****Chapter 1: A Job Interview with Death****
"So you see Harry, you have a choice. You can continue onward or you can go back" concluded Dumbledore.
The Harry he was talking to was a young man with unruly black hair, emerald green eyes, and a distinctive scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. He was known as Harry Potter; youngest seeker in a century, and the Boy-Who-Lived. The reason he was called the Boy-Who-Lived was because when he was but a year old, an evil wizard attack the home where Harry's family was hiding. He killed both Harry's parents, but when he tried to complete the deed by killing Harry something impossible happened. The killing curse rebounded off of Harry and struck the wizard, destroying his body.
You heard correctly, I said wizard. For in this world there are more than the normal people and creature the likes of which you and I are accustomed to. There is also a secret society living parallel to our own consisting of many types of magical persons and beings. Forever hidden among us, yet rarely ever interacting with us, these people are commonly referred to as Wizards and Witches. There are in fact other classifications used in this society for different cases, but as of now, it does not behoove us to speak of them.
In this world where you are just as likely to see a person flying atop a broom as you would a unicorn, Harry Potter is a young wizard that is famous around the world for something he had no control over. The whole world knows what happened on that night, even though the only people still alive that were present are Harry and the evil wizard that started it all, Lord Voldemort. Though that is not his given name, it is one that was created to strike fear into the hearts of thousands. He was so successful that apart from the two gentlemen we see talking, the rest of their society commonly refers to Voldemort as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or You-Know-Who.
But I am sure; you have heard this story before. What we are witnessing is two wizards, both famous; one for his deeds and killed at just over a century and a half old, and the other for something beyond his control with his life seemingly ended before he even reached adulthood. I say seemingly for you see, in the magical world very few things are as they seem. Right now, both wizards are conversing in a seemingly limbo-like world where Harry has the choice to continue to his afterlife and reunite with all of his departed friends and family, or he can return to the war-torn world and finish his destined task of defeating Lord Voldemort.
Just as we are about to hear Harry's decision, he is interrupted by someone whom one originally anticipated meeting, and the other had no inkling would be present.
"I will….." Harry began.
"Listen to my counter offer" finished a third voice from the side.
When the wizards turned at the voice they beheld 5 figures in hooded cloaks ranging in color from white to black, with shades of grey in-between.
"And who are you?" questioned Albus Dumbledore, as he observed the new comers.
"We are the people that he would've seen had Harry choose the other option" answered the central figure as they lowered their hood revealing a cascade of red hair above green eyes of the same shade as Harry's.
"Mum!?" came the strangled question from Harry's throat as the other figures lowered their hoods revealing their identities to the two wizards. To Lily Potter's left was a man with the same crazy black hair as Harry, and hazel eyes behind glasses eerily similar to his son's. To his left was a man with a shaggy mane of black hair with haunted grey eyes, which still withheld a mischievous glint. To Lily's right was a man with a salt and pepper hair style that looked far older than he should, but still had gentleness within his brown eyes. Next to him was a woman with short pink hair, and purple eyes that held just as much mischievousness as the man standing her opposite.
"James, Sirius, Remus, Nymphadora it is good to see you all again" greeted Dumbledore as he watched the reunion taking place in front of him, as the Potter family was reunited again.
"But what are you all doing here?" came the muffled question as Harry was still attempting to squeeze the non-existent life out of them all as he was reunited with his family.
"We were sent as messengers" responded Nymphadora Lupin as her hair changed from its bubblegum pink to a more somber blue as she was both happy to see him and sad for what was going to happen.
"Messengers? For who?" came the confused question as Harry finally calmed down, though it is to be noted he was still holding onto his mother rather tightly.
"For death" was the flat reply given by Sirius Black as he beheld his godson again, and yet regretted seeing him so soon.
"Death? But what would he want from me?" was the slightly scared response.
"Sadly, quite a lot my son" was the sad response from James.
"You see Harry, when you disarmed Draco Malfoy you won the allegiance of not only his wand, but also the Elder Wand. Combine that with possessing the Resurrection Stone for most of the year, and having the Invisibility Cloak for as long as you did, you became the 'True' master of death. As such when you were killed that created enough of a window for him to personally get involved" was the explanation from Remus.
