DZ2's 'Law of Nature' Challenge
Plot: Horcruxes are born of killing, which is a crime against nature, but who is there to punish this crime? How about one born to Master Death, now chosen to be the Champion/Son/Guardian of the very natural force itself?
Rules: All affinities are welcome
Godlike/OP Harry ONLY
When the story starts is up to you, but Harry MUST receive his blessing/powers from an emissary of Nature/Magic or Nature/Magic herself*
When Harry becomes blessed by Nature, the Horcrux in him is destroyed AND his body becomes fully healed/restored
As Nature's Chosen One, Harry has the power of Shapeshifting into ALL animals/creatures and can speak ALL Animal/Creature/Beast languages
Harry MUST have a familiar
If/When Harry is in danger, the forces of Nature act on instinct to defend/aid him
Any race in tune with Nature MUST see Harry as Royalty and/or a Saviour (e.g. Pegasi/Unicorns, Centaurs, Elves etc.)
Harry MUST have/gain a wand/staff/scepter equal to, but NOT the Elder Wand
Obviously, the fact that Harry can commune with, manipulate and command the very forces around them frightens, unnerves and awes people
All pairings are welcome
Guidelines: Crossovers
Demigod-Harry
Dark-Lord Harry
BEFORE becoming Nature's Chosen One, Harry dies a mortal death
Immortal-Harry
Vegetarian/Vegan-Harry
As well as/Instead of food and drink, Harry consumes/drains/harnesses health/vitality/healing power from Nature
As well as Nature, Harry learns to command powers associated with Nature (e.g. Life-Force, Mana/Ley Lines, Matter etc.)
When he becomes Nature's Chosen One, Harry gains a weapon to help focus/use his powers
To help control his ties to the powers of Nature, Harry becomes a Master Occlumens/Legilimens
In becoming Nature's Chosen One, Harry becomes a magical creature
As well as manipulating Nature, Harry's body can infuse with natural forces (like Swamp Thing)
Somehow, Harry can bestow forces of nature as powers/abilities/magic to his friends and allies
Harry can absorb/negate/dispel magic through his Nature powers
Slash
Harems
Harry/Multi
Harry cures/exorcises Tom and/or his Horcruxes
Nature/Magic sends Harry back through time to help him fulfil his mission and/or make right his wrongs
A prophecy speaks of Nature's Chosen One
Harry IS Nature/Magic reincarnated/in human form
As a 'reward/aide' for his quest, Nature/Magic revives someone lost to Harry to become his ally
Forbidden: Weak Harry
Harry allowing anyone to control his powers other than him
Horcrux-Harry
Malnourished/Abused/Weak-looking Harry
Harry wielding the Elder Wand
Tom gaining Harry's allegiances
Harry JUST speaking Parseltongue
Magic/Nature out to manipulate Harry himself
Other than that, it's up to you...
*The reason Magic/Mother Magic/Hecate etc. is an option is because Mana, one of the forces of magic, is associated with manipulating the forces of nature, as is wielding/tapping into the power of Ley Lines and Nexuses.
Risen
"No!" The young boy shouted as the Basilisk struck forward, mouth closing on the majestic phoenix and bringing it down to the ground with a loud thud against the stone floor of Slytherin's Chamber before releasing it from its jaws at the sound of a bone snapping in the bird's neck echoed in the very air. The Phoenix gave a shriek of pain and was engulfed in flames, leaving only a handful of ash where it had been moments ago. The now blinded snake's tongue flickered out, tasting the air around it.
$Kill the boy! You can sssstill sssssmell him!$ hissed the teenager version of Tom Riddle.
Harry picked up a rock and threw it into the sewers beyond him, the snake whipping his head towards the left and slithered off in that direction. "No!" Riddle shouted. :Crucio!: he shouted, raising Harry's wand at the child and putting him underneath the torture curse, one of the Dark Lord's favorite curses. A jet of red light hit the child, sending him to the stone floor as he screamed, feeling like white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his flesh. Harry screamed louder than any other time in his life. After five minutes the curse was lifted but Harry wasn't out of the woods yet.
The thrashing boy on the stone floor sent vibrations through the stone that the snake easily picked up. It backtracked through the pipes and came out, Riddle laughing now as his rival, a mere boy, could only await his death. All the while the transparent form of a sixteen-year-old budding Dark Lord grew more solid as he fed off the energy and life force, the very soul of one foolish little lion who crushed over the Boy-Who-Lived. The child, whom had never been under such pain in his life, could only shake as Riddle tortured him again, this time leaving the boy's wand on him longer than the first. Before Harry could even think to move, even try to roll over, the snake was back, and it struck fast and hard, sinking its fangs into Harry's throat. Pumping both venom into his veins and crushing the child's throat in its mouth, Harry could only struggle desperately to get out of the serpent's mouth.
