Chapter Six: Return to Normalcy
Harry Potter kept his promises as often as he was good and able. So when he woke up the morning of December 12th, Harry began to deconstruct the cabin piece by piece. Eleven had taken a few possessions she wanted to keep out of Harry's shadow-realm, and had taken a few steps away from the cabin as Harry did his work. It took ten minutes to deconstruct the entire thing, and when he was done, Harry turned to El with a bright smile. "Ready to see Mike?" She responded with an excited nod, rushing forward to grab hold of his hand. With the count of three, the two disappeared in a whirl of black, leaving the forest for good as they ventured through the interdimensional rift caused by Harry's disapparation.
They reappeared just inside of the Wheeler home, or more specifically Mike's bedroom. Harry had seen the blueprints to all of the Party members' homes, ensuring that he could get in and out at a moment's notice if need be. But Mike wasn't in his room, which was eerily empty. Harry cast several concealment charms around himself and El - who was still holding his hand as tightly as possible - and led her out into the hallway. They snuck past Nancy's room, which was wide open. Nancy was lying on her bed with Steve Harrington sitting at the bed's foot, reading flashcards to the oldest Wheeler sibling. Harry wasn't interested, and so he stepped down the stair with Eleven behind him. She was very eager and had bumped into Harry on multiple occasions in her haste to reach the basement, where several youthful voices could be heard.
When the two finally entered the basement hand-in-hand, Harry finally lowered the concealment charm on himself and El. Instead placing several charms around the basement itself. The presence of others besides Mike complicated things, and he couldn't let their reactions alert the other Wheelers. It would be extremely awful if he had to erase the memories of the entire house. He didn't have the patience for more than three or four, and so he was happy to see that Will Byers wasn't present in the basement. It was just Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, and Dustin Henderson. The creaking of the stairs alerted them first, and when the children turned to face the two, their reactions were priceless enough that Harry regretted not bringing a camera.
"El!" The shouting - as expected - was loud, and would have alerted the Wheelers. Thank god for magic. Mike had gotten up from his feet first, sprinting forward as he pulled El into a hug. No doubt just to hug her, but also to make sure she was real. With El occupied, Harry stepped away and let the greetings happen. "We thought you died," Lucas spoke.
"Not dead. In the Upside Down,"
"You got pulled into the Upside Down by that thing?" Mike asked, clearly worried. Eleven gave him a nod in answer, not willing to explain further. She still remembered the Upside Down and hadn't told Harry anything about what had happened there. Harry spoke. "She escaped a few minutes after the Demogorgon died. She ran into me outside of the school,"
"Wait...you've been hiding her?" questioned Mike.
"Yes. The Lab is still looking for her, even if Papa -" Harry sighed. He had gotten used to calling Dr. Brenner 'Papa' in the presence of El, and hadn't gotten out of the habit. "- Dr. Brenner is dead. So we've been living out in the forest in a cabin I built. I didn't bring her until now because it wasn't safe,"
Dustin frowned. "So...it's safe now?"
"No," Harry replied simply. He motioned to the clock on the wall, holding up ten fingers. The Laboratory had no doubt caught the readings coming from Harry's magic in the Wheeler house, and would be on their way in ten minutes tops. They understood at once, nodding as they took Eleven aside. Away from Harry. The stranger. He didn't take offense to this. After all, his own trio had refrained from bringing people into their close circle. It wasn't until the year Harry had left that they accepted Neville, Ginny, and Luna as honorary members. After all, they were competent, powerful, and had become good friends by that point. But these people had known Harry for only a day. And while they had his entire life inside of their heads, he hadn't been there to gain any real connections with any of them. And thus he was truly an outsider. To foreign to be friends with people 'his age'. And he was too young to be friends with the teenagers of the group, and especially young - even as an eighteen-year-old - to be friends with the adults of the group. So he was a stranger to everyone but El. She knew him best. She was the only one he had grown to know.
Harry's mind raced, holding the line of thought about his being an outsider, while also paying attention to the clock on the wall. Before long, they had been there for eight minutes. It was getting too close. They had to go. Harry got to his feet and moved towards the group. "El," She turned at once, not to him, but the clock. She saw the time and turned to Harry. She held a stance of defiance, one that told him one thing. 'I don't want to go'. Harry frowned, rubbing his forehead as he tried to reign in his patience. He was able to calculate a dozen things at once, he could understand things others couldn't, and he understood perfectly that they weren't safe here. Yet El, in her infinite adolescent wisdom, didn't grasp concepts beyond her own needs. And even then, the concept of her needs was off. But Harry contained his annoyance and displayed only patience.
"El. We need to go now. They're almost here," Harry spoke.
