*2014-10-08 Reconstruction: Chapters 'United, Once More' and 'Dealing With Death' has been merged. Some rearrangement and re-wording, along with general grammar cleanup.
If you've already read these chapters, you can skip it... but I recommend re-reading it.
Previously:
"Very well, I will tolerate the blood-traitor once more."
With a knowing look, Harry shook his head, exasperated at her insistent name-calling. "I'll be in my office, Mrs. Black."
Catching Harry's expression, Mrs. Black scowled deeply. "Do not try my patience, boy. As the Matriarch of the Black family, I demand you stop bringing blood-traitors and mudbloods into my home. I only tolerate those you bring because of their unrivaled skill and good upbringing."
"Of course, Mrs. Black."
"Go to bed early!"
"Yes, Mrs. Black!" Harry called back as he headed towards his office.
Dealing With Death
(Posted 2014-05-13, Updated 2014-10-08)
As soon as Harry stepped into his office, he headed straight to his armchair next to the fireplace.
Kreacher had already placed a tray with a plate of treacle tarts and a hot cup of tea on the small side table nearby.
Harry let out a deep sigh as he lowered himself into the armchair.
It was finally confirmed. He couldn't delude himself into thinking that he had been tired and was mistaken. His two best friends had all but witnessed and confirmed the impossibility that he – the Chosen-One and Boy-Who-Lived and all that rot – may be immortal.
…If not immortal, at least possessing logic-defying regenerative abilities.
Harry stood up and went to the filing cabinet next to the desk. He opened the second drawer and pressed a hidden button. With a click, a hidden vault on the wall smoothly opened up, revealing a stack of documents, a pile of gold and silver, and the folded, shimmering cloak of invisibility. He took out the cloak and closed the vault, then sat at his desk, laying out the cloak on the desk.
Harry simply looked at the cloak for a moment, admiring the shimmering quality that seemed worn yet timeless. After the war, he hadn't needed the cloak; a quick disillusionment charm had been enough for his needs.
With a sigh, Harry took out his wand and started examining it from one end to the other, inch by inch, stopping at every pattern in the cloth, carefully prodding and smoothing out folds of the cloak.
Perhaps there was something he missed?
He was not actually expecting anything at all, so felt his stomach drop when he found a lump.
…In all the years he used the cloak, he had never noticed a pocket on the lining of the cloak before.
I have a bad feeling about this…
Reluctantly, Harry reached into the pocket and felt a wand.
Oh no.
He slowly pulled it out.
No, it can't be.
He tried to deny even the possibility that what he thought was correct, but the power humming under his fingers were unmistakable.
He slowly placed the wand – the elder wand – on the desk with great hesitation.
For a full minute, Harry simply stared apprehensively at the wand and the cloak, not knowing what to do.
Then he saw a smaller lump in the new-found pocket of the cloak.
Incapable of coherent thought, he found himself dazedly reaching for and taking out a small cracked stone – the resurrection stone – the stone he had thrown away in the Forbidden Forest.
As soon as the rock fell out of the cloak, the pocket lining disappeared, and the cloak – the cloak of invisibility – shimmered innocently.
"…"
The Deathly Hallows…
…were united once again.
{(TFM)}
For a long moment, He could only stare in disbelief.
"...Ha...ha.. Dumbledore never saw this coming, did he?"
Harry staggered from the desk and drunkenly headed for the bathroom next door.
He splashed water onto himself, trying to make sense of what was happening.
When he looked into the mirror, he found a pale reflection of himself, looking quite frightful with the pallid face and shadows under his eyes.
But what caught his attention was not the shadow on his face, but a shadow that seemed to float in midair next to him. It was getting darker, and Harry could feel a hum of magic gathering around it.
Harry backed away quickly, and ran back to the office to retrieve his wand. With a quick wandless accio, he whipped around to face the door, warily watching the shadow-being. The hum of power from the elder wand in his hand only heightened his wariness.
The dark shadow was sluggishly pouring into the room like smoke, getting darker and more solid by the moment.
Harry whispered a shield charm over himself, hoping it was enough.
The shadow shifted into a humanoid shape, the flowing darkness behind him shifting and shimmering, bearing close resemblance with a certain cloak that was on the desk behind him. Where the face should be was a vague outline of one, shadowed by the wisps of insubstantial smoke that surrounded it.
The shadow-being came to a stop in front of him.
There was a short pause, in which the shadow tilted its head and spoke.
"Harry Potter. I see I have finally caught your attention."
