Chapter 9: R&R
Disclaimer: You know the routine by now, I don't own anything related to Harry Potter and Bioshock Infinite.
Rapture, the City under the Sea
It was a mistake to bring him here. That was the only thought that was going through Elizabeth's head as she walked around the Tea Garden, Harry staying close to her as she did. Not for him, for him it was fine, he was amazed by everything that was here. To her it was like a waking nightmare. She was nowhere near where she had been before, she had known that, in fact this was a vastly different Rapture than the one she had been to before. She had made sure of that, no Atlas, no Fontaine, no Little Sisters and No ADAM! This was a Rapture that had none of that, this was a Rapture that never fell to corruption, one that was allowed to grow and be what it was designed to be. A haven to those that sought to escape the outside world and the machinations that the governments tried to enforce upon them.
She led him through the Tea Gardens, they were planning to stop for lunch here, her treat as he didn't have the required money for the place. "I still don't understand what or how this place came to be, how did we get out of Hogwarts?" Harry asked as Elizabeth guided him towards a chair at a table, helping him get sat down as she took the seat on the opposite side of the table.
"This is a location that could have existed, in the 1950's construction finished on this place, a man named Andrew Ryan saw the way the world was going and wanted to create a world that did not have to fear the censor, did not have to fear the outside force telling them what they could and could not do." She started to explain as a waitress came over.
"Is there anything I can get you?" She asked, her voice held a slight French accent to it and Elizabeth wondered whether it was a fake one to try and them the location or just that she had simply come from France somewhere.
"Two teas please." Elizabeth requested and the Waitress nodded, disappearing into the cafe itself to get the drinks. "Inherently, it's a good idea. A city where people are free to create without outside forces can bring so many innovations, can develop so many useful things." She smiled, there were good things to Rapture and there were good people here to, especially in this time. "This version, this is one that could have been, this is one that did not fall, that stayed true to its initial ideal instead of succumbing to corruption."
"What do you mean this version? is this more related to the Tears?" Harry asked quietly as the waitress returned with the cups. "Thank you." Harry said politely, taking his cup and placing it down on the table in front of him, the steam rising up from the cup as he continued to focus on Elizabeth and seeing the haunted looked that flashed in her eyes.
"Yes, remember what I said to you before, the tears were windows that showed what could be, what may have been, normally on a small scale?" She asked and he nodded his head, remembering the conversation on the first day that they had met. "That was just the tip of the Iceberg. When I was little, I could open them to anywhere, anytime, there was nothing that was kept from me if I wanted to do it." She smiled wistfully as she thought back to the time when she was a little girl, when she hadn't known what was really going on in the world, when she hadn't known the truth about Comstock. "I always thought they were some kind of Wish Fulfilment, I would travel and visit places that I'd never been before and get to do anything. I always returned home though, I always just felt myself called back to where I had left. As I grew older, the doors became harder to open and I was only able to open the windows and even then they took time and became harder and harder to open." She stopped, looking down at her drink, taking a deep breath as she tried to think back to those times.
"You don't have to tell me this." Harry said kindly, seeing how much discomfort she was in, he didn't want her to deal with things like this if they were causing her this much pain just to think about it.
"It's fine, I promised I'd tell you everything and that is what I'm going to do, but to truly understand we need to start at the beginning. My birth name isn't Elizabeth," she said already going for the first of the big bombshells. "When I was born, I was born as Anna DeWitt. My father was a man called Booker DeWitt, He had been a soldier and after that a Pinkerton before he got fired from that for being too extreme even for them." She said with disdain, "this was around the time I was born. He gave into drinking and gambling and racked up a hefty debt when he was approached with an offer." She stopped again taking several deep calming breaths. "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt."
The implication hit Harry like a brick straight away, there would only be one girl involved in this situation that they could possibly be referring to. "He gave you up? As payment for a debt?" Harry asked in disgust and Elizabeth sighed, nodding her head shakily.
"The man who took me from him was a man named Comstock, Zachary Hale Comstock." She continued biting back the vile taste she felt when she thought about him. "He was sterile and needed a child for his grand gesture, he found my father, broken by drinks and gambling and offered him the money to clear the debt if he gave me up. I don't know what my father was thinking but I want to believe he did it purely to make sure I lived a better life, a life that he couldn't support." She withdrew a handkerchief from her pocket, dabbing lightly at her eyes as she felt them start to water while thinking about it. "Comstock came from another time, one where he was able to fund the research for Rosalind Lutece to create her machine which allowed her to open tears." Elizabeth paused again, watching Harry.
"So this power can be recreated through science?" Harry asked curiously and Elizabeth nodded her head.
"It's hard, it's expensive and it's unstable, through the use of these tears he was able to pass himself off as a prophet but they came at a price. He became sterile and riddled with cancer tumours. But he had seen something a future that his child would reign destruction and cleanse 'the Sodom below' and I was that child." She spoke sadly, "my father tried to get me back, he tried to stop them from taking me through the rift and that is how I lost my finger." She stopped, her mind flashing to the alternate Comstock, the one that she had chased to Rapture and the fate of the Anna which he had tried to take then. She shook her head, banishing the thoughts before she could dwell on them, it was a mistake coming here for her, but not for Harry, to see what could have happened in a world was something other than what he had experience, to visit a place that was so different to anything that he would possibly ever see. "This is the reason that the doorways open up for me. Because I am scattered into different dimensions, different times, Rosalind Lutece said it best when she described it as this: The Universe doesn't like mixing its peas with its porridge." She stopped again, waiting for Harry to process what she had told him, it was a lot to take in.