"That combined with how Voldemort has managed his horcruxes gives him an opportunity to interact with the mortal world. You see despite a horcrux splitting the creator's soul in half, magic strives for equality. So though when he created his diary his soul was split in half with half in him and the other with the diary, when he created his ring horcrux magic intervened to distribute his soul equally with a third in the diary, a third in the ring, and the final third in himself. This continued through the creation of his other horcrux's until just recently when he created his seventh. You see there is no 'true' way for something to be split into seven equal pieces. There will always be a piece a little larger, than the others, even if it isn't discernible" continued Nymphadora.
"When a horcrux is destroyed that part of the soul comes here to wait for the rest, so that they may reform and be collected by death. So when his last horcrux is destroyed, right now" unknown to either Harry or Dumbledore the horcrux in Nagini was just destroyed by Neville Longbottom. "Death now has access to more of Voldemort's soul than he does. That combined with the slight paradox of 'The Master of Death' being killed by his own wand allows Death to intervene slightly" finished his father.
"But what does he want from Harry?" worried Dumbledore, as he tried to think of the implications this held for the prophecy.
"Are you familiar with the multiple universe theory?" was the returned question from Lily.
"No" "A little" were her two responses.
"You've heard of this before?" was the question Dumbledore directed at Harry.
"Only as it is demonstrated within the media, a couple of Dudley's comic books had stories were they went into alternate universes. From what I gathered the theory is that every decision and every act of chance are actually separations and creations of new universes. An example of that is if I hadn't met Draco Malfoy than in theory I wouldn't have hated Slytherin House and might have been sorted there" was Harry's reply.
"Harry if I was still a Professor I would award points for an answer that both explains and gives an example that easy to follow" was Remus Lupin's proud statement.
"That makes things slightly easier to explain" began Lily, "you see despite there being multiple universes there is only one Death. Some of these universes are so similar that the only difference could be that we changed your middle name from James to Sirius. But other universes are so drastically different that there may not even be magic, and the entire planet could've developed differently."
"Lil's you still haven't told them what Death wants" interrupted James.
"I was getting to that, if you would just give me a chance to speak" retorted Lily.
"But you are taking forever" he whined.
"If you think you can do better, than you are more than welcomed too."
"Aww come on Lil's I didn't mean that….." continued the argument.
"While the love birds keep arguing let me fill you in on the rest" stated Sirius with an amused look in his eye. "Apparently, the rule about Death not interfering is pretty universal. Heh get it universal, because we are talking about universes" chuckled Sirius.
"Can you be serious for once in your life" groaned Nymphadora, before she realized what she said. "And if you make a crack about 'serious Sirius' or how your life is over, I'll come over and beat you so hard you'll think there was an 'after-afterlife'" she threatened.
"Aww you're no fun" he pouted, "anyway, apparently Death is able to act here because your death muddled the rules. It seems that if the Master of Death is killed by his own wand before he ever touches it, it confuses things. Long story short, you don't officially exist anymore in the eyes of the powers that be" explained Sirius.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DON'T EXIST" Harry shouted as he began to panic at what this would mean for not just his life, but the others.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO SCARING MY SON LIKE THAT! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO SEE IF I CAN GET MAGIC TO WORK HERE BY RUNNING THROUGH MY ENTIRE SPELL REPERTOIRE AT YOUR EXPENSE!" raged Lily.
"Always wondered where you got your temper from" mused Nymphadora.
"Anyway, yes you do exist. However the usual rules are a little bent right now. As you are mortal, you are able to go to a universe and do things that Death has wanted to, but she is unable to do. But, when you die you will go through the same judgment we all do, which will determine where you go" continued James as he watched his wife attempt to beat some sense into his surrogate brother.
"Death wants a champion for her uses, and you've been nominated. Being Death and existing everywhere and every when at once, she is able to manipulate time and space in such a way, that while you spend anywhere from a week to years in her service, nothing more than a week shall pass in your universe. She realizes what this must feel like for you so she has promised to offer you any help and favors she can. What she will do is send all of our spirits down with the ability to be seen and heard so that we can retrieve what is left of Voldemort's soul" was the solemn summation of his situation provided by his father.
