A Wizard Shall Fall
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own plotline and characters. And probably not even all of them.
Harry Potter is property in part and whole by the lovely J.K. Rowling, NBCUniversal, and/or Warner Brothers and Warner Brothers Entertainment.
The Inheritance Cycle is property in part and whole by Christopher Paolini, Paolini LLC, and/or Alfred A. Knopf
The Dresden Files is property in part and whole by Jim Butcher, ROC Book, Dable Brothers, and/or Dynamite Entertainment
All recognizable characters and references are properties of their respective owners.
Plot: When the dementors surround him, Harry cries out to anyone who will listen… But will the entity that hears him be worse than the dementors themselves? Smart!Powerful!Political!Grey!OP!Harry; Helpful!Snape; Controlling!Dumbledore; Harry Potter with elements from Dresden Files, not a complete crossover. Some elements in referenced to Inheritance Cycle.
A/N1: So this is my first real posting on this site. Read my Author's Bio page for more details, but I welcome any and all feedback! English is not my native language, so let me know if I didn't catch a mistake. I'm also looking for a Beta reader, if anyone is interested!
A/N2: I have this series planned for at least 5 books, each with an unknown amount of chapters (probably 20-40 each, but we'll see). If you have anything you want to see added in, let me know! No pairing is final, and none are set in stone.
A/N3: This is a long chapter and dialogue-heavy, but tells how the Dresden characters are mixed into the HP universe, as well as showing Harry's [first] major transformation.
Dedication: This series is dedicated to DZ2 and Sinyk, both of whom have written some truly fantastic stories that helped me through some less-than-happy times, and gave a lot of inspirations to this series. Also to my wonderful fiancé who has put up with my nonsense for 5 years now… and our wonderful dog. See if you can find him referenced in [almost] every chapter!
Book 1: The Orbs of Fae
Chapter 3: Lachesis Speaks
Previously: Lachesis, surprising Harry, did the one thing he did not expect to his request - she laughed. Pure and light, like the chorus of all the church bells of Rome singing together, the Allotter responded, "Have no fear of death, my dear youngling. It is not your fault that the natural order has been corrupted. Listen well child, and I shall tell you of your place in things.
Calmed by her reassurance that his essence wasn't about to be disintegrated across all known time and space, Harry did the only thing he could thing to - he sat, and listened. What he heard next, would change all of existence - he just didn't know it yet.
Lachesis began slowly, fidgeting with the golden thread in her hands (the Fates were, after all, still spinning, measuring, and cutting their threads).
"Understand, child mine, that the universe as you know it is not nearly as simple as you think." Harry, not thinking that the universe was a simple thing in the slightest, gave a start.
"Yes, yes dear, your mortal figure-seekers, the scientists, think they have it all figured out." Seeing Harry's incredulity, the Grey Fate continued, "they think the whole universe was wound as tight as a ball, and then everything came to being as one."
"You mean the Big Bang?" asked Harry, remembering back to his muggle primary school?
"Yes, yes, that dreadful thing" responded Lachesis. "What they don't understand, is that the ball of everything, as they call it, had to come from somewhere. Or, I suppose I should be more precise -" at this, her sister Clotho, who made the threads of life, snorted hard enough that she lost track of the burgeoning thread in her hand, making it swell and pop like an overblown balloon.
"Won't you skip to the good part?" Clotho asked, impatiently. "You just made me destroy another god."
"Wait, wait, wait," Harry said, quite concerned. "Another god? Destroyed?"
"Well yes, dear, that's about what that thread would have been… a pity, too, because I had not yet filled that life with its power, either." Clotho responded nonchalantly as she tossed around a ball of what Harry assumed was the power of a god. "Oh well," she signed, "a shame no one can use it now."
"Hold thy tongue, sister-mine" groveled Atropos, speaking up for the first time since Lachesis' tale began. "It might have use here yet."
"AS I WAS SAYING," continued Lachesis, frustrated with her sisters talking over her, and obviously telling Harry not to interrupt again, "the universe, or rather, everything in it, did not come from nothing - it came from us.