"Let them come," El replied.
"No," Harry moved forward, grabbing El's arm. Gently enough not to hurt her, but enough to indicate that he was serious. After a moment of glancing between the Party members, Eleven finally gave up on staying and pulled Mike into a long hug. One that allowed Mike to send a dirty look directly at Harry, who ignored it as he waited for Eleven. When she finally pulled away, she turned to Harry and grabbed his hand, something that only strengthened the dirty look Mike was sending him. Harry continued to ignore it and spoke. "I'm sorry about this, guys. But for El's safety and yours, you can't remember anything about us being here. Lie detectors will indicate you're telling the truth when you say we weren't here. And my magic will ensure the energy readings they found here will disappear,"
"Wait...you're going to erase our memories? You can't do that!" Mike exclaimed.
"I can do whatever I damn want," Harry retorted, his annoyance spilling out slightly. But he took a deep breath. "This is for you and El. In the future - when Eleven isn't being hunted down - I'll re-plant the memory," No one else got to retort as Harry waved his hand. Without a wand, he had become a master in wandless magic, and with that mastery, he obliviated the entire group's memory of this encounter, instead, implanting a complex memory of the three continuing their Dungeons & Dragons campaign. And after a small whisper of goodbye from El, Harry spun on his heel once more, taking the two away from the Wheeler house. El clung to him tightly in the interdimensional tunnel, and Harry could tell that despite the calm breathing coming from the young girl, she was sobbing, leaving tears on his shoulder. Harry pulled her into a hug as soon as they hit the ground, pulling her close as she continued to sob into his chest. And there they sat for the next hour. And in the meantime, Harry planned for a way to end El's suffering. He would convince the Department of Energy to end their search. Through diplomacy or force. No matter what. He had a new mission. One he would make work. For El's sake.
10:43 pm / December 12th, 1983 / South-West Forest, Hawkins, Indiana
Chief Jim Hopper stepped out of his truck into the cold and snow-filled forest that he knew contained the young girl known as Eleven. When he had returned that morning to the box, the food container and Eggos had gone missing, meaning she had found them and had most likely eaten them. This was good, seeing as the girl had probably been living off of the forests' sparse wildlife and needed something real to eat. So there he was, carrying a new container with three Eggos wrapped on top. He took a trip through the forest, finding the box he had placed three days before still there. But when he opened it, Hopper was met with a small letter addressed to his name. The penmanship was neat, meaning it couldn't have been Eleven who wrote it. She had been raised in a lab filled with lab rats her entire life, so Hopper doubted she had been taught to read or write. So when he opened it, Hopper began to read it to himself.
"Chief Hopper. You haven't heard from me in a month, but since you've discovered our location in such a short time, I find it necessary to bring you into the fold. My name is Harry Potter. You may remember me as 'The Stranger', 'The Magician', or 'The Shadowmancer'. But you most likely remember me for my uselessness that night. I had several plans prepared, and all but one failed. And that single plan led me to find Eleven. She stumbled into me outside of the school after sacrificing herself for the others. I took her in, and together we lived in a small cabin that used to be less than a mile southwest of here. If you go there now, you'll find nothing, we've already departed, leaving nothing behind. But you can find us somewhere else. But I can't disclose the location here. A messenger will come for that. Hope to see you soon Chief. P.S. This message will burn once fully read,"
As soon as Hopper finished the letter, it caught fire in his hands. He dropped it immediately into the snow, throwing more snow over it to snuff out the fire. But the letter had turned to nothing but ash. "Hey," Hopper's reaction time wasn't the best, but it was good enough. In less than two seconds he had unholstered his gun and had spun around to aim it at the voice. Only to find Harry Potter in a more adult-like body. He had a hint of black mist around him, telling Hopper that this was a basic shadow. One that was weak and only intended to send a message. So Hopper lowered his gun and listened. The shadow spoke. "Chief. You can find the Potter Cabin exactly eight miles northwest of Main Street. Follow Northridge Rd, park at the deer-crossing sign, and walk a mile north. You'll find the Cabin there,"
At once, the image of the cabin appeared in Hopper's mind. It was a modest little home, but it was enough for two children to live in isolation. And the path was imprinted into the Chief's mind, making it clear how to travel there. To be completely honest, Hopper had lost sight of his search for Potter after learning that Eleven was still alive. As far as he was aware, the magical shadow caster had just returned home without warning, leaving them alone in Hawkins. But it seemed he had been taking care of Eleven in the forest. And they had a way to move quickly if their quick move to the other side of town said anything. Not wanting to waste time, Hopper collected the food and marched back to his car. He had a nice surprise waiting for him in the northeastern forest. Or two surprises. He was quite excited.
