Chapter Four: The Stranger Pt. II
The Party members all sat around the mysterious stranger that had appeared in their hideout, and who had given them memories of what seemed like a dozen lifetimes. But the strain had taken a toll on the mysterious stranger, causing him to go unconscious on the floor of wherever they were. It was a pitch-black abyss, one filled with absolutely nothing but them. Mike Wheeler sat to the stranger's right, caressing his temple as he tried to process what had occurred within his mind. This Harry Potter guy was something completely different from the type of stories Mike had read or seen in his entire life. The magic used in the strangers' memories was unheard of but entirely practical in theory. And he had even displayed that magic on the bus, conjuring the chair and summoning the radio. It made him question if Eleven was capable of those kinds of things, or if the stranger's story of alternate universes was real.
"Can you guys stop talking for a minute? I need to think," Lucas spoke. Everyone glanced up at him, unsure of what to say. No one had been talking out loud, only thinking. When Dustin brought this to Lucas' attention, his eyes widened in shock. "I heard you guys talking...in my head. Mike was talking about the stranger's powers. Dustin was talking about magic and 'Dementors'. And Eleven was talking about...Umbrella? I just got annoyed and told you to shut up," Lucas explained. Everyone was completely still. He had heard their thoughts? How was that possible? Had the stranger somehow linked their minds or something? Did that mean they were telepaths? "I can still hear you, Mike," Lucas winced.
"Sorry," Mike apologized.
"The stranger connected us somehow. Connected our minds," Lucas concluded.
"The stranger? His name's Harry," Dustin commented.
"Does it matter? He's a stranger. It doesn't matter if we have his...his memories. We still don't know him. Not like we know each other. So he's a stranger," Lucas explained. Mike frowned. They barely knew Eleven too, yet they had accepted her into their Party after only a few days of quarreling, running, and hiding. And they knew almost nothing about Eleven, yet they all knew aspects of the stranger that he had gifted them. Mike had gotten the memories of loss and joy. Something that led him to sympathize with the stranger. Perhaps they could give him a chance. He would probably never be a member of their Party given how old he was, but he could help them. And maybe they could help him. If there was a way to help him get home, they would help him find it. But one question came to mind. "So...why did he connect us?"
"Communicate," said Eleven.
"To communicate with each other? But we could do that anyway," Mike pointed out.
"Not words. His memories," Eleven elaborated. Mike frowned. The stranger wanted them to communicate his memories with each other? For what purpose? Mike shook it off, instead, he pushed the memories he had received from the strangers out towards the others. Remember them as if they were his own. And then a second exchange occurred, with Mike receiving three new sets of memories. The complete set of this stranger's life was in Mike's mind, as well as everyone else's. He witnessed the death of James and Lily Potter. The stranger's life with the Dursleys. His education at the magical school of Hogwarts. The supposed death of Sirus Black. And the stranger's life in Raccoon City. But something was missing. A gap. There were no memories of how the stranger traveled between alternate universes. It was a complete mystery. One they would have to bring up when the stranger woke up.
November 12th, 1983 / Junkyard, Hawkins, Indiana
Chief of Police Jim Hopper quietly stepped out of his car, warning the others inside to stay put until he found out where the kids were exactly. He immediately got the feeling that they were stuck in the broken down bus in the middle of the junkyard, a feeling he received for several reasons. There were three men in suits carrying semi-automatic weapons aimed directly at the bus, though they were completely frozen, unmoving, and lifeless behind the eyes. The second clue was that there were children in the destroyed bus. Hopper spotted the shaved-headed girl among a group of boys. One of the boys...Hopper spun around and was met with a third surprise. The young yet old boy Harry Potter had gotten out of the car - which was now locked with Joyce, Johnathan, and Nancy inside - and was now joining Hopper near the bus. The boy spoke. "I've got them all contained. But you need to wake up the kids,"
"Wake them up?" Hopper turned back to the bus and realized that they were indeed asleep. They were completely still with their eyes closed shut. But across from them was another child. Harry Potter. His eyes were closed as well, and his skin was flaking. Hopper wanted to question it but decided from the strain in this Harry's eyes that they were running out of time. And so, he boarded the bus and stepped past the other Harry. Grabbing hold of the girl, Hopper shook her vigorously, a sigh of relief passing through him as she opened her eyes. But he had no time to greet her and instead moved on to waking Mike Wheeler. Then Lucas Sinclair. And then Dustin Henderson. When they were all awake, the girl let out a small cry of both surprise and fear. Everyone turn towards the source of the scream and then turn to face what the girl had seen. They were met with the still sleeping Harry Potter, whose skin was beginning to blow away in flakes. After another few seconds, a pile of ash spilled onto the floor. "Is he...is he dead?" asked Mike Wheeler.