"Goodbye…Harry Potter," Riddle said, watching as his rival, the boy prophesied to defeat him finally met his end. It didn't take long for the basilisk venom to pierce the boy's blood stream and slowly shut down his organs. As the boy took his last breath of life, a newly formed Riddle turned his head towards the Basilisk. $Ssssleep once more until I call for you.$ Riddle was a smart person before delving too deep into the Dark Arts. He couldn't afford to let anyone know he was behind the attacks on the Muggleborns in Hogwarts or Dumbledore might suspect something. No, he had to get out of Hogwarts before that old fool came back and lay low for a while.
$Yessss Masssster,$ hissed the serpent who then slithered back into the statue of Salazar Slytherin and closed. As Voldemort walked past the now dead bodies of both Potter and the red-haired girl he knew to be Ginny, thanks to her hours of countless pouring of her soul into his diary, the young lord smiled and made his way down one of the secret entrances to the Chamber, an entrance that came out upon the forest, the other two being two floors below the Slytherin common room in the lower dungeon, while the third was in the second floor girl's bathroom. Upon coming out in the Forbidden Forest, Riddle turned on the spot and disapparated. It was time to visit Malfoy and see who among his followers were still faithful.
In the tunnel that lay deep underground, further than even the dungeons, Ron couldn't hear anything going on. The rocks piled before him blocked the tunnel going forwards, his wand was broken in half and he was down here with a fraud of a professor who had lost his mind and seemed to think they lived within the pipes underneath the second-floor girl's bathroom. "Help! Harry! Can you hear me?!" Ron shouted, his voice rising with each second that passed. The gangly twelve-year-old that was often pushed aside for his sister Ginny and teased by his older brothers was frightened. As the minutes passed, the pre-teen sagged against the wall and sank to his knees before helping Lockhart to his feet and making his way back along the tunnel to the stairs that Harry had created after sending Ron down into the Chamber. He was grateful for Harry's foresight, even though it pained him to think of his friend.
Reaching the top of the staircase after a bit of climbing and luging the dead weight that was Lockhart he saw Moaning Myrtle floating near the sinks. "Myrtle! Find the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall! It's an emergency!"
For once the ghost did not speak and flew off through the wall, Ron clutching the broken pieces of his wand in his hand which had snapped after Lockhart had attempted to cast a memory charm that was also known as the forgetfulness charm. He stumbled away from the staircase and unceremoniously ducked out from beneath Lockhart, letting the fraud of a professor collapse to the stone floor. Moaning Myrtle flew to the Great Hall after inquiring from some of the portraits where the Headmaster was and up to the Staff Table, causing some screams and whispers as the ghost was rarely seen outside of her bathroom on the second floor. What he heard caused him to rise to his feet and look up and down the table. "Minerva, Severus come with me. Pomona, Filius, Aurora can you please keep the rest of the student body within the Great Hall until I or one of my colleagues return?"
"Of course, Headmaster," said Pomona. Dumbedore nodded and canceled the spell before pressing the tip of his wand against his throat, wandlessly casting the Amplifying charm.
"ATTENTION STUDENTS!"
The whispering from the student body fell silent as their headmaster spoke to them, all heads turning towards the elderly wizard whom had risen to his feet with speed that belied his advanced age. "STUDENTS WILL REMAIN WITHIN THE GREAT HALL UNDER THE GUARDIANSHIP OF PROFESSORS FLIWTWICK, SPROUT AND SINISTRA. I AM ASKING THE HEADBOY AND HEADGIRL AS WELL AS THE PREFECTS OF ALL HOUSES TO HELP MAINTAIN ORDER." Wandlessly performing the Quietening Charm, the three professors headed out of the Great Hall through its doors, Moaning Myrtle zooming away through the wall. The Headmaster spelled the doors shut and locked them along with putting up a ward to keep anyone from entering the Great Hall where the students were most vulnerable.
"Albus what is this about?" questioned Minerva, none of the staff having been privy to the private conversation between the Headmaster and Myrtle.
"Myrtle reported that Mr. Weasley, young Mr. Weasley, arrived out of a sink with Lockhart and told her to fetch me post haste. I'm afraid I don't have any other details than that," said the Headmaster.
"What was Weasley doing in a girl's bathroom?" Minerva questioned.
