A.N. I hope you guys like this. Do review. I would love to hear your take on it.
Chapter 1. Tied by Blood
Harry stirred. Once again, he woke up lying on the ground with a splitting head-ache. 'What? Where am I? What happened?' Confused and disoriented, he rubbed his temple while getting on his knees. Looking around, he saw green fields all around him. An endless sea of green from horizon to horizon. Standing up, he found himself with a completely disarrayed sense of balance and gasped on realizing he was not in his own body. Or at least, not the same body he had a while ago. And then the memories came tumbling back once again. The Duel, the Forest, the final words of the Being in the forest - a second chance, a new life, a new world.
Shaking his head clear of confused thoughts, he looked around for his wand but found none. Frowning, he tried summoning it with his weak wandless abilities but nothing happened. A sudden unbidden dread washed through him. He was alone and without his wand. His wand had always been a constant source of comfort to him all his life, a mark of his freedom from the Dursleys and he felt lost without it. Standing up, he wandered aimlessly in a daze and found himself stopping near a stream. The cool rush of water brushed against his ankles and almost involuntarily, he smiled. The water was refreshing.
With a slightly clearer and calmer mind, he closed his eyes and plunged into the core of his being. Nicholas Flamel had taught him the secrets of sorcery, the art to controlling the elements, or rather an element. Reaching into his core, he found what he was looking for and smiled in relief. Even without his wand, he was still far from defenseless. He was a true Sorcerer, one with the nature of his world and this new world as well. He was Harry Potter, the Windlord.
Then he opened his eyes and gasped. The reflection that stared back from the water startled him. His scar had disappeared. Smiling, he realized he had indeed defeated Voldemort and regardless of this new world's condition, he was no longer the chosen one. He would be free of all responsibility. He could lead an ordinary life. He could be normal.
The scar however, wasn't the only change. His features had altered completely and he no longer looked like his dad. That pleased him even more than the lack of his scar. In a drunken moment, Lupin had been accosted by Snape in Harry's presence and had revealed that James Potter had married Lily Evans under the effect of a love potion. That was how Lily Evans, who hated the very sight of James Potter suddenly fell head-over-heels in love with him. That was how Severus Snape lost the love of his life and was transformed into a vengeful and embittered man who hated the very sight of Harry Potter. And he wasn't the only one, for ever since the truth had been revealed, Harry had hated his own existence.
Though Lupin did convince him under Veritaserum that once Harry was born, James had stopped dosing his wife and Lily had enough memories of her husband's tender affection to stay with her baby, Harry couldn't forget or forgive the deception of his father and the lies that led to his existence. Above all, he couldn't forget the similarity between the lives of Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, perhaps another reason why Voldemort chose him over Neville. Snape would have surely told the Dark Lord of this.
Tearing his thoughts away from the past and back to the present, he noted his appearance with care. His hair was dark and wavy, like Ginny had always hoped their unborn son would have, but no longer messy, and it fell silkily around his face with a silver streak in the middle. 'Not unlike Master Nicholas,' he realized with a start. His eyes, he was pleased to note, were still the emerald green of his mother's. In his life, there had been three truths he cherished above all else - his mother, his wife, and his master, and he carried a bit of all three with him. All in all, he was pleased with his appearance.
"Good Lord, you're all right," a voice called out and Harry turned around to see who it was.
A frail youth about fifteen or sixteen years of age came in view. His face was full of wonder and relief. He had a few leaves and herbs in his hands, which had dropped to the ground on seeing Harry stir, and now he was standing transfixed. There was something familiar about his face that Harry couldn't quite place. With a smile, the youth ran forward shouting, "Gave me the scare of my life, you did, Harry. Come on, we best be off before they come looking." And then it hit him.
"D-Dudley?"
"Lord, Harry! Are you all right? You look like you have seen a ghost," the youth was speaking with tremendous concern. Behind the ragged features of a boy who had clearly experienced great hardship early in his life, Harry could recognize the features of the cousin who had once hated him with every fiber of his being. The difference however, was astounding. Apart from the obvious reduction in size and increase in muscle, this youth had suffered much and Harry couldn't relate to the look of affection and care from his cousin.