"So the pool you caught me in, that was something from another time or place?" Harry asked and Elizabeth nodded.
"It was another place in another reality, I had no intention of leaving part of you behind but it happened." She explained, reaching over and taking his hand. "I didn't want to place this burden on you Harry." She promised softly, "the ability to access this power is both a blessing and a curse, a horrible curse knowing what you can do but knowing the actions can go horribly wrong." She explained sadly, "Tell me, what do you think you could do with that power?" She asked and Harry looked thoughtful, trying to work out where she was going with that question. "Think personally, what could you do with that power? What have you wished for? What has been your desire growing up the way you did?" She asked question after question and Harry knew where she was going with it.
"You're referring to my parents aren't you?" Harry asked, knowing the answer before she spoke it, knowing that the power to go anywhere and at any time would essentially allow him to visit his parents and change it or bring them through to this dimension.
"Don't," Elizabeth spoke hollowly, "That door should stay shut Harry, to bring them through to current time would break their minds, to change the past by saving them wouldn't change what happened to you." She spoke and Harry tilted his head, looking at her with more confusion. "Think of a tree, the trunk of the tree is time, each branch is a choice made in that time and each twig and leaf is another action, each one coming off from the other," She started and he nodded in understanding. "If you were to save them, you wouldn't change your past, they would still be dead here, the difference is, that you would create a branch that would have them surviving. There are already plenty of them, an infinite number of them, this time just isn't one of them." She explained sadly. "in this timeline, they are resting in peace, they have passed on and it would be dangerous to mess with the natural order of things in that way." She explained knowingly. "When I was escaping Columbia, we needed to gain access to a place, but we couldn't without my 'mother's' handprint. She had passed away, years ago, murdered in fact by Comstock." She said and bit back the urge to shout in frustration at his actions. "I went to her tomb, she had been preserved in a glass coffin, I was going to remove her hand when my powers were forcefully activated, it brought her back but not as a person, not truly as a ghost either. She was something in between, an abomination that was created not just by what she was but also by the beliefs that I had, my own perspective of her." She explained and Harry stared in shock, to find that the girl had created a wraith in her attempts to... for lack of a better term, mutilate her dead mothers body. there was a growing sense of dread in his gut with regards to how she had acted.
"I won't try and raise them, I won't try and save them." Harry promised quietly and Elizabeth stopped talking, focusing on her cup of tea, not looking Harry in the eyes as she remembered those screams the wraith had made. "But why did you bring me here?" He asked, trying to shift the topic onto something slightly less depressing.
"Two main reasons for this place, this location, this time. The first was to show you my power, I could have taken you anywhere in the world, I had been tempted by Paris, I do love Paris." She paused, smiling wistfully as she thought about the City that she had visited after everything, even if it had only been for a while before other events happened, "but with the magical world having instant transportation from location to location, I knew it had to be somewhere unique that I took you, somewhere that didn't exist in your reality. If we had just simply gone to Paris then what I could do, could easily be dismissed as another form of magical transportation and I wanted to show you real proof. The second reason was to give you a chance to escape the Magical World for a few days, to let you rest away from the portraits watching your every move, to take you away from the castle and to truly show you how your powers will manifest over time, I am going to teach you when they fully start to awaken. I don't know how long it will take, but when it does, I don't want you to accidentally do something like dump everyone in the North Pole or something with you being unaware of how the powers work." She joked and Harry snorted. "Don't laugh it could happen. I should tell you about the first time I started using the power… actually lets not, that was embarrassing." She joked playfully and Harry started chuckling. "After you've got yourself under control we're heading to the hotel. I've booked rooms for us, don't ask about the planning behind trying to organise it all, just know that I have... it gets confusing." She mock whispered the last bit to him. "Then we can head around, take a look at the shops, see what we can find, for all we know, you may be able to find some new Christmas items that you want." She finished her drink, smiled at Harry, standing up and heading off inside to pay.
Harry sat calmly, his mind working on what he had been told. There were an infinite number of doorways and he had been given the key to unlock them all. He looked down at his hand, looking at the missing part of his finger. Something so simple unlocking so much. He pulled himself to his feet, grabbing his crutch as Elizabeth walked back out. "That's that all paid for. Let's go." She said walking over to him, hooking his other arm with hers as they walked slowly through the garden area. It's amazing isn't it? What they managed to do down here." She gestured with her hand to the trees that had been brought down with the city, kept alive through artificial lights, helping keep the constant level of Oxygen in the city. Without these trees the people down here would have probably suffocated a long time ago." She explained as they walked across the grass. They walked through a door that lifted as they came up to it, a sign advertising the Atlantic Express. "We'll need to travel to a different section of the city for the Hotel, this will be the quickest way there." She explained, leading him towards what looked like a submarine attached to heavy duty metal beams that ran forwards and into the water. "One adult and one child ticket please." She said as they approached the Ticket Booth, the man behind the glass looking bored but nodded his head getting the tickets as Elizabeth dug out the money. She took the tickets, the barriers opening up to let them through. "Between me and you, I don't think I'm going to get used to referring to myself as an adult, definitely not for a few years at least." She joked as they entered the transit system. On board, there were already several people waiting for the train to depart, the two of them sitting at the front with Elizabeth making sure that Harry got to sit next to the window. "To truly appreciate Rapture, you need to see it as you would if you had come from the outside." Elizabeth spoke as the vehicle started moving, slowly at first as it dropped into the water, making its way along the tracks.
