The Dumping Grounds

Prologue: A 'Reward'

Blanket Disclaimer: Ya'll know I don't own this stuff, I won't insult your intelligence by reminding you every chapter.

I cursed under my breath and cast a shield. The monstrosity across from me shrieked and snarled as the blast of blue and gold plasma it fired at me splashed against my barrier. I grit my teeth at the force and screamed as I pushed back against the directed energy attack. Blisters popped out on my skin from the heat and sweat stung my eyes as I finally managed to push the blast back. I staggered at the force of it and felt my head swimming. My throat was dry, this was bad.

I blinked the blood and sweat from my eyes and blasted the creature far and away. I knew it was only a temporary measure, nothing kept the beasts down for long, and I was growing so very tired. I looked at the device attached to my belt, the one thing that might make a difference. The small black pyramid was a last ditch hail mary. I hoped Hermione was watching from where ever she was, I was following through with the plan, with any luck, I'd be reunited with her soon.

The city of London burned around us, the skyline was broken and ash swirled in the air, choking us all. "All right, get going while the getting is good. I have things from here." I looked over at my friends, my allies, those few left standing. Neville was holding Ron upright, my ginger friend was missing a leg from below the knee, and a his entire right arm. Neville's face was a bloody ruin and he had difficulty holding him upright. Luna limped over from the other side and helped support some of his weight, she looked at me, the dreamy expression she was known for all but burned away from the bastards that dared to attack the Earth.

Aliens, of all things, had invaded our planet. "No! no fucking way in hell are we leaving you here alone to face those things!" Ron's voice was loud, but weak, a frail thing. The red head was as pale as I'd ever seen him. This wasn't hunting horcruxes, of fighting dark lords. No, this was much worse.

"Ron, we've already lost Hermione… your sister, damn near everyone. I can't lose you three. You knew Hermione as well as I did, she was a bloody genius that had to slow her thought process just to communicate with us plebeians. I know this will work because it has to. And if it doesn't… then I need you lot to heal up, and study and learn, find a weakness and kill them. If what I'm about to do doesn't work, then I need to know that you'll carry on… after."

Ron was losing precious fluid from his eyes and he burst into tears and screamed in frustration. "Fine! Fuck you Potter!"

I laughed and felt a slight lifting of weight from my chest. I could do this, if they could get away, then I could do this. "I love you too buddy."

His face screwed up and a sob tore from his throat. I thought, perhaps, I had a minute to spare before the wriggling beast returned, maybe even two. I walked to him quickly and wrapped my brother in all but blood in a tight embrace, careful of his many injuries. Ron had managed to kill three of them before he was cut down, it was only the late Hermione's magical tech that saved his life and kept his heart beating, but even that would fail soon without proper medical attention.

"I love you too mate." I patted him on the back before wrapping my arms around Neville and Luna as well, the last of my friends, the last of my family. I hoped life would be peaceful for them after this, and if not, then I hope they had a chance to give the bastards hell before they came to join me.

"Harry, take Ron and Luna and go, I'll activate it. You know I'm nearly as powerful as you, I've got enough magic to make it work." I looked into Neville's steely eyes. He'd come into his own even more after we defeated Voldemort, I just wish we'd had more than five years before we were thrown back into war.

"No, you can't, I made sure Hermione crafted it to only work with my magical signature mate, if anyone was going to have to use it, I made sure it could only be me."

Neville's shoulder's slumped, in relief, shame, and disappointment. "Why do you always have to be such a noble ass Harry?"

I laughed and shrugged. "Just in my nature I suppose, Hermione had a name for it."

Luna smiled, the brightness of it helped detract from the burns covering most of her head and scalp, our poor little moon beam. "Your saving people thing." Her voice was soft and cracked slightly, the effects of a smoke damaged throat. I placed a kiss on her forehead and held her tight for just moment.

"That's right, its my thing after all. Now look after the boys here for me, yeah? They're going to need you, don't let them brood too much." A tear escaped one eye, the only one that could still cry.

