The dawn came peeking through the smoke and flames of what used to be the city of London, the distant shapes of tripods patrolling the edges of the city giving any survivors a reason to stay inside the ruins. In a blitzkrieg assault, the Martians had left London in a state of fire and smoke that would last for years to come. The war machines and their support tripods had left the smoking ruins to help deal with the rest of European countries like France and Germany, given that England was simply overwhelmed by the sheer amount of speed. England, along with Scotland, were now the main base of operations of the invaders. Humans would soon be herded into upgraded and revamped human farms, to create a sustainable resource for the martians.
But none of that mattered to the slowly waking form of Harry Potter, his brain returning to full function after his terrifying survival from last night. Harry slowly came to as he opened his eyes, groaning as the sunlight poorly fell onto him. Slowly getting to his knees, Harry winced as his thigh dully throbbed. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by destruction. Once again, he saw the ash of the fallen on the ground. Clothing skewed by debris, a woman's clothing by the looks of it.
He looked away, his gaze looking out the hole that used to be the doorway out of this building. The street was a mess of rubble, clothing and fires, making his heart sink into his stomach. London was nothing but ash, wiped out in a single night. Rising to his feet, he moved towards the doorway. Up and down the street, he didn't see anyone that could have survived the swift assault. White ash covered everything like a blanket of light snow, clothing also starting to fall out of the sky in what seemed to be slow motion. Stepping outside, Harry looked around, trying to see any of the machines the Martians used but saw nothing near him.
He cautiously made his way down the street, doing his best to stay behind cover. The sun continued to rise as he traveled across the desolate city. Cars were aflame, buildings tossed around like legos. He also stepped in the dried blood of someone that had been crushed under collapsing rumble, flinching away from the grizzly sight as he started to feel himself slowly succumb to the horror of being alone. He had been alone for most of his life, emotionally, but the physical aloneness was something he never had before.
Sure, he had been put in the cupboard and in the smaller of the two bedrooms, he knew the dursleys were there in the house. But they were there, but this emptiness was something that no one should feel. No life was around him, no sounds filling his ears as he walked down the streets endlessly. From cover to cover, hope fled from his chest as he started to become desperate for anything that resembled a living being. The feeling continued to grow and grow, until something shattered the silence.
Someone that was raving mad from the sounds of it.
"I WILL BANISH THEM! BACK TO THE HELL FROM WHICH THEY CAME, YOU WILL SEE THE POWER OF GOD, MARIA! GOD WILL BANISH THEM, THESE DEVILS, FROM THIS PLACE!"
Yes, definitely someone that had lost it. Harry ran down the road before spotting two people, one was a man in his late twenties wearing clothing that would have fit inside a church. A curate or bishop perhaps? The other was a woman that only looked a few years older than himself, wearing a dark blue skirt with a shirt of a darker gray. She had a wand in her left hand, as she tried to reach out for the man. Then, Harry saw what he was looking at. Around eighty feet tall, the purple-white tripod stood tall. Its twelve tentacles swayed in the air, as its purple armored skull stared at the raving lunatic that was carrying a bible and a cross in lifted hand.
"Nathaniel!" The woman, Maria, all but shouted at him, "stop this madness, that isn't a devil, its a bloody Martian!"
"THAT IS A DEVIL AND I WILL BANISH IT!" Nathaniel's eyes were wide and glazed, like someone that had been Imperious'd, "IN THE NAME OF GOD, I BANISH YOU!"
He shouted at the machine as it stomped closer, red carved spiked feet stabbing into the ground as it got closer. Then Harry saw the weapons on his body, or two of them that were built into the body. The one hung between all three legs had two barrels and the one with the upper and lower body together. The upper gun had three barrels and pointed straight ahead as the head of the machine watching the raving human. Harry felt the need to help but he had to pick between the two before the Ravager attacked.
Blood oozed out of his nose as the word, 'Ravager', came into his head. He gripped his skull, feeling something pounding against his mind. He imagined shields in his head and the pounding slowly was pushed away, but it wasted precious time as he heard the man getting louder. He grimaced before he ran towards Maria, suddenly finding himself behind her. He didn't question it as he wrapped his arms around her before he reappeared with her in a building.
