This is just an idea I had floating around in my head. If enough people are interested, I will continue it, it's not beta'd so there more than likely is mistakes. I'm not a writer this is just something I did to kill some time and the idea intrigued me.
The VeilHarry potter sighed, rubbing his hand beneath his eyes while looking down at the book perched on his knees. He was in a chamber which resembled an amphitheatre of old, torches flickered in sconces surrounding the walls and where a stage would normally be a stone archway with a black curtain which seemed to flutter in a non-existent breeze sat upon a raised dais, it seemed to exclude a sense of despair and uneasiness.
Harry tilted his head, once again he heard whispers from beyond the veil but as usual, he couldn't decipher what they were saying. For maybe the tenth time this morning he wished Hermione was here, but she was undertaking her mastery in Transfiguration under Headmistress McGonagall and couldn't get away for the morning.
Since the defeat of Voldemort, the trio had returned to Hogwarts for their final year even though they should have graduated the year previously. Kingsley had offered them positions within the Ministry even without finishing school, Harry and Ron were eager to join the Auror department on a fast-track course, being heroes of the Wizarding War a lot of avenues were open to them however Hermione had convinced them to return to Hogwarts, initially Harry and Ron were resistant but Hermione had a way of making them see things her way and a normal school year with their friends and no Death Eaters, Dementors, Snatchers, Voldemort and all sorts of evil sounded like fun, they hadn't really had any downtime since Bill and Fleurs wedding, they had a short time recuperating at Shell Cottage but that was overshadowed with planning for their heist at Gringotts Bank. So, they returned to Hogwarts.
Harry got to spend more time with Ginny and initially it was a lot of fun and as if nothing had changed but the simple fact was after most of a year apart and the hardships, they both had suffered they weren't the same people anymore. After a few months they mutually decided they were better off as friends. It was awkward at first but after spending Christmas at the Weasleys they were back as good friends. Ron and Hermione had time as a couple away from the prying eyes of the press who plastered the Golden Trio over the front pages at any opportunity. It seemed like the saying of opposites attract really worked in their case, Harry had never seen Ron happier, he had grown as a person a lot since he returned to the trio, following the Deluminator back to them. Hermione had lost a lot of her strictness and adherence to rules, you were more likely to find them both snuggled up in the rear of the common room sharing a blanket and laughing about something random.
At the end of the year a ball was held not just to celebrate the graduation of another year of students but to also celebrate the end of the Wizarding War which had spanned generations. Childish grudges were put aside and looking around the Great Hall groups were chatting animatedly, no divisions between houses or blood were evident, that's not to say there still weren't pockets of dissention but McGonagall was a far different head than Dumbledore who always saw the good in people often to the detriment of others, she would tolerate no bigotry and with Kingsley in charge of the Ministry and Voldemort's supporters and blood purists routed it lead to a much more enlightened Wizarding world. Hermione even joked that they might enter the twenty first century.
Hermione was approached by McGonagall before leaving Hogwarts and offered the opportunity to apprentice under her in the art of Transfiguration something that Hermione jumped at, McGonagall being a long-time favourite of hers.
Harry and Ron were once again offered positions as Auror Trainees, however having a year to sit back and relax made them realise that their days of chasing dark wizards weren't good ones and not something they wanted to dedicate their lives to. Ron decided to help George with Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, since the death of Fred it had been a struggle for George and Ron wanted to help his brother and his family.
Kingsley called Harry into the Ministry one day, since he had turned down the Auror position he had spent his time fixing up Grimmauld Place, but the depressing atmosphere was getting to him so even a visit to the Ministry was something to look forward to. Which is how Harry Potter ended up as Trainee Unspeakable Potter. Harry always liked learning and the challenge of researching obscure magic and away from the eyes of the public was a major draw to him. The only thing he asked of Kingsley is that on his days off he would be free to study the Veil in the Death Chamber and that he could divulge to Hermione and Ron anything he found from his studies on the Veil.
Which is how Harry found himself staring at a nearly indecipherable page of ancient Latin while once again wishing for Hermione's presence. For eight months he had spent every weekend in the Death Room despite Ron and Hermione trying to get him to go out on dates or attend Quidditch matches, something he did rarely just to spend some time with his friends and stop their nagging.
Two months ago he had managed to activate a section of runes on the lower edge of the arch, or at least he thought he had, they glowed briefly and the Veil rose as if a strong wind was blowing against it and Harry could of swore that he saw buildings through the Archway but that could have been his imagination it happened so quickly.
Sighing, he closed the book before picking it up, returning his wand to his arm holster he exited the Death Chamber, he would return tomorrow and try with a fresh mind. All he wanted now was some food and some sleep, looking at his watch, a gift from the Weasleys on his seventeenth birthday he realised it was nearly eleven at night, no wonder he felt so tired.
The next day Harry arrived shortly after ten in the morning, a new selection of books from Grimmauld Place library held under one arm while in the other a large Styrofoam container of muggle coffee was held. Harry always thought it was amusing bringing something so decidedly non-magical into one of the most magical places in the country. Placing the books down he took a long drink of his coffee and not for the first time he thought the mixture was almost magical in nature. Sitting down he pulled the first book towards him, the Arch stood as always, silent and imposing, the Veil itself fluttering in a non-existent wind. Harry new the odds of him figuring out the working of the Veil of Death were slim but until he figured out what happened to Sirius, he still held out some slim hope that he wasn't lost forever, something his friends had tried to disabuse him from several times, but Harry was nothing if not stubborn.
Opening the book, the first thing Harry noticed is that it had no table of contents or even a foreword, closing it he looked at the spine, handwritten on the spine in what he hoped was red ink and not the alternative red liquid was four words, "The Veil of Death" Opening the book again Harry started to skim through it, a lot just seemed to be speculation, but it did reference various articles and books over the centuries which seemed to mention the Arch and Veil, according to the author, the same veil had travelled the world, appearing in widespread locations throughout the centuries. Harry wondered if in fact it was the same archway or there were more than one of them.
