Chapter has been reviewed and edited again on 16/11/2011 It's worth rereading it I think

Harry Potter: Dungeons & Dragons

Inspired by:

The Elder Scrolls Oblivion

Fallout III + expansions

Short summary:

This happens before 1991

Harry Potter's home burns down to the ground. Only two badly burned corpses are found with solid evidence that a child had been sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs. Neither of the two children are found and are presumed dead. Only the Goblin bank knew that Harry James Potter wasn't death because if he was then the vault would've gone inactive. When the infamous Tri-wizarding tournament is held at Hogwarts the cup chooses a fourth champion: namely Harry James Potter and his vassals. This occurrence will break the peace within the wizarding world and will make and break factions.

How will the existing factions deal not with 'normal' children but with war veterans?

How will the ministry react?

How will a certain meddling, plotting old man react?

More importantly, how will this shift the balance of the four houses of Hogwarts?

A question: The relation between Harry and Dudley are cousins right? So Dudley is Harry's cousin and Harry's cousin is Dudley right? I'm fairly sure that I'm right but I just wanted to be sure.

You can't do something original any more these days.

So don't give me crap 'bout that.

Harry Potter: Dungeons & Dragons

Chapter 01:

Where are we?

The first manipulations are revealed.

Prologue

Harry Potter was never truly happy with his home life until the fire broke out that turned his and his cousin's life upside down. Before the fire his life with his aunt and uncle was only tolerable. And his relation with his cousin back then was more of a 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' kind of relation.

His aunt and uncle treated him more like an unwanted house guest turned servant than the son of his aunt's sister. His aunt and uncle never denied him food. They never denied him water or any other essentials. In fact they never even touched him if they could get away with it. Both the good kind of 'touch' like a hug but most definitely the 'bad' kind of touch like a swat on the head if Harry misbehaved.

That didn't meant that they were kind to him. In fact, the verbal abuse that Harry suffered and the fact that they never touched Harry if they could get away with it could be arguable more hurtful and traumatizing than a psychical abusing uncle. Or an aunt for that matter.

But then neither his aunt or uncle knew or cared about the risks that came with 'abusing' a magical child in any way shape or form. In the wizarding world, children were important. They were the next generation and very valuable. Heirs and children were often married of for political gain. Love rarely mattered.

In fact, with some of the more traditional families it was actually scoffed as a weakness. Something to mock.

Witches and wizards lived a lot longer than their muggle counterparts. Centuries longer wasn't unusual for a witch or wizard to become two hundred years old. That was more the norm than an exception. The only reason why there were so few of them left was because of the last two wars. The world war had devastated the magical community just as much as it had the non magical community.'

It was because of this, because of the older generation, while more traditional that the magical community as a whole was going 'down the drain' so to speak. Whole families were slaughtered and once proud bloodlines were forever gone that a seriously far family member could take control.

It was because of the lack of the elderly that tradition was followed so strongly. The elderly knew when to follow tradition and when to 'go with the flow' but the younger generation... They thought that ancient tradition should be followed no matter the evolution outside of it.

Aside from defeating Grindewald the way he did, Dumbledore's age was one of the reason's why he is so respected.

Since witches and wizards lived for centuries naturally that is to say without any potions or magical rituals, birth rates weren't where they were supposed to had always been outnumbered. No doubt about it. But now their numbers were ridiculously low. Which brings us back to their long lifespans that didn't help matters at all. Wizards and witches of 'purer' blood began believing in their superiority and without having someone to snap them out of it...

The fact that a witch could only become pregnant at unpredictable times complicated matters even greater.

So having a big family often relied on luck. And having lots and lots of sex. Did I mention that sex was important too? It had been proven though that the amount of times a witch would get pregnant depended on the power of the witch herself and her wizard partner.

The low amount of birth meant that child abuse was rare. It was so rare that it was barely known and accepted for the rare case that it did happen.

Muggleborn witches and wizards were often disliked because they were new. They didn't know any of their traditions and often didn't respected them if they did. This resulted in them becoming a second class citizens while the pure blood factions remained firmly in power. Muggleborn witches and wizards were disliked for another reason.

The parents or guardians of said Muggleborn wizards or witches often disliked the fact they were magical. Was it because of religion, jealousy or another reason entirely? That didn't matter all that much except for the fact that It. Did. Happen.

Which was why muggles were looked down upon.

Abuse in pure blood families was rare to the point it just didn't happen. If it did happen in a rare case, then the parent or parents in question were put into prison. When a muggleborn witch or wizard was detected they were carefully monitored by neutral witches and wizards. These men and woman had sworn specific oaths to make sure they did their jobs and prejudice never came into play. At least this was supposed to happen when this organization was created.

At the time that our story takes place? Not so much any more.

But since Harry wasn't a muggleborn child he was never covered. In fact the ministry of magic was completely unaware where Harry James Potter was currently living and had assumed he lived a quiet life with a small wizarding family. Who would never dare to subject him to hatred, dislike or other low life ideals.

When it was revealed that he had been living with his muggle relatives and that the right departments had never even known about it thanks to Albus too many names too remember Dumbledore, the common people demanded action. Albus lost his official positions in the ministry and was 'demoted' to headmaster only. His advice was still requested but people had lost the faith that they had in him before they discovered what happened to the one boy that had destroyed the most feared dark lord in centuries!