"Twelve great cycles ago, when there was naught else, there was but one force, one thing, one existence that always was. You know that of which I speak, little wizard."
Hearing the emphasis the Fate put on the last word, Harry made a leap of logic, and guessed, "Magic?"
"Correct. Surprising what one can do when he's unburdened by disaster," Lachesis continued. "Out of this raw magic came the first bastions of sense: my sister white, Clotho, The Spinner, The Origin." As Lachesis described her sister fate, Harry could almost hear the capital letters of her many titles.
"Then Clotho, unable to balance creation with existence, begot my sister black, Atropos, The Finisher, The End. And so existence was, for time immemorial, everything that Clotho made Atropos unmade, returning order to its natural chaos as she returned creation to raw magic. Such was the way of things until my sisters grew tired of the endless cycle. For too long, there was balance without measure. And so they pooled their wisdom and power, and begot me. For I am the Allotter, the one who prevents The End of The Origin's many gifts until they have had a chance to experience existence. No longer would all that was extant be doomed to fade into magic at the whims of my dear sister. From our powers three, has come the rest of creation. All that is, all that has been, all that will be is ours - to Make, and to End." Here, Lachesis took an uneasy pause, and Harry gave a small smile in sympathy as he noticed the Fate become unsure of what she was about to say.
"For twelve great cycles, twelve universes, we continued this in harmony. From beginning through to a measured end, everything worked in harmony, our powers three balanced betwixt ourselves.
"Then came our current cycle, the thirteenth." As she said the number, all three fates let out a great shiver, putting Harry even more on edge. "As we ended the last cycle, cutting the final thread of all others' existences, and began the universe anew, Magic came together and pushed Herself - for her might, Magic is assuredly a Lady - gave her essence itself to dear Clotho's thread. This cycle is destined to be the cycle unending, the one thread that poor Atropos can never cut, for even her shears are bound by the will of Lady Magic." At this, the mentioned sister suddenly clacked her shears together, startling Harry who had been so entranced by the Grey Fate's story to pay attention to the other sisters.
"Instead of balancing creation with the end, as we had done before, we were forced to balance creation among four different entities. You have, no doubt heard of them?" At this, Harry blanched, having no idea of who Lachesis could be talking about.
"Oh, my poor summer child," Lachesis sighed, seeing Harry still had no idea what was going on. The other two fates simply laughed, chilling Harry to the core. "You have been blessed twice over by my wins, the Ladies Luck and Fortune. Their sister, Lady Destiny, has woven your thread into her magnificent tapestry." As realization began to dawn on Harry that he was, in fact, in much deeper trouble than he first thought, a tapestry appeared behind Lachesis, woven through the very middle, tying the whole work together, was a single, golden thread.
"Yes, dear one. Your thread shines with the light of Lady Magic herself." Unsure of how to process that thought, Harry looked up to Lachesis, sure that he had missed something.
"Ma'am, you said that there were four other entities. The Lady Twins and Lady Destiny count for three, right?"
"That would be my fault," Atropos grovelled from Harry's left, her voice sounding like stones grinding against each other. "Unable to cut the thread Lady Magic blessed, my power built upon itself until it grew too large for my power alone. Thus, I spawned the last entity, Lady Death. She is my tool in all things, the balance of my power unable to grow further in my body, as it were". Harry gulped, terrified of being directly addressed by the all-powerful entities around him.
"The seven of us, Fates, Luck, Fortune, Destiny, and Death," continued Lachesis as she ignored Harry's discomfort, "are the Balance of All. By our collective Might, we are the Firsts: the First Powers, the First Gods, the First Fae." If the gravity of the fate's voice did not give Harry any clues as to the serious nature of the deities' Might, the fact that the ground began to shake as soon as the Words of Power were spoken began to drop some earth-shattering hints.
"In our Might, we split the world. To light and dark, warmth and cold, Summer and Winter, we made our fae and their courts." Images began to fly around Harry. Some scenes looked almost as if from a fairy tale - a stone table surrounded by centaurs two old women knitting and cooking, young girls dressed in blue and green dresses, women in crowns of yellow and white, both stunningly beautiful yet terrifying at the same time. The last two images, however, were much easier for Harry to recognize - a blond first-year Ravenclaw ("Luna", a small voice whispered in Harry's mind), and to his shock, his most hated professor - Severus Snape, potions master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"You see sisters? I knew he would eventually understand it" Lachesis spoke to the other fates, watching Harry's face become pale as he saw the image of Snape.