Skimming further on there were detailed sketches of the archway focusing on the rune clusters at shoulder height. Picking the book up Harry approached the veil, being careful to always maintain at least an arm's length of distance he held up the book while looking at the left column, they matched. Doing the same with the right again there was a match, Harry hummed to himself while walking backwards and forwards in front of the Archway, the book contained several pages of diagrams with what appeared to be wand movements, but the language was not something Harry was able to read or even identify. Slipping a piece of parchment in to keep his location, he started skipping pages seeing if there was a translation. The book was strange in that it appeared it had been written by different authors as some was in English although it seemed old fashioned, other parts were in Latin and what Harry though was Spanish and German, while some seemed oriental in nature.
Harry looked around making sure he was still alone, while the Death Chamber was usually empty, from time to time an Unspeakable would walk through on the way to elsewhere or just to converse. Pulling his wand from his holster he flipped the book back to his parchment marker, he had been warned about doing exactly what he was contemplating, performing magic that he was unaware of the consequences with backup. Harry was impatient though, being a Sunday only a skeleton crew maintained the Ministry so getting a partner to accompany him while he performed the magic if he could even get permission could take hours. He had performed small bits of magic before against the Arch and the Veil with varied results across the months, nothing untoward had occurred so he was prepared to take the risk.
Harry practiced the wand movements and the pronunciation of the strange language or what he thought the pronunciation should be, it appeared to be some derivative of Latin but with a strange syntax. Glancing around once more, Harry took in a breath and blew out slowly, steadying his right arm his Holly wand gleaming in the torch light, the Elder Wand was hidden in an inside pocket of his cloak along with the invisibility cloak and the stone of resurrection, he felt guilty that he made Hermione and Ron believe he had broken the Elder Wand and disposed of it but something made him conceal the fact he still had it from them, he had reclaimed the resurrection stone from the Forbidden Forrest. While Harry hoped that war was a thing of the past in the Wizarding World, he wasn't naive and knew that in the future anything could happen, he wanted to be prepared if that was the case. Sweeping his arm in a complex pattern Harry started chanting, at first nothing seemed to change but then a soft light seemed to emanate from the runes around the arch. The Veil itself seemed to flutter. Harry braced himself for something to happen but apart from the light and breeze nothing had changed. Harry started on the next page of diagrams, at the first upward flick of his wand and the murmured incantation the runes glowed with an intensity that made Harry squint his eyes, he hesitated for a moment and the glow abruptly faded away leaving the archway dark and foreboding as always. Sweat dripped down from his brow, the incantation and wand movements were strangely draining on him, he felt like he had expanded a lot of energy, moving to his seat he sat down with a shudder.
Taking a sip of coffee, he grimaced, the liquid was cold, he must of spent more time exploring the veil then he though, looking at his watch he saw it was just after twelve o'clock, he had spent nearly two hours at the veil but it only felt like he was there for ten minutes, no wonder he felt so drained. Harry quickly left the Death Room and made his way to the medical room within the Department of Mysteries, opening a cabinet he retrieved a few vials of Pepper-Up potion, draining one he immediately felt better, the strength returning to his limbs and he felt more alert. Shoving the rest of the vials in his robe pockets he hurried back to the Death Chamber.
This time Harry was determined to finish the incantation, he was tempted to drain another vial of Pepper-Up but decided to hold off, the hangover when you crashed from its overuse was not something Harry wanted to experience. Bracing himself, he once again held his wand in the starting position, holding the book in his left hand he began the wand movements and incantations. Now that he was aware of it, Harry could feel the power drain, it was subtle but definitely there, continuing once again the runes flared to life, the Veil fluttered more like it was agitated, Harry was half way down the second page when he felt an enormous drain, his right arm felt like liquid fire with the amount of energy which seemed to course through it towards the veil, the air smelled of ozone, tangy and unpleasant. Harry tried to pull his wand down breaking the connection to the veil but no matter how hard he pulled his arm refused to move, the pain was now becoming unbearable, sweat dripped into his eyes, stinging and blurring his vision, the brightness of the runes were so bright they were impossible to look at, just when he thought he could take no more there was an immense flash and then blackness.
Harry groaned, he felt like he had been run over by a herd of Hippogriff, slowly he sat up, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in the veil room anymore, he appeared to be in an abandoned building, all around him rubbish was strewn around as well as what appeared to be actual parts of the building, beams and bricks littered the place, holding out his wand casting a lumos Harry tried to find an exit, seeing a hole in the corner he slowly made his way to it, crawling out he appeared to be in a small village or town, a street stretched out in front of him although the place appeared to be deserted, it was obviously a muggle place from the appearance, Harry reached into his cloak and pulled out a vial of Pepper-Up, draining it he immediately felt better and the intense ache he had felt inside turned to a dual ache, performing a quick nox Harry placed his wand in its holster, even though it was dark if he was in a muggle place he needed to be careful about the statue if Wizarding Secrecy which safeguarded the wizarding world from the muggles and hid it's presence from the world at large.
Slowly he walked down what appeared to be the main street, rubbish was strewn about, and all the storefronts were boarded up and looked derelict. He noticed what appeared to be a trailer on the right-hand side of the street which contained a large sign.
