Chapter 2 Nobody's Hero

This chapter takes place in the "Real" World.

Back in the Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts, another Harry Potter woke up. Unfortunately, he was right where the other Harry Potter had died, that is, right in the middle of the Death Eater Siege Camp.

If he was not so afraid he was going to piss himself, he might have chuckled. It is just as Albus told me. When the Harry of this world went to my world, time stopped until I entered his body. This, in turn, allowed Albus to explain everything that had happened to cause this unfortunate turn of events. Things have truly taken a turn to the positive.

He felt someone behind him. It was the light touch of a woman, as she gingerly tried to check for life signs. She must have detected his continued existence, because she breathed out in a voice barely louder than silence, "Harry, are you alive?"

Other Harry recognized the voice as Narcissa Malfoy, and answered in an equally quiet voice, "Yes."

"If I help you, will you help Draco?"

Ah, blackmail, the great power of politicians. Still, Harry knew he had no other choice, so he muttered, "Yes."

He felt the woman retreat and shout, "He is dead, my Lord!"

A snake like voice lashed out into the night, "Excellent! We shall rejoice in the defeat of my so-called nemesis by observing the sorrow of his friends. Half-Breed!"

Large, hesitant, footsteps greeted the call of this Lord, "You, Hagrid, shall be the bearer of the one you once called friend."

Other Harry heard the half-giant choke on a sob. The half-giant was very near him, and he stooped down to pick up his body. Harry wondered how small his body must be if the half-giant could pick him up so easily, especially with the wound he saw on his right, and predominant, arm. He heard the Lord hiss, "Let us proceed."

` Harry began to feel a bit disconcerted as they approached what he guessed was Hogwarts. Most of the castle was in smoking wreckage. He heard a procession of people behind the half-giant. The lord was parading his conquest.

Harry took this opportunity to dig into the giant's pockets, and pulled out a knife. Apparently, the wizards of one army didn't believe a muggle weapon could be of any real danger. He was going to prove them wrong. Fatally wrong.

He slipped the knife into the cuff of the shirt he was wearing. It was certainly baggy enough, and the giant didn't notice the movements at all. Neither did any of the vanguard, who were too busy in their early celebrations.

The giant slowed down, and through squinted eyes, he could see they were in the ruins of the Entrance Hall. The Lord declared, "I have brought before you the symbol of your hope. Harry Potter."

With that, Hagrid laid him down in front of the audience. He heard cries of anguish and rage. Many couldn't believe it, but with proof before their eyes, they couldn't deny it. At a slight glance, the periphery members of the assembly seemed ready to give up, with their leader gone. It was just as Dumbledore had said the Dragon said it would be. Without Harry Potter, these resistance fighters were hopeless.

"As you see, your hopes are now forlorn, and have been laid low by the greatness that is Lord Voldemort. He stood no chance, and conceded the battle upon realizing this."

This other Harry must have been a pussy. He could have at least made a sport out of it. Current Harry thought as Voldemort was screamed at by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. They seemed to be the most affected, and were readying to make a last stand in a manner that the Other Harry had said they would to the Dragon. He began to feel that the moment to attack was coming. At that moment, the first spells flew.

If he had learned anything from his father during their duelist training, it was as follows: In the case of multiple combatants in an extremely confined area, where there can be no dodging, it is best to stay low. If a spell is going to miss, it will always miss high, unless it was deflected. The Giant was putting that knowledge to use, and lay down near Harry. Harry then rolled away from him, and flicked the knife out.

He darted for the first Death Eater he saw. The momentum of his roll carried into his assault, running almost full tilt. He saw the eyes, clear, blue, but most importantly, full of fear. With power from his speed, he was on the Eater in a second.

He didn't know who the first Death Eater he came in contact with was. He knew it was a woman, because of her squeal when his knife slashed through her robes and sank into her chest, driving straight for the heart. In that moment, the satisfaction of blood took hold, killer instinct, as most would call it.

Wasting no time, he wrenched the blade free, whirled it to remove excess blood, and ran at the next nearest Death Eater. This one, the eyes were filled with shock and fear too. He smiled as the knife ran slashed under the mask, and across the neck, severing key arteries.

