Title: Harry Potter And The Walkers
Author: ENSIGN
Chapter 02 – Reintroductions
Harry stood in the middle of the headmaster's office. It was the same way he remembered it. The same great desk filled with tons of magical trinkets stood in front of him. The walls were still filled with the pictures of headmasters of old, all of which were doing a pretty bad job of pretending to be asleep. He could see that some of them were peeking at him from out the corner of his eye. Fawkes's perch still stood in its usual corner of the room. Fawkes was nowhere to be seen at the moment. The phoenix must be probably off somewhere providing a means of communication for the order members. Harry still remembered the first time he had seen the fire bird, it had burst into flames moments after he had laid eyes on it.
He chuckled; Hermione would have thrown a fit if she was the one standing in front of Dumbledore's prized bird when it caught fire. Thinking of Dumbledore, where was he? Oh yes, he must still be trying to restore order to the student body at the moment.
Harry turned his head around; the door to the room had opened and in walked Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. As usual Ron and Hermione were having their intellectual conversations, in other words they were arguing like a married couple. Come to think of it married couples argued less. He caught a bit of their conversation, it was along the lines of how did he arrived at the headmaster's office so quickly and without the password as well.
Neville was fidgeting with his robes and Luna looked the same as he remembered always seeing her; staring blankly off into space. Ginny on the other hand was staring at the arguing duo with a look of amusement on her face.
"Ahem!" Harry cleared his throat. Reminded of a particular Defense Professor that shall remain unnamed, silence fell upon the occupants. "Yes, I couldn't help noticing your lover's spat that you were wondering how I got into the headmaster's office faster than any of you. Of course I would be willing to tell you. Firstly, the Marauder's Map has a ton of secret passages and last of all I just rambled off a list of sweets to the gargoyle and apparently one of them was the right one."
"Love what you did to the Ferret." Ron answered back.
"Ron!" Hermione was ignored.
"Yeah, missed you too." Came the mumbled reply as Harry was not used to forms of affection. Ginny was still mumbling to herself about thick brothers and Neville was still fidgeting with his robes not knowing what to do. Luna, well, Luna was being Luna.
"Hey Neville. How ya doing now?" Harry decided to draw some attention away from himself.
"I'm doing fine really. My Gran was really proud when she heard about the Ministry, she was a bit upset at my wand but she got me a new one. It works better than the last one." He was still fidgeting and looking at the floor.
"Glad to hear that Neville, you'll make a great wizard someday. Don't let anyone tell you other wise, you're who you believe you are." Harry shot a smile at him.
Neville looked up again and gave him a smile, "Is it true? You know... what they say... the thing about your powers? How you are supposed to be magically weaker now." and then there was silence again. Neville, knowing that he had just said the wrong thing turned his gaze to the floor again.
"Actually I've been meaning to ask you about that Harry." A voice came from behind them. Harry moved his gaze and the others whipped around. Dumbledore had just came in through the door. "That was some entrance you made." The twinkle was back in his eyes again.
"If you're gonna make an entrance, make it a good one. One of the things I picked up a while ago." Harry grinned and shrugged the comment off.
The tension in the room dropped and Dumbledore proceeded to his chair behind the desk. Waving his wand he conjured up a couple of comfortable looking chairs for his guests. "Lemon Drop?" he offered. The group declined, Harry however, accepted. Popping the sour tasting sweet into his mouth, he smiled. "Been lacing your sweets with cheering potions have you, Headmaster?"
Dumbledore grinned. "The third student after the Weasley twins to notice I see." Harry grinned and continued sucking. "Now, back to the question at hand, I believe it was Mr. Longbottom who asked if you had lost some of your powers." Again the tension rose and Harry noticed that Dumbledore had gone serious.
Harry signed, got up and started pacing. The others had turned around and was now looking at him awaiting answers. The pacing stopped and the boy-who-lived turned to look at them with a blank expression.
"I did actually I lost all of it." There were shocked looks and Dumbledore looked to have aged significantly. "But I gained something in return." Shocked looks now turn back to questioning gazes. "I will explain but I request that you hold your questions and comments till after I finish. Also I want you keep what I am about to tell you within this circle and the Order of the Phoenix and only to the members that you trust most Albus. If you can't abide by these requests then I would ask that you leave this room now." No one left.