MANDATORY EVACUATION NOTICE
ALL RESIDENTS OF AMHERST COUNTY AND ALL
OUTLYING AREAS ARE REQUIRED TO EVACUTE BY:
8:00 PM 10/17/13
Harry re-read the sign before it eventually made sense, the date had confused him at first as there aren't seventeen months in the year until he realised it was wrote the way Americans do with the month first but the year still made no sense, as far as he knew it was Sunday the fourteenth of Match 1999. Harry looked around confused, vehicles were abandoned at the side of the road, they were all in a terrible condition, tyres flat and rusting away, he slowly walked down the street, A camper was angled across the street, like the cars it was rusting away, behind it was a sheriffs car, Harry closed his eyes counted to five and opened them again, everything was the same, in front of him was something he had only ever seen on television, an American sheriffs car. "Sherriff. Amherst County" emblazoned on the side. Cautiously Harry walked further down the street, all the buildings had red and white evacuation notices on the doors and windows, everything seemed barred up tight, looking up a sign identified a shop as 'The Antique Gift Shop' beyond it was a barrier, it appeared to be made of salvaged materials, bits of fencing and other odds and ends. Strewn across the top was razor wire, it wouldn't make any difference to Harry, he could just apparate across or even destroy it but he decided to look around the buildings close to him and find somewhere he could just sit and gather his thoughts.
Walking back up a ways he noticed what appeared to be a record shop, Marquis Record Shop was on the sign which resembled an old Vinyl record, unlike a lot of the stores the door was open, stepping inside Harry was hit with the smell of decay and neglect, water damage was apparent, walking through the aisles there was still records on the shelves collecting dust, walking behind the counter was a darkened room, pulling out his wand and casting a quick lumos and looking around there didn't seem much of interest, stands for drums and cymbals were pilled against the wall but nothing he could use or need, extinguishing his wand he exited the shop, for some reason he felt like he wasn't alone. Looking around nothing was apparent but the feeling persisted, keeping his wand in his hand he held it at his side so it was mostly hidden from view, stepping down an alleyway between the record store and the building next to it he was half way down when some creature came running towards the alley screeching a horrible clicking sound, suddenly a powerful explosion ripped through the air, Harry crouched covering his head and ears, feeling a shockwave of wind rush past him.
"What the fuck was that," Harry exclaimed.
Slowly walking forward, he crouched to examine what was left of the body, most of the limbs were missing, obviously blown off by whatever that was but it appeared to be a human apart from the head which looked unlike anything he had seen before. Standing up he used his foot to push the body over, the whole thing made him shudder before abruptly he bent to the side, expelling the contents of his stomach. Harry had seen a lot during the wizarding war but gruesome sights still got to him, spitting out the bile which remained in his mouth, Harry put the tip of his wand to his mouth, a small stream of water quickly filled his mouth, he removed the wand and gargled before spitting out the water, holding his wand to his mouth again he cast a breath freshening spell. Harry was indecisive of what to do, nothing made sense, from the date, to his location, the decay everywhere and the weird human hybrid creature. Harry decided against preceding further, he needed to hole up somewhere and get his bearings.
Backtracking he turned up the street, back towards where he initially arrived, stopping he gazed at a familiar site, an Irish bar. "Padden's. Established 1974" displayed across the top. Harry approached the door, Ivy covered half of it, using a few non verbal cutting charms and a vanishing spell he had the door uncovered, a quick alohomora unlocked the door, entering cautiously Harry listened but the place appeared to be deserted. Approaching a booth, he cautiously sat down, the wood creaked but held, sighing Harry reached into his robe and pulled a length of twine from around his neck which was attached to a small pouch. Harry opened the top and pointed his wand in, a vial popped up into his hand, Harry took inspiration from Hermione's beaded bag and always carried his moleskin pouch with him with some essentials inside, a gift from Hagrid years ago. Taking off his robe he pushed it into the pouch, even though the pouch seemed far too small to contain it. Using his wand again he used a summoning charm and four small flat stones popped out into his hand, Harry stood up and moved to each corner of the room he was in, placing a stone in each, once they were all in place he tapped his wand on a stone and pushed a small piece of magic into it, a shimmering field of blue rose each up wall before crawling across the ceiling before appearing to sink into the walls and floor. These were ward stones of Hermione's creation, while they could use spells to create muggle repelling and protection, when they were on the run they needed a way to hide quickly, casting protection spells took too long so Hermione came up with the ward stones, they only needed to be placed around the area to hide and a small amount of magic was needed to activate them, they drew power from the ambient magic which was all around them and would keep working until one was removed.
Harry allowed himself to relax a bit, he knew with the stones in place he was as secure as he could be, pushing his arm into the pouch he started pulling out items to see where he stood. He had his wand, the Elder Wand, Resurrection Stone, Invisibility Cloak, several vials of Pepper Up and pain relivers, rooting around he pulled out a half-used potion kit, not much use, some ingredients, a pestle and mortar and a potions knife. Next, he pulled out some grease proof paper, opening it up revealed several sandwiches, Harry hungrily devoured them, looking at his watch it was nearly 4 PM, no wonder he was so starved, he had spent several hours wandering around this town. Reaching back into the pouch, he pulled out a square of cloth, placing it on the floor, he touched it with his wand, a wizarding tent started assembling itself. Harry gathered up the items he had emptied out of the pouch and entered the tent, with a groan he lowered himself down onto the couch. Pulling out a notepad and muggle pen, Harry paused before writing down what he knew. He was displaced in time and location, some sort of catastrophe appeared to have hit the town and there were strange human hybrids. He was exhausted, he decided to put up some more wards even though he trusted Hermione's ward stones just in case, after all with his strange experiences today anything was possible. Re-entering the tent, he entered the bedroom, stripping off his clothes he placed his wand on the bedside table, he debated taking a vial of Dreamless Sleep, but he only had two full doses and if something happened, he needed to be able to react quickly. Within minutes his eyes drooped, and he fell into a troubled sleep.
