A.N.: In case you didn't notice this story is posted twice on my profile under very similar names. I did it that way so the story could be seen under the crossover category as well as just in the HP section. I wanted to give the story more of a chance to be found and read…that's why its being posted after all! To be read! So here a new chapter! Please review and tell me what you think or if you have any ideas you want to put in.
Chapter 5: The Boy Who Lived
Harry turned over the wand his master had given him in his hands studying it and trying to get used to the weight. What it was made of was a mystery; it felt like cool crystal, maybe pure diamond, its hilt was inlaid with an intricate metal design but again the metal could be any number of things. Fairies, unlike most, had a natural magic inside of them that allowed them to travel through many worlds…as long as the worlds had the magic to support them of course.
So this fairy wand could be made from anything, all Harry knew about it was that it was powerful, twelve inches long, and responded to his magic nicely. He tucked his new wand back into the arm holster on his right forearm and picked his new book back up. This one had a compilation of the most need to know facts about the magical world in his homeland. Towers of stacked books currently surrounded Harry as he sat on one book tower in his room.
Rumplestiltskin had already taken his copies to the library and had been very pleased with him over his new gifts. Harry had managed to return to the alley at least once a day since his first visit a week ago and every time he had brought back his master some new magical item to play with. Rumplestiltskin was so pleased by this he had been steadily allowing him more freedoms, and more gold for more items.
Harry set down his book as he reread the passage about time turners, which would be a very advantageous item to add to his growing collection. However, getting it would be something of challenge unless he managed to find someone to make a deal with within this Ministry of magic. It was something to look into at least, and feeling the need to Harry pulled out his deck of tarot cards shuffling them with practiced ease. He laid them out slowly, there was a ripple in the future, something that could change everything, and all he needed to turn it in his favor was something small. Harry smirked wickedly, "Isn't that an interesting turn of events."
-x-
Rumplestiltskin was tinkering with something Harry said was called a foe glass, something that would be extremely useful in his line of work, when said boy entered his workroom. "Yes, dearie?" Rumplestiltskin said as he twisted the glass every which way. Harry hadn't been in his workroom much this week since he had given him his own workroom down the hall as a reward for all his clever little gifts. "I have seen something in the cards that you must act on quickly," Harry said cheerfully as he nearly skipped over to Rumplestiltskin.
"Oh, do tell dearie," Rumplestiltskin said with a flourish on his hand giving the boy his attention. Harry smiled wickedly, "Regina is going to send two children into the blind witch's house…you know the one that eats children?" Rumplestiltskin giggled, "Now what would dear Regina want from the blind witch?" "She wants a spell, that's not important though, what is important is that the children will turn the tables on the blind witch…she'll be pushed into her own oven!" Harry said giggling.
"This is all very interesting, but I fail to see what's so important dearie," Rumplestiltskin said. "The point being is that Belle doesn't have magic…but the blind witch does. If you give the children what they need, they wont kill the witch, then you can use that spell to give the witch's magic to Belle." Harry said smirking. Rumplestiltskin blinked, looking over his young apprentice seriously, "Why would Belle need magic dearie?" "Simple…the cards said that if she doesn't get magic…and soon…then she'll die. We don't want that now do we?" Harry said quietly creepy knowing smile on his face.
Rumplestiltskin froze, he put down the foe glass slowly, "When will Regina be making her move." Harry smile widened, "The children will be at the gingerbread house at noon, if you leave now you can get this done by tonight." Rumplestiltskin nodded before he got up striding across the room, he paused by the door to say, "I abide by your games apprentice because they amuse me…do not make the mistake of crossing me." Harry smiled at his Master dangerously, "Never Master, all I ever do is for your benefit, I'd never dream of it." Rumplestiltskin smiled, "Well then, see you soon dearie." Then he vanished into purple smoke off to steal the blind witch's power.
-x-
Harry shuffled the deck one more time double-checking his reading, he hissed, he was in a precarious position today and it would take a delicate touch to turn everything in his favor. Harry put his deck in his side pouch and hurried to the library knowing he would find Bell there. She was sitting on a lounge reading a book, as expected and Harry made sure to make enough noise entering that she looked up from her book. He smiled at her, a mischievous smile that hid secrets, and said, "Hello there dearie." Bell smiled "Hello Harry, what brings you to me today?" Bell asked.
