Disclaimer: I don't own the Ben 10 universe. If I did, Gwen and Kevin would have been present during Omniverse. As for the Harry Potter universe... let's just say that I'm not a billionaire and leave it at that, eh?
"So, tell me lad: Who are you? How did you arrive here all of a sudden? And how did you get Potter to safety from the clutches of the Dark Lord?" Mad-Eye Moody asked, looking intently at Ben.
"Well, as I said, my name is Ben Tennyson. The next part is going to sound crazy, but I am not of this world...rather, not of this whole dimension," Ben was assured that Moody wasn't looking at him like he was crazy...yet. "I have this gadget, called Omnitrix, stuck to my wrist and bonded with my DNA. With it..." Ben was interrupted when Moody asked, "What is this DNA?"
Ben gaped at the man in astonishment, "You don't know about DNA? The double-helix, nucleotide, stuff like that?" Seeing that the answer was negative, Ben sighed, "That isn't very important, however. With it's power, I can turn into aliens, extraterrestrial beings, if you will. With that," suddenly Ben paused as a stray thought came to his mind. Jumping back, he shouted, "Wait a moment. How did you know the person who attacked Harry? I never said his name."
Instantly a change in demeanour was observable in the other man. With surprisingly quick reflexes, he jumped to his feet and grinned, "Well, looks like you found me out, kid. Bad for you. I wasn't going to do this, but it is necessary. Imperio." Ben had no time to react before the spell washed over him.
It was the most wonderful feeling. Ben felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. He stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of the other person watching him.
"Remove the watch." Came a fleeting voice. Yes, he would do that, wouldn't he? Why not? But he didn't know how to. It was unremovable, wasn't it? Yes, he would inform him about that.
"Unremovable? Huh." Crouch Junior scoffed, now in his real form as the Polyjuice had lost it's effectiveness. "Let's try this...Diffindo." He aimed at the wristbands of the Omnitrix, hoping to sever it out of the bonds. That was a big mistake. Before he could even realize it, the Omnitrix delivered a feedback pulse that easily deflected back the spell with much more intensity and took out a mantel piece in the room. What was better was that Ben regained his senses due to the sudden jolt. Without looking, he slammed his hand on the Omnitrix as a green light engulfed him again, leaving Jet Ray in his place.
"Imperio." Crouch Jr. tried again. Jet Ray could have dodged it easily, but he grinned and let it hit him. Crouch Jr. Was dismayed to realize the unforgivable had no effect on his opponent this time.
"Tsk, Tsk. Your attempt at mind control was good, but that is nothing compared what Ghostfreak can do when he gets his way." Dodging two more spells, Jet Ray quipped, "My turn." He let loose anther neuroshock blast which destroyed the shield of Crouch Junior and blasted him across the room. The dampening effect of this neuroshock blast on the nervous system was immediately visible as Crouch Jr. Visibly slumped and barely dodged his next blast. Hoping to buy some time, he disillusioned himself and placed himself behind a couch, drawing large breaths.
Jet Ray scanned wildly around for the unseen opponent, missing Gwen wildly. For her, tracking the energy of this man would have been child's play. Jet Ray shrugged and started shooting wildly, criss-crossing his attacks and flying at wild speeds, hoping to get in a lucky shot.
Crouch Jr. Was immediately concerned as the some of the beams narrowly missed him. He decided on trying a trick and casting a mirror charm on himself, came back into sight. Jet Ray blasted the area where he was at, causing him to duck right as his mirror image ducked left. Jet Ray was confused at this turn of events and thought, "That's so much like what I used to do as Ditto." As his blasts repeated itself and increased in frequency, the mirror images started increasing, leading him to believe that his blasts were causing his opponent to multiply. Although Jet Ray got a few images with his blasts, they simply shimmered out of existence and Jet Ray was caught in a swarm as spells flew towards him, while he couldn't discern which was real and which one was virtual. Taking use of his preoccupied state, the real Crouch Jr. Tiptoed towards him and blasted Jet Ray with fire...well, tried to. Jet Ray instinctively dodged it and was on him in a moment, but that was what Crouch Jr. Needed now. As Jet Ray shot the laser again, the illusions disappeared and a large crystal manifested itself in air, crackling with magic. As per the laws of refraction, it shot back towards Jet Ray and the Aerophibian succumbed to his own paralysing blast.