Harry watched out the window, fascinated as he saw the bright lights that illuminated the ocean floor from various hubs of Rapture, he saw a sign that advertised a night club, a restaurant, a new art gallery, so many signs, so well illuminated that it allowed him to see the fish that swam through the ocean around the buildings. "How did they manage to build this?" He asked Elizabeth, tearing his view away from the outside to look at her.
"I don't know the full details, from what I believe, they built hubs in sections above water and then lowered them down to the ocean floor, it was a lot of work and very dangerous." She explained before glancing around making sure none of the others in the train were paying attention to them "In this time and place, the Utopia stayed true to its ideals, this is what Rapture should have been if the human factor had been marginalised."
"The human factor?"
"A philosophy to live by is only as good as the people who act upon it. In Rapture, the result was nearly always the same, the people who had kept from those that didn't because they had earnt it and they were not given to charity, there was no public funding on anything, people who were either unable to support themselves which in a way was true to the philosophy that it was built on but that inherent hostility and corruption broke it. That and the criminal element led by a man named Fontaine..." She trailed off, sighing sadly.
"Elizabeth..." Harry said looking at her. She turned to face him and he gestured to her face looking slightly panicked. "Your nose is bleeding." He said in shock.
Elizabeth stared for a second, lifting her hand to her noise feeling the warmth of the blood from her nose, she pulled her hand back looking at the blood on her fingers looking confused and shocked. "No, this shouldn't be happening." Elizabeth muttered, quickly grabbing her handkerchief and dabbing at the blood. "This happens to those that are pulled through but not... why is this happening? is it because I'm here? I know what happened here," she continued muttering to herself thinking of what happened. "Was this a mistake coming here?" She asked in concern before schooling her features, making sure that Harry saw that she was calm. "Sorry, a bit of a panic for a second." She tried to dismiss it but he was already looking at her with doubt. "I'm fine Harry, it's an effect I wasn't expecting to happen to me, when a person is pulled into another dimension or time their mind tries to make sense of it all, during the escape from Columbia I had to travel to multiple variations of Columbia to organise things so we could escape. We went from one where we had just fought and killed soldiers into a time where they were alive, their minds couldn't comprehend what was truly going on. In an attempt for them to understand it, the mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist. At least that's what the Lutece Twins explained. It's why these nosebleeds happen. But it shouldn't happen to me." She admitted and pointed at Harry. "And it shouldn't happen to you either, the others are pulled through forcefully, we are able to open the door and walk through without much of a concern." Elizabeth explained and Harry nodded slowly, a look of concern on his face. "Harry, I'm okay, it's going to be fine." She ruffled his hair appreciatively and he grumbled, trying to bring a small bit of order to the chaos that was his hair. She laughed at his reaction and the two fell into a pleasant quiet as they continued on their way.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
At Hogwarts, all was not well, Dumbledore was confused about something and it related to the Boy-Who-Lived and the new Assistant. He knew they were friends and he had no problem with that, in fact, it warmed his heart for Harry to have made such a strong bond already. What confused him was how they had left the School.
No one knew.
They had been witnessed entering the Ravenclaw Common room separately but neither exited. He had asked Professor Flitwick to investigate and the diminutive Charms Professor had returned and informed him the Common Room was Deserted.
So where did they go?
Part of him worried that Elizabeth had been placed to try and get Harry, to take him away from the safety of Hogwarts and kill him. But that part was stopped by the rational part, if she had truly been a threat to him then there would have been more suitable times to act to kill him before they had come to the School if she was truly a threat that is. So he'd speak to one person, a person that knew the two even if they hadn't interacted as much since they came to Hogwarts: Bathsheda Babbling. She would know more, she had been quite secretive about what these Tears were that she had witnessed when the runes had woken Elizabeth,
a knock on the door. Dumbledore looked up from the paperwork that he had been meaning to do but had been distracted by thoughts about Harry. "Enter." He called out and the door opened, Bathsheda entering. "Ah Professor Babbling." Dumbledore greeted kindly.
"Headmaster," She responded just as kindly as she sat down. "You wanted to see me about something?" She asked as he held out the dish of Lemon Drops that sat on his desk. "I'm fine thank you," she politely refused and he placed the dish on his desk again, taking one of the sweets for himself.
"I've been meaning to ask you something, something I'm curious to learn more about. When Elizabeth first awoke, you mentioned about these 'tears' opening up during the process." Dumbledore spoke and she nodded her head cautiously. "I was wondering if you'd be able to explain them some more?" He questioned gently, the brief explanation that he had been given by McGonagall was vague and left more questions than answers, Elizabeth had spent more than a month with Bathsheda so if someone knew what was going on with the tears it had to be her.
"What do you know already?" She asked trying to find a base on where to start.
"Only what Minerva has told me. They are... windows I think she said, to what could have been, an alternate dimension I believe is the words that she said were used to describe them." Dumbledore explained and Bathsheda nodded.