"W-What happened? Where am I?" he asked in bemusement. 'New world, new life, different people… just how different is it?'
"Lord, do you remember nothing? I was hoping that you… that you could tell me," his voice had become hoarse, a sad whisper and his eyes dampened. He took a step back, almost as if recoiling from Harry, "Do you not remember who killed mum and dad?"
"Killed?" Harry asked, completely aghast. He had never cared much for his Aunt Petunia and her monstrous husband and he didn't know just how different they were in this world, but he would never have wished for their deaths. "What are you talking of? I… I don't…"
"Listen, I will tell you what I know. Maybe that will help you remember," Dudley interrupted and seeing his cousin nod in agreement, continued, "I had gone to hunt. You and dad were busy with the harvest. He told me not to go too far but I was chasing a stag and was led astray. It led me to the forest, and then disappeared from sight. I was tired and rested awhile before returning." His voice trailed off and a drop of tear fell from his eyes. Unable to help himself, Harry laid a hand on the boy's shoulder comfortingly, as he continued, "The cottage was… the cottage was burning. I ran in and saw you on the floor. Mum and dad were nearby. They were… they were dead. You were unconscious, but still alive. I dragged you out and have been carrying you since."
By then Dudley was crying silently but Harry's thoughts were completely astray. "Hunting? Harvest? Cottage? Who the hell still hunts for food? And… a life debt to Dudley?"
Composing himself somewhat, he said the only thing that he could. "I… I don't remember much, Dudley. It's like my memories have all disappeared. I… I don't even recall anything about myself, other than my name."
Wiping his tears, Dudley looked at him in concern and to Harry's complete shock, gave him a hug. "Don't worry, cousin. We will get by. It must have been one of those…" his eyes shot around as if searching for an eavesdropper. On seeing no one else, he said in a low voice, "Great Ones."
On seeing no reaction from Harry at the title, Dudley sighed. "You really don't remember anything, do you? Come on, we had best be off. If they are about, it's not safe for us to stay. We must make for Potterton. We can talk while walking."
Harry got up with a little effort. His muscles were sore, a fact he hadn't noticed earlier in his desperation to find his wand and then his amazement at his own appearance and the sudden emergence of his cousin. Not knowing what else to do, he followed his cousin. It was then that Harry first observed their surroundings with care. Green fields stretched from horizon to horizon, with some trees scattered here and there. The fields were wild and untamed by man. The sun was low and in front of them, a throbbing dark yellow that loomed ominously and from Dudley's tale, Harry could determine that it was nearing dusk and they were traveling West.
"Where are we going, Dudley?" he asked after several minutes of hiking through the fields.
"I told you… Potterton."
"Where is that?" Harry asked.
Dudley turned and gaped at his cousin for an instant, before shaking his head. "What exactly do you remember? Yesterday? No? Your birth? No… Then that's where I should start." He took a deep breath and began, "Our mothers were sisters. One day they were running around with their kite when a nobleman appeared with his entourage. He was enchanted by Aunt Lily's beauty and bought her from Grandpa."
"Bought her?" Harry asked in a dangerous voice.
Dudley raised an eyebrow. "Well, he could have just carried her off but this nobleman wasn't as bad as most others. Lord Potter is known for his kindness," he said eagerly, but then his voice faltered, "though his sons are somewhat wild. Rumors were heard of Lord Potter's older son James being smitten by Aunt Lily and he took her to his bed. Then a year later, they sent you in a basket to Grandpa Evans' doorstep. Dad was visiting and he took you in since Grandpa was too old to look after you. We've been like brothers ever since."
"So James Potter is my father," Harry mused thoughtfully but was interrupted by a sharp intake of breath. He turned to his cousin and was startled by the look of fear in his eyes. He looked curiously at his cousin, unsure of why his harmless words would have such an effect on his him.
"Don't! That is the sort of talk which will get us killed," Dudley said sharply. Then realizing his cousin's lack of memory, he sighed again. "Lord! You don't even remember the ways of our people! It's almost as if… as if, it's a different you altogether!"
Harry averted his gaze, startled by the veracity of his cousin's outcry and said in a low voice, "Sorry."
