The Truth is Out There

By schizophrenic genius

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to Joan Kathleen Rowling. I don't own Smallville. It belongs to Millar and Gough. And all of them partly belong to Warner Brothers. But none belong to me. Life can be like that sometimes… Well, maybe I own the plot, but still…

Author's Note: Read and REVIEW. If you like (or don't like) my story, please do so, especially if you have added it in your favorites or alerts. By the way, this story has slightly skipped over the season finale. I mean, everything is now resolved, and the world is back to normal. Lex now has free rule over his body, Chloe's reporter life is now restored, Lana is still Lex's girlfriend, Dr. Fine is dead, with a few notes dropped behind, and Clark is back on earth, walking and talking.

Chapter 4

The Veil Removed

Harry's eyes fluttered open. He was still in the Kawatche cave. His head hurt as if it was squeezed like a sponge. Seeing the symbols around him, he was shocked. His head pounded as he realized he could understand the symbols. He looked around and found the octagonal key imbedded into the wall.

Yeah, it's a key, all right. It must have been the cause of the entire information overload, thought Harry as he marveled at his newfound knowledge. He felt like a computer downloading information. Here and there, he saw symbols saying things about destiny and hope, for some reason. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Harry? Where are you?" It was Clark's voice.

"Clark?" Harry said croakily.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you ever since I woke up. What are you doing here?" Clark asked, hurrying to the spot where Harry lay.

"I had this dream – the key, I was putting it into the cave wall – then I had this urge to go here," said Harry vaguely.

Clark now had an idea what was going on. He said with a smile, "Did the symbols go spinning and making a big flash of light go through you?"

"Yeah. How do you know?" Harry asked with curiosity.

"The same thing happened to me, which should mean that you can read the Kryptonian symbols now, am I right?" Clark replied.

"Yeah, and my head hurts too."

Clark chuckled. He went to the octagonal key, imbedded into the wall. He took it out and saw the nearby circle of hieroglyphics. He suddenly frowned.

"What is it, Clark?"

He just pointed to the part of the cave wall he was looking at. Harry approached him and frowned in confusion at what the symbols said. He read,

The two of the last shall unite

And follow the path of what is right.

Both shall show their godlike might

That Sol's third planet may have the sight.

Harry repeated the words in his head like he did the prophecy. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact… I don't know," said Clark, wearing the same confused look that Harry wore.

"May have the sight…" Clark repeated.

"So that they can see… what?"

"I don't think we can figure this out now, Harry," said Clark somberly, "Hey, now that we're here, there's something I want to show you."

"What is it?"

Clark smiled and went through a gap in the cave wall, where Harry found a stone table containing a slot. Clark inserted the octagonal key in the slot and took it out again.

The world changed around Harry. He was no longer in the dark cave. He was out in the open, in what seemed to be a snowy plain. His jaw dropped. How did that happen? Clark went on to an enormous structure with seemed to be made of crystals. It was breathtaking.

"Welcome, Harry, to the Fortress of Solitude."

The Fortress of Solitude seemed only to be simply made of crystal and nothing else, and yet it looked so magnificent.

"Wow…"

"I know," said Clark.

"So you have it all to yourself? Where exactly is this place?" Harry asked in wonder.

"It's mine, I guess, but I'm not really sure where on the planet this is. Or even what planet."

"So it's hidden? Cool! You have a real hideout, don't you?"

Clark grinned, "Yeah, pretty much."

"It's perfect," said Harry in wonder, "Even to hide from Voldemort's attacks."

Clark heard the name again and said, "Harry, who exactly is this Voldemort person? I know he's the one who killed our parents, but what happened to you and him after that?"

Harry sighed deeply. He began, "Sixteen years ago, Voldemort Mum and Dad with the Avada Kedavra. He was, generally, the terror of the wizarding world, for he wanted to kill all those who have no magic. The curse rebounded, and instead of killing me, separated Voldemort's soul from his body, and has been hiding years after. Professor Dumbledore, the former headmaster of Hogwarts, brought me to the Dursleys, my last remaining relatives. When I turned eleven, I discovered I was a wizard, and I went to Hogwarts."

Harry looked at Clark and found out he was listening very intently. He continued, "In my first year, I met Ron and Hermione, and we saved the Sorcerer's Stone together from Voldemort's possessed body. In second year, we found a diary containing the memory of Voldemort and I killed the memory in the Chamber of Secrets. In third year, I met my godfather, Sirius Black, who was a runaway prisoner of Azkaban, but was really innocent. In my fourth year, Voldemort used my blood to return through the Triwizard Tournament. We went to the Department of Mysteries in my fifth, and after that, I found that I was destined to kill Voldemort. And on my sixth… And on my sixth, Dumbledore told me about Tom Riddle, alias Voldemort's history. We found that he had Horcruxes."

"What are Horcruxes?" asked Clark, his brow furrowed.

"They're objects in which Voldemort put pieces of his soul. If his body does die, the other pieces will find out some way to return to the living." Harry's eyes assumed a grave look in them.

"What? How does he do that?" said Clark in puzzlement.

