Chapter 3

An Alpha Encounter With Gamma

When Dudley came to his senses, he found himself sitting on his suitcase, with Harry standing upright and looking mildly curious. (Dudley suspected that Harry's good karma wouldn't let him look ruffled after falling through a void.) Giving into curiosity himself, Dudley began to look around him. He was in an office of some sort, with ancient tomes lining rich mahogany shelves. Beautiful stain glass windows filtered in colored light, and behind an intricately carved desk, sat a sleeping man with an owl on his shoulder. The man looked older and full of more knowledge then the books he kept. He also looked very familiar.

"Look, it's Professor Ambrose!" said Dudley. Dudley's rather loud voice jarred the professor awake. When he met their gaze, Dudley had the impression that Ambrose was trying to fight down a sense of surprise.

"How interesting," said the Professor.

His owl was not quite so reserved, "Whoooooo the hell are you?"

"Gamma, watch your tongue! Don't you dare scare off potential new students," said Ambrose to the apologetic looking bird. Turning to Harry and Dudley, he said, "I am quite used to welcoming students from faraway lands, but I sense that distance has nothing to do with your travels. However, that hardly matters as I can see great magical potential in both of you."

"Even me professor?" said Dudley incredulously. Dudley had wondered if Harry would again get all the powers and he would be the bumbling sidekick. Dudley didn't know how he would handle that yet and hoped it wasn't the case.

"Yes even you," said Ambrose.

Harry leaned into Dudley and whispered, "Its part of my portal. You get to learn the powers of any world we come to. I hope you like it."

"I love it," said Dudley.

"Am I correct in thinking that you wish to become students in Ravenwood Academy?" said Ambrose. Seeing Harry's shy nod and smile, Ambrose rose from his desk and handed Dudley and Harry some sheets. "These papers are like a questionnaire. They help reveal who you truly are and which branch of magic you are most in tune with. Many people find the process very intimate, so I will leave you alone while you work. I shall know when you are done with them," said Ambrose. With that, the old man and his owl left the office to give the two boys their privacy.

As Dudley picked up his paper, he felt a force grab hold of his mind. He was compelled to spill everything onto the paper. His disappointment with his parents, his old identity as a bully and how he enjoyed twisting peoples' fears as weapons, his desire to change, and his ability to face painful truths. Harry's experience was very similar. His paper pulled out the words that defined him. His need to prove to others that he was worth loving, his fear of Dudley disappearing from his life like his parents or worse coming to resent him, his love of bringing things to life be they gardens or recipes, and finally his indomitable will to survive.

Dudley's paper glowed with a dark power that wrapped around him tenderly and gave itself to him. Harry's burst forth with a joyful, beautiful song as it turned a vibrant green and its aura covered him like a cloak. The forces dissipated and as Dudley grew weak, he saw that his paper had turned black and was marked by a large skull. As Ambrose opened the door to his office, Dudley let go and embraced the lovely dark.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x—x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dudley awoke to two pairs of worried eyes. Both were large and blinking owlishly. Oddly enough only one pair belonged to an owl.

"You're awake, good. I've never seen such strong magical awakenings in my life," said Ambrose. From what Dudley knew about the Ambrose in his game, that was saying something. "You and that boy are going to be very strong wizards. Why don't take some time to perk up and if you have any questions, come see me in my office," said Ambrose.

Dudley got up from his soft turquoise colored sheets to look around. Like Ambrose's office the room was filled with books, but instead of being about magic, these books were about the art of rock gardening. On the oak nightstand, stood a portrait of beautiful, young woman with a pointy hat and a sad smile. It looked like she knew that something horrible was about to happen to her, but she would keep smiling to make others feel better. The room suddenly felt very personal and Dudley no longer wanted to intrude. As Dudley went to join Ambrose, he passed a mirror and saw that his shirt and jeans were gone and in their place was a black robe, embroidered with a silver skull.

"Take a seat young wizard," said Ambrose as he gestured towards a plush armchair. Dudley let himself sink into the chair, and of all the questions he could have asked about his new powers he asked,

"Why did you change my clothes?"

"It was not I who did this. It was your magic marking you as what you are, a Death wizard, or its older description, a necromancer," said Ambrose.

"Aren't those the evil wizards that raise armies of the dead and kill people for no good reason?" said Dudley with a pained look on his face.

"That is not quite true Dudley. Necromancers are often a little crueler then most people, but they are also wizards who have confronted fear and doubt, and emerged victoriously through truth. In return magic grants them the gift to use fear, doubt, and the greatest truth of all, death, as weapons against their foes. Death is an absolute reality and comes to everyone in time. Because of their connection to it, necromancers are grounded in reality, and like the grim reaper they can defeat any obstacle given time," said Ambrose.

"Grounded in reality! Isn't the maddest and most evil villain in this world a necromancer?" said Dudley.

"Ah, so you've heard of the former Professor Malistaire. Thank the gods his magic evens him out. Without that, he'd have killed us all by last year at the latest," said Ambrose. Dudley thought that Ambrose got a lot of amusement from Dudley's shocked expressions and his own description of Malistaire's plots.

While Professor Ambrose continued to rant about villains growing up so fast, Dudley was embarrassed to realize he forgot about his cousin.

"Professor, where is Harry?" said Dudley.

With a start of surprise, Ambrose broke off his rant.

"Good idea, let us go check on your cousin," said Ambrose.

"How did you know he was my cousin?" said Dudley.

"I have my ways," said Ambrose as he covered up a crystal ball and guided Dudley out of his office. As Dudley walked into Harry's room, he could hear the sound of a haunting melody. The bed Harry slept on was covered in growing vines, and Harry himself was covered in a cloud of green mist. Like Dudley, Harry wore robes, but his were green and had glowing emerald leaves thoughout the design.

Before Dudley could ask about Harry's health, Ambrose said, "He's still not awake, how strange." After running his hands over Harry's body, Ambrose turned to Dudley and said, "You shall be a gifted wizard but this boy shall be greater still. In his soul, magics and forces are melding to create a power unlike any before it. But that's only if he does his homework on time." Dudley was sure that the last sentence was only meant to lighten the mood. He was also sure that it didn't work. Harry was already amazing and here was their chance to become equals. But Harry had to go and be all perfect. It made him so mad! Suddenly his magic reacted, its dark tendrils piercing his mind, as he suddenly heard his own voice yell,

"YOU IDIOT, WHO DOES HARRY USE HIS MAGIC FOR? FOR US, TO SAVE US, TO ENLIGHTEN US, AND TO PLEASE US! Make sure we deserve him."

Feeling very ashamed of himself he let go of his anger and sat down by Harry's side.

"Professor, I think I'll keep Harry company until he wakes up," said Dudley.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to wake up to a familiar face. I think I'll leave you to yourselves for now. Call me when Harry awakes," said Ambrose.

"Sure thing Professor," said Dudley. Ambrose smiled and left the room as Dudley began his vigil.

AN: Please leave reviews, they help me tailor my story in new ways, and I love hearing your ideas.

Also, I am going to make a poll. When Harry and Dudley return to their home world, there will be two options:

Due to the side-effects of Harry's portal Dudley becomes a wizard that qualifies to go to Hogwarts or

Dudley doesn't go to Hogwarts but Harry calls him in as a consultant whenever there is necromancy afoot. Basically whenever Voldemort rears his ugly head.

Visit this and my other polls my going to my profile