Reviews

ZhaWarudo

I'll write what I want to write if you don't like it then just stop reading my stories.

There is no future harem. This isn't a harem story. I don't plan for him to take more than one or two people with him when he leaves.

lazyguy90

I'm glad you liked it.

Mugen-Muse

I'm sure I'll find a way to work the flying car into the story at some point.

sandmanwake

That is a great idea.

Vansmoke

No that was Hagrid's half brother Grawp and the Centaurs. Hermione lures Umbridge out into the forest and Umbridge runs afoul of the centaurs. Not that it matters in this timeline as Umbridge went mad and died in the Crossworlds.

Seriously

It's not a good idea to keep using the stone to call upon spirits in case it drives the MC to commit suicide. That's not part of the CYOA, but the MC doesn't know that so he's being careful.

Alan

Yes, he got a good look at Fawks and can now take the form of a phoenix.

Character Sheet

Name: Kol the Red Mage.

Level: Level 8

Class: Red Mage

Weapons: Wand, Goblin-Silver Dagger, Rapier, Celtic sword.

Armour: Thestral coat, Chainmail, Dragonhide boots and Bracers.

Angelic Powers: Shapeshifting, Illusions, Burning Hands.

FF Spells: Dia, Cure, Stone, Poison, Barstone, Barsleep, Parazlyse, Protect and Blind.

FF Skills: Chainspell, Sword Fighting, Dagger Fighting.

Wizard Magic: Wand Magic, Wandless Magic, Mind Arts, Potion Making, Duelling, Apportation.

Special Equipment: The Resurrection Stone.

Companions: An AI called Cortana.

Crossworld 1 - Harry Potter

Part 33

The Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

With so much to do this year, such as teaching Hermione to fly and learning a lot about duelling, it was a good thing that I'd been able to get away with only having one elective, Care of Magical creatures which was taught by a professor who'd lost two limbs and an eye to magical creatures, if I'd taken another subject along with Care I wouldn't have had any time left to devote to one of my more important projects.

It had taken a lot of practice and research before I'd been able to create a spell I'd called Apportation, having heard the term used in other fictional settings where magic was used. Apportation used a mixture of Apparition and the spell to create portkeys, to move objects from one place to another. Thankfully, modifying existing spells is much easier than creating new ones so I'd figured out how to do it.

For the magic to work I had to know exactly where the object was and what it looked like. Then I needed to visualise it appearing in my hand before forcing it to appear with a slight crack noise as the air was displaced. Already I'd practised the spell enough that the sound was somewhat less deafening I needed to be able to summon objects not only quickly but also quietly so as to maximise the advantages this magic gave me.

After all the whole point of me wanting to be able to summon a dagger to hand at a moment's notice was so that I could shove the blade into the back of some dark wizard or dark creature that I was hunting before they even knew they were under attack. Sure I can fool the senses with my illusions to hide the sound, but I might be using my illusions for something else, or someone might figure out some means of countering my illusions. I wouldn't rule it out.

Already I'd discovered that anti-Apparition jinxes will prevent me from using Apportation since the two types of magic are very similar to each other. This did limit the usefulness of Apportation somewhat as anti-Apparition jinxes covered many places, such as all parts of Hogwarts including the Chamber, which I got around by being Salazar's chosen heir, just as Dumbledore got around the school's defences by being the Headmaster. At least that jinx only existed in the magical world and in this reality.

"This wasn't as much work as I figured it would be," I mentioned to Cortana.

I'd set out to create my own version of Apportation because I'd seen MCU Loki using his powers to bring objects to him when he needed them, but he'd had centuries to master magic, I'd been expecting it to take at least a few years to get this far.

"You don't believe that anything is impossible when it comes to magic which means you don't simply accept that you can't do something with magic," my AI said "You also have a lot of power, some of Voldemort's memories to work from, and you are more motivated than other magic users".

Those were all good points, but still, I couldn't help worrying that advancing this quickly was going to lead to disaster somewhere down the road. Perhaps Loki, my patron, was setting me up for some epic failure somewhere down the road? He'd accepted my deal of playing pranks on others in his name, but he could have been lying to me.

