Disclaimer: I own nothing.
This is my first fanfic, please be gentle. :p
Chapter 1 Homeward bound.
'Security seems to be tighter these days.' Harry thought as he tried his best to walk silently down the ministry corridors, his fists clenched tightly around his cloak in an effort to keep it from slipping off and revealing his presence to the random Aurors chatting and walking from place to place.
'It's good to see they've learned from their mistakes, the bloody idiots.' he couldn't help but grin to himself, 'Still haven't covered all their baskets, though.'
It had been over four months since the fall of the dark lord and wizardkind was still making massive efforts to rebuild. Chasing down missing death eaters, combing the ministry ranks for pureblood sympathizers and unmarked death eaters. Rebuilding Hogwarts to the majestic learning institute it once was. It was slow and arduous work, but at least they were finally trying.
Not all of us saw the light at the end of the tunnel though. While the wizarding world was trying to change for the better, they still seemed to fall back into old habits. Mainly going back to pick on their favorite hero. Soon after the defeat of Voldemort an up and coming gossip columnist, hoping to replace Rita Skeeter, started running articles questioning himself isolation from the wizarding world. What started out as a personal effort to find himself after the horrors of the war, was quickly twisted by some trounced up trollop into a fantastical tale of his fall into the world of the dark arts. And while his close friends knew not to play attention to such sensational claims, the rest of the world started to look at me differently.
In the end, he simply got tired of it all, tired of the stares, tired of the whispers, tired of wizards in general. After losing so much, there was simply nothing more for him to give. And when he'd had enough he came to a decision, to just leave it all behind. Slowly but surely he placed his plan into action. His fortune, or what was left of it, he bequeathed to his godson Teddy, and his mantle of godfather he turned over to his most trusted friend Hermione Granger. If anyone would keep him in a safe and loving environment, in the event of his grandmother's death, it would be her. The rest he spread amongst his friends, little trinkets here and there, his most prized possessions handed to those who'd need them the most, the marauders map sent to an unsuspecting headmistress of Hogwarts with instructions and the hope that she use it to keep her students safe.
And when the time came, he knew just where to go. Even if he was chasing death, the smallest chance that he could find him was all he needed. To give his life in an effort to find his godfather seemed justifiable in his eyes, to try and save the man who had given his life to save his own. But even he knew he was merely grasping at straws, finding excuses to throw his life away. But still, his mind was set, he'd had enough of this world.
And so with his cloak securely wrapped around him and both his holly wand and the elder wand securely strapped in their holsters, he slowly made his way down the ministry corridors towards the department of mysteries and the one place he knew would grant him the freedom he sought. The Veil.
Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy.
In a secret lab once belonging to the Alteran scientist known as Janus an unusual wind seemed to pick up, silver sheets that had covered equipment for millennia untouched fluttered and moved in this unseen breeze.
Sitting on a pedestal, a device whose use had been banned by the Lantean Council, seemed to shimmer in a variegation of colors before settling into a mirror like surface. Suddenly the device flashed and in his usual manner, Harry Potter arrived at his destination. Shooting through the portal in a most unbecoming manner Harry was thrown unceremoniously across the lab, trapped within the sheet that once used to cover the device. Groaning Harry picked up the remains of his battered body off the floor while simultaneously ripping off the sheet he was entangled in.
"Merlin be damned! I just can't catch a break can I ?!" yelled harry as he quickly took stock of his surroundings. 'Well this isn't what I was expecting…' though harry after giving the room a cursory look.
"Hello!? Is anybody home?" Asked harry to the empty room. Harry frowned at the lack of response, "I guess not" he said with a sigh.
Quickly assessing that his cloak and wands were still in his possession he deftly pulled his Holly wand from his holster and silently cast a Lumos. As the ethereal light illuminated his surroundings he quickly took in the untouched appearance of the lab.
"It looks like no one's been home for a while…" he muttered to himself in disappointment.
"I guess it was foolish of me to think you were here Sirius.." he said quietly, his shoulders falling in dejection.
Quietly making his way around the room he was quick to jump into a defensive position as the lights overhead began to flicker and come to life, even the walls seemed to glow as they illuminated one by one as he made his way around the room. Deftly keeping his wand at the ready he slowly made his way towards what appeared to be the only entrance to the room. Only to let out his breath in surprise as the door whooshed open as he neared.
"Well that's not unsettling at all," he said as he cautiously peered around the frame of the entrance, hoping to god that the door wouldn't decide to close on him as he glanced down the deserted hallway.