"I've noticed that you've referred to Death as both a male, and a female" pointed out Dumbledore.
Tonks took this question, "We've been made 'aware' is the best word, about what form Death is in. You see as a greater power he can assume any form he wants whenever he needs to personally retrieve a soul or do an explanation in the afterlife."
"Back onto the subject at hand, if you choose this option, than we will need both you and Dumbledore to return we us in spirit form to retrieve Voldemort. One thing he got right is that 7 is a very magical number" interjected Remus.
"These things Death needs me to do, they aren't bad are they?" was the slightly hesitant question from Harry.
"Sadly some are, but they always work towards a good goal. As Professor Dumbledore can relate, sometimes bad things must happen for good goals to be achieved" was Lily's depressed response. At Harry's look Dumbledore gave a sad nod.
"I'll do it, I may not have liked being forced to save our world, but that was mostly due to never being given a choice, because I ultimately think I would have chosen to do so anyway" was Harry's firm response.
"We know Harry, that's what makes you so special; Not that you do things because you must, but because you can and don't see a reason not too" Sirius stated with a proud look in his eye.
"We should go" started James, "oh and Harry"
"Yes?"
"Once we're done, Death will want to speak to you" he finished.
****Scene Change****
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, once an awe inspiring and comforting place too many a students was currently in a horrendous state. The once strong and sturdy castle walls were riddled with holes and cracks. The huge, but welcoming, wooden doors which led to this safe haven of learning was blown apart. The grounds; which would be filled with soft luscious grass in the Spring and Summer, a multitude of fallen leaves during the Fall, and blanketed in snow during the Winter; was littered with holes and the bodies of those whom had fallen during this conflict. Near the stone steps, which led towards the entrance hall normally frequented by students, was a large group of people. On one side stood the Death Eaters, leading a chained Hagrid carrying a body. In the front of the Death Eaters stood their Lord and Master, Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. On the other side stood the remains of the forces of the light; comprised by the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and the teaching staff of Hogwarts.
"You'll never win!" shouted a tall redheaded teen.
"Yeah Harry will beat you!" concurred a bushy haired girl.
This just caused the Dark Lord to laugh. A laugh which was soon taken up by the rest of the Death Eaters, much to the discomfort of the light side.
"You poor poor mudblood, you don't get it do you?" Lord Voldemort questioned with a sneer. "You've already lost, your precious boy-who-lived is already dead!" he finished with a triumphant smirk on his face.
The reactions at this news where mixed. Some people look enraged, others look depressed; still some looked defiant; as if they refused to believe such a thing.
"Liar!" shouted two people. The first was a sandy haired young man holding a blood-stained sword. The second was a blonde that normally possessed a dreamy look to her face. I say normally because right now it only held anger and defiance.
"Oh so you don't believe me?" Lord Voldemort questioned in a mocking tone. "Then perhaps we should return your savior to you" he finished with a pointed look at his minion that was closest to the half-giant Hagrid.
"You're free to go half-breed, for now" the nearest Death Eater said, while muttering the last.
Hagrid slowly walked over towards his peers. Carefully so as to not disturb his, in his mind, precious cargo. As he neared the group, they could see that he was holding what appeared to be a body and crying heavily. What caused some of the before mentioned defiant members of the group to feel a pang of dread in their heart was that the body appeared to be that of a teen.
"Hagrid who is that?" was the hesitant question from one Hermione Granger.
Slowly Hagrid leaned down to place the corpse on the ground. As he stood up and moved away, the body was revealed to be that of a young man. But what caused the resistance's hearts to drop was that the young man had messy black hair, wire-frame glasses, and a famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO" wailed the young Miss Granger. This sparked murmurs of disbelief and sorrow on the side of the light, and barely muffled shouts of joy and victory on the side of evil.