Maybe it was because I'm an angelic being rather than a mere mortal and shouldn't be measured against human standards of skills with magic. It could have something to do with me owning one of the Deathly Hallows. Maybe they do contain some of Death's power. Both Dumbledore and Harry Potter also control a Hallow, and they are also powerful wizards. It might even be a mixture of things I simply didn't know and there wasn't much point worrying about it.

Despite this, I couldn't help wondering if there was something else helping me to advance my talents. It might be Fate. Was the World-Seed helping me to protect it? I simply didn't know, and I could drive myself crazy trying to figure it out.

"You should go shower before your private lesson with Flitwick" my AI advised.

Yes, I'd take a break from my projects for now and focus on my duelling. I needed something else to focus on.

(Line Break)

Charms Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As planned I was meeting with Professor Flitwick so that he could tutor me in duelling. I was clearly well ahead of those who competed in the Junior Divison so I would be moving up the ranks despite how old John Hiddleston appeared to be, as such I needed to learn what was involved when going up against older and more skilled duellists than those John Hiddleston had already faced.

"I saw your duel with the Malfoy boy" the teacher was saying as he waved his wand and freed up some room for us to move about "You certainly know the right spells. May I ask who trained you?".

There was no harm in telling him some of the truth.

"I trained with Nymphadora Tonks a lot during my first year" I admitted "She was preparing to become an Auror and she showed me the basics of duelling. The rest was books and some lessons with my cousin".

The rest had been many hours of studying and throwing spells at training dummies. As for Tonks, I'd only met with her a few times as Tom Hiddleston, not odd since she was being trained by Mad-Eye Moody, and that must be taking up most of her time. Plus she had family and friends.

"I remember, good with charms she was," said Flitwick "And with her special gifts she's no doubt in high demand at the DMLE".

Like me, Tonks had no need for a polyjuice potion or glamours to disguise herself.

"You can shield yourself very well" praised the demi-human "and cast some powerful spells, but you are lacking when it comes to movement. I noticed during your duel with Draco Malfoy that you let him remain on the offensive and I know that you have done this before, only to then exploit a mistake they made. That was a fine tactic against novices, but more experienced duellers won't make such mistakes and you could have easily fallen victim to a strong enough spell".

Flitwick pointed his wand at the floor and I saw footprints appear. I thought it was something meant to help people learn the moves of a type of dance, but my first impression was wrong, as most are.

"Once we've covered the basics I'll explain in greater detail how to bring down someone who can cast strong shields," the teacher said "For now you just need to know that some duellists are very good at unleashing several spells that are cast very quickly with the intent to bring down a shield and then incapacitate the other duellist. However, hostile spells are only useful if they actually strike something or someone so dodging is a basic skill that all duellists need to master".

This made sense since anyone who'd seen me duel, which included most of the student body at Hogwarts by now, would know I could cast strong shields and would plan to counter that.

"Couldn't they just damage the stage so as to limit my movement?" I asked, "Or make it slippery?".

Dungeons and Dragons had a spell called Grease meant for just that sort of thing.

"They can, and I've seen duellists who specialise in transfiguration litter a stage with conjured junk that they then use to control the movements of the other duellists" I was told "But this takes time and you leave yourself vulnerable to more direct attacks while trying. I am a Charms Master so I duel using Charms. From what I've seen of you in class and discussed with your other teachers you clearly favour charms over other kinds of magic".

I'd kept myself focused on the mind arts and duelling because I needed to protect the World-Seed. The mind arts had started off as just a means of keeping anyone from going into my mind and finding out that I didn't belong here, as for duelling well I'd know that one day I would need to defend the World-Seed. Both Defence Against The Dark Arts and the Mind Arts involve a lot of charms. Professional duelling is at its core simply a way to show off your skill at defending yourself.

"Charms have always appealed to me more than the other subjects," I said "The other subjects always seem more like something to get through rather than to enjoy even if they can be very useful".

