The Second Parallel
Summary: Surviving not one, but two killing curses in a life time has severe consequences. Only three years after the fall of Voldemort, Harry dies but his soul isn't taken to the after life. No, fate has other plans. AU dimension.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
AN - The beginning is going to be a bit confusing. Just letting you all know, this is an ALTERNATE DIMENSION fic. I will not be showing how Harry will be accomplishing this until later in the story. By the way, this story will also contain a GWL and other cliches that I wish to adapt.
Pairings - Well, I'll speak of this at the end of the chapter.
Prologue
- The End of Harry Potter -
Harry James Allan Potter looked at the portrait of the man he once thought of as a Grandfather of sorts. The office was empty at his request as he only wanted to speak with the man in front of him, the man that had essentially planned his life and manipulated him into sacrificing himself for the Greater Good of the world.
Albus Dumbledore was a man of many faces and at the moment, all he held on his was sadness. Harry knew why of course, he was feeling it as well.
"Harry, my boy." The portrait spoke first. "I cannot explain how proud..."
"Save it Albus." He cut him off with a slight edge, "I didn't come here for praises. I came...for answers."
"Yes..." The old portrait said, "Before I respond Harry..."
"Enough!" Harry wasn't hearing any of it. He knew it was truly selfish of him but he cared not. "I don't want to hear the remorse of a DAMNED PORTRAIT! Answer me!"
"Of course." Albus replied far more downtrodden then before.
"As you know well Harry, you were not a regular child. The mere idea of you having a regular life was ludicrous but I still held on to a dim hope." He could see the boy's anger rising and continued quickly. "When you first survived the Killing Curse, something that was thought to be impossible, a piece of Tom's soul entered you. It made you into a sort of Horcrux, an anchor for him. But what I never told you...is that, there are consequences."
He paused for a moment. "No doubt you have realized, magic is both a great and terrible thing-"
"Albus..." Harry spoke aloud.
"I have no greater regret-"
"Albus!"
"I am so sorry my boy." He finished. "When they say that no one can survive the Killing Curse, they are one hundred percent correct. You have taken two and lived but your soul was damaged significantly and my manipulations over the years have not helped you."
"What are you saying?" The young man's voice was faint but knowing. "Just...say it already."
"Harry..."
In that pause, Harry already knew what the answer. It was clear. For the past four months, he had become more and more unstable. His mind and magic wasn't reacting well to him and he grew more and more tired as hours past.
"I'm afraid that your life will soon come to an end. The truth is, I didn't expect you to live for as long as you did. According to my plans, you should have died the moment Tom would cast the second Killing Curse on you. I had no doubt that your friends would succeed in defeating Tom after your imminent death. But you survived and eventually surpassed everything I had in store for you. Love is truly a powerful, powerful thing."
"Love?" Harry replied. "You know nothing of love."
"Perhaps..." Albus admitted. "But we all have our own...interpretations. Because of the love that you held for your friends, you survived, did you not?"
Harry didn't answer him until a question arose in his mind. "My soul?"
"Has been damaged beyond belief. The Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, is not like any other dark curse. Dark curses usually have a physical effect that forces the body to submit to release, begging for death. The Killing curse however, is meant to tear souls apart, literally. Yours however, under various circumstances, survived but not without side effects."
"I have been living on a set time." Harry understood. "From the moment I was marked, I was destined to die."
"Yes." At this point, the portrait's expression was dire. "There was no doubt in my mind that you would indeed die, Harry."
And then there was another crippling silence. The revelation had put the moment into a loud silence.
After all he had gone through in his life, he would finally pass on to the "next great adventure" as Albus liked to call it. And it wouldn't even be on his own terms.
"I see."
Harry then stood up and made to exit. "Farewell Albus, this is the last time we shall meet."
"Where are you going?" Albus asked, his keen eyes studying the younger man's body language. He was experienced, even if he was a portrait. "You cannot escape death, Harry. You know the path Tom took!"
"I will not escape death!" Harry's face was red with anger at the mere comparison. "Am I not the heir to the man that would welcome death as an old friend?"
And with that, he briskly exited, leaving the portrait of Albus Dumbledore alone with a look of bitter sadness, an expression that did not fit his face at all. Utter self-loathing claimed him and he left his frame. He would not be seen in over a thousand years.