Suddenly, he got a chill. He plunged his off hand into his robes, and drew out a wand. It clearly wasn't the wand he was supposed to have, it felt very alien. But it did the trick, as he let fly a Sectumsempra at the flanking Death Eater.

The feeling shifted, and multiple feelings emerged in front of him. Unlike his brother, multi-combat was his specialty. Harry had nothing to fear hear, except maybe his own overconfidence. Three Death Eaters were taking aim with their favorite Unforgivable Curse, this he knew even before they were able to begin the incantation. They seemed to be grunts, so the likelihood of them known silent casting was low. He hit them with an area Silencio.

All three were visibly startled when they finished the Avada Kedavra incantation and nothing happened. They didn't get the chance to regret not paying attention to their opponent. He cut down two of them with his favorite Cutting Curse, and sent his knife into the remaining fool.

More Death Eaters intercepted him. He gripped the wand in his left hand, and swung it above his head. He thought, Flagelli Excandescunt, and a thin line of flame flew out. Harry flicked his wrist like he was carrying a whip, and the wire of flame descended on the Death Eaters. The wire sliced right through the first line, the upper half of their bodies slid off onto the floor.

One of the Eaters had raised a shield in time to block the whip, and fired a Killing Curse. Harry ducked beneath the emerald green curse, and fired a Reducto at him. The Eater hastily conjured a new shield, which took the blast, but shattered in the process. Harry smirked, and cracked the whip flare again.

The Death Eater's head slipped from his shoulders, the laceration a burnt black. He shielded a rogue redutor curse, and moved on.

Finally, his way to Voldemort was clear. The appearance of the Dark Lord was somewhat startling, this Harry had only seen him once, and even that form wasn't as inhuman. The Dark Lord hissed, "There's something off about you, Potter."

"What might that be, I guess, Lord Voldemort? Could it be that I am more of a fighter than you thought?"

Voldemort scowled, "I guess all Potters are born mouthy. However, since you are different, I'm going to make you an offer."

"Join you or die?"

"That sounds about right."

Harry actually considered it. He really did. He knew that Voldemort was an exceedingly powerful wizard who had decades of experience more than he did. Few things truly appealed to this Harry Potter. Knowledge, Power, and Recognition, however, did appeal to him. However, the cons outweighed the pros of this deal. After all, if Harry began to get too powerful, then Voldemort would just kill him, and he would never get the recognition he desired by living the shadow of a Dark Lord.

"I'm afraid I just can't accept, Voldemort. I'd love too, I really would, but there just isn't enough in it for me."

Voldemort's expression curled in disgust, "Then you will die!"

"Can't let you do that, Voldemort." Harry quipped, ducking beneath a Killing Curse from the snake like wizard. He kept dodging Voldemort's attacks, knowing the Dark Lord would eventually tire out from over-use of the most taxing and least useful spell ever invented.

Finally, Voldemort just got pissed, and decided to use some real Dark Magic. "Adeptus Lamina!"

Harry barely sidestepped the dark beam. That would have hurt, he thought as he dodged another of the same spell. He decided to retaliate with his own spell, "Ignis dolum!"

Small embers of fire shot out of Harry's wand, and caught onto Voldemort's robes, lighting aflame. Voldemort didn't notice it at first, as the embers merely simmered, but soon, they caught. He quickly extinguished the fire, but not before Harry was on him.

At point blank range, Harry fired a Sectumsempra. He barely missed, giving Voldemort an opening. Voldemort connected with one of his dark beams. Harry growled in pain, his left leg beginning to fail from the beam. He could feel his own blood spilling.

He twisted his body around, and avoided another beam, and slammed his knife into Voldemort's wand arm. The Dark Wizard hissed in pain, and fired a Cruciatus curse to buy time. Harry screamed as the curse hit him, not just from pain, but frustration as well. But Voldemort was wounded. Now, he would see the dangerous stuff. He quickly cast an episkey to heal the wound left by the dark beam. It healed surprisingly well.

Voldemort did not let him down. The Dark Wizard seemed to be incapable of healing his own wound, but calmly switched hands and continued his assault. This surprised Harry, but he had underestimated the Dark Lord.