"From the way they were explained to me, they are things that could have been, a difference here or there, sometimes miniscule, like a different colour table a different flavoured sweet on your desk instead of your infamous lemon drops." She smiled at the slightly silly expression that crossed Dumbledore's face at the mere thought of his lemon drops being gone. The man had an addiction and it wasn't anything dangerous, but heaven forbid you get in the way of his lemon drops. "Others are bigger, when we visited the Dursley's she told me that she could have pulled through an alternate version of the house, she could have forcefully shown them what life would have been like if Harry had never turned up." Bathsheda explained, thinking back to the meeting with the Dursley's.
"She really threatened that?" Albus asked in concern, to threaten another person was bad enough but to turn their entire world upside down?
"No, she didn't, she didn't do anything except take Harry off their hands until next summer." Bathsheda quickly explained, "afterwards, when we were returning to the house she told me and I told her to keep it quiet." Bathsheda explained without regret. "even from you." She added knowingly.
"Myself? my dear, do you trust me so little?" He asked in confusion, trying to work out what he had done to offend Bathsheda to the point that she would keep secrets from her.
"That's not it in the slightest, I asked her to keep it quiet because what you know, eventually everyone knows and not because you would tell but because one of these portraits will blab." She spoke with a sweeping gesture to the Portraits that surrounded the office, "they're everywhere, in your office, scattered throughout houses across the country, in St Mungo's in the Ministry." She continued on barely stopping other than to lower her arm. "What do you think would happen if they knew, how long do you think they could keep it a secret? The only reason I'm telling you this is because I can tell you've already set spells to stop them hearing this conversation."
"Keep what a secret?"
"You're going to find out eventually, she can see, Headmaster." She said seriously and Dumbledore found himself smiling slightly.
"I am well aware of her being able to see, her eyes do seem to work perfectly fine." Dumbledore joked and Bathsheda couldn't help but laugh even if the joke had been terrible, the unexpected nature of it just caught her off guard.
"Well, she can see that way as well, but what I'm talking about is the ability to see everything. She's a seer or at least something like that and she can tap into it to pull things through to reality." Bathsheda explained, getting it off her chest about Elizabeth. It had gnawed at her to keep it quiet, to keep the secret from people who were good people but it hadn't really been her place to tell, even now, she knew she didn't want to tell but with the way the investigation into how Harry survived, the answer would come out now.
"So with Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked, the pieces starting to fall together.
"With Harry and his survival, she was definitely involved, not in harming him but keeping him alive, you no doubt heard about the... pond that opened up below him that kept him from turning into paste on the ground?" She stopped for a second, waiting for his nod to continue. "That would have been her. In fact, I know it was her. I asked her myself after the incident, she opened the area a pool of water that was meant to be a lot bigger but she got knocked, it threw her focus off and she only managed the small body of water and only just managed to get him out in time before it closed though you saw the results of that." She said quietly. "Part of his finger is gone and magic doesn't seem to want to let us grow it back." She said, telling Dumbledore what he already knew in regards to the finger.
"Do we know why it can't be grown back?"
"No idea, Elizabeth was clueless about that as well." Bathsheda said with a slight shrug. "As far as we've been able to tell, Magic still believes it's a part of him, just not here." She explained the way that Elizabeth had guessed.
"What does this mean for Harry in the long run?" Dumbledore asked in concern, everything he had done had been for the boy, placing him with his Muggle family to protect him from the enemies that would have tried to kill him, the ignorance that while many would consider cruel, to not know why someone went after you was for him to enjoy life as a child without worrying about someone hunting for his blood and constantly looking over his shoulder.
"In all honesty I don't know, Elizabeth doesn't want to or can't share the results behind her capabilities, although I'm curious I won't push her to find out more it's not my place to ask." Bathsheda stated and Dumbledore nodded his head.
"I will not push her into revealing her past, but I do have to ask, do you trust her?" Dumbledore asked seriously, that was the key part, he was willing to trust his staff until they stepped too far, so far she had been a model employee, albeit the slight hiccup with her staying in the Hospital Wing all that time but he could let that slide, to care for a friend that much was definitely something to praise not punish.
"I trust her, we've spoken, spoken about a lot of things but I can assure you that even though she has skeletons in her closet, we won't be seeing them here, there will be no harm brought about by her past." Bathsheda explained with a finality that made Dumbledore nod. "Do we have any indication where she and Harry have gone?" Bathsheda asked, Dumbledore shook his head, "shame, I was hoping you'd know, I know they'll be back in three days but I will not lie, I am curious as to where they've gone," Bathsheda finished, glancing around the room at the portraits and artefacts on the bookshelf, many of which seemed to have stopped moving from the last time that she had been here. "Your devices... are they broken?"
"They are linked to Mr Potter, tools to make sure that he was healthy when he was with his Aunt and their family." At this point, with the amount of involvement Bathsheda had with Harry, she would find out eventually, "they are designed that if he is anywhere in the world, they would monitor his health, nothing invasive I hasten to add, just enough to keep track without being intrusive." Dumbledore quickly placated, seeing the look of surprise and annoyance on Bathsheda's face, knowing it would be a tricky thing to talk about but at the same time knowing that she would be better off hearing it.
"So, because they're not working it means he's out of range?" Bathsheda asked slowly, keeping a tight rein on her patience and self-control it would not do to explode at her boss at this time. He was essentially spying on Harry, regardless of how much he tried to claim they were not invasive, they were designed to monitor and watch him and that interfered with his privacy, to put it bluntly, in her eyes, it was wrong.
