Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to my wonderful beta, Zyzyax.

Chapter 4

"Left, right, left, left, left …" Harry stopped. There were three ancient looking doors. The left one had silver mandalas grafted in it. The right one had golden colored mandalas grafted in it. And the center one had black mandalas grafted in it, which somehow seemed alive to Harry. "How am I supposed to know which one is the biggest?"

In the end, Harry chose the door with the black mandalas and entered. The library was huge and also a maze. Harry groaned. He would have never have thought that finding a to-do list in a library would be a problem. He started walking, eyeing the bookshelves. How you were supposed to get a book from the higher shelves was a mystery to Harry. His eyes could not even see the end of the shelves, because of the dark mist near the ceiling. The books also did not use any language he recognized.

Finally, he entered the center of the library, which looked something like a study. There were a chair and desk and a sofa and a table with four chairs. On the desk was a note, which Harry took. The writing was plain, which he was thankful for. Elaborate handwriting always reminded him of Lockhart.

My master,

Practice your wandless magic.

I will take no excuse for not doing it.

Be ready for a test, and I expect you to do your best.

Good luck,

Death

Harry stared at the note. Death expected him to be able to do wandless magic. There was no way he could do that. He had tried that on Earth. He just was not capable of doing it. Well, no arguing with Death or else ... that was rather clear on the note. But how was he supposed to practice wandless magic, he had tried to do that after seeing the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore with no luck.

He saw that the discussion with himself was going nowhere. Well, he could at least try to do wandless magic. And he tried a wandless levitation charm on the note. He didn't feel anything, not the slightest connection between his magic and note. His mind wandered back to his doubts.

He was about to give up when the note lifted for a moment before landing on the desk again. Harry was enthusiastic; he had never gotten that far. He tried, again and again. He was getting better at it. Suddenly, he felt the energy going through his body, his magic trying to get out. And finally, it won and lashed out. It was amazing, the feeling of magic inside and outside him. And the fact he also felt magic inside every little thing around him. The shadows connected to his magic making his magic more powerful. He felt… whole. He had never had that feeling in his life. At first, when he was eleven he thought that perhaps his heritage had been that, or that he had never had any friends growing up. But now he felt it, it was his magic. But he had thought that he always had magic.

Suddenly Harry felt Death entering the library. It was surprising to Harry that he could feel her. When Death got in the center of the library, she started clapping. Harry opened his eyes; he had not even noticed that he had closed them. Death was staring up at him, and at that Harry released that he was floating in the air. "What the …" and he landed on the ground, barely staying on two feet, gasping.

Death gently led him to the sofa. "What happened?" whispered Harry weakly once he was lying on the sofa. "You released your blocked magic and connected to the Elder Wand."

"But I destroyed the Elder Wand after the final battle," argued Harry.

"And that was the final step for you to become my Master," answered Death like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't understand." Death now watched the boy who would become her master. "By destroying the wand, you showed that you did not care for the power it would give you. Also, destroying it meant that you were the last owner of the Elder Wand and you actually didn't destroy the magic inside it, you just broke the tool containing it, making the magic go inside you."

Harry stared at Death. "But I didn't want it! I just wanted the line to end, the killings because of it to cease. That does not make me ... the Elder Wand can only be destroyed by who made it means by destroying that made the power of the Wand go in ... me, because ... I was the last master of it." Harry whispered the last part, making it barely hearable for Death.

"Correct," said Death inspecting Harry's reaction. Harry closed his eyes. "What about the Resurrection Stone? I left it in the Forbidden Forest." Asked Harry, already knowing he had lost the argument. He was still curious, though. The Dursleys hadn't quite stamped out that part of him.

"You destroyed the power of the Resurrection Stone over you by leaving it there. And the Resurrection Stone marked you as its equal and master." Death said gently wiping the tears from Harry's face. He hadn't even realized he was crying until that moment.

"What about the Cloak of Invisibility?" It was a last resort. He had used the cloak, though. It had been one of his favorite artifacts of all time. A truly wonderful piece of magic, even if he despised the fact that it made him the owner of one of the Hallows.