Voldemort sent a silently casted spell of the dark variety breezed by Harry's head, shaking him out of his stupor. Voldemort was taking off the kid gloves. Harry fired his own silently casted spell, a weak Incendio, which nearly caught the Dark Lord's robes aflame. But the Dark Lord didn't fall for the same trick twice, he countered with his own flame spell. This one shot black flames, and Harry damn sure didn't want to find out how much those would hurt.

He cast an Aguamenti at the flames, and wasn't disappointed to find out that it didn't work. He decided to try something different. Magical flames may be fueled by magic, but all flames needed air. So Harry cast a modified Bubble Charm, and vacuumed the air out of it. The flames died instantly, to Voldemort's immense anger.

Voldemort had a very angry sneer on his face. From it, Harry could easily tell that he hadn't expected the kid to put up this much of a fight. Harry was somewhat surprised he was doing this well himself. After all, this was a seventy something Dark Lord with decades of experience over him, right?

However, several of Voldemort's inner circle members interrupted their single combat. Even death threats by their Dark Lord did not sway them. Harry gritted his teeth. He may have specialized in multi-combat, but this was a little much, wasn't it?

Voldemort wasn't very happy either, and wasted an Avada Kedavra to kill Macnair who had strayed into the battle. Voldemort snarled, "Stay out of my way, you fools! The boy is mine!"

Harry didn't mind them, he had one real area of effect spell, and he really didn't care if his allies didn't like it. Summoning all of his will power, he roared, "Fiendfyre!"

Voldemort was able to get out of the way, by using his little levitation trick to float over the pack of Fire Animals, but his lackeys, many of whom were still caught in the bottleneck that was the Main Gate of Hogwart's Entrance Hall, were not so lucky. They died a very painful and flame filled death as the Fiendfyre pack stampeded out onto the grounds. Harry and Voldemort both smiled, "Ignorant fools."

Undeterred, Harry and Voldemort resumed their duel. Harry countered Voldemort's black flames with a frost-throwing spell. He whirled around and recast his flare-whip, and slashed at Voldemort. Voldemort countered Harry's flare whip with a shock shield. Harry hissed in anger as a minor electric shock crashed into his hand, numbing it briefly. He had to fight to keep a grip on his wand.

Finally, he had enough; he sheathed the knife in his robes, and switched wand hands. He thought, Terra Tempestas! A wind picked up, and conjured flaming rocks hurled at Voldemort. The Dark Lord looked surprised at the onslaught. He was only able to shield the first rock, before a second hit his torso, burning through his robes and blistering his skin.

Harry smirked as he watched the Dark Lord struggle to recover, even though he had missed the other twenty rocks he had slung. Suddenly, he was flung backwards by a pulse of energy. He landed on his back and skidded another half meter or so before stopping. He groaned and cursed as he stood up, prompting Voldemort to taunt, "Such a foul mouth, Potter. Someone really should Scourgify it."

Almost to prove his point, the Dark Lord fired a Scourgify at Harry, who was blindsided by it. He found himself spitting out the bitter taste of soap, and bubbles were foaming at his mouth. Voldemort took advantage of his distraction, and hit him with a Cruciatus. Again, he was slammed with a pain greater than ten thousand needles poking his skin at once, but he shrugged it off.

Harry's mind was spent; he was just throwing minor schoolboy spells, like Expelliarmus at Voldemort now. The Dark Lord, on the other hand, was fighting fresher than ever, and was coming in for the kill.

Voldemort finally landed a spell. It was an Expelliarmus, yes, but it sent Harry over his allies, and into the railing of the second floor of the stairs. He managed barely to hold onto his wand. Voldemort laughed, "That was what I expected from you, Potter, but you just couldn't compare to me."

All right, now he's pissing me off. Its one thing to shrug off my best spells as if they were nothing, another to rub it in my face. Harry thought his face twisted into an angry scowl. He decided that it was time to play dirty. He still had Hagrid's knife after all. He shouted at Voldemort, "This isn't over yet!"

Voldemort laughed, "I beg to differ. Avada Kedavra!"

Harry dodged the green curse by falling down to the lower level. However, in doing so, he left himself wide open. Voldemort's smile grew wider and shouted, "I have you now, Potter! Avada Kedavra!"