Waking up disorientated Harry quickly took in his surroundings, yesterday came back to him in a rush, so it wasn't a nightmare he thought. Slowly getting out of bed he entered the bathroom, taking care of his morning routing he sat on the couch, reaching into his beaded bag he pulled out another sandwich, he had stocked enough for seven days so he wasn't worried about food at the moment, standing up he approached the kitchen, opening a cupboard he smiled, reaching in he pulled out a jar of instant coffee, pointing his wand at the kettle, within moments it started whistling. Pulling a mug from a cupboard he added the coffee granules and poured the boiling water over them, sprinkling some sugar in his only regret was he forgot to add some long-life cream to the shelves, well black would have to do. Bringing the cup to his mouth he inhaled deeply, the smell of coffee filling his senses, he gently blew on the liquid before taking a sip, with a contented smile Harry sat down, coffee was his main vice according to Hermione, thinking of her made him pause. He needed to find some way to contact them, his knowledge of America was vague, he knew the wizarding congress was based in New York but he had no idea where he was in relation to that, he knew he was too far away from Britain to use a patronus and he didn't have access to an owl, trying to apparate such a vast distance was out of the question. Pulling out his wand he summoned his faithful stag Prongs, saying who he was and that he needed help he directed his patronus to seek out an Auror, the stag just stood there which was unusual, they worked on the intent of the user so even vague instructions usually worked. He tried again with no difference, Prongs just stood there as if awaiting instructions, sighing in frustration Harry put down his wand, the Patronus fading away.
Sipping from his cup Harry had no idea how to proceed, he needed some magical means of communication, slapping his head Harry reached into his moleskin pouch, pulling out a small hand-held mirror he said Hermione's name, he waited but nothing happened, he tried again with the same result. Now he was getting worried, he remembered Sirius saying that they worked over any distance and even if Hermione was busy, she would have answered as they agreed they would use the mirrors as a way of communicating during emergencies only. Had he somehow travelled to an alternate dimension, it had been proven they existed by Unspeakables previously, it was the only reason he could think why the mirror wouldn't work, if it's twin wasn't 'here' to receive it.
Harry decided he had no choice but to explore this town further and try to figure out his location and how far he was from the nearest wizarding settlement, if they even existed in this dimension, that is if his thinking was correct. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach, a feeling of dread because while he knew how he got into this mess, he had no idea how to get out of it.
Harry packed all his gear, drank the last of his coffee before cleaning the mug and returning it to its place, exiting the tent he tapped it with his wand, watching as it once again collapsed until it was a small flat square, even though he had been part of the wizarding world for over seven years and seen some amazing and terrifying sites, sometimes the smallest bits of magic amazed him. Going to the nearest corner he picked up the ward stone, the walls and falls seemed to ripple as the wards collapsed, collecting the rest of the stones he placed them back into his pouch.
Taking a quick look around to make sure he hadn't forgot anything he approached the door, slowly opening it he looked up and down the street, all clear. He slowly made his way to where the explosion happened yesterday, rounding the corner all seemed normal, the same rubbish strewn around, blowing lazily in the slight breeze, walking further down he came across another body, it seemed to have been stabbed in several places. Harry was reluctant but knew it had to be done so used his wand to float the body over. The face was distorted, old blood was visible coming from all the orifices, across several parts of the body was what appeared to be fungal growths, the clothes it was wearing appeared to be worn but gave no clue to the bodies identity, Harry was reluctant to examine the corpse any more even though it could reveal some clues. Shuddering he continued on, a small truck blocked the way, a ladder was leaning on the left hand side and was the only way to continue, looking around Harry decided if he wanted answers he would have to risk it and this could lead him to somebody who could tell him what the hell was going on.
Ascending the ladder, he slowly walked across the truck, there was bottles strewn about but nothing of interest, he hopped down on the other side, looking around it appeared to be a dead end, there were barricades in all directions. Climbing back onto the track Harry looked around, there was a building with a low roof with a ladder leading up to a higher level across the way, he wondered if that was the way he should go, deciding to risk it, looking between the truck and the building he used his wand to conjure a board, slowly making his way across he vanished the board and went up the ladder. Looking across the roof tops he noticed another board stretching between the buildings, in the distance a plum of black smoke rose into the air next to what appeared to be a church or a chapel of some sort.
Harry made his way across the board then hopped down to a lower level, there was another one of those human hybrid things sprawled across the floor with an arrow piercing its skull, climbing on top of some unit he continued on until he came to the edge of a roof, a ladder led most of the way down to the ground, seeing no other way to go he descended the ladder, hopping down the short distance to the ground, he started walking when he saw something glinting in mid-air, stopping he noticed a thin wire strung from one end of the wall to another with some sort of device attached to one side, wondering if it was one of the explosive devices from yesterday he slowly crouched and moved under it. He could either go left to what appeared to be another building or go through a gate in front of him, he decided to head left and see if he could discover any clues about his location. He slowly makes his way up some stairs, the place smells of decay and appears to be abandoned just like the rest, making his way into what appears to be the main room, a body is lying on the floor, blood oozing from the head which appears to have suffered a massive amount of trauma as it is caved in totally on one side, this looks like it was done recently, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak just in case, his wand at the ready, looking around he doesn't see anything of value until he notices a scrap of paper lying on a table.
Rachel,
Soldiers are going door to door forcing people onto buses. I hear yelling a couple of buildings down – time's running out. I tried calling, waiting, I don't know what to do, but I can't wait anymore. I've thrown most of our stuff into a couple of suitcases. I'll be waiting for in the quarantine zone. Come find me.
I'll see you soon!
-Ezra
Harry placed the note back down thinking, once again a quarantine zone is mentioned, some catastrophe must have happened, maybe something related to those human hybrid things he had seen, it would also explain why everything was deserted. He needed to find somebody alive who could explain things to him, the recently killed body worried him but he was a wizard and quite a highly skilled one at that, after all he had defeated a Dark Lord, battled Basilisks, Dementors and Dark Wizards, what could be worse than that. If those hybrid things are running around I could really do with some sort of weapon, it would seem strange to others if he was unarmed with such danger around and he didn't really want to reveal his true nature, he held out his hand concentrating before letting lose a quiet chuckle, the Sword of Gryffindor would have been handy but he wasn't surprised it didn't appear.
