Sword Sage – Prologue
A/N: Wow… This Plot Bunny bit me hard on the bottom when I was recovering from a nasty horse-riding accident. Lets just say I was doped on pain drugs and leave it at that, 'kay? So, yeah. I was thinking after reading .hack… what if a virtual reality world became reality? So, I came up with Narzga, the Realm. Then, I thought… What would a betrayed Harry Potter do if he was offered to live again after being executed and fight more evil? That lead to the though 'What if they sent Harry Potter to a virtual reality game that was actually real?'. Then, this story popped up. I have been desperately trying to ignore the bunny eating my brain, but it won't STOP! So, please, dear readers, bear with me as I embark on another journey to escape the rabid plot bunnies cooped up inside my head.
On a lighter note, chapter 2 of Veil of the Valar will be up soon!
PROLOGUE – Betrayers, Friends, And The Amusing Coup. Justice, Baby.
Harry Potter stared out of his cell doors, studying the cracks in the wall. He was bored. The Dementors were no fun, they hardly ever had time to play cards anymore. That damn Ministry was wearing them ragged. They looked dead on their feet nowadays… No pun intended, of course.
Harry perked up from his pouting position(copyrighted by HP) near the door. He could hear the gliding footsteps of Juan coming closer.
" Hey, Juan! Did you bring some cards?" Harry asked as the Dementor glided/strode into the corridor.
"I am afraid not, Harry. The Aurors are coming in precisely two hours. We've set everything up. It is… truly a prank worthy of the Marauders." Juan broke off, voice tight. He had liked the odd Sirius Black and his lovers, the Dark Man and the Wolf. He really hadn't wanted to inflict his presence on him. Luckily, they managed to avoid him as much as possible.
Bellatrix on the other hand… Well, she was free game.
" Nice one!" Harry chirped eagerly. "Are the others in position? Did you get what Griphook wanted me to receive? Are the bets placed?"
Juan held up a scaled hand, halting the flow of questions.
" Yes, yes and yes, little shadow. All is prepared, and the goblins and other creatures have begun withdrawing themselves."
Harry smiled, stretching. He had been planning this coup for eight months, ever since his inheritance birthday, four months after he had been imprisoned for using Avada Kedavra on Voldemort.
Now, for the prank…
An unholy gleam lit his vibrant green eyes. " Open the cell, Juan. Cici and the others must be getting impatient."
Oh, just to see their reactions! This was going to be so FUN!
One hour and fourty-five minutes later, the tramp of boots echoed through Azkaban's main hall. A troop of five Aurors had just departed the boat, to pick up Harry Potter from his cell. They all expected to find a crumbled wreck, or a blubbering madman. Perhaps even a semi-sane teenager.
They didn't expect what they saw when they entered the main hall.
Harry Potter, alive and well, if emaciated and dirty, was sitting at a round table dragged in from who know where, playing cards with the Dementors.
" Hah!" he crowed, startling the Aurors. " I win, Juan! I get the maggot!"
The Dementor next to him slid across a live maggot, which Harry happily crunched. The Dementor across from them dealt the cards, and Harry raised the stakes high.
" You don't stand a chance, Cici, Juan! The only one that's ever beaten me at Poker was Jewel, and she's away."
" Shut up, Harry." Cici and Juan hissed in unison, scabbed cheeks a deep red. The other three at the table roared with laughter. Harry smirked at them.
" And when have you three beaten me, Ling, Min and Sarah?" he asked, before guffawing at their expressions. He drew Juan and Sarah into a hug. They returned it with gusto, and the others offered him smiles. The black-and-red haired boy turned to look at the gaping Aurors.
Sighing, Harry got up. "Guys… and girls? Tell the others goodbye. I'll miss you lot, you know? Oh well. A one manipulative old goat once said 'Death is but the next adventure.'" Sniffling, Harry turned to his escort with a roll of his eyes. He went past them, his muttered 'morons' galvanizing them into action. One of them grabbed his arms roughly, tightening the cuffs far too hard.
The rest formed around him, jeering and taunting, or just staring at him with eyes full of loathing and contempt.
These were the people he had bothered to save? These ungrateful idiots were why he had risked his life? Harry was most definitely not happy.
" We stand here, witness to the execution of Harry James Potter-Black-Founder-LeFay. His crimes are as follows: Illegal animagus, form that of a grim. Dual animagus, a sign of a Dark Wizard. Use of the Killing Curse. Murder of Tom Riddle. Murder of Albus Dumbledore. Insanity. Murder of Cedric Diggory. Numerous uses of under-age magic. Consorting with Dark Creatures. Defence of a Dark Creature. Engaging in unnatural acts between a man and yourself. Sharing Tom Riddle's memories without permission. How do you plead?"