Or so it was believed.

Aside the fact that abuse never happened because they were so precious there was another reason that abuse didn't happen. Magical children were powerful. Their emotions were tied in with their magic hence the accidental magic incidents that happened often.

Magical children could lash out and do permanent and embarrassing thing to you... Depending on the severity of the abuse.

When it was revealed to the public that Harry hadn't been living with a small wizarding family, and that he had been living with muggles that didn't really want him...

Magic can do a lot of things including recovering memories of corpses if they were recovered quickly enough.

The memories of Vernon and Petunia Dursley only confirmed what ministry specialists had concluded. Harry Potter had lashed out with his magic and had been transported to an unknown location. And it wasn't unusual for their magic to go beyond their current world and into a world beyond. Those unfortunate children either popped up much later or never re-appeared at all.

And the authorities were almost right. The fire broke out during the early evening. Vernon in a bout of endless stupidity which had been conveniently fuelled by lots of alcohol had upped his verbal abuse a notch or two. You can't expect a child younger than eleven to keep handling and ignoring such abuse now could you?

Vernon usually just ignored Harry. Looking at him as an unwanted guest and assigning him chores to keep him out of his sight. It was a way to prevent fights. Vernon wasn't a bad guy, he was just a close minded prick with a crappy childhood of his own and unresolved issues.

The latest abuse had been the last drop in the 'pretend' bucket and Harry's control had snapped like a rubber band that was stretched too thin.

Abusing a magical child wasn't only dangerous for the one doing the abusing, it was also dangerous to the child itself. Because if the child would lash out, it could cause unrepairable damage to his or her magic.

Harry's magic lashed out against his uncle. Harry's desire was to 'shut his abusers up' and to go somewhere where he could be safe and where he could learn.

Harry's magic lashed out, increased the fire to burn even hotter and with more violence and then vanished from the room, taking his cousin Dudley with him. Harry didn't want to be alone and the closest thing he had to a friend was his cousin.

Harry and Dudley were knocked out by the magical transportation. When they reappeared it was in a world that was completely foreign to them. It would have familiar places, names and even popular locations. But the culture, technology and history was very different.

A magical Mist had prevented civilizations that lived beneath it to truly develop. It was only the few races and civilizations hat lived above the mist that were known as the most advanced countries in the world. Aside from this, magic was known and widely accepted. Magic users were often respected, hired as local protectors or as mercenaries. They were also a dying breed for still unknown reasons...

Harry and Dudley reappeared in an ancient hidden wizard's tower. One of the last of its kind. This particular tower had existed for centuries. Over the centuries of its existence it had slowly become alive. Aided by its creator it was one of the most fine-tuned magical creations of their world.

The master of this magical tower had been adventuring for centuries. His own magic keeping him alive for centuries already which was made even longer because of his race that lived for a very long as well. The tower's old master had been looting dungeons for a very long time and bring its treasure and lore back to his hideout.

When this Mage had enough of adventuring he began studying seriously for another few centuries before dying from a heart attack. They are just long lived, not immortal.

The dying wish of this old wizard was for the tower to be in tune with magic and to only allow the worthy within its walls...

Anyone that was able to reach his master bedroom would gain control over the tower. He or she would be informed where he had hidden his treasure all over the world but not how to get past the defences. They needed to prove their worth after al. Information is power. That was the motto of this particular Mage.

End prologue

Chapter 01

Harry and Dudley woke up roughly at the same time. Both of them looked around wildly, the fire being the last thing that they remembered. Waking up in a completely different location, in a dirty bedroom that hadn't been visited in a very long time did nothing to sooth their nerves or their tempers.

After a brief yelling match both boys managed to calm themselves down.

Sometimes a shouting match was the perfect thing to get rid of built up frustration. But now?

"Let's not do this now cousin." Harry suggested. "Shouting at each other, especially when we don't know where we are, how we got here and how we get back isn't going to do anything. Take a deep breath, calm down and once we know more about what's going on we can continue this as much as we want." Harry suggested.

Dudley looked like he wanted to argue but when he thought about it he realized that Harry was right. "Al right then." Dudley agreed.

Both boys cautiously explored the room. Looking for clues as to where they were and how they got there in the first place. Neither considered magic an option. Magic didn't exist right? They were old enough to know that by now. They were big boys after all.

"Nothing. Nothing except dust, dirt and more dust!" Dudley exclaimed in annoyance. A glance at his cousin reminded him to keep him temper. His cousin absolutely hated dirty rooms. The only reason he wasn't cleaning already was because he lacked any tools to do so. Dudley knew that Harry had a touch of autism. It was only the lightest form, or so mummy explained it to him. That was the reason why Dudley felt so overprotective of his cousin. He had to protect him. It was his job.

Dudley took a deep breath and searched the available drawers again. Clothes that had been damaged through time, bottles that had once contained something but was now spoiled to the point that it had turned into something akin to stone.

"Let's see what's beyond this room cousin." Dudley suggested. "We can't stick around here forever you know."

Harry nodded to signal his agreement. Dudley was once more reminded that his cousin didn't say much except when it was required. "Probably because of daddy." Dudley thought sadly.

The door opened with firm shove and revealed a dark passageway. Stepping into the room activated the runes carved into the stone. The runes checked the torches in their holders, concluded that they had been destroyed through time and renewed the torches with the magical charge they had available through their down time. After that it was a simple matter of activating the torches.