"Ah, how satisfying." drawled Crouch Jr. "How the mighty fall. You got powers, kid, but no experience of a wizarding battle. I can't fathom how you managed to get the better of my Lord, but that's no matter. I will take you to him, and if you cooperate, who knows, you might even be allowed to live past tonight." He had visions of Voldemort proclaiming him as his most trusted servant as he raised his wand to stun Ben, when...
"Are you going to hurt him?" came a curious voice from the doorway.
Crouch Jr. was going to say, "Of course" when the alarm bells in his brain rang. He spun around to see a girl with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and dreamy, blue eyes that seemed oddly distracted, greeting him. "Are you going to? It will be sensational news. Oh, I must tell Daddy about this." Luna clapped her hands happily.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Crouch Jr. asked, his mind spinning. He had locked the door...hadn't he?
"Professor, you don't recognise me? I was in your third year DADA class all this time. Maybe the wrackspurts are affecting your memory. Without that, you would have remembered that the doors of Hogwarts' Professor's quarters are always open to students. " Luna pouted, then suddenly became serious, "Oh, I get it. You aren't Professor Moody, are you? You are a very bad man, and you must be punished."
"And who's going to do that? You?" Crouch Jr. laughed.
"No. He will." Luna smiled as Crouch Jr. remembered that he had a dangerous opponent behind him...but it was too late. Jet Ray's energy blast caught him in the shoulder and knocked him down on the hard stone floor, making him unconscious. A medi-wizard who later examined him exclaimed, "Fascinating. He seems to be hit by both a stunner and a petrifying spell, but I can't trace any of their signatures."
Jet Ray was really thankful to the girl who had given him the time needed to regain his bearings. "Who are you?" He enquired in a curious voice.
"My name is Luna Lovegood. I am a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am very crazy. I have a nickname, 'Loony', and I am always bullied." Luna said in her typical airy-fairy voice. Ben was going to protest against this statement, before her dreamy eyes suddenly metamorphosed to blue orbs sparkling with intelligence, "and that's how everyone in this castle knows and treats me." She smiled, but it seemed to Ben that it held an underlying sorrow.
"And you aren't how you appear?" Ben half-asked.
"To know the answer, you must meet the night queen in the prohibited woods with he who is favoured with valour." Luna giggled, and the intelligence in her eyes disappeared faster than you could imagine, "Oh look at the time. It is time for my daily snorkack hunt." As Luna pulled some kind of transparent material over her, Ben gaped as she immediately disappeared from view. As he heard her retreating footsteps out of the door, he joked, "and I don't suppose I could get to see the real Luna anytime sooner than I figure out that riddle?"
"Not unless you could bring a man-eating kangaroo to release her from her prison." The voice fired back. Ben smiled; it seemed that he had at least met someone in this world who led a double life like his own. He could sense a great enigma about her, a great mystery and someone who could become a real friend. However, before he could dwell much on that matter, the door (which had closed just after Luna went out) blew up on it's hinges as Dumbledore came in with his wand raised. A bat-like man with greasy hair and an uptight lady, greatly resembling Ben's Physics teacher, followed him. Immediately their eyes were drawn towards Ben who held up in his hands in the universal "no threat" gesture and slapped the Omnitrix icon on his chest. The teachers looked away as Ben reverted to normal.
"That was you?" exclaimed McGonagall. "That must be a very taxing animagus transformation", she babbled, unable to conceal her excitement.
