This story is a Harry Potter / Warhammer 40K Cross-over.
It's an Idea that I've had kicking around in my head for a while now. Figured I'd get it written out to try to exorcize it.
Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Scotland.
18 September 1996, 17:52.
I was sat in the great hall with the rest of the school, enjoying the fine foods that were on offer. It was two weeks since I'd returned here from my so-called relatives', where the food was, shall we say, not as abundant as I would have liked. But I did as I always did, I survived.
That's a funny thought. Not funny-ha-ha, more funny-weird. Survive. According to the prophecy, that's all I can do. Not 'live', as it decided to put it. Personally, I have no idea what it's talking about, but then again, I wouldn't expect anything that actually makes sense - coming from the demented predominantly fraudulent divination teacher, as it did.
Looking up to the Staff table, I notice Dumbledore standing at the lectern up front for an announcement. Must be something serious for him to be interrupting a meal. I find myself hoping no one has been hurt.
"Attention, Please." He began, waiting for the noise permeating the hall to die away. "I have just been informed that we are to be hosting a contingent of specialists from the Ministry, due to an unknown phenomenon that has been afflicting wizard-kind in several areas. They will be arriving at any time now with a full squad of Aurors. Please do not interrupt them in their work, as it is of the utmost importance. Several students and staff will be called upon to aid them in their investigations."
Well, that wasn't exactly what I was expecting. With the War with Voldemort gathering pace, I had feared the worst, but then again we weren't being given many details. An 'unknown phenomenon' could be just about anything.
"What do you think that's all about?" Ron asked from the other side of the table, half a mouthful of food showing as he talked.
"Ron, if I have to remind you about talking with your mouth full again, I'm going to charm your lips shut." Hermione told him with a disgusted look, while Ron had the decency to look sheepish. She turned to me, "He does have a point though, the Headmaster was being somewhat vague."
"How should I know? You guys have seen him more than I have this year. He seems to be avoiding me again." I respond, trying my best to not sound bitter about that fact.
Hermione's pitying look, god how I hate that look, is cut off by the doors banging open to reveal a group of five men in white robes trailed by a dozen Aurors. They hurry to the front of the room. "Headmaster, We're Division Three. You should have received notice of our arrival." The lead 'specialist' announced.
"Indeed, we'll set you up on the third floor, please follow me." Dumbledore answered before leading the men away.
Unspeakable Research Outpost.
Third Floor, Hogwarts.
23 September 2006. 18:30.
"Thank you for showing up promptly, Mr. Potter. I am Unspeakable Teller. Please be aware that everything that happens here is being classed as a Category 1 National Secret. As such, this is a standard magically enforced Non-Disclosure agreement, please sign it so that we can move on." The nondescript man sounds worn out and in dire need of a bit of sleep. He hands me a sheaf of parchment. I glance through a few of the clauses simply outlining the fact that I will be unable to share any details about any of the work happening with the Unspeakables with anyone that isn't a part of 'research project 4724', until released from the NDA or past the 31st October, when another NDA may need to be signed.
I sign with a quill and hand the stack back to the Unspeakable. He nods, hands me the back copy, folds the rest and taps them with his wand. Once they have disappeared, he turns and leads me into the room. "How much have you been told about what we are doing here?"
I decide that honesty is the best policy here, no need for a lie to be the first thing out of my mouth. "I have only really heard rumours, Sir." I take a moment to glance around. The old class room has the rest of the research staff working at several floating blackboards filled with incomprehensible equations, some in three dimensions and some that are painful to look at. The Auror contingent was sitting off to one side, apparently playing cards. Unspeakable Teller makes an impatient noise in the back of his throat and motions for me to expand. "That you are researching a way to stop people turning into squibs." 'Or turn muggle-born into them' I figured that the last would not have been political of me to say out loud, but it was one conclusion that the Hogwarts rumour mill had thrown up.
The Unspeakable palmed his face briefly. "Well, that is more than we were hoping for people to have picked up on so far, but it isn't that far from the truth." It was my turn to look expectantly for a more straightforward answer. "It may be easier to show you, Mr Potter."
He made a beckoning gesture as he turned and walked to the far wall, moving a blackboard out of the way to reveal a magical map of the country, sparkling with coloured ley-lines and areas that appeared tinted.
"These coloured lines are the ley-lines that bisect our world. You have learnt of them in your classes, yes?"
I nod indicating I do. The intangible magical pathways regulated magical power, as one of our few non goblin related History classes had taught us.
"Now, the coloured areas, they are the ones we are researching. For some reason, between ley-lines, magic is, for lack of a better term, fluctuating." Teller tapped one of the areas, a triangular green one, with his wand. Somewhere around Nottingham would have been my guess, without any city reference on the map. "This is one of the larger ones. Last estimate of its size was 4 square miles and growing."
"Sir? What do you mean by fluctuating?" I was confused, this didn't seem to be making sense.
"Exactly what I said, Magic is unstable in these areas." He seemed to give me a measured look, weighing up how much to tell me. I must pass the test. "Most witches and wizards have a ... talent. A gift for a spell or two in one of the branches of magic over others. Have you noticed this with yourself, Mr. Potter? Somewhere that you have excelled beyond your year mates?"
I nod. "Summoning and Banishing charms, Lumos and the Expecto Patronum."
