Harry Potter in Real Life

By Bethezda

(This story takes place right after Harry's defeat of Voldemort. He has not married Ginny yet. Only three weeks have passed since Voldemort's death.)

Chapter One: The Prologue

Harry Potter never expected to land in the real world. In fact, he thought he was living in the real world. He never dreamed of ending up in our world. It never crossed his mind. But, as the unexpected is known to happen, Harry is now in our reality. This is the story of how it happened and all of the events that followed.

Harry Potter, a famous wizard known for his recent defeat of the Dark Lord, was being followed. He had conquered Lord Voldemort just three short weeks ago, and his victory was now known everywhere in the wizarding world. The followers and death eaters of Lord Voldemort were fleeing. Harry was somewhat sure they were not the ones following him.

Harry walked in the streets of London near the Leaky Cauldron. He ducked in an alleyway to see if he could lose his pursuer, quickly turning down another alleyway and into the busy street past that. He lost himself in the crowd, hoping the person tailing him so vigilantly would not be able to find him.

Harry was just exiting the crowd when he saw the man. It was impossible. It was someone he knew, someone he never thought he would see again. There was no way he could be alive. Stanley Shunpike had fallen off his broom, hadn't he? From that height, he couldn't have survived. But then, how was he here?

Stanley, in a black trench coat and rain boots, was still coming. Harry stopped and turned around to face him. Stanley just motioned for Harry to follow him into a deserted alley. Harry did.

"Harry Potter," Stan said in a monotonous voice. "You are needed. Come with me."

Harry was speechless. He wasn't sure if he could trust Stan, and he didn't want to go anywhere with him if this was a trap. But Harry couldn't be sure. He just had to follow Stan into the darkness and begin the next chapter of his life.

Stan led Harry into Knockturn Alley, a place that was formerly for dark wizards. It still sold artifacts of the dark arts, but it was less evil down there. Harry followed Stan into a run-down shop that had a sign with words you couldn't make out because of its peeling paint.

Stan took Harry into a back room of the shop. Harry could see shrunken heads, skulls, hands of glory, and other cursed and evil items everywhere. He noticed a shadow hanging about the room and wondered what it was.

"Harry James Potter." Stan turned and looked at Harry. "You are needed," he repeated.

"Yeah, I got that," Harry said. "But how are you here, Stan? I thought you were dead."

"It will all be explained. First, you must go. They will explain to you when you get there. Time is wasting. Take this and don't panic."

"Stan, wait. I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Harry started backing away. "What's going on?"

"Here." Stan handed Harry a small black box. As soon as Harry touched it, there was a huge flash of red light, and then there was a . . .

BANG!

Harry felt a tug in the pit of his stomach just before the world went black.