Author's Note: Having not written anything besides essays for school for so long, I wasn't expecting to just stare at my screen as much as I did while piecing together these bits coherently. Looking back at this chapter and the last, I am on the hunt for a Beta because my style is a bit stiff. Anyway, if anything jumps out in the wrong kind of way, as before please let me know.
"You know what I meant."
"Hmm...Careful, I could very well say the same to you.
Chapter Two: A Stranger in the Woods
After sliding on the ring Harry isn't sure how much time passed before he was blinking the stars from his eyes. Not knowing that made him uncomfortable enough, but the sheer brightness of the white light threw him firmly on the more uneasy and anxious side of things. He didn't have the fondest memories of being surrounded by such otherworldly light after all. At least I'm clothed, he thought ruefully. The brightness was starting to fade to a more tolerable level. As it did so he found himself slowly turning in circle after circle, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
It was like a garden. Like a garden from one of those history books Hermione always loved to show him. Hedges and topiaries twisted as far as he could see, low to the ground but clearly well maintained. Light colored gravel and sleek marble, or maybe granite, marked the pathways cut through the thick carpet of blue-green grass. Statues of various sizes and shapes were placed near pieces of what looked to be glass scattered about the area. Clusters of trees covered the area for as far as he could see. On his second turn, movement at his feet caught his attention. Not glass then, he mused. He stood transfixed by the pond at his feet, watching as faded images of what could only be his world flicked across its surface. For a moment he saw a glimpse of the broken Hogwarts courtyard before it changed. First a cobblestone alleyway with flowers strung between the buildings, then a lone castle amidst the desert. A quick flash of a crowd in blue and burgundy robes before flicking to a storm-tossed ship. I don't understand, was all he could think as he tore his eyes away and they shot between all the gleaming ponds, not glass, that he could see.
"It is quite the sight to behold, isn't it." A deep voice stated behind him. He choked off a gasp and spun around, arm lifting to level his wand at the owner. Only, his wand wasn't in his hand. A soft chuff made him look back at the speaker and a whole new wave of uncertainty washed through him. Too much had happened too quickly for him to be afraid, to experience fear. But there was nothing like seeing a massive lion so close.
"Ah yes, forgive me for that. I have found I dislike weapons here." The lion's lip pulled back briefly as his paws shifted restlessly for a moment before he settled. Harry was left struggling to put what pieces he had together in his mind while settling his nerves.
"I don't under-…You speak." He finally managed.
"And you are a descendant of the Deep Magic." the lion countered pointedly. Shaking his head Harry put a hand to his temple to ease a headache he found was no longer there. Confounded he patted his shoulders and gingerly pressed at his ribs before reaching the conclusion that his lack of pain extended to the whole of his body. He looked up carefully.
"You healed me?" he asked, hands lowering from his torso to rest awkwardly at his side.
"Yes and no." Unfortunately, the lion seemed rather content to leave it at that.
"Do you… What is this place?"
"A crossing of sorts. You have a choice to make Harry and you should not make it lightly."
"A choice?" the massive creature just bowed his head slightly and an unsettling sense of déjà vu was creeping through Harry. His lips tightened, "And if I don't want to make a choice?"
The look the lion gave him was almost exasperated, but it was gone so quickly that Harry couldn't be sure, "That is a choice in and of itself, is it not?" The cat paused.
"If you choose to decline my offer or decide you would rather not even hear it, then you would be returned." Its eyes looked towards the pond at Harry's feet and when he looked at it in turn, he saw that it lingered on an image of Hogwarts. It was only of the ruined courtyard, but he caught glimpses of movement farther ahead that Harry swore he could see every few seconds.
"And what is this offer of yours exactly?" he spared a glance towards the big cat before looking back to the pond.
"I can take you to a world unlike anything you have ever seen before. Where no one will know who you are until your actions define you. Where there is no prophecy, complete or not, tied to your name. Where you are who you choose to be, Harry James Potter of Little Whinging." The cat said this as he rose to all fours. Walking slowly until he stopped at Harry's side to join him in his observation of the pond. Harry found his jaw clenching as his heart nearly stopped at the idea. He was torn and that made him frustrated. That very thing was something he's always wanted but how could he leave his friends after everything they'd just been through. How was it fair to ask him this, give him this opportunity, when everything that his life shaped him to be violently recoiled from the idea of what was practically running away. After getting his thoughts into some semblance of order he studied the massive creature next to him.
The height alone made him want to balk at it being so close. Golden furred shoulders were nearly level with his and he's pretty sure that if the lion wasn't looking down at the water its eyes would be level with his own. Maybe even slightly taller. Of course, that wasn't even including the bulk of the animal. The size of the massive, incredibly soft looking, mane or the muscle mass or even the length of the lion from nose to tail. He only had vague memories of seeing a lion from when he was younger during that trip to the zoo, they never did let him go again after that incident with the snake, and he was sure that this one was unnaturally big. Stalling for time he asked, "How do you know Luna? Or...I guess what I mean to say is, how did Luna know it was you? I'm guessing it was you she was talking about anyway."
