Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter universe or from Marvel. This is just an attempt at bringing the two worlds together. This story is also a rewrite of 'The Awakening' that I had previously written and discontinued.
The London night was at its usual best. The clear skies, the shining stars and the cooling air masking the bustling activities going on down in the city. People from all walks of life, just going about their day. People getting back to their humble abodes after a hard day's work. Well for some people at least.
The Charing Cross Tube Station was crowded as usual. People were moving about in a hurry to get to their homes.
Suddenly the lights illuminating the station started flickering. The abrupt nature of the brightening and dimming lights caused some uneasiness to the people present, but they still went about their business like this was a usual occurrence. But that didn't last too long.
The lights went out completely plunging the entire station to utter darkness. Even the moving trains came to an abrupt halt. For a few moments, there was pin-drop silence in the station as the passengers and the Officers alike were just realizing what had happened. Slowly the noise level rose as some passengers started panicking, but in the utter darkness, the only source of light was their phones. Even the backup power had failed to come on. The Officers moved in with their limited lights and vision to restore order to the crowd. But as soon as they started moving they heard a huge cracking sound in the air and suddenly the lights came back in the station.
The faded darkness also curbed the panic from the people. The trains slowly started moving as well. Seeing as the situation seemed to be essentially resolved, the Officers split themselves up, some to check to on the cause, some to inform the superiors and get information, and some to check on the passengers in the station.
The Officers who went to check the passengers didn't have much to do to reassure the passengers. They had moved on as soon as the lights had come back on. But one of the Officer caught sight of something out of place.
There lying on the ground was a teenager by all accounts who looked like he crawled out of the sea. He was lying there as the day he was born, buck ass nude and a long scar across his chest that made it look like he was sewed back on. But the oddest thing was that he was completely wet from head to toe like he had been drenched in a bucket of cold water or maybe he had taken a dip somewhere.
The boy slowly started to stir and become conscious of his surroundings as a crowd started to form around him. Someone came up to him and helped to his feet and put a coat around him to cover himself. He was shivering bloody. By the time the Officer reached up to him he was mumbling something incoherently.
"You okay kid?" he slowly asked him.
The kid looked up at him at his voice with those bright green eyes. He could see the confusion in his eyes and the panic etched on his face, and then something else, fear.
Maybe it's the uniform, he thought.
The kid looked around the place in confusion and then asked the Officer, "Where am I?"
"You are in the Charing Cross Tube Station kid. What were you doing out here to get like this?" the Officer asked him.
The kid still seemed to be in a panic mode.
"I shouldn't be here. I can't be dead now. I need to get back." the kid kept on mumbling.
"What's your name kid?" the guy who helped him up asked him.
That question seemed to surprise him.
"You don't know who I am?"
"Should I know you?" the guy asked him back.
"I should be dead. I fell through the veil, and here I am at the crossroads again."
He then spoke to the Officer, "Can I go back?"
The Officer just looked at him for a moment and replied, "Sure, just tell me your name and where you come from and we will help you on your way home."
"My name is Harry" he paused for a moment and then said, "Potter. I need to get back to the living world. The war is still going on. I must help. Surely you must already know all this."
The Officer exchanged a look with the other guy. This kid was really talking barmy. He should have expected that of course, considering the condition they found him in.
Suddenly the kid asked them, "Is Dumbledore around here?"
There was an almost hopeful glint in his eyes.
This Dumbledore guy must be a parent or guardian or something. An imaginary friend, maybe. He couldn't sure. The kid obviously had the crazy bald dude part spot on.
"Look, Harry, did you hit your head ground on the ground?" he asked.
"I don't think so" he replied and then placed his right hand over his head to check when he apparently got the shock of his life.
"What the…" he had just come to the realization that he was bald.
"Where did my hair go?"
"This is how we found you, naked and drenched in water, lying on the ground. How did that happen anyway?" the Officer asked him.
"I…" Harry had no answer for him. What in the world had happened to him? He remembered the time he had sacrificed his life for the greater good, how he had woke up naked at the crossroads and how he got clothes when he wished for it, meeting up with Dumbledore.
There is nothing tethering me to the world now. The blood protection is gone and the Horcrux is destroyed. I shouldn't be alive. Then these people are not alive either. Harry's thoughts were all over the place.
Why did I lose my hair, and why am I drenched in water? He smelled his hands just to make sure. Is it really water?
He needed answers.
He asked the Officer, "Can I go back Sir, or would I have to move on?"
The Officer didn't answer him immediately. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "Look, kid, you are hurt, and you are cold. Let's get you some clothes and in the meantime, you can tell me where your home is."