"No," The real Harry Potter had entered the bus and was covered in blood. It covered the right side of his face, but he seemed unaffected. As if nothing was there at all. "They'll be here with reinforcements in a matter of minutes. I recommend we all get to the car. Now," Hopper agreed and followed the boy out of the bus and into the Junkyard. There, they were met with the three men in suits, all deceased lying on the floor. It looked like their heads had been completely turned around 360 degrees, snapping their necks in two. The kid didn't bring it up and instead continued towards the car, where the others were waiting for them. The kids began to funnel into the car - which had an unusually large interior - with Hopper following close behind. When they began to pull out of the junkyard, Joyce leaned forward. "Did he just kill those people?"
"Yes...I'm pretty sure he did," Hopper replied. It wasn't their top priority to question whether this kid - who claimed to be eighteen - had murdered three men in cold blood. They needed to take these kids to a safe place, and right now they were down to only the Byers House. It was where all of this started, and hopefully, it would all end there too. Perhaps the end could come quickly with the help of this mysterious kid.
Thirty-Minutes Later / Byers House, Hawkins, Indiana
Harry Potter sat in the car owned by Joyce Byers, his eyes on the girl sitting in front of him. Eleven was quite strange in culture, powers, and mind. He was taking a trip through her head, becoming quite amazed by what he found. The first place he had seen was something else entirely, but this place was her true mind. It was a pitch-black abyss with an inch or two of water lying on the floor. There was absolutely nothing there but darkness and water, and it was amazing. The most complex mind he had ever seen. As he traveled throughout the unrestricted mind, he couldn't see, touch, feel, or hear anything. He only felt and saw the water below his feet and heard his voice as he called out. And then it happened. Then he met her. Deep in the abyss, he found Eleven sobbing to herself, clutching her knees tightly as she swayed in the water. He called out to her.
Eleven turned at once, and her eyes widened. He approached slowly, aware of the effects of one mind interacting consciously with another. Harry needed to be careful, or else he could do some very harsh damage. "Hi. Are you ok?" Harry asked, kneeling so that he was facing her. His knee was soaked in the water, but he didn't care. This wasn't his real body, and it wasn't all that of an inconvenience. Eleven gave him a timid nod, and Harry smiled. "It's ok. This is your mind. You experience this place in the Upside Down, right?" Another nod. "Can you talk here?"
"Yes," She spoke, for the first time.
"Great," Harry was grinning brightly now as he slowly got to his feet, extending his arm out to her. Eleven slowly took it and allowed him to help her up. "This is your mind, as I said before. And it seems to be connected directly to the Upside Down. It lets you find things and people across the entire planet, and it allows you to control your powers. But this is...this is incredible. I haven't seen a mind like this in years. I can't seem to find any trace of your thoughts, your memories, or your sight. It's extraordinary," Harry commented.
"Extraordinary?" Eleven questioned. Perhaps she hadn't heard the word before.
"Really good. The best I've seen in my entire life," Harry replied. His hands had grabbed hers, guiding her through the abyss as he continued. "You've seen my mind briefly. It was like this, only filled with everything, not nothing. I have people, cities, life. All doing their own thing while doing nothing at the same time. All to mask my true thoughts from view. But you have all of this. Nothing, and yet with all of the freedom I have here I can't seem to find anything. Not even within this version of you. It's as if your thoughts don't exist,"
"My thoughts? I don't -"
"You don't have to show me," Harry cut her off, knowing what she would claim. She barely knew him and didn't trust him yet despite her reaction to his past. But he wasn't interested in seeing her thoughts and memories, not anymore. Instead, he was more interested in how she had constructed this mind out of nothing, and how it worked. The two of them talked for some time, comparing their minds as Harry discussed how he had constructed his through years of effort and concentration. Eleven's only response was that she hadn't created it at all, and merely came here when taking trips to the Upside Down. Which led Harry to one conclusion, her mind was liked directly to the Upside Down, which meant her powers must have come from the Upside Down too. "Are you two coming or what?" It was the voice of Jim Hopper. They had arrived at the Byers house.
