A World of Magic
The man walked past the arching gates of the city. The white marble of the city shone as the red early morning rays hit the bricks. Most people in the city were just waking up. A smell of fresh baked bread wafted out of a small bakery and three small children were playing with gobstones on a dusty narrow alley off the main cobblestoned street. The man ignored all the early risers, even when they stopped to stare and whisper. There were many early risers, for Hogsmeade, once a small quiet town had grown large through the influx of wizarding refugees, running from the death eaters to a town within the protection of Hogwarts.
Wizards had always been loners, if they did not have to they would never live within thirty miles of each other. Of course, communities such as Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade had sprung up but they were for the express purpose of selling stuff. It was for this reason that Hogwarts was special, it was the only place that knew exactly how many witches and wizards had been born in Britain within a certain amount of time.
But times had changed, for the dark lord had forced wizards to overcome that sense and made them come together into a new community because of one simple fact. They were better united than separated. Hogsmeade was a quiet little village no more, in its place was the largest permanent gathering of wizards that has ever graced the planet earth. The new Hogsmeade was not going anywhere soon. For if there was one things wizards absolutely hated to do it was change. For them the creation of a city of wizards was agony enough, why would they lose all that they had created. Soon the death eater raids ran into more resistance. Eventually they slowed down enough as to be an uncommon experience though still terrifying.
Hogwarts the old bastion of magic is up the road from the town. The man, clad in \dark forest green robes briskly marched to the gate; he took his large staff and knocked on the door. Hagrid, older with a few streaks of grey in his wild black beard immediately opened the gates.
"Arry! Where yeh bin for ta las' six months?" Said Hagrid, as he opened the gate to let the traveler in. "Was worried yeh were captured or worse."
The man, revealed to be the illustrious Harry Potter stroked his short black beard and peered at Hagrid through a pair of golden spectacles. His travelling bag, a worn black leather satchel lay at his hips.
"Ah… you know me Hagrid. Not sensible enough by half." Said the wizard, he rummaged through his travelling bag to take out a small egg and handed it to Hagrid. "It is the egg of a drake wyrm, rumored to have been the predecessors of dragons. Fascinating creatures and around half your size, they are only found in the Andes Mountains. That should give you a clue to where I've been. Unfortunately anymore talk must be suspended for a later time, I must talk to Hermione. So if you will please step out of the way…"
Hagrid took one more look at the weary traveler and stepped out of the way as he waited for Harry to come through. As soon as Harry stepped past the portal, Hagrid closed the gates to the castle. Harry walked past the front gates melting into the burgeoning population of scholars and students walking into the library. But Harry's eyes spied something in the corner of the room. A half smile graced his lips as he sat down next to his old friend, her head a bushy mess as usual.
"Morning Hermione, how's Ron," said Harry, his emerald eyes gleaming with mirth as he sat down beside her.
"Harry! How are you, how was your trip," Asked Hermione her expression gleeful.
"Quite good, but I found something in the ruins of the old Incan temple at Machu Pichu that I wanted you to look at." Harry handed his friend a stone dagger from his satchel. On the end was what looked to be a representation of a god. "I tested it to find it has several enchantments on it."
"Hmmm… I believe this is Illapa the god of thunder," She took out her wand to continue testing it. Arcane lettering spelled itself out in the air above the knife. "Interesting, I think I may have seen these enchantments before, give me a day to research."
"Fine," said Harry looking up at the words. "If I were you I would start looking in the history of magic area."
"Yes, well you aren't me; I know exactly where to look," She said, brow furrowed in thought. "By the way Harry, did you find it? The ritual?"
"I'm afraid the Incan ritual is rather… bloody." Said the traveler. "It seems that Egyptian ritual Bill found is still our best bet."
"You don't mean the ritual of Horus the Avenger, from the tomb of Khaemweset… do you," She asked hesitantly. "The person who goes through that ritual, they die once their task is completed. Sure it may give power but the man who goes through it can only use it for that one purpose! To kill one who has taken from them, who would go through it."
Harry stood up and turned his back to Hermione, he started to pace as an uncomfortable silence pressed upon them.
"The ritual is close to perfect Hermione, I will gain the powers of the falcon god until I kill Voldemort and then I die!" He said wearily, as if the last few days he had argued with himself over the exact same thing. "Besides, I always knew I would die killing Voldemort… you know the prophecy Hermione."
"I don't give a bloody damn about the prophecy right now!" She cried as she embraced him. "I care about the fact that you seem all to willing to sacrifice yourself regardless of us! Search! Search, before you do the ritual. For our sake, for the sake of your wife!"
"Maybe, I feel as though this is my destiny," He managed a weak smile. "To go out with a bang."
