SUMMARY
After spending half his life trying to rid the world of Voldemort, Harry Potter finally succeeds. However, the price has been high. Too high. Unfortunately, when Harry risks his life to go back and 'do things right', something goes wrong.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank…
S'TarKan – It was his story that gave me the idea for this story's starting point. Also, if you want to know what kind of Harry Potter my main character is (they've had similar experiences, losses etc), or just want to read a good Harry Potter fanfic, then read 'Harry Potter & the Nightmares of Futures Past'.
The creators of QUANTUM LEAP and SLIDERS – Anyone who's seen either of these shows might recognise elements of both shows central ideas in this story. The situation my Harry gets himself into was indeed partially inspired by the central features of both of these shows.
This website – For providing a forum where people like me can write stuff that people will actually get to see.
J.K. Rowling – They are her characters after all.
CHAPTER TWO – Another World.
Well, said a mocking voice in the back of Harry's mind. Get yourself out of this one.
Harry ignored the voice as the whole room stared at him. No one moved or said anything. Perfect, thought Harry. Alright people, just stay like that and give me a few seconds… He started to concentrate as everyone stared at him. If he could establish a Mental Shield before anyone decided to throw any hexes in his direction, then he might stand a chance of getting out of there. If not, well…
"Who are you?" growled a voice suddenly. "And what are you doing here?"
Harry quite visibly jumped, not because of the suddenness the voice or the aggressive tone, but because of its familiarity. Sirius? Turning his head slightly, he saw the figure of Sirius Black, wand in hand and sporting a very angry and increasingly impatient look on his face.
"Answer me!" he snapped.
Harry said nothing. What the hell am I going to do now? he wondered frantically. I can't fight them and they probably won't listen if I try and tell them the truth. That leaves making a run for it, but there're so many of them. I'm not sure if my Mental Shield'll last too long against all those wands. Damn it, where's a distraction when you need one?
Looking at his godfather, Harry could tell that he was only a few seconds away from being hexed. As Sirius's grip on his wand tightened slightly, Harry finally spoke…
"Alright, alright. Calm down!" he said quickly. "I'm not here to start any trouble."
Several gasps emanated from throughout the room when Harry spoke. Oh no, thought Harry. What have I done now? Everyone's eyes were now fixed on Harry, some jumping between the two Harrys, the other Harry looking just as confused as the others. That's not good, thought Harry. If this future was my doing and he were me, then he'd remember this, wouldn't he? However, as each second passed and everyone mumbled around him with confused voices, an unwelcome supposition was growing more and more likely.
"Alright," said a gruff voice that Harry immediately recognised as belonging to Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. "Let's hear it. Who are you?"
There was a pause. Everyone present seemed to be holding their breath, wondering what this strange boy in Muggle clothes who looked so much like the groom was going to say.
Boy? wondered Harry, as his Legilimency picked up the unsuppressed thoughts broadcasting through the room. What in the bloody hell do they mean by 'boy'. Can't they tell I'm…
Harry looked down at his jacket, which still seemed very loose on him. You have got to be kidding me, he thought. Remembering his arrival, Harry began to wonder if the unseen force that had inflicted itself upon him had in fact changed him. If I've been made young again, that would explain why everyone's taller…
While Harry pondered, Sirius, Moody and some of the others were getting impatient.
"Damn it, boy!" yelled Moody suddenly. "Who are…"
"Harry!" interrupted Harry quickly. "My name's Harry," he muttered.
"I don't believe you!" growled Sirius after a few seconds. "Tell us who you really are! Why are you here?"
Harry glanced at the other Harry. Seeing the still confused look on his double's face, Harry's heart sank. That's not me! If it were, he would know I was him. He'd remember this from my perspective if this future's been changed. But if he's not me, then… no, it can't be…
Sirius glared at Harry when he didn't say anything. "Oh well, we'll get the truth out of you soon enough," he said, aiming his wand at Harry's chest. "Stupefy!"
