Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Shoutout to Cryocontrol for the first review! Thanks man, it means a lot to me!
Chapter Three
"Oh my", Albus murmured for the upteenth time in the last minutes. Admittedly, he had expected to see a lot of concerning things. After all the magical, and by extension the supernatural world, was full of possible dangers and strange phenomenons. The possibilities for someone to get hurt by them were endless. Though Alastair had tried to explain what happened to Harry when he sent Albus his patronus, the full scale was much more serious in nature than albus would ever had guessed it.
Some kind of possession Alastair had guessed. But no, this wasn't it. Albus knew what signaled a possession, and little Harry didn't show a single one of them. Something different was at work here. Something vastly different and inexplicably more powerful than a simple demon trying to take over a human's body.
The old wizard raised his wand and cast numerous diagnostic spells on the cocoon lying in front of him. The results were shocking, though not unexpected. A tired sigh escaped his throat and he mustered the cocoon with a pang of sadness.
"Albus?", Alastair asked upon hearing his sigh. "What's wrong? Do you know what happened to Harry?"
For a moment Albus contemplated remaining silent, but dismissed this thought nearly immediately. The truth wouldn't hurt them he decided. Or, at least a part of it.
"Sadly, yes, I do know what happened here", Albus answered tiredly. "Though, I admit, I am not sure, what to make of this knowledge. It is a very delicate matter, you see" He turned his back to the cocoon, and looked Maria straight into the eyes. "I will tell you, what this whole affair here" He made a vague gesture over Harry's cocoon "is about. But, seeing as this information is more than sensitive I request, no, I demand that this knowledge will not, under no circumstance leave this room"
Alastair agreed readily but Maria objected. "I am sorry Mister Dumbledore, but I'm afraid I cannot guarantee that. Should this information pose a threat to the United Kingdom, then the prime minister should and will hear of this. It is my duty after all"
"Actually" Alastair chimed in "I was wondering the whole time, why the cocoon is here, after all. Shouldn't it be somewhere else with more up to date technology like, the United States??"
"Yes, you certainly have a point there, Alastair"; Albus said. "It is true that the while leading resources for mundane, as well as magical research are truly stationed in the USA. And, were this a mundane phenomenon or artifact it would have been brought here to determine its use, origin, danger, et cetera. Moving the equipment elsewhere would be much too time and energy consuming after all. But this is no mundane pheonomenon. Even the very existence of this cocoon could have catastrophic consequences. There would be no way to move the whole operation somewhere else without alerting at least one of the factions that would be the cause for the aforementioned consequences"
"Hm. Fair enough", Alastair said. "So, what about this cocoon now?"
Maria opened her mouth to speak, but Albus beat her to it.
"Before you repeat yourself, doctor, yes I agree to your terms. As long as only the president gets hold of this information. Trust me, when I say, that the less people know about this, the better"
"Agreed", Maria answered. "Now what do you know about the subject?"
"One minute, please", Albus said before murmuring several spells. "Before you ask, I just casted several anti detection spells around us, to prevent anyone else from listening in to the following information"
Both nodded, showing their understanding.
"Now, to begin with, do you know of the other realms, Doctor?"
Maria nodded. "There are Earth, where we live, Heaven, where the Angels reside and Hell, home of the Devils, right?"
Albus nodded. "You are correct, though those are not all. You see, while Earth, Heaven and the Underworld are very close to each other, they are not residing within the same universe. Though, seeing how closely their "realities", for lack of a better word are tied together they might as well be. But, there are two, well, three additional planes of existence out there. One is the place known as dimensional gap. This is the part of space which exists only in between the Three Worlds, the common name of Heaven, Earth and the Underworld. It is a place outside of time and space, and it is in this very place, where most gods and beings of equal status are residing. It is a remarkably unique place, where all Three Worlds are overlapping and out cancelling each other at the same time"
"The next world does not have a real name, but commonly it is referred to as Gehenna, the Realm of the Dead. It is the place where the souls of the dead or echoes of those souls reside. There is no material and no matter present in this place and thus can only be accessed by beings that do not possess a physical body. Despite the fact, that this World is inaccessible to mortal creatures, communicating with this place is easier than with any other World out there. The stone of resurrection from the tale of the three brothers for example is said to be even able to pull souls form Gehenna to here. Well, if such an artifact really exists, that is"
"The last realm though is the most obscure and, I am very serious on this matter, by far the most dangerous of all places out there. Under no circumstance must anyone of you ever attempt to meddle with this realm, do you understand me?"