The Killing Curse was almost upon him before he noticed it. He only had enough time to fire a single spell, an Expelliarmus. To his, and everyone else's, amazement, the green curse rebounded away from Harry. The spell rebounded towards the ceiling, and exploded upon hitting the stone. Massive amounts of dust and stone fragments fell from the ceiling, and Harry recognized his chance.

He threw his wand into his robes, and switched the knife into his right hand. He ran, as fast as he could, at the Dark Lord, who was busy trying to keep boulders from falling on him. He saw Hermione levitating additional fragments, and flinging them at the Dark Lord. He twisted around one, which nearly fell on him.

Another boulder fell directly in front of him. He cut to the right and reaccelerated. He flicked dust out of his eyes. He looked up, and saw a very large piece coming right for him. He was already running as fast as he could, and his wand was in his pocket. He could only trust his legs.

They did not fail him as he managed to get out of the boulder's path, and rolled forward to regain his balance from the shock wave. He was nearly there. Voldemort finally realized what was going on. He raised his wand, but did not retreat. Voldemort fired a curse at him. Harry bent his body to the side, and kept it going.

Voldemort fired again, and Harry rolled under it. Finally, he was there, and his right arm jerked forward.

The sound of flesh tearing filled the now nearly silent Entrance Hall. Harry dug the knife deep into Voldemort's chest, and ripped it free, a stream of darker than normal blood spurted out. He slashed the knife straight for the neck. It bit deep. He wrenched it free, and raised it high above his head, and slashed down again.

A pale, white, snake like head rose about the din. It was in the grasp of a thin hand, who's owner carried a knife, not a wand, in the other hand. Harry held the baldhead high above his own, allowing the blood to cascade down. He shouted, "VICTORY!"

A great shout rose from the defenders. The Dark Lord was dead! Many of the lesser Death Eaters fell to their knees, the paragon of their virtues and leader defeated. Most members of the Inner Circle began scrambling to escape. Only a select few did. The others realized their fate, and rallied around Bellatrix Lestrange. In the confusion, no one noticed an abnormally large snake slithering away from the battlefield.

Harry smiled as his allies quickly subdued the remaining Death Eaters. They may have been many, but besides Lestrange, they were not talented. His allies surpassed them in all attributes. Slowly, everyone began to gravitate towards him.

A tall, elderly woman that he recognized as Professor McGonagall, spoke to him first, "Well done, Mr. Potter."

The gangly, freckled, redhead known as Ron slapped him on the back, "Yeah mate, you smoked You-Know-Who! That knife was awesome! Where did you get that by the way?"

Harry handed the knife, hilt first, to Hagrid, "It served me well."

"Where did you learn to use Fiendfyre?"

Of course, Hermione would call him on it. Harry scowled, "Never you mind that. It did the trick didn't it?"

"Harry, that's one of the evilest curses known to Wizard Kind! We just barely escaped Malfoy and his flunkies' faulty use of it in the Room of Requirement!"

"You would do well to not compare to that blonde idiot." Harry said, "Brush your hair or something, just cool it. I think this falls under the 'Rightful Use of Illegal Force' law."

Hermione huffed, and left the Hall. Ron shrugged, "Dunno what her problem is, Mate, but I guess I gotta go deal with it. You should find Ginny. You two have some catching up to do, methinks." He winked in a suggestive manner as he left.

Harry chuckled, before he realized something: Surely, the Harry of this world wasn't dating Ginny fucking Weasley of all people? He only put up with his Hermione because she was sexy as hell, and, thus, he had plenty of wanking material within reach. That and he might possibly hold a grudge against Bill Weasley because Fleur turned him down in favor of Bill. He knew that the Ginny of his world had a hand in it because she had had a huge crush on him, and was unwilling to tolerate competition. Pissed as he had been about the whole situation, he had admired that cutthroat streak.

However, he was not looking forward to meeting his new "girlfriend" by any means. His fears were fulfilled when Ginny practically threw herself into his arms, though he was not disappointed by the kiss she put on him.
Harry said, "Uh, this is kind of awkward."

Ginny crossed her arms, "What do you mean 'awkward?' We've been on/off dating since I broke up with Dean Thomas."