As the Stunning Spell streaked towards Harry, he held up his arm instinctively, even though he knew that it wouldn't do him any good. If anything were to protect him, it would be the Mental Shield. Sure enough, as the spell hit him, it rebounded off of the shielded arm and, instead of flying straight back to Sirius it went flying past him before stopping and disappearing in mid-air. As it did so, a previously unseen figure suddenly became visible as his Disillusionment Charm died and he crumpled onto the floor unconscious. The other Harry recognised the blonde-haired figure straight away.
"Malfoy!" he almost yelled.
The attention of the room immediately turned from the stranger named 'Harry' to the unconscious form of Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was quickly restrained and searched by Moody, Lupin and Sirius, all of whom were now ignoring Harry. Relieved that no-one was pointing any wands at him, Harry watched as Lupin held up a gourd full of an unpleasantly dark looking liquid. Upon seeing this, Sirius roared with fury and had to be held back for the unconscious Malfoy's safety.
"What is it?" asked Ron as he held Sirius back. "Some kind of Potion?"
"Let go of me!" yelled Sirius. "That filthy snake deserves to have his tongue ripped out!"
Harry took a few steps toward them. "It's called Piandisk," he said, ignoring everyone's stares. "It's a mixture of the venoms of the Basilisk, the Pinlimick Stinging Flower and the Brazilian Wandering Spider."
He took the gourd from Lupin's hand as the werewolf began to pale. Holding it up, Harry continued. "Very rare. Very potent. One drop, no matter how dilute, is enough to guarantee the victim a slow, agonising death."
His grip on the gourd tightened as he thought of Hermione – Malfoy had injected her with the venom, supplied by Snape, just before Ron had killed him.
"First, the victim is paralysed as the concoction slowly makes its way through the bloodstream…"
By now, everyone was beginning to notice something in Harry's voice that scared them – it was so cold and full of hate.
"The paralysis is so powerful that the victim can't even scream." Someone gasped when Harry said this. He ignored it and continued. "By the time the venom finally reaches the heart, the victim is already in so much pain, they welcome death when it finally comes." When he said this, his audience gasped in horror – it looked as if Harry's eyes were beginning to glow.
"And there's no cure," Harry finished.
A split-second later, the gourd and its contents disintegrated in a flash of blinding white light, right before their eyes. The others looked at Harry when this happened and saw that the glow in his eyes was gone.
Harry looked at his now empty hand and sighed. Of all the emotions he was capable of feeling, fury and hatred were the ones he always tried to avoid – they were too dangerous, not only to himself, but also to those around him. Many a Death Eater had died amidst the flames of his fury and many a friend had come close to suffering the same fate. His rage was feared by his enemies just as much as the name 'Voldemort' had been feared by the wizarding world. Indeed, in the aftermath of the Liberation of Diagon Alley, the Goblins of Gringotts had given him the name Maarek Ilumian, which apparently translated to Fury of the Light. But that was a long time ago. Harry had vowed to himself many times to never allow the fury within him to be released many times but time and time again, something had happened and his fury had been unleashed. Never again, he thought to himself at that moment, but he knew that it would be yet another of his broken promises.
Looking down at Malfoy, he resisted the urge to revive him and make him suffer. Instead, he addressed the others, who were still staring at him, some wondering if they'd imagined seeing Harry's eyes glowing white.
"Check everything that's even remotely edible," he instructed. "Use the Locario Toxicis charm, then use Lumos and any Piandisk should start to glow orange. But make sure you don't touch it – it can be absorbed through the skin."
Harry's description of the effects of Piandisk still fresh in their minds, most of the inhabitants of the room quickly began the search for the poison – everyone that is, except Harry James Potter, husband of Ginevra Molly Potter. Ignoring his wife's concerned look, he approached the figure in the leather jacket.
"Who are you?" he asked carefully.
Harry looked at his other self as the other man's wife looked on. "You're not me, are you?" he said plainly.
"What do you mean?" asked the other Harry.
"You've never tried sending your essence back in time," said Harry, looking around him. "You've never had any reason to." he added, his eyes settling on Ginny.
