the United State's most valuable scientific asset, I had been in charge of numerous projects that dealt with the cutting edge of science and technology. When able, I was able to replicate, improve, and even enhance designs with runic magic, creating some of the most advanced weaponry, vehicles, and other wonders of mankind. My ride, for example, was a hovercraft that could outfly any broom and never touched the ground. It was also storable thanks to another improvement in tech.
Digitalization. Storing the matter and design in my very being, my aether, using my magic as a medium. With it, I could carry anything I could ever need on my person. It also works with mundanes, though at a drastically reduced capacity. I could carry tons with my magic, whereas a mundane would be lucky to carry a fraction of that.
"How far do we have to travel, Griffin," I asked my A.I.
A similar light shined next to me revealing a spherical being the size of a baseball surrounded by floating, shifting hexagonal plates. All of it was composed of a dark metal that had glowing emerald runic clusters and lights shining from its surface. For a face, it had a hexagonal plate of glass glowing with the same emerald glow attached to the front of the sphere. The entire thing was floating with an unnaturalness that could only be because of magic. This was Griffin, the A.I. that I had built years ago and had upgraded him whenever I could. He was far and away the most advanced artificial life form ever created.
"Hogwarts is only a few hundred miles to the North. You could just follow the train tracks that you've taken before. A little nostalgia for the ride." The semi-organic digital voice of Griffin was calming, as it had been utterly silent before. It really made me miss my familiars, who had to stay in the trunk lest they be affected too badly by the curse, which affected them even through my armor due to our special connection.
"To think I'd be returning to Hogwarts after all of these decades. Makes me miss them," my voice was nearly broken, emotionless from all of the suffering I've had to watch. But I kept what Luna had said to heart, and continued on for them.
Hopping on my ride, I turned its steering north to King's Cross Station, where I would find the tracks that could take me to Hogwarts. Normally, I'd be happy to find some other method of transportation. Maybe break out my impressive ship, the Raptor, which could outfly any other built, or teleport using what little magic I could. But a nice and slow journey sounded better to me. After all, my target had nowhere else to go considering how he had rendered the rest of the world a wasteland.
The hour flew by quickly, and I arrived in Hogsmeade as the moon reached its zenith. The village had long since been destroyed, leaving only ruins, dust, and echoes of a more peaceful time. The only thing standing was the castle of Hogwarts, but only just. Years of battle did little to preserve the once majestic stonework. Walls were missing, stones ground into dust, windows shattered and scattered across the land. It looked like hell, and brought a pain to me. This place was what I considered my first home.
Leaving my ride, which dematerialized, I set about preparing for a final confrontation with what remained of Voldemort's troops. Removing my cloak, my full form was revealed. Every inch of my body was clad in an advanced looking armor which hinted at the power, speed, and lethality it granted to me. It was made of a dark metal that seemed to absorb light, with sections of silver along with glowing emerald lights spread out on the surface. The surface was made up of sharp angles and plates that made it look like advanced knight armor. My helmet had two visors stretching across an obtuse angle that ran down the center of it, allowing me to see. In various areas, one could see multiple vector thrusters which could be used to manipulate movement. Even with everything revealed, there was still much more to the Dragon Scale Armor, as I had decided to name it. (Crysis 2 nano suit without the silver sections along with no boots, gloves, or helmet, slim it down to a typical Mjolnir underarmor armor from Halo 5, then add Halo 4 Venator armor to it)
Upon my back, a long black rifle with a bullpen design and an enclosed pistol grip was magnetically attached, my XR-2. On my right hip, the familiar weight of my MR6 was also present, waiting for quick use. The last ranged weapon I had on my person instead of in my digitized space, was my KRM-262 which sat on my lower back, my weapon of choice for close range engagements. Of course, when I feel in the mood to get up close and personal, my go-to weapon would always be my sword. Something I had become known and feared for using by both ally and enemy alike.