He looks pleased, as though I have just affirmed what he thought when he decided to tell me this. "I expected as much. You are a powerful young man, Mr. Potter, to have four such proficiencies." Turning back to the map, he gestures to the green glowing triangle, "any spell but a wizards proficiency in these areas have not worked. Magical Items have become inert within the fields effects."
That pronouncement left me stunned. "But, what could do something like that? Is it ... Is it Voldemort?" I gasped, hoping that that was not the case.
"We are ... Unsure as to the cause, but we do not believe it to be the work of any Witch or Wizard. This appears to be a natural phenomenon, but not one that we have ever seen the likes of." Teller looked like he had swallowed something bitter to make such an admission. "We need to figure out what is happening so that we can stop it or counter the effects."
"I'm sorry sir, what does this have to do with me?" I ask, honestly confused.
"Mr. Potter, You have been chosen, as the magically strongest student currently attending the school, to help us in our study. We need to see how the magic 'dampening field' affects your core and magic." He gestured to one of the other researchers who stepped over. "This is Unspeakable Penn. He has a Gift for Occlumagi spells."
"I can see Magic." Penn speaks up with a jovial sounding boom clearing up my confused look. "If you agree, Mr. Potter, we'll be working closely." I nod and he grins. "Good, good. Now come along, we need to get you measured so that we have a base for comparison.
Unspeakable Research Outpost.
Third Floor, Hogwarts.
13 October 2006. 13:23.
Three Weeks. Three bloody weeks. That's how long it has took them. Every spare minute not in class, eating or sleeping has been spent in this poxy, dusty, stale, old, musty, craphole of a room. That's when I wasn't released early from class so that I could come and stand here like a bloody Lemon anyway. Or had to skip a meal or two and have some sandwiches up here. Or sleep in the bloody room so that these voyeuristic perverts could watch me sleep.
I sigh, trying to release my frustration into the air. I'm getting a bit too worked up, but you would too, Getting barely any social time, casting spell after spell, holding the magic so accurate readings could be taken, notes could be collected, or in one instance, a watercolour painting could be made.
"Ok, Harry. We're done." Penn announced and I drop the combined summoning/banishment of the cushion I have hovering in front of me, allowing it to fall to the floor.
Sure, a cushion may not be manly, but we'd sort of learned the hard way that anything hard or with corners was not a good idea for when my attention wavered or if i dropped the summoning before the banishment. Well, Auror Riggs had learned the hard way anyway, if the way he still favoured his shoulder after a week was any indication anyway. Served the smug bugger right anyway.
"OK, so what time do you want me tomorrow?" I ask, glad to be off the hook for the rest of the day. Images of playing chess with Ron or flying around on my Firebolt broom running through my head.
Penn smiles, "No, I mean that we are finished documenting your core and magic. It's time to move on to experimentation."
Teller walked over from his seat by the map where he'd been working on a stack of parchments as thick as my forearm. "Not a moment too soon either. The area that I showed you when we first started has ... well, it would be better to show you." He led us over to the Map, which I had mostly ignored after Tellers original presentation to me.
"Is that ..." I could barely believe it. The tinted areas were much larger than before.
Teller Sighed. "Yes, the areas have increased dramatically in size. The four square mile area outside of Nottingham has increased to an area of approximately 120 square miles, covering the entirety of the city and extending into the countryside. This remains the largest of the areas, however. The same episodes are occurring around the world. The problem seems to be spreading."
"Just means we have to work quickly." Penn announced in his typically jovial manner. He gathers up some supplies and hands me an uncharmed satchel, matching his own, stuffed with paper and god knows what. "Mckenna, you ready?"
The Apparition specialist nodded and rose to join us.
"Just do everything that Penn asks of you Harry. Hopefully this will give us some of the answers we've been looking for." Teller stated, before he turned back to his desk and started thumbing through his notes, apparently his end of the conversation over.
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
Edge of Dampening field.
13 October 2006. 18:06.
Four hours of testing, it's taken so far. Penn had me cycle through a few spells when we first got here. I got nothing. Well, almost nothing. I may as well have been babbling nonsense when I tried to get a stone to rise with Wingardium Leviosa. Point Me had me talking to an inert stick that laid in my palm, not even twitching. Aguamenti didn't produce a drop of the water it should have.
Accio and Depulso worked pretty much as normal. Lumos produced a dimmer glow than usual, but it still worked. My Patronus came out as a silvery mist, rather than the fully formed stag that I typically got.
A bit of surprise came when I tried Incendio. I got a spark, not much, but it was something. It excited Penn since it wasn't one of my self professed proficiencies. After about half an hour, he came to the conclusion that a spell or magical effect I wasn't familiar with was a proficiency of mine.
"Ok, I think that's all we're going to get for now. Not as much detail as we'd like to have, but it's a start." Penn stated, seeming to will the magical effect away from his eyes.
"Are we going to have to come back tomorrow, sir?" I ask, wondering if this was going to kill another of my weekends.
Penn shook his head slightly. "I don't believe so. I don't think that I can get any more detail than I already have. It's frustrating not being able to cast any diagnostic spells." I could hear the annoyance bleeding through in his tone. He pushed it away with a visible effort. "Let's find Mckenna before it gets dark and be off, I need to get these results collated and cross-checked."