"Back in time? You mean you're from the future?" the other Harry asked.
"My name is Harry Potter, and about half an hour ago it was 2016, everyone I knew and cared about was long dead and I'd just turned thirty. The next thing I know, I'm here in some alternate universe and watching some other me getting married," said Harry, summing up his entire situation in two sentences.
"Alternate Universe?" responded the other Harry. "How?"
"Well, I did have an unstable Temporal Field collapse on top of me, so that's probably the reason I'm here," replied Harry.
"And, uh, why were you anywhere near an 'unstable Temporal Field'?" asked the other Harry, not quite believing that he was having this conversation.
Harry sighed heavily. "In my 'reality', for lack of a better word, everyone's gone," he muttered. "Everyone and everything I ever cared about."
"You mean… Voldemort won?" his other self asked cautiously.
"No," replied Harry bitterly. "No, I killed him eventually. But by that time, everyone had been dead for years. That's why I tried to send my memories back to when I was a boy." He sighed. "All I wanted to do was make things right."
There was a slight pause. "Something went wrong," the other Harry concluded. "Didn't it?"
Harry nodded. "I was supposed to die. That was the only way my memories could go back in time and merge with my past self."
"So why didn't you?"
"The Killing Curse failed to do its job." said Harry, not trying to laugh at the irony of it all. He had spent over ten years dodging the Avada Kedavra curse, believing that one false move would end it all. But now, the one time he needed to be hit by the curse, it hadn't worked. It seemed that he was immune to the Avada Kedavra curse. "The next thing I know, the Temporal Field collapses on top me and I'm here, watching my own wedding."
His other self nodded, as though understanding.
"Or rather, your wedding," Harry added.
His other self sighed. "Look, I…"
"Don't mention it," Harry interrupted.
His other self looked at him confused. "How did you…?"
"Legilimency," said Harry, tapping his forehead with two fingers.
His other self's fists clenched.
"Sorry," apologised Harry. "Guess I'm not the only one who's had bad experiences with Legilimency."
"Snape," muttered his other self.
Harry nodded as he remembered Severus Snape begging for mercy, not five minutes after killing Ron with an Avada Kedavra, just like he'd killed Dumbledore all those years ago. How pathetic the self-proclaimed Half Blood Prince had looked. "Not so confident now, eh Snivellus?" he had said as his rage flowed through him and Snape squirmed on the ground, knowing that his life was about to end.
"Look," his other self began. "If you need a place to stay or someone to talk to..."
Harry shook his head. "I don't belong here," he sighed. "This isn't my world – it's yours. I don't know what you did that I didn't, but whatever it was, you've earned all this. Just make sure nothing happens to it, alright?"
"But what about you?" exclaimed his other self. "You can stay here. Start a new life – we'll help you..."
"No," interrupted Harry. "I promised myself I'd bring my friends back, and I've already broken too many promises."
"So what're you going to do?" Harry's other self asked.
"I don't know," muttered Harry. Before his other self could say anything else, Harry turned around and began to walk away. He didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do, but he walked towards the door anyway.
"Harry?" said Ginny as she quickly ran over to her husband. "Where's he going? What's going on? Who...?" She stopped when she saw her husband shake his head. Everyone turned and watched as the figure in the leather jacket walked towards the door, asking each other the same questions Ginny had just asked her husband. Suddenly, everyone witnessed something that none of them would ever forget.
As Harry went to open the door, a pale blue aura surrounded and flowed through him. Threads of light danced around him as the mysterious light bathed him. A few seconds later, he became the light as it flowed inwards and he disappeared.
The wedding party stared at the now empty space beside the door, awestruck. They had witnessed the most wondrous spectacle any of them had ever seen. They had no way of knowing that they were the first of many whose lives would be touched by this lonely child of the light, who would one day be celebrated in the legends of countless realities as The Lone Traveller.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Rather than the canon dating system (First year 1991 etc), I use a dating system based on the first book taking place in the year it was published (1997).