Dudley shook his head. "Don't call him that ever again! Not unless you're willing to face all his purebred sons in duel! Don't you get it? You're the eldest! If you call yourself a Potter… you - the son of a slave, they'll kill you! And don't even think of yourself as a Potter in the hearing of Lord Henry Potter!" Shaking his head and resting on a stone by the brook nearby, he took a small sip of water from a round bottle and passed it to Harry. "No, Harry. I'd rather you be alive and a pauper than a dead nobleman. You're all I have left! "
Harry was struck by the desperation in Dudley's voice. He still couldn't get himself to fathom the extent of their relationship. Like brothers, Dudley had said. 'This is Dudley as he could have been, cousin and brother,' Harry thought.
"It is rumored that James still favors Aunt Lily after all these years, despite being married to Lady Sarah, youngest daughter of Lord Greengrass. Perhaps he will show some kindness to her son and nephew. Please remember always… you are Lily's son, and Lily's son alone. We'll be lucky to be given enough gold to start our own trade, or at the very least to buy a couple of swords and enter the service of the Household Guard."
'Have I plunged into the middle ages?' Harry thought in confusion. He was finding this world stranger by the minute. Feeling lost and his head in a turmoil, he thought, 'I wish I had my wand.'
Just then a flash of fire occurred overhead making both the boys jump. Harry stared in wonder at the first truly familiar sight in this new world - the beautiful red and gold plumes of a phoenix. Fawkes had appeared. The phoenix stared at each boy for a few seconds and then jumped on Harry's outstretched arm.
'Hello fawkes. It is good to see you,' Harry sent mentally to the phoenix and smiled at the bird's confused trill.
"Harry," Dudley began but was ignored by both his cousin and the strange bird, which kept on trilling in confusion and disarray.
'We were once friends in a land beyond space and time,' Harry answered the bird. 'You saved my life after I avenged the death of your first master, Godric the Griffin, by slaying the Great Serpent. Since then we have had a minor bond. I was sent here after my death.'
The phoenix trilled softly, as if considering Harry's words before leaping up to his shoulder in acceptance, making Harry smile.
'I need your help. Is Dumbledore your current master?'
"Harry, what are you doing? Stay away from that bird!" Dudley's voice had become frantic but Harry paid no heed, his attention fully on his old friend.
Fawkes trilled in surprise at the mention of Dumbledore and stared at Harry curiously but just then Dudley waved his hand at the bird, making the phoenix leap into the air in surprise.
"It is a spy of the Great Ones! Go away! Leave us alone!" he yelled as he tried shooing off the highly affronted phoenix.
"Stop it, Dudley. He's a friend," Harry said lightly. 'Fawkes, I am new to this world and completely lost, but I am a wizard. I need a tail feather from you.'
"How can you tell, Harry? Harry! Are you talking to it?" Dudley asked in shock and sudden realization and more than a little fear.
The phoenix trilled in acceptance and dropping a tail feather, disappeared. Oblivious to Dudley's startled and fearful expression, Harry stroked the beautiful red feather tenderly feeling a semblance of the same rush of magic that his old wand used to bring him. Just then he heard a sound from beside him and was startled to see his cousin kneeling on the ground with his hands on his face, crying and rambling.
"You know! You're going to hate me now… mum told me… she didn't want you to know… she thought you'd leave and go on some foolhardy quest to save Aunt Lily… and die. She… I'm sorry, Harry… I should have told you earlier," he wasn't making much sense but Harry began to get a gist of his fear.
"What are you talking about, Dudley? What should you have told me?" he asked softly. Sure, he had hated Dudley and Dudley's parents one time, but this was a different life and in this life, Dudley seemed to honestly care for his freak cousin. It was a bit strange, but the war had made Harry grow up. He was no longer the rash Gryffindor he used to be. He touched Dudley's shoulder and patted his back. "I wont hate you, I promise. What should you have told me?"
"That… that you're not ordinary like the rest of us. You're a Great One. You… you… I don't want to lose you too, Harry. Not after mum and dad… please don't leave me," he was weeping disconsolately.
Harry sighed. "I'm not leaving you, Dudley. I don't even know where to go or what a Great One is. I don't have anywhere to go except where you're taking me."
"B-But you'll get your memory back someday. And then you'll have no reason to stay behind with your weak and ordinary cousin."
