His pockets had carried the weight of a bag of Galleons for ages. A little bit of safety that he had never let the Dursleys know about. And something that could get him far in the wizarding world. He knew that it spread further than England. He knew that there were wizards worldwide. He hadn't thought that it would be so easy to find them. The first town they got to at the foot of the cliff was small. But the looks that people gave them were stiff. Unmoving almost. Abnormal.
They found Papyrus, first of all. He was on the front porch of a family home a little bit down the street, standing tall, giving the door a hearty knock. "Papyrus!", Undyne hissed through the silence of the late evening, came out from behind another house, Alphys on her tail. "I am trying to greet the humans, Undyne!", Papyrus said. "Yes, but it seems the humans don't want to be greeted!", she said, walked up to him, and gripped his arm before he could set his knuckles to the door again. Papyrus didn't move until she pulled him away from the door.
He didn't turn around until they passed the white fence at the edge of their front yard. "They are not answering their doors", Papyrus said, glancing around the town with a frustrated look on his face. Undyne wrapped her arm around his shoulders lightly, held onto him, and lifted her head to look around. She looked helpless. Like she had imagined this to go differently.
Alphys spotted them first. Her eyes find the Dreemurr family and Harry standing at the end of the road. She reached up, took a hold of Undyne's shirt, and tugged at her hem, getting her attention. Some of the tension fell from Undyne's shoulders when she saw them.
But it wasn't relief that played on her face. She looked exhausted. Alphys stayed close to her when she set into movement, and Papyrus only moved to follow when the stretch of their arms didn't allow him to stand in the same spot anymore. "Asgore" She shook her head as she came closer, a look of despair in her eyes. "I don't understand-", she looked over her shoulder again, "They're there, they just…" "Things like these take time, Undyne", Asgore said calmly, but when Harry looked up, he could see the uncertainty in his eyes, too. The street was dotted with golden light. The shine of the life from behind the windows formed bright rectangles on the asphalt, the conical light of the street lamps cutting through the murky darkness. And it was empty. The town was utterly silent, might as well be abandoned.
The people he could see were nothing but silhouettes, dark against the light of their homes. Still, completely unmoving. Something about this felt familiar. Something about the buzz in the air, about the electricity dancing along with his fur: he took a step forward, into the street. The electricity hit him more. His fur stood up on his arms, on his face. There was a sweet taste in the air. One he had tasted so many times before. Every time something inexplicable happened to him.
Every time he disappeared when the bullies were chasing him, every time something disappeared that should have been there. And when he first met Hagrid. When he first went past the moving brick wall into Diagon Alley, he ran through the wall right onto platform 9 ¾, when he first stepped off the train and entered Hogwarts' great hall. He had it on his tongue every second that he was at school. Felt the same tingle, every time he took his wand into his hand. Every time a spell came across his lips.
And then it washed over him again, a wave of energy as the air twisted at the other end of the street. A low, rising roar cut off instantly, and the air settled again. They appeared from the twisting air, from the shift that they tore through the space. Their coats still wafted in the wind, in the push that they created. Their faces were covered in the darkness, their expressions obscured. Harry's heart began to race. A figure clad in darkness, a black coat was hanging to the floor. Silver blood smearing its face.
Harry could feel the cold, the ice creeping into his veins. The gust of the forest, the foul smell. CALM DOWN. The figures set into movement, stepped forward as if they were one. Harry could see the wands peeking out from underneath their robes, firmly in their hands. He took a step back, shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, the images. The darkness and the pain in his arms. "Frisk?" Asriel took a step forward, a step closer to him. And when Harry looked over his shoulder, turned to the monster child, the gold in his eyes made his heart standstill.
The worry, the gentle pull, the invitation, to come closer, to stay with him. It made the forest disappear. It made the figure disappear, the sickly sweet smell of the unicorn's silver blood. He made it all disappear. And when Asriel's fingers sneaked into his hand, Harry could breathe again. "Are you alright?", Asriel asked softly. Harry took a deep breath and looked forward down the street again, at the two humans strutted towards them with grave faces. He nodded slowly and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "MACUSA", one of the men said as soon as they came close enough, raising up his hand with a badge stretched out towards them. "Humans!", Papyrus said brightly, almost in response, moved to the front of the group, towards the wizards.