Chapter 1
- The Girl-Who-Lived -
Rose Lillian Potter woke from her small bed, cold sweat dripping from her haunted looking face. She had just awoken from a terrible nightmare in which a dark, evil looking figure had been killing her friends and family, as she watched from the side. These nightmares were not unusual these days to her as she had been having them since her first year of Hogwarts. She had gone to her mother, Lily Potter for advice, but she was only given dreamless sleep potion to help.
Dreamless sleep could only work for so long.
She knew that being the Girl-Who-Lived meant holding an incredible amount of power and with that power came responsibility. What she should have known however, was that those same responsibilities came along with having to deal with the entity known as the Dark Lord Voldemort.
As an intelligent young woman (12), she had studied various languages growing up. She took to her studies to get away from the hype and fame as being a famous child, so naturally, she acquired the ability to speak in a few different tongues. French being one of them of course.
Voldemort could be translated into "Flight of Death" and that alone told her many things of the Dark Lord's character. It told her that he sought a way to escape from death. Yes, she was incredibly insightful for someone her age.
She shook her head and let those thoughts die out. "Need a drink." She mumbled softly. Getting up and checking the time, she realized that it was very early in the morning. That suited her just fine. Perhaps she could get her shopping done before Diagon Alley got crowded by mindless idiots.
Rose did not have many friends unfortunately but she did cherish the few that she had. Today, she would be going to Diagon Alley with her friend, Neville Longbottom and his parents. Accompanying them would be Daphne Greengrass and Susan Bones. Rose had met Daphne and Susan at a very young age and thus made friends with them accordingly. They had had met at a Ministry function but after that, they had met various times at more private locations where they got to know each other and eventually, became friends.
They treated her like any other child and that was a great relief. Sure, she was far more intelligent then the usual child but she did not boast it. Her mother had taught her that humility went a long way.
When she got downstairs, she was met by three faces. Two smiling and one confused. The smiling faces belonged to her loving parents, Lily and James Potter. The confused one belonged to her younger brother who was still an infant. His name was Harry.
"Mum, Dad." She grinned tiredly, "You're up early."
"We could say the same sweetie." Lily responded, eating her breakfast. "We had a feeling that you would have wanted to wake up early to avoid the crowd. Alice fire-called earlier too and Neville seemed to agree. We'll be meeting Amelia and Marlene there later as well." Amelia and Marlene were the guardians of Susan and Daphne respectively.
She nodded but her eyes were downcast. "I had another one of those...dreams."
Lily and James frowned. They hated when the potions they gave her would turn out more useless then not. They felt helpless knowing that there daughter was being hurt by the madman known as Voldemort, even if it was only in her dreams. At this rate, she'd grow up to hate sleep. It was not good for the young mind.
"I'll ask Severus if he can brew another batch of his finest sleeping draught." Lily muttered to her husband. James sighed and nodded, hating to ask his old enemy for help. But even he had to admit that the old bat did more to help on this front then he would, and probably could ever.
They walked over to embrace their daughter, "Don't worry Rosie." James said lovingly, "We'll get you more help."
Rose nodded and embraced them back. It was a good moment, until her younger brother started crying for his diapers to be changed.
Hogwarts
"Albus!" Minerva screeched, "WHAT IS THIS?"
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the leader of the Light, Headmaster of Hogwarts of school of witchcraft and wizardry, the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, the Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock, Grand Sorcerer, Order of Merlin First Class and perhaps the next in line to being God (that last one was sarcasm) - had met his greatest opponent, an angry Minerva Mcgonagall. The young animagus, well young in his eyes, had quite the temper once invoked and Albus did so more often then he wished to admit.
"Yes Minerva?" He asked in his grandfatherly persona, "How can I help you?"
"THIS!" She slammed down the paper on his desk. It was a job application and acceptance for one Gilderoy Lockhart. "You're gonna let that clown teach here!"
Albus sighed, "He's the only one that applied..."
"THEN FOR GOODNESS SAKE, MAKE SEVERUS TAKE THE DAMN JOB AND YOU TEACH POTIONS!" She bellowed, "That clown would make a mockery of the post! Is this not Hogwarts, Headmaster? Aren't we the Elite?"