"The fact that they are not working indicates that he is not anywhere on Earth. The range of these spells aren't tied to a nearby focus. They should in theory work wherever he is located on the planet even if it doesn't give me a location." Dumbledore continued to explain, "These should show the condition of his health, they should still be functioning but alas as you can see they are not."
"So, if they can't find him he's not on Earth?" Bathsheda asked dubiously. "Or has there just been some way to hide them from the effects of the spell?" She asked and Dumbledore didn't respond. "Either way, I do not believe that he is in any danger, they will return and then I am sure you can ask Elizabeth herself when she comes back."
"Thank you Bathsheda, I appreciate you telling me what you can." Dumbledore said politely and Bathsheda nodded, getting up from her chair, turning to walk out the room and then stopping.
"Oh one more thing Headmaster." She said, fishing a piece of paper out of her pocket, "there is one more thing that I stumbled across while studying those runes." She walked back to the desk, placing the folded piece of paper onto the table. "There was one rune that I've only just managed to decipher, the results are there, if you feel you need to know open it, but I request one thing... do not act on it without knowing the truth." And with that she left, leaving Dumbledore to look at the folded-up piece of paper, wondering what kind of Pandora's Box could be opened next.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
The night had passed quietly, it was a strange feeling that Harry had, sleeping in the hotel room hearing the difference of the gentle breeze in the evening in comparison to the dullness of sounds brought about by the water against the glass window. To be underwater like this was an interesting experience to say the least.
They had arrived at the hotel, it was later than they expected by the time that they had arrived he had felt drained, his body still healing and it had left him exhausted. Elizabeth had booked two rooms for them to stay at, next to each other and even one of those hotel rooms that had a linked door. He remembered his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon talking about a hotel room like that after they had come back from one of their vacations, they had complained about it because of the 'risk to their privacy' but at this point it had been something that would allow them to easily sort out what they were going to do. In the morning she wanted to head to an area called Fort Frolic, apparently it was an area dedicated to music and the performing arts. She wanted to explore it and he was more than happy to go along with it as well. She knew the area although he wasn't clear on how she knows the area. He didn't want to push her because although he was curious he had seen her freak out.
And if it was enough to cause her to freak out, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what had caused it to happen. But at the same time, she knew more about his past than he did about hers. Was that fair? Not really but at the same time, Harry knew that fairness didn't always come into it.
He sighed, standing up from where he had sat on the bed, the crutch discarded to one side as he hobbled over to the window, his body aching against every moment. he leant against the wall, staring out into the water watching the fish swim by, smiling slightly as they continued their life, probably a bit changed because of the underwater city but not turned completely upside down, like his was slowly becoming. Things had changed so much since he had learnt the truth and it had barely been five months since the truth had been revealed to him. He learnt the truth about his parents, that they had been murdered, not killed in a car crash and that he had survived by chance, there were so many things he wanted to know still in that regards, how could he have survived something that killed everyone else. Elizabeth had made a valid point in that regards. What made his mother's sacrifice so special in comparison to every other parent who died for their child? It didn't add up and it didn't make sense. The notion that it was because other parents didn't love their child was a stupid notion, there had to have been something else.
Or perhaps it didn't happen like they claim, there were no witnesses after all
The voice in the back of his, his rational part kicked in, trying to think of alternate solutions, it was something that made sense. If the Killing Curse wasn't the thing to strike him then something else must have done it. That left only one question.
What?
And now another curve ball had been thrown his way, finding Elizabeth had been an accident, if Dudley had never chased him that day he would have never entered the house, if he had never entered the house he would have never stumbled across the room and if he had never stumbled across the room then she would have still been trapped there, in that glass container until someone else had come across. he leant forwards, resting his brow on the cool glass as he thought. Now there was something else going on in the School, his broom had been cursed and it had almost killed him, it would have killed him if it wasn't for Elizabeth. And before that, there was the Troll Incident, he had tried to make his way there, he knew that Hermione wouldn't know about the troll but had been stopped by the ever vigilant Ravenclaw Prefects before he could escape and practically frog marched back to the Common Room. There were too many things going on that needed to be worked out.
But this power he had access to, it was something that to be honest, he hadn't thought about the potential behind it, at least not until this evening, with Elizabeth explaining its true power, a doorway to anywhere and anytime. With that at his fingertips, what could he do with it. It was a power he wasn't sure he wanted and at the same time he was almost brimming with excitement to try it out, to see what happens. He yawned, tiredness from the day catching up with him, lifting his head off the window, looking at the imprint that had been left on the surface. He'd think about it later, for now, rest and tomorrow... A whole new world to explore.
He limped back over to the bed, sliding back under the sheets and closing his eyes, unaware of the door that joined his with Elizabeth's clicking shut as he fell asleep.
Elizabeth had heard him moving about, she was concerned for his health both physically and mentally. Everything that had happened to him, everything that the Lutece seemed to imply would happen to him or could happen to him. There was no question in her mind. Until the problem was solved, she would keep an eye on him. Help him face the challenges and the trials that were to come. She would talk more about the powers tomorrow. For now, like him, she was tired and needed to sleep.
Closing her eyes, she quickly fell into a restless sleep, dreams of when she had last come to Rapture, dreams of Columbia, dreams of things she wished to forget. Living Nightmares that followed her onwards and she wondered if she'd ever truly escape them.