This of course did not happen unnoticed. And even if Harry tended to say nothing except when it was needed, torches inflaming themselves is something very unusual and something worth commenting on.

"What the hell?" Harry exclaimed. "T-those torches lightened themselves!" The boy nearly shouted.

"Calm down cousin." Dudley said calmly. "It might be a trick to scare us." Even though Dudley was worried himself he tried not to show it.

Harry was glad for his cousin at times like this. While he was usually the brain behind their occasional mischief, Dudley was the muscle for sure.

Neither boy said anything after that. They just entered the corridor further. Harry unconsciously followed what he perceived as an itch but was actually the towers wards guiding him to the master bedroom. The tower had been without a master for a very long time. The only advantage of this was that it had been able to stockpile its magical reserves and resources to build minions through alchemy, potions, science and magic.

The tower had been confused at first when it suddenly had two human children appear in one of the V.I.P guest rooms. The tower sensed that the youngest child had a great potential for magic. And it was only because of this that the children wouldn't starve to death because of hunger and thirst. It was the last line of defence that the tower had if an enemy got into the V.I.P guest room floor. Technically this floor could be as big or as small as was needed. But the standard configuration was eight rooms. And since the tower was built in a large circle it wasn't exactly a corridor or a hallway. But because of its magical defences, the outside of the tower didn't really matter.

What mattered was the fact that it did appear to be a straightforward hallway. Four rooms on each side with at the end a stairway going down and up. The Tower M.I or Magical intelligence, sealed the stairs down and only left the upside open. It was the only way that it could ensure that it would be able to communicate with the young boy wizard.

Both boys had entered the middle of the passageway by the time that the way down was sealed. The tower had made it appear as if they were on the ground floor. It was the only way that it could convince the two boys to go up the stairs. The windows in the room where they had woken up were sealed and magically reinforced that they could only be opened by the wizard that controlled the wards. And since it's former owner had long since died, and it had only had limited control...

Harry was trying to suppress the urge to scratch an itch he never knew he had. He recognized that he had always felt it but had gotten used to it. But this itch was far stronger and a lot harder to ignore. It was like it was pulling him to the end of the passageway and upwards.

He recognized the feeling from his home but recognized that 'this' feeling was a lot stronger compared to his home.

"Let's do a quick check on the other rooms." Harry suggested. "Not a specific search, just a glance to see if they are more or less the same compared to the other rooms."

'Right.' Dudley agreed. A few minutes later they concluded that the rooms were near identical save a few minor differences like how the room was sorted. A more thorough check just confirmed what they had already known. Nothing was to be found except dirty beds and dust. Lots and lots of dust.

Going down one floor was obviously not an option. That left going up one floor instead. Both boys cautiously went up the stairs one floor until they encountered a door. This door was made out of materials that neither boy recognized. But that wasn't too surprising considering their age and experience in the world. The only thing that they 'knew' about the door was that it was made out of some sort of metal.

Harry cautiously pushed the door open and was immediately attracted by a beautiful shiny Ruby that was resting in on a pedestal in the middle of the room. This Ruby was the representation of the tower itself. It controlled its magical defences, doors, windows it basically controlled everything within its power to control. Should the Ruby be destroyed not only would the tower be returned to a 'normal' tower but it would basically be killed as well. Any form of self awareness that the tower would have gained through its centuries of life would be instantly erased.

Everything that made the tower unique would be gone permanently.

Harry was itching closer to the Ruby step by step. Something was calling to him. A call that he just couldn't ignore. Part of him was screaming and shouting to resist the call but it was ignored and pushed away by his own desire to answer this mysterious pull. Had the master of the tower still lived it would've meant instantaneous death for anyone touching the Ruby in question. But since the tower's master had died centuries before... Not to mention his last wish...

The closer that Harry came, the more that he realized he knew things he didn't know before. He hadn't know that there was a secret passageway to escape in case the tower was invaded. Or that this emergency escape could only be used by the master of the to tower and his most trusted servants.

Harry hadn't known that there was only one more floor going up. Or that the Magical Intelligence that controlled the tower and that was represented by the Ruby in front of him had sealed the stairway going down to force himself and Dudley to go up instead. He hadn't known before that they had not been on the second floor at all.

Harry realized that the floor below this one had been a library. And that he jewel 'knew' everything that was in those books. The last thing that Harry realized that the moment he would touch the Ruby he would become the master of the tower. The Ruby would share the most basic knowledge with him so that he could begin his studies on the books on his own.

The M.I could in theory dump its entire database in his mind... brain... head... Eighty percent of the time, the one receiving the knowledge would die. Period.

Of the twenty percent that was left, fifteen would survive but would be completely insane. That left only five percent.

The last five percent represented those that survived the procedure sane but were forever trapped in the tower itself for one very simple reason. The one receiving the knowledge would have to stay within the towers range. So it most definitely was not a good idea to dump its entire database in Harry's consciousness.

The M.I could only share some of its knowledge of the country it was built into. Its language, the culture and the various magic's that were being practised every day. Basic stuff. Limited stuff. Barely a percent of its total database it had available.

But something was still stopping Harry to touch the Ruby. Harry's thoughts went to Dudley. What would happen to him? If only Harry understood the language and its culture... Not to mention its magic... A fact that Harry had trouble believing. He was old enough to realize that magic didn't exist. And yet, the stuff he now 'knew' through memories and theory proved to him that it did exist.

