Harry Potter: Survivor
Chapter One: Departures…
AbruptVoid2401
AN: This is just a pilot chapter, so don't get your hopes up. Also, it is Fem!Harry, OOC, HP/OC and a bunch of others. Don't badger me for more either, it'll put me off. Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think.
Summary: Little is known on the operation of Time, and its artefacts are little better. So when Hermione's Turner breaks, and the Sands of Time run free, no one knows what to expect. Harry, with his luck, is the only one directly affected. Now, he has to survive the Apocalypse – Zombie Style!
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Time is odd, and works in mysterious ways. Its rules are simple and hard to break. But for those that do… well it isn't pretty. Sometimes it's as harmless as aging a little differently or being thrown out of time for a week or two. In other instances, the person is cast adrift until they manage to find a way back into the world, though never in the same time. Or they get thrown from their world and into another, only to return at some later date. If they're lucky, the displaced person gets to spend some time in place of luxury. Harry Potter, however, is not one of the lucky ones.
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30th June, 1994
The Void
Day 0 – Day 0
Harry opened his eyes to a blank expanse, all in the same dull white shade.
"You've caused me a good bit of trouble with that stunt of yours, boy." A man's voice said.
He spun around to find a tall an in a (tasteful) golden suit holding a pocket watch. His face was lined and his hair white, though it looked as though it was more from stress than age.
"Who are you?" Harry asked cautiously as he tried to discreetly pull his wand from his back pocket.
The man noticed and with a twitch of his finger had the stick of holly and phoenix in his palm, which was quickly put into a pocket, along with the clock.
"I'm Time, and despite what you might think, I don't actually have all the time in the world, so we're going to have to keep this brief.
You, Harry James Potter, created a Minor Paradox at 10:52 pm on the 30th of June 1994, after using the Patronus charm to save yourself and Sirius Black from having your souls ripped out. Unfortunately this has created a good deal of work for me, in that your reality has become unstable and, being the entity in charge of incidents like this, I have to sort it out.
The most expedient method of fixing this would be to erase you from existence. However, several others have threatened to do unspeakably horrifying things to me if I go through with it.
The second option is for me to drop you off in another reality while we wait for things to settle before sending you back, which could be any-when from the end of August up until mid-November this year.
The third and final option that isn't needlessly complicated is to leave you here for that same time frame before dropping you off at the point you left. This has the possible side-effect of driving you insane from boredom, which could be fun to watch.
So, those are your options. You have five minutes to decide."
Harry was dumbfounded. He would be driven insane or killed for saving himself and an innocent man from certain death. He wouldn't know if Sirius managed to get a trial, or if Hermione and Ron got away safely. But, he could choose to go away for a while and miss most of or the entirety of the summer with the Dursleys, which would be the best thing ever. And anyway, doesn't it take awhile for criminals to get sent to prison? Uncle Vernon was always complaining that the police couldn't just lock the 'hooligans' up. So maybe going somewhere else for a while would be a good idea, that way he could have a proper holiday, be back in time for Hogwarts and then never go back to the Dursleys'.
Having decided, Harry spoke up, voice filled with something like hope.
"I - I'll take the third option please."
"Good. Now, in order to find out where I'll be sending you, you'll need to choose a slip. Then I'll explain a couple things about how this'll work and you'll be on your way."
Matching word to action, Time presented Harry an upturned bowler hat filled to the brim with pieces of paper. He reached in, eyes closed and grabbed one near the bottom. It read 'U-MV/9A1'.
Time reached out and read it, humming as he did so.
"Hmmm. Well, it'll be interesting, at least." He mumbled
"Okay, first of all, now that you've chosen, you cannot change your mind. There are also a few things you need to know now, and a couple more you might need later, depends on what happens.
First is that this world has recently started its apocalypse. Most of human civilization has collapsed.
Second, said apocalypse was brought about by a bio-engineered virus that creates zombies. It can be transmitted through the air but more commonly through a bite. You don't have to worry about the airborne variety, but you are still at risk from bites. If you get bitten, you are dead. Got it?"
Harry nodded fearfully. Why couldn't he have chosen a slip with a nicer world on it?
"Good. Third, this particular world runs about nine times faster than your own, so you'll be about sixteen, almost seventeen when you return. This isn't as bad as it sounds, primarily because you gain three 'free' years of life and because the flip side has you aging several years every day you're there.
As an aside, there may be some odd side-effects from hopping dimensions, such as massive growth spurts, gender-bending, altered features, new powers, extra personalities, anal-leakage, shrinkage, sterility, etc. etc.
Finally, you cannot actively use magic in this world without 'crashing' it. To stop this from happening, I'll be taking your wand for the duration. It will be returned to you upon your return.
Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." Harry gulped as his stomach took the time to visit his feet.
The man-in-gold nodded once then turned and began walking into the distance. As he did so, Harry's vision began to darken. Just before the world went black Harry heard him say;
"And I'll be taking that bit of Riddles' soul. Can't have any hitchhikers, can we?"
And then his eyes closed.
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