After using the Sword of Gryffindor, I had been hooked on swordplay immediately. When the sword later broke in the battle for Hogwarts, I fashioned my own using the teachings that the Dwarves had given me. My creation was leagues above the ruby hilted silver sword, and was made out of a special metallic alloy. The all black blade reflected no light, appearing blacker than the void. This black metal was called abyssium, for the metal had the unique property of absorbing any and all energy that it encounters. Whether it was fire, electricity, heat, magic, everything was taken into the blade and used to power the runes that showed on the flat of it. The only difference was the glowing silver edge, which took the captured energy and used it to heat itself to a high degree. (Fury's Song from Black Ops 3, except make the entire thing black sans the edge, and have runes of emerald green coating both flats of the blade)
Seeing that everything was set, I activated my active camouflage that was built into my armor and stealthily made my way toward the castle. My HUD picked out multiple enemies stalking around the grounds, most likely looking for me. My augmented sight also revealed the nature of my enemies. Instead of humanoid looking witches and wizards that Voldemort had originally employed, these were deformed into grotesque creatures made by the influence of dark and terrible magic. Their skin was nonexistent, as was their defining features on their faces. Black veins pulsed with sickly green light were visible thought their increased musculature, denoting their reliance on dark magic. Their strides and movements were jerky and with an unnatural speed and gracefulness, which was a result of their increased strength and agility.
I had faced many of these monstrous creatures that were the result of Voldemort's augmentation on his army. In order to increase their combat capabilities, the rituals used had taken from them something that they valued as payment. The forms in front on me had been the foot soldiers of Riddle's army, and had been numbered in the hundreds of thousands. They were also the reason why mundane weaponry increased its effectiveness in such a short amount of time. When one of them could survive rocket propelled grenades and armor piercing sniper fire, they realized that they needed more of a kick, more of an edge.
Grabbing my XR-2, which had been enhanced with runic clusters to be even more effective, along with being perfectly silent, I sighted the closest group of abominations, which were around 50 meters in front of me. Letting two three-round-bursts fly, I watched as their heads disappeared in a spray of black as their mass toppled to the snowy ground. I had to appreciate the amount of power my weapons possessed if they could do that to them. Normal mundane weapons would have only have left holes which could be quickly recovered from whereas mine transferred a significant amount of kinetic power in a radius extended from the bullet. One of my shots was the equivalent of a baseball being fired at the same speed thanks to magic.
The death their comrades attracted the attention of the rest of Voldemort's forces, as they made their way towards the cooling corpses. Checking the distance between targets, I released controlled bursts into each target, felling the two dozen magicals in seconds before continuing up towards the entrance to the Castle. Without missing a step, I unsheathed my trusted sword and beheaded an enemy that had attempted to sneak up on my. The magical weapon, swung with my magically, mechanically, and chemically augmented strength, relieved his head from his shoulders as if slicing though paper. Sheathing my sword and switching my XR-2 for my KRM-262, I kicked down the partially rotted oak door from its hinges and made my way to confront my prophesied foe.
(Harry Potter, third person P.O.V.)
'All of this suffering, all of this destruction, and for what? So that he could rule the world? How far have you fallen Tom?' Harry cleared the area in front of the great hall with his shotgun, ensuring that nobody was waiting to get the drop on him. It had happened enough times for him to double check, despite his sensors and Griffin telling him that it was clear.
Pulling up to the door, he took a moment to calm his racing heart. Already, he could feel the power behind the door, and knew that Riddle was just beyond the stained and rotting oak. They had met many times on the battlefield, and every time, something or someone would interfere in their conflict. Opening the door, he beheld his prey who was sitting on the throne that use to belong to a manipulative old man that could be considered responsible for everything that wrong with the world in the last century.
Laying his eyes upon what Tom had become brought up feelings of disgust in the Potter lord. The appearance of Voldemort had changed drastically from when he had first risen out of the cauldron during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. His once pale, white skin had turned as black as midnight and was sporting horns out of his forehead. His eyes, once ruby red, had turned blood red, and had filled in even the whites of his eyes. Where his veins would be were sickly green glowing lines, similar to those under his command, evidence of the dark power he practically bathed in. His arms and legs had been replaced by inhuman appendages that looked to belong to some dragon lord, the muscles coiled tightly under black scales. On his hands and feet, large claws protruded from his fingers and toes. On the ground around him was his serpentine tail, coiled and strong.
Other than the noticeable changes, his form was still that of a humanoid, and his face was still that of Voldemort's. The only other noticeable difference was that the being in front of him had a mouth that was not in the typical sneer that he had come to know.