Harry sighed in frustration. This life was getting stranger by the minute. His parents alive. The Dursleys caring. Slavery and swords. And to top it all, a situation where he had to convince Dudley Dursley that he wouldn't be leaving him alone.
"Dudley," Harry said kindly with a hand on his cousin's shoulder, "You said we're like brothers, didn't you? We're tied by blood. Then how could I abandon my brother so easily? Do not fear unnecessarily."
After a few minutes, Dudley was convinced of not being abandoned by his last remaining family and they resumed their journey. Through fields and woods, hills and valleys, Harry was amazed how well Dudley seemed to know the route. This, he later realized, was due to his cousin's love for hunting. Dudley would travel entire weeks on hunt to bring back food for his family. This was indeed a strange world to Harry Potter.
Harry had stopped at the forest long enough to find a nice Oak tree. He cut out a live branch and with Dudley's dagger, made it hollow inside. After several attempts, he finally had one which appeared satisfactory. Pushing the feather given by Fawkes inside, he melded the ends with sap from a nearby tree. Finishing his work in an entire evening as Dudley observed with fascination and a little fear, Harry picked up his wand and pointed at a boulder.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" and the boulder shot up ten feet high. Harry smiled and let it drop with a resounding noise. The wand wasn't as good as his first one, but more than an acceptable replacement. He noted the wonder and fascination in Dudley's eyes as he did the magic, but his cousin kept his thoughts to himself.
Over the course of their journey, Harry tried finding out more about the world he had landed in. Unfortunately, the Dursleys were mere farmers and knew little more than their own role in the society. But from what they knew, Harry could make out that the political system was strange and full of complexities. The land was divided into estates ruled by Houses, and Harry recalled some of these names as the prominent pureblood families of Britain. The others, he figured would be from abroad. Within their own estate, the Lord of the House had supreme authority. His word was law and his whims commanded the life of his people.
Harry was appalled to discover that slavery still existed, but not as widespread as he had feared. Often several of the Houses would erupt in battle and the victorious could take the non-magic people from his vanquished enemy's estate as his slaves. The non-magic people of their own estate, however, were treated as common folk, serfs, merchants. Lord Potter had seized the estate under the Rookwoods where the Evans tilled the land and so he took Lily Evans for his Household. The Dursleys however, were already part of the Potter's estate, and Dudley was leading them to Potterton, the chief city of the estate.
Harry was curious to learn about his own role in the society and found out that children sired on slaves and courtesans by members of the Ruling Family were not considered part of their family, and only an alliance with a noble family from another House could yield in acceptable heirs. And for a son of a slave to declare himself part of the Ruling Family would result in a duel, which would result in the death of the slave. Sometimes, the Ruling Family would marry the offspring of their own vassals if a bond of friendship and love had been formed during childhood. Lord Potter had several vassals - Lupin, Diggory, Weasley and Lovegood being the prominent ones.
Apart from this, there was the Emperor Under the Sun. All estates were part of the Great Empire Under the Sun although the Emperor's jurisdiction was limited to interactions between the Houses. What the Lords did in their own lands was a personal affair. The current Emperor, to Harry's great amusement, was Emperor Cornelius.
Finally, there was the independent establishment of the Great Ones, beyond the jurisdiction of the Empire and above all Houses. The Great Ones were a law unto themselves and lived in the Hidden castle of Hogwarts under Albus Dumbledore. It was an order of Druids, Sorcerers and Mages - the greatest and most powerful among them. Each of the Noble Houses, Harry realized, were magical but only a certain few rose to become Great Ones. Dudley didn't know why or how they were chosen, except that they were to be revered… and feared.
Harry had been fascinated by this accounting. This world seemed so surreal to him, as if it were an alternate reality where magic had never been hidden. With a start, Harry realized that he probably wasn't too far off the mark. After the witch killings in the medieval ages, there must have been a magical backlash on the ordinary people and with beliefs on pureblood supremacy, such a complex structure emerged. He shook his head. All the advancements in science and technology, the beliefs of human rights and civic duties… none of them existed in this world.