"Where's Potter? Probably up to no good though I fail to see why he wasn't with Weasley when they came out of a sink. A sink…there's no way that is possible," said Severus.
"Severus please," said Albus. "Now is not the time to be harping on the boy because you can't let go of a childhood grudge."
Both Minerva and Severus stared at the Headmaster, one in disbelief and one in anger. Never had Albus put a stop to Severus's bullying before but Minerva hoped that this just wasn't a passing phase and that he would put a stop to her colleague's bullying of a…well sometimes Minerva thought Mr. Potter was nothing like his parents. He didn't put in any effort into his school work at all and his writing was difficult to comprehend and read. Compared to his father's skills in Transfiguration and his mother's skills in Charms and Potions, Harry was a sub-par student whose only real talent was flying which she knew he'd inherited from his father as well as a penchant for breaking the rules and being out of bed at all hours of the evening, something that Severus knew all too well.
Reaching Myrtle's bathroom after moving across the Entrance Hall and up the Grand Staircase to the first floor, then up another flight of stairs to the second floor upon reaching the first floor, they hurried through the door in question where they saw Lockhart lying in a collapsed heap on the ground and Ron standing there in a daze but when the youngest of the Weasley boys saw his Head of House, Snape and Headmaster he breathed a sigh of relief. "Headmaster! You must help! Harry and Ginny are trapped in the Chamber!"
"What? What is the meaning of this Mr. Weasley? What Chamber?" questioned Minerva.
"He's probably making it all up," said Severus. "Where's Potter Mr. Weasley and why are you in a girl's bathroom? Ten points from Gryff…"
"SEVERUS!" Both professors looked at their employer and fell silent as Dumbledore then turned back to Mr. Weasley. "Mr. Weasley, please start from the beginning."
"Professor, Harry and I found out there's a Basilisk in the school. Well, Hermione found out about it and Harry realized he was the only one who could hear it because it was traveling in the pipes and he speaks Parsletongue. We went to the staff room to tell someone what we found and…"
"A basilisk?!" shouted Minerva. "Mr. Weasley, surely you jest? There's no way a basilisk could get around the school unseen for…for years. Basilisk breeding has been outlawed because the only one…"
"The only ones that can control a Basilisk are a Parslemouth," said Snape. "The only parslemouths in the history of the school have been Salazar Slytherin, the Dark Lord and now Harry Potter."
"Severus, surely you aren't saying the Dark Lord is in the school? Or that Mr. Potter is releasing the basilisk? One of his best friends is Muggleborn for Merlin's sake!"
"I am not suggesting anything Minerva. As much of a dunderhead as Mr. Potter is, I don't think that he would knowingly put other students into danger," said Severus.
"Who could it be then?" questioned Minerva, a hand going to her mouth.
"Not who Minerva but how?" questioned Dumbledore, his brows furrowing in contemplation. "Fifty years ago, the Dark Lord was a student just like countless students past and present. I was Transfiguration Professor then, back when Armando Dippet was Headmaster. You wouldn't likely have known him Minerva, in fact very few even know or relate that the Prefect and Head Boy that was once Tom Riddle would become the Dark Lord of the seventies though not surpassing Gellert Grindelwald like he and many of his followers think he succeeded in," said Dumbledore.
"Why is that important?" questioned Minerva. The three teachers seemed to have forgotten that Ron was in the bathroom in front of them and listening to the conversation in confusion while his best mate was dying underneath the school along with his sister.
"Because Tom Riddle, now Voldemort, is the last heir of Salazar Slytherin and a Parslemouth," said Dumbledore. "I believe that…Mr. Weasley. What are you still doing here? Take Professor Lockhart to the infirmary where you can both be checked out."
"Am I a Professor?" questioned Lockhart.
"He was hit with an oblivitation charm that he tried to use on Harry and me Headmaster," said Ron.
"Quite," said Professor Dumbledore jovially. "Go on my boy and stay there. We'll go rescue your sister and Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore Ron nodded and shouldered Lockhart before leaving the bathroom, Severus casting a notice-me-not charm and a locking charm on the door to prevent anyone else from entering the bathroom. "Now," said Professor Dumbledore, "we should head down into the chamber. I suppose we will have to slide on down, since this is Salzar's handiwork, it probably only responds to Parsletongue. I will go first, then Minerva and then Severus will follow," said Dumbledore and without waiting for any confirmation, he approached the sink and sat down before sliding down into the darkness.