No, instead of a sneer, a thoughtful frown took the place of his mouth. That, along with his slouched position on the throne had momentarily thrown Harry off, as it looked like Riddle was in some form of inner turmoil.
Throughout the war, Harry had become proficient in reading people with only their body language, as occlumency was all but impossible through his magically reinforced visor. It was easy to read the apparently defeated Dark Lord.
Stepping into the room, gun pointed at the creature, Harry took in a quick view of the rest of the occupants. Surprisingly, the other two occupants of the room were dead, each displaying the tale tell signs of suicide instead of the significant amount of damage that would normally be necessary in order to actually kill some of Voldemort's top lieutenants, which, based on their characteristics, they were. It wasn't often, but some within the mutated army had "woken up" one day to despise what they had become. Suicides were prevalent in Voldemort's army.
Questions quickly rose in his mind, but he wouldn't let them distract him from his goal. Opening his mouth to address the black, scaly elephant in the room, he was interrupted by the only other living occupant.
"Harry? Is that you?" So surprised at being addressed by his first name, he almost missed the guilt that laced the still-charismatic voice of Voldemort. He caught it though. Surprised at the foreign emotion, he decided to talk to him with some degree of neutrality.
"Yeah. It's me Tom," Harry began, "You know why I'm here, don't you? Do you know what you have done?" His question was asked rather heatedly, earning a quick response from Riddle.
"I didn't mean for them all to die. I never wanted them all to die...I just wanted to rule them." His words, which were usually arrogant, took on a reasoning tone, as if he was looking for justification for what he had done. He seemed to be trying to reassure himself that he had done what was right. It was unusual considering how evil, how unrepentant he usually was.
"That's not how the world works, Tom. You never had the chance to subjugate humanity, for they cannot be ruled in such a way. And when they didn't submit, you slaughtered them...burned them...tortured them, and for what? So you could rule the world like some damn king?! You are no better than Hitler, Stalin, or Dumbledore! Just because you have a significant amount of power, doesn't mean you can take over the world! This was always going to be the outcome, Tom. You just couldn't see it past your own arrogance. And now I'm here to avenge those who were lost due to you." Harry moved closer, his anger almost getting the best of him. He calmed down as he observed his enemy's reaction, expecting evil laughter, or an arrogant comeback.
What he did not expect was tears, actual tears, to fall from Riddle's eyes. His entire demeanor reflected his inner anguish as he slumped forward to cradle his head in his clawed hands.
"I...never wanted this...this was not why I started being Lord Voldemort! I just wanted to lead the magical world to a better place, away from the rules and laws of the ministry and the muggleborns that wanted to change everything. But every time I tried to say enough, every time I tried to turn to peaceful acts, the whispers kept getting stronger. The desire to see the world burn and beg grew in me ever since I started down this path! Every time I tried to stop, the whispers kept getting stronger! I tried to stop...really, I did! But you don't know what it was like! Every time I cast a spell, every time I took a life, it felt so good! I just couldn't stop!" He was up and pacing at this point, tears still making trails down his face. His ramblings, though getting increasingly jumbled, made sense to me, as it was something quite common with Dark Lords and other practitioners of the Dark Arts.
The call of dark magic is quite severe. Use it enough times, and your start to turn into a darker version of yourself, physically and mentally, always craving more dark magic and always behaving more violently. It would appear that Voldemort, the greatest practitioner of dark magic, and the most affected in recent history, was just as susceptible to its nefarious call as any other. It actually made perfect sense considering how tame he was in the beginning of his rein as Lord Voldemort compared to now. Where before it was a couple of killings here and there, it had turned into mass killings and slaughter in his later years.
It also appeared that something, probably the guilt of over 7 billion dead by his hands and being able to feel that loss through the energy of the world, caused the influence of dark magic to abate somewhat, leaving Harry with a broken man. Instead of the evil, arrogant persona of Lord Voldemort, the person who he was before, the intelligent, charismatic Tom Riddle looked to him with anguish, guilt, and self-hatred, which was something Harry thought he would never see upon that face.
"What can I do...what could I possibly do...considering all that I've done." Riddle sat back in the throne, posture totally defeated.