"As impressive as it must be," Snape's voice came in a monotone, "There are far more interesting matters. Headmaster, look at him." Now the eyes rested on Crouch Jr. as they all seemed shocked. Immediately, something called Veritaserum was ordered and the man revealed how Harry Potter had been manipulated throughout the Tournament, had been helped along, all due to the Dark Lord's plan of returning to body using his blood. He revealed how he had tricked everyone, with his mother's help, and led them to believe that he was dead all this time. After some more questions and answers, Dumbledore stunned the man again for good measure and left McGonagall to guard him. He instructed the other man to embark on a mission to gather inside information (Ben understood that he was some kind of a spy, but was really disappointed by his looks. Seriously, he had no sense of style). He nodded and went about on his way. Then, finally Dumbledore turned to Ben.
"Why don't you go over your story again, Mr. Tennyson, and this time let me be the one to hear it?" Dumbledore suggested in a jovial tone. Ben stated his tale, again, and was re-shocked to realize that yes, the concept of DNA was foreign to even this man.
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"So, you are saying that you have these special abilities to shape shift into otherworldly beings? Fascinating." Dumbledore chuckled behind his beard, and said, "Do you mind if a do a little test on you to check if aren't a merely very accomplished Animagi and are just having me on?"
"Sure. Hit me," shrugged Ben, before his curiosity piped up, "What exactly is an Animagi?"
"Not what, Who. An animagi is a wizard or witch who can turn into an animal. It is a tough process and requires severe mental discipline." Finishing his examinations, Dumbledore muttered, "Curious. You certainly don't possess enough magic in your body to be an animagi (Ben's 'told you so' look was ignored by him), but you certainly possess enough to pass off as a low powered wizard. How is this possible?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you? My sister is also a magician, and she inherited those abilities from our Grandmother Verdona, an alien belonging to the species known as Anodite. They have the ability to manipulate the life energy, or Mana in every being to create magic; for example, I have seen her walk on water, fly at supersonic speeds, create energy blasts and repair my cousin's house with a flick of her finger. I guess I might have inherited some of her abilities, but they were dormant due to my human nature and the lack of magic in my own home dimension...but here, in this environment, they might be expressing. So, I wouldn't read too much into that." Ben finished eloquently.
"May I have a look at some members of your family...their pictures, or anything you might have on your being, to see if I can find any link of them to our world?"
Ben felt around his pocket for any pictures; nope, nothing there. Wait a second...yes, he had that same Mana flower that Grandma Verdona had given to them at the end of her first visit. Taking it from his pocket, Ben proffered it to Dumbledore who, after waving his wand over it, suddenly exclaimed, "Sweet Merlin. These are the flowers of Morgana."
"Morgana? You mean like that witch in silly Arthurian legends?"
Dumbledore looked at Ben severely, "This is no joking matter Mr. Tennyson. In your world, she might be a legend but I assure you, she is very real to us. She was the greatest adversary of Merlin, the greatest wizard to have ever lived and is like the evilest enchantress this world has ever seen. She used to mark her conquests with a kind of flower that could never be uprooted and glowed forever with a purple light...specifically, this kind of flowers." Here, Dumbledore paused a little, "Some say that she was so terrible that people feared to portray her...but I have a picture anyway. There." Following his finger, Ben's eyes came to rest on a portrait which seemed very familiar; wait a minute! It actually was very familiar. Ben remembered Grandpa Max once showing it to him and remarking: "Meet Crysha-Fen, one of the strongest anodites the world has ever seen. She could do things no one could. Without your Grandmother's help, the Plumber's would never have been able to banish her to another world and trap her there." Ben now made the connection and instantly started laughing. He chuckled, "Oh grandma, now I see why you beat me at our first match". Seeing that Dumbledore was looking funnily at him, he sobered up and told his tale, causing Dumbledore's eyebrows to shot up: he was the grandson of a witch who fought off Morgan Le Fay? What more strangeness was left to see?
"Well, so what are your current objectives?" Dumbledore asked, watching him curiously. He could be a very valuable asset...
Ben shrugged, "Nothing much. I was just planning on staying here for a short period of time until my friends can get me out of here. The Plumber's have sufficient technology, and I know Gwen can track my energy in other dimensions too. So, I got nothing to worry about."