Dudley did not have the same potential for magic that he did. Harry realized. It was the reason why his cousin had been completely ignoring the jewel and had been admiring those weapons instead. It was in fighting that Dudley was attracted too. And this was something that the jewel could not help with. But that didn't mean that it couldn't share some of its knowledge. Harry was determined not to abandon the only family he had left.

Harry touched the Ruby and allowed the knowledge to settle in his mind. He felt the wards of the tower recognizing him as his master and they went 'up' one by one.

"Dudley! Come here for a second would you?"

Dudley looked up from where he was admiring a large heavy sword. The bigger boy gave one last glance to the sword then walked briskly to his cousin to see what he wanted. But the closer that Dudley came the slower his feet carried him. Finally he stopped several feet away from the Ruby.

Fear settled in his stomach when he realized he knew things he didn't know before. He knew that these swords had been the personal weapons of the bodyguard of the previous owner. He knew that there was a complete armoury dedicated to every form of weapon known here. In short: he knew stuff that he couldn't have known before. Shouldn't know at all!

"Dudley?" Harry questioned. "What's wrong?" Harry realized that his cousin must have realized he now knew things he didn't know before. "Don't worry about the knowledge thing. It's natural. Touch the stone and it will teach you about the language and culture of his country." Harry told him.

"T-touching that thing?" Dudley repeated. The bigger boy shook his head nervously. Backing away from the stone rapidly, the knowledge he felt fading away.

"You can teach me the language yourself." Dudley said quickly. He desperately ignored the implications that they were an entirely different country somehow.

Harry frowned but then shrugged. "I suppose I could teach you myself." The boy agreed. "But it would take a long time 'cause it doesn't look like English at all!"

"T-that's okay." Dudley answered quickly. Harry frowned again as he tried to figure out why his cousin was reacting the way he did.

The knowledge he had available wasn't the entire database. But he could still' consult' it when he wanted to know something. This wasn't an immediate access and was more like knowledge that would 'occur' to you naturally. Like an idea.

It thus occurred to him that it must be because of his lack of potential in magic. And this was exactly the time where Harry began freaking out as well.

Why was he so accepting about the idea of magic? Even though he 'knew' about it didn't mean he really 'believed' it.

Harry took several deep breaths and backed off. "Let's get some sleep cousin. I'm dead tired and I'm sure you are as well. We can tackle 'this' tomorrow." Unsaid was the fact that he would have to touch the Ruby or they would be in big trouble.

Dudley looked like he wanted to protest but he kept silent instead.

Both boys crawled into bed and fell asleep nearly instantaneously.

As soon as both boys were sleeping, the stone sank back into the the stone floor. The Ruby itself was very vulnerable when it was in the open like this.

Point of view change

The magical tower had been slumbering for centuries. It's senses had been diluted and weakened after its master had perished. It's master had always been a very unusual man. He did not have the limitations or the prejudice that so many other magic practising races seemed to have.

He had been doing his best to make his tower as magical as possible. Rooms that were bigger on the inside than the outside. Supplies that were in a form of stasis so that it's food could never go bad. It was given the 'power' to expand itself within reason as much as it desired. And it had done so over the centuries. Even after its master had died.

For centuries the tower had been sleeping, it had been gathering and stockpiling its own magical reserves, reinforcing the wards protecting the tower layer by layer. Just in case it would receive a new master. The fact that its defences were still slaughtering any and all wannabe be heroes did not matter. Only the worthy would be allowed in the tower let alone be allowed to touch its heart.

And then those children appeared in the middle of the tower. After all the traps and deadly creatures. One moment it was empty and the next it had two intruders but beyond the point where it could do nothing to get rid of them. So the tower had extended its senses and had examined the two children for that was what they were. Where dozens of heroes had failed to penetrate its outer defences how had a mere two untrained children managed to teleport to just a floor beneath its heart?

It was reminded of its promise to its old master. Allow only the worthy in my tower... This prompted the magical entity to cautiously probe the memories of the two boys. By the end of it, the tower had concluded that it had no other choice but to accept them. These two boys did not realize the risks of going downstairs and into the active traps. They did not realize they were in a completely different world filled with battles, war, racism and prejudice.

So it had manipulated and sealed the stairs downstairs to urge them to go up instead. The youngest boy was then immediately attracted to its heart. But the bigger boy... He hadn't been attracted at all. Instead the boy had went straight to the weapons wall against the wall. It seemed that only the youngest had a strong potential in magic.

It appeared that the youngest boy wasn't stupid either. It was fighting the lure of its heart. It was only the boy's lack of experience that nearly caused him to lose the battle of wills. But this was yet one more reason for the tower to accept the youngest as its new master.

The youngest boy realized the things it knew but decided to touch the stone anyway. The transfer of the limited amount of knowledge to the youngest boy -Harry- was a success. It didn't matter that the eldest boy refused to touch the stone. A subtle suggestion was all it took for both children to take a nap. Which give the tower the opportunity to make the link with itself.

This way, the connection that the tower would have would be stronger. It would be nearly impossible to destroy the link they now had. Through the link that the tower now had to both boys it carefully and cautiously 'uploaded' enough knowledge to understand the new culture, language both written and spoken and the most important thing of all: the basics of magic!