The other two nodded gravely. "Why is that?", Maria asked, but Alastair shushed her. He knew that once Albus got into his "teacher-mode" as he and the other members of the Order of the Phoenix liked to call his information-rants, nothing could interrupt him from his lecture.
"This place", Albus continued without indication of even hearing Marias question, "has many names, such as Abyss, Leere, or Jurang, just to name a few. Commonly though, by the few who know of its existence at least, it is called the Void. You can imagine it like space between universes and as the yarn that sews the fabric of reality together. It is not really a own universe, but only a gateway to something much greater and much, much more sinister. To what exactly though we have no idea. What we do know though, is that the Void constantly strives to consume and adapt and destroy everything. Thus the knowledge of this seemingly malevolent not-quite-universe is a top secret affair. Just imagine all the panic that would ensue if people would learn, that an entire kind-of-universe aims to kill them. The fallout would be a catastrophe"
All three shuddered at this particular thought. A giant panic all over the world, no, the Worlds, would be the result. A truly terrifying thought.
"Any questions?", Albus asked, having apparently finished his explanation.
Maria couldn't help but raising her arm. For some inexplicable reason she felt like she was sitting in school once again, waiting for the teacher to call her name.
"Yes, Dr Hill?", Albus asked.
"I was wondering what the connection between the cocoon and what you just told us is", Maria stated.
"Oh", Albus sheepishly coughed in his hand before righting himself. "Now, based on the diagnostic spells and the evidence and data you showed me earlier I can say without doubt, that the origin of the cocoon is the Void. Everything, from the buildup to the magic its emitting indicates this. The mystery though is, why young Harry got involved with this whole situation. And, even more importantly, how we can relieve him of this rather pitiful state and destroy anything of what's left of the Void after that. For even the smallest residue of it poses a danger to our entire world"
"But what will happen, should we not be able to free him of the cocoon?", Maria asked. "What are we going to do then?"
"As much as it pains me to say so, should this unlikely case occur, then I do not think, that Harry will count as human anymore. And as such the Void inside him and by extension, he himself would pose a grave threat to our world. I'm afraid that we have to destroy anything that's left of him in this case"
Alastair whirled around to face Albus. "What do you mean 'destroy'? He is Harry Potter! The savior of the wizarding world! And on top of that he is just a child!" Alastair shouted angrily. "How could you even think of harming him!"
"Alastair, calm down", Maria sternly ordered. "Think about it! If we fail, and the child is too far gone, then he just poses a threat! To you, me, Aragran and the rest of our crew, Albus and the entire frickin' world! Would you really want to risk this?"
"Additionally", Albus chimed in "Should the worst case scenario occur, then this would not be a human child anymore. Merlin, nothing would be farther from it!" A sad and tired tone wormed itself into Albus voice "Trust me, I have experience on this"
Alastair, while admittedly being quite a hotheaded person was by no means an idiot and as such recognized the logic in their arguments. This did not mean that he liked it though. "Let's hope that it won't come to this then", he huffed and left the room.
"I'm sorry", Albus sighed, after the door closed itself "But as you know Alastair can be quite … emotional at times"
"Oh, trust me, I know", Maria said. Desperate to make a change in the conversation she asked "You said you knew of a way that might help our Patient here"
"That I do. Though I'm afraid that I will need quite some time, to gather the resources needed. I will send you a message through Alastair, when I have time again"
"Agreed. Let's hope that Al will deliver it in time this time", Maria muttered.
Albus just chuckled, dropped his anti-spying spells and quickly left the room. Though not without casting a quick glance at the cocoon housing Harry.
I will help you Harry, he silently vowed. I will free you from this terrible fate. And if you're too far gone already, I hope that at least I can avenge you. If not four your, then for James' and Lily's sake…
ItV
The sensation of hearing, he concluded, was in equal measures delightful and agonizing.
Delightful, because is posed something new. something to distract him in his little black world. Whenever he heard it he listened. Whenever he didn't hear, he waited.
Agonizing, because it introduced the concept of boredom. Whenever he heard something he listened. But whenever he didn't hear something he waited.
