When Harry Potter begins at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he brings a rather disconcerting friend with him – Death.
AN:
Inspiration? Think the character of Death in the Discworld novels crossed wit hthe basic plot of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
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ODD COMPANIONS
PROLOGUE
As the last sounds of destruction faded away and the dust slowly settled, Death stared in mute astonishment. Slowly he moved forward and carefully moved some of the rubble with his scythe. He peered downwards.
A small, worried face with brilliant green eyes stared up at him, a jagged cut on its forehead leaking blood. Little Harry was confused about what was going on, but he knew that it wasn't good. First Dadda had yelled something and run off, and then Mumma had been upset by the scary hissy thing that had done lots of yelling and pretty lights, before there was lots of noise and things falling down.
Harry looked up at the new person with the hope that they could fix things.
"WELL, AREN'T YOU SURPRISING?" asked the man.
"Muh?" asked Harry in an uncertain voice. "Da?" The man didn't answer. "Paff?"
The man leaned down and picked him up, holding Harry carefully to his chest and smiling down at him. The man looked both surprised and sad, but had a nice face.
"Muh?" Harry asked the stranger. "Da?"
"I'M AFRAID YOUR MUMMY AND DADDY ARE GONE, YOUNG HARRY," said the man gently.
"Muh?" asked Harry again. Daddy was often away, but Mummy would never go anywhere without Harry.
Death turned his head at the faint sound of the motorcycle in the distance, growing steadily louder.
"PADFOOT WILL BE HERE SOON, HARRY," he told the boy softly.
"Paff?" asked Harry hopefully.
"SOON, HARRY," Death agreed, setting the infant back down on the floor. "GOODBYE, MR POTTER. IT WAS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU."
"Buh-buh," Harry called out. He waved his chubby little hands in the air happily, but the nice man was already gone.
"Bubbub," Harry said contently.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
Five years later, Death swept through the wall into the room to find a large, purple-faced man beating a small boy. The boy was in terrible condition, skinny as a rake and covered in bruises, and it was clear that the large man was the cause of both.
Death frowned. He didn't like child-abusers. So many of those he freed from the Earth were children, and far too many of them were glad to die. He was particularly displeased with this example, because the young boy was none other than the wizard-babe with the extraordinary powers that he had witnessed at the defeat of the Dark Lord. (That was another one he didn't like; that irritating… man? …should have been his long back, but because of some highly irregular spells the git was now flitting round happily possessing snakes. It just wasn't fair.)
His musings were abruptly cut short when Harry caught sight of him with a widening of the eyes and a gasp of fright.
So he can see me, Death thought, impressed. Harry had already turned his attention back to his uncle; clearly he believed the current situation to be of more importance than some menacing phantasm, even if it was the Grim Reaper.
Smart boy.
Death cleared his throat.
Harry swiftly turned terror-filled eyes on him, grimacing as he caught another blow.
"Help me," he wheezed out.
"No one's going to help you, you little freak!" the man hollered. Death decided that for once he was going to break the rules.
"I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE MISTAKEN, MR DURSLEY."
He watched with interest as the large purple-faced man rapidly transformed into a large white-faced man.
"IT IS YOUR TIME," Death intoned, raising his scythe. Dursley let out a shriek of absolute terror and went bolting down the hallway screaming.
Harry regarded him with awe, and some puzzlement.
"Don't I know you?" he asked politely. Death grinned.
"INDEED YOU DO, MR POTTER."
"Oh." Harry paused. "What's going on?"
"THAT, Death decided, IS A VERY LONG STORY."