"Good. Then lets begin." Another sign. This was going to be hard. "Against your belief that I am Harry Potter, I am sad to say that the Harry Potter that you all knew is in fact, dead."
"WHAT?!?!?" Ron and Hermione shouted jumping up. Dumbledore's eyes widened, Neville slumped and Luna remained the same.
"B... b... but th... the questions, they were right?" Ron stuttered.
Harry stared them both down. "Yes, the questions were answered rightly, and I ask that you control yourselves, I will be dropping pretty strong bombshells that will explain everything." The two sat down and Harry continued. "Tell me, what have you heard about "The Walkers"?" This question was directed at Dumbledore and Hermione. He gave them a while to search their thoughts before he continued, "Thought so, you wouldn't have heard about them because this particular world has not come into contact with them yet. Firstly I would like to explain to you the concept of worlds. What you believe, is that this world is one of nine planets of this solar system. Planets that have the atmosphere and conditions that can support life are known to us as worlds. From my words you would have deduced that there are a number of these worlds."
Seeing the nods he grinned and continued, "Actually I am glad to inform you that out of the many worlds that I have been to, which is a considerable amount, this world happens to be the most advance I have seen in respects to that of science and technology. You might questions that since this world is so advanced, why hasn't there been contact with us Walkers yet? The answer is, even if this world happens to be advance in science and technology it happens to be pretty slow in that of magic."
Harry took another deep breath and checked to see if they were still paying attention. They were. "Yes, that's what I said. Slow. In. Magic. One may say that you have powerful and complex spells but has anyone in this realm achieved immortality yet? True, your friend Nicolas did achieve a form of immortality with the stone and Merlin achieved it actually, but then again, he became a Walker and disappeared from this world. Anyway, he was only one man, and he didn't think to take on an apprentice that he could pass the secret onto. Anyway, immortality, or one could say longevity spells are not the ultimate from of magic. Actually it is only the beginning, there are more powerful spells than that. So, in other words us Walkers are not to intervene with the affairs of this world, but that too has changed because the exception to the rule is that if a Walker is born on that particular world he is able to intervene with the events of that world. And for the last comment there are only a few of us, about 15 at my best guess. So now, any questions?"
Apparently all of them were still processing the information as they were staring at him with blank looks, even Albus. Surprisingly it was Luna who processed it the fastest. Harry suspected that it was due to the fact that she was probably used to this kind of a thing by now, exposure to the Quibbler and all.
"That's nice Harry. I'm happy for you." Came the usual misty reply. Ron and Hermione were now looking at her as if she had grown another head. Ginny on the other hand was still in thought.
Albus cleared his throat, "Very interesting, but if the Harry that we knew is dead then who are you?"
Harry flashed a mischievous grin and answered. "I'm Harry."
Albus's brows furrowed in confusion and Harry decided to cut the poor man some slack, as much as he hated Dumbledore for his past mistakes he couldn't really hold a grudge, the Malfoys were the exception to that rule, at least the older one.
"You see on that day when I released that magical surge I released all the magical essence that I had in me, the result of that was that I combusted, my body was destroyed along with my mind. The interesting thing is that because of the prophecy I was preserved." He was interrupted by Hermione, "What prophecy?"
Harry looked at her, "Still sharp Hermione? I thought my bomb shells would have stunned your mind into inactivity. I am referring to the prophecy that was destroyed in the Department Of Mysteries, If I remember correctly it said something like; the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches... born to those who have trice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies."
"Basically it means that I have to defeat Voldemort and I have to either kill, or be killed. Anyway back to where we were." Hermione was surprised as Harry had just waved off the fact that he was the one who had to bring the end of Voldemort's reign of terror. "The prophecy kept me alive, but the funny thing was that I still died, in a way my body was gone, my mind was gone, my powers were gone, heck my memories were gone, but when I got them back, somehow they all seemed clearer. I could remember things from my childhood, even voices when I was in my mother's womb, I remembered everything."
Harry paused to allow the information to sink in. "The next thing that happened to me, was that I knew nothing else. I had no idea what was happening, I was no where, I was in a void and I was held there for what seemed like an eternity. While I was there I spent the time arranging and processing and analyzing my memories. When I had finished I realized I had no body, as in, I had no physical self. I was just an entity with a sense of awareness and I could feel my surroundings. Then came the knowledge that I had to do something, I needed to fashion myself a container, a body of sorts. My body that you see now is what I have created for myself. After that I started traveling the worlds and gathering knowledge and that's what I have been doing since."