"I'm going to miss you Harry, be safe, and be happy, where ever you go."

I smiled sadly at her and kissed her head again. "We'll see each other again one day, I just hope you're old and grey when we do."

Her face crumpled then and she sobbed before burying her head in my arms. I heard her muffled, whispered response. "I… I don't think we will Harry, I've been having dreams again… and I don't think-"

There was a thunderous explosion from behind us and I whirled, placing my hands out to either side of me and formed a shield around us. "No time moon beam." I glanced over my shoulder again as the wriggling mass of tentacles and hatred rose into the air from a hundred yards away and began flying toward us. My attack had done little more than make it dizzy for a few moments. Damn. "I love you all, now get the Hell out of here!" I gave them a push with my magic to get them rolling, and felt more weight fall off me as they disapparated away.

I turned to face the beast that invaded my world and released a roar of my own. Call me crazy but I think I might have surprised it. Much like the smaller entities in its army, the thing had no concrete shape. A dark mass of tumorous flesh that wriggled and pulsated like the beating of an arrhythmic heart. Faces and shapes, like massive beasts with needle teeth would rise out of the flesh like terrible sea creatures before diving back into the mass and rejoining the collective. Tentacles were dispersed randomly across its surface, and even from here I could see more than a dozen eyes and mouths disappearing and reforming again.

Anyone watching a single puny human, magical or not, stand up to such a creature was laughable, but I knew its secret, Hermione figured it out before they got to her. The beasts had spread across the globe quickly, but they all shared a single mind. If the biggest brain in the bunch, the 'leader' for lack of a better word, was destroyed, then the others would melt away into nothing but goo. The problem was, it would require a massive amount of power, pure energy, to do much damage. The muggles had tried nukes, but it fed on radiation. Magical power was our last resort to stopping it.

I cast lightening charms on myself and a dangerous dark spell designed to temporarily increase my speed and reflexes, the spell was taxing, and known for killing the caster with extended use, but I didn't need to worry about that. It fired a blast of energy at me from a strange, almost metallic structure it formed near the center of the bubbling flesh. Instead of blocking this one, I juked to the side and began running. With the enhancement and lightening charms, I ran like the wind. I ducked and dodged around destroyed building and flailing appendages and I grew closer to the mass. Just as I reached the edge of where the majority of its body was located, I jumped.

I felt my stomach fall out from under me as I launched myself a hundred feet in the air. My heart thudded in my chest, and a little voice in the back of my mind reminded me that I didn't have a broom between my legs. I waited just until I was at the apex of my jump and cancelled the lightening charms. Instead, I quadrupled my weight and cast a transparent bubble shield around myself as I fell like a boulder.

More tentacles lashed out at me but the strength of the shield burned them away as they made contact. A shit eating grin covered my face as I smashed into the blob of gelatinous flesh. My shield began to burn its way into the alien beast and I laughed as it shrieked in pain. "Take that you bastard!" I pulled the black pyramid off of my belt and quickly began the activation sequence. I twisted the pyramid this way and that as my shield continued to eat a hole through the monster. The ashen sky above disappeared as more flesh rolled in to cover the opening. Hideous faces made of teeth and pustules pushed up against my shield before being burned away. With a final click the pyramid was ready, and the base shivered as a perfectly round opening appeared at the base. I ripped my shirt open and pressed the pyramid against my heart without hesitation. The activation phase was simple, a request from me that Hermione had gladly agreed to.

I grinned at a particularly large eye and spoke. "Go to hell you ugly fuck!" Perhaps not the most elegant pass phrase, but I liked it. A burn began inside me instantly, along with a pulling sensation toward the pyramid. I grit my teeth and felt my energy draining. My magic tried to resist at first but I clamped down on my control and pushed more of myself into the device. My skin began to glow red hot and I screamed as something deep inside me ruptured and the magic flowing into the device more than doubled. I smiled down at the light glowing from myself and the late Hermione's brilliant design, and pushed the tip of the pyramid into the rest. There was a click, a flash of brilliant white light accompanied by an intense wave of heat and pain before…

…

….