She was right of course and truth in the matter was, Albus was spread out far too thin to even look for a good applicant. Of course, he could have always asked the Ministry but he had a bad feeling about that idea. He had an odd feeling they'd send someone terrible for the job.
He really should have approached his old friend Alastor about the problem.
"Minerva..." He began soothingly, "I cannot teach potions." Not that he was unqualified of course, being a master Alchemist and student to Nicholas Flamel himself. The truth of the matter was, he had many duties to fulfill and he didn't have any time to teach his students. Although he absolutely loved teaching the new age, he didn't have the time to do so.
"Surely..." She gritted out, "There must be another who could...perhaps you can bring in Slughorn and have Severus teach Defense? It is a far superior plan then having that idiot come here."
Albus sighed, "Very well Minerva. How about I propose something?" She nodded.
"How about you find a suitable person to take the post..." He started, "And then you bring this person to me and we shall take care this with an interview." He would make sure to interview ALL of his new applicants after the Quirrel disaster.
"Very well! I'll find one by the end of the week!" And with that, she stormed out.
Little did Albus know, she would meet a new applicant within the next few days.
Diagon Alley
Rose walked down the alley in a regal manner. Though she exuded no arrogance like many bigoted wizards would, she exuded one of confidence and intelligence.
Alongside her were three others. Neville Longbottom was a young and rather handsome boy, his dark blond hair and hazel eyes were his standout features that illuminated with the smile on his face as he walked beside his best friends.
To his right was Susan Bones, a red headed and brown eyed girl. She also exuded a confidence that was shared with the brunette beside them. Daphne Greengrass was the tallest of the group, her blue eyes looked down to Rose with a grin as well.
"Did you hear?" Susan said, "I heard a rumor about the new Defense teacher."
The group sighed, "Hopefully someone good." Neville muttered, "Honestly, if I hear another stutter..." The group shuddered at the thought of spending another year with a professor like that.
"Hopefully not a Death eater too." Rose said, "They can be rather annoying." The group gave a collected nod.
"I think the Headmaster will be more careful in the future. After all, anyone can be a Death Eater..." Daphne responded and Neville snorted lightly, muttering something that sounded like "sounds like Uncle Moody".
"Right, well with that unpleasant thought planted firmly in my head," Rose said, flinging her red hair behind her ear, "So, who's gonna be the next Defense teacher? According to the rumors?"
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" She said, her voice dangerously sounding like a squeal, something that put Neville into high alert. Being best friends with girls did have a few drawbacks.
Rose looked slightly impressed but then thoughtful, like her friend Daphne. "Well, that should be interesting." They giggled, Neville was contemplating making a run for it. Daphne saw his unsettled expression and laughed.
"No worries Nev, we're not gonna go girl mode on you." He sighed in relief. "That's good."
Rose smiled and then walked abruptly into someone. "Sorry." She responded immediately. "I wasn't look-"
"It's fine." The man smiled. Rose blushed a bit as she looked up to his face. He was a rather tall, handsome man with dark hair and twinkling green eyes. She widened her eyes a bit, He looks like dad!
"It's my fault as well, I should have been paying more attention. Well, I've gotta run. Bye." He spoke smoothly and walked away. Her gaze followed him until she heard a slight giggle from beside her. Looking back, she saw her friends smirking at her.
"Rose..." Neville said, hiding a little smile by wiping the skin above his lips. "Is there something you haven't told us?"
"Yeah, like your fascination with older men!" Susan said and then put her arms around her fellow red head. "Honestly...you should have-"
"I don't like older guys! I'm twelve!" Her face was reddening at an incredible pace. Wait, he had a clear view of my scar. Guess he didn't care. That's good. She hated being singled out for being the Girl-Who-Lived, after all. Or he didn't notice, which was a depressing thought.
They spent half an hour after that exploring the grounds. It was a bliss moment for them and they had loads of fun. They were undisturbed for a good few hours until the Alley began getting crowded.
When they were about to leave, it was a few hours after noon. "Well, guess we'd better get back to the Cauldron. We'll floo back." Susan said. "Good day. It's so nice out."
"Perfect flying weather too..." Neville muttered under his breath. "It's great."
