Hello everyone and welcome to this story. I hope you all enjoy it. Especially now that it has been rebooted with MUCH LONGER CHAPTERS! And hopefully for me it means more people will review my chapters. Anyway, let's start!
It was all technically supposed to end here. Harry Potter was allowing himself to be killed by the Dark Lord. Harry himself was the last Horcrux and him dying was necessary to defeat the Dark Lord.
And in truth, Harry could not care less about this fact. His life had been such a living hell that he was now at the point where he didn't even see the point in living anymore. He just couldn't go on.
A short time after being hit by the Dark Lord's killing curse, Harry began to open his eyes. He was met with a bright, but not blinding white light. After taking a moment to regain his vision, he stood up. He took a slow scan of his surroundings.
"I suppose this is magical heaven," he muttered to himself He did feel though that there should be a lot more to this "magical heaven" than what he was seeing.
"You would be right about that, in a sense," a male voice suddenly said from above, startling Harry.
Harry quickly glanced upwards. He was seeing somebody floating down towards him. As he drew closer and could be seen better, Harry's initial reaction was that this was his father.
"D-Dad?" He muttered.
But somehow, that didn't feel accurate. In fact, if Harry was honest with himself, he suspected that this was actually... some version of himself. That is, one that is both a bit older, and a hella lot healthier and better-looking.
"I'm sorry, no. I'm not James Potter," the other being said apologetically.
"Figures," Harry whispered so softly that the other being couldn't hear him. But Harry was going to be in shock by who this being actually was.
"I am actually you," the other being told him. "Or, more to the point, I am the version of you that you were truly meant to be."
"Huh?!" Harry practically shouted in shock.
Harry was at a loss for words right now. So this being was supposedly some "much better" version of himself?
"Of course, it's only natural that you are filled with disbelief about this fact," the apparent other Harry said knowingly. "But yes, what I am saying is one hundred percent true."
"W-where did you come from? How could you possibly some other version of myself?" Harry questioned. "Clearly if what you're saying is true, then you must be from like an alternate universe or something. But alternate universes don't exist, right?"
The other Harry grinned. "You'd be very surprised by what mysterious happenings can occur in the magical world."
"Well, yes, but even this is beyond unbelievable, even by magical world standards," Harry said skeptically.
"Then where do you suppose I came from?" the other Harry argued.
Harry opened his mouth to respond, but ultimately, no words came out. Regardless of his doubtfulness, it was clearly obvious that this other Harry didn't come from the present world.
The other Harry grinned again.
"Right then," the other Harry said with a nod. "Now that introductions are out of the way, I'm sure you're curious to know why I'm here."
Trying to push away his still lingering doubts, Harry nodded.
"The reason why I am here..." the other Harry began, "is to provide you with an opportunity to actually live your life the way you were truly meant to."
"What do you mean?" Normal Harry asked.
"What I mean is that... you would be able to go back in time... and you would get the chance to live the life you've always wanted," the other Harry told him, grinning.
Harry had no response. So here he was right now, interacting with this other Harry from some other world. And now this other Harry was promising him a chance to supposedly live his life over again, but like him?
Though as skeptical as Harry was right now, there was something manifesting inside of him. And this something was internally nudging Harry to trust what his counterpart was saying.
Harry looked intently at his counterpart, who was looking back at him, as though saying to allow him to continue. Remembering that there was nothing to lose at this point in his life, Harry nodded.
"Go on," he encouraged his counterpart.
"Excellent," the other Harry said, satisfied with the normal Harry's response. "Now, like I said before, what you see before you is a physical manifestation of the Harry you were meant to become."
"I see," the normal Harry said as he took in his counterpart's appearance.
Harry did have to admit that the other Harry was a lot more desirable-looking on the surface. He looked much happier and healthier, among several other key differences between him and the normal Harry.
"Besides what you see before you, there are other aspects about me that I'm confident you'll like," the other Harry said. "In the world of the Harry you were meant to be, you have true friends who actually care about you. You get to unlock your true potential as a wizard. And above all else, you are happy. Very happy."
Happy. An emotion that Normal Harry had experienced very little in his current life. What he would give even to just not be constantly miserable, never mind full-on happy in life. And if this alternate Harry was not playing some crazy joke on him, then this was his chance to be set on that path.
"So," the other Harry said. "What do you say? Are you up for embarking on this journey?"