Flitwick smiled. I could tell that he understood what I was trying to say even if my attempt to explain hadn't been very good.

"I've heard people say that they view Charms as the most magical of magical subjects. That Charms bring them the most happiness when practising magic" the teacher was telling me "I have devoted myself to Charms and I can teach you to use them in many ways, but as I mentioned before we need to cover the basics first".

Seemed sensible to me.

"Now dodging is important because even the most powerful of spells can't harm you if the person trying to curse you can't actually strike you with the spell," Flitwick said to me "There are two main ways to prevent a hostile spell from striking you. A barrier, be that a shield or something conjured, or to simply dodge. Given your youth, I suggest dodging as you have more energy than older duellists and these sessions will help you to build up your stamina. But you shouldn't depend on dodging as that will make you predictable. I will teach you to make use of both methods of defence".

I studied the floor and saw that the footprints if followed would allow me to move out of the way of hostile spells without leaving the stage or end up with me facing the wrong way. There were only so many ways to move so it made to mix style of defence as Flitwick had already mentioned.

"Of course, the other duellists will know these moves so it's best not to become predictable nor should you allow the witch or wizard you are facing to control the battle by staying on the defensive" advised the teacher "In time you'll learn to make use of parts of the common series moves and mix them together to suit your own needs".

Flitwick moved further away from me.

"We'll start by testing your reflexes," he said as he took out his wand "Keep your wand holstered. We'll be focusing on basic movements for a few lessons".

I got the feeling that this was going to involve me getting hit by mild Stinging Hexes until I learned to dodge and it turned out that I was totally right about that. This might seem a bit evil, but the pain would motivate me to learn more quickly and I would need to practice until dodging hostile spells became second nature to me. I would need to learn everything Flitwick could teach me if I was ever going to duel real wizards.

(Line Break)

The Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Looks like the spider got caught in someone else's web for a change," I said.

The woman I had locked up down here in the chamber was called Lucrezia Zabini, she was a witch as well as the mother of Blaise Zabini. She was infamous for being both beautiful and for having married seven wizards, each of whom had died in mysterious circumstances, leaving their widow with a large amount of gold. Her infamy, wealth and influence were well known to Horace Slughorn who had her son as part of his Slug Club.

Alas for young Blaise he was about to become an orphan as this woman had foolishly decided that Tom Hiddleston would become husband number eight. I might feel bad for Blaise if I had ever spoken a word to the student. We didn't share classes and the young wand waver wasn't very sociable. Although I might be doing Blaise a favour since the murderer had no love for her offspring.

Once she'd made contact with me as Tom Hiddleston via a letter sent by owl I'd invited her over and when I was sure that no one had followed her to my home I'd abducted her, bringing her here to the Chamber that was a very secure location. I didn't worry about anyone coming to look for her as Lucrezia Zabini had no friends and spent a lot of time travelling the world while spending the money of murdered husbands.

Tom Hiddleston had been her next target because not only was he rich he also had no close family and as such no one to help protect him from Miss Zabini's charms. I had no idea how she seduced all those men and I'd not given her the chance to try any of her tricks on me. I'd used a number of potions on her to keep the witch in a sedated state while I went into her mind without putting her into any sort of coma.

I found myself being more gentle because Zabini was a woman. A foolish mindset that I would need to be careful about as while men had more physical power than women when it came to using magic that didn't matter and the females of the species could in my experience be crueller than the male half. Bellatrix Lestrange was living proof of this.

Once inside the mind of the evil witch, I'd been able to take my time exploring her memories and fantasies. She had been attracted to Tom Hiddleston, but more in the way that a hungry lion is drawn to a wounded wildebeest rather than in a romantic sense. She'd been planning to seduce Tom and control him using sex before she convinced him to marry her, only then would there be an accident.

While in her mind I'd not just explored her plans and crimes I had questioned her when she was somewhat lucid about if she had rare books or stashes of money she might have hidden away. The former she didn't care about and the latter I didn't need right now but might need later so I'd keep them in mind, or rather Cortana would.