A purr rumbled from the lion as it eyed him, "Your friend Luna has a deeper bond with the Deep Magic than most. While you may be the favored son, the Deep Magic is very fond of you both. You for your ability to maintain and preserve the balance. Her for her role as emissary and speaker of things which cannot speak for themselves." Ears flattened a fraction when the cat faced him more fully. "I know why you hesitate Harry. While I cannot promise you anything that would truly settle your mind, I can say with certainty that your friends will move on. Just as you will if you accept my offer. You will not be the same either and that goes for both worlds."
"Will I still have my magic?" Harry replied, his shoulders slumping with a peculiar combination of resignation and relief. He honestly doesn't know how he would handle the post-war efforts. Having to face the families whose children he led into battle, who were killed or tortured in a war that happened because he didn't surrender soon enough. The Ministry, too, would be a nightmare of social and political relations which he had neither the temper or patience to deal with. But he was taken aback by the sudden hesitance the creature before him was showing.
"Not exactly," It began. Two tail lashings later it continued, "The type of power you have was already stronger than average in your world. A world where Magic is not as personally woven within its very being nor as wild. Within your world, your kinds' ties to magic can be likened to seeing a picture of an open book upon a table and trying to read the text. Where you would be going, there are far fewer boundaries. Then of course there is your title of Master of Death to consider." Harry cringed at that.
"Yes, though you may have separated and abandoned the pieces yourself, it does not negate the fact that you brought them together with pure intention and let go of them willingly. As I am sure you are aware, Death does not like letting go those that have been claimed and you, dear son of Adam, have been most assuredly marked. How the Deep Magic will choose to balance that...it could be immortality or it could be prolonged life. Of that I am confidant, seeing as Death most likely intended a similar plan for you, as for your magic… I cannot say for certain what will become of it. There are some decisions that even I am not always privy to. But rest assured that regardless of how it may change, it will suit the world you will encounter and most of all it will suit you. Magic would never so callously abandon one of her favored." The sheer gentle intensity in the eyes that locked with his own was striking.
"I guess that means you can't promise that I won't have to fight or anything, if I'm as 'above average' as you say." Harry remarked. Amusement lowered the intensity of the gaze, but the compassion remained.
"Life is not worth living if it is without purpose. Even if that purpose is merely to appreciate life itself." With that the lion turned away from him and the pond entirely, walking with a grace that once again baffled Harry. Biting his lip, he took one last, hard look at the demolished courtyard of his home before squaring his shoulders and following the massive animal.
They walked for an indeterminate amount of time in silence. The only way Harry knew they were making any sort of progress was that the trees were becoming increasingly dense. The whispering rasp of the lion's paws against the stone or grass was barely audible over his own much louder steps. Finally, when Harry could no longer stand the silence, he asked again, "What is this place?"
A huff sounded before, "I do believe I've already answered that question."
"Well, yes, but 'a crossing of sorts' isn't the most helpful answer." Harry commented with more than a bit of frustration.
"Then maybe you should learn to ask the right questions." He was given a side-eyed look as they walked through a tiered portion of the gardens.
"Fine...Where are we?" He asked with uncertainty. The question was met with a rolling purr.
"Better. Currently we are in the Wood between the Worlds. I would also answer the next question you are most likely about to ask, though with your instincts I would have thought it would have been your first, however it seems we have arrived." Harry looked around wildly at their supposed destination. Unsurprisingly it looked the same as it had before, just with a few more trees and maybe a warmer breeze. Turning back to the lion he saw that it was studiously watching the surface of one of the smaller ponds. Moving to get a closer look he was confused by the sheer expanse of snow-covered landscape that the water was showing.
"It doesn't look all that inviting." Came the slow remark from Harry. He watched as ears lowered fractionally again and the twitching of a tail became just that little bit more often.
"It was not always so, nor will it always be. That however, is a task not destined for you. Though..." Ears flattened lower still and the cat fell silent in heavy thought. Harry's discomfort at the silence made what time that did pass seem way too long. But finally, finally, the great lion raised its head and levelled him with a look so intense and so very serious, that he felt his back straighten and his posture stiffen against his will.
"If there is only one thing you remember from your time in this place it will be this, Harry Potter. A time will come when you will be asked a question, a question to which you do not have an answer. So, I will give it to you now." There was a steady intake of breath before its voice somehow became deeper yet did not lower in pitch, so powerful was its voice that it felt as if his bones shook with its strength.
"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone,
Sits at Cair Paravel in throne,
The evil time will be over and done."
Harry could only take shaky breaths as he desperately tried to calm his racing heart. Apparently, it hardly bothered the lion seeing as it gave a quick shake of its mane as the tension dissipated and lowered itself to sit his haunches, amber eyes meeting Harry's own. "Go on, off you go." The tone of voice was way too light considering what just happened.
"What am I even supposed to do?!" Harry complained, hands raising to gesture helplessly at himself and mind too scattered to even consider questioning anything else.
Warm laughter came from the feline, "Personally I would just walk in. But if you need encouragement…" Harry had just enough time to see a smirk form on the lion's muzzle before it lunged at him. Body reacting before he could even comprehend what was happening, he sent himself flailing into the pond. Deep laughter filled his ears before the world went white once more.