"What makes you think I have an agenda coming to talk to you?" Harry asked. "It has become something of a pattern you have to admit." Bell said with a teasing smile. "I concede to your logic, now I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping with one of my projects," Harry said doing his best to smile without looking slightly menacing…it was harder than he had anticipated. He resolved to practice his more innocent looks in a mirror soon. Bell was looking at him with some surprise, "What do you need my help with?" she said cautiously. Harry pulled a vial out of his pouch and gave it to her to inspect.
"It's a sleeping potion that should last maybe a day, and I need someone to try it out so I can monitor the effects." Harry said trying his best to look innocent. Bell was eyeing him warily now, "So you want me to be a test subject for one of your experiments?" Bell said incredulously. "Test subject is such a harsh word I much prefer trusted collaborator," Harry said unable to keep his smile from widening slightly. Bell rolled her eyes at him, "Yes, you and Rumpelstiltskin have such a way with words. Both of you are well versed in using pretty terms to get people to agree to things they wouldn't otherwise." Bell still smiled back at him, "But if all I have to do is sleep then why not?"
Harry watched her drink the vial, really the girl was way too trusting for her own good and Harry would be sure to take advantage of that more often from now on. She didn't check the contents or ask him for a vow. Her eyes closed drowsily and she fell into a deep sleep and Harry grinned skipping around her. His Master would be so pleased that he wouldn't have to explain why doing the dark ritual to give Bell magic was necessary now and Bell wouldn't be able to refuse the magic willfully anymore. Harry quickly levitated her back up to his Master's workroom in order to get it and her ready for the ritual to come.
It was just beginning to get dark when his Master returned; blink witch in tow, her heart glowing in his hand and Harry smiled as it had worked out perfectly. If his Master was surprised that Harry had already had everything prepped and that Bell was unconscious in the appropriate rune circle he certainly didn't show it on his face. Rumpelstiltskin simply placed the blind witch in her own circle, who Harry finally noticed was gagged and tied up. "Now dearie I do so hope you didn't attack Bell," His Master said with a dangerous smile. Harry just smirked in return, "Of course not Master…I wouldn't have the audacity. Bell merely wanted to help me test a vial of sleeping potion and kindly took it without many questions." Rumpelstiltskin narrowed his eyes then smiled a mischievous smile that usually preceded his giggles.
Harry stepped out of the room to just beyond the doorway to watch his Master perform the ritual that would give her the Blind witch's magic. His Master placed the glowing heart on Bell's chest and stepped back to work his magic, watching the magic being pulled from the witch was fascinating and then being put into Bell was delightful. Of course the blind witch died soon after but that mattered very little to Harry as Bell now had magic inside of her. He smiled as he left his Master to take care of Bell and the corpse, heading to his room to look at what his cards said now. He had started to use them more as he changed the events that his book had outlined, since he could no longer depend on the reliability of its pages.
The cards were laid out, slowly and with precision onto his bed as he sat crossed legged on top of it. As the story unfolded in front of him, the cards telling him a story almost as clearly as his book had, Harry couldn't help but smile. It was all working out to be in his favor, soon he would need to begin brewing those potions in secret and then the first part of his plan will be finally set in motion. Even with the risk this Hogwarts would undoubtedly bring his plans were still in motion, and soon years of careful planning would begin to play off for him. Harry just had to be sure he stepped carefully from now on and kept his eyes on the bigger picture…it would be all too easy to get caught up with the smaller pawns if one wasn't cautious.
-x-
Harry twirled the hourglass in his hands; it looked a bit like the necklace that his Master had given him but with an hourglass instead of a frozen golden owl. The 'time turner' as the magical folk in his home world called it, was a very useful magical item that allowed the user to go a few hours into the past. It was ingenious really, his Master would be ecstatic to get his hands on one, but Harry was not going to give it to him. In fact, he had made sure to wipe any mention of time turners from all their books and for now only he would enjoy the use of it. His Master would be very displeased had he known but thankfully Harry had discovered this pretty little item existed before he did.