…..

…

My face was cool, I was relaxed and I felt a soft breeze wash across my skin. Even though my eyes were closed, I could tell wherever I was that it wasn't very bright. Should I groan? Surely if I somehow survived what would have certainly ripped me into individual atoms, I should groan. But there was no pain, no intense heat or bright light. I twitched, just some fingers and toes to make sure I could still wiggle them, and just lay there, floating in something that was thicker than water, but wasn't leaving me wet.

"I always did think you were cute where you were sleeping." My eyes snapped open at those words and I reached for a wand I didn't find. The voice was feminine and unfamiliar. Perhaps I was dead and my mother had come to carry me on to the next great adventure. The voice spoke again. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry, but no I'm not your mother." I jerked and slammed my occlumency shields into place as I rolled over my shoulder backwards and came onto my feet in a crouch, a wandless cutter charged in my hands and eyes narrowed. I stopped short at the sight before me.

It was a girl, a young teenager around the age of fourteen. Her hair was short, shoulder length and bone white, all but the tips, those were an ice blue. Her eyes were the same shade of green as my own. She wore a simple set of form fitting robes, and carried what appeared to be a large shepherd's staff. A bell hung from the hooked end that tinkled and glowed slightly as the girl tossed it from one hand to the other. She was barefoot.

"Hello Harry, how are you feeling? Have I ever told you how impressive it was you managed to learn some wandless magic? Very tricky thing for mortals to accomplish." She smiled at me and it was mischievous, but lighthearted. I stood slowly and dropped my spell, it wouldn't do me any good against a being such as this, the energy radiating of it was immense, and seemed infinite in nature. Feeling energy was more art than science, but I had a good enough handle on it to understand that, despite appearances, whatever was standing in front of me wasn't human.

"I don't believe we've met, yet you seem to know my name. May I have yours?" I tensed as she tilted her head back and laughed. It was like a wind chime caught in a breeze and despite the adrenaline coursing through me, it was lovely. I took a moment to take in my surroundings as she continued to laugh. The sky above was black, with stars close enough to cast a faint light on the rippling surface beneath my feet. It moved and bounced, almost as if I stood on the surface of a particularly dense batch of jello. Comets streaked over head, and I could see distant planets mixed in with the stars.

"I go by many names Harry. Fate, Destiny, Luck, I believe you've referred to me as 'Bitch' on more than one occasion." The last line was delivered with a hint of dry amusement and I suddenly discovered my throat was parched. A glass of water appeared in her hands and she held it up to me. "Go on, drink if you're thirsty. Poison would be wasted on a dead man, it's safe."

I hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking the glass. "Thank you." I took a deep drink and sighed, it was the most refreshing glass of water I'd ever had. "So you confirmed that I'm dead, so I have to ask, did it work?"

A sad smile crossed her face as she nodded. "I'm sorry Harry, sorry you had to die when you weren't meant to, but yes, it worked. The threat is gone, even as your friends mourn you." I frowned at those words but didn't speak. She continued after a moment. "You see, you already fulfilled your own 'destiny' so to speak. The prophecy was finished, you won. You were supposed to have a happy ever after, but that didn't work."

"So if Voldemort was supposed to be the end of it, why did I just blow myself up trying to defeat aliens?" Bitch sighed, yes that was the name I was sticking to, at least in my own head, and spoke.

"The next chosen one in line was supposed to stop the invasion from ever happening, but something went wrong. You see, ever so often special people are born, and those people have a task to complete. Sometimes its something small, stop a politician from taking office that might start a nuclear war, get into a car crash that happens to kill a certain psychopath that would go on to kill someone important in the future. Then there are true chosen ones, whose fate are intertwined with the fate of the world, or the universe. If you hadn't defeated Voldemort, he'd have taken the world in a year, and would start conquering others with a century. Voldemort as a galactic overlord wouldn't be to anyone's benefit but his, so you were activated, a chosen one in a position to stop him. I'm sorry but if you ask me "why you" I don't have an answer for you. I see and guide destiny, but I don't truly control it. No, that comes from… somewhere else."