Keeping his wand at the ready he cautiously made his way through the hall marveling as the lights kept coming on, illuminating his path as he steadily made his way through the structure.
"Whoever these people were they were definitely light years ahead of muggles." He muttered to himself as he looked in appreciation at the sleek looking interior.
While making his way around a corner he couldn't help but gasp as he finally encountered his first view of the outside.
"It's a city." He whispered in awe as he took in the massive spires that seemed to be spread out in the darkness.
"Oh… that's not good.." he said as he finally glanced upwards through the murky darkness and noticed the refracting light glimmering above the city.
It wasn't long before Harry found what he assumed to be the central hub of the city. The more he cautiously explored the more he came to hold the creators of such magnificence in high regard. He knew the people from his world would be hard pressed to ever create anything of this magnitude or this advanced, and with every new section explored he grew further in awe of that which surrounded him. Before he knew it he had stumbled across a large dais proudly displaying a large ring-shaped structure marked with symbols whose meaning of he had no idea. However he hypothesized it was some kind of portal or doorway, to where he hadn't the slightest clue but for now, he chose to avoid it at all cost especially taking into consideration his previous experience with portals to the unknown.
With little to do and much time on his hands he continued his search in the hopes of finding the answer to where he was. The more he explored the more he began to wonder just why a civilization as advanced as the beings who had created all this seemed to have abandoned a city such as this. It was mind boggling. And it wasn't until he stumbled across a chamber containing a raised hexagonal platform with a device that looked like a pew that he received his answer.
Cautiously making his way around the chamber he gave a startled yelp as the platform lit up suddenly, a woman in strange garb appearing from nowhere without the telltale sound of apparation. He fired a silent stunner out of habit and dodged behind the pew, hoping to use it as cover as he tried to mitigate any impending attack, he quickly peered around the corner and fired another stunner only to watch with a gobsmacked expression as the stunner flew straight through the woman to splash harmlessly onto the wall behind her.
The woman stood there staring blankly ahead as if nothing had happened and before long she started speaking, surprisingly enough in English.
Two hours later and Harry Potter had one of the biggest migraines he had ever experienced, not quite as painful as when he had thrown Voldemort from his mind after his first adventure in the department of mysteries, but definitely a close second.
"Out of the fire and into the dragon's mouth as always Potter.." he murmured to himself as he sat dejectedly in a corner of the chamber, his palms pressed to his forehead in an attempt to alleviate his growing headache.
"I'm starting to think I should have just dealt with the stupid tabloids at this point." he said to himself as he pondered the issue he now faced of being stuck in a different galaxy, facing life-sucking monsters who had managed to scare off the most advanced civilization known to mankind, in a city trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.
"Well on the bright side, I can claim to be the first wizard to have found the lost city of Atlantis," he grinned to himself.
"Hermione would have kittens if only she knew." he chuckled.
"And wizardkind would bemoan the fact that one of their most revered legends has nothing to do with wizards at all." Tiredly he picked himself off the floor and made his way to the control terminal of what he learned to be a repository of knowledge used to teach young Lanteans about the many accomplishments of their race, the Alterans, and their history in the galaxies which they inhabited.
Over the next few days he learned as much as he could about the city ship he now called home, learning as much as he could of their language, looking up the history of the Alterans, and how they seeded the galaxies, their use of the rings which he discovered were named Astria Porta which they used to colonize new worlds. Their many advances in technology, which to him seemed magical in its own right. And learning more of their enemies, the creatures called the Wraith.
It wasn't until two days passed that he experienced something which could turn into a major problem. While the food he had packed into his moleskin pouch would last him for a few more weeks, he started to notice the occasional tremors that plagued the city become more frequent and their intensity more frightening as the days progressed. And so with the knowledge that something was wrong, he began to dedicate as much time as he could to learning to read Alteran and having the hologram explain to him how to operate the systems used to control the city ship known as Atlantis.
"Oh this isn't good Potter, this is not good at all," Harry told himself as he looked at the blinking screen in front of him.
It had almost been a week since he had arrived on Atlantis, and with his crude understanding of the language and with major help from the hologram he had finally pieced together what seemed to be the cause of all the tremors plaguing the city ship. Its power was running out, and slowly but surely the shields holding back the water were starting to fail. Taking into consideration that he was the sole inhabitant of the ship, luck seemed to be on his side for now. But if he did not find a way to replace the three modules used to power the shields then he wasn't sure how much longer his luck would last.