"My dear wizard, you need not be alarmed by our eminence. Severus Tobias Snape has sworn himself to the Firsts, and his actions are by our grace."
"But he's death eater scum!" cried Harry, more unsure than ever about what was going on.
"And there lies the next part of our tale," Lachesis responded, somehow calming Harry from his panicked state. "What do you think of the man you call headmaster?"
"Dumbledore? He's an okay guy, I think." As he spoke, Harry saw disappointment flash across the faces of all three fates, and knew that something was wrong.
"OKAY?" cried Lachesis. "He left you to ROT at your awful family. He could have put you anywhere he wanted, yet he ignored his second-in-command warning him how awful they were. He is the head of the Wizengamot, he could have gotten your godfather a trial whenever he wanted, yet he remained silent!"
"Why? Why are you telling me this? Why does it matter? He's the only thing Voldemort feared, he has to be good!" Harry was understandably upset, and almost past the point of rational thought.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fraud boosted by a power set against Magic herself! He called to the power using our own wand after hearing the guiding prophesy of this universe and has twisted it to suit the needs of his ego - the only part of him of any considerable size." As she spoke of the headmaster, Lachesis became more and more irate, gathering a crimson aura around her that caused the air around her to shimmer from its heat.
"Yes ma'am" Harry responded, too terrified to say anything else.
"Very good" Lachesis growled at Harry, releasing a torrent of fire above her head that took the shape of a bird. Upon closer inspection, Harry realized that it was no mere bird; it was a flock of phoenixes, each one as crimson as her aura. Is this where Fawkes came from? Harry wondered, thinking to the events of his second year.
"Indeed, your favorite flaming chicken is one of my pets," Lachesis said with a smile, obviously fond of the phoenix that saved Harry's life. "He has done most of my spying on your headmaster for the last fifty years. Tell me, child, do you know why Voldemort is so abominable to your land? Of course not, you're only a boy." Lachesis began another monologue as she detailed, quite vividly, what a horcrux was and how they were made.
"And you say I have one of these things, these horcruxes, in me? And Dumbledore knew the whole time?" Harry was getting so worked up that his magic began to manifest around him, an aura of the same eerie blue-white that had surrounded the objects leading him to the Fates.
"Indeed. Your headmaster is a vile, cruel man who sought to control everything he ever found." Lachesis replied, silently impressed at how strong the boy's magic was around him. "But unfortunately, his treatment of you is not the worst he has done."
"What could possibly be worse?" Harry wailed, becoming so upset that his magic started a small blizzard around him.
"Calm yourself, child!" After seeing Harry take a few deep breaths, and the blizzard calming itself to small flurries, Lachesis continued, "The vile man has consorted with forces beyond his control. Very early on, as he tried to find a way to defeat Grindelwald, Albus came into contact with my sisters and I through a powerful right. Full of hubris and desperation, Albus stole from us a mote of our power, binding us even further to this universe and disrupting the guiding hand of our mother, Lady Magic herself. He carries this power with him even now, tied to the wand he claims to have won from his former lover."
"Hold up, ma'am," Harry stated, troubled at the revelations of Dumbledore stealing from the fates and being lovers with the Dark Lord Grindelwald. "I heard a story, once, about the Elder Wand that said it was Dumbledore's… is that the same wand that has your powers? What about the other hallows? Are they even real?" Harry recalled an old story book he had read while procrastinating a potions essay in the Hogwarts library. As he thought of the book, he traced a symbol on the ground absentmindedly, not realizing that it was the symbol of the hallows until he was done with it.
"Indeed, young one. Our stolen powers are bound into the same gifts that our daughter, Lady Death, bestowed on the Peverell brothers. Dumbledore knew this, and used a forbidden ritual to go past the bounds of Lady Magic to corrupt the stone and your cloak, increasing his powers even further."