Harry looked up again at the eyes of his otherworld counterpart. He saw something in those eyes that he rarely saw in the eyes of anyone else. They were the eyes of someone who cared about him. It made him feel warm inside, despite the crazy circumstances surrounding him. After a few seconds, Harry nodded. What did he have to lose at this point?
The other Harry smiled. "Wonderful. I promise that you are making the best decision you will ever make."
"I sure hope so," the normal Harry said.
"Now," the other Harry began, turning around. "Before I send you into my own realm, I need to discuss with you some important information. So, if you would please walk with me for a bit?"
So Harry and his older counterpart began to slowly walk beside each other. The area they were in was exceptionally bare, making it easy for regular Harry to ignore them and just focus on his counterpart's word.
"Now, to begin, one thing you should note, Harry, is that some things in your new life will not play out quite the same as they had in your old life," his counterpart began.
"Okay," Harry said as he listened to his counterpart speak.
"Oh! I almost forgot," the other Harry suddenly exclaimed, making regular Harry jump slightly. The other Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial before handing the vial to Harry. "I'm going to need you to drink this."
The normal Harry looked warily at the vial his counterpart was now handing him. "Uh, what is it? And why do I need to drink it?"
"This potion makes it impossible for you to experience any emotions," the other Harry answered. "Some of the information you will not take kindly too and probably react very poorly. I need you to drink it so you can keep a clear head throughout our discussion."
"Oh, lovely," the normal Harry said flatly as he took the potion from him. He popped it open, stared at it for a moment, then downed the small amount of liquid in one forceful gulp.
The other Harry watched in hope that the potion would have the desired effect. A few seconds later, the normal Harry turned to face him. He had a completely emotionless look on his face, signaling to the other Harry that it was working.
"How are you feeling?" the other Harry asked, already knowing the answer.
"Kind of a pointless question when you cannot feel anything," regular Harry answered plainly.
The other Harry clapped his hands together. "Yes, it worked! Now we can proceed."
The normal Harry nodded and the discussion began.
"Now," the other Harry began. "This first bit of information I'm about to give you concerns Dumbledore."
Regular Harry looked up at his counterpart, but his expression remained motionless. "What about him?" he inquired.
"Harry... I'm sorry to inform you that the way your life had gone in your own world... it had all gone according to what Dumbledore wanted for your life."
Now was the test. The other Harry carefully examined his younger self's facial features, looking for any sign of a bad reaction. To his great relief, he found none. However, that didn't stop regular Harry from not being doubtful at first of his claim.
"But Dumbledore is... or rather was, the greatest wizard of all time," regular Harry said. "Why would he want to do that to me?"
"Brace yourself," older Harry said as he raised his wand.
A moment later, the normal Harry was watching flashbacks from his life, specifically from Dumbledore's perspective. In these flashbacks, he saw, one by one pieces of evidence that led credence to his counterpart's claims.
But perhaps the most telling piece of evidence was that time when Dumbledore and Snape were interacting, and Snape had found out that all this time, Dumbledore was raising Harry as a pig for slaughter. And that Dumbledore responded to Snape's accusatory-sounding statement with "Don't tell me you've actually grown to care for the boy?"
The other Harry gave a small grin, feeling confident that he had successfully gotten his point across. Normal Harry was still as emotionless as could be, but even that did not stop him from uttering a few choice words.
"That old, manipulative son of a b-!"
"I'm very sorry that I had to show you all that," the other Harry said consolingly, despite his younger counterpart still showing no emotion.
Harry shrugged uncaringly. "Was that all or is there more?"
"That was the main thing you needed to know," the other Harry told him. "But there is more to be said.
"So what else is there that I need to know?" Normal Harry inquired.
"I've told you some unfortunate news, so allow me to tell you some things that you will take much more kindly to," the other Harry said, looking forward to this part.
The two Harrys continued walking down this sort of magical heaven and found themselves in a much more pleasant-looking environment. They appeared to have walked into a perfectly tended to field, with various greenery looked healthier than any plants back on the planet. It helped to set the mood for this part of the other Harry's information dump.
"In your new life," the other Harry began. "There are going to be people who actually care more about you. You're not going to be stuck with the same people whom you were "planned" to be with in your first life."
"Wait, so then you're saying that Ron and Hermione aren't going to be my best friends in this new life?" Normal Harry asked, though he still remained emotionless. "And what do you mean by "planned to be with?"
In truth, the other Harry flinched slightly at the way he asked this. Perhaps he didn't phrase this the best way he could.