He had his hand outstretched in greeting, probably thought that the man was doing the same. Harry saw the man's grip tighten around his wand, and the tip began to glow as Papyrus moved up to step closer to them. But Toriel stepped up. Her hand came in front of Papyrus' chest, stopped him. Undyne was at her side, her body tense, ready. She looked like a warrior again, even without her armor. And Harry wanted nothing more than to stay behind her. Papyrus looked at them, frowning slightly. But he stayed put when he saw the look on Toriel's face.
She had built herself up in front of the children, held her head high, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "You need to identify yourselves", the man ordered, lowering his badge down again, letting it sink into his pocket. Toriel frowned, rose her chin more, in a manner Harry had never seen on her before. Majestic and stubborn. "Toriel", she said loudly, "Dreemurr" The men stopped, a couple of feet in front of them. One stayed behind a little further than the other.
Their long coats swung from the abrupt stop slowly stilled down themselves. "You're not registered", he continued immediately. It didn't even seem like he listened to what she said. "Registered?", Toriel repeated with a wide frown on her face, "What should we be registered for?" "You're magical beings. It's obvious. The energy you give off immediately sets off our sensors. Where did you come from?" The man's tone was rough, demanding, more an order than a question.
And Toriel's stance tightened further. "I don't think we need to-" "Now, Tori", Asgore spoke up, pushing past the children to Toriel's side, "We come from the underground", he continued calmly. Harry could hear the gentle smile on Asgore's face, the arbitrating tone in his voice. "A barrier separated us from your world for a while, but now it is gone, we are free to roam this world again", he looked around, smiled. But the men looked at each other, the moment Asgore mentioned the underground, they fell silent, and one of them stepped back, further behind the other. Asgore glanced over towards Toriel at his side, smiled as if the strength she showed was helping him stand where he was. "Dreemurr", the man in the front said again, half glancing back over his shoulder to the partner looking down at his wand, nodding in understanding as he turned away from them completely. Harry's hands itched.
He knew where they came from, what they must be. The history of the wizarding world, the branch of wizards and witches, settled in America, their own Ministry of Magic, running by the name of Magical Congress of the United States of America. They did the same as they did in England. They supervised any sort of magic activity. Every unapproved use of magic had to be checked. And the disappearance of an ancient barrier and the sudden energy of hundreds of beings made of the same magic couldn't go unnoticed.
He knew this world. They didn't. Just like Asgore had said. So he couldn't hide behind them while they dealt with it. "We don't mean any harm", he piped up, letting Asriel's hand slip out of his as he stepped forward, breaking through the invisible barrier that Toriel and Undyne had put up between them and the strangers. YES. TEAR THEM DOWN. PUT THEM IN THEIR PLACE. The wizards' attention immediately turned to Harry. A hint of recognition in the first man's face.
A hint of something, even if he couldn't seem to place what it was. Harry felt his throat go dry. But Toriel's stance came into his mind, and the head held high, the chest bulged out to make herself tall. And he mimicked as much as he could. "We were trapped for a long time. Harry said, " we just want to make friends" as softly as he could. UGH… "You're not human", the man said. "We know-", Harry glanced back over his shoulder at the monsters right behind him, then he looked at the wizards again, "We know. But humans and monsters used to live in peace…and we want to go back to that" The wizards stopped. The one in the back looked up again, lowered his wand, then finally turned back to them and stepped up beside his partner. "Carter…", he said quietly. Carter nodded, letting his wand slip into the pocket that his coat held just for it. "You're magic creatures. The world of No-Majs and that of wizards, of all magical things, are separated" "I know", Harry said again, and Carter went quiet. Harry took a deep breath, straightened himself up, and then reached into his pocket for the bag of Galleons.
The coins jingled inside their bag when he moved it when he reached with his other hand to open it and show its contents to the wizards. It was his only hope. He hoped to prove his place in this world, no matter what he looked like now. His proof, when his wand was left with the Dursleys.
Now that he thought of it, it was probably tossed somewhere. Anywhere, into the trash, into the forest. Wherever they could get rid of it the quickest. Carter leaned forward, sighed, and took out his wand once again. A quick whispered 'Lumos' that made the tip of the wand glow brightly. He rose it up to the opening of the bag. The golden coins caught the magic light and seemed to absorb it, only to emit it brighter. A golden glow, fighting up against the bright blue light. SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE THAT?! WE'RE RICH! Carter glanced up at Harry. His partner came to his side, the glow falling onto his face as well.