He landed on top of her, looking around to see a green beam lance out and utterly annihilate Nathaniel. His skin and flesh melted like wax as it then evaporated, followed by his skeleton turning into ash before it too was vaporized completely. The ground exploded as well, gasoline having pooled nearby. He closed his eyes before reopening them, seeing the machine standing over the fires of destruction.
"I-is it gone?" Maria asked in a whisper, not moving.
"No, just stay still," Harry whispered back, trying his best not to move at all."
Maria waited as did Harry before the machine moved on, going down the road as it did so. Harry slowly got himself off of Maria before hissing in pain, reaching for his thigh as he had ripped it open with his magical teleportation. Maria was up and had her wand out, silently casting spells and sewed his skin shut. She also got the banaged cleaned with a flick of her magical focus before grimacing.
"You shouldn't have apparated like that!" She hissed loudly at him, shaking her head like a parent, "You could have gotten your leg torn off, not having your wound reopened like that."
Harry glowered weakly, "I didn't know that, I just appeared behind you, grabbed you then appeared in this building. It was between you and that lunatic, Nathaniel. I'd prefer people who were not insane and calling those machines Devils."
Maria flushed a bit, before she sighed, "I…he was my elder brother. Nathaniel wasn't that crazy until the Martians came and utterly wiped out our town and the church he worked at. I was the only one of the family to survive and he went crazy, completely mental. He even forgot I was on his side and treated me as a demon before I slapped him on his arse."
She chuckled sadly, Harry listening before he smiled weakly. He sat up, pulling off his backpack and handing it to her.
"I got three bags with stuff inside," He said, returning to his laying position, "food, medical supplies, some camping stuff and lots of clothing. I-I…can i trust you to stay?"
Maria snorted, "I'm not a thief, I'm a lady."
Harry chuckled weakly, "The last lady I saw that acted all snooty was some French Veela named Fleur until I saved her sister from a lake."
Harry didn't say more as he passed out, his body now going into recharge and healing mode.
Maria Knightely watched at the boy that everybody and her grandmother knew about, the Boy-Who-lived. Though, she guessed that the title didn't mean much when your world was being invaded by aliens from Mars. She remembered that morning several days ago, the beams of light that caused houses to explode or be thrown around like toys. Death, the screams, the flames.
She brought herself to the present, shaking away those memories as she pulled out some food out of one of the bags. Her eyebrow raised as she pulled out a full uncooked chicken in its packaging still. She waved her wand over the bags, her jaw dropping at the amount of magic that was on them. All three had massive expansion charms and the stasis charms were very advanced magic. This was so different as she never went to Hogwarts, she had private tutors that found it amusing to Obliviate the Oblivators.
It was one of their favorite pastimes as she practiced magic, given that all of them were American. They really hated the British Wizards for some reason she would never fully understand. Something about "Inbred idiocy that can be passed onto the generation", she never understood that as they seemed to protect her from the British Magicals. She liked that as her tutors were like honorary family members until the attack caused them and her real flesh and blood to be turned into nothing but ash.
She started searching until her mind came onto sausage and bacon, both items seemingly being pulled to her. She pulled both out, shrugging and finding a propane cooker that was transportable in the camping supplies/clothing bag. She got one that allowed for one large pan or pot to be cooked on it, also pulling out a dutch oven pan. Soon, she also had both the sausage and bacon cooking as she watched it. Until something got her attention, a bird as white as snow flitted into the little room that used to be a living room.
It had a letter attached to its leg as Maria looked at it in confusion before she realized that this was a Snowy Owl. One that definitely didn't naturally belong in a city like London, but it seemed to be giving her a stern look that would have made her grandmother wilt. The owl barked imperiously before holding out its leg, to which she took before the Owl hopped off and glided down to Harry Potter's chest and looked at his face.
Harry woke up at that, looking at the owl before flushing, "H-hi Hedwig?"
Hedwig, the Snowy Owl, hooted then slapped Harry's face with her wings several dozen times while Harry yelped and tried to defend himself.
"I'M SORRY I LEFT YOU, HEDWIG! I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO DO ANYTHING!" Harry whined under the assault, "please, I didn't know if you were alive or not!"
Hedwig barked sharply, stopping her wing slapping before using her beak to 'fix' his hair. Maria chuckled before holding out the letter.
"She, for I assume that Hedwig is a she, brought you this." Maria said as Harry took the letter.
Maybe there was some hope yet.