"I'm sorry, allow me to rephrase that. What I meant was that you would be able to choose the people you want to have in your life," the other Harry corrected himself. "I really just meant to say that there will be people available to you who would care about you in ways they did not when you were in your old life."
"Oh, I see," the normal Harry said. "Oh, but you still haven't answered about the "planned" part."
"Well, the thing is... you becoming 'best mates' with Ron Weasley was also a part of Dumbledore's plan," the other Harry answered, slightly nervously.
"Ah," Normal Harry said.
"Do you want me to show you the proof of that I have?" the other Harry asked.
"No need," the normal Harry answered, shaking his head. "Even with this emotion-cancelling potion you gave me, all this about my life being "planned" has been a lot to take in.
"I'm sure it is," the other Harry said in agreement.
The other Harry allowed his younger counterpart a few minutes to process the information he had so far received. There was now just one more thing he wanted to talk to him about before he sent him on his way. And this was the part he was looking forward to the most.
"Now, Harry, are you ready for the best part of everything I'm about to tell you before I send you off?" the other Harry asked.
"Sure," Harry said with a shrug, the emotion-cancelling potion not yet having begun to wear off.
"Alright, this last matter to discuss is about your eventual relationship partner," the other Harry said, a dreamy look beginning to appear on his face. "In other words, the girl who you will inevitably want to be together with."
"Let me guess, it isn't Ginny," the normal Harry began. "You're going to tell me that Ginny never really loved me for me, but because I was the 'Boy-Who-Lived', right?"
The other Harry looked at his counterpart in surprise. "That's exactly what I was about to tell you. How did you figure that on your own?"
"In truth, since you had given be this emotion-cancelling potion, I've been thinking a lot more clearly. As you tell me all this information, some of it begins coming to me as things I've should've been able to figure out," Normal Harry explained.
"Impressive," the other Harry said, though at this moment, he was kind of hoping that the potion would start to wear off now. He wanted Harry to feel fuzzy about the kind of girl he was going to eventually be with in his new life.
"But anyway, you are correct," the other Harry continued. "Instead, the girl you're gonna fall for is someone who would be able to understand you. Someone who loved you strictly for who you are rather than what you are. And to top it all off, this girl is going to be someone not obvious. In other words, she is not somebody who you ever got to know very well in your old life."
"And who might that be?" the normal Harry asked.
His counterpart was silent at first and grinning at him. But he was actually debating with himself whether or not he should tell him.
"Well, are you going to tell me or just keep grinning at me like that?" Normal Harry asked again.
After a few more seconds, the other Harry shook his head. "I think that is something I'm going to let you find out on your own," he responded. "It would be no fun for you if you couldn't have some surprises."
Harry said nothing in response.
After another minute or so, something was beginning to happen with Harry. He was beginning to feel again.
"Other Harry?" he said, having never been sure how he should address this counterpart of his. "I think your emotion-cancelling potion is wearing off."
"Okay. I think I've told you enough. Let us get on with sending into your new life," the other Harry declared. "Now, hold onto me."
Harry hesitated for a moment, but nonetheless followed his counterpart's instructions.
"Now, you're absolutely sure about all this?" he asked, a bit of doubt still lingering inside him.
"I promise you, Harry, as long as you do your part, everything will work out. And you, at the end of the journey, will become the Harry you were truly meant to be. In other words, me," he said reassuringly.
A bright white light began to appear around the duo as the other Harry began the process of escorting his lesser counterpart into his own realm.
"One more thing," the normal Harry said, looking straight up at his counterpart's eyes. "Thanks. Thanks a lot."
The other Harry said nothing, but gave his younger self a bright encouraging smile as the light grew brighter and brighter.
Seconds later, all that could be seen was the white light as Harry was being sent into his new shot at life.
A few minutes later, after it was too late to change anything, the other Harry mentally kicked himself.
"Darn it! There was one important thing I forgot to tell him! I forgot to tell him that he would not have any memories of his previous life!" he exclaimed. He then sighed. "Well, I can at least say that where I sent him to, that some things will be different than in his own world. So hopefully he will be okay."
So yeah, I did do one thing that some readers may question, and that's having Harry not remember the events of his old life. This change was done for two reasons. One, it'll help with being able to complete the story as it's intended. And two, some of the events I've planned I believe will feel more genuine if I do this. Anyway, see you guys with the next chapter, though do note that with these bigger chapters that I can no longer update as frequently.