After making sure that both boys knew enough so they did not have to waste days if not months to study the language, culture and habits it moved on to other less important but still crucial information. How many floors did the tower have, what supplies, how many minions did it have as its defensive army, what was the right way through the complicated maze below?

It shared everything that was crucial to know.

One crucial piece of knowledge that it taught Dudley was the following:

Magic users often balance themselves between madness and genius. It is for this reason that they had someone they could trust completely. This person would be their right hand, a second in command or even a life partner. Dudley would be this person for Harry. He would be Harry's second in command. His most trusted advisor and closest friend. Dudley would keep Harry sane and healthy.

Harry was being 'taught' the opposite.

A wizard or witch that does not have a trusted companion dooms him or herself to insanity. It is the price that one pays to practice the arts of magic. It is for this reason that the relation between wizard and 'warrior' is often very complex. They could hate each other at times but would still die to protect the other.

The warrior would cover for the wizard and the wizard would cover for the warrior.

Sharing of important and crucial information? Check.

Creation of the link between wizard and tower? Check.

Creation of the link between wizard and warrior? Check.

Transferring the control of the wards, minions and other protections to new Master? Check.

Now that the tower had a new master it was able to reactivate the many charms and runes spread and carved into the tower everywhere.

Beds were replaced with new ones, windows were opened and centuries worth of dust was removed in an instant.

Then of course there was the matter of its new name and gender. The tower already tended to refer to itself as female. Apparently Harry -her new master- picked up on this desire because he named her right after that!

'Ruby' Harry muttered as if being asked himself. "You shall be called Ruby."

The newly named Ruby decided that it -SHE- liked the name. She cautiously probed the child to see just how tired the child must have been. A mere moment later, Ruby realized that the child was far more drained then he should be. He needed a lot of rest to recover, but the rate of recovery was lower then the rate which he was 'losing' his magic by.

This left Ruby with precious few options. She could wait and see, but by then it might be too late. She could wait and then try to help but that had its own risks... Or... She could set a tiny amount of magic -compared to her total amount stored- and carefully feed it into her new master instead. The problem was that 'her' magic was highly refined and not really meant for a human even if he was a wizard.

Still... The child was dangerously tired and exhausted. His magic was already struggling to replenish itself and it wouldn't have to be much. Just a tiny amount to jump start its recovery.

'Yes.' Ruby decided. 'That's what I'm going to do.' She carefully calculated how much magic she had compared to a regular human wizard. Then she compared her results with her new master and came up short.

'That's odd.' Ruby mused. 'Either this child is insanely powerful or I've made a big mistake. Does this child have some sort of... LEECH!'

If Ruby had been a human she would have come to an abrupt stop. (had she been walking)

Getting rid of a parasite (or a leech) was incredible difficult in the best of circumstances. Especially if it was draining the magic of a human. There was only one option and that was to blast it away with raw magical power. Thankfully for her new master she had plenty of magic in reserve.

Ruby did her calculations again and made sure to take care of the parasite. This time she got an answer she was happy with and prepared to get rid of the leech. Ruby would not and could not tolerate a leech of any kind on HER master.

'Redoing calculations once more...' Completed.

'Initiating transfer to temporary backup to get rid of THE LEECH...' Completed.

'Starting transfer...'

Ruby's magic lashed out against the foreign magic which -as predicted- attempted to defend itself. Obviously it was going to lose. A leech's magical reserve versus that of a tower that had been building its own reserves for centuries? It was obvious who was going to win.

The battle between Ruby's magic and that of the leech was very short. As soon as victory was achieved, the magic that had been drained was under nobody's control any more. Cautiously extending her 'magical hands' so to speak, she directed the magic into settling in her master reserves and to focus on healing and recovering.

The master-less magic seemed to resist for a split second before it lost all traces of its previous owner and did as it was told.

Now that her new master was recovering as he should, Ruby allowed herself to feel just a bit of glee. For the many centuries that she had been sleeping, her senses had been dulled because she had no master. The runes that her master had placed all over in the country and the world relied on a human's magic to be activated.

Finally she could activate the runes again and extend her senses properly again!

Checking her master's magical reserves again she nodded at the rate it was replenishing itself.

Ruby activated the runes in the country and connected them one by one to her master and then to herself. Information was coming to her more and more often... The sun was shining, cows were grazing and farmers were being slaughtered by a local warlord.

All was well.

Wait... What? Back up a bit...

Ruby's senses did not lie. Peasants were being slaughtered by a local land lord. Ruby was powerless to do anything about it for now. So she could only watch helplessly as those poor innocent people were being killed.

She resolved to send some of her master's minions to... Sabotage some of this lord's operations.

The next morning

It was Dudley that woke up first. Normally he liked to sleep in, but this time he wanted to be alone for a few minutes. He remembered his reaction yesterday very clearly and while anyone had a good reason to freak out when you suddenly knew stuff you couldn't have known before his reaction had been... Too much. Dudley used the stairs to go to the top level of the tower. It was high enough that you could watch over everything.

In fact, it had seemed almost... Foreign. Forced. Dudley hadn't wanted to say anything because he had felt tired and he wanted to have a clear head when he tackled this problem.

Then Dudley remembered Ruby thanks to the new knowledge he had.