Potter Cabin / North-East Forest, Hawkins, Indiana
With the location of the cabin revealed to Chief Hopper, Harry only had to wait for the man to get there. He busied himself with more textbooks, diving instead into English textbooks he had displaced from the library. El was in her room practicing her Void-Walking and was no doubt watching Mike, but Harry didn't quite care who she was watching as long as she focused for at least an hour. If she could go that long without getting a nosebleed, they would push to an hour and a half. But for now, Harry focused on the educational aspects of El's teachings, writing a new lesson plan to match her progress. It was slow, but Harry expected that much. She hadn't grown up in an education system like Harry and everyone else, so her ability to retain information wasn't the best. But it was improving, which was what mattered the most. The goal was for her to grow and learn, and she was doing that well.
After thirty minutes of waiting at the kitchen table, the wards warned him that Chief Hopper had discovered the cabin and was only a few minutes walking distance from reaching them. So, Harry got to his feet and made his way to El's room. He tapped on the door. He got the affirmative to come in, and he slowly inched the door open. Eleven was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed with her blindfold pulled up above her eyes. Her nose showed a hint of red in the left nostril, meaning she was still having trouble after forty-six minutes. An hour would remain the time. "Hopper's on his way. He'll be here in a few minutes," Harry explained. Eleven frowned but got to her feet and joined him in the living room as they waited for Hopper to enter the cabin. They didn't wait long.
Chief Hopper stepped through the front door at exactly 11:22 pm, carrying his food in hand. The man frowned, taking in the sight in front of him. The cabin was still small, but it was decorated with El's drawings as well as a few Christmas lights to prepare for the upcoming holidays. Hopper then turned to Harry and El - but mostly El - and slowly pulled off his hat. "You two...all this time?" The Chief asked.
"For four weeks," Harry replied.
"And the cabin?"
"Built from scrap wood and fallen trees. All of the appliances were abandoned and ruined until I repaired them. I couldn't conjure anything or expand it. Not without telling the Lab our location. They track my magic," Harry explained. Hopper nodded, accepting the answer. No doubt he had been tracked by the Lab several times as well. With the small talk over with, Harry led Hopper and El to the kitchen table, where they all took a seat. For the next few hours, they discussed the past month and the effect Upside Down had on everyone who knew about it. The Byers family had recovered well enough all things considered. Joyce had gone back to work as a retail clerk, Johnathan had gone back to his normal life attending school, and Will was attending sessions with Dr. Sam Owens regarding his time in the Upside Down. And everyone else had returned to their normal life. Everyone but the three in this room. Hopper had changed his life searching for Eleven. And Harry and Eleven had no normal lives because the ones they had were lost.
Harry often thought about his old life. And how fun it would be to feel like a kid again. He could grow up with Eleven and her friends. Perhaps he could pass as Hopper's son. But it wasn't so. There was no way he could just act like a kid, and he didn't want to give up his memories. So he would have to live life as an adult, and either grow into it or find a way to restore himself to his adult body. Yet as he tried to counteract his last argument, he felt something inside of him shift and change. He felt different compared to how he had always felt. He felt younger. He felt lighter. Faster. Stronger. Harry wondered if his body was returning to its original form, but it wasn't. As he listened to Hopper speak, Harry never felt taller, or larger. He just felt the same, only different.
And then he thought of his behavior over the past month and began to notice things. He was less attentive before, but the paranoia was still there. His handwriting was as sloppy as it had been in his childhood, his vocabulary had weakened, his vision was blurring slightly, and the scar that lay on his forehead began to redden and sting from time to time. Something that infuriated Harry beyond degree, seeing as Voldemort was nowhere close to him. The maniac was two universes away, and yet the scar still burned like it had when Voldemort was close. It all led to a single sign. A sign that was so apparent that Harry wasn't sure how he hadn't seen it already. He was slipping back into how he had been a child. But he still had his memories. And he was happy in his new life. Maybe he could start fresh here.
Again, he felt despair overcome him. He couldn't start fresh here. Not with Hopper and Eleven. They needed each other, and neither needed him. Sure, El might need him as a tutor, but that was it. Once she returned to her friends, their relationship would disappear, and Harry would once again become an outcast. And Hopper wanted a surrogate daughter. One to replace the daughter he had lost years ago. So Harry decided to remove himself from these people from today on. He would disappear when the time was right. The Watcher had stated how devastating his presence was for any universe but his own variations, and so he would leave, and set out to find ways to help. When the time was right, he would assist the universe. Whether it be through restoring it to its past health or improving it beyond belief. Harry turned to Eleven, smiling as he examined her face. He tried to memorize it because soon he would never see it again. The day that that happened would kill him.