"How? Did you travel to all these worlds?"
"I have no idea, I just do. It's like breathing, while I technically need not breath, I do it as it is something that my memory tells me to do. So to sum it all up Harry Potter is dead but in a way he is alive. I do have a couple of theories that I have on Walkers." He proceeded to dump a book on Albus's desk.
"What was this you mentioned earlier about mortality?"
Harry grinned. "That would be one of the perks of being a Walker; you lose your mortality, in my case I can't be killed by anyone except Voldemort, whereas other Walkers can be killed if you tried hard enough. But that's my secret. Also we use a different form of magic instead of drawing on your magical core like you all do. Walkers draw in the magic from their surroundings and shape it to what they want."
"So what are these other worlds like?" Questioned Albus. Harry stared at him for a while processing the question before replying, "Most of them are inhabited by humans, this is because a long, long time ago there existed portals that connected the worlds together. They were supposedly created by the first Walkers. However a great war broke out and the portals were destroyed in the process, some of them still remain but there are few and there isn't one in this world. So some worlds have humans and other creatures that resemble the creatures of this world but with slight or sometimes drastic differences due to evolution and change. Still there is one consistency in all these worlds and that is magic."
"How did you learn all this, and from where?"
"One of the oldest Walkers who happened to be a bit like our friend here," He gestured to Hermione who blushed "he created an extensive library that occupied the size of a small world and all it contained were books, books and more books, maybe a few records. Everything is there."
Hermione seemed to straightened up at the word "books" and "records". Harry noticed this, "No, I have not read all the stuff there, I'm timeless not jobless."
Hermione was now looking around the office as she had just noticed her surroundings. She had noticed the perch in the corner and the absence of fawkes. Harry had seen Hermione's line of sight and voiced, "Just wondering Headmaster, where's Fawkes?" "Ah, funny you should ask that question Harry. Fawkes was actually out looking for you, but I believe that he should be back by tonight."
Hermione signed, she had wanted to see the phoenix up close, no doubt to dissect it if she ever had the chance. The Headmaster seemingly able to read her thoughts said, "Phoenixes are wonderful creatures, rare, magnificent and loyal. Their tears have healing powers and they have amazingly long lives." As he was saying this, the room filled with the wonderful and warm music of the phoenix song and all looked to the fire place where Harry once stood.
In his place now perched a phoenix trilling a song. A green eyed phoenix in fact. "Harry? Is that you?" the phoenix leap off the mantle and in mid jump shifted form back into Harry. "Thought you wanted to see a phoenix, that's all."
"THAT'S ALL!! You're and animagus Harry. A magical one at that. No animagus has ever achieved a magical form." Came Hermione's shocked voice.
Harry cocked his head, "No, I'm not, I told you before that I hold no definite shape, I can be what I want to be. It takes concentration and lots of magic depending on the size and complexity. The only form that is easy for me to assume is that of my minds form."
"What's your mind's form?" "That would be another story for another time." Harry dismissed the question. "Oh yeah! I forgot, can I please have my OWL results."
Dumbledore pulled out a drawer of his desk and reached into what seemed like an infinite space. He pulled out a brown envelope and handed it to Harry who tore it open.
OWL results for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry James Potter – boy-who-lived, Order of Merlin Second Class.
Harry rose an eyebrow at the title but didn't comment.
Grades are as follows:
O Outstanding
E Excellent
A Acceptable
P Poor
T Terrible
O's are worth two owls and E's one.
Potions: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Charms: O
Transfiguration: O
Divination: O
Care of Magical Creatures: O
Herbology: E
Astronomy: A
History of Magic: P
Number of OWL obtained 13
Harry stared at Dumbledore, ignoring Hermione's questions to what he got. "How in the world did I get an O in Divination and Potions."
"Yes, Harry indeed you did." Dumbledore's twinkle had gone into overdrive, "I find that when someone really puts their mind to something, they really can achieve great things. I believe Professor Snape would be delighted to have you in his class, should you choose to have him." This earned a snort of disbelief from Ron, and he in turn, an elbow in the ribs from Hermione.