He conjured up a sword anyway, it didn't have any fancy jewels but would do the job, checking the rest of the building didn't reveal much, in the bedroom there were suitcases with mouldy clothing strewn about, they looked freshly disturbed as some were turned over and had dry spots were they had been protected from the rain, Harry supposed it could have been the hybrid. I need to think of a better name for them than that, hmm, Inferi, but I don't actually know if they are dead or just diseased in some way, ah whatever, he descended the stairs when a noise rang out, he hadn't heard it in real life before only on TV but he was absolutely sure that was a gunshot followed by two more, he heard yelling both a man's voice and what appeared to be a girls, Harry thought it's time to do what Hermione christened his 'Saving People thing' running through a building he came to an open doorway, there in front of him a man was suspended upside down shooting what looked like those hybrid things with a skill that surprised Harry, on top of what looked like a fridge a girl was hacking away at a rope with a knife, taking in the situation quickly, Harry swung his word though the rope holding the man, he fell to the floor with a grunt, Harry reached around to help him up only to be stopped when the man yelled out.
"Ellie, behind you," the man practically screamed.
Harry spun around, the girl was surrounded, two of those hybrid things were around her and another was running towards her although this one appeared almost normal apart from the blotches on his skin and the blood running from this eyes and ears.
The man raised his gun but before he could fire something happened that he couldn't believe, one moment the young man who cut him down was standing right in front of him, the next he was beside Ellie holding out a piece of wood and fire spewed everywhere like a flamethrower incinerating clickers and runners alike in moments. The guy dropped his arm and the flames dissipated, what was going on.
Harry checked around to make sure no more of the creatures were approaching, the girl looked at him with wide eyes, glancing at his face, then down to his hand and back to his face before shaking her head.
"How the fuck did you do that?" she exclaimed.
Harry looked at her in surprise, while he wasn't a prude, he wasn't used to hearing language like that, especially from a girl. He supposed in some ways the wizarding world was behind their muggle counterparts when it came to vulgar language.
"Err, I'm talking to you," she said.
Harry tried to hide a grin.
"Yeah sorry, it's been one of those days, I'm Harry"
"You talk funny, what the fuck sort of accent is that? I'm Ellie, he's Joel," she said with a grin, an impish smile on her face.
The man in question walked up to them, seemly all right after his time dangling upside down.
"Thanks, mind explaining how the hell you did that?" the man Ellie called Joel said.
"This is going to take a while," Harry replied, "is there anywhere around here which is secure?"
Joel looked around at the bodies scattered around.
"We are looking for somebody I know, Bill. I thought he was the only one who lived in this town"
"I was just passing through, heard the shots, thought somebody might be in danger," Harry replied.
"You got that right, fucking rope wouldn't cut," Ellie said while examining her knife
Harry looked at the rope a bit closer.
"Yeah look, see those threads running through it, steel wire, you need something a bit bigger than a knife to cut this stuff," Harry said while indicating the sword he was resting on.
Joel looked at the sword.
"Where the hell did you find a sword, looks like something you would see a knight swinging around."
"Yeah look, I can explain it all but how about we find this friend of yours if you don't mind me tagging along, I'm a bit confused about what's happening and I need some information," Harry said while looking at Joel.
"Yeah awesome," Ellie said with a smile.
Joel scowled at her before his face returned to a somewhat neutral look.
"Well you saved us so that earns you some points but if I think you're a threat," Joel trailed off
"Yeah I understand," Harry replied, "you want to lead the way, I have no idea where we are or where we need to go."
"Yeah about that," Joel started to say just before a figure rounded the corner.
This just gets stranger Harry thought; the new guy was wearing what appeared to be some sort of body armour and a gas mask but what made Harry wary was the machete which had clearly been used recently.
"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my town!" the stranger said while raising his arm with the machete.
Joel stepped in front of Harry, recognition seemed to appear in the stranger's eyes.
"Okay this way and be quick, these buildings aren't secure."
He led them through what appeared to be a laundrette then through a truck into a storage room of some sort.
"Thanks for the heroics and all, uh Ellie" Ellie said while holding out her hand.
The stranger removed his gas mask before approaching her, suddenly he attached a handcuff to her wrist before attaching the other to a pipe on the wall.
Suddenly a pistol was pointed at them
"Turn around and get on your knees," he shouted while waving the gun back and forward.
Harry was considering trying to disarm him, but he didn't know how fast he would be with that gun, he appeared quite paranoid. Deciding to play along for now he did the same as Joel and knelt, the guy approached Joel while asking him about bites. Harry was listening intently to the guy, now he was asking about things sprouting, what the hell is going on he thought, suddenly Ellie pulled the pipe from the wall and started attacking the guy with it, Joel stood up and grabbed the pipe before Ellie caused him some serious problems. Harry was just staring in bewilderment.
Joel started asking the guy about a car, Harry tuned them out and gestured with his head to Ellie, she cautiously approached him.
"I thought you were going to break his arm there," he said with a grin.
"Well the fucker handcuffed me," she said while raising his arm.
Harry gave a wink and tapped the handcuff with his wand, it fell off landing on the floor with a clank.
Joel looked over while the other guy didn't appear to notice, too busy explaining something about a battery.
"That's so cool, how the fuck did you do that, can you teach me?" the questions tumbled out of Ellies mouth.
"So is Joel you dad then?" Harry asked.
Ellie snorted, "Really? You think he's my dad? Nah my parents died a long time ago. A friend asked him to escort me somewhere." As she said this a sad look appeared on her face.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to drag up bad memories, I lost my parents when I was really young as well," Harry said.
