Divine Intervention
by DraykaEmrys
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters created by JKR. This would be considered AU. Massively.
Fate settled into her seat gracefully, surprised to see that she was the last to arrive to this little meeting of the minds. Chatter wove around the room as the other Immortals were busy catching up after a long separation while they waited for whomever called them together to begin. After a long moment, the eternal embodiment of Balance rose. Shaking her multi-hued hair back, she rapped her knuckles gently on the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she called, "now that we're all here, I'd like to get this meeting started."
"Why have you called this meeting, Balance, dear?" Light's Presence responded.
"Let me guess," a snide voice echoed as Trickery sat up, "a mortal has screwed something up again by getting their hands on one of our old artifacts?"
Next to him, Death shook his head. "No, nothing that trite. We have a problem in the magical sector of Britannia. One of the many Dark Wizards there is currently not only cheating me, but sending me a whole list of people who aren't supposed to be dead yet!"
"Don't tell me that jumped up bastard Riddle is still alive?" Darkness snarled. "I thought I got rid of that overreaching moron years ago!"
Balance let out a whistle just as Death was about to snap back. As the Immortals all turned to her, she sighed. With a flick of her wrist, three tapestries unfurled from the ceiling. The first depicted Earth as a smoldering ruin with only a handful of plants, animals, and people alive. The second showed two dark figures sitting on thrones made of human bones. The third showed an island sinking into the ocean while ships fled in all directions.
Fate sat up fast, upsetting Time's tea in the process. "WHAT IN THE OBLIVION ARE THOSE!" she demanded.
Balance faced the raging Fate. "I have, with Time's help, followed three possible futures to their end. Seeing these three options, I decided I was in over my head, and called this conclave. Something is very wrong in the mortal realm. Very wrong. This should not be possible. But first, let me explain the situation that leads to each of these possible futures. The first," she paused to gesture to the smoking ruin tapestry, "occurs when Tom Riddle returns from the wraith form he currently enjoys and begins his war. During the course of this war, Harry Potter, the so-called 'Boy-Who-Lived', learns that his entire life has been manipulated by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in order to mold him into a weapon against Voldemort. Enraged, he allows himself to be captured, and gives Voldemort information on the new Muggle weapons of mass destruction. Together, they decide that the world isn't worth ruling, and manage to unleash a Nuclear Holocaust on the entire civilized world. Out of the billions on Earth, only a few hundred survive."
Before the babbling of the various Immortals can get out of hand, Balance points to the second tapestry, causing the horrific sound of someone under the torture curse to ring out. Shocked, the others turned to her, and finally settle again.
"The Second Tapestry shows what would happen if something happens to get Harry Potter out from under Dumbledore's thumb. In this particular instance, since the thread was handed over by Chance, the boy is bitten by a werewolf. This causes the Ministry of Magic to remove him from his abusive Muggle guardians. A clause in the Potter will enables family friend and werewolf, Remus Lupin, to take custody, after another mortal forces the Manipulator to release the will. Unfortunately with THIS scenario, it ends poorly as well. The Ministry of Magic limits werewolves strictly, meaning that this ends the Potter line. But, because of his status as the Boy-Who-Lived, he isn't allowed to cash out his estate and leave the country. When Voldemort returns, the Ministry basically kidnaps the boy and attempts to force him to fulfill the Prophecy. Instead, he joins Voldemort and they rule Britannia as horrific dictators for the next three hundred years."
Prophecy suddenly sat up from where she had been lounging. "Wait, wait, what prophecy?" she shouted. "I don't remember a prophecy about this Dark Lord. Light, Darkness, did either of YOU speak a prophecy?"
Light's Presence shook her head, her nearly white hair sparkling as it moved in the slight breeze. Darkness also indicated a negative, his face furrowed into a scowl.
Death shrugged at the assembly. "It's possible that a Spirit instigated it," he offered.
"But the Oracles on Earth would have been able to tell anyone who asked that it was a Wish Prophecy and not a Divine Prophecy!" Fate growled.
"The problem is that you assume the humans would seek out an Oracle to ask about a potential prophecy that might decide the fate of their nation, rather than either work to negate it or make it occur," Logic drawled from his prone position on the table in front of his twin sister, Creativity.
"We're getting a little off track, here, aren't we?" Life piped up from where she was braiding some form of vine. "What's the events that trigger the third Tapestry, Balance, dear?"
"The third tapestry is the sinking of the British Isles, which I'm sure you all figured out. The situation here is that Harry is freed from the old man, but gets so disgusted with the rampant corruption in the Ministry and the bigotry of the population that he turns Dark. Instead of joining with the murderer of his family, though, he decides he's going to rule. He defeats Voldemort and uses his popularity to gain power. But the old manipulator realizes that the boy has gone Dark, only is being more subtle about it, so he starts a war with him. Things get so bad that they manage to light the leylines beneath Hogwarts on fire, and thus Atlantis is repeated."
"So, the lynch-pin in all of these scenarios is the Potter Boy? Why is he so important?" Logic countered, leaning up to brace himself on his elbows.
Light's Presence smiled grimly. "He's an Archmage, Logic. So, he's basically the most powerful magical mortal on the Earth right now. It's because of a quirk of his family, actually. His father was very distantly High Elf, while his mother had Faye in her. We had hoped, Balance and I, that he could be the new Light Lord for the Magical World...but the old one has gone too senile and won't let go of his position."
Creativity smiled. It wasn't exactly a pretty smile, but it was a cunning one. "Who's up for a little vacation with the fate of a world on their shoulders?" she chirped.
"WHAT?" Fate returned.
"I've had a smashing idea! We've seen what happens when he's pulled away from the Corrupting Light Lord's influence by mortals...but what about if he's drawn away by Immortals? Or if he's raised by either the High Elves or the Faye?"
Logic sat up so fast that he actually fell off the table. From the floor, he blinked up at his sister in shock before bursting into laughter. Trickery joined in his laughter, while Fate, Time, and Balance huddled briefly. On the other wall...three new tapestries began to weave themselves. The first showed a man in a brilliant white robe holding a staff, and standing against the darkness. The second showed a knight kneeling at the feet of a maiden. The third showed a rogue-like man lounging on a throne, eating grapes. The huddle broke as the last thread knotted itself into place.
"Well, that's interesting," Prophecy murmured, looking at the three opposite images.
"Yes, but which one do we want to happen? I know the mortals, in their naivete, would want the first or the second...but which one is best for the entire world?" Logic asked.
"The first is the Light Lord we hoped for," Fate stated with an apologetic shrug to Darkness. He smiled at her, unconcerned. Evil wasn't his job, after all. Showing the opposite of things was. Evil just happened to occur with alarming regularity among mortals when they are chosen to walk in shadows.
"The second is a revival of the Age of Chivalry among the magicals, brought by the Elven influence in the boy," Balance commented.
"And the last is the Cunning One," Time remarked. "He rebuilds his family fortune, his family name, and by use of Right of Conquest, also rebuilds the Slytherin reputation."
"Sounds like each of them is an improvement on the other three outcomes," Logic stated. "So which road do we want to travel?"
Chance leaned forward, holding out his ever-present dice. "Why not let Chance decide?" he purred.