"So how are you going to kill her?" the AI asked.

As of yet, I'd not really decided if I was going to do that. Certainly, Lucrezia Zabini was too dangerous to be allowed back into the world. Even if I did a good job of wiping her memory she might end up coming after Tom Hiddleston yet again, even if that wasn't likely to work, or some other poor sod could end up dying because I let this evil bitch go after capturing her.

Handing her over to the DMLE would be pointless as I had no evidence, and while I could talk to her victims I didn't think the spirits of the dead could be called upon to give testimony in court. Besides that, I preferred not to summon the dead too often in case the stone started to tempt me into killing myself. Nor did I wish to let people know that I could summon the dead. This is why I hadn't used it to gather information on Dumbledore when helping Bagshot to write her book.

As for killing Zabini, I didn't have enough hate and anger in me to fuel the Killing Curse, but that hardly mattered as there were hundreds of spells I could use to kill someone as it was the intent that mattered more than the spell used. However, I had no desire to make a mess or to cause a lot of pain

"Nothing drastic," I told the AI "I was thinking of brewing up something that will poison her and letting her die while asleep".

I wasn't a sadist like the Death Eaters and their master. I didn't get off on making others suffer, nor did harming those weaker than me make me feel good about myself. Winning fights was different because that was more about proving my own skills than dominating others.

"She's bound to be worth a bit of XP" I commented.

Killing her was the easy part and I didn't think anyone would care enough to look for her once someone noticed that she was missing. Getting rid of the evidence was harder. I'd have to transfigure the corpse into something and dump the transfigured body somewhere.

I began looking through the more advanced potions book for something that would kill quickly and with as little pain as possible.

"Here we go the baneberry potion" I read out loud "It's easy to counter, but we don't need to worry about that and it kills quickly enough".

I could knock the bitch out after I forced her to drink the potion.

"You have a poison spell you could practice" mentioned Cortana.

That was one of my few Final Fanasty Spells, magic that I'd failed to break down using arithmancy. I'd stop trying and I'd begun focusing on altering existing spells to make more powerful versions in the future as I might need them.

"I also need to practice my potions" I pointed out "I'm already getting plenty of duelling practice".

Aside from sessions with Flitwick, the duelling class instructor had already gotten into the habit of calling upon me to help him demonstrate lots of different spells so I wasn't worried about gaining practical experience in magical combat and I didn't intend to engage the Death Eaters in fair fights unless I had no choice. Besides, I had everything I needed here in the Chamber to brew potions and I knew how to perverse them so I might as well make a big batch so that I had plenty of poison should I need it in the future.

Once the black widow lady was dead and I'd cleared up any evidence of wrongdoing I made my way out of the chamber, then into an abandoned classroom where I could try to summon Dobby the House Elf. The Chamber was warded against House Elves so he wouldn't have come to me while I was down there.

I'd considered taking the form of Lucius Malfoy, I'd seen him in person so I could copy his appearance, and then trying to free the elf, but I didn't know if Dobby would be able to sense that I wasn't a Malfoy or if giving him clothes would work while is disguise since I wasn't really part of that family.

The act of giving clothes might just be symbolic and have no magic behind it. I simply didn't know as there wasn't much information about House Elves, no one cared enough to write much about them. This might help to explain why Hermione thought they were just brainwashed slaves, she depended on books for her information too much to simply accept other sources of information and without any books to explain things she'd stuck with her first impression.

"Dobby!" I called out.

He didn't appear so I made my voice sound more authoritative, and this worked.

"Whose be you?" the House Elf asked.

Why did these creatures have to talk that way?

"I am John Hiddleston a friend of Harry Potter," I said, knowing that presenting myself this way would put the House Elf somewhat at ease "I've come to tell you that the danger to Harry Potter has been dealt with so you don't need to worry anymore".

Dobby was not easily convinced.

"No sir!" he yelled "There be danger".

Harry's first Quidditch match wasn't that far off and I could not risk the elf accidentally killing Harry in a stupid attempt to get him out of the school. I'd put a lot of work into helping the lad and I didn't trust the prophecy to keep him safe.