"There is truly only one thing you could do." Voldemort turned to regard Harry hopefully. "Go out with a bang. Right now, you are truly yourself. There is no telling when the influence of Dark Magic will bring Voldemort back, just that he eventually will return. Why not go out on your terms, not as a puppet to the will of dark magic, but as Tom Riddle." Harry presented Riddle with his sword, after holstering his shotgun. If Riddle was feeling this remorseful, maybe Harry wouldn't have to be the one to kill him, just help facilitate his end. It would fulfill the prophecy, just as well as if he was the one to do it.
Riddle, after a moment of silent thinking, made a decision. Reaching out with his clawed hand, he grasped the blade offered to him. With one final look to the person whom he had wronged the most in his century of existence, he plunged the blade into his blackened heart with a smooth thrust. As the energy that had been keeping him alive drained away, either into the abyssium blade or into the air, Tom looked to Harry with a slightly easier expression, as if some weigh had been removed from his shoulders.
"I'm sorry. For everything..." with a final rasping breath, the greatest dark lord that had ever been died with a soft smile on his twisted face. As the world had ended in fire only hours before, so too ended Voldemort and Tom Riddle, not with a bang, but with a quite whisper asking for forgiveness.
For Harry, he felt the weight on his shoulders ease up with the conclusion of the war. Even though things ended as they did, he couldn't help but feel some relief that they had ended at all. All of his anger at Voldemort for the atrocities he committed, his vengeance for his friends who all met their ends at His hands, his guilt at not finishing his fight so long ago, and his exhaustion from fighting a war that never seemed to end finally caught up to him. His anger for Tom, however, disappeared as he too, was just a child wronged by Dumbledore so long ago. It left him with an empty feeling, having not killed his foe, but instead assisted in his suicide.
Bonelessly falling to the ground on his knees, Harry allowed all of his emotions out in a terrible wail which echoed through the halls of Hogwarts. There was nothing left. No people to fight for or fight against, no friends to interact with...nothing. It was just him, alone in the world along with the elves and the dwarves, who had taken a permanent residence in his trunk.
First chapter done!
Thank you for reading my story, as it is my first story I've ever done. This story has come from my thoughts as I've long thought about a direction I could take another of my stories. Instead of posting the origin story for my version of Harry Potter, I have, instead, decided to write about his experiences in different fictional worlds. This is the first in a set of stories which will see Harry arriving, and interacting, in different settings with different characters. In this story, I will have him leaving Earth and going to Remnant, the world of RWBY (Thank you Monty) and his experiences there. The other stories I have coming up will be the same Harry going to the universe of Halo, Fallout, Mass Effect, Marvel, and many more.
As this is my first story on this site, I know I'll be receiving a fair share of criticism from you all. To be fair, I could use some. Obviously, I've made the main character overpowered and have gone with the "everything he could ever want or need in a trunk" route. While he currently has little to no access to his magic, I will have that remedied later. If anybody had a true problem with the direction that my story goes in, I could honestly care less. I've written over 100,000 words already and I'm only posting it because I want to. If you have any constructing things to say about it, I'd be happy to alter some of my work before submitting.
As you have read, this story involves an informed and trained Harry going through his Hogwarts life with an edge over those who would seek to control and manipulate him.
SUMMARY FOR THOSE WHO SKIPPED THE WORLD BUILDING:
In his early years, he hid his abilities and power from everybody. After fourth year, he began to reveal more of his talents to the wizarding world. After the massacre at Hogwarts, Harry isolated himself for years before coming out and joining the mundanes against Voldemort. After decades of inventing and working for them, he joined the war in a combat-oriented capacity after building the tools to support him. The war ended as Voldemort used his abilities in the mental arts to hijack the nuclear ordinance of the United States of America, which had increased due to the war, to destroy various cities over the world. His objective had been to scare the mundanes to a cease fire under his rule, but led to other countries bombing the USA and other countries. Eventually, Mutually Assured Destruction left the world a radioactive wasteland, the fallout of which guaranteed only Harry and Voldemort, as well as the remaining members of the Dwarven and Elven races that were in his trunk, were the only survivors. After meeting up at Hogwarts, Harry confronted the surprisingly guilty Riddle instead of Voldemort. In a fit of sanity, Riddle opted to end his own life instead of allowing the monster that dark magic had created to control his life.