Dimensional Warrior
Chapter 9
Harry looked at the redhead before him, "Well, Ms. Bones," he gestured towards the couches, "why don't we sit and you can tell me how I can help you."
Amelia shook her head, a strand of red hair falling in front of her fierce blue eyes, "There's no time," she took a step forward, "will you come with me, please?"
Emerald eyes locked with light blue and Harry reached out with his mind gently brushing against her shields, not enough to alert her to his presence, but enough to feel her emotions and intentions. She was scared, floundering in a sea of uncertainty.
Amelia felt him brush against her shields, she allowed them to weaken just enough for him to feel her emotions of the situation. While she was doing that, she took him in.
He was 6'2" tall with dark red hair and emerald eyes. His frame was lean but packed with hard muscle.
Breaking the eye contact, he rolled up the sleeves of his button-down stopping just before his elbows. With grace, he moved forward, his black dress shoes barely making a sound on the red carpet.
Stopping before her, he slipped one hand into the pocket of his dark slacks.
Again, he locked eyes with her, but this time she felt no mental push.
Despite herself, Amelia felt a shiver go down her spine.
There was something different about this man, she opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.
"Fine, I'll go with you."
In a fluid movement, Amelia slipped her arm through Harry's. With a slight turn of her body that pulled him off balance, they vanished in a crack of displaced air.
–XX –
They appeared in a hallway full of doors. Thick shadows seem to ooze down the walls,
Harry sent out a pulse of psychic energy.
A fuzzy image of the hallway and doors appeared around him, but nothing above or below him.
Turning towards a door, he sent out a probe of psychic energy, only for it to slide along the wood.
Amelia pulled him forward.
"Where are we?"
Amelia glanced at him, her monocle back in her left eye, "Welcome to The Ministry of Magic. More specifically, The Department of Mysteries."
As Amelia moved, the doors lining the hallways began to spin like they were on tracks.
For a moment, she just stood there, her eyes jumping from door to door.
Releasing Harry's arm, she lunged forward, grey magic flaring around her as she grabbed a particular door.
The revolving doors froze.
Harry stared at Amelia as her magic washed over him.
A single eyebrow rose, 'Necromancy, interesting.'
A click echoed through the quiet as Amelia opened the door. She glanced over her shoulder, the bright light of the room beyond reflecting off her monocle, "Come on."
–XX –
They entered a large room painted a sterilized white.
Metal cabinets lined the walls off to the left, bronze letters stenciled on the front revealing the occupants.
A table sat in the center of the room, carts around its holding glimmering tools of a grizzly trade.
Amelia moved towards the cabinets, her footsteps echoing off the linoleum floor.
Grabbing the handle of a particular door, her magic flared again. With a twist of her wrist, the cabinet opened.
Ripples of distortion seemed to echo out from the space as her top half disappeared for a moment. She came back into view pulling a long table on tracks from inside the cabinet.
Harry closed the distance between them, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
There was no way he was leaving his fingerprints in this place.
"You know, when you asked me to come with you, I expected a lot of things, but a journey to a morgue is not one of them."
Stopping beside Amelia, he stared down at the body.
It was a male green-skinned alien with three ridges along the chin.
Dark grey hair flowed down to rest behind pointed ears that stuck out to the side.
A white button-down was stretched over a broad frame and tucked into a pair of khaki pants.
Harry glanced at Amelia, "Do you have any gloves?"
With a flick of her hand, she pulled a pair of rubber gloves from a box mounted to the side of the wall at the far end of the room.
His eyes never leaving the body, Harry pulled them on, the snapping of the rubber against his skin loud in the quiet.
Leaning down, he inhaled.
Beyond the scent of antiseptic that seemed to permeate the room, Harry found human entangled with something else in a way that he'd never encountered before.
Drawing back, he flicked his fingers the button-down flowered open, revealing a muscled green-skinned chest on one side, and metal in the shape of muscles on another.
Running his finger down the metal side of the chest, Harry pressed on it, surprised when it gave.
Placing his hand on the seam between the two halves of the chest, he closed his eyes, sending a pulse of psychic energy through the body.
"Amazing, I originally thought I was looking at your typical cyborg, but somehow parts of this, man?" He shook his head, "has been converted into something between technology and flesh."
Opening his eyes, he turned to Amelia, "This is fascinating, really it is, but I really don't understand why I'm here?"
Releasing a breath, Amelia removed her monocle from her eye, allowing it to fall into a small pocket in her robes.
"With the increased threats to the earth, the ministry found it prudent to offer asylum to mutants."
"That was nice of them?"
Amelia snorted, "Not really."
"Though some felt bad seeing parallels between how the mutants are treated and the witch-hunts of old, most saw it as a chance to add the mutant's power to our own." She looked at him, "one of those mutants was a telepath. It surprised us to learn that with enough effort, a telepath could breach a magical's mental shields."
"With this knowledge, the ministry set up a new security measure to make sure there were no threats from the outside that had infiltrated the government. To that end, we began scanning everyone who worked at the ministry when they entered."
Amelia turned back to the body on the slab, "Two days ago we discovered that John Dawlish was not John Dawlish. Oh, he had his memories and his training, but our telepath could see underneath. When we confronted him, he turned into this," she gestured at the table.
"If it happened two days ago, why are you just contacting me now?"