Thanks for giving me a save, Ginny. "That's why it's awkward. I don't know how much I like you because we can't seem to make up our minds. But I think I can come to a decision soon."

"Ok, Harry. Well, I need to go meet Mum, and see how everyone else is doing. Fred died, Harry."

Yeah and I care why? Didn't like him and George anyway, always pestering me when I was trying to work. He thought, but wisely refrained from commenting. He shrugged, and walked with her into the Great Hall.

A depressing scene greeted him. Large lines of the dead filled most of the Great Hall. He had expected there would be large casualties, given the Death Eater turnout, so he was unsurprised by the dead.

He saw Tonks' and Lupin's bodies lying near the front of the Hall. He was conflicted about them. He didn't like Tonks, and felt she was too flippant and nonchalant about nearly everything. She was too much like Sirius used to be. Lupin, on the other hand, he was going to miss Lupin. Even if he didn't know this Lupin, Remus was always there for him when he needed it back home.

He noticed Colin Creevey, and sneered at the boy's body. Good riddance, he thought, Kid bothered me more than Fred and George had, which takes some real effort on his part.

He did not know any of the other dead, so he left the Great Hall. However, as he left, Hermione confronted him again.

"Where are you going, Harry?" She asked, with one eye arched.

"I don't know, maybe you should tell me?" He growled, "I need some air, too much depression and death in the Hall right now."

"That's rather selfish of you, Harry. Ron's your friend, and one of his favorite brothers died in this battle."

Harry retorted, "So did at least forty other people and countless Death Eaters and I'm not mourning any of them. The only one I might think about mourning is Lupin, and that's because me and him go back a way."

Actually, that was an understatement. If it had been his Lupin from his World, then, yeah, he'd be pretty torn up. More torn up than if he woke up and found out his brother Robert had died, that is.

However, just when he thought nothing could surprise him, Hermione said, "Well, I hope you are ready to raise Teddy."

"Who the hell is Teddy?"

"Professor Lupin and Tonks' son. You're his godfather, and his parents are both dead…"

Harry whispered, "No."

"…So you have to take care of him," Hermione continued like he hadn't interrupted, "No, what?"

"No."

"Huh?"

Harry glared, "I am not taking care of a child who is not my biological son. Simple as that."

"But Harry, you agreed to do it. You gave them your word."

"Strange, I have no recollection of ever doing that." Harry hissed, "I had no idea Remus and Tonks had a child, or that they were even together."

There was a brief silence before, "Someone must have hit you with a Memory Charm, Harry. You told Lupin how happy you were about it back at the Shell Cottage."

"What the fuck is a 'Shell Cottage?'"

Hermione scowled, "Watch your language, Harry, and Shell Cottage is where Bill and Fleur live. We went there after Dobby died to get us out of Malfoy Manor."

"Who is Dobby, and why were we in Malfoy Manor in the first place?"

Hermione growled at him, threw her arms up in frustration, and left. Harry looked down at his hands. Did they really expect him to take care of a toddler at age seventeen? Unlike his parents, he did not intend to marry anyone before he was thirty, and kids would come after that. Hell, from what he knew, Hermione should have been proud of his defiance!

However, he had to remind himself that he was in an alternate world. Here, the people were different, even if the ideals were the same. Hell, most of them even looked different! Ginny was prettier, and Hermione looked like a bushy haired beaver had wished for a human body, but still. Were they serious about him taking care of a kid at seventeen? It is not even his child!

He hadn't noticed that his walk had taken him up the stair and almost to the Headmaster's Office. So, he rounded the corner he knew took him there, and noticed that the Gargoyle was gone. He entered calmly, and noticed a small mirror on the Headmaster's desk. He looked into it, and got another shock.

He was deathly skinny. He looked like a thin twig in a midsummer's drought. He frowned heavily, wondering what this Harry had gone through, once he got over the shock. He looked at a scar on one of his arms. At least they had this in common; he remembered getting it from the Basilisk. The other scars, like the ones on his back, he did not remember getting.

Maybe this Harry wasn't as much of a puss as I thought, He smiled at his own assessment. He would have to go eat though. Just looking at himself was making him hungry.