"Now do you see" Lord Voldemort began, "do you see how pointless it is for you to resist? But I am not a cruel person, thus I give you the chance to live. Merely kneel before me and pledge to serve me for the rest of your life."
"Never!" was the firm reply.
"Who dares to defy Lord Voldemort!" the Dark Lord snarled. Instead of an answer he witnessed a young blonde girl step forward.
"Oh and what makes you believe you can refuse me?" he questioned with a mixture of curiosity and anger.
"Because he's not dead yet" she answered.
"10 points to Ravenclaw Miss Lovegood" a grandfatherly voice answered shocking everyone.
There before them all was the spirit of one Albus Dumbledore, former Headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the only people to ever best Voldemort in a duel.
"It seems that even in death you are an insane fool Dumbledore" the Dark Lord responded once he got over his shock.
"I don't see why your so surprised of that" called another voice.
"Well if it isn't the half-breed and his blood traitor wife" sneered the senior Malfoy when he beheld the specters of the Lupin's.
"Can you even be a blood-traitor without any blood" questioned an amused Sirius Black, making his presence known.
"Sirius!? Oh god Sirius they got Harry I'm so sorry" sobbed Minerva McGonagall in a rare showing of emotion.
"I think that might be more shocking than us suddenly manifesting as spirits." "James! Be nice." Joked one voice before being chastised by another.
"You? So I suppose you're here to retrieve your son?" Lord Voldemort questioned with a degree of smugness.
"They already have" answered the newly arrived spirit of Harry Potter. "Luna, when this is over with can you keep an eye on my body?" Harry requested of the now shocked blonde.
"Why are you asking me?" she asked.
"Because you're the only one I can trust to keep the wrackspurts away from it" Harry responded with a wink and a grin.
"Of course I'll protect it" she answered with a blush.
"Done? What could you possibly do to me boy? In case it's escaped your notice, you're dead" was Lord Voldemort's sarcastic response to the conversation.
"It's quite simple really, all I have to do is keep you still" Harry responded as the rest of his family surrounded the half-blooded terrorist.
When they had gotten into position Harry's family was surrounding Voldemort with equally sized spaces between them, while Dumbledore moved outside of the circle leaving Harry as the only being inside with the Dark Lord. At some unseen signal, they sprang into action. First Harry literally dove into his body, temporarily possessing it, at least as one can possess themselves. Then Dumbledore released a strange pulse of magic forcing everyone out of the circle and giving them some clearance. Before any of the Death Eaters could react, Harry's family all raised their hands towards each other connecting them to each other via strands of magic. If one were to look down at the event, they would see a pentagram with a member of the extended Potter family serving as the vertices, while Harry and Voldemort were in the middle. Once the symbol had been created a golden cage of light appeared above the two wizards reminding them of a similar event that took place a few years ago.
Suddenly Lord Voldemort moved, attempting to curse our young hero. However he forgot a few things, one being that, as far as he knew, Harry was already dead. The second being just how close the two were standing. Finally Lord Voldemort forgot that with youth comes reflexes and speed generally faster than one of his age, horcruxes or not. Thus that is how Lord Voldemort found himself physically restrained by a not quite dead teenager, while spirits of the boy's family held a shield that prevent him from receiving aid from his followers.
"Release me!" snarled the Dark Lord.
"I don't think so Tom" retorted Harry.
"Foolish boy, you cannot finish me without releasing me or without a wand."
"Remember what I said? I just have to hold you still"
"To what end?"
"So I can finish you myself" interrupted a raspy voice, causing all to look in its direction.
What they saw scared the grand majority of the present magic users possibly more than the self-titled Dark Lord. For standing, or rather floating, just within the boundary of the cage was a figure wearing a tattered black cloak with the hood pulled up so that it cast a shadow over the person's face. The voice while raspy, gave no indication of sex, nor did the figures physical appearance as the cloak was loose and fluttered in the wind. But perhaps what frightened the mages the most was the gleaming scythe it carried. With a blade devoid of imperfections, and an ebony handle so dark it appeared as it made of shadow, it was a rather simple weapon which provoke profound fear in the hearts of those who witnessed it.
