Finally came around to type this one down :P
For references:
Telepathic message
'Thoughts/Phone calls'
"Conversations"
-A-A-A-A-A-
To the population of Britain's wizarding community, especially those who had grown up witnessing the unspeakable horror of the first Wizarding War, Voldemort's second uprising and the subsequent battles that led up to the great Battle of Hogwarts had been surprisingly…tame. For reasons unknown to the general public, even though the Dark Lord had seized complete control over the Ministry of Magic and neutralized the Auror force, the war itself had ended in the Death Eaters' defeat in less than three years with no major clashing of forces to speak of, except for what had transcend on Hogwarts's ground. Somehow, with only less than three hundred students and a handful of Hogwarts professors, the defense force had not only held its ground but actually defeated the overwhelming army of Death Eaters, dementors, giants, werewolves and many other magical creatures. The prospect would have been deemed ridiculous had it not been for the great loss accounted for that day.
What the community wasn't aware of, and ideally would never be, was the Vault hidden unassumingly behind one of many doors in the Ministry. The Vault was guarded by numerous wards that would have make Gringotts' protective enchantments look like child's play, for inside it were hundreds upon hundreds of memory vials, each telling its part in the unseen struggles that allowed the eventual victory of the Light. They were not just replicated memories of the unsung heroes, but actual extracted memories submitted by those who had fought silently under the shadow, for it had been collectively agreed upon that until the next Dark Lord's uprising, the horror transcended should remain in the dark, both for the benefit of the community and of those who had sacrificed for it.
In the dimly lit vault, two cloaked figures materialized out of thin air, previously concealed by an invisibility charm. One of them lifted the hood up, revealing a mop of messy black hair, a pair of green eyes glowing slightly in the dark, and most importantly, a lightning bolt shaped scar barely recognizable under the bang.
"Unspeakable," Harry addressed the individual in front of him.
"Harry James Potter." The Unspeakable answered in a distorted voice, likely altered by an enchantment under the cloak to ensure secrecy.
Pulling out a vial similar to those on the shelves, Harry handed it to the Unspeakable, who immediately disillusioned the label with a wave of the wand. For a public martyr, the vial containing sealed memories of the Man-Who-Won was abnormally condensed, almost like glowing quicksilver. Truly, 'ignorant is bliss', for none could foresee the wizarding world's reacting should half the deeds guarded inside this vial come to light.
'Much like Dumbledore's' The Unspeakable mused, putting the vial away in their cloak. With only a slight nob of acknowledgement, the two parted way and Harry closed the door behind his back before walking toward the hall's entrance. Pointing the wand at his forehead, Harry muttered:
"Obliviate."
-A-A-A-A-A-
Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Man-Who-Won, bearer of Order of Merlin First class and many other fancy titles the man himself did not even bother to remember, was bored.
To be fair, he was still having a good time at the local arcade breaking records to records, a feat not so surprising considering his excellent hand-eye coordination and reflexes, attributed to his trainings in the Auror equivalent of Task force. But playing video games could only get you so far when you just breezed through them unchallenged.
Officially he had been sent to investigate abnormal spikes of magic detected around Japan, but the country's Auror Department had been quick to assure him that those readings were not unprecedented, and though of unknown origin, seemed not of importance. Cross-comparison had revealed records of such similar magic buildups in the past, often time concentrated in one seemingly random location and worrisomely always preceded natural disasters. When he brought up the findings with the Japanese's Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the man had promptly chalked it up to coincidental clusters of ley lines discharged as destructive forces of nature and spoke with confidence that they were fully capable of dealing with the problem. So to sum it up, his trip had been nothing more than a glorified vacation.
Except he still had suspicion about the fact that the only two occurrences recorded in details were the 4th Fleet Incident in 1935 and the Typhoon Cobra in 1944, both in the form of a gargantuan typhoon and both happened during World War 2. Contacting Hermione had proved his suspicion not unfounded, but she also advised him against acting on it outright, for the Japanese were prideful people, their magical counterpart doubly so, and would not react favorably to him meddling with 'their business'. So for the time being all he could do was waiting.