"You're not homeless are you?" he asked as an afterthought.
Harry thought about it for a moment and then said, "Maybe I am, I don't know whether you consider someone homeless if they are dead."
The Officer beckoned him to walk to his office and Harry complied.
"Now that's the second time you have said that you are dead. Why would you think that?"
"Because I am" Harry answered like it was the most obvious fact in the universe.
"Hmm…" the Officer wasn't sure whether the kid was playing him or was a straight up nutter.
"Kid I am going to set you straight right now. You are not dead."
"Yeah, sure" Harry just laughed in jest.
But then he saw the seriousness on the Officer's face. He was not joking.
Maybe I'm not dead. There are tons of people here going to and from the station. He had never imagined the afterlife to be so noisy.
But then what happened to my head?
"You're serious aren't you? I'm not dead. That should mean that you aren't either." Harry gave a slight laugh at this point.
This was really getting to the nerves of the Officer. First, he talks about being a dead man, and now he talks about my death.
They had reached his Office by then.
"I already told you, kid, you are not dead. Now stop this crazy talk and put on these trousers" he said as he gave Harry one of his own pairs.
"Okay" Harry replied as he quickly put on the trousers. He noticed the name plaque on the desk 'David Benn'.
But that wasn't the only thing he noticed. There perched on the wall were a calendar and the year on it.
2011.
Harry was shocked.
This is crazy. Harry thought. How in the hell had he traveled this far, assuming he is still not dead and this is not some crazy vision he was having?
How?
Harry couldn't for the life of him understand how this had happened. He could blame it on the veil after all not much was known about it.
He couldn't very well talk about it with Officer David. He was obviously a muggle and would think him crazy if he doesn't think that already.
"Is something wrong?" David asked him. His thoughts might have mirrored on his face.
"No, nothing" Harry replied.
"Now then can you tell me where you live?"
"Uh…" Harry didn't know what to say honestly. He was in the future, the war he fought might already be over. His friends may have won, or the Death Eaters may have won. But that didn't seem very likely. He was in a muggle place in the heart of London. If the Death Eaters had won, they wouldn't have left a place like this alone.
"Hey, stop spacing out" Officer David clicked his fingers over Harry's face snapping him out of his thoughts.
"So, baldy, where is your place?"
"Three blocks from here. It's a very grim old place."
"Yeah, you must fit right in there."
"As a matter of fact I do" Harry said playing along with the banter.
He wasn't sure why he called that place his home. Sure, it belonged to him, but it was still a dreary old place full of reminders of his godfather and how he had failed him. He had never gone back there after Voldemort's defeat.
Thinking back on his life pulled Harry's thoughts in another direction. Something he must have done the moment he woke up.
Both his wands were missing. He did have them both on his person when he had fallen through the veil, but they seem lost to him now just like his hair.
"Did you find a small stick with me?" Harry asked.
"A stick? You are very odd aren't you?"
"We only found you, and you didn't even have any clothes on for god sake. We didn't find any stick with you."
Disappointment coursed through Harry at these words, and along with it a sense of helplessness. What good was he without a wand? Sure, he had done some wandless magic before, but those were always the small spells. Fact is he had never done wandless magic consciously, it had always happened in the moment of need and instincts had taken over. What was he supposed to do here?
"Officer David" Harry finally spoke, "Thank you for the pants. Now I will be on my way."
Harry shook David's hand as a sign of genuine gratitude. But he needed to be alone with his thoughts. He had to think of a way to make his life work here.
"You're sure?" David asked him not entirely convinced that Harry was going back to his place or if he even had a place.
"Go and get yourself checked up with a doctor, just in case. Or should I arrange that now?" he asked Harry
"Thanks, but for now I need to get some sleep. I will do it tomorrow. Goodbye Officer David."
David still didn't look convinced but didn't push any further, so Harry left without further delay.
He left through the exit of the station and into the streets where the cold air hit him like a bucket of ice. He was already pretty soaked, and even though he had cleaned up it was still chilling.
The city had changed in 14 years. He could see that much. What else had changed?
Now he needed some answers. Some real answers, and for that he needed to get to Diagon Alley. He needed to know what had happened to the Wizarding World since he had taken his little excursion
Baby steps, for now, Harry thought.
But that's all he had time to think about before something heavy crashed into him and he was thrown off his feet and hit hard on the sidewalk. Through hazy eyes, he saw a car in front of him and the occupants inside were rushing over to him.
Goddammit, he thought before he succumbed to unconsciousness.