The problem with Rumpelstiltskin knowing about time turners was that there were one or two with enough power to bring him back to that moment he had chosen not to go with Bae into that unknown world. Bae had wanted his ordinary father back…his magicless (thus powerless)…father who had only taken on the curse of the Dark One to save him from going to war with the ogres. The Blue Fairy had given him a magic bean that opened a portal to a world without magic, one that would have stripped Rumpelstiltskin of his powers and given Bae what he wanted most…the ordinary spineless father he had grown up with back.
His Master had not been given the chance to decide, Bae had opened the portal without warning and told Rumpelstiltskin what it would do as they were going to enter it. His Master had panicked, understandably, as the idea of being powerless was not appealing. The Portal closed around Bae before Rumpelstiltskin could work up the courage to go with him…he lost his son and the fairies made themselves a bitter enemy with their meddling. The Blue Fairy had made a dangerous gamble and she would pay for it dearly one day. Since that day his Master's only thought…only ambition…only obsession was getting to the world that had taken Bae.
Sadly the pull of a deal could only call him to worlds that had magic to begin with…he couldn't bring magical solutions to a magicless world…at least not yet. Harry knew that if he ever found out about the one or two Time Turners that might be powerful enough to bring him back to that moment with Bae he wouldn't hesitate. However, Harry needed him to not go through that portal because if he hadn't then Harry would still be under the stairs locked in a cupboard. It would change everything and all his plans would be worthless as he would have never made them. Harry wasn't sure what would happen if his Master ever got a hold of a time turner…it was better he never found out.
However, the Time Turner would be endlessly useful to him…he could attend this school learn as much as he wanted and still have the time to tend to his plans here. He would be going to Platform 9 ¾ next week and then he would see what this Hogwarts had to offer him. Hopefully it wouldn't take the whole seven years to get through all they taught but hopefully it would be worth his precious time. Bell was coming along nicely; accepting that Rumpelstiltskin had given her some magic freely without asking the how's and that had been useful. Harry was teaching her some things when his Master didn't have the time and Harry was pleased with her progress.
Regina had been his Master's apprentice at one time…the evil Queen hell bent on killing Snow White… and his Master had been careful to craft her into his perfect little monster. She certainly had started out a very sweet and loving girl. As his Master loved to say, 'Evil isn't born dearie, it's made.' Bell wouldn't be a monster, that wasn't what Harry was intending as he guided to where he wanted her. Unlike his Master he wasn't intending to make her a monster when he began to manipulate Bell's way of thinking…no he was creating something much more formidable.
Right now he wasn't contemplating his plans; instead Harry was enlisting Bell's help in trying to look more…normal…less creepy when he smiled. He had already gave up trying to tone down his eccentric behaviors that he had picked up living with his Master as they were too ingrained to manage in just a week. Adjusting his smiles though wasn't out of his reach though so he was having Bell help him look more approachable. It was harder than Harry had expected.
While Harry was practicing his expressions, Bell was sorting through the clothes he would be taking with him to the school and helping him organize his things for packing. He was taking all his books, the ones he got on his first trip to the alley, the ones he got after, and all the ones that had been given to him by Rumpelstiltskin over the years. Harry had bought everything he could possibly use at the alley, some things he probably wouldn't, and had basically cleared out Diagon in a week. It was a good thing his trunk was enchanted to be bigger on the inside than it was on the outside otherwise Harry was sure he would have to leave some things behind.
His Master would be done with his new dragon hide clothes by the end of the week, and soon he would be stepping back into his home world. Harry wasn't sure what to expect, he had run across his name a few times in a few books, and he wasn't sure if the books were referencing him. The boy-who-lived seemed like such a trivial title next to the Dark One and Harry hadn't quite accepted it yet. There was still a chance the books were talking about another Harry Potter, since he didn't know his parents names Harry wasn't sure if he was that Harry Potter. After all, his name was pretty common in his home world it was entirely possible that the Harry Potter the books were talking about was a different Harry Potter.