The soft voice was neither male nor female, nor anything Harry had heard before. It was an unearthly, a terrifying yet beautiful sound, so full of authority; one's entire existence felt as if a small piece of paper, buffeted by storm winds.
At that moment, Harry understood. He lowered his wand. "...You are Death."
The shadow - no, Death - stayed silent, which was an answer in itself.
Harry waited warily for Death to say something, to do... something.
Death did not break his silence; after a minute of tension, Harry finally yielded.
"... What do you want from me?"
The timeless, immortal being contemplated his question, seeming to be calculating his answer. The pause he - she - the being took seemed to last a lifetime, but when Death spoke, it was something so unexpected that Harry needed a moment to check his hearing.
"I wish to suggest a deal."
A deal? A force of nature, something that no man can run away from, is asking me for a deal?
Harry collected himself with a shaky but deep breath. "... And what deal would that be?"
This time, Death answered right away.
"The Hallows; they are objects that are go against the Natural Order. Destroy them."
"... Why can't you do it yourself?"
"Man was given freedom of choice since his birth - the right to choose, deciding which way he wishes to live his life, be it for good or for evil. I am simply a being created to decrease mankind's long life, as a consequence from Man's actions."
The smoky substance around Death grew thicker.
"Death is absolute. No one escapes it. Men's fates and lives are not set in stone, and I do not judge who to lead away, but I know when their Time has come. I lead them Onwards. This is the Natural Order."
The shadows in the room grew impossibly dark, as if light never existed in the first place.
"The Hallows disregard this ancient Order, but they are not mine to destroy. I could destroy it in but a moment, but that would be taking away men's freedom of choice, going against the very principles on which man was created. The Hallows were created by man and must be destroyed by man."
The shadows lightened up and Death's agitated smoky surroundings settled down once more into a calm cloak of smoke. Death looked expectantly at Harry, waiting for a response.
For the longest time, Harry remained quiet. The explanation was quite enlightening for some of the issues in the world, but it did not answer the main reason for Death's visit. "... Why come to me?"
Death seemed strangely reluctant to answer this, but when Harry pointedly waited for an answer, the immortal spoke again, though clearly subdued.
"No man has been able to rip himself away from the temptation of power, superiority, and arrogance that comes through trying to become a master of one Hallow. Much less three."
Death paused, glancing at Harry from head to toe.
"None had the strength to give up their attraction for them. Or, if they did, they only gave it up partially. That is, until now."
Death scrutinized the Boy-who-lived, the Chosen one, the supposed 'Master of Death'.
Was that approval?
Harry took in this observation warily and asked another question. He vaguely waved behind him toward the Hallows on his desk.
"So… I just need to destroy these?"
A simple nod.
"What do I get from this deal?"
"...I help you find a way to continue Onwards."
"...What?"
Death silently looked on.
Filled with dread, Harry started to shake his head violently, understanding that Death's visit had everything to do with his supposed invincibility and nothing to do with dying.
"... No. No. No. You can't be serious! You're the one behind this un-aging stunt? You have no right to take that away from me. I want rest; I have no purpose, nothing to live for now. I was and is prepared to wait until my 'Time' comes, but I'm perfectly ready to die now. You cannot postpone my right to eternal rest, much less take it away!"
"It is not my doing."
Harry waited for elaboration, but he had a horrible inkling of where this was leading to.
"... Well?"
"You already know what I am going to say."
"By joining the Hallows, I did something, didn't I?"
Death looked at Harry, but he got the feeling it was not him Death was seeing.
"The Peverell brothers were few of the most brilliant people in this world. I noticed them starting to meddle in the order of things. It was something not meant to be; death is universal, absolute. They were attempting to go against the Natural Order, stopping me. That would bring forth chaos, and only chaos."
Death's gaze focused back on Harry. Suddenly, out of the blue, Death asked a question.
"Do you know the story of Sisyphus?"
"Who?"
"The king from ancient Greece. Sisyphus, the selfish king who tricked Death and bound him to escape from it himself. For a short amount of time, this caused havoc all around the world because everything wouldn't – couldn't – die."
"You? He bound you?"
"The story has been greatly distorted, but the general idea is correct."
"You mean that the Peverell brothers similarly had tried... to stop you?"
Only silence answered his question, but it confirmed as well as any other spoken answer.
Harry became lost in thought. The implications of binding Death - what in the world had the King Sisyphus used? Death interrupted his musings with a repetition of a phrase he stated earlier.
