Chapter 1: Quidditch and the natural ramifications therein.
AN: Now we get back to the start of book 4. Only about 4000 years in the future from what we just saw. Depending on how I feel we might be seeing more of the three Clans plotline. This chapter will mainly be recap of the events of the first few chapters of GOF with the small changes that are needed to make the story work; as such I'm just going to assume that you've read the thing and skip over some minor events here and there, honestly writing over the events of established canon is what I find to be the most tedious part of the story, I already have the next few chapters written and it's just writing the connecting bits that's taking a silly amount of time. The pace should get going once we get into the new material and I have a bit more leeway on the world. As for pairings I have none planned but might eventually include it if appropriate: in my opinion creating a plot solely as a vessel for romance is doing a poor job of both plot and romance. Another complaint of mine is that people stick sex-scenes into stories just so that they can call them mature stories. Maturity is based on mind as much as on the body; a good adult story should include ideas that are challenging to the mind and not just M rated. If this story does indeed take that step I will attempt to handle it with all due composure.
Harry Potter awoke with a headache, that in and of itself was not unusual; his scar often hurt when Voldemort was around. Quirrell in his first year had been bad enough, but after facing a shadow of him two years ago Harry had got used to the piercing pain that occasionally hit him. But this headache was different, distinct from the pain that centered itself on his scar; this pain was less intense than the other but what it lacked in intensity it made up for in scope: surrounding his head like a fishbowl. What was bothering Harry had nothing to do with the headache however, instead it was a niggling feeling that something was wrong, some fact of existence had changed and nobody had bothered telling him. Perhaps it was the diet that the Dursleys had put the entire household on, but then again he was feeling just as strong as at the beginning of the summer; stronger even. And then he remembered the dream that ended with the killing curse and a flash of green and vaguely wondered why the regular pains that usually accompanied those rare insights into Voldemort's skull were absent. Certainly they'd been getting weaker and weaker over the course of the past few months, the anger and spite of Voldemort's shade being filtered away even as the other headache grew in power. In any case the diffuse headache was vastly preferable over the nearly debilitating pain that usually occurred.
Aside from the vision and the constant headache things had been going rather well during the summer, the Dursley's avoiding Harry as much as possible while apparently trying to starve him at mealtimes. The Dursley's had even checked Harry's room a few times to make sure he wasn't hiding any forbidden sweets, but no matter how much they restricted the food Harry just kept on as healthy as he'd always been. But at breakfast that morning Vernon stomped in
One busted fireplace later and Harry Potter was standing in the Burrow fireplace. Well, less standing and more staggering and falling flat on his face. "There's got to be a better method of magical transportation then that". He grumbled as usual, wishing for the safety of a broomstick. Aside from the way magical transportation seemed to have a pathological dislike for Harry the day was rather pleasant all told; what with getting settled into the cozy Burrow, even though the party would be leaving for the Quidditch World Cup the next morning. The building was almost exactly as it had been before, an impossibly tall house composed of parts that had almost assuredy quite literally been stuck on by magic. Harry rather enjoyed meeting the rest of the large family which came in the forms of Bill and Charlie Weasley, both rather interesting individuals who had made themselves at home in dangerous situations. Bill having gone into curse-breaking for Gringotts; a subject that alternatively threatened to be boring and horribly horribly exciting as the curses employed in the Egyptian tombs that Bill worked on were both quite dark and very nasty. Charlie on the other hand worked as a Dragon handler in Romania; a position which was possibly even more dangerous than it sounded.
Nothing much else actually interesting happened until the next morning when he woke again with a headache that continually throbbed.
The journey to the quidditch world cup was again mostly without incident although Harry's perennial travel troubles once again manifested themselves in the form of a faceplant. The group crowding around him to ensure that he was alright.
"Whatever happened to travel by broom, I'm good at brooms" Was the only thing that Harry uttered as he pushed himself upright amidst teasing cries of "Blimey Harry, aren't you supposed to be the coordinated one?"
"Yeah, but this is so much more different than a broom" Harry mumbled "With that I'm a natural"
"Perhaps you should get some practice on the broom then, because no one else is having problems with the floo or portkeys" Ron shot back, quickly falling into the banter that occurs between close friends, adding "We want to keep winning at Quidditch".
"You know whoever they've got replacing Wood this year will have to be brilliant to match that last season" Harry sighed, "I only hope they're up for the task"
The pitching of the tents went off without a hitch and the group made its way towards the massively large stadium that held the Quidditch World Cup, joining the throng that wound their way towards the towering structure. The closer that the group got towards the stadium the larger the headache Harry dealt with until in the top box it felt like his head was overstuffed, yet at the same time Harry felt a rising surge of energy as if his position in the top box was indicative of his mental state. The entire match went by in a blur, not even the Veela causing much of a reaction. Only after Viktor Krum caught the snitch that the high started to die down, even though the headache remained at its peak. After the match Harry went to sleep, ignoring the revelry in favour of a relaxing sleep.
He awoke a few hours later to the sound of panicked screams. The celebrations turned to terror, followed by a mad dash into the woods away from the Death Eaters. It wasn't until the group reached the safety of the deep woods that Harry noticed that his headache had vanished entirely and had been replaced by a strange awareness of the world. Reaching up to his head it was immediately obvious that something was wrong, for atop his head were, by the feel of it, two feathered wings had sprouted and were flapping about merrily. A startled "Eep" came out of his mouth moments before Hermione pulled her wand on him, slamming him into a tree and whispering "Revelio Specialis, Revelio Nomine, Verbum Revelans, Finite Incantatem" in quick succession, getting more and more perplexed at each result before finally unpinning Harry from the tree.
"So" Hermione said with a small twist to her mouth "Wings, on your head. New development or have you been hiding them from us all this time?" it was obvious that she was trying to sound casual but a tinge of… panic, fear... tinged her voice.
"I… just noticed them now" Harry responded shakily, trying to get over the fact that one of his best friends had just slammed him quite hard at that into a tree. "Did I get hit by a stray jinx or something?"
"No, I'm afraid it's not that simple. Not anywhere near that simple. Have you ever heard of the creatures called Cubi?"
"Can't say I've heard of them"
"Well I can't say that I'm in the least surprised. I found them mentioned in a book titled "Secrets of the Creature races. Speculation versus Fact" by Osmend Prufrock. Terribly enigmatic race, not much known about them except for their physical appearance and their ability to shapeshift. The peculiarity that is noted by Prufrock is their apparent ability to crossbreed with just about everything, humans, centaurs, the rumored case of dragons, you name it. This led him to speculate that Cubi aren't a race per say, but rather a collection of species bound together by some sort of magic that confers unto them their abilities."
A few moments later there was a cry of "Morsmordre" before a giant glowing green skull lit up the night sky, a serpent slithering out of it. Lighting up the sky like a dark constellation highlighted against the dark clouds. The whole thing originating just a few feet away through the woods. A barrage of stunning spells almost immediately coming through those woods and almost striking Harry, Ron, and Hermione. A figure that Harry vaguely recognized as Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE, seeing the headwings on Harry's head and firing off a peremptory stunner that was fired with precision and hit centre mass.
A long moment of darkness later and Harry returned to wakefulness on the grass carpeted floor of the forest, Amelia Bones and a dozen ministry officials standing over him, Amelia shakily offering him his wand back, everything happening far too fast until Amelia grabbed a hold of him and with the fresh feeling of being squeezed through a tight tube they vanished from the darkened scene.