The next day brought about shopping, both clothing and music, Harry had found himself drawn to the music, he had heard a lot of music played by the CD player that Dudley owned, but it was nothing that truly caught his attention, half the time he had been dubious that it could be called music, it sounded like a lot of loud noise mangled together. Harry found himself pulled more towards orchestral styles of music, classical, and others along that variety although he wouldn't admit it he found himself with a guilty pleasure in music that would be classed as cheesy pop music. He wasn't going to admit that last part publicly to anyone... ever but it was there. He had picked out some music, and Elizabeth also bought a few things as well before they had moved on, Elizabeth directing him to a clothes store, he let himself get pulled along but didn't really want to go into the store, letting her take a look around by herself as he waited, sat on a bench outside with their bags. He had a book open in his lap, reading it slowly as he waited for Elizabeth. "Only you could be in an entirely different and unique place and still end up reading a book." She teased lightly, holding a bag in her hand as he looked up.
"Well I did say I'd wait for you here, not really able to go anywhere so may as well read." He replied and She laughed, messing up his already messy hair.
"Don't ever change Harry." She said as they continued their walk, continuing down the street, stopping every now and again to look into windows of stores to see if anything caught their interest.
"Elizabeth?" Harry spoke, hesitantly.
"Hmm?" Elizabeth replied with a slight hum as she looked away from the window of a Photography shop, pictures of people that had visited the store and from events that had happened around the city of Rapture hung up to show the quality of the photos.
"You said you could go anywhere and anytime." He started slowly, taking a quick look around to see if people were paying attention but thankfully it seemed that those who were around were more preoccupied by their own conversations and last minute Christmas shopping. "When you said anytime, did you mean the future as well? How does that even work?" He asked and Elizabeth frowned as she thought about the question being asked.
"The future is a tricky thing, there is no set path as to how it might unfold, there are fixed points, they always happen, they have always happened and they will always happen." She explained slowly, trying to work out herself what the best way to describe it was. "Time is strange to put it simply, it will have fixed points that must come to pass but how they come to pass varies, you would in theory create the event at the point of your arrival but everything else before then would have happened as if you had not been there if you understand what I'm trying to say." Elizabeth explained and Harry stared at her blankly. "Simple way... simple... Ah, I know, picture this point as Point A, where we are here and now, you walk through a doorway to point C, somewhere down the line, say only a small jump like the time it would have taken you to walk to the end of the street." She pointed down the end at the Bathysphere terminal. "In the time it takes you to get there, we have Point B, that gap would still happen but it's events will be shaped without you there, it is essentially a 'what would happen if you were not there' you could only see the effects of that after you arrive at Point C." She tried to keep it simple and she hoped it would work, "Going back to the tree analogy, just because you're not there, the branches are still growing, this one would be its own separate branch of 'point a to c minus Harry Potter' if you understand what I'm trying to say." She stopped again to look at him to see a glimmer of understanding. "Like I said, it gets confusing and throws out so many rules that like magic, even when you think you know what it is, it still throws you completely off balance." She comforted and the two continued their walk.
HPCVHPCV
It was a tired but more relaxed Harry and Elizabeth that returned, on the third day, weighed down with bags from the shopping that they had purchased, reappearing in the deserted Ravenclaw Common Room and quickly placing their bags down on to the sofa. "I suppose I should let Dumbledore know that we are back. No doubt he has questions as to where we were, if for nothing else other than curiosities sake." Elizabeth said as she dropped undignified into the soft chair sitting by the fire. "I think I'll do that in the morning." She said with a tired dismissal. "Harry, what do you plan to do now with what you've learnt?" She asked as Harry sat in the adjacent chair, running a hand through his hair as he thought about the situation.
"With these... powers?" He asked and she nodded, "at the moment I plan to do nothing, I can't see them consistently to do anything, when I find them, who knows. There's so much in the world that I'd like to see and do, so many things the Dursley's kept from me." He smiled at the thought of just opening a door to somewhere in the world and just walking out, away from all things Dursley related this summer. "But I want to stay here, learn magic, make my parents proud." He said seriously.
"Harry, I don't think they could be any prouder of you," Elizabeth replied kindly. "You've done so much, endured so much and you're still a good person. Many lesser men would have broken with even half the things you have dealt with already."
"Then there's the more recent problem, who tried to kill me, why did they try to kill me? What is the secret that's going on in this School?" Harry asked curiously as he stared at the fire.
"Trolls, death corridors, bank thefts... which may or may not be related to these situations. So, what do you plan to do?" She was willing to step back, let him come up with an idea, she'd guide him, she'd mentor him and she would be a friend, but she wasn't going to try and hijack his life and lead him through everything. Let him make his decisions and she would step in if he went too far out of line.
"Talk to Hagrid, that's what was suggested, which means the thing behind the door has to be an animal of some sort." Harry said thoughtfully, remembering a discussion he had heard between the older students regarding the Groundskeeper and his love of dangerous animals. "Something to guard something." He took a thoughtful guess, "if the bank heist happened and failed and the item in question was here, then the creature must be guarding it."
"Assuming they're connected." Elizabeth pointed out and Harry nodded in agreement.
"Assuming they're connected." He repeated with a nod of his head, "Though I have no doubt that they are." Harry added and she laughed and nodded slightly.
"Going off your current luck, there is no doubt about it." She said and the two continued to talk until the early hours of the morning, until they eventually fell asleep in the chairs that they had been sat in.