"Wait… my cloak? It's the invisibility cloak? Why does no one ever tell me anything?"
"My dear child, there is so much you have yet to know," came an all-too-familiar voice from behind Harry, startling him as he realized it was the same mockingly sweet voice from before.
"Who… who are you?" asked Harry, as he turned around to see a woman standing behind him. She was immeasurably beautiful, but Harry thought there was something terrifying in her cold beauty. It looks like her eyes could freeze me solid with hatred. Not even Snap is that bad! Harry thought fearfully.
"How right you are, child. I cannot reveal my name to you here, in the sacred groves, but rest assured that you will know me well. I shall see you soon, I am sure." As she ended her short and wholly-incomplete introduction, she began to fade out, leaving nothing but a small smile hanging in the air before she was gone completely. As the last of the red, smiling lips faded from view, Harry heard the voice one last time in his head, And you are right, dear one. My chosen knight holds but a sliver of my power. As the foreign thoughts faded from Harry's mind, he was left with a single lasting image of his potions professor, his ever-present sneer fixed firmly on his face.
"Ahh…" began Lachesis, "I was rather hoping to introduce this next part without her influence. Shame, really. And no, child, I can no more say her name here than she could introduce herself." Lachesis continued, seeing the obvious question on Harry's face. "Rest assured, though, that you will see her again. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Your cloak is the cloak, but as I said, it is corrupted, so it cannot be as perfect as when my daughter made it of her own essence. Tell me child, what do you know of the fae?"
"You mean like centaurs and fairies and trolls and such?" Harry asked, unsure about the sudden change in conversation.
"Precisely. You see, when my sisters and I found our powers reduced, it threw the entirety of our being out of balance. In order to restore order and direction to this universe, we had to … invest, so to speak. Our power was reduced, but we spread it out. In doing so, we were able to isolate the corruption that Albus brought into this universe, and push it back to the very edge. As we isolated the corruption, we were forced to split our efforts. Half went to fighting the corruption directly, unleashing terrible energy throughout the universe as we pushed back the corruption that had moved not only through space, but also time." At this, Lachesis paused, seeing a look of sheer incredulity on Harry's face.
"Indeed, young one, the forces that your headmaster called on were not minor, by any means. To even speak their name in the mortal world would bring great peril… to do so here would be disastrous beyond imagination. Now, as we wrought our terribly might upon the corruption, we also had to ensure that the universe itself was not destroyed in our efforts. To this end, half of our energy went towards … a protection, of sorts, And thus were born the two courts of Fae. Winter, to work our might against corruption, and Summer, to protect the rest of the universe against the forces of Winter. Forever intertwined with each other, it is only through working with both courts that you can fulfill your prophecy, dear child."
"Wait a moment," Harry began, everything suddenly coming into focus for him. "That's why I'm here, isn't it? There's another thrice-damned prophecy about me, that's why the dementors couldn't kill my soul. And I know who the Queen behind me was now, why can't I say her name?" Harry tried stuttering out the name, only to find his voice gone after the first sound.
"Yes, Harry," Lachesis used Harry's first name for the first time, filling him with a sense of dread, "The True Names of the Fae cannot be uttered in our grove, for doing so would draw the attention of their entire courts to us. Having that much of our power, once distributed over the entirety of the universe, drawn back at once would be… detrimental for continuation."
"Continuation of what?" Harry asked, immediately regretting it.
"Existence." Lachesis stated, ignoring the small "oh." that came from a much-subdued Harry. "Now, before we send you out of our glad to meet our four children, we three Fates combined, issues of the Lady Mother, Magic Herself, will tell unto you, Harry James Potter, the one true prophecy of this universe. Once told, you will be our Childe, borne of Magic, issue of Summer and Winter. Think well and truly, and know that we have stopped the horcrux from interfering with this choice. Of your own free will, Harry James Potter, will you hear your Fate?"
Harry had no idea what to say. On one hand, if he said no, there was a chance he could die when he returned, but he would still have a chance to beg mercy from Lady Death before he left. On the other hand, the horcrux would be left in him… and Sirius would still be dementor food. Suddenly, the choice became clear. As he made up his mind, the words to his answer came to him from a source he could only hope was Lady Magic herself.