"I am afraid, Mr. Tennyson, that leaving this world might not be too easy."
Ben bristled at this comment and was going to ask why, when suddenly Dumbledore said, "Wait. I think we are going to have visitors." Right on cue, the door opened as a woman in a healer's outfit walked in anxiously.
"Ah, Poppy," Dumbledore greeted her cordially, "What is the matter? I trust everything is alright with Mr. Potter."
Poppy Pomfrey bit her lips. "No...no, Headmaster. Everything is not alright with the poor boy. If you will come with me, you can see it for yourself." Both Ben and Dumbledore got up at this announcement and followed the matron to the Hospital Wing.
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"You see? That's what is happening to him. Nothing I have tried is working on him, Headmaster. I tried to stun him, petrify him; he just keeps breaking through my spells. Calming draughts are not having any effect and any heavier dose can permanently incapitate him." Madam Pomfrey shrugged helplessly.
The situation looked bad enough, Ben presumed. Harry was rolling on the Hospital bed, as if fighting an unseen opponent. He just kept saying, "No...not you again", "I won't let you do this" and other words as if in a trance. He was sweating profusely and his shirt was soaked to his body. His heartbeat was off the charts and the medical diagnoses on him were returning improbable results. The magic rolling out of him was astounding; even Ben could feel it, as could every magical in the room. The worst part seemed to be however that the lightning bolt scar on Harry's head was an angry red and a hissing sound seemed to emanate from it. Moreover, as it was evident, Harry was losing the unknown fight; while his shaking limbs were slowing down, the redness in the scar seemed to be spreading in Harry's body; he was looking like a possessed man, as arcane light flashed about him.
Dumbledore steadied his aim and incanted, "Stupefy." It was totally ineffective as a silver shield sprung around Harry's body and reflected it right back at them. As all the people who were assembled, ducked, Dumbledore was shocked and thought to himself, "That was one of my strongest stunners. How did Harry deflect it with such ease?"
Madam Pomfrey, meanwhile was busy taking his readings and had a look of resignation on her face. She shook her head softly, "It is of no use. Some kind of foreign host is preying on Mr. Potter's magic and using his body as host. The source seems to be his curse scar. If it can't be stopped, the boy will be lost."
Dumbledore was alarmed at this. No, this couldn't happen. He had taken too many hard and vilifying decisions to prevent just this. Was it time for the ultimate sacrifice? He gripped his wand tightly, but before he could do anything, the Omnitrix spoke up, "Grave damage in DNA found." A green beam shot out of it and seemed to scan Harry before focussing on his head. "Subject superimposed with foreign genetic material and energy signatures that closely resemble Ectonurite and Anodite energy. Foreign DNA trying to remould host DNA and host mind. Shall we attempt to correct it?"
"Correct Harry? Yes, let's do it." With this assent, Ben placed the Omnitrix right next to Harry's forehead.
"What are you doing?" asked Dumbledore, curiously. It seems that my actions won't be necessary, after all, he thought to himself, if the prophecy is put to motion.
"Trust me, I'll tell you as soon as I figure it out." Ben retorted with the same reply he had used before trying to heal his brother, Ken of his DNAlien (Xenocyte) infection. The scar flashed red again, but it was eclipsed by the green glow of the Omnitrix as Ben Tennyson was pulled into the mindscape of Harry Potter.
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"Whoa. No matter if I have viewed this before; it is looking even more amazing this time." Ben muttered as he flew through the green interior of the Omnitrix and landed softly on a dark place. He didn't have to be a genius to figure out that it was Harry's mindscape; but it was in a desolate condition. It was as if Harry had lost all force of will to live. Suddenly, alarming Ben, a red light started spreading rapidly through the area as Harry's mind was being consumed. However, before it could progress further, a green shield sprung up to stop it's flow. It hissed and lashed out, but couldn't break the shields.
Suddenly, the Omnitrix's voice spoke out again: "Too high concentration of anodite energy to correct the errors in the genetic code. Active support of host body required."