"No there isn't" I insisted "I destroyed the bad book that your Master brought into the castle the Chamber will not open".

I could tell that Dobby wasn't totally convinced.

"The bad book belonged to the Dark Lord," said the elf.

He was concerned that I hadn't really destroyed it.

"My family are enemies of the Dark Lord" I explained "My cousin has found other objects that the Dark Lord placed some of his power into and he has destroyed them all. He knew that the Dark Lord gave that book to your master and tricked him into giving it up".

Dobby visibly sagged as if some weight had been taken off him.

"Bad master tells bad mistress that a Hiddleston wizard be taking the bad book for the Dark Lord," said the elf.

He must have overheard Malfoy talking to his wife about my Voldemort illusion in Knockturn Ally. Dobby might have assumed that Tom Hiddleston was a Death Eater.

"That was a clever trick played by my cousin," I told the elf, trusting that he wouldn't tell anyone since wizards don't bother to ever question House Elves "He tricked your bad master into bringing the Dark Lord's book to him so it could be destroyed. I wouldn't let anyone hurt Harry Potter, he's my friend".

Either I'd chosen well by mentioning my desire to protect Potter or Dobby was too trusting as the elf burst into tears and hugged my leg.

"Now we need to figure out how to free you so you can find work elsewhere," I said to Dobby once the little guy had calmed down enough to listen "Tell me how you can be freed".

I didn't want a House Elf, but I was willing to bet that Sirius Black wouldn't mind some help keeping Grimmauld Place from falling apart. I considered trying to use Dobby as a spy, but I dismissed the idea as Dobby had been badly used by wizards and the house wouldn't be used as a meeting place by the Order of the Phoneix any time soon.

As for freeing Dobby, if a 12-year-old Harry Potter can do it then so can I. And freeing Dobby would make a fine prank for the amusement of my patron. I'd check on the elf in a few months to see things went well for him.

(Line Break)

Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Ministry of Magic.

"So what happened?" questioned Nymphadora Tonks.

Do my habit of making magical maps I was able to keep an eye on my home in Godric's Hollow even while I was playing the role of a student at Hogwarts. I checked the maps often in case any Death Eaters or Order of the Phoenix members were poking around and when I'd been checking the map I'd found that Mundungus Fletcher was moving around the house no doubt looking for some way inside.

Why he'd been there, I didn't know exactly, but I could guess. He was a criminal so he might have just been trying to sneak in to look for something to steal, something that didn't worry me much as long as he didn't get into the basement that served as a sort of workshop, as I kept my treasures on my person or my Gringotts vault. However, he was a member of the Order of the Phoenix so he might have been sent by Dumbledore to break into my home.

"I found Mr Flectcher on my property," I told the Auror "When he saw me he tried to make a run for it so I stunned him and then bound him with conjured rope before coming to you".

Since Dumbledore was certainly even more skilled with the mind arts than I'd become I decided not to abduct the man and mess with his head because even if I wiped the crook's memory I knew that Dumbledore would still be able to figure out that Tom Hiddleston was connected to the missing memories since he might have sent Mundungus Fletcher to my home.

"What would Dung be doing trying to get into your house?" asked Tonks.

It annoyed me that she had to ask that question. Even if she didn't know that Mundungus Fletcher was somewhat under Albus Dumbledore's control he was a known thief and often the simplest explanation is the correct one.

"He's a thief and I'm one of the richest wizards in the country," I said, "but he's not a very good one since he didn't bother waiting until it was dark".

Perhaps Tonks didn't think of me in terms of money. It would be nice if that was the case.

"Oh right," she muttered, "I read about you finding that treasure in the paper".

The Daily Prophet had mentioned it a few times despite having little in the way of facts to present since Gringotts didn't give out details of their client's accounts and I wouldn't give an interview to that rag unless my very life depended on it.

"After I bound Mr Fletcher I brought him here since I didn't know who to contact," I said.