Mitakihara Hospital, room 325, protocol 17
The sudden telepathic message startled Harry, making him miss the final target by a hair's breath, much to the disappointment of the crowd gathered. He was unconcerned though, for the instruction took priority at the moment. Members of the Elite Auror Force were first and foremost required to carve into their memories a set of protocols that were to be followed without objection, no matter how irrational and/or inexplicable they might sound. Several obscure procedures would then be carried out to ensure the protocols stay, impervious to even the strongest memory wipe. This was to ensure that the individual or team would finish the mission even if they themselves did not even remember who they were or what they had been doing at the time.
Quickly making his way out of the arcade and into an out-of-the-way alley, Harry silently set up concealment charms that were to contain the magical flare into a small dome around the castor and absorb residue magic of beacon apparition afterward. The spell required only the faint magical signal of the shot-caller to act as coordinates. An invaluable spell for recon and assassination, but also severely restrictive due to the signal dissipating immediately after one teleportation.
Arriving at his destination, Harry was reasonably surprised to find not one member of Elite Auror commanders or any known informants in Japan, but a teenage girl in hospital gown staring at him in what he presumed was mixture of curiosity and wariness, an odd expression on such a young face.
Protocol 32B
'Inconvenient memory assimilation,' the order registered in Harry's mind. ''Inconvenient' indeed,' he mused, examining the stone hanging around the girl's neck, the same 'resurrection stone' he had been wearing since his entrance to the force. 'Memory assimilation' was merely a fanciful coined to conceal the true nature of the process, for no non-living object could store memories for long period of time without a soul to sustain them, so in reality it required the castor to dislodge his very soul and bind it to a heavily enchanted artifact, which was unique to each individual in the force. No such case had been deemed necessary to issue this protocol, but that was just on official records, and Harry was almost certain he had had direct involvement in at least one, though he would never voice this out loud for obvious reasons.
"Excuse me, can I have that?" Harry pointed at the stone, which the girl handed to him without question.
Methodically setting up a disruption field in the room with the girl still watching him curiously, Harry idly wondered how she had been entrusted with the exact same artifact as his own despite her young age, though he decided that all questioning could wait until he finished. He could always alter her memory should she be a civilian involved merely through unfortunate circumstances. Not a train of thoughts he was proud of, but it had to be done.
Holding the stone to his forehead, Harry guided his magic to open his mind to the magical artifact, all the while making space for the extra information through Occlumency. The assimilation started a slight sensation in his mind, which unfortunately turned into a full-blown splitting headache.
-A-A-A-A-A-
Unfamiliar with the events before her eyes, Homura was wholly unprepared when Harry screwed his eyes shut in what appeared to be suppressed pain…and promptly face-planted on her chest. Again. Cheeks pinking from mortification, she quickly slipped out of the bed, leaving Harry in an odd position half-kneeling half-lying beside her. It was somewhat alarming to find her emotional barrier breached so easily around someone she had just met, especially one with unknown power. But there was just something about Harry that betray a wary soldier who had tasted all thing bitter the world had to offer and would willingly come back for a second serving, but at the same time a kind soul that would stop at nothing to help people in need. A paradoxical notion in and of itself, but while Homura had long abandon her faith in anything but unchangeable statistics, she felt it, so strongly in her mind, an amber of hope, that he would be the key to protect Madoka, and to break her out of this never-ending labyrinth.
In a practiced fashion, she used magic to fix her eyes and heart condition, before taking stocks of her remaining armory. All of her heavy weaponry had been used up in the fight against Walpurgisnacht, but luckily she still had a few magazines' worth of ammo for her handguns and sub-machineguns. Not the best choices for hunting witches, but she would have to make do unless Harry can provide some help in this department.
Looking back at her new ally, Homura contemplated on how she could utilize his aid. From what she could see, Harry was at least proficient with healing magic, which unfortunately from her experience with magic indicated that he would be somewhat lacking in combat ability. Though he was able to navigate her Soul Gem and body in the middle of Walpurgisnacht's parade of destruction, so at least his survival skills was not wholly mediocre. That and the fact that he was able to lock Kyubey in some sort of isolation cube meant that he might be able to cover Madoka's protection afterschool, while would leave her a little breathing room for restocking and hunting.