And without warning, there was a mighty explosion in the Alley. The apothecary had just been incinerated into nothing. Rose heard Susan shout in terror along with Neville and just about everyone within sight. However, the elder folks began shouting for another reason.
A dark skull had just been ignited above them all.
The Dark Mark had just been cast.
(X)
Minerva Mcgonagall widened her eyes as she saw the apothecary explode. She had been only a few stores away and so she rushed to the sight, hoping to help anyone in the area. What she was met with was worse however as cloaked figures began hexing people in sight. In a fit of rage, she attacked the closest one. "Death Eaters." She growled, stepping forward.
"Confringo!" A boulder like blast ignited from her wand, blowing away the closest enemy. Apparating behind another one of them, the lone Professor cast a flame like whip, hissing away as it forced two other Death Eaters to fall back and focus their attack on her. But she did not falter and dodged their spells with practiced ease, before quickly stunning them both.
Instinctively raising a shield, she felt her animagus instincts begin to rile as her sixth sense began alerting her to the dangers around. Multiple hexes were being thrown but she managed to avoid them all. Thankfully, there were a few other adult wizards around to help.
"Minerva!" She chanced a glance and saw Pomona Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff house and Remus Lupin, an odd face but nonetheless, a familiar one.
"Pomona, Lupin, a little help?" They nodded and began there own battles.
Remus quickly subdued one of them with a blasting curse and began a fight with one of the others. Pomona began muttering a spell under her breathe, subduing the downed Death Eaters in what looked like a rising plant from the ground. She turned around and whipped her wand at a near Death Eater, plant like vines launching from her wand and defeating another one.
"Where are the Aurors?" Minerva demanded. "Where are they!"
And then they heard a loud, terrible laughter. It was a familiar one that sounded as if a wicked monster had just found their prey, a mad laughter that silenced all other beating sounds.
A laughter that sent a sliver of fear into their hearts and they knew that, without a shadow of a doubt, that Bellatrix Lestrange was in Diagon Alley.
Remus panicked as he came across a sudden realization. "Rose..." He began running. "Rose isn't safe!" Minerva ran after him.
"Damn!" He used his Werewolf senses, looking for Rose's scent. But with hers, he got four others. "Who?"
He ran as fast as his legs could take him.
(x)
"Run...Run!" Rose heard Neville mutter as they bursted away from the scene. "Hurry!" He was in shock, fearing for a good reason. Death Eaters had just arrived at the scene. "Come on!"
All around them, there was a spreading fire that began swallowing the entire alley. Diagon Alley had never looked worse in her days and it was not even over yet. She had to swallow her revulsion at the sheer amount of death and destruction around them. Rose had seen numerous amounts of dead bodies and surely, so had her best friends.
It was a terrible eye opener. These were the people she would have to face one day.
And then she heard a terrible laughter.
Neville looked as if he were about to faint. His face was pale and whitening quickly. Susan and Daphne were not faring any better. She fleetingly wondered if she looked the same.
And the laughter came again except it sounded from behind the fire. Out from the walls of flame, a tall woman with wild black hair and crazed eyes walked out of it unharmed. She wore a tight leather armor and a dark, hooded cloak. But she was brave enough to show her identity, rather than hide it behind a mask.
She was a wanted woman. One that her father feared as well.
Bellatrix Lestrange, nee Black, had gathered an infamous reputation from the first war. Known to be the right hand to Voldemort himself, she reigned a terror that could be compared to the Dark Lord himself. She was the mistress that killed all of those that stood between herself and victory.
Her victory was defined as absolute and utter chaos.
Bellatrix's crazed eyes looked to the group before her, a tiny smirk rose to her face. "Well, well." Her voice was uptight and rakish. "The Girl-Who-Lived..."
"B-B-B-B-Be-" Neville stuttered out. He was gasping and breathing quickly. Daphne had her wand out in a flash but it was in vain as a red beam of light knocked it out. Bellatrix giggled.
"Itty, witty Potty and her wittle fwiends." She doted, waving her wand at them as if they were little babies and then began stepping forward. Rose wanted to step back but she knew there was fire all around her. A chaotic fire.
Fiendfyre, something Rose only ever read about, never experienced until now.