With that knowledge in hand, Harry started searching what he could in the repository in the hopes of finding a possible solution to the diminishing power levels of the cells, which he came to learn were called Potentia. Unfortunately, he came to realize that the Lanteans didn't just leave a few spare Potentia laying about. He also came to the realization that they never expected anyone but their ancestors to find the city of Atlantis and that any descendants of the Lanteans would surely know that a City Ship of this magnitude would need new Potentia, especially after having laid dormant on the bottom of the ocean for many millennia.
And so, with this depressing revelation in mind, he started planning for the worst. With his limited knowledge of what laid on the surface, he quickly wrote off apparition from his list, not only needing to be able to visualize his destination but worrying about being stranded in the middle of the ocean with no knowledge of where to go. And unfortunately, he didn't have any gillyweed on hand to enable his swim to freedom once the shield came down and water flooded the city. He considered using the Astria Porta to make a quick escape to one of the listed gate addresses in the repository but quickly learned that he had far surpassed the time allotted for that to be an option, his stay having depleted the Potentia to the point where even dialing up the gate address would deplete what little energy was left. He even thought of using a bubble head charm to get to the surface, but once he took into consideration what the pressure at this depth would do to his body he quickly crossed that option off his list, but that line of thought did help him mitigate some of the damage being done to the Potentia.
With time running out and the tremors becoming more pronounced harry took to using the bubble head charm whenever he was awake it the hope of lowering the stress he was putting on the life support systems, and while he may have bought himself a few days of respite he realized quickly that it wouldn't be enough. His mere presence within the city having activated systems that had long sat dormant. It wasn't until his tenth day that Harry's desperation finally lead him to a plan that would either lead to his salvation or lead him to an early grave.
The more time Harry spent within the city, the more Harry realized that for whatever reason the technology here on Atlantis did not react to his magic the same way it did back in his world. Where the technology of his world would experience adverse effects from merely being in his presence, here in Atlantis everything seemed to have the opposite effect. Machines came to life with an almost happy hum whenever he was in a room, and he slowly realized that any system in his immediate vicinity would illuminate brighter than those a few feet away. It seemed that whatever it was that powered the Potentia was similar enough to his magic that the hardware around him drew energy from him. And so with this in mind, he quickly came up with an idea.
Squinting with concentration at the diagram illuminating the screen harry slowly tried to commit it to memory as he quietly murmured to himself.
"It's not that far from here, but it's definitely in a section of the city I haven't explored. I can only hope I don't get lost along the way."
With a final look at the screen Harry turned quickly and ran over to the chamber that held the hologram used to teach young Lanteans. Over the course of many days harry had set up shop within the chamber, transfiguring empty plant pots, crates and the sheets used to cover the machinery of Atlantis into a small bed for one, a desk and sheets of parchment for his use in studying. He quickly shuffled over to a chest he had transfigured from a crate that was sitting at the foot of his bed and began to dig through the contents. Finally with an exclamation of "Gotcha!" Harry deftly pulled the Elder Wand from the bottom the chest and securely placed it in its holster on his left arm.
Quickly running across the chamber, Harry made his way toward the room containing the Astria Porta. Skipping down the steps towards the gate two at a time he made a beeline in the direction of one of the corridors leading to the main power distribution center housing the three Potentia used to power Atlantis. As he ran down the hallway he began praying to whatever deity out there that his foolish plan would work. From his limited understanding of the readings, he knew that he had barely enough power left to hold up the shield for a few more hours, it seemed like his luck had finally run out.
But before he could even make it halfway to the power station, something unexpected happened. Skidding to a stop he quickly turned and faced the room containing the Astria Porta, hearing a noise he'd never heard before he stopped and ran towards one of the many windows lining the walls and peered intently at the alcove he knew contained the Astria Porta only to widen his eyes in horror as he saw through the murky depths the symbols on the gate light up one by one.
Colonel Marshall Sumner, US marine and military leader of the Atlantis Expedition quickly assessed his surroundings. Whatever he expected when he walked through the gate it certainly wasn't this. Most people would call him pessimistic but he had learned from experience that things never went as planned when you expected them too and quite honestly he was more prepared to face an ambush once he stepped through the gate than he was an empty city, and he wasn't ashamed to admit he felt a little disappointment at the lack of confrontation. Receiving the confirmation signal from stargate command that the last of the team had come through he picked up his radio and contacted Weir.