Ellie looked at him as if she was about to ask a question before seeming to change her mind.
"How old are you anyway?" Harry asked.
"Fourteen but I'll be fifteen in August, what about you?" she replied.
"I've just turned eighteen," Harry said.
"Hey well at least you aren't ancient like Joel," Ellie sniggered.
The man in questioned turned around to look at them.
"Come on, we need to have a conversation."
Entering the next room, it appeared to be a bar, it must have been used for storage as various items were scattered around.
Harry wandered around before stopping at a table, a chess board with a half played game was on the table.
Ellie wandered up, stopping beside him, "You know how to play?"
"Yeah, I used to play all the time with my friend Ron, he was much better than me at it though, I can't remember anybody every beating him," Harry replied.
"Hey you okay?" Ellie asked with a concerned look.
"Yeah sorry, I'll be fine" Harry replied.
Joel wandered up, "I think it's about time we have that chat don't you"
Harry nodded while thinking how much to tell them, they were obviously muggles but considering the MACUSA didn't seem to exist it's not like he could get into trouble by disclosing the Magical World which only existed in his head for now.
Harry started pacing, before stopping and facing them.
"Okay here goes, I'm a wizard." He stated firmly while looking at each of them in the eye.
Ellie looked curious, she had seen him do several things know, both Joel and the other guy who Joel called Bill looked at him as if he had grown another head.
"I can prove it easily enough," Harry said.
"Oh this I cannot wait to see," Joel said while folding his arms.
Harry smirked, yeah just wait he thought. Looking around for something suitable he took a brick from a pile, placing it on the table. Ejecting his wand from his holster he pointed it at the brick while concentrating, one minute a brick was there, the next a tabby kitten was in its place.
Ellie immediately came across and picked it up
"It's real, it's really a kitten," she said while rubbing her hand across its stomach.
"It's not actually, even though it looks and will act like it," Harry said.
Both Bill and Joel stood there looking in disbelief.
"Good enough, or do you need more?" Harry said with a smirk.
"I think I've seen everything now," Joel said shaking his head.
"Not yet," Harry said and with a pop he was on the other side of the room before reappearing where he started.
"That is so fucking cool," Ellie said with a grin, still hugging the kitten.
"This has been the strangest week of my life," Joel said while sinking into a seat at a booth.
Bill was still just standing there, looking from Harry to the kitten and back again.
"I think you broke them," Ellie snickered.
Harry tried to keep it in but the looks on Joel and Bills faces just made it harder and before long he started laughing and just kept laughing.
Joel looked at him strangely, he had seen this before, the laughter had a hint of hysteria to it.
Suddenly Harry sunk down to the floor, where before there had been tears of laughter now there were just tears. Ellie went over to him and knelt. Putting a hand on his shoulder while still holding onto the kitten, Harry looked up, eyes red rimmed behind his glasses.
"I don't think I'll ever see my friends or world again," he said.
"What do you mean by world?" said Joel.
Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Where I'm from, the year was 1999, I was part of a hidden group of magicals. We existed alongside those without magic in hidden settlements all over the world. Yesterday I was researching an artefact when I must have triggered it, the next thing I know I'm lying on the road in a deserted town half way across the world from where I was. I tried contacting fellow magicals earlier today, but it wouldn't work, I think I'm all alone here. I have no idea what's going on, apart from there's some weird human hybrids running around, and everything looks fucked"
"Okay assuming everything you just said is the truth and I'm inclined to believe you since you turned a brick into a kitten and teleported across the room, I'll give you a brief rundown. Firstly, what year do you think it is now?" Joel said.
"Well the sign I said had the year as thirteen so twenty-thirteen?" Harry answered.
"The year is actually twenty years after that, twenty-thirty-three," Joel said.
"What so I'm nearly forty-five years ahead of my time, I expected there to be flying cars and laser guns by now," Harry said with a grimace.
"Yeah well, what do you know of Cordyceps?" Joel asked.
"I have no idea what that is," Harry said, "should I?"
"Well, it's a fungal infection. It used to only effect small insects, but it mutated somehow and started infecting humans. There are several ways you can be infected. Bites, Spores and transfer of bodily fluids from somebody who is infected. Anybody who is infected turns within forty-eight hours into what we call runners, before then infection can make the person irrational and violent, there is often signs of fungal growth especially if bitten."
"Well shit," Harry says.
"The governments around the world basically collapsed practically overnight. The infection spread that fast. The military took over most places creating what we call quarantine zones, basically parts of cities walled off, apart from the QZs most of the rest of the places are wastelands, best to be avoided as they have roving groups of hunters who will murder you for the shoes on your feet, wild animals, buildings which will collapse on you and other fun things."
"So why are you out here instead of in one of these quarantine zones?" asked Harry while looking between Ellie and Joel.
Bill was still standing against the bar, a confused look on his face, Harry was warily keeping an eye on him.
Joel looked at Ellie, "I was tasked with taking Ellie somewhere safer by a friend of hers. There were three of us, Tess my friend got infected crossing through downtown Boston and died giving us time to escape from soldiers who were hunting us" he looked down while a sad look crossed Ellies face.
Looking up again Joel looked straight at Ellie, "It wasn't your fault," he stared at her before she nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"So, what's your plan now?" Harry asked.
"My brother Tommy, used to be part of this group, The Fireflies, I'm hoping he can put us in touch with them as the contacts we were supposed to meet were all dead and we couldn't get back into the city," Joel said.
"Would you mind if I tag along," Harry said, "I have nowhere to go but I could help you get where you need to go or even help you get back into Boston if you want to go there."
Joel looked over at Ellie, deep in thought.
"Safety in numbers," Ellie said," and he's a wizard, he totally kicks ass!" she said with a grin.