"Binding Death – binding me – will cause chaos like no other."
Death gazed into space as he spoke, seeing another time, another place, another person.
"The Peverells were too close in achieving this chaos again. Done knowingly or not, to prevent this from happening, I had no choice but to intervene. I separated the Hallows, making sure that each could choose their own masters.
"The elder wand… was fickle. It chose new masters easily, attracting many with its promises of power. Most had no idea that it was only a small part of a greater power.
"The stone… only brought grief and insanity. The few who dared to use it could not resist the call of death they were constantly exposed to. Fortunately, for most of its existence, it remained simply a ring, its powers forgotten.
"The cloak... was was the least potent. The third brother created it, but only he had realized the foolishness of going against the Natural Order. He tried to undo his wrongs, unknowingly assisting me in making sure the objects only joined together under very specific conditions. I allowed the cloak to be passed down along his line, for by itself it was only a powerful magical artifact.
"I had hoped with time the objects would decrease in potency, or be destroyed somehow... never, had I thought that there would be a man who would be able to unite the Hallows together."
Death focused back to the present, and he looked back at Harry.
"The Hallows are not a Horcrux, Harry Potter. They are not something you can destroy by only physical or magical means."
"So how do I destroy them?"
There was a pause, in which Death looked straight into Harry's green eyes.
"I do not know."
Harry's eyes widened at the unexpected answer.
"...Exactly how am I supposed to destroy something that cannot be destroyed physically or magically? How would you destroy it?"
"How can I explain how I do something, when I do not understand myself?"
Harry was filled with disbelief, and was about to argue when Death interrupted.
"There are only two options for you to take. First, destroy the Hallows to continue on your journey Onwards. I will assist you in searching for a way, as well as help avoid scrutiny during your search.
"Second, keep the Hallows, gain immortality, and assist me by watching over the Hallows and any other man-made object that hinders the Natural Order."
"This is no deal. A deal would entail an equal exchange! One clearly outweighs the other in its value! Why would I want to outlive everyone else? Death is part of life, one of the defining things that make us human!"
Death took his time answering Harry's outburst.
"There have been many who have sought immortality. Some only seek it temporarily, simply unprepared to face me. A select few tear apart their souls to permanently stay in the land of the living. You have hunted down several of them recently."
"Yes. I get it. I can gain immortality. That's a great option."
"You do not want it."
"Of course not! It sounds too much like what Voldemort would want..."
"You wish to continue Onwards in your journey."
"Yes."
Death became silent once more, sharply observing him.
This time, there was no doubt; Death looked on with approval.
"It is not often I come face to face with a mortal so suited for immortality, yet would reject it in favor of journeying On."
Harry was reminded of Dumbledore at his death; something he said came to mind.
"As an old man once told me, death is but the next great adventure."
Death looked deep in thought, studying Harry again.
"You will make a good Guardian, even if you are currently forced into becoming one. The Hallows have chosen their master well."
With a small sigh, Death straightened his posture and clasped his hands together.
"As I see that you have undergone some scrutiny for your unchanging appearance, I will assist you in making sure you look your age... at least, until you reach your prime.
"Harry Potter. I hope, for your sake, that you find a way. If not, I welcome you to help me maintain the Natural Order. If your immortality is something you cannot avoid, I ask you to take on the mantle of Guardian. I will provide assistance as I can. The Hallows will let me know when you need to contact me."
With that, Death turned around and simply walked away, his form fading away into insubstantial smoke and shadows with each step.
Harry continued to gaze in the direction Death took, but his eyes caught no abnormality in the room. He turned around towards his desk, where the cloak and ring lay innocently on the desk.
He placed the elder wand next to the rest of the Hallows on the desk, involuntarily shivering at the spark of magic that raced up his fingers.
Never in his life had he felt this out of depth, this clueless as to what to do next.
A/N - Here it is, the moment when Harry meets Death.
Some of the things Death said were really difficult to come up with, because it is Philosophy; what does happen after death? Is there really an afterlife? I have my own views on this, but I didn't want to be all "must believe this!" kind of person, so I tried making it flexible.
I can tell J.K. Rowling did a lot of thinking for Book 7: Deathly Hallows, the chapter where Harry meets Dumbledore at King's Cross as well... And she makes it seamlessly flow! Respect for J.K. Rowling went up like, a few meters high after rereading the King's Cross chapter.
Well, hope you liked it. Those who read it before, there are some parts that changed, so...
Cyber-love to those who Read n' Reviewwwww~!