He didn't know how long these periods of waiting were. Time had no meaning to him.
Time…
Was it like sound?
Could he feel it as well?
Was it another distraction?
Was ist like the dark? Good and nice and warm and-
Maybe it was like the Bad White! Bright and stingy and hurting and evil, so evil, evil, evil, Evil, EVil, EVIl, EVIL; EVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILEVIL-
There was sound!
It ripped him out of his musings. He heard something! But it was unclear. Like someone talked through water…
Water… again a weird concept. Why did those words appear in his head the whole time? There it was again! Time. He had to investigate this time thing…
No! Bad! First sound! Then time!
He strained. Tried to hear. Tried to hear voices. Wait, voice- NO! NO DISTRACTION: Focus!
He tried to be quiet. Didn't move. Didn't think. Just heard and listened. His thoughts became simpler. His spirit receded. He didn't want it to recede. BUt it did. It didn't obey him. He sank but swam, and sank but didn't drown and was confused. He didn't reign anymore. He never had reigned at all. The instincts reigned now. The instincts had always reigned. IT reigned now. IT had always Reigned. IT was THEY. THEY reigned and had reigned and will reign. He didn't reign. He was insignificant. He was insignificant and listened.
"... cannot guarantee that"
Confusion.
"Shouldn't it be back in Britain?"
Britain? Stone. Dirt. Land. Confusion intensifies.
"...-hat about this cocoon now?"
Cocoon. Good. Safe, Protection. Evolve. Change. Change! CHANGECHANGECHANGECHANG- Concentration! Calm. Concentration. Focus.
"Heaven, where the angels reside and Hell, home of the Devils, right?"
Heaven, Hell? Confusion…?
Devils. Pitiful. Contempt.
Angels… Light. White. Hurt! Avoid. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Bad White! Rage. Rage, rage rage, rage.
…
…
...
"... is called the Void"
Void.
Void?
Void!
Home. Darkness, home, black. No Light, Good Dark.
Home, home, memories.
Memories!
Little White, Frozen Battle, Great Watchers, Desert Destruction, Waiting and Patience. Home.
Sadness. Homesick.
More memories. Mission. Infiltrating. Adapting. Change, Evolution. Consuming, Snuffing out the little light. Watchers Watching, Watchers Waiting, Watchers Wailing, Watchers Warring, Watchers-
"Harry Potter!"
Harry… Harry Potter…
Concept. Foreign concept… Name!
Harry Potter Name!
Harry Potter his name!
Harry Potter was his name!
Confusion?
He was not IT!
Realization!
He was not THEM!
Dominance!
No! He couldn't let it win!
FIGHT!
He had to fight back, and so he did!
PUSH
He pushed back
PRESSURE
He pressured back
PUSH PRESSURE PRESSURE PUSH
He pressured and pushed and pushed and pressured. IT didn't budge. IT didn't win any ground
Stalemate. Anger.
He hadn't won. But also he hadn't lost. They were still pushing. But they were equal. And he had learned. Learned his name. And with the name came the memories.
He was Harry Potter.
He was in the darkness.
He wanted to get out. No, he had to get out. But out of where? He was inside. Inside of what? He did not know. He couldn't investigate because he had to push. If he didn't push IT would win. IT couldn't be allowed to win. If IT would win, THEY would win as well. Harry didn't know who THEY were. But he knew that THEY were over IT. THEY were bad. If THEY won everything would be over. So he pushed. And waited. And thought. And hoped.
And inside the cocoon Harry Potter shifted. Shifted, as if a terrible weight would have latched itself onto his chest and now slowly threatened to crush him…
Welp, that's it. I know, things may be confusing, but well, that can't be helped sadly. The Void in itself is rather confusing and I wanted to make the struggle between Harry and this other. thing a bit more clear. Also, I tried to go with a bit of a "Lovecrafthian Approach" regarding the watchers here. They always kinda reminded me of the elder Gods, to be honest. I'm not really sure if I managed it though, aside from a few fanfics I haven't ready any of his works yet /
Also, what do you thonk of my idea to turn this into a threeway crossover with Highschool DxD as well? I always loved the setting of highschool DxD. Though I could've done without all the ecchi and harems and stuff.
Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to leave reviews for they are like the fuel for my muse!
Till next time, Halariel over and out!