"That still doesn't explain my divination mark." Harry protested. "Who cares! You got an O mate!"
Hermione shot Ron a poisonous look, "Don't worry about it Harry, Divination is a load of rubbish anyway."
"Actually I believe that your grade in Divination was due to some rather interesting events that happened, you see when the examiner for the Divination exam was exiting the school she was pelted with water balloons from Peeves, this set off a chain of events which caused her to trip over Mrs. Norris and into Professor Sprout who was carrying Bubotuber plant to the potions lab." Explained Dumbledore. "Some hints are that she happens to be a registered animagus of cat form."
Harry immediately broke with laughter. Seeing his friend's confused looks he explained. "I told her during the exam that she would be expecting an early shower today, she would run into her inner self and that she should avoid the color green." Sure enough the other joined him in his amusement.
Once the laughter died down Dumbledore voiced a question that he had been wondering. "Actually I was wondering Harry, why you have come back." Harry's grin got wider and higher. "Four reasons actually; I was born here, my base memories will never let me abandon this world. No matter what, I will always return. Second, My friends. Third, Voldemort and last," by now he was at the door ready to exit. He turned at the last second and gave he biggest smile his friends had ever seen on his face, "Quidditch. See you in Gryffindor tower, I will be attending the same classes as last years accept History of Magic is to be replaced with Arithmacy. I take it my stuff is already there." With that he left, his friends staring at the now closed door.
Dumbledore was smiling, "It would seem that you have some catching up to do, go on then. I'll catch up with Harry at a later date."
Harry's friends left scrambling after him.
XXXXX
Harry stood in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. Slowly he turned, his gaze covering all corners of the room. It was exactly how he remembered it. The couches and pillows lying around the fire place, the work tables in the far right corner, the sliding step leading up to the girl dormitories and bare spot in the middle of the room in which he now stood. This was where the food table was positioned whenever they had a party in the tower. Harry smiled as memories of ages old returned to the surface of his mind. His eyes closed and he drew in a deep breath.
His eyes snapped open and he twirled around. He identified the sound he had heard was the opening of the portrait, the entrance to Gryffindor tower. His five friends spilled into the room.
"Harry, guess what? Dumbledore cancelled classes for today." Ron called out as he slapped Harry's back.
"Honestly Ron, this is our NEWT years, we should be trying to get as much information into our heads." Hermione chastised.
Harry, Neville and Ginny both sighed, the two were at it again.
"Get a room the two of you." Ginny called out causing both the bickering duo to stare at them.
"Wait a minute Harry? How did you get in here? No ones told you the password yet."
Marveling at Hermione's sense for minute details once again he answered. "No one did. It just took a little convincing on my part."
"Oh!" Hermione gave up. It was Harry and weird things were bound to happen when it involved him.
"So how's the wizarding world at the moment? Anything important involving the dark git."
"Huh? You mean you don't know?" Seeing Harry's confused look Ron decided to answer him. "You-know-who broke into Azkaban again, I don't really see how hard it could be now with the dementors gone. One of the reasons that ferret boy so intolerable these days. Apart from the break out he has been pretty silent. My guess is that he is gathering his forces for a big hit, either the ministry or here. Oh yeah. You might want to write a letter to mum by the way, you wouldn't want her to hear about your appearance from the Daily Prophet would you? Did I miss anything?"
"Percy is back as well." Ron's look darkened and he left for the boy's dormitory. Ignoring her brother Ginny continued. "He came crawling back to the Burrow begging for forgiveness as soon as the minister made it public that Tom has returned. Mum and dad welcomed him with lots of tears, Bill and Charlie socked him one, the twins pranked him for a whole week and I tried to remove his ability to breed. Ron refuses to talk to him though. He leaves whenever Percy walks into the room. Apart from mum's occasional burst of tears everything backs to normal."
Harry raised an eyebrow at Ginny's contribution in the welcoming ceremony and nodded when she was done. He turned to look at Hermione who looked like she was bursting with more questions. "Want to know something Mione?"
"Yes! Where have you been? What have you done? Tell me more about the Walkers." Harry rolled his eyes and proceeded to pull a book out from his robes and shoving it in Hermione's hands. "It's the same book that I passed to Albus. Have fun reading it as I am tired and I'm going to bed." He waved to them before heading up the Gryffindor stairs.