It was all very confusing having someone else have his name…maybe…at least Harry thought that might be the case. The Harry Potter the books talked about sounded like another person at least, after all he hadn't fought a dragon at age four, or make it a habit of wrestling trolls to save princesses. In his experience princesses were hardly worth saving on the best of days and he certainly wouldn't do that unless there was something in it for him. Princesses tended to be needed, lost little girls that always wanted someone else to solve their problems for them instead of facing them head on by themselves.
There were always exceptions to that rule, Snow White being one of the few, but it was the rule not the exceptions that Harry was concerned with. Yes, Harry was quite certain that this boy-who-lived was a whole other boy entirely. That Harry Potter had known about the magical world in his homeland, had been rumored to have trained under a light lord Dumbledore, and was an all around goody two shoes. That was not him at all so there was only two options either the books were making stuff up about him or there was another boy out there named Harry Potter about the same age as him. Harry though he would prefer the pain in the ass of sharing a name, over having to deal with people thinking he was anything like how they had depicted the boy-who-lived in books.
-x-
Harry knew finding Platform 9 ¾ would have been a lot harder if he hadn't taken his dear aunt's heart and gotten very specific instructions on how to board the train. It was very inconvenient that there were so many people with magic at the station, along with magical items, and making it very hard to distinguish anything. While the land his Master hailed from certainly had magic there was only a distinguished few that could yield it and even fewer items just laying about. Who in the world would enchant a moldy leather boot Harry had no idea, but he was certainly very careful not to touch it.
When he finally made it to the barrier Harry felt a bit sick with the chaos of magic energy choking the air and was grateful that he had come early so he didn't need to deal with a packed platform too. The Dark Castle was full of magic and magical things; however there were very few magical signatures with the primary one being his Master's.
Now there were dozens upon dozens surrounding Harry making it hard to distinguish and adding to his discomfort. How the people here managed to stay sane living like this, no set order, no dominating signature to calm the magic…it was chaos…pure chaos.
It reminded Harry of the onetime his Master had taken him to Wonderland, that illogical, insensible place, he had been sick with it for weeks. Harry hoped he would be able to get used to it otherwise he would have to leave and face his Master's wrath for disobeying a direct order. The platform was slowly filling up with children, and it was a surreal experience for Harry to watch them. Growing up away from prying eyes in the Dark Castle meant that Harry had never really interacted with any children since he had left his cupboard years before (handling the babies his Master collected for deal didn't really count since they rarely stayed more than a day). If he was honest with himself he was nervous to interact with children because Harry didn't feel much like a child himself and had no idea how to handle them.
Magic forbid one of them tried to touch him…Harry forced himself to calm down before he started to panic and did something foolish. Harry tried to think about what his Master had told him of children to try to get a better handle on things. Rumpelstiltskin had told him very little about children, besides that they tended to behave cruelly when they got the chance and were typically very rude. That did very little to comfort him so Harry decided to enchant his door, it would only open if you knocked, but if you tried to open it or force it open it wouldn't budge. Harry thought that would be a very good way to weed out the rude ones so that he wouldn't have to deal with them and the ones that knocked deserved a chance to prove themselves worthy of being in his presence.
Harry took out a book to distract himself from the thought of being forced to interact with children and began to read Alchemy: A Lost Art. As the hours ticked on, the train began to move and in an absentminded way Harry began to count how many people tried to open his door without knocking. A freckly red headed boy was the first one to try to just yank his door open, and he had tried for a good ten minutes before he gave up…didn't knock once. A bushy haired girl with a downtrodden mousy boy came along not long after, then a pinched face blond boy with his two goon boys and then a pair of red headed twins likely brothers of the first one.
A few hours later a plump woman pushing a sweet cart knocked and Harry bought a bit of everything excited to try a sweet for the first time. Then as the hours rolled on Harry felt a growing sense of dread and disbelief when not one kid tried to knock before trying his door. It was going to be a long year, a very long year indeed and Harry wondered how he was going to survive living with a bunch of ill mannered oafs. One thing was for certain he would take every chance he had to go back to the Dark Castle otherwise Harry was sure he wouldn't last the year if he didn't.