"You used it to survive for others more than yourself; it also marked you as its equal and master."

"Is the story of the three brothers true?" Questioned Harry.

"Partly," said Death leaning towards the sofa "I did make the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone and Cloak of Invisibility, but I never gave them to someone specific, I put them all around the Earth. The three brothers liked to travel and Fate thought it funny if they would find all of the deathly hallows in their travels. And in the end I did agree about that, it was interesting to watch how my magic affected them."

"It destroyed them!" Shouted Harry, standing up and swaying a little. Death wanted to help him, but Harry stepped back.

"One only cared about power; the other didn't feel anything and third had to hide because his magical awareness senses were up. "

"They were too weak for them." Death had never seemed warm and fluffy, but that statement truly chilled him. He was average, normal, just Harry.

"And I am also too weak for them." It was a weak argument. The magic world had pitted him against a wizard far more powerful and older than him. Nobody cared if he couldn't meet the challenge, only that it wasn't them.

"Do you only care about power or feeling nothing or hiding from everything?"

"They haven't been with me long. Soon they will start affecting me." That was what he was afraid of. Becoming Voldemort. He was sure if the Mirror of Erised was here it would show him being the exact opposite of the wizard.

"You are in denial. There was only one thing you wanted from the beginning and that was family. You got fame, fortune, power and it is still the only thing you wanted was family. But life with Ginny didn't truly bring it to you, did it? You got children, who you loved, but not a family who would have cared for you as you cared for them. They always thought you as strong and independent, never seeing the other side. Even your closest friends, Hermione and Ron, thought so. Neville and Luna were closer to the truth, especially Luna."

"What am I to you? Your plaything?" Whispered Harry, collapsing on the floor. Of course, Death had watched his whole life. Knew things no one else did, the things he would prefer to stay hidden. Death crouched down next to Harry.

"What is the place you call home?"

"Hogwarts. What…"

"My home is here, where all the souls come. Always has been here. The beginning and ending. Peace. Everyone can heal here before moving into a next life. Life is not in my authority. Death is. And I am accepting it as should you. You have no power in the living world. If you have work on the planet you have a bit more sway in there, but once it's done, it's done and you have to move on. Perhaps never to return there."

"If life is not in your authority, why would I have to work there?"

"Disturbances caused by immortal beings also fall into my authority because Fate does not have power over them."

"Fate has authority over life? What does Fate do?"

"Yes. Normally, he just watches to make sure that the planet will not die. And that mortals would not cease existing. He may mitigate someone's fate sometimes or exacerbate fate for someone who he thinks deserves it. And he may play a little too, as he did with the three brothers, but nothing too significant. Before you jump to conclusions, Fate made your life better, not worse. He does not have full authority over livings as I have over dead."

"And what is your relationship with Fate?"

"We both are eternal, our magic does not exhaust the other. We are mostly like brother and sister, I suppose," said Death with an amused glance at Harry. "Now, if we are done investigating my relationship with Fate we should go on with training."

"Wait a minute, why did you create the Deathly Hallows?"

"Well, I have a lot of work and it would be nice to share it with someone. And I would like to have some company. Fate has also a lot of work, so he can't keep me company, the souls have to move on and they are usually boring, Hel can't be on my company for too long, even if it is longer than others, besides she belongs to the Norse society and does not care about the other galaxy's, same goes to Namo and many others who only care about their galaxy's, while I have to work everywhere."

"So for short I am here to keep you company and do some of the work," said Harry slowly, the information he had been receiving today started to make his head hurt. It was a lot to take in. He was a tired old man (even if he now looked seventeen again). Plus, he wasn't Hermione. She would have been great for this and she would have loved the library.

"No need to be so grim, there are benefits to that, which you will soon learn," said Death and then, added with a grin, "Besides, my company is not that bad." That was true. Draco would have been much worse, especially pre-war Draco. At least Death wasn't a stuck-up prick with a complex and daddy issues. Not that he could talk much, but still.