The next morning, Harry and Elizabeth had gone their separate ways, Harry to Hagrid's Hut, to ask him what he knew, Elizabeth had been summoned to the Headmasters office so they had said their goodbyes and had agreed to compare notes.
Harry trudged through the snowy grounds, cursing the cold after coming from the warmth of Rapture, the city had to be very carefully regulated in public areas, the pipes ran deep sea water which was cold enough to freeze if it wasn't properly monitored so it was generally warmer all year around there, at least that was the explanation that Harry had been given when he had spoken to a few people there. They had been happy to explain to him about the City, the man in question Bill McDonagh had taken great pride in telling Harry about the work that had gone into it. The man took pride in his work, anyone who looked at him as he spoke could tell that.
And now here Harry was, making his way through the deep snow down to a wooden hut that was inevitably going to be freezing cold. He arrived, looking at the building and stepped up onto the step in front of the door, lifting his hand and knocking on it politely. Inside he could hear the barking of a dog and he braced himself, "back Fang, get back!" Hagrid called from behind the door and the sound of scuffling as the door was pulled open to see Hagrid standing there, his grip on the collar of the large dog. "Oh, Harry, I didn't expect to see you... was meaning to send you a letter at some point inviting you down but then the Quidditch incident... nasty bit of business that, come in, come in." The giant of a man said politely, pulling Fang back, "come on fang, get back, let him in you beast." He said to the dog that still tried to get to Harry, "don't worry, he won't harm you, he's just a bit excitable." Hagrid warned as Harry stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Now, what can I do for you Harry?" He asked as he let go of a now slightly calmer Fang.
"I wanted to talk to you about animals," Harry said simply "and I heard you were here when my parents were and I was wondering if you had any stories about them, I keep hearing about them but not about them if you know what I mean."
"I do, I do, terrible thing what happened to them, great people your parents were." The man frowned sadly though it was hard to tell with his bushy hair, beard, and eyebrows. "Take a seat, I've just brewed a pot of tea..." Hagrid turned, moving into the kitchen area as Harry took a seat at the dining table. Hagrid seemed a nice enough person and everyone had said that he was a good person to know, kind and friendly to all. Harry was looking forward to talking to him.
At the same time that Harry was talking to Hagrid, Elizabeth was up in Dumbledore's office, she was at patiently, waiting for him to start the conversation, he was looking at her intently trying to understand more about her. "Miss DeWitt..."
"Please, call me Elizabeth, Headmaster." Elizabeth offered politely and he nodded his head.
"Then you can call me Albus," they hadn't really spoken much since she had started and he did regret that, from what he had learnt while she had been here, she had been nothing but helpful to any and all who asked. She had ideas that were less conflicting with the different social sectors of the group, understanding the need for change but understanding that tradition was also important. The only negative that had arisen had been the argument between herself and Severus, but here she was as asked and from the looks of it willing to talk. "I need to ask you a couple of questions about the past three days that you departed the grounds with Mr Potter." He spoke calmly and paused to offer her a Lemon Drop.
"Oh thank you." Elizabeth said politely, taking a sweet and placing it into her mouth, her nose scrunching at the initial taste of it. "What did you need to ask?" She asked.
"There are two important questions that I need to ask of you, the first one is a security concern in regards to the school, it is how you left on your excursion." Dumbledore questioned focusing on the simplest aspect at first. "You were seen by the portraits entering the Ravenclaw Common Room but you never exited. concern was raised when you never left and Professor Flitwick went in himself to look for you two." He explained and Elizabeth cringed slightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't think that anyone would have been paying that much attention to when we left." She admitted with a slight blush, "I can guarantee that it isn't a threat to the School, it is something that only myself and possibly in the future Harry can do." Elizabeth explained, her mind going over the ways that she could keep this as quiet as possible as the portraits in the room were paying close attention to the conversation.
"This has something to do with these Tears does it not?" Dumbledore asked and Elizabeth nodded, this was going to be a long, roundabout talk. Time to see how good her evasive answers really were when pushed to the test.
While Elizabeth was dreading her conversation, Harry was enjoying his, Hagrid was a lot smarter and knowledgeable about things than his accent and appearance would otherwise present to others, especially when he talked about the animals that he cared for. "Hagrid, I've been meaning to ask someone," Harry started up hesitantly trying to appear nervous about it but at the same time he generally was nervous, he didn't want to offend the man who had been kind enough to him already and apparently had wanted to come and be the one to introduce him to Hogwarts and magic in its entirety. "I got a bit turned around, near the forbidden Third Floor Corridor."
"Harry, you shouldn't be anywhere near there, it's forbidden for a reason." Hagrid said chidingly, "It's dangerous to be there, you heard Professor Dumbledore back in the Opening Feast." He reminded and Harry nodded.
"I know that Hagrid, I got turned around, it was shortly before Halloween but with all the chaos that followed there, I didn't get a chance to ask someone about it. I heard something moving in there, an animal if I had to guess and it was big." Harry said and Hagrid frowned.
"Look Harry, leave well enough alone, it doesn't concern you what's behind there." Hagrid said with a seriousness and Harry nodded his head.
"Albus, can I ask you a question?" Elizabeth asked as she looked around the room, it felt strange to refer to him by his first name but he has asked so she would do it.
"You can ask, but whether or not I can give you the answer depends on the question." He said politely.
