It was a calm few days for Harry, Godzilla, and his newly free — and apparently shapeshifting — godfather Sirius Black. Without his rage keeping him going, Godzilla was sluggish in the cold of the North Sea, so he was taking the trio the long way home: across the Atlantic, over Panama, into the Pacific, and then straight to Monster Island.

In the meantime, Harry and Sirius kept shocking each other; it would've been comical but for the severity of their situations.

Sirius had gone first, by virtue of having to explain why there was an emaciated man where the dog had been moments ago. Apparently, Harry's father — James — and two of his best friends — Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew (a name Sirius could not say without his face contorting in hatred and rage) — had become what the wizarding world called "animagi" to keep their other best friend, Remus Lupin, company on nights when the curse of the werewolf forced him to transform.

Harry had explained that he thought of Godzilla as his father and had grown up surrounded by such creatures. Sirius had at first been concerned, but upon hearing that Dumbledore had dropped him on the cold doorstep of Lily's sister, had rapidly calmed down and concluded that Harry's life had gone as well as could be expected all things considered.

Sirius dropped another bombshell, explaining as best he could the Fidelius Charm and that he'd been thrown in Azkaban without trial because the world "knew" that he'd been the Potters' Secret Keeper. Sirius went on to explain that he'd switched places with Peter Pettigrew without telling anyone so that he could act as a decoy. In the end though, Peter had been the traitor in the Order of the Phoenix — a group created by Dumbledore to oppose Voldemort — and had scurried off to his master with the news.

While recovering from that revelation, Harry explained what the dementors had forced him to hear, and he and Sirius cried together, mourning James and Lily Potter in a way neither had ever truly been able to before now. Harry also explained why he'd been in Azkaban in the first place: that he'd obliterated the Statute of Secrecy by demonstrating magic to people who had the knowledge necessary to detect it, and delivering Slytherin's basilisk to Monster Island so that it could be as far away from the students as possible.

Sirius had been more than a little shocked at that, collapsing into a fit of giggles that lasted so long Harry feared he'd broken the man, but Sirius's mind (though perhaps not completely unaffected by his years in Azkaban) ultimately settled on thinking of what Harry had done as being the ultimate prank, one performed on the entire world! After all, it wasn't every day someone got to bamboozle the Wizarding World by revealing to the muggle world that it had been itself bamboozled.

While Harry and Sirius were bonding, the muggle governments had decided that enough was enough. Their representatives had been obliviated just so that their complaints and efforts at diplomacy could be swept under the rug, and all so that the wizarding world could throw a child who'd upset them ointo a prison guarded by what might well be literal demons.

Luckily for them, a combination of wizards' long lives, resistance to change, and innumerable other cultural reasons had left a great many muggleborns and half-bloods feeling dissatisfied with a world that had promised them so much and then given them so little.

After all, the downtrodden are easily recruited by opposing forces. It's one of basic tenets of strategy.

Less than a week of charm-work later, and special forces from across the world besieged the various Ministries of Magic, a force from the UN dealing with the ICW headquarters.

Aurors and hit-wizards that knew nothing of guns save that they were "metal wands" and whose other education had been over a century out of date were not prepared for trained soldiers that had been enhanced by alien technology and magic alike.

With only the most arrogant of wizards having to be shot, and the rest quaking in fear of their mysterious nonmagical powers, the transition from centuries of seclusion to integration was set to begin.

At the same time, something far, far more sinister was set to occur in a forest deep in Albania.

Bellatrix Lestrange was not sure how she had survived that monster's rampage, but she had woken in the North Sea, cold, but invigorated, and apparated as far inland as she could. She'd then repeated this until she was sure she was alone, and then meditated.

Bellatrix's mind was ill-suited to prolonged meditation, but she would do anything for her Lord, and that meant she needed a means to find him. The Dark Mark let him call servants to him, surely it was the key, then, to locating him?

Perhaps she meditated for mere moments, or perhaps it was for days, it did not truly matter, but she could finally feel it. The tether of dark magic that bound her irrevocably to her Lord. For many days she followed it, apparating as far as she could, resting, and then adjusting her course as needed.

The pull was getting stronger, she could practically taste the tether at this point, surely she was getting closer.

At last, she found herself in a deep dark wood, the trees silent all around, no doubt out of respect for her Master. She was so close to her Lord, she knew it, and ran the final stretch. Her feet stung from running without protection, and her stomach ached from lack of food, but none of it mattered as she beheld what could only be her Master and knelt in total devotion.

A serpent, vast beyond any but a basilisk, with a crown of bony spines across its head and neck. Strange, membranous frills extended from the sides of its head as it turned and rose to face her. It then opened its jaws and a dark mist emerged.

"Rise Bella, it has been far too long."

"My Lord! I know it has been too long, I tried to find you, but I was-"

"I am not blind, my loyal servant… I can see the marks of Azkaban upon you, and I am aware that you, of all my Death Eaters, would not hesitate to seek me out were it in your power. No, Bellatrix Lestrange, I am a forgiving Lord, and your loyalty shall be rewarded despite it's lateness. You have come at a fortuitous moment Bella, yet more proof that fate favors Lord Voldemort. Look at me Bella! I am little more than shadow and vapor, reduced to possessing the body of my companion Nagini. But even she could not withstand my spirit were it not for my new ally…"

The clearing began to illuminate in a blue light, and Bellatrix squinted at it, faintly able to see a humanoid shape within the light.

"With his help andyours Bella, I shall rebuild my forces to be greater than they were even before my fall. For while Potter has powers that are strange and unprecedented, they are no match for the combined power of Lord Voldemort and Yog!"

Author's Note: Hi everyone. I'm not dead! I've been busy and stressed. I apologize for the short chapter, but I figured that you've all waited long enough for an update, so rather than endlessly tweaking what I've got, I decided to publish it. I confess, this chapter is mostly a transitional one anyway - you don't need details, just a general idea of what's happening in the world at large. (Hint: chaos!)

Now, some of you are probably wondering who or what the heck Yog is. I'll give a partial answer: Yog debuted in the 1970 Toho movie Space Amoeba, and I ask that those who know his powers don't spoil them for those who aren't going to look him up. Suffice it to say that he survived what was supposed to have killed him in the movie, and has allied with Voldemort for a reason I'll explain in time.

I also want to say thank you to all my readers and reviewers: I love you all and you help motivate me to keep this story going! Without you this would've probably been a one chapter wonder that was swiftly abandoned and forgotten.