"Do you know how to get out of this place?" Harry asked, separating himself from Eleven. She didn't reply and instead disappeared in a cloud of mist that fell to the water below. Harry smiled, and at once ended the connection the two had had through legilimency. Harry found himself staring directly into Eleven's eyes, but only for a split second before Hopper called for them again. The two lost eye contact at that point and quickly exited the vehicle. While Eleven rushed to catch up to the others within the house, Harry was pulled aside by Hopper, who looked annoyed. "What was that? Some kind of staring contest?"
"A staring contest? No. No. Nothing that childish. I was talking to her," Harry motioned between his and Hopper's head, before continuing. "I saw her mind palace, and I was telling her how unique it was. I couldn't find anything,"
"You saw...her mind palace? And you couldn't find anything? Is that safe?" questioned Hopper.
"Well, it depends. Having nothing sometimes means your memories and thoughts are free for anyone to see. But her mind isn't nothing. It's a dark abyss with a floor covered in water. I searched for a while and found absolutely nothing. No sign of her thoughts. No memories. Nothing. Not until I found her very-conscious thoughts. The thoughts she lets me see. We spoke for a few minutes," Harry explained. The chief of police still didn't seem to understand, but Harry didn't expect him to. The most supernatural thing these people had seen so far were glimpses of The Demogorgon and Eleven's powers. Things like magic, shadowmancy, and mind-reading were foreign to them outside of fiction. So, Harry decided to change the subject. "What plans do you have for ensuring everyone isn't found by the Lab?"
"Plans? I don't have any, kid. All I know is that that portal thing is deep in that Lab, and we need to close it,"
"Right...right. I might be able to help with that," said Harry. He conjured to chairs, which he then placed on the front porch of the Byers house. Hopper had seen him do this already, but the sight still shook the older man. But he took a seat alongside Harry and listened to the older/young boy as he explained the Fidelius Charm. "My parents used it before they died, trying to hide me from a maniac who was out to kill me from birth. It failed for specific reasons unimportant for today's situation. But how it works is like this. I cast the spell. I name a secret-keeper, who will be me. And then everyone but us will completely forget the location of the Byers house or wherever else we go. And after that, only I will be able to disclose the house's location. If anyone tries to get it out of you guys, you'll be unable to answer. Completely safe,"
"As long as you don't talk," Hopper commented, clearly unsure.
"I won't. My parents' Fidelius failed due to a traitorous rat and they were killed because of it. There isn't a chance that I would 'spill the beans'," Harry defended. "Besides, I got here less than a week ago and was held captive by that Lab for nearly five days. And their first impressions were less than good. So you don't have to worry. And as for someone breaking me, it's impossible. Bigger men than Dr. Brenner have tried and failed,"
"Ok, so how do we do this Fedelus Spell?" Hopper asked.
"Fidelius Charm. And the casting has to involve me and everyone who wants to know the location. I've only cast it a few times, but I should be able to do it without much trouble. But the problem that concerns me is that monster," Harry explained. "The monster comes from a completely different realm outside of this one, and my magic comes from another universe outside of this one. This leads me to a few conclusions, one of which is that I'm unsure if the spell will affect anything that comes from the Upside Down. But if that thing or anything else comes, Eleven and I should be able to hold them off long enough for a strike team to reach Will in the Upside Down. If that's the plan,"
"Something like that, kid," Hopper replied, still puzzled.