A voice inside Ben's head, sounding oddly like Gwen's voice, translated it for him; find Harry and help him. Ben instantly was on the run as crossed the myriad of criss-crossing light and shadows. The Omnitrix pointed him in the right direction; The darkness was near, yet far. The walls seemed ready to crush him one moment and the next, they gaped wide open. His progress was being blocked at every turn; but he had to do it. With a final heave of effort, Ben hoisted himself upwards a hill which Harry had built in his mind to save himself from the darkness below and stood, panting. However, what he saw there wasn't what he expected. He expected to see a warrior, the same brave boy he had seen standing up to evil and the boy he had felt a haunting familiarity with, but what he found was a broken kid; a boy who was kneeling down and whimpering, as if cold, but there was no chills in the air. Ben didn't know what was wrong, but he was going to find out. Kneeling down, hhe tentatively put his hands on Harry's shoulders and shook him, "Harry...Harry? Do you hear me? Come on, look up." Suddenly, he saw a familiarly haunting look in Harry's eye which he had wore while he thought Grandpa Max had died.
"Why?" Asked Harry softly, "nobody wants me alive in this world".
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The situation in Harry's mind was a unique one, to say the least. He had been carrying a soul fragment of Lord Voldemort in his mind since he was born, but the sacrifice of his mother had given him a loving protection it couldn't hope to breach. However, over the years it had been weakened by the intense hate the Dursley's felt for him, and he never developing any attachment to them. Add that with his face-off with Quirell in the first year; it had almost nullified the power of the protection by using it up. Now, when Voldemort had returned to body using Harry's blood, the connection between them ran far deeper than before. And, Voldemort had been connected to Harry's mind for a while; trying to impose the Imperious Curse on him...it had re-strengthened the connection. The Horcrux was now in the forefront of Harry's mind; the soul anchor was trying to be free of it's bonds, and trying to take over the body it inhabited. So, Harry Potter found himself locked in a battle to save his soul from the very twisted soul of Tom Riddle. The battle situation was somewhat in Voldemort's favour: after all, he had years of experience in possessing people, was a very skilled legilimens and Harry was just recovering from repeated exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. Moreover, the Dursley's had never taught him to stand on his own feet or given him any thing to fight for; the magical world was equally guilty in this aspect. He had heard about his parents; how brave they were, and all that, but he had never found out much about them to develop a very strong attachment. Briefly put, Harry had nothing really worth fighting for.
However, one thing must be taken into consideration; the advantage Harry had was that this body belonged to HIM, and the magic obeyed HIM as well! Moreover, the leech in his mind wasn't the whole soul of the Dark Lord; only a part of it. It had also been weakened over the years, receiving no exposure to healthy magic, but a protection that was a poison to him. It had gone dormant to just save himself from that. Now, suddenly returning to surface, it too had a tough battle to wage. It also didn't know that Harry at least had something to fight for; the memory of his friends. Harry tried to match the fire pouring through his body by remembering them and their times together; how they had laughed and played, and made great plans together. The battle slowly seemed to come to a stalemate.
However, Voldemort was a cunning bastard. He had no ethics or morals, nothing to hold him back. He started attacking the weakest portions of Harry's mind, where he hurt the most. It gave him images of his humiliations, the agony he had suffered; it showed him visions of his friends leaving him. The whispers after the Chamber of Secrets was opened, the way Ron treated him earlier this year...these images haunted Harry's mind. Slowly, he was becoming resigned to his fate, and letting the Horcrux have a free run. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders asking him to get up; he looked up. It was the stranger from earlier today...Ben. He gave free reign to his quarry: "Why? Nobody wants me alive in this world."
"That musn't be true. You must have someone that is waiting for you to wake up." Ben asserted.
Harry didn't know what happened to him, but he suddenly felt an anger seize him. He held up Ben by his shoulders, "You think so? Do you have any idea of my life? Look! Look for yourself." Ben was flung into a trip down Harry's memory lane as he watched his childhood in a way, and also his life. He was appalled at this, but he knew he had to do something. As he came up to surface, Harry asked him, "Why do you think I should be alive now? What do I have to live for?"