I felt anger bubbling beneath the surface but did my best to stamp on it, no sense in pissing off a nigh omnipotent being. "Go on." My voice was deceptively calm. She gave me a knowing look, but continued anyway.

"You killed that crazy bastard and brought peace back to the world. You were supposed to be done then, free to do as you like, but something went wrong." I had a sneaking feeling in the back of my head that I had an idea what happened.

"Let me guess, abusive relatives killed their ass before they were even given a chance to grow up."

I seem to have surprised her, but the smile returned quickly. "Yes, you're correct, on the girl's twelfth birthday, a drunken uncle beat her into a coma. She died a year later lying in a hospital bed. This left me in quite the pickle. I'm rather fond of the universe, and those nasty things were going to end up eating all of it if something wasn't done." She took a deep breath and conjured a pair of chairs for the both of them. Bitch took a seat, but I remained standing, to wound up to sit. She didn't seem to mind. "So I took a look at the records, and tried to find someone else that would fit the bill. The next chosen one wasn't scheduled to be born for another fifteen years, and that wouldn't do. The world would have burned and been converted into biomass long before that happened, So I looked toward retired agents. There was one fellow that managed to stop the end of Earth back in nineteen twenty two, but he was far to old to do much good. The only other agent still alive was you. So I had to fudge the numbers, and reactivated you with a new mission. Destroy them at all costs. I'm so sorry it also cost you your life."

I snorted with mirthless laughter, the anger and rage bubbled just beneath the surface and I felt power pooling in my hands before I was able to reign in back in. "I would say just my luck, but as it turns out it wasn't luck at all."

"Oh that's were you're wrong, I reactivated you so you could fulfill this bit of destiny, but you did all the work yourself." I rolled my eyes, not really caring anymore but did my best to let it go anyway, I was dead after all, what good would getting angry now do?

"So, why are we here? Last time I died there was a train station, one that I could take to move on to the 'next great adventure' but I don't see any trains, given our location, perhaps I should be expecting a rocket ship?"

I felt dread fill me as her expression changed to a wince. "You see…"

"No, what the hell ever is going on, I'm done, I've died twice, fighting dark lords and aliens, I'm not letting anything put me back on my world just to have it happen to me all over again."

She seemed relieved at those words. "Oh, good, you won't be going back to your world, don't worry." I felt myself relax slightly at that, even though I was sad to leave the friends behind that still lived. "No, you've been granted a boon, a brand new world to play in." My scowl returned in full force.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" She smiled at my rising anger and confusion before speaking.

"The… higher ups in my organization have seen fit to reward you. Normally when a person dies they pass on, go somewhere that well, I'm not allowed to tell you about. But, given the nature of your life, and the fact you had to fulfill two destinies, one of which wasn't even your own, you are to be given a reward. A chance again at life, a new world where you will have to tools and abilities to tackle any problems that might come your way."

"And what if I refuse? What if I just want to move on and be done with it?" I was suspicious to say the least. Bitch smiled at me kindly.

"I'm afraid that really isn't on the table at this point Harry. These are all powerful beings that wrote the code that powers the universe, you do not want to tell them no."

"What if I don't care? What if I don't give a rats ass if they snap their fingers and delete me from existence?"

Bitch looked a little worried at my words but she recovered quickly enough. "They could… but its much more likely you'd find yourself somewhere very warm, keeping the company of rusty instruments for a very long time."

Great, so whoever the hell was in charge of everything was a massive dick, go figure. "Fine, so I go to a new world, you said I'd have abilities I don't currently possess."

She nodded. "Yes, tools and assets not available to any other mortal, I don't know the full details exactly, but they are supposedly modeled after things that could be commonly found on your world, so you'll already have a basic understanding of them."

"And that will allow me to live my life how I want? Destroy dark lords with a snap of my fingers?"