"Why was You-Know-Who after Harry?" She questioned looking at the moving devices on the bookcase.
"Ah, alas, the first question you ask is one I cannot tell you." Dumbledore spoke pleasantly though there was a slight edge to it, almost undetectable but it was there. "I have theories as to why he went after the Potters but without proof I'd rather not say, it does not do to dwell on that for now and forget to live our lives. Though I assure you, if I ever do find the full reason, I will make sure to let Mr Potter know." Dumbledore said and Elizabeth nodded with reluctance, she felt something off with that answer, the look he gave her told more than he probably realised.
"I understand, but to follow on that, what is with the Forbidden Corridor?" She asked bluntly and Dumbledore smiled a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm concerned that it'll be a threat to the school either from something within or something from outside the School."
"You have nothing to fear Miss DeWitt," he said reverting to her last name for a reason that Elizabeth couldn't decipher. "The third floor has plenty of protections on it to both protect the students from their own curiosity and to keep 'outside' forces out. I assure you that as long as I am headmaster here, I will not let anything happen to my students if I can avoid it."
"And what about when you leave for something, you are head of several different governmental bodies aren't you?" She asked and Dumbledore conceded the point with a nod.
"Rest assured." Dumbledore started in a tone that would brook no opposition. "My first thoughts are to the health and wellbeing of every student and staff member that is in this school, the subject of the Third Floor Corridor is closed." Dumbledore said with finality and Elizabeth nodded.
"Fine, I just hope you realise that this situation is playing with fire and like you I'm concerned about the safety of the students. I hope they don't get burned in the process of containing this fire."
"I've looked after lots of animals Harry," Hagrid spoke happily as Harry tried a new tactic while talking to Hagrid, "The School has a lot of them in the Forest and I help Professor Kettleburn take care of some of the more excitable ones. The thing about these creatures is that a lot of them are smarter than people give credit for. Many wizard has been hurt because they didn't respect that."
"What's the most dangerous creature that you've handled?" Harry asked in genuine curiosity, growing up muggle he had only heard the old fairy tales about magic and they were frowned upon by the Dursley's because they didn't fit in their small and narrow definition of 'normal.'
"Well... other than Fluffy, I've taken care of Acromantula's, think big spiders." Hagrid started, "the Thestrals are quite a handful at times as well," Hagrid mused and Harry picked up on Fluffy but thought about the subject at hand.
"Anything that you'd like to look at, there's so many magical creatures out there, anything that you'd want?" Harry asked and Hagrid practically beamed as he replied.
"Dragons, I'd love to own a dragon," He admitted, "they're fantastic creatures, I'd love to raise one." He said quite happily.
"You mentioned Fluffy as a dangerous creature... doesn't sound so dangerous with a name like that." Harry commented and Hagrid chuckled.
"Perhaps," he admitted with a chuckle before continuing "but don't let names fool you Harry, Fluffy can be a bit of a handful, Cerberuses aren't easy animals to tame." He said proudly and then winced. "I shouldn't have told you that." He admitted with a slight frown.
"Hagrid, you don't have to worry, I have no intention of going anywhere near Fluffy or the door too Fluffy at all." Harry promised and he was serious, he really didn't want to or plan to go there, he was just working on trying to solve what the puzzle was. It had caught his interest and now he wanted to solve it and not interfere in whatever Dumbledore was planning.
Hagrid changed the topic away from beasts, back to events and pranks that Harry's dad had gotten up to back in school. content with what he had found out Harry sat back in the chair, cup of tea in hand and listened to the stories of his parent's past.
TBC
Another chapter done, like I said, Rapture was a very small part of this, it was largely to go there to give a living example of Elizabeth's powers instead of having her just talk about it, which she still ended up doing but with the proof around her instead of just sitting in Hogwarts and talking. But I will say this is not the last time Rapture will appear. I have plans for the sunken city… and the floating one as well.
To the guest reviewer in regards to why Rapture as the location the two went to. I hope I explained it enough in this chapter with their discussion. In a world of magic, transporting someone to another place that they actively know about that hasn't really changed, like Paris wouldn't have been nearly as convincing then taking him to a location that doesn't actually exist. To the majority of people looking at her taking someone to a different place that they know about, it'd just look like a new form of magical travel and no more questions would really be asked. Instead she took him to Rapture which not only has no connection to Magic, it was also different enough and that big of a change that it would be more convincing as she talked about her ability.
As for the other statement in regards to pairings. I have no intention of pairing an eleven year old Harry with a twenty year old Elizabeth. I do have a few ideas for pairing but to be honest, I'm not even sure that there will be a main pairing. It's still up in the air and if any pairing does happen it would be further down the road.
Concerning future updates: I will be updating as normal the next couple of weeks but I will not be updating Christmas weekend and New Years weekend. After that, its back on track with the weekly updates.
Thanks for all the author alerts, story alerts and favourites. Each one is doing a great step to helping me deal with a couple of personal problems at the moment and they are all very much appreciated. Every review I get is also an added bonus, negative reviews just as well because it helps me think more on the story, makes me question if I need to change or edit things to clarify like the Hogsmeade Chapter, it helps me get better and I'm always happy to discuss ideas though if you do want me to respond I ask you to sign in because I want to try and avoid become one of those stories where the authors notes at the end are almost as long as the chapter itself.
Once again, thanks everyone for the feedback and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