The three professors soon reached the cave in and Professor Dumbledore sent a patronus to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Goblins as they would need all the help they could get in order to slay the Basilisk within the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Dumbledore tried to call Fawkes to him, but the phoenix didn't respond. He knew it wasn't close to a Burning Day for his familiar and that Phoenixes didn't really die, so there must be something else at work keeping Fawkes from coming to him. The three remained there, Dumbledore lowering the wards when he got a patronus from Kingsley about them arriving and sent Minerva to bring them to the second-floor girl's bathroom. Once everyone, goblin and wizard were down within the tunnels beneath the school, they worked at clearing the rocks from the cave-in and stabilizing the tunnel so it wouldn't collapse again, Kingsley having brought in a Parslemouth from India to help try to control the Basilisk if needed and get through any other traps that might be down here though there was speculation on how nobody had found this chamber in all the years since Salazar Slytherin had left Hogwarts centuries ago. As they advanced, it became clear that only a Parslemouth could have found and navigated the area, yet Dumbledore refused to say anything on how they had learned of such a thing or who he thought was behind the attacks.
Entering the fabled and mysterious Chamber of Secrets they were greeted by a platform with snake statues lining either side of it, a huge statue of Slytherin adorning one wall with a pool of water at its feet and water aligning both sides of the stone walkway. Tunnels large enough for a Basilisk to maneuver easily without being seen or harming itself were evident throughout and Aurors were sent to investigate these tunnels to see where they led, soon finding two other entrances. Reporting that the entrances were clear, they sent blasting hexes at the statue, blowing it to pieces and the Basilisk emerged from within, screeching and hissing angrily. A tiny trill emitted from the newborn phoenix, giving a simmer of hope to the group as they began fighting the Basilisk, sending blasting hexes at it after it seemed the snake would not listen to anyone but a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, two of the Aurors falling petrified to the floor along with a goblin, a few dying from its gaze or being crushed or bitten by the trashing snake as the three teachers moved the still bodies of Miss Weasley and Mr. Potter out of the chamber, Dumbledore picking up Fawkes and cradling the Phoenix to his hat while picking up the Sorting Hat as well and then battling alongside his fellow wizards, witches and the goblins left alive.
"Harry!" Dumbledore shouted as there was a thud behind them and a shout that it was okay. He set Fawkes down and rushed towards the young boy while Miss Weasley was checked by Severus, the Potions Master remaining cold and apathetic to the youngest Weasley's death. Minerva just stared at her fellow colleagues in concern though as Severus turned to look at her, she saw his mask slip before it was again back in place.
"Miss Weasley is gone Headmaster," said Severus. "I can only guess someone used the Killing Curse on her which we know doesn't leave any physical evidence," he said quietly, Minerva gasping as she heard this.
"I see," said Dumbledore without taking his eyes off the boy he saw as a grandson. He waved his wand over the child but got no signs of life while in his office the instruments tied to Harry's blood and life force exploded or went silent…at Privet Drive the wards fell around the Dursley's home and in the Ministry Records and Archives department, the date appeared on his birth certificate with the day he had died. It locked the Potter vaults until another heir could be found in one of the Potter branches but as the Peverell line remained unknown and thought extinct, that line having been incorporated into the Potter main branch through the marriage if Hardwin Potter and Iolanthe Peverell. There was no way to bring one back from the dead, not with Mr. Potter's injury to his throat and battered body that had been smacked around by the Basilisk as it pursued him within the chamber.
"Albus?" Minerva questioned.
"I'm afraid my dear that Mr. Potter is dead," said Albus, hanging his head.
While Minerva shrieked, Severus was stone cold, displaying no emotions on his face but inside it felt like he was cracking. He could feel the vow he had made to Lily to protect her child upon her death breaking. If he had believed Mr. Potter to be faking it, the pain he soon found himself within was proof enough that the boy, Lily's son, was truly dead and there was no bringing him back. Albus had tears streaming down his eyes. What would happen when the magical community and the students found out that their Savior was dead? Who would save them now that Mr. Potter was dead?
Dumbledore's eyes immediately went to the Longbottom boy, a Gryffindor like his father, and the other child of the Prophecy. The Longbottom boy would have to become the new face of the light and take over in Harry's stead but did the boy have the power and talent to do what must be done to protect the wizarding world from another age of darkness, another age of death and fear? It was up to him to train the boy. "Severus, Minerva. Please take Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley to the infirmary and notify the Weasleys and Dursleys to the fact their daughter and nephew are dead. Don't let anyone in to see them or say anything to the rest of the Weasleys," said Dumbledore.