"Ruby?" Dudley tried cautiously feeling like a fool because he talked to thin air.

+Yes?+

Dudley jumped in surprise. While he had expected some sort of reaction he had half thought it would be a mental connection. He had been wrong. The answer was similar to that of a radio, except he couldn't pinpoint the exact source.

"Am I under influence of some sort of... Something?" Dudley questioned. He didn't want to say magic just yet. He *knew* that magic didn't exist. And while there had been evidence that it actually did exist... He needed something more.

+Initiating scan+

Dudley was distracted when he looked back at the island. Before now he hadn't had a clear shot at the rest of the island but now he did.

His eyes nearly fell out of their eye sockets when he realized something... The island was floating in the FRICKING AIR! How was it possible? Dudley knew of no technology that could do something like this. While he knew of planes, helicopters and the like he was absolutely sure that it was impossible to make an entire island float without some sort of hint what was keeping it there. Dudley was distracted again from his train of thought by Ruby.

+I'm afraid I have bad new master Dudley.+

Dudley shook his head. What was Ruby talking about again? Dudley tried to remember but found that he couldn't.

"What were we talking about again?" The bigger boy asked again.

+You wanted to know if you were under some sort of influence... I started my scan and have the results.+ Ruby reported.

Dudley wanted to know what she had but found that his mouth didn't wish to work with him.

"S-something is" ARGH Dudley cried out in pain but forced himself to finish his sentence at least. "S-stopping me f-from talking-" Dudley fell to the ground when his legs abandoned him.

"TELL HARRY DAMMNIT!" Dudley shouted. It was that time that the pain overwhelmed him and unconsciousness took him.

Unfortunately for Ruby Harry was sleeping deeply. She had already tried several times to wake him but was unable to do so. Save shocking him through her internal defences, Ruby did not have much options left to her.

Ruby concluded that she had to make a decision. Dudley had several charms and enchantments on him that were draining any and all magical potential and were then suppressing that potential. Ruby only had two options open to her. Her first option was to do the same thing to Dudley as she did to Harry. This wasn't a smart idea because Dudley's potential had gone down to the point that there was a big chance that it might kill him.

The other option was a lot more complicated.

When people were found that had a potential for magic, they always looked for a second person that was a warrior of some sort. But that doesn't make sense of its own.

Mages... Often balanced between genius and madness. Sanity and insanity were the biggest causes of suspicion of Mages. But whey they were... Grounded with someone that was a warrior of some sort the chance that they (the Mages) fell into insanity was a lot lower.

While this didn't sound bad at first there was one big issue. The warrior was an underling to the Mage. This was the price that was to be paid to keep the Mage from edging into insanity. The 'relation' between Mage and warrior were often very complex. Some had a love/hate relationship. If both warrior and Mage were of the same gender, it would make things even more complicated then they already were.

The reason for this... Mage and warrior often considered themselves brothers. Close friends. Best friends. Trusted partners. But over time the Mage begins to give more and more orders. The Mage is often unaware that he is treating his partner more like a handy servant than anything else. And that was only one of the problems in Ruby's case.

Age was another factor. A warrior / Mage bond was rarely initiated before adulthood. And even then they waited as long as possible to make sure that they could stand each other. Or that neither would abuse the trust of the other.

Ruby did not have time to educate Harry.

She obviously did not have time to wait for Harry or Dudley to mature in adulthood.

She had in fact only minutes to decide.

Her decision in the end was not simple to make. But she did what she did because she had no other option.

POINT OF VIEW CHANGE TO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TIME AND PLACE

The land where Dudley and Harry appeared was oddly close to that of our own.

You had the united states of America as one of the super powers. But this was only because the American government kept control with military superiority. Rebellions were crushed as soon as they appeared to keep the illusion of strength. Each individual state was secretly preparing one more rebellion. If this failed then they would have no choice but to surrender to the government and let it assume complete control.

It wasn't a question IF they would go to war but WHEN.

You had China and Japan. Two more super powers that battled political battles to overthrow the other and united the Asian nations under one banner. Willingly or not. China and Japan often threatened each other to go to war if they didn't back off. They never went through with it but it escaped nobody's notice that both countries were gearing up for war.

It wasn't a question IF they would go to war but WHEN.

There were the various countries of Europe that were once part of the United Nations of Europe also known as UNE. Each individual country was gearing up for war. Just like all the others. The only thing keeping order was the fact that nobody wanted to make the first move.

The only country that was able to keep its neutrality on all grounds was England. The once powerful nation had been reduced to England only. All other expansions had long rebelled to seek out their independence. For that reason England had recalled all of their forces and had dug themselves in. Large powerful fleets patrolled their waters and magical creatures and technological creations alike kept superiority over their airspace.

To make things even more complicated was the fact that Russia was finally regaining control over its wayward provinces. It was taking them back one by one while keeping their borders shut tight. Russia was one of the super powers that was already at war to take their territories back. And once they did they could set their eyes on foreign territory instead.

That was the only reason that complete war hadn't broken out yet. No nation had a clear advantage over the other that they could keep. No defence would be able to hold forever and if one nation declared war, others could and possibly would ally with each other to deal with the 'trouble maker' but to secretly have an excuse to annex some of its territories.