" That's Everyone."
Doctor Elizabeth Weir snapped out of her trance as the call from Colonel Sumner came in, quickly she pull her radio up and turned to the Stargate as she issued what could very well be her last communica to earth.
"General O'Neill. Atlantis base offers greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy. You may cut power to the gate."
As she stared at the stargate expectantly she couldn't help the smile that graced her face as a champagne bottle rolled out of the gate and across the floor moments before the gate shut down.
As Doctor Weir watches the marines clear the area she couldn't help but marvel at how the city came to life around them, lights start to flicker on and doors slide open automatically as marines and scientist alike begin exploring the area surrounding the Gate. She quickly spots Colonel Sumner from the corner of her eye as he raises his head high and addresses his marines.
"Teams one and two secure the immediate area."
His marines give him quick nods of affirmative as they efficiently split into teams and begin their mission of securing the area. Colonel Sumners then turned his head and addresses the rest of the room.
"Everyone else find an open space and park it until instructed otherwise!"
Weir stood in the middle of the room gazing at Sheppard and Mckay as they headed towards the steps of what she assumed to be the control room. As Sheppard starts to walk up the steps the stairs seem to light up of their own accord. Quickly turning to Colonel Sumner she asks, "Who's doing that?" however, before Colonel Sumner could lift his radio to ask his marines she was startled by a commotion coming from one of the hallways to the far left of the gate.
Harry couldn't believe his bloody luck, after days of not having any contact with the beings in this galaxy and getting comfortable with the fact that he probably wouldn't be getting any visitors, someone had decided that today of all days would be the perfect time to give good old Atlantis a wake-up call. Running as fast as his feet could carry him he quickly skidded around a corner turning into the hallway that leads back to the Astria Porta, bolting down the corridor, his breath burned in his lungs and he gave a startled yelp as the doorway at the end of the hall opened to reveal a pair of men dressed in military gear pointing muggle assault rifles at him. Quickly assessing the threat he conjured a shield around himself and threw a banishing charm at them watching grimly as both of what appeared to be marines flew through the air and back into the room containing the Astria Porta.
Steeling his resolve he hastily cast a Sonorus on himself and started yelling as he kept his mad dash towards the room hoping to salvage what was quickly turning into a shitty situation.
"Stop! Turn off the Portal! You fools, you'll kill us all!"
Pushing his legs to the extreme he bolted through the doorway only to stop and stare in shock at mass on people congregated in the hall that housed the control hub.
For the people of the Atlantis expedition the feeling seemed to be mutual, shock rippled through the group as they stood there, recovering from the dramatic entrance the man had just made. His messy hair seemed to blow in an unseen breeze, emerald green eyes glowing with power as he stood there seeming to take them all in. A visible aura around him made many step back and stumble as they feared the wrath of what they believed to be an ancient in their presence. Colonel Sumner, ever the marine, quickly assessed the new threat and with sharp gestures ordered his men into a defensive position in front of the expedition scientist.
As harry stood there getting his bearings, he snapped back to his old habits as he saw the marines quickly come into a formation in front of the crowd, their rifles raised at him. With speed his didn't think he had, considering he'd used most of his energy running just to get here, he raised his wand only to recoil in shock as the marines took the threatening gesture for what it was and opened fire. Sparks seemed to fly and his shield turned red as shot after shot of automated fire seemed to splash harmlessly across it. Bracing his feet he took a step forward a yelled, " Enough!" the shout roaring through the room and sending people to the floor from the amplified sound.
Before they could recover Harry brought the Elder Wand to bear and silently fired an Expelliarmus Maximus across the room watching with a grim look as weapons were ripped from their owner's hands, in some cases half dragging them across the room as they were violently torn from their grasps and into the hallway behind him.
"Stop this madness!" Harry yelled again.
And in the moments after his exclamation, you could hear a pin drop in the silence that seemed to permeate the air.
Weir stood in shock at the scene that played before her eyes, their first encounter in the Pegasus galaxy and they seemed to have managed to piss off the first ancient they encountered. She felt the weight of the world settle on her shoulders as she took in the enraged disposition of the young man before her. Whoever or whatever this being was, it definitely wasn't someone to be trifled with. She quickly snapped out of her daze when she finally heard him speak again, though this time, his voice didn't seem to boom from the heavens as it did with his initial appearance.
"Who's in charge here?" the young man asked the crowd as they slowly helped their fallen comrades to their feet.