In his strongest voice, calling upon all his magic, he began. "Atropos, Lachesis, Clotho. Fates of death, life, and birth. The End, The Allotter, The Origin. Thrice bade, thrice summoned, thrice named. I am Harry James Potter, and I submit myself to your powers. Speak unto my Fate. By Lady Magic's own hands, I ask you in your Names. Give prophecy, tell fate, speak truth."
"A wise answer, Childe of Magic." Lachesis stood up from her repose, and seemed to tower over Harry. As she spoke his new title, Harry began to feel a tingling, pulling sensation centered over his scar. The sensation increased as the Fate began the prophecy, until it was unbearable by the end.
"When Wynter's Wizard fades from Litha's blessed light,
And the darkness from beyond consumes him with fright,
Then shall fall the Wizard in the hands of Queens
And end the Table's fight with his Hallowed mien"
"A prophecy given truly from the Fates thrice named. You are named, Harry James Potter. Be thou now, Harry James Potter, Childe of Magic, Wizard of Winter, Champion of Fate, Incarnate of the Lost God." As Lachesis, finished her proclamation, Harry felt a tremendous force gathering. As he looked around him, he noticed the ball of light that Atropos had described as the powers of a god slowly spinning in her hands, her shears having been set aside momentarily. To his right, Harry saw Clotho pulling a black thread - a thread, that Harry was startled to notice - came straight out of his forehead.
"You will be relieved to know, Childe, that your horcrux is no more. However, as in all things, balance is always maintained. Your magic, now tied directly to the Lady herself, needs to be expanded to fill what once was. To pointe, you are now the vessel of these powers." As she spoke in her graviling tone, Atropos rose and pushed the ball of power into Harry's forehead. At once, Harry felt a blinding pain, then a burning through his whole body, focusing on his arms, legs, and back. Right where Vernon always hit the hardest, Harry noticed.
"You are now the walking incarnation of the Lost God, the nameless power. Your scars have healed, and your body is whole and hale again. Go now, from this sacred grove. There is no more that we can do for you, our Childe." Lachesis seemed almost sad to Harry as she sent him on his way.
"Wait, Harry." Clotho spoke, addressing Harry for the first time directly. "There is one more thing I can do for you. Tell me, what is that still in your hands?" She indicated the orb of woods still slowly spinning in Harry's hand, forgotten since the beginning of Lachesis' tale.
"It's what brought me here, ma'am" Harry said calmly, slightly scared of the Fate who had destroyed a god's power in its birth.
"Excellent. Woods of yew," as she spoke the wood, her body began to glow, "pine," the glow expanded to Lachesis, "and willow," Atropos was included in the glow, now binding the Fates all together. "From this orb, I give birth to a new wand for thee, Harry James Potter. Incomplete, it needs yet a core and a binding. I have no doubt that you shall soon find them. Go now, with this final gift." Harry looked at the newly-formed wand in his hand, pleased beyond measure that he could already feel the magic in the wood even without a core. Or a binding, whatever that means, Harry thought as he heard what The Origin said.
"From here, we grant you leave, Harry James. Go forth, from this sacred grove, and find your path among our daughters four. Begone, begone, begone". As Atropos' grovoling voice faded at the end, so too did all three Fates begin to fade from view. When they were wholly gone, the path under Harry began to extend, forming a bridge off the island and back through the circle of willow trees, out of the grove. Harry took a look at the path, formed of the same ever-smooth granite, and had just one thought: What the hell just happened?
With that confusion in place, Harry continued his journey forward, unsure of his new future and unsuspecting that what he had just been through with the Fates would hardly be the most shocking thing to happen in this world away from the mortal realm.
A/N4: Well, here it is, y'all. I'm sorry it took a day longer than I thought it would. With all the ridiculous weather in the midwest US this week, I had a lot more work than I was expecting. That being said, I think I'm on a good schedule now! I hope to have at least one chapter per week, minimum. Ideally, it will be closer to two or three, but no guarantees. As always, please favorite, follow, and review! Ta-ta ~BJL13