"What trickery is this?" questioned Lord Voldemort with no small amount of fear in his voice. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"I am the courier of souls between the planes, I'm the one whom is universally respected, and I am your damnation!" the figure finished with an ominous voice.
"Impossible, I am immortal" Lord Voldemort stuttered in fear, shocking many on both sides.
"The Diary," "The Ring," "The Cup," "The Locket," "The Diadem," "The Snake," "My Scar;" one by one, each of the spirits listed Lord Voldemort's horcruxes. Which each item, Voldemort seemed to grow paler and sicklier.
"That means that you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, are mortal" stated Death.
"Please, I'll give you whatever you want. I'll do anything" begged the most feared wizard in history.
"Anything?" mused Death as he slowly approached Lord Voldemort.
"Yes" he nearly sobbed.
"Then I would like for you to, SUFFER FOR ALL ETERNITY!" he boomed as he appeared to physically tear Voldemort's soul from his body.
"NOOOOOOOO!" the soul wailed as it was consumed in flames.
With the deed done, the Potter family slowly relaxed as the golden shield disappeared. Slowly the reality of Lord Voldemort's demise settled in causing the side of the light to spring to action stunning the Death Eaters before they could regain their wits. As this was happening no one noticed as Harry Potter slowly approached Luna Lovegood.
"Thank you for agreeing to watch my body" he said.
"Of course what type of friend would I be if I didn't" she replied. Unsure of how to answer her, Harry opted to instead give her a hug. Though startled by the action, it didn't take long for her to reciprocate in full.
"How long will you be gone?"
"I was told that to you all here only a week will pass, but I'm not sure if I believe that's possible"
"How long will it be for you?"
"Weeks? Months? Years? Decades? I'm not sure"
"Well then I better give you something to remember me by."
"I would never forge-mmph" he was cut off by Luna leaning up and meeting his lips with hers.
After a few minutes of kissing, they reluctantly broke the kiss. With their foreheads resting against each other's no words were said, and none were needed. Regretfully, they realized that they could not stand there all day, so they separated.
"Well Pup, who's the blonde?" came the mischievous question making them jump out of their skins, literally in Harry's case. This of course caused everyone who witnessed it to start laughing.
"Damn it Sirius, did you have to do that?" pouted Harry. "This is Luna, I met her in my 5th year, and she was with me when we tried to save you from the ministry. She's also the one I took to Slughorn's party which made it the best date I've ever had" Harry finished staring into Luna's eyes trying to convey his sincerity.
"Aww my baby's such a sweetheart" Lily cooed. "How come you don't say sweet things like that anymore?" she asked as she smacked James whom had been making obnoxious kissing sounds.
"As amusing as this is" cut in Death, "we need to get going."
"One second, KREACHER!" Harry yelled.
"Master called for Kreacher?" the elf asked as he popped into being in front of the group.
"Yes, I want you to take Luna and my body somewhere safe, and protect and care for them. Listen to her orders as if they were mine" Harry ordered.
"It shall be done" Kreacher replied before he carried out his task as Harry and Luna shared one last look.
"I'm ready" Harry announced once they were gone.
"Then let us depart" responded Death.
****Scene Change****
As Harry looked around he realized that he was back in the limbo between life and death. As he turned to ask why they were back here, he noticed that his family's forms were slowly fading away.
"What's happening?" Harry exclaimed as he rushed to his mother, only to fall right through her.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but now that we're done we have to go back" Lily sadly replied.
"But why? There's so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to know about you" Harry choked out as tears began to stream down his face.
"Shhhhh its okay honey, we'll have all the time in the world when you're done" she comforted as she poorly hid her own tears. "For now, just live your life to the fullest, we can talk once you are here to stay."
"But if you show up before you've lived as long as possible, I'll show you why I was an Auror captain" James threatened lightly as he held his crying wife.
"Remember Pup, we're always with you, just as we always have been" Sirius said as he moved to stand by Harry's parents.
"We're proud of you Harry, no one else could do half of what you have" Remus added his sentiments.
Sitting there staring at his family as they slowly faded out of view, Harry had never felt such a strange combination of love and loneliness as he did at that moment.