" Not guilty to all charges of murder exept Tom's, I don't believe I'm insane, I accidentally received his memories and visions from the curse scar. To the rest, I like your supposed Dark Creatures. They are more intelligent than your average wizard, for sure." His eyes swept scathingly from one corner of the crowd to the other, softening when he reached Hermione, Neville and Luna. " Illegal Animagus? I never got a chance to register. After I killed Voldemort for you sheep, I was thrown right into prison without a trial. Dual Animgaus being a sign of a Dark Wizard? So… Dumbledore was a Dark Wizard? Wouldn't surprise me. As for being homosexual? Yeah, so what? I'm proud of it. Not like I'm proud of saving the majority of you lot, and like I'm proud to die. It means I can finally have some peace."
The crowd shrunk back from his calm, matter-of-fact tone. His face was like stone, sharp and cutting, but his voice was perfectly normal. It was clear, light, and completely devoid of emotion. It was even more scary when he gave a sharp smile. The blood and bruises that coated his body stained his teeth red, and his canines were abnormally sharp.
" Do you have any last words. Murderer?" spat the scroll reader. With absent surprise, Harry noticed it was Dean Thomas.
Harry smirked at them all. He leanst back on his heels, relaxed.
" Just two, Danny-boy. Bring. It."
The Auror behind him raised his wand. " Harry Potter. You are sentenced to death by the Avada Kedavra curse, before which you are to be subjected to three bouts of five minute Cruciatus. Do you wish to plead your case?"
The face above him was pale and sweating.
" Remember, Auror. You have to mean it." He whispered slowly, smiling in delight at nothing in particular.
When the first curse hit him, he giggled. It hurt so much, but he found it funny. Morbid, but funny. They were killing their Golden Savior, a nearly eighteen year old boy, with two of the darkest curses known.
His giggles turned to full-blown laughter, which left him writhing and gasping for air as he wheezed. He side hurt from too much laughing, and the white-hot knives of agony inscribing words on his tender skin wasn't helping. By the third lot of agonized screams, interspersed with laughter, he had several more bloody furrows in his skin, and his pores were weeping blood.
Harry laughed. He laughed as they scrambled away from him, scared little sheep. He laughed as a bolt of green light, the exact shade of his eyes, sped towards him. He died laughing, the echoes of his screams and the steady dripping of his blood the only remnants of the last Potter, the last Black, the last Heir, the last of Merlin's line. He was the last. And the Gods forever turned their backs on Wizards.
Juan smiled. Ceci snickered. They led the Dementors and a handful of humans away from the gates of Azkaban.
It was time for the creatures of the world to have their revenge. In the name of Harry Potter… The Wizarding World was going to burn.
The next morning, the Ministry awoke to a very bad surprise.
The Goblins had taken all of the Wizarding Gold from their Vaults, claiming it as the property of the Grey Champion.
The Centaurs, Pixies, Fey, magical animals, Faeries, Bowtruckles, all the magical creatures and humans that protested Harry Potter's innocence had disappeared. All part-humans had gone with them, including Mr. Florean, Ollivander, the owners of all shops in Knockturn Alley, and some in Diagon, all of the teachers at Hogwarts and some whole family's, including the Bones, Weasley's and Snapes.
Hogwarts was refusing anyone wanting entry into her hallowed halls, except those seeking sanctuary.
The Department of Mysteries, having been sent Harry Potter's memories from an un-disclosed source, had shut itself down, removed all traces of their work and relocated to Hogwarts.
Magical plants, even non-lethal and not vicious ones, had been growing and attacking wizards at a furious rate.
The Dementors had escaped Azkaban, freeing a handful of those who they knew were innocent.
Acromantula and magical snakes were attacking with a vengeance, and with the centaurs to predict the future…
They had all left one message.
" Thou who are Forsworn have killed thy Lady's Grey Champion, and her Consort's beloved Chosen. Magic shall yet desert ye, and those that you have controlled will slip thy leash. As We Will It, So Mote It Be."
And, two days after Harry Potter died, all those who had not believed in him, those who oppressed and trod on others, all found themselves without magic.
The world was in chaos.
The Mother of Magic, Gaia, the Earth of the Universe, shook her head. She was disappointed in her favourites. She had not created them thus. Truly, they did deserve their punishment.