"He killed to put his soul into several pieces, but I don't know how he put them there. It's my job to destroy the Horcruxes, so that the self-stylized Dark Lord will be vanquished."

"Well, wherever you go, I'll come with you," Clark said with sincerity in his eyes.

Harry looked surprised and said, "You will? I mean, I'm… glad for the offer, but…"

Clark knew exactly what was on his mind, "Harry… You don't have to do everything, you know. Just because you're destined to kill Voldemort doesn't mean you mustn't have any help. You have me, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and a lot of other people to back you up."

"But, I may be the reason - "

"You won't be the reason that we will all be in danger. You don't give us enough credit. We can take care of ourselves. I know I can. I faced a lot of dangerous things already. This will be a piece of cake."

"What do you mean dangerous things?" asked Harry in concern.

"Well, you would never believe it," grinned Clark.

"I had my fair share of eccentric adventures. Tell me yours," Harry goaded.

Harry was shocked. He never realized that Clark's life was just as loaded with weird experiences as his own life. From the great assortment of "meteor freaks" to the Luthorcorp schemes, as well as the Kryptonian technology Clark encountered, Harry thought that life on Smallville was some sort of adventure TV series.

"So silver Kryptonite is poisonous too? What other kinds of Kryptonite are there anyway?"

"Silver Kryptonite can make us paranoid, and black Kryponite kind of… divides a person into two different personalities."

"I can imagine…" Harry said in a grin.

"Look, I think we have to get back. Mom will be looking for us," Clark said.

When they had gone back to the Kawatche cave, they realized that they weren't alone, as they had thought. Inspecting the caves was Lex Luthor.

Clark frowned and asked, "What are you doing here, Lex?"

To their very surprise, Lex turned around with a rock in his hand. Green Kryptonite. The effect was immediate. Clark, who was nearer to Lex, felt his knees weaken. Harry backed away into the shadows, but he also felt it.

"Surprised, Clark?" said Lex. "I should have known ever since I bumped into you back on the bridge. Don't be too surprised."

"How did you know, Lex?" said Clark in a strangled voice.

"With all the mounting 'events' that went around you, a few facts that Dr. Fine told me a few months ago, it was really easy to decode. But Lionel told Lana your kind's only weakness," said Lex in a vindictive stance.

"Stop it, Lex."

Lex whirled around. In the darkness stood Harry, trying to look unaffected by the Kryptonite. His wand was pointed to Lex threateningly.

"If it isn't Harry Potter. Is that stick supposed to stop me?" said Lex.

"As a matter of fact, yes." And with that, Harry yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" Lex's body stiffened, and fell to the floor with a crash. He put the Banishing Charm on the Kryptonite and helped Clark up. "Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, thanks. I just wished I had the sense to back away," Clark said ruefully.

"You were nearer to the Kryptonite, you couldn't have. Now let's make Luthor boy let it all out," Harry said, his expression unreadable. He pulled out something from his pocket. It was a vial of Veritaserum. Ever since Dumbledore died, he had always been bringing things of the sort around.

"This potion forces the drinker to tell the truth," Harry explained as he poured the potion into Lex's mouth. He muttered, "Finite Incantatem!"

Lex suddenly coughed and sputtered as he swallowed the liquid. His eyes suddenly glazed over.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded.

"Alexander Luthor," Lex answered in a monotone.

Clark asked, "Why did you attack me?"

"I wanted to find a way to harness your powers, much like that of Dr. Fine's. I would make me very powerful, both physically and figuratively, and perhaps make me the richest man in the world," replied Lex malevolently.

The brothers' faces turned dark. Clark asked, "Is Lionel involved in this scheme?" He feared that Lionel would give him away.

To their surprise, Lex said, "No."

"How exactly did you know about me?"

"I have always been suspicious that you weren't a normal human. As I observed you, you and Dr. Fine seemed to have a few things in common. You both do things without any satisfying explanation. When I tried to use Kryptonite on Fine, he didn't react to it, but told me that he was only created by your kind, which had similar abilities. "

"Well, that explains a lot," muttered Harry.

"Do you know what happened to Fine?" Clark demanded.

"No."

Clark hesitated, and asked, "Lex, do you love Lana?"

Harry looked up. He remembered seeing a picture of pretty girl named Lana in the barn. She and Clark were holding each other in an embrace. She's probably his ex-girlfriend, since Clark didn't really talk about her much.

"I believe so."

Clark's expression was unreadable. Suddenly, Harry muttered, "Obliviate!"

Lex looked even more dazed than before, and asked, "Oh, hi, Clark. What am I doing here?"

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled. Lex slumped over.

"What did you just do?" Clark yelled, almost panicking.

"He knows too much, both regarding Kryptonians and magic. I modified his memory so that he won't remember ever suspecting you and attacking us."

He let out a sigh and said, "You're right, Harry. Better safe than sorry."

Moments later, Lex was dozing off in his mansion, having forgotten all that had happened.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Harry's head was turning in all directions as he walked the halls of Kansas State University. He asked Clark to bring him along, never having been to an American college before, or even an American school. It was much more modern compared to Hogwarts' torches and dungeons. Clark was chuckling behind him as Harry gaped at everything in the vicinity.