"Okay, you're welcome to tag along if that's what you want, it might be a long journey though, the last I knew Tommy was in Wyoming, hopefully if Bill can get a vehicle working we can get most of the way via road but they haven't been maintained for twenty years and vehicles ain't exactly reliable these days," Joel said while standing.
"You ready to move Bill," Joel asked.
Bill just stood there, a strange look on his face. Harry motioned over to Joel who wanderd over.
"Do you think he's going to be a problem?" Harry asked.
Joel looked over at Bill, "even for Bill he's been acting strange since your magic stuff."
"I can remove his memories," Harry said.
Joel looked at him surprised, "You can do that?"
"Yeah, it's a simple enough spell, a friend taught me," replied Harry.
"Okay, how you going to do it," said Joel.
Harry discreetly ejected his wand while pointing it at Bill. A flash of red light hit Bill and he slumped to the floor."
"What the hell was that," Joel said while pointing a gun in Harrys direction.
"It's just a stunning spell, easier while I remove his memories, then I can just revive him, it won't hurt him at all," Harry said warily watching the firearm Joel held.
"Next time give me a heads up before you start firing stuff around," Joel replaced his revolver into its holster.
"Hey Ellie, I'll need to change the kitten back," Harry said.
"Aww can I not keep it," Ellie asked.
"How you going to explain to Bill where it came from? If you want another one I can easily do it when we're away from here, "Harry said.
Ellie looked at him with a hopeful smile, "okay then." She placed the kitten on the floor.
With a quick flick from Harrys wand the kitten was once again a brick, he wandered over and knelt next to Bill, waving his wand he performed a memory spell, removing all knowledge of magic from his mind, next he moved back towards the chess board and discreetly shot a reviving spell at him.
Bill groaned while Joel walked over to him, "Hey Bill you okay, looked you fainted for a minute there, you ate lately?" reaching down he offered a hand, then pulled Bill to his feet.
Bill shook his head, "yeah, I must have forgot to eat or something." He still seemed a bit confused but gestured for everybody to follow him.
It took a few hours to work their way through Bills town, Harry discreetly using his wand when able to redirect the infected, while they were infected with the fungus they were still essentially human meaning that Harry could use localised notice-me-nots to make their travel across town easier, as long as they didn't make loads of noise they could escape notice.
The only time he panicked was in the school's gym, a massive infected which Joel called a bloater came bursting through some doors and they had barricaded the way out. It was looking bad so Harry once again stunned Bill before levitating him up onto some bleachers out of reach, he got Ellie up as well before telling Joel to distract the Bloater, Joel started firing rounds into it, keeping its attention on him while Harry approached from behind, pulling the Elder Wand out, Harry performed an overpowered incendio, it was so powerful the top half of the Bloaters body just disintegrated while its legs toppled over. Joel quickly looted the area before hoisting Harry onto the bleachers, a few infected ran out which Joel handily took care of, they made it into a house across the way before reviving Bill, it turned out his former partner lived there and had been infected before taking his own life.
With the three of them pushing and Ellie driving it didn't take long to get the engine running, approaching the edge of town they slowed to a halt to let Bill out. While Joel went to talk to Bill, Harry joined Ellie in the cab.
"Good job with the driving, that's something I've never done," Harry Said.
Ellie smiled, "Yeah it was fun, I didn't think I would get to drive again."
The saw Joel approaching the truck, so Ellie hopped in the back. Joel opened the door and sat in the driver's seat, reaching down he adjusted it a bit before looking over his shoulder, "Ellie you should get some sleep while you have the chance."
"Hang on," Harry said, "you hungry?"
Ellie sat forward, "I'll be your best friend if you have food!"
Harry smirked before pulling his pouch out from under his shirt. Ellie looked disappointed when she saw how small it was until Harry put his hand to the opening and pulled out a wrapped package which couldn't have possibly fit inside it.
"I love magic!" she exclaimed while Harry handed her the packaged.
"You hungry Joel," Harry asked with a quirk of his eyebrow, a quick nod from Joel had Harry retrieving another wrapped package which he handed to him, before getting another for himself.
Before long there was silence about from the hum of the truck and the sound of munching.
Ellie sighed with a happy smile on her face, "Those were so good, I've never had a sandwich which tasted so good before!"
Harry looked over at her, he liked the sandwiches he packed but he didn't think they were anything special.
"You thirsty Ellie?"
She eagerly nodded, let's see Harry said while thinking, I have some pumpkin juice, I have a feeling you won't like that, err what else, oh right, I have a couple of cans of coke, hot chocolate, water, tea or coffee.
At that Joel whipped his head around?
"No shitting, you have coffee?" he asked eagerly.
"Yeah, it's only instant but it's quite good, I tell you what it's getting late. How about we find somewhere to park up and I'll put up the tent?" Harry said.
"Seriously you have a tent on you? They aren't very secure," Joel remarked.
Harry smirked, "I think you'll find mine is."
"We'll see," Joel replied.
Harry looked in the back, surprised Ellie hadn't asked about the tend to see her engrossed in some comic. About ten minutes later they came to a place suitable to stop. Harry told them to wait by the truck while he secured the area. Pacing the area out, he placed the ward stones out before energizing them, a dome spread overhead before fading from view, but Harry knew it was still there, he could feel the slight tingle of the wards. Next, he flipped the tent onto the ground tapping it with his wand while watching Ellie and Joel's faces, they seemed to be disappointed when what appeared to be a one mans tent popped into view. Trying to keep his face straight he gestured for them to approach the tent.
"It's a bit on the small side and are you sure we're safe here?" Joel said.
"Absolutely, we're one hundred percent safe, I guarantee it. Why don't you go in the tent first Ellie?" Harry gestured.