"Harry?" Nymphadora started, "can you do me a favor?"
"Sure Tonks, whatever you want." Harry answered.
"Harry, we're family you can call me Nymphadora" she gently rebuked him. "Just do one thing for me, live. It won't be good if you focus so much on the job at hand, and forget to enjoy your life." With that, the family faded out of sight. The only evidence that they were ever there being the echoed question of, "Why can he call you Nympha-OW!"
"Sorry about that" Harry stated with a small chuckle at his godfather's antics.
"If you're done, we can move this to my office" Death said in a neutral tone.
"What do you mean your off- oh well I guess that answers that" Harry started to ask, only to realize he was now in what appeared to be a lawyer's office, complete with desk, leather chairs, bookshelves and a mini-bar. Harry watched in fascination as Death deposited his scythe on a rack that held various others of different shapes. When Death removed his cloak Harry braced him for a skeletal being, or one that caused nightmares to plague him for the rest of eternity. What he didn't expect was a young woman with a modest figure and wavy black hair. Other than the Egyptian ankh tattooed over her eye, there was nothing particularly striking about the woman other than her attractiveness and the sense that she could crush him like a fly.
"Something wrong?" she asked with an amused glint in her eye.
"No not really I just wasn't expecting you to look so..." he trailed off trying to think of a way to say it without being insulting.
"Human?"
"Yeah"
"Normal?"
"Yeah"
"Attractive?"
"Yeah, wait I mean" he sputtered in embarrassment. This seemed to be too much for her, and caused her to start laughing. "But what do you really look like? My parents said that you didn't have a form and could change it at will."
"Well they are correct, I'm just rather fond of this form this century, however when I need to make appearances with large crowds I usually use the cloak, or change to a more intimidating form. That reminds me, can I have it back?"
"Have what back?" he asked perplexed.
"My cloak"
"But I don't have your...Oh that cloak" he started before realizing what she was referring to. "Is there any way I can keep it, it's one of the few things I have that belonged to my dad."
"I'm sorry, but I would really like to have it back" she replied with what appeared to be regret in her voice. "But I will make you a deal if you give me it and the other 2 hallows."
"What type of deal?" Harry asked as he pondered what Death could give somebody.
"Sorry no reviving people, but I'll tell you more about the deal after I describe what your job will be" she said easily reading where his thought process was going.
"Okay" he easily agreed.
"First let me give you some information" she started. "Every entity and deity you've ever heard of, even the ones in what your world called fiction, actually exist."
"What, every one of them?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. "Then why has all these bad things in life happened if they exist? Aren't most of them supposed to be benevolent?"
"If you'll let me finish I can explain" she none too gently chastised him. "Now where was I, oh yes every one of them exist, but not in the same universe. I can see the question coming so just listen, what I mean is that every universe has one deity in charge of them. But every universe cluster has their own pantheon, understand?"
"Sort of, what's a universe cluster?" Harry asked.
"It would be better to give you a representation" she said as she created a small ball of light. "This is your universe," she stated. She then created another hundred or so balls of light before combining them with the original one to create what looked like a mirror globe made of light, "This is your universe cluster." She then filled the room with identical balls of light, "this is your corner of the multiverse. On to why none of them ever helped, that has to do with which world's Harry Potter you are."
"You mean there are other Harry Potter's?" he asked confused.
"Yes every universe cluster starts out as identical, it is by the interference, or lack thereof of a universe's god which makes the differences" she clarified. "You see you as a concept, are very good at traversing universes, whether it is through circumstances outside of your control, or if you engineer it yourself. I believe there is even a version of you which has ascended to godhood. A sex god if I'm right?" she mused.
"Good joke, me a sex god" Harry stated as if having difficulty picturing it.
"Well of course I couldn't picture you as a sex god, but that version of you has done a fairly good job" she stated. "Anyway, back to your explanation. While each cluster has its own pantheon, it also has one 'Death' which not only has their own universe to watch, but must also regulate the others. However as a 'Death' I'm not permitted to interact with the mortal world, thus these 'Death' worlds are seen as the control world. They all mature based on the beings within, they range from perfect Utopia's to worse than you're most creative description of Hell. It is with my universe, that I will eventually need your help with, as what will threaten my universe has the potential to spread to the others. If it succeeds in capturing this cluster it will give them a foothold to begin to spread."