Here Bitch looked a tad nervous. "As I said, I don't know all the details, but I believe the potential to achieve that would at least be possible. The world they have chosen for you is very similar to your own, at least as far as Earth is concerned. You will find subtle differences, so I'm told, but for the most part, it will be very similar. I believe major changes can of course occur do to your interference. Look, Harry, I know you've been given the short end of the stick here, I'm doing the best I can, but remember, I'm a cosmic entity, but I'm still only middle management. From my understanding, this world is being given to you, once you're in, its being locked away for good, I won't be able to interfere, nor will any other power. No more destinies, no cosmic beings looking down on you, you're being given a free pass, to essentially do whatever you want."

I blinked at that and thought. She quirked an eyebrow at me at some of the thoughts I was having, apparently occlumency did little good against 'gods.' "So if I wanted to go on a murderous rampage and kill half the Earth they wouldn't stop me."

"Wow, not what I was expecting, but yes, no interference. They won't even be able to look at you, anything done there will essentially be a dead zone."

"What about when I die? For the third time." The last sentence came out a bit snarky I admit.

Bitch shrugged. "They can't see anything, hear anything, or understand anything from that place. It will be its own self contained universe Harry. That's the deal, like I said, you're getting a free pass to do life the way you want to."

For the just the briefest of moments, possibilities swam in my head at those words, dark and dastardly possibilities. I shook my head to clear it, did I really just use the word dastardly? I sigh and weigh my options, noting that I really didn't have any. I could either go along with this, or end up being roasted on a spit for all eternity. I grimace and close my eyes. "Fine, I'll do it." I opened them to look at her.

She was smiling, a kind almost motherly smile. Odd seeing it on a teen's face. "I'm glad to hear you accepted. You were always my favorite you know, I'm sorry for all you've-"

"Yep, got it, why don't you just get on with it before I decide to change my mind? I'm not known for being the most stable person around, Its hard to tell what I might do."

She looked sufficiently cowed and nodded before producing something from within her robes. I blinked at the sight of it, a chocolate chip cookie? "Eat this, when you wake up you'll be at your new home. I'm under the impression there will be some sort of crash course concerning your new abilities." I blinked at the cookie dubiously but shrugged, I'd had weirder experiences. I plucked the cookie from her hands. It was warm, as if freshly baked. "I wish you well Harry, and hope you find the joy and happiness previously denied you."

I chuckled and popped the cookie in my mouth, chewing and swallowing it quickly. It was good, probably the best one I'd ever eaten. I snapped off a lazy salute as my eyes rapidly grew heavy. "Thanks bit…" My eyes closed and I felt myself falling, far farther than what the floor would have allowed.

2.

The girl's grin fell away as the mortal faded from sight. It was replaced with a rictus smile that stretched and distorted her features to monstrous proportions. With a moan and a sigh she stretched, her body creaked and popped as she grew and changed. "Finally! I really wondered there for a moment if he would take the bait. Had to do some creative thinking on the fly to get him to go willingly, some of my best work if I say so myself." Her hair fell out and any visible skin paled dramatically. Teeth like needles burst forth from bleeding gums, as arms and legs stretched and became spiderlike in appearance. Long thin fingers ended in claws and growths and tumors sprung out across any visible flesh. "Stupid cunt of a mortal." The thing's voice was deep and doubled up now, as if two beings were speaking.

It scuttled across the endless black plain and came to a particular cluster of lights and shapes, the universe it had sent the mortal too. The cloud was covered in a transparent grey mist that surrounded it like a bubble. It squinted inside, unable to make out any detail, other than its visitor had been deposited just where it wanted him to be.

The great and terrible thing grinned again and with a swirl of its hands the grey fog darkened and became solid. It tapped on the outside of the bubble and chuckled darkly. It was a creature of the void and darkness, part of the endless black that existed before the birth of light and heat, before creatures great and small were ever created. In a time before time, it had been plucked from the great void and placed here in this in between space. The architect of light had demanded it watch over these worlds, an unwilling shepherd for sheep it would rather eat than protect. The architect told it, 'my creations are good, and true, but they will not always be, a time will come when darkness with sprout and spread outward to everything, for light must cast a shadow. I give my existence to power this endless sea of life, and as my last act, I chain you to the task of protecting it. You will choose champions to deal with whatever darkness comes from within the light.' And just like that, the bastard had vanished, its dying energies kick starting an infinite universes.