"Shut up! Just shut up Harry," She said punching him. "The muggle world is dark, the wizarding world is here, once we win- we will win Harry- the world will have changed. Thousands of children attend Hogwarts now, all the wizarding children in the Western Hemisphere. Harry, do you remember our class? About forty students in all, the castle has never been this full. The world will have changed Harry, you are the one who will lead us through the wilderness. The world needs you for the times that come."
Harry turned away and walked away, face twisted in thought. Ron Weasley, professor of tactics at Hogwarts (a subset of Defence) crashed into Harry as he walked away. Ron was a very large man, he was built like a professional rugby player; when they hit each other Harry hit the ground.
"Bloody hell! Sorry Harry didn't see you there," Said the second largest professor at Hogwarts. "How was your trip to Peru."
"It looks about the same as here. The surviving mountain tribes fight the Nova Conquistadores, as we do the Death eaters. I have invited them here and they have accepted. They plan to ride here on their tamed Peruvian Vipertooth Dragons. I can't believe how many different cultures are here in Hogsmeade, a new group after the Cajuns and the Aboriginals just settled," Harry mused. "I wonder what this land may look by the time this has ended. The muggles know of us and fight with us, enchanted swords and armor their weapons, Hogsmeade is the largest city in the world- every other city torched by fiendfyre. Do you remember when we were young? When Hogsmeade was a small village and the muggles fought with guns against each other instead of against the death eaters. Ron, how much the world has changed. Armies clash on English soil, Durmstrang and Hogwarts are the only schools of basic magic still in existence, other than them only the advanced colleges just recently founded. Beauxbaton for all its beauty is but a ruin. The dark lord laughed at the protections on the French school. How the world has changed, and what more changes have yet to come."
"Harry, you know I can't answer that question," Said Ron. "But no matter how it changes we will keep on living. You know that Darwin guy, natural selection and all that? Change is what humanity does best. We didn't have huge teeth or powerful jaws but we could thrive in new situations better than anyone else. Wizards are still human- we might have magic but we can still adapt, even if we don't want to. So what if most of humanity is composed of wizards, when we rebuild it will just be a magical world."
Harry shook Ron's hand, turned and walked away.
Harry's first girlfriend was in sixth year. Harry believed he had feelings for her based on the tightening of his chest and dryness of his throat whenever he was near her. Ginny Weasley was the sister of his best friend and many assumed there would soon be a happy not-so-little Weasley family; that was until he realized the "monster in his chest," was really an allergic reaction to her pet puffskein Arnold. No, Harry's wife was someone not many thought would happen. It was an inter-species relationship and they met again during his sabbatical after 7th year in the city of bones underneath Paris. His wife was none other than Winky the house elf- sorry, I meant Gabrielle Delacour, quarter veela and full fox. He met her while searching for the tomb of Vercingetorix's favored druid, rumored to hold tomes of great magical significance. They never found the tomb but they did find a huge feud with each other. It took several years for the feud to end and many comments of get a room. They did. Gabrielle was taking a break from her expeditions as she attempted to recreate fallen Parisian monuments within Hogsmeade. His house was a few minutes from the heart of Hogsmeade- it was a fortress, designed after the death of Molly and Arthur Weasley when the Burrow collapsed as an insidious ward breaking curse destroyed the stability and charms. All houses in Hogsmeade were required to stand on their own- preventing what happened at the Burrow from happening again.
"Harry! When did you get back? It has been lonely without you here," the French witch exclaimed, only a hint of an accent gracing her voice. "More importantly why did you not come immediately to me! Was I less important than your work?"
Harry grew uncomfortable. This was far from the tear filled reunion he had hoped for. It was also closer to what he had expected. He had no illusions that Gabrielle Delacour was the sentimental type, he was sure she enjoyed making him squirm. He was worried she might shift into her avian form and he started to back away nervously.
"I had meant to just give Hermione this dagger but I lost track of time." He said muscles tensing in case he needed to run.
"Come inside then," Gabrielle started to walk away leaving Harry to stare. "Do not forget that I am still very cross with you."
Harry supposed that was what he got for marrying a veela. There was so much luck there that there was not enough to spare in other areas- like the good will of the same veela. Harry hoped she will calm down once he makes pot-au-feu, her favorite dish but one that Harry despised. Life was good in the Potter household despite his temperamental wife. He was happier right now than he had ever been before. The city of wizards was prospering and the world was rebuilding. But his job- no his destiny was to make sure it stayed that way.
AN/ The premise of the story is that Voldemort found a way gain great power. Less worried about Harry he sent death eaters to every city in the world and casted fiendfyre. In the Deathly Hallows it seemed as though fiendfyre could not be put out and so it torched entire cities. The magic users could get out but the muggles could not. Subsequently the magic users are the dominant species on the planet, however the magic users are fighting a war against their dark brethren. The muggles aid the light while dark creatures aid the dark.