The dark witch's arm was twitching in excitement, "You, yes you, no not you Longbottom, stop crying! You Potty! You...You...YOU, YOU, YOU sent my L-lord-" She spoke the word as if it were her greatest love, "Away...for a bit." She gritted out, "I am his greatest servant! You, yes...you will die." She rose her wand, only to duck away as a blue light was shot at her.
Remus Lupin had managed to apparate in between the flames. He could only sigh in relief at his fortune. Following him was Minerva Mcgonagall.
"Uncle Moony! Professor!" Rose gasped out. She had been shaking terribly in fear at the proclamation of the dark woman. But Remus had no time for pleasantries as he noticed Bellatrix signalling for her followers to put up Anti-apparition wards. But he was too late to stop her.
"Shit!" He heard Minerva curse lowly, "Remus!" Her voice was dire, he nodded.
Bellatrix was no fool however and extended her flames to give them all a bit more space. Remus casted a powerful shield around Rose, Daphne, Susan and Neville before going into battle. Minerva had been exchanging hexes with her for a good ten seconds now and had already been forced to dodge a few green lights, never a good sign for a battle.
Bellatrix's crazed look grew more and more as the battle went on however. Her sharp spell-casting did not falter for even a second as she managed to push both light wizards back into a corner. And from there, she showered them with explicit dark curses. Remus was forced to use all of the shields in his arsenal to block those he couldn't dodge.
Minerva was not having it though. Transforming into her animagus form, she quickly ran out of the corner, dodging another Killing Curse and rolling out back into her human form, she then began casting blasting and disarming spells. Bellatrix was not in a bit fazed by the development. Casting a dark bubble around her being, she launched another rain of painful strikes on both fronts, fighting them both off with strict efficiency.
Rose watched in both awe and terror. Her Uncle Moony was awesome and so was her favorite Professor!
But Bellatrix was beating them both back and that scared her.
Laughing madly, the dark mistress quickly stunned the werewolf and subdued him with a dark chaining spell. Minerva began another onslaught of spell-casting but Bellatrix shielded herself from all of it.
Minerva knew she was in a dire situation. Remus! This is bad, she thought worriedly. Her old student had been downed and she was lucky that Bella hadn't yet cast a killing curse at his direction. It seemed she did have a taste for savoring the misery of her opponents.
Rose was growing more and more unsettled as she watched her Uncle get beaten. Her Professor was also looking like she would follow that example as well.
This is bad!
Minerva had only lasted a few more minutes before Bellatrix subdued her as well. Her victorious laughter was heard from across the Alley. She looked at Rose and smirked, "Can you see, itty witty Potty girl, this is the fate of those...who opposes my Lord!" She shrieked as she pointed her wand at her Uncle. Rose had never felt more helpless.
"AV-A-DA!" She shouted syllable by syllable but never had the opportunity to complete the spell as a blasting curse was thrown at her feet.
The fiendfyre around them began opening, forming into a sort of door. And from that door, a man stepped in. A very familiar man.
Rose widened her eyes, it was the green eyed man that looked like her dad!
Bellatrix growled as she looked at the new prey. "And you are?" She snarled.
"This one's crazy too." Rose heard him mutter. She didn't know what he was talking about.
She noticed that he was also wearing an armor that he didn't have before.
"You're just like all the other elves aren't you..." He spoke mockingly, "Honestly, they just don't make them like they used to."
Bellatrix began to cast her usual attacks but the man did not back away like her other two opponents. A Light Wizard with a backbone, she thought darkly but a little impressed. She smirked and muttered, "Proelia." A dark fraying curse came at him at frightening speeds.
He dispelled it with ease. But Bellatrix was not fooled, she smirked. "Oh oh oh...you're no Light Wizard..." She bit out, though her tone was laced with interest. "Who are you...?"
"Oh no, I don't claim to be light or dark..." He smiled calmly, Rose was feeling something she had lost once her Professor had been beaten - Hope.
"Know thy enemy." And with that, he responded with, "Diffindo!" She ducked out the way, avoiding the dangerous spell. The two began exchanging spell for spell but the man did not falter like any other she had ever faced.
He was handling her. Handling her like that old fool Dumbledore had before the Dark Lord had rescued her from imminent defeat all those years ago. Bellatrix knew at this moment that, for the first time in many years, she had met her match. It was a nameless wizard, neither light or dark, a handsome man as well. Who he was, she didn't know but she would soon find out.