It had been three days since his arrival to this world and Harry wasn't sure if he really liked it. Many times he thought he might have been sent to make the necessary changes to bring the world back to how it should be, but every time he thought that, he faced a greater dilemma. 'What if this is how the world was truly meant to be? No science means no nuclear wars… no weapons of mass destruction. And a society governed by magic means no terrorism.'
He had tried asking surreptitiously, but Dudley had no idea bout Dark Lords of evil Great Ones. To him, a simple farmer's son, Great Ones were just that - a single entity that were above everyone else and had a right to be obeyed and feared. In the end, he decided to determine more about this world. To try and experience it, and see if he could fit in.
But he couldn't argue that having Dudley as a brother was something new and oddly pleasant. Pulling his wand out, he cast a warming charm on Dudley and himself, and ignored his cousin's exclamation of surprise.
"Don't be surprised, cousin," Harry said with a smile. "It is just a tool. Just like the dagger you use."
Dudley looked unconvinced. "No dagger can remove the very chill from my bones. I do not trust it, but I will trust your trust in it. And it is nice to be warm. I wish I had my bow. Then I could find us some nice, juicy rabbit."
Harry smiled, and aiming his wand at a piece of broken wood, transfigured it to a bow. Several long and fine arrows lay beside it.
"You know," a wide-eyed Dudley declared after several seconds of observing the fine weapon in wonder, "I could get used to this."
'And therein lies the problem,' Harry realized with a start, surprising even himself with his keen insight, 'too much magic before muggles and they become over dependent on it, forgetting that though it is a tool, it is not for them. They shouldn't become dependent on magic.' Out loud, he said, "Don't lose the bow. I don't think I can do it many times."
While Dudley was hunting, Harry was experimenting with his own abilities. The wand was functional and had no flaws in it, though Harry did feel a slight hollowness which could be explained by his own amateurish skills at wand making, or perhaps the very nature of this world. At least, he was glad to note, his control over air and wind had not waned by the slightest.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated and summoned a gale of wind to lift him. Hovering several feet above ground, he plucked an apple from a tree half a mile away and brought it flying towards him.
'Aah, gravity!' Harry thought with amusement. 'What goes up must come down, unless Master Nicholas has had his foul ways with you.' Then suddenly a thought occurred to him, 'Master Nicholas!'
Was the old Alchemist and Sorcerer still alive in this world? Few people knew it but the sole reason why the Alchemist had lingered on for several centuries was his love for muggle music. While the performing arts in the magical world stagnated over time, the changes in muggle culture had greatly interested Nicholas Flamel and his wife. They would, without remiss, go for every new musical and opera. He had even, as he once told Harry, been to Woodstock and seen Jimi Hendrix perform. Without his love of music, Harry was suddenly saddened by the thought that his beloved Master might have passed on earlier. Nicholas Flamel, who had cheated death several times, the last of which was by providing Dumbledore with a fake Philosopher's Stone, might not have even lived to be two hundred.
Sighing, he lowered himself on the ground and took a bite of the apple. It was sweet and Harry finished it hungrily. Then with a flick of his finger, he cleared the ground near him with a strong burst of wind and lowered himself. Dudley had said he might not be back that night and Harry had no desire in moving on without his cousin when it was clear that he knew the lay of the land much better. The solitude worked with Harry for he needed to get to terms with this new world and his own role in it.
The one thing Harry knew for certain was that his mother would not remain a slave to any man, even if it were his own father. He would free Lily. He would look after her. And he would also look after Dudley.
About James Potter, he had mixed feelings. Here was an opportunity for him to finally meet his father, although a different man in a different world, but Harry recalled the words of the Being in the Forest who had sent him here, different and yet the same. He would still be James Potter, father of Harry Potter. But Harry didn't know what to expect. On the one hand, here he couldn't blame James entirely for he was brought up in a society where he acted as he thought was right, but he couldn't absolve him of all blame in enslaving his mother. There was an odd pattern, Harry realized, about the similarities between both worlds. In his original world, James ensnared Lily's affections with a love potion while here, he ensnared her in a different way. But the end result was much the same.
In the end, he decided to take things as they came. James might have erred, but Harry wouldn't judge him without giving him a chance to prove himself. And if he came out short of Harry's expectations… Harry lay down, unsure of what he thought. After all, they were tied by blood.