My home in Godric's Hollow isn't connected to the floo network I could be I just didn't want it to be because it can be used to gain entry. So I'd just brought to the Ministry's guest entrance after using the Knight Bus which had been amusing and no one on the bus had protested.

"I sought you out since I know you," I told the young witch "My last visit to the DMLE didn't exactly inspire my confidence in the department".

Tonks frowned.

"I heard you kicked up a fuss about the Boy-Who-Lived getting kidnapped by the Weasly family" she mentioned.

Judging by her tone of voice she thought me to be foolish.

"He was kidnapped" I stated "He was taken from his muggle relatives without their permission".

Tonks didn't seem to care.

"It was all arranged by Dumbledore," she said.

That didn't make it okay. The Headmaster shouldn't be allowed to dictate the course of people's lives.

"So Dumbledore can just break the law?" I asked

She didn't know what to say to that at first.

"He's Dumbledore" she insisted "He defeated Grindelwald".

That made no sense.

"Harry Potter defeated Voldemort and you don't all go around doing whatever he wants" I pointed out.

Tonks had nothing to say about that. She seemed to be having some trouble. Perhaps she was trying to think for herself. After a few moments, she found her voice.

"Potter is just a kid," she argued.

"Dumbledore is just a man," I said.

Before we could debate this further someone higher up the ranks of the DMLE came out of his office to inform me that Mundungus Fletcher had been let go since there was no evidence of him going anything wrong. This didn't really surprise me.

"Did Dumbledore show up and convince you to let Fletcher go?" I questioned.

The unimportant person confirmed this before leaving although he didn't state it in any way that made the Headmaster sound as if he'd freed a known criminal. Even if Dumbledore hadn't actually sent Mundungus Fletcher he'd help the man out so that the crook would owe the Bright Lord a favour in the future and he'd want to know if Fletcher found anything while poking around.

"Why do you work for these people?" I asked Tonks "The entire Ministry is a corrupt mess".

I didn't bother to hear anything else she had to say. She'd drunk too much of Dumbledore's kool-aid to be trusted. I didn't think I'd bother to see her again.

"Ah, Mr Hiddleston!" called out a friendly sounding voice.

I turned to see Fudge heading my way, and there was no sign of Lucius Malfoy, the Minister must have slipped his leash.

"Minister," I said as I shook the man's hand "A pleasure to meet you".

The man who supposedly ran Magical Britain engaged me in some small talk.

"What brings you to the Ministry today?" I was asked.

"I caught Mundungus Fletcher on my property trying to break into my home" I answered "I subdued him and brought him to the DMLE".

The Ministry pretended to be upset by this news.

"I hope they lock him up," said Fudge "A few months in Azkaban should straighten him out".

Months in Azkaban would have been excessive in my view. The man was a con artist and thief, not a killer. Perhaps a week or two would have been enough. He hadn't actually been able to break in.

"They already let him go" I mentioned "No evidence, apparently my word means nothing here".

Tom Hiddleston was as far as anyone knew a respectable citizen. Mundungus Fletcher on the other hand was a known criminal.

"What that doesn't seem right. Who's idea was it?" Fudge wished to know.

As soon as I mentioned Dumbledore it was a switch was flicked.

"Oh well I'm sure he has his reasons," Fudge told me.

I wondered how Fudge ever managed to get Dumbledore fired from two of his three jobs after he announced Voldemort's return if everyone just believed he was doing the right thing.

"Goodbye, Mr Fudge" I said

The Minister seemed upset.

"Hold on I thought we could discuss a few matters" mentioned the man in bowler hat "As the Minister, I'm always open to hearing the views of important citizens".

I assumed that this was leading to him asking for funding. I'd just made two big donations to St Mungos and Hogwarts so he rightly assumed that I had money to throw around. Becoming one of his advisors would appeal if I cared about politics.

"Why would I discuss that with you when Dumbledore is clearly the man running the Ministry?" I asked.

Before Fudge could get over the mild shock my words caused him I'd already started making my way out of the Ministry. I might have just planted a seed of mistrust between Fudge and the Headmaster. Perhaps it was a seed I should nurture?