"Okay I understand, you still didn't explain why my life was worse than other Harry's lives" Harry pointed out.
"Actually you're kind of par-for-the-course, there are countless 'Harry Potter's' that have a worse life, but there are a few whom have it better. The reason your life was the way it is because your cluster is governed, you could say, by a version of the Greek Pantheon. Your universe in particular was managed by Lahkesis, one of the 'sisters of fate.' As such, she enjoys setting things in motion and watching as the denizens attempt to persevere" Death explained.
"Great so my life was a movie for the enjoyment of a god" grumbled Harry.
"You're not too far off the mark there" Death stated with far too much enjoyment for Harry's taste. "Back to the matter at hand, my designated 'Death' universe was one that normally gives an attentive god trouble, as such by the time I realized the path it had set itself on, I started to search for a way for me to attempt to interfere. It was then, after spending immeasurable time searching possible outcomes of universe's, I discovered the loophole your universe would create. As you are rather universally driven to your goals, whether they be like yours to help people or like other, darker, versions to seek vengeance, you have one of the higher achievement ratio of the multitude of heroes" she told him.
"While that is nice to hear, am I going to be any help with the way that I am now?" queried Harry.
"No you would just be another corpse" was her blunt response.
"Oh well umm..." Harry was too sure how to respond to that.
"Sorry for being blunt, but I'm just trying to make you understand how serious this is. However, I honestly believe that if you have the proper training and experience then you will succeed" she soothed.
"Okay is there anything else you can tell me?" Harry asked.
"Nothing general, everything else you will learn is specific to each universe I send you too" she answered. "However, I would like to talk to you about the deal I want to make for the Hallows" she stated while standing and walking toward him. Once she was within arm's reach she grabbed him and teleported them elsewhere.
"Where are we?" he questioned while looking around. He appeared to be on an island in a tropical area, with a rainforest on the mainland. There was, what appeared to be, a dormant volcano.
"This is an area of the afterlife, normally reserved for gods or prophets. Part of the deal I'm going to make with you is that this place can be used for you and yours. There will be some instances where you will be in a universe for multiple years there. I'm assuming you will form some attachments. With this, when it is all said and done, you will be surrounded by all of your friends and family regardless of universe of origin" she offered. "I would also offer you to have your magic with you in every universe in combination with whatever skills or powers you need to fit in without raising suspicions."
Harry stopped his knee jerk reaction to refute the deal, in order to consider the pros of the deal. Not only would he gain a spot in the afterlife where he can comfortably spend his afterlife with his friends and family, he would also get new skills and have his magic to fall back on.
"I'll agree, if I can also keep all the skills and powers you bestow upon throughout my time as your avatar" he countered.
Death thought about the ramifications of that. While she didn't need the Hallows, they made her job easier. Also she had already planned to give him the island and let him keep his magic everywhere, so she was only going to have to do one thing to retrieve her Hallows. Honestly she would've been a bit disappointed in Harry if he hadn't have made a counter offer.
"I can agree to that" she decided while holding out her hand. Once Harry grabbed it the deal was made and the Hallows were teleported from wherever he had left them to her office. "Thank you for that, now I'm going to give you your first assignment. As every universe has their own god, I need to inform them that I am sending you to their universe beforehand so that they can make adjustments for what your influence will cause. So in an effort to both give me time to talk to them, and increase your strength and stamina, I'm going to leave you here as I talk to the first god. While I'm gone I expect you build your own house."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Harry questioned in disbelief.
"Simple, just think of it as playing with 'Lincoln Logs' on a bigger scale" she giggled as she answered his question. "But I'm not expecting you to perform a miracle yet, so I will leave you a machete and a map of the island to aid your efforts." After conjuring the stated items she phased herself back to her office, barely catching his put upon, "Thanks."