"Of course, Headmaster," said Minerva and Severus, for once not arguing with each other or with their headmaster. :Wingardium Leviosas,: they spoke in tandem and the two bodies lifted before following after them as Dumbledore turned to speak to King Ragnuk and Madam Bones concerning the Basilisk and what had happened.
"And so, it brings me great sadness to inform you that Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley are deceased. Mr. Potter lost his life to save Miss Weasley and Miss Weasley…we are unsure how she was killed but it appears to be the Killing Curse. The assailant or assailants are unknown, and we may never know how she died. Therefore, we will cancel end of the year exams and pay homage to the young lives lost but without Mr. Potter's actions, others might have perished within the school and it might have been shut down."
With a wave of his wand, the windows were shuttered, and black drapes hung from the ceiling over all four tables, the house banners replaced by black tapestries and drapes. It was a solemn affair, the victims whom had been petrified having been woken and sitting silently at their house tables, heads bowed in remembrance of the Boy-Who-Lived though very few spared any tears for the youngest Weasley as not many knew her. The Weasleys had been allowed permission to leave school early with their things to mourn the death of their daughter and avoid the stares of their fellow students and pitying looks of the staff. Hermione was sitting by herself at the Gryffindor Table, not speaking to anyone while Gryffindor in general appeared sullen and depressed. Slytherin, on the other hand, were quietly snickering among themselves at the Golden Boy's death. That was until their Head of House stood and spoke. "If I catch any Slytherin speaking ill of the late Mrs. Potter or her son, I will find a way to make sure you are in detention with me every night for half of the next school year," he said, eyes of obsidian staring at his entire House, making them look at each other in confusion or stare at their Head of House in shock.
Harry Potter was buried in Godric's Hollow next to his parents the following week while Miss Weasley was buried within the field behind the Burrow, being too poor to afford a burial plot within a cemetery. There was a memorial service held for both students before the term ended, the Ministry trying and failing to seize the Potter vaults and heirlooms. When the Potter Elves felt the last of the Potters die, they too passed on into the afterlife, the years without a master to care for causing them to die without the family magic to sustain them. The memorial at the school was short with all four houses gathered there, well all four houses except for those troublemakers who didn't like Potter and were glad he was dead, mostly supporters of the Dark Lord or whose parents had served the Dark Lord during the first wizarding war of the seventies. The school was not closed but while the Aurors were there, they removed the curse from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and exorcised Professor Binns as some of the Aurors had students within Hogwarts who were studying for their OWLS, forcing Dumbledore to have to hire two new teachers within the summer before the next school year started.
Malfoy Manor,Wiltshire, England:
A pale and lanky yet handsome strange sat upon a throne within the confines of Malfoy Manor, a green snake curled around the back of his throne as the two Malfoy adults stood nervously before their master. The teenager looked no older than sixteen, but he was many years older than what he appeared to be, being a younger version of the Dark Lord, a more handsome and sane Dark Lord. The wraith of his soul that had been dwelling within the serpent had been destroyed, the Horcruxes recalled back and reabsorbed into the teen's body, except for the one in Slytherin's Locket, which was worn around the teen's neck. "My Lord," said Lucius. "We…how are you alive?"
"Sssssilence Luciussssss," hissed the teenager as his eyes flashed to their crimson red for a moment in anger and annoyance. "How I have returned liessssss in part from Mr. Potter'sssssss actionssssss in the Chamber. Come sssssssummer I will ssssssseek forth my inner circle and continue my planssss that were in place before my defeat. Neither you nor your wife will inform anyone of my return until I sssssssssay sssssso."
"Yes M'Lord," spoke Lucius and Narcissa in tandem. Before either could speak a House Elf popped in with a paper and handed it to the Dark Lord before quickly popping out of the Drawing Room. The headline stared out at him along with a still picture of a casket and the Potter boy lying motionless within it, the young Dark Lord's face curving into a smile. His high-pitched laugh echoed within the Drawing Room and throughout the manor as he dismissed the Malfoy couple from his sight, the doors slamming shut behind him with a wave of his hand.
The headline stared glaringly obvious up at him as he laid it upon the table.
Potter Boy Dead! End of Potter Line!
St. Jerome's Graveyard, Godric's Hollow, England:
In a small grave next to the graves of Lord and Lady Potter, the young preteen was laid to rest, just seven weeks shy of his thirteenth birthday, the school year ending the day after Harry's funeral. Wards had been placed around the Potter family's graves to keep people from desecrating the graves of the small family. Within the summer air, a storm began brewing, bringing with it the hint of rain and thunder clouds over England. "Hadrian…" a voice whispered within the still air.
"Master…"
"Rise…"