"Uh…anyone got the number of the Knight Bus that hit me?"
"You're awake." Homura commented dryly.
If Harry was bothered by her change of demeanor from their previous encounter, he did not show it.
"So, first thing first. I need you to explain your situation as best as you can. Trivialities can be left out, but please refrain from holding off vital information. I need to know what exactly we are up against to formulate a plan."
And so she told him.
It was as if the dam had been broken.
She wasn't aware of her own voice, or how much time had gone by, just that by the end of her explanation, Harry was holding her trembling body, whispering 'It's alright. It's all going to be alright.' Again and again to her ears. Exhausted from the emotional strain, Homura felt her consciousness slipping away and Harry's hands gently laying her on the hospital bed. For the first time I what felt like forever, Homura allowed herself to believe in such frivolous words meant only for comforting.
Everything's going to be alright.
-A-A-A-A-A-
Silently, Harry took down the disruption field and walked out of the room under a concealment charm. It would not do be seen standing in Homura's room by a random nurse walking in to check on her. Absentmindedly walking down the hall, Harry mentally sorted out the information Homura had just provided. Some of the problems could be solved without much trouble, such as that Kyosuke boy's medical condition. Not that it would be a mere cake in the walk, for he would have to enlist the help some of his associates to warrant treatment in Yakushi Nyorai Magical Hospital in Japan for a random muggle. There's also the situation of Kyubey and Walpurgisnacht, which in theory should warrant an A level threat and immediate strategic meeting, except he had nothing to submit as solid evidence unless he could give the research team sample Grief Seeds, Soul Gems and testimony of at least five Magical Girls, the latter two of which would be next to impossible to obtain in time to mobilize the force against the colossal witch and later on the supposed extraterrestrial race Homura identified as Incubators. So for the time being, he would have to solve this on his own. Not exactly.
Pulling out his 'phone', Harry activated the right sequences of runes, much like how one dial numbers on a phone. Making a show of waiting for the other line to pick up, he channeled some of his magic to sustain the telecommunication.
'Harry? What have you gotten yourself into this time?' Came Hermione's half exaggerated, half amused response.
'Hello Hermione. Bridge me to Ron also, we have a 407'
-A-A-A-A-A-
I would have to come back to overhaul chapter 1 later, but I assure you that Harry's personality in this chapter will be my fanon, at least in this story.
Also, potential story spoiler concepts warning, read at your own risk.
- Elite Auror Force and Harry's involvement: It's sort of like the US's Task Force, but his true involvement and contribution to the war were under an even more obscure military force, like the SEAL unit but a thousand times more secretive, so much so that not even the current Ministry or Queen were aware of. This unit will play an important part in the future in the battle against Walpurgisnacht and the Incubators, just don't expect them to be some kinds of Deus Ex Machina. They will also play a role in portraying the Britain Wizarding World as a competent community, maybe even the best in the world.
- Vault of Memory: Officially a method to somewhat relieve the burden of traumatic memory on the force's members, actually a protocol to insure absolute secrecy for the unit, even when its members retired. After the war, their memories were extracted and false ones were implanted to fit the story fabricated and given to the public. So everything happening in the seven books was just implanted memories media manipulation by the organization. While Harry's personality would be roughly the same, he did not have the 'save everyone' mentality like in canon, which meant he would not shy from inflicting 'collateral damage' if it got the job done, but would generally refrain from doing so if there were alternatives.
- Harry's purification power and Homura being so trusting toward a stranger: No, Harry did not have the power to purify a Soul Gem. What he used was a charm's equivalent of the Calming Draught to temporary alleviate Homura's despair, which also have the side effect of making the target more susceptible to suggestions, much like how psychoactive drugs were used in the military. This coupled with Homura's fragile state of mind gave Homura slight hallucination (…She could feel something like magic, but not quite so surrounding her soul and cleansing the despair. She could almost imagine being in her former timid and shy self, feeling herself wrapped in an almost loving hug and having a gentle hand wiping away the tears on her cheek…) and make her generally more trusting toward Harry. A little dark, isn't it?