"To live." Ben also felt anger surging through his body, but he couldn't say at whom, "You never had a life. You had too many years stripped off you. If you ever want to know why, and at least enjoy the life your parents gave to you, you must fight back this leech. Destroy it, so that you receive your answers." He softened his tone, "I am not telling you to do anything; God knows I have no right to. But please, think once more; do you not have anything that you want to live for?"
Harry thought. The images of Sirius and Remus came to mind, but they faded away almost instantaneously; however, there was a face even Voldemort's machinations couldn't wipe off his mind: Her.
He remembered Hermione giving him courage to face Quirell.
He could remember her being petrified. His world had almost shattered after that.
He could remember her hugging him after he had killed the Basilisk. That was a greater reward than he could imagine.
He remembered her punching Malfoy's nose at Hogsmeade. Now, that was fun!
He could remember the pride and awe in her voice after he had conjured the patronus to drive off the dementors.
He could remember the ride on back of Buckbeak to rescue Sirius, and Hermione clutching him tightly during that time. The comforting feel in her arms was the feeling Harry wanted to re-live over and over again.
He could remember her sticking by him all the time, even when everyone had abandoned him this year.
Could he not try and live for her? Granted, there was a chance that she might not feel anything for him, but her friendship was still an elixir to him, something he couldn't let go so easily. Harry felt determination build up within him; Ben was right. His parents had tried to save him from this very creep and would he let him have free reign? Not a chance in hell! The magic swirled around in Harry's body as he re-opened his brilliant emerald orbs, and blasted back the soul fragment. The two heroes nodded at each other as they held hands and a brilliant flash of magic and Omni-energy started destroying the abomination in Harry's mind.
To this, there was an unexpected consequence. Or, perhaps this was expected: It was written in the Prophecy, that he shall be marked equal by the Dark Lord. Now, a scar on the forehead can hardly be regarded as a mark of being equal to Voldemort, but as the darkness desolved, all the memories of Tom Riddlle, his ideas and plans, all his knowledge and skills, started being absorbed into the mind of Harry Potter, finally making him an equal of Voldemort in a magical way. The war experience and the dark rituals he had used to enhance his body weren't transferred, but as Harry later remarked, "I wouldn't want my balls cut off anyway." Ben was beside him all this time, helping his mind cope with these changes. He too was treated with a crash course in the ways of the wizarding world, and finally wouldn't be surprised every two minutes. Slowly, the two boys bonded as they shared their lives with each other; their minds being connected, it was of no trouble. Harry understood the pressure Ben had on his shoulders; having the most dangerous weapon in the universe doesn't come without any responsibilities. He understood the pain Ben had felt after losing Feedback; it was like losing a part of you. The times Ben had felt scared, wanted to run away, but stood and fought were bared to him. Slowly, they become closer than brother's can, and Harry found he had something he always thought he would be denied: a brother. Finally, all knowledge of Tom Riddle was assimilated within Harry's mind.
In the real world, time passed much slowly. It was just the next afternoon when a dark mist rose from the scar of Harry before exploding with an ear-splitting screech. At this point, the glow in the Omnitrix went off, and both Harry and Ben sat up bolt upright. Both of them had only one thought in mind: Dumbledore has a lot to answer for.
And they could tell that they most probably wouldn't like the answers.
A/N: Well, there you go. Don't talk to me about using Feedback; Ben lost him before Alien Force, remember? As for destroying the Horcrux with the Omnitrix; that comes from the episode "Inside Man". I said Anodite and Ectonurite energy cause Omnitrix is likely to treat the Horcrux using terms it knows and since magic is used by Anodites and Ectonurites (Ghostfreak's) are the one's skilled in possession, so... Much of Harry's internal battle with the Horcrux was inspired by Perfect Lionheart's amazing fic, "Partially Kissed Hero." You should seriously go and read it: it is one of the gems found in this website.
Now, review and tell me what you think. Suggestions to improve my writing are always welcome, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.