They went to the Literature classroom. As they walked to get a seat, a woman who reminded Harry of the Gryffindor Tower's Fat Lady, went in and said in a surprisingly loud and commanding voice, "Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Professor Darbus!" the Literature class chorused.

She launched on a long-winded lecture about Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth, occasionally describing insane people. Harry got bored and started to look around. People here were pretty much normal. He started fidgeting as a blonde girl two rows behind him smirked flirtatiously. Being stared at for being the Boy-Who-Lived was one thing, but being checked out for his looks was another. He tried to look at anything but her. As he stared at the wall, wondering what was happening in the classroom next to theirs, his vision turned… weird. Everything around him seemed to have turned transparent. He couldn't help it as he yelled, "Bloody hell!"

Clark turned to face Harry, who was closing and opening his eyes in the hopes of getting his vision back to normal. "What's going on?" Clark asked him.

"It's my eyes – there's something wrong with them. I can see, but hell, I can see through things! Everyone looks like a skeleton or something!" Harry muttered in slight panic.

Clark looked up and saw that everyone was staring. He tugged at Harry's arm and muttered, "Follow my lead." He spoke loudly, "Uh, sorry, Professor Darbus, my cousin Harry has to go to the clinic. He's not feeling well." At that, Harry feigned pain.

"And what, may I ask, is the problem?" asked Professor Darbus.

"Migraine, Professor Darbus," said Clark simply.

Professor Darbus frowned but said, "Alright, you may go."

Clark ushered Harry out of the classroom and into the empty corridor. He had no intention of bringing Harry to the clinic at all.

"Okay, what's happening to me?" asked Harry worriedly.

"Relax, Harry. It's actually just x-ray vision. All you have to do is concentrate."

Harry tried but his vision remained the same. He muttered, "It's pretty hard to concentrate when what you're seeing looks like a freak show of a computer game…"

Clark thought for a moment and decided on a different approach. He took out something from his backpack. It was a two-inch thick calculus book. He looked at Harry and told him, "See this book?" Harry nodded. Clark continued, "Okay, focus on reading the title page. Make your eyes go from looking past the book, to directly at it."

Harry did so, and saw that his vision returned to normal, humane 20-20. He breathed a sigh of relief and uttered, "It worked! Yes!"

"If you want to switch your sight to x-ray vision mode again, just do the opposite of what you just did. Concentrate on looking past the thing, and it'll happen."

With a look of concentration, Harry appreciated x-ray vision for the first time. Through the walls of the classrooms, he saw the skeletons of the professors talking and the students taking down notes. It was rather unnerving, but the ability could be useful nonetheless.

"This is… weird, but cool. Ever used this to look in the girl's bathroom, Clark?" Harry asked teasingly.

"Me, look at the girl's bathroom?" Clark said in his best innocent voice. They burst out laughing.

Harry asked, "Hey, Clark, can you teach me how to use our other abilities soon? I mean, I might need it sometime."

"Yeah, sure, Harry, but we'll do it one by one. Discovering that you have abilities so powerful can be quite overwhelming," said Clark in a kind voice. The bell rang. Clark spoke, "Come on, we have to go to History class. Professor Chapman might kick me out."

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Lex sat in his office, trying to mull over his thoughts. He couldn't. There was an unreachable part of his brain. A gap in his memory. He couldn't remember what happened to him the day before. It was frustrating. The sound of the opening of a pair of double doors shook him from his reverie as he looked up. It was Lionel Luthor, his supposed father.

"Hello, Dad. How nice of you to drop by," Lex said in a cool, calm and collected manner.

"Hello, Lex," Lionel said with equal coolness, "I assume you know what had happened to the Metropolis branch of Luthorcorp."

"Why, yes. My secretary told me this morning."

With seriousness in his eyes, Lionel spoke, "Then I assume that you would know the reason why there was a disastrous mess in Luthorcorp."

Lex paused and said with a little hesitation, "No, dad. The event that seemed like a raid of the company does not make any sense to me."

Lionel's face turned from simply serious, to extremely grave. "Lex, from the extremely tight security at Luthorcorp, it is barely possible to steal anything from it. And yet, the thieves executed their plan with all careful preparation, leaving no evidence behind. It was probably very hard to do."

"And your point is?"

"My point is, these people have worked very hard to get whatever they wanted they Luthorcorp. It must be pretty big for them to go through such an expensive and flawless operation. And with their very careful process, I think these aren't any small-time thieves, Lex. You have to be careful. Whatever you have might be your glory or your demise."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Lex innocently.

"Lex, all I want is to guarantee your well-being. I do not know what you are doing with your share of Luthorcorp. However, whatever you are doing might be dangerous." And with that, Lionel turned on his heel and left Lex in his office.

/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Author's Note: Thanks to all those who reviewed. And for those who haven't yet, click on the button below asap! They're greatly appreciated, if you must know. They're the driving force of this story's continuity! If you have any comments, suggestions or violent reactions, just tell me.