"I'm eighteen. The body's just a cosmic miscalculation," Harry spoke, annoyed. He hated being the size of a ten-year-old while being a technical adult, but it was something he would have to deal with until he could find a solution. Hopper gave him an equally annoyed nod, before telling Harry to get on with casting the spell. And so, Harry got to his feet and entered the house. There, he found that everyone had piled into the living room. The children were all piled onto the couch opposite of the door, Johnathan and Nancy were seated at the kitchen table not far away to the right, and Joyce was frantically pacing back and forth beside the right wall. Harry and Hopper's entrance drew everyone's attention to the door. Harry spoke. "We've got a plan,"
"You've got a plan?" Nancy questioned.
"I said we. And it's a complicated one, so listen closely," Harry replied. He conjured a seat for himself as well as two others for Jim and Joyce, who both got the hint as they took a seat. When everyone had their attention on Harry, he began. "Hello. I'm Harry Potter. We all know this by now. And all of you should know that I possess special abilities that out-match the abilities of the Demogorgon. With these abilities, Chief Hopper and I have created a plan consisting of two teams. Team One's goal is to locate and retrieve Will. And the second team's goal is to kill the Demogorgon. And then locate and destroy the gate leading to the Upside Down. With any hope, we can end the threat in one solid strike,"
"You want to split everyone up?"
"Not immediately, Mrs. Byers. Team Two will help with finding Will, and we should find the gate while trying to find him. But once he's safe and outside of the Upside Down, Team Two will branch off, destroy the gate, and kill the Demogorgon," Harry explained. Everyone was silent, and so he continued. "It's a given that Eleven will be on Team One, given her ability to see into the Upside Down. Everyone here will join her on Team One. When Team Two is needed, it'll be me, Chief Hopper, Mrs. Byers, Johnathan, and Nancy,"
"How come you're on Team Two?" Mike asked. Harry raised a single eyebrow, responding with the snap of his fingers. A spiral of black mist surrounded his hand, before expanding. The entire room transformed, the walls becoming brand-new with the wallpaper repaired. The Christmas lights situated around the room were reorganized, cleaned, and re-colored, and the furniture within the room was repaired as well. The living room and dining room looked brand-new compared to the rest of the house. Jonathan and Joyce Byers both held expressions of amazement, far exceeding the similar expression on the others' faces. No one else questioned whether he should be on the second team, with that adding to some of their experience in seeing him kill those three men by the bus.
Johnathan spoke. "So...where do we start?"
Two Hours Later / Byers House, Hawkins, Indiana
Once the group had received their assignments and the call to Scott Clark had been made, they had discovered just how they were going to find Will in the Upside Down. A Sensory Deprivation Tank. It would blind Eleven's senses just enough for her to reach the Upside Down through her mind palace, and through there she could find Will. And they already knew the location of the gate through both Harry and Hopper's previous experiences in the Hawkins Laboratory, meaning it was only a matter of getting in, finding Will, and getting out. So everyone stood in the gymnasium of Hawkin's Middle School, each doing their tasks to ensure that the Tank was perfect for Eleven's - El's - powers. Meanwhile, Harry sat with El on one of the benches nearby, guiding her through a few processes he had used to navigate his own mind. Because her visions of the Upside Down took place within her mind palace, Harry concluded that she could control her mind as he did.
"When you enter your mind palace, you're in charge of the domain. You're the supreme leader. You can ensure that intruders are subdued, can't move, or can't enter at all. So when you enter the Tank, don't think of the place you're seeing as the Upside Down. Think of it as your mind. Once you do that, try to create boundaries. They'll help you find Will. Understand?" Harry asked. He wasn't entirely sure if what he was saying was 100% accurate, but what he had seen of El's mind led him to only a few conclusions, and this was the best one.
"I think so," She replied.
"If you can control your mind, why don't you join her?" Lucas asked.
"What...you want me to use El as a conduit to find Will?" Harry hadn't considered the idea, mainly due to his belief that Eleven had the strength to do the job and merely needed the path to do it. But the desperation on the faces of Joyce, Johnathan, and Will's friends told Harry that he couldn't rely on trusting Eleven's powers. They had to be accurate and precise. But a new problem emerged as Harry went through the possible outcomes of using Eleven as a conduit to find Will. "I can't. Not directly. I don't have a connection to Upside Down. I can't feel it and I can't access it with my shadows. All I could do is accompany El through her mind palace. Or give her a power boost. But both could be fatal if either one of us..."