Amelia massaged her forehead, "We thought our unspeakable's could handle it in-house, but we don't have any kind of experience with technology, so they didn't get farther than the name of his species and the family tree."
"So, what do you know?"
"He is a Skrull from the planet Skrullos. They are a race of shapeshifting aliens, who conquer planets to further spread the influence and power of their species."
Throughout her explanation, Harry's eyebrows climbed. Now, they had almost disappeared into his hairline. "I'm impressed, you said you didn't know a lot, but I would disagree."
Amelia shook her head, "We still don't know why he was here, or what he wanted, but given the fact he attacked when discovered, I can say that it probably wasn't for anything good."
Harry nodded, what would you like me to do and how did you hear about me?"
"You are the only one in the wizarding world who has a knowledge of technology. You also walk in both worlds, while using the unique technology that you have created to make the world a better place."
I want you to get what you can out of this, help me keep not only the people of the wizarding world safe but the people of Great Britain and earth as a whole."
"I can do that. As long as you're not squeamish."
Amelia's eyes hardened, "I am head of The Magical Law Enforcement Office."
"Okay then," Harry began drawing out the phrase, "now on to my second question. I realize I run a multibillion-dollar company, but I typically don't deal with the magical world beyond facilitating help to a select few."
"And those select few are appreciative. Although, the elves and the dwarves do want to renegotiate the percentage you get from the materials they mine."
He waved her off, "I'll talk to them about that later." He had some other technology to put out onto the market, but he would go no lower than a 50-50 split. Hopefully, that burden would encourage the dwarves and the elves to branch out into what they made, creating their own version of his technology.
Shaking his head, he focused his attention back on Amelia, "So, it was the elves and dwarves that told you about me."
"They helped, but honestly I wouldn't have taken just their word for it."
Harry's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, if she wouldn't have taken the dwarves words, who else could she have talked to, it's not like he interacted with the wizarding world on a regular basis. Heck, it's not like he interacted with anyone on a regular basis.
"Who else did you talk to?"
"Me."
A woman strode into the room, a white coat draped over her 5'6" frame. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun, and her purple eyes were locked on Harry behind a pair of square frame silver glasses.
With each movement, the lab coat opened just enough to give a glimpse of dark blue scrubs.
Amelia stepped past Harry, embracing the woman in a hug.
Arm still wrapped around her, Amelia turned back to him, "Mr. Howlett, I would like to introduce you to…"
"Lily Marie Potter," Harry finished.
Amelia's eyes widened, "You know her?" She looked between the two.
Harry inclined his head, "I knew her parents," he turned to Lily, "I take it that's how you knew to contact me?"
Lily stepped forward, her motions barely making a sound, "Yes, they still speak very highly of you."
Harry's eyes widened ever so slightly, "Both are still alive?"
Lily inclined her head, "The elves have brought miracles of medicine with them from their Shining City."
Amelia cleared her throat, "Lily here is our foremost expert in the special arts as well as runes, charms, alchemy, and potions."
Harry's lips curled, "Special girl."
Lily arched an eyebrow while cocking one hip to the side, "Girl?"
Ignoring her, Harry focused on Amelia, "What are the special arts?"
Amelia glanced at Lily when she nodded.
She turned back to Harry, "Lily has the unique ability to pull the energies that tie the soul and body together out. By absorbing these energies, she was able to tell us about our imposter," she gestured to the man on the table.
"And you couldn't get a name?"
Lily brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face, "That's the scary thing. Whoever this guy was, whatever process he used to gain Dawlish's memories made him believe he was Dawlish at least up until the point he was caught."
Her eyebrows drew together, "From the feeling of his memories, he seemed to do things subconsciously that were actually orders from his people."
"What kind of things?"
Amelia glanced at the body, "We don't know for sure, but as more of mutants come into our world, they bring with them stories of friends, or loved ones disappearing. The last person they were seen with matches Dawlish's description. Well, his description before he changed."
Harry ran a hand through his hair. He glanced around, looking for a place to sit down. Finally, he settled on sitting on the edge of the table that held the body.
What a mess. Could this have been the entity that Gaia warned him about? The scrolls had pretty much stayed away from his earth with the trouble the Daemonite's were causing, but he had seen a few and none of them ever look like the sky. Did he come from his universe? If so, what was his purpose?
He rubbed his eyes, so much had been revealed to him so quickly. He didn't realize the elves had taken an active role in the wizarding world beyond cleanup and item manufacturing. How did they extend Charlus and Doria's lives? What was the price for that extension?
"I'll do what I can, but you're not going to like how I do it."
Straightening her back, Amelia placed her monocle back in her eye, "I just want this solved without the wizarding world finding out we've been invaded."
Nodding, Harry turned towards the body on the slab. Extending a finger, he swept it down the body cleanly cutting the weird technological half free of its organic counterpart.
A green aura flared around the organic technology burning away the clothes that hid it from view and lifting it into the air.
He glanced at the two women. Both stared at him with open mouths.
"If one of you could kindly show me the way out of here, I will be in touch when I have something."
Clearing her throat, Lily stepped forward, "Do you mind if I come with you?" She glanced at Amelia, "I have some questions I would like to ask you?"
Harry was curious about her as well. Did the process that allowed her to be born give her the ability to absorb traces of soul energy? Could she absorb an entire soul? What other abilities does she have?
"That's fine."