Colonel Sumner seemed to rise to the occasion, placing himself in front of her in what she could only assume to be a protective maneuver. But before he could open his mouth she decided to take charge of the situation before it became unsalvageable.
" I am! My name is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, the people you see before you are an international contingent of scientist and explorers from a planet called earth. Sent to the pegasus galaxy in hopes of finding the lost city of Atlantis. We are what your people once called the Tau'ri. Millions of years ago there was a race of beings we called the ancients. They created a network of what we call stargates throughout our galaxy.." however before she could continue the young man held up a hand and interrupted her.
"I'm sorry doctor Weir, but the ancients as you call them are long gone, and if your people don't get out of my way we'll soon be joining them," he said a frown marring his features.
Weir looked at his face for the first time and finally immersed herself in the frightened look in his eyes. She quickly made her way to the front of the crowd, ignoring Colonel Sumners attempts to grab her as she shuffled past her crew to face the young man before her.
While he held his head high and looked ready to face anything they could throw at him, she slowly came to realize there was an undercurrent of unease and horror he seemed to be holding back. Finally standing before him she looked him in the eyes and tried to express her willingness to help.
"Please, tell me what's going on?" she said, hoping to convey that she meant no harm.
Harry sighed as he stared at her, taking in her appearance and that of the shell-shocked group behind her.
"There isn't much time doctor Weir, as much as I appreciate the company after so much time alone, I'm afraid your arrival has come at the most inopportune time." with a flick of his wrist he holstered his wand and raised his hands in a show of peace.
Inclining his head towards one of the windows he held out a hand in the hope that she would accept it. Before anyone could tell her otherwise the woman stepped forward and took his hand in hers, gazing into his eyes with trust. Harry gently held her hand and walked slowly toward the window, guiding her with him.
"I guess in some respect your efforts are to be commended, you came looking for the lost city of Atlantis and I can tell you most assuredly that you have found it," he said guiding her gaze out the window.
"But this city was not ours to discover, neither you or I," he whispered.
Elizabeth gasped as she looked out into the abyss, marveling at the city spread before her. She turned her gaze towards him again and he smiled comfortingly but directed her gaze upwards.
"This city has been hidden away for 10 thousand years beneath the ocean's surface, and unfortunately, it's time has run out. The shields that hold the ocean back from crushing the city no longer have the power required to sustain them, and I'm afraid that your arrival has expended the last of its power. Without new Potentia to replace the ones we have, our time has run out." he said gazing at the city forlornly.
"Rodney!" Elizabeth yelled, turning quickly to scan the crowd behind her.
"I heard him Elizabeth!" Rodney shouted from the second level of gate room as he tapped furiously on his laptop gazing intently at the readouts from one of the ancient terminals in front of him and the screen on his laptop.
"He's right Elizabeth, from what I can ascertain the city is powered by three Zero Point Modules. Two are entirely depleted and the third is about to reach maximum entropy. When it does, it'll die too and nothing will be able to reverse it." he quickly turned his laptop towards them and showed them a diagram of Atlantis on its screen.
"The forcefield holding back the ocean has already collapsed to its minimum sustainable levels. We're out of time…" he said gazing fearfully at them from across the room.
Suddenly the room shook with the force of an earthquake sending people and equipment to the floor as the city seemed to take its final shuddering breath. The people from her expedition gave out startled yells of fright as the tremors intensified, and as she turned to gaze that the being before her she took in the sad look in his eyes and the bitter smile on his lips as he turned and hugged her in what seemed to be his final effort at comfort before their untimely death, only for them to both give startled yelps as they were both thrown to the floor by the feeling of rapid ascension.
On the surface of the ocean, the once peaceful waters seem to erupt as the first tower broke the surface and the rest of the city followed shortly after. From the control room sunlight poured in through the windows and as the city settled on the ocean's surface, the internal lights come on one by one. Glancing out the windows from his position on the floor Harry quickly stood, holding out his hand for Doctor Weir he helped her to her feet and together they walk with awestruck looks towards the window gazing in amazement at the city laid bare before them, water still cascading down the windows.
"We're on the surface," whispered Harry, still gazing intently out the window.
{Edit#2: I'd like to thank SiantMichals95 for pointing out my error in regards to the time Atlantis has spent beneath the oceans surface. The appropriate changes have been made.}
{Edit#3: Thanks to MVDB for pointing out my horrible grammar, I've gone back and fixed as much as I could and added details where needed. Hopefully, my writing will get better as the story develops."}