"Aurors!" She heard the screams from her fellow Death Eaters. Noticing the man was now startled, he began to up his ante and launched spells at a rate that would be considered extraordinary. The man she was fighting was definitely far, far above the average wizard.
And he was not aiming to subdue at all. Dodging a dark severing curse, he knows Sectumsempra?
Only a powerful Death Eater with connections knew this particular move. Invented by Severus Snape, it was a curse that was tweaked by all those that came across it. When Snape began using it, everyone copied him, even the Dark Lord himself.
But the one she had just dodged was the original.
She was in a rage at the thought of having to retreat. But she knew in her heart that she would have to live to fight another day. "RETREAT! LOWER THE WARDS! RETREAT! FALL BACK! FIGHT ANOTHER DAY!" She bellowed and casted, "Morsmordre!" Leaving the trademark skull hanging in the sky, she began her tactical retreat.
She heard the man curse and once again, she found herself dodging any curses left and right. He was persistent but he did not wish to leave the Girl-Who-Lived alone in the middle of a fire.
Bellatrix soon safely apparated away and the Aurors began putting out the deadly flames. The man sighed.
Rose stood and began trying to wake Susan, who had fainted sometime during the battle, quickly. She noticed the man walking her way but he was not smiling, he looked as if he had failed to do something. "Are you ok?" He asked gently.
"Y-yes." She gasped out, the flames had been affecting her breathing. "I-I-"
"Shhhh...don't talk. Not until we get you both to St. Mungos. This must have been traumatic." She nodded, "I'd best start by getting those two." He walked over to Minerva and Remus. Only the professor was awake and her eyes radiated nothing but relief.
He studied the chains on both of them and sighed. "The Chains of Erebus...Very advanced." Muttering the most powerful counter-curse in his mind, he managed to weaken the chain enough to shatter it with a regular cutting curse. "That woman...she's as skilled as they say." He sighed.
Minerva stood up first and watched as the man awakened her old student. Remus woke up with a start and then his gaze was met with one of worry. "Stop moving." He spoke, "Your friends are safe."
"R-Rose?"
"The red headed girl and her friends?" He nodded, "They are safe as well." The man began to relax.
"T-thank you..." The dark haired man nodded.
"Excuse me." An Auror had just walked up to them. "Are you all alright?"
"We'd be better if you all had come earlier!" Minerva snapped, "Bellatrix was here!" The Auror widened his eyes.
"A-are you sure?" He stuttered. Minerva only grew more irate.
"Sure? Well, I was definitely dueling some carbon clone of her then! Of course I was dueling her!" The rest nodded. The dark haired man sighed and got up.
"H-he managed to beat her!" Neville spoke in a sort of reverence, pointing at the man, forgetting the fact that pointing was rude. The said man looked a bit annoyed by the tone but relaxed as he looked at the boy's face. "I-It was amazing!"
"Indeed." Minerva said. "You drove her away...when she beat both Remus and I."
The man looked liked he wanted to say 'it was nothing' but he didn't, probably thinking it would sound superficial and fake. Because it certainly was not nothing. "She was tough." Was his response. "I got lucky today."
"Anyways..." He muttered, "You should bring them all to the hospital. I'll be going. Good Luck!"
And he began walking away, ultimately apparating. The Auror stared at the manner in which he just left before sputtering.
"Wait, I never got his statement."
?
Harry Potter cursed violently as he failed to capture Bellatrix Lestrange. He couldn't believe his lackadaisical way of dealing with the situation back there.
"Unbelievable." He wanted to punch himself. But in the end, could he blame himself? He couldn't even figure out just what the hell was going on.
Where in the world was he? And why was Bellatrix Lestrange even alive?
What was going on? Didn't he die?
"Looks like I'm in an alternate Universe." He spoke firmly, standing perfectly still and with a grim look upon his face.
It was not even a second before he began bursting into a loud, bellowing laughter.
Oh, his weird luck.
END - CH1
Pairings - I will not be pairing the Boy and Girl who lived. I know that sucks for some of you guys. The only pairing I will offer on the plate right now is Neville and Rose, albeit even that will be quite far apart.
I hope you enjoyed it.