"What?" Mike questioned, suddenly worried.
"The Demogorgon isn't the only of its kind, and there could be hundreds of other species in the Upside Down that just haven't crossed over. If Will's hiding far away, we could come across anything between here and there. And if my powers don't work in the Upside Down, then I'll have to rely on guns and magic. And if those don't work...then El will be by herself," The thought of more than one Demogorgon and more than one species in the Upside Down terrified them, and some refused to speak for several minutes as they continued to work. El was pulled away from Harry by Joyce, who wanted to speak with her before the bath was done. So Harry busied himself by displacing several weapons from across the world that he laid out on the benches. Hopper joined him. "You can teleport things?"
"I call it displacement. I merely grab something from one place and drag it through shadows to where I want it to appear. So yes, it's kind of like teleporting, but much different," Harry grabbed two Glock 17's, stuffing them in the back of his pants while placing two Desert Eagles into matching holsters on his left and right waist.
"Do you know how to use those things?" Harry raised an eyebrow, and before the Chief could blink had unholstered his right Desert Eagle and fired five shots into the wall. A single hole cut through the old bricks, making a sizeable hole. Everyone stopped, turning to watch as Harry grimaced. He dropped his arm, the weight of the weapon putting strain on his small arms. This was much easier when he was an adult, and larger than Hopper. But he had a plan to compensate for the lack of arm strength. So he placed the Eagle back in its holster before strapping a shotgun around his right shoulder. He then grabbed a Colt M16A2 and strapped that around his left shoulder, intending to use it as his main weapon. The others were just in case this one jammed or was destroyed. After all, his weapons were 'modded' through shadows to hold unlimited ammo. So he was hoping they were at least somewhat effective against whatever sat waiting in the Upside Down.
"So, are we ready?" Harry gave Joyce a firm nod, strapping all of his guns in as he prepared himself for the worst. He would be completely powerless and would have to rely on guns to protect El from danger. But he pushed it away and stepped beside El next to the small pool that had been turned into a makeshift Sensory Deprivation Tank. With the wave of his hand, Harry's weapons disappeared, relieving the weight he had on his body as he began to slowly float into the air. El stepped into the water, slowly lying down as she placed a taped-over pair of goggles over her eyes. Harry positioned himself in the air directly above her, facing down so that they were level with one another. With a single movement, tendrils shot from Harry's back, reaching down as they slowly began to wrap around El.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Mike exclaimed, reaching for one of the tendrils to tear it away from a seemingly unaware Eleven.
"Stop! I need them for this," Harry countered. "They connect us through the body. Without access to her eyes, I need another way to reach her mind. Now don't touch them and stay quiet so I can concentrate," They did as he asked, and quieted down, though Joyce continued to whisper motivational words to a distressed El. Harry pushed himself, trying his best to find Eleven in the sea of minds located in the room. He hadn't tried anything like this, so he wasn't sure if it would work, but he needed to try. He sensed people with his shadows and found Eleven lingering far away yet close. Close through the tendrils. He sent his shadows through those, and immediately connected to her in all but mind. He felt the water, the clothes around her, the goggles on her face, but couldn't see her mind.
"What's going on?" Hopper asked.
"I can't get into her mind. I can't find her without looking into her eyes," Harry explained.
"El. Do you think we can take the goggles off for Harry?" Joyce asked. Eleven shook her head, clearly knowing that to do that would jeopardize the Sensory Deprivation process, and she would lose her progress. But Harry didn't have any other options. He spoke. "El. I need you to trust me on this. Close your eyes and take off the goggles," To Harry's surprise, she hesitated for only a few seconds, before reaching up to pull the goggles off. She had her eyes tightly shut, refusing to open them an inch. "Great. Now...open your eyes," Another moment of hesitation, and when she opened her eyes. To everyone else in the room, two clouds suddenly appeared around Harry and Eleven's faces. While to Harry and Eleven, everything else disappeared but them. With the eye contact he needed, Harry cast legilimency and entered Eleven's mind. The mission had started.