And now we arrive at the introduction for the third out of four main characters

It was a good day to be a shinobi of Konoha but it was an even better day for Uzumaki Naruto. He was responsible for the death of the master mind behind the criminal organization Akatsuki. All major villages had been hit hard and had received heavy losses. One could say that Konoha was hit the hardest except for one little fact. Konoha still had their secret weapon. The only human left that held one of the legendary tailed beasts.

This meant that if angered, Naruto could destroy whole villages on a whim. And to make things even worse (for their enemies) was the fact that Naruto was about to be promoted to Hokage. It meant that the other villages would have to ally with each other if they wanted to stand a chance against Konoha. That wouldn't happen though. Suna was allied rather closely because of the friendship Naruto had with their Kazekage. That was one threat less to worry about. The other countries either owned him for one thing or another or just wanted to rebuilt.

This meant that none of them had any interest in war. They wanted to live their lives, complete their missions and just go about their daily lives.

Naruto had changed since he had become an official shinobi. He had become respected by his allies and feared by his enemies. He was known world wide to be the most surprising shinobi of Konoha.

Naruto wasn't the next Hokage just yet. He first needed to learn a few specific things that only the Hokage knew about. Normally he was tutored and taught by the previous Hokage weeks if not months before. Since the Sandaime or the third Hokage had perished in battle a lot of information had been lost. Some information was not written down. Ever. Kakashi and Tsunade wanted to make sure that Naruto knew what everything was about.

Except it didn't happen that way.

To understand the reason why it never happened one had to understand some of his history. Naruto had been captured six times. And every time the Akatsuki managed to capture him they lost him again. When they captured him the fifth out of six times the Akatsuki decided that a fail safe was in order.

They ordered their seal specialist under their pay to tattoo a seal on his body in case they were ever defeated. The seal was locked in with the Akatsuki's best. Every time one of them died, the seal would become deactivate another lock that kept it from activating.

The last of these 'officers' died just a few hours before Naruto would rise to the position of Hokage. The seal detected that the last lock had disengaged but waited several more hours. It had happened before that they had faked their deaths. When no change occurred after six hours the seal activated itself.

The purpose of the seal was meant to result in Naruto's death. Unfortunately, the seal specialist had been forced to hurry and had made an unfortunate mistake. The seal was meant to disrupt the balance of Naruto's chakra between his human chakra and that of his prisoner. It was supposed to result in a big explosion destroying as much as possible in the process.

That was its original purpose. Because of the mistake of the seal specialist, the seal was altered just enough to result into something entirely else.

Naruto's own chakra and that of Kyuubi was separated. The power of the Kyuubi was mixing with Naruto's own which was the reason why he had so much chakra. The Kyuubi itself was 'conquered' by Naruto at just the right time. Right now the Kyuubi was just another set of senses. Something to throw idea's or suggestions at. Naruto and Kyuubi weren't friends by a long shot. The closest thing they could call themselves were reluctant partners.

Since the seal was armed and active there would be no way to stop it from completing it's goals.

Normal point of view

Naruto frowned when he sensed that his chakra was acting up. It had always acted his way when he was in danger or otherwise put in harms way. Naruto didn't have much time to think about it though when the Kyuubi's power began acting up too.

Naruto's frown deepened even more. Why was the Kyuubi's power acting up now? Again he had no time to think about the implications.

Naruto knew that he always had a unit of ANBU watching him and had always hated it. It was like he was helpless on his own. But at that moment he was glad that they did.

Knowing that he always had a unit of ANBU watching him as his personal bodyguard, he only had to give the order.

Naruto didn't know for sure if they would follow his orders. Technically he was still a Genin after all.

"My chakra is acting up." He told the ANBU. "I'm going into training ground forty four. It's the only place that's isolated enough to keep any damage happening to the city itself. Alert our patrols and start preparations for activating the emergency shelters. I don't want to take any chances."

Naruto didn't see his ANBU acknowledging his orders but he did sense two of them leaving and two others taking their place.

Naruto hoped that his orders would be for nothing. He would rather be wrong in this case. He was about to turn and head into the direction of the training ground when his chakra flared again. This time he could barely control it.

Naruto tried to contact his prisoner but the answer he got was the busy tone. Naruto knew very well that the Kyuubi wouldn't ignore him for trivial matters. It basically meant that the fox was already doing whatever it could to control the chakra flares.

When the flare stopped at what seemed to be its highest point, Naruto realized abruptly what was happening. Something had disrupted the seal that kept the Kyuubi sealed away. Something was mixing its power and his own by force. And he was winning. The amount of chakra to even stand a chance were mind boggling but there you go.

Naruto could sense that his chakra was getting... Better for the lack of a better word. It was becoming more effective. More potent. Stronger. Better. More powerful. Naruto realized that he needed to get rid of as much chakra as possible. That had been the purpose of the involuntary lose of control. They drained his chakra to a point. And then it was refilled shortly after.

Naruto hurried to the training ground as quickly as he could. Flaring his chakra in regular but smaller boosts. It would only be effective for a little while hut it would do. When he arrived at the training ground more than fifty shinobi were lurking around.

"What's going on?" The blond man demanded.

"They are preparing a variation of that purple prison that the sound four used during their first invasion with Suna." Shikamaru reported.

Naruto didn't question how the other man had come to the same conclusion as he did. But then Shikamaru wasn't a genius for nothing. Possible the smartest of his generation.