So he headed back out to the Entrance Hall, where Voldemort's body still lay. He noticed the Dark Lord was using a strange looking wand, so he walked over and picked it up. He immediately felt stronger, but also noticed a hike in hostility. Granted, he already didn't care about most of these people anyway, but the wand seemed to be making it worse. He pocketed it, and noticed the effect had lessened.

Ron approached him while he was walking out of the school, "Hey mate!"

"You seem pretty upbeat," Harry muttered, "For a guy who just lost his brother at any rate."

Ron frowned, "You don't have to be such an ass, Harry."

"Why shouldn't I be? It's kind of fun, and I get to piss people off."

Ron said, "Got a point there, Harry. Anyway, I figured we should start the celebration because You-Know-Who is dead!"

"Why are you idiots still calling him You-Know-Who? He's dead."

Ron shuddered, "He's still scary, mate. Anyone seen Neville?"

"Longbottom? Nah I haven't seen…"

"Hey guys." A man who didn't look like what Harry envisioned Neville to look like walked up, "So I see our man Harry killed Voldemort!"

"Damn right he did, Neville! Cut the sorry bastard's head right off he did!"

Wow, so this is Neville? Harry thought as he looked at the haggard looking man who was talking to Ron. He vaguely resembled the Neville Harry knew, but only vaguely. He was carrying the Sword of Gryffindor in one hand, and his face bore a few scars from apparent torture. Now there was a man Harry could work with!

Ron began to walk away, "I'll see you two inside!"

Neville pulled Harry aside, and whispered, "I'm sorry, man."

"Why, looks like you did your job, with the blood on the sword and all."

"I didn't kill the snake."

"Come again?"

Neville shrugged, "Before you went into the Forest, you told me to kill Voldemort's giant snake. Nagini, you said her name was, as I recall. You didn't tell me why, just to make sure I did."

Wonder why this Harry would order Neville to make sure he killed a giant snake. Seems somewhat…pointless. Harry thought. Still, he had a celebration to get to, and didn't let it ride on his mind.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a battalion of armed goblins approaching the castle.


(Meanwhile)

"Fuck your hair! Come on, Lucius, we need to get the hell out of here."

"Calm your mouth, Dolohov, it isn't befitting of a Pureblood."

"Shut up! You are racking my nerves, and that isn't a good thing right now."

Antonin Dolohov, Lucius Malfoy, and Rodolphus Lestrange were sitting on stumps, around a small campfire. Lestrange was already pissed that the others were either dead or captured, but Malfoy's twitting about grass messing with his beautiful hair set him and Dolohov off.

"I can't believe Potter actually defeated the Dark Lord," Dolohov muttered, "He did it with a muggle knife of all things, too."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were looking for a new patron, Antonin."

"Go to hell, Malfoy. The Dark Lord forever!"

Suddenly, Lestrange hissed, "Shh! Be quiet, I hear something."

The other two froze. Slowly, they heard what their companion had heard. Something was slithering on the ground, and making quite a noise. A massive snake made its way into the clearing. It was moving very slowly, and blood was pouring from a deep wound.

Malfoy spoke first, "It's the Dark Lord's snake, Nagini!"


A/N: And we end there. So, Nagini survived the Siege of Hogwarts, I think we all know what that means. Also, we will be getting a lot of back story for the "Perfect" World's version of the Dragon, which is not the same as the "Real" version's, but there will also be snippets introduced that are.

If there is confusion about the differences in the past of the "Perfect" World, from the "Real" World ( who's past is canon) then I will either set up a list of currently revealed differences on my profile under my personal opinions, or reply a PM with them in it.

Spells

Flagelli Excandescunt: Whip flare, creates a thin, razor sharp wire of geistflame. Can easily cut through a human body, but is also easily blocked by a Protego shield charm. Must be cast mentally, and requires concentration to sustain. Other spells can be cast while the whip is active.

Ignis Dolum: Fire Trick, or Fire Trickery, it fires a storm of small embers meant to distract or irritate rather than actually do damage.

Adeptus Lamina: Doom Blade or Void Blade, fires a beam of dark energy that will cause heavy bleeding and laceration on the affected tissue. It does not affect the user or the undead.

Terra Tempestas: Earth Storm. Levitates rocks, shrouds them in fire, and slings them at the target. Hard to aim and high friendly risk.