Ellie ducked down before entering the tent, shortly after a squeal was heard before a peal of laughter.
Joel looked surprised but followed Ellie into the tent, when Harry entered, he was just standing there taking everything in.
"You know, I don't think I will ever get used to this magic of yours, I'm looking at it and I still don't believe it," Joel said before moving over to the couch, he poked it with his fingers a few times before sitting down.
Ellie meanwhile was looking around the kitchen, "Harry, everything is so clean!"
"Yeah unlike you, you smell and look like crap," Harry smirked.
"Hey, fuck you, I don't smell," Ellie said while sniffing her armpit, "Okay maybe I smell a little"
"Why don't you have a bath," Harry suggested.
Ellie just looked at him as if he had lost his mind, Harry gestured to her to follow him.
Opening a door Ellie hadn't noticed, they entered a bathroom, there was a claw footed tub with several taps on one side, Harry reached over and put in the plug before turning one of the taps, hot steaming water started flooding into the tub. Pulling another lever, flowery smells assaulted their noses while bubbles started appearing in the bath, by this time Ellie was practically bouncing on her toes.
"If you give me your dirty clothes I can clean them for you quickly," Harry said.
Ellie started whipping her shirt off while Harry stammered turning red, "I meant after I left."
Ellie stopped, realising what she was doing her face growing red as well, "err sorry I got carried away."
She looked at Harry who she noticed was just staring at her arm.
Shit, shit she thought, she hadn't been thinking, now her bite was on show and Harry had seen it, Joel is going to be furious she though.
"When did that happen?" Harry asked.
Well he isn't freaking out Ellie thought.
"Just over three weeks ago," she replied.
"And an infected bit you?" Harry said, more of a statement than a question.
Ellie nodded with trepidation.
Harry thought for a moment, seeing the hint of fear on Ellies face and realising she was waiting for him to lose it.
"Hey it's okay," he said, "obviously if you were going to turn it would have happened long ago, so I take it this is why you are going to see these people? They have a lab or something?"
"Yeah, it's a group called the Fireflies, they fight against the military, they have their own little quarantine zone with a lab," Ellie replied.
"You want me to do something about that arm?" Harry asked.
"What do you mean," Ellie asked curiously.
"Well I can't actually fix it, I could of if it was when it happened, I'm not brilliant at healing but stuff like that is easy enough, I don't know if I could stop the infection though. But I can conceal it using magic," Harry said.
Ellie looked at Harry then back at her arm with a hopeful look, Harry looked over with a smile. Ejecting his wand, he waved it over her arm in a figure eight while reciting words that Ellie didn't understand, she watched in wonder as her arm seem to ripple before her arm looked totally normal, like it did before all this happened. She tentatively poked it with a finger.
"I can still feel it," Ellie said.
"Yeah it's just an illusion but nobody else will be able to tell and it will stay like that until I dispel it." Harry said.
Ellie rushed over to Harry and pulled him into a hug before kissing him softly on the cheek before whispering in his ear, "Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means."
Harry realised how this might look if Joel came in and slowly pulled away from Ellie, to his surprise he realised he felt a bit disappointed when he moved away.
"Now enjoy your bath, toss your clothes out the door, wait until I leave this time though," Harry said with a smirk as Ellie blushed once again.
As Harry left the bathroom he felt eyes on him and looked up to see Joel giving him a strange look.
"You took your time in there," Joel practically growled.
"Er yeah, I was showing the bath to Ellie and I also saw her bite mark," Harry replied.
At this Joel looked at him sharply
"It's okay, Ellie explained it. I hid the bite for her," Harry explained.
"What do you mean you hid it?" Joel asked.
"It's basically a magical disguise, unless I remove it then her arm will just appear normal to people," Harry shrugged before moving into the kitchen. "You want some coffee?"
"Yeah, please," Joel said.
Harry made them each a cup of coffee, handing one to Joel who took a sip and sat there with a contented look on his face. Harry went to the bathroom door and reached down gathering up the clothes Ellie had thrown out, a few minutes of scourgifying and everything was clean, Harry though he may as well go all out and started using reparo's and a couple of geminio's and there now sat three sets of clean clothes. Harry looked up seeing Joel watching with interest.
"Can you do that with anything? Clean them and duplicate them?" Joel asked.
"Yeah, nothing with complex moving parts and there's a limit to the size, the bigger and more complex the object the more power it needs. Some things I can conjure from nothing but that definitely takes more out of me and I can only do simple things so far." Harry said while sipping at his own coffee.
"You know in this world, the way it is now, you could live like a king with the power you have," Joel watched Harry as he said this, he paused a minute before he continued, "you wouldn't, though would you?"
"Until I was eleven years old, I lived in a cupboard under the stairs, continuously told I was a freak and that my parents were drunks. I then found out that I was a wizard and that my parents were war heroes. I was treat like a slave, belittled, punished if I did better than their lazy soon at school, fed scraps and had hand me down clothes while my cousin got everything he wanted. My first friends I made were at school when I was eleven, then I found out I was destined to battle the evillest dark wizard ever, I eventually did with the help of those friends, I thought I had earned some piece and then this happened. No, all I want to do is help you and Ellie then find a nice quiet place where I can disappear forever."
As Harry and Joel had been talking Ellie had opened the bathroom door a bit to call out for her clothes but standing there listening to Harry, so much of what he said resonated with her that she sank to the floor and tears started flowing down her face, thinking of grown up unwanted, moving from school to school, of that fateful day when Riley returned and they went to the mall, being bitten and how terrified she felt, the hopelessness they both felt, Riley dying and Ellie left alone again. Wiping at her eyes she went to the sink and ran the water, splashing her face. Returning to the door she called out for Harry, surprised when he returned with a whole bundle of cloths which all looked brand new.
"How?" she asked.
"Magic," was all he replied with a smirk.