The creature had raged and hated for this 'honor.' It was of the darkness, deeper than even the architect had ever known. And it was lazy. Oh it did its job with some worlds, choosing and selecting champions, 'helping' them reach their final goals, but it had soo many better things to do with its time. And thus, it was lazy.

It had picked a universe at random, and designated that the dumping grounds. The vast majority of any 'evil' was plucked from its own world, and stuffed there. It was by far the darkest of any place, and contained countless dangers and atrocities. So it supposed, it had done its job, or at least thought it had gamed the system, but now there was a problem. That universe was growing too full, too much nasty concentrated in a single place. Oh it had chosen many champions from many different worlds within it, and some of them had even succeeded in defeating a threat or two, but they were never enough. So a plan had been concocted in its diseased mind, and it found it perfect. Pluck a hero from another world of course, one that had already proven themselves, and stick them there.

Being from another universe, this 'hero' wouldn't have the same limitations of a native, and certain rules could be stretched to give it just enough power to thin those numbers. With a snap of spidery fingers, the bubble of darkness vanished, transported far away to the very edges of the endless plain of creation. It chuckled to itself again and began looking around, it had a new dumping ground to find after all.

3.

I groaned, my entire body hurt and everything was dark. I smelled dust in the air and had to stifle a cough as a deep breath filled my lungs with it. I tried to sit up and smacked my head painfully. I blinked in confusion, that pain, the smell of dust, felt oddly familiar. As I struggled to sit up again I blinked rapidly, my eyes adjusting to the dark as a line of light at my feet became visible. Two things became obvious to me at once. The first was a glowing box of text hovering in front my vision. It was light blue in color and could be seen easily in the darkness, nor did it cast light on my surroundings. The words in the box read: "Would you like to begin the tutorial now?" beneath it were two more words: Yes, and No. No was greyed out.

The second thing that became instantly apparent? I was in a cupboard, beneath the stairs of number four Privet Drive. "Fuck!"

Author's Notes: Well Howdy everyone, it sure has been a while. I've taken a bit of a hiatus to work on some original stuff, two a book , rewrote that book, and have managed to get a good outline for the sequel hashed out, so I decided to take a break and dive back into the world of fanfiction. I know some of you, probably one or two at least, might have been expecting the third installment of my future series, and I did indeed originally intend on making that my next story on this site, but I was struck with an insane idea, one that required I write this story first, never mind about the details of why, I promise we haven't seen the end of that Harry and Hermione, but for now they're still on vacation, and probably will be until this story is over. I've never had much interest in doing a rewrite kind of story, where Harry is all worried about maintaining the timeline and all that nonsense, why bother going back if you aren't going to wreck things? So this is very different from that, also, this will be my first attempt of writing about Hogwarts. I've avoided the school setting, always finding it too limiting in scale so I'm sure I'll be mixing things up as I go along.

Poor Harry can't catch break can he? Despite dark beginnings, I think this will end up being more lighthearted that it first appears, but you never know, we'll see. Also, this is a gamerfic, or Litrpg if you prefer, I love those stories, and there's so few of them in the world of Harry Potter, so I decided to write my own, I'll do my best not to bog it down with endless lists of stats and perks and keep things relatively simple. As of now, the plan is 2-3 chapters for a year up until year 4 or so, that's when the real books get spicy, so the story will slow down significantly from there.

I'm going to wrap this up before this A/N gets any bigger. I hope you all read, enjoy, and review. As any story I put up here, I'll finish it regardless of how long that takes, but a little encouragement might give me a kick in the ass every so often, I'm going to try for an update every two weeks, but if I find myself ahead of schedule I might start releasing them a little closer together.

Happy Reading!

-Harkon