"I don't know what you think is happening, but I suggest that if I survive the deal, you'll be extra careful. You never know how the combination of Uzumaki chakra and demonic chakra combined will react with the already dangerous wildlife."

The thought of making the poisonous man eating plants, animals and bugs even more dangerous then they already were send shivers down on his spine.

"On second thought, either burn it to the ground or exterminate anything and everything in it." Naruto corrected himself.

Naruto's thoughts were abruptly caught off when his chakra tried to flare. Again. This time with another side effect.

Bits and pieces of information that he couldn't possibly have known before made themselves known. It was like... He had always known it before but had forgotten about it. And he had just now remembered it again.

Naruto realized three things at that time.

One: there was no way to stop the seal from completing its purpose. Two: he would die if he tried to stop the seal from completing its purpose. Three: he needed to help the seal to complete... its goal as much as he could.

Naruto didn't understand what it was doing or what it was going to do. He just knew for certain that he would survive. And surviving was good if he wanted to become Hokage.

When Naruto found himself deep enough in the forest he voluntarily released a flare that was big enough to get rid of the pressure. At least for a little while. The power washed over him like a tidal wave and nearly knocked him out.

When Naruto tested his reserves he realized that he had drained it more then he had meant to do. His reserves were nearly drained dry. And he could already feel it refilling at an astonishing rate.

Naruto could sense that his father seal released more chakra to increase the rate it was replenishing already. Bad move. But it wasn't as if he could stop it. Even though the Kyuubi's power was already being filtered, its very nature was more powerful than his own human chakra.

Naruto remembered the technique he had been trying to make. But the chakra that it had required was too much. Even for him. But right now he should have enough to power it twice over. Naruto flashed through the amount of seals that were needed to begin the technique. He only hoped he wasn't making a lethal mistake.

Naruto's chakra began to leak out of his body. Very similar to that of his Kyuubi's cloak except it was his own power and not that of the Kyuubi. It wouldn't hurt him too by just using it like the Kyuubi's chakra did.

Just like Naruto had feared, the chakra around him was altering and mutating the wildlife around him. All of them had fled when they sensed Naruto approaching. Not event the most dangerous animals would be able to kill this human. Naruto was at the top of the food chain. And even the predators realized that.

As Naruto was nearing the completion of his invented technique, he began to realize what it was his chakra was trying to do. Aside from mixing and making his chakra stronger and more effective. Not to mention tripling his reserves several times in a row.

Naruto was paying a heavy price for the increase of his reserves though. He would lose all the power that the Kyuubi had available. And it would take decades if not centuries to restore even a little of its power. The chakra was a mix that had never been seen before. It was altering Naruto. Changing how he fought. Changing what he could do. Making him even more dangerous than he already was.

Finally, Naruto finished his sequence of seals. The chakra was sucked into the technique and then he was gone. Leaving a deep crater behind. Training ground forty four was burned to the ground a few days later when his selected 'heir' came into power. Konohamaru would never get the respect they had held for Naruto. But he would make sure that Konoha would be safe for years to come.

XXX

Naruto appeared roughly ten years before Harry and Dudley would arrive. Hell, at that point they weren't even born yet. The political scene at this point was a lot more stable. The factions were still making preparations for their plans. Instead of appearing in a magical tower owned by a Mage long gone, Naruto appeared in what seemed to be the headquarters of the assassin's guild.

The assassin's guild had been declining in power for generations. They needed a powerful and charismatic leader to make them feared again.

The few Mages that were still loyal to the guild could sense the massive amount of talent in the man. But they also sensed that he wasn't an assassin as they understood it. Flashy powers and techniques were not what they thought an assassin should be.

END

I plan to follow both Naruto, Dudley and Naruto separately. Since Naruto appeared ten years before Dudley and Harry he would have a lot more time to prepare.

I'm basing a lot of quests from TES Oblivion. So you may recognize a few. I'm doing another play through to refresh my memory. And to prepare for the new game that's going to come out in a few weeks. (11-11-11!)

I will have FOUR main characters. Three of these characters have already been decided. (Dudley, Harry and Naruto. The fourth is undecided for now obviously.)

They will make mistakes.

They will be greedy and selfish.

They will be defeated.

They will be injured.

This story has been influenced by quests, items, magic and magic based on:

The Elder Scrolls Oblivion

Fallout 3 games

Fantasy Games

PPP

Below are the 'classes' of my main characters including a short description of what they will 'do.' Don't take their classes too seriously. This is a story. Not a game. So they won't be limited by it.

PPP

Magic user: Harry

Harry can do magic. Period.

xxxxxx

Warrior / Engineer / scientist(?): Dudley

Dudley will be the only character of the party that can repair, built and maintain weapons.

Dudley will be the guy who provides technology that's never going to happen in real life

xxxxxx

Thief, assassin, infiltrator: Naruto

Naruto will be the one that will kill, sabotage or abduct to complete their goals.

xxxxxx

?: Undecided.

You might have already guessed it, but I'm saying it outright. The 'world' where Dudley and Harry have appeared is an alternate version of our earth. Same countries, places and important characters of history and maybe the present except that magic is public knowledge while at the same time, technology is advancing just as much as the time/world/reality where Harry & Dudley come from.

Harry will be teaching himself through books and such but without a teacher. He'll be a jack of all trades and a master of none... In the beginning. It speaks for itself that eventually he'll master one or more specific branches.