First Contact

Time Unknown

A predator stalked through endless dunes of sand and his shadow silently crawled behind him as he moved towards the prey.

Harry moved at a steady pace towards the source of life he was sensing. His feet sank into the sand and it took more effort to lift his feet as he got closer.

The desert was not making this easy.

He felt the distortion wrap around him in an attempt to divert him from his path but his will was strong. Harry saw through the colours of the labyrinth and kept his focus on the figure resting against one of the few withering trees still standing in the desert.

Harry slowed his pace and observed a frantic figure digging at the heel of the tree. He crouched and moved quietly.

No wind blew tonight. Harry had ensured it by fighting with the will of the desert.

His desire for human contact and finally pulled him away from the source and get angry with it. The moment he had made the intention of finding the life he sensed the desert had turned against him and blown a sand storm his way.

Harry snapped.

He had screamed in frustration and poured all his magic into an unstable mix of thoughts who's cores had transformed into anger against the source.

"Enough!" Harry screamed.

The magic driving the sand storm was ripped to shreds and the desert fell silent... surprised by his anger toward it.

"I am the one in control here. ME!"

His voice carried in the silence and echoed faintly all over the desert.

Harry took a few deep breaths and then fell to his knees as a wave of tiredness swept up his body. But the distinct feel of resistance against his will was gone. The air was not subzero anymore. He had roused the void and fought the desert back.

Anger and rage had always been the true source of his boundless power.

Now that he had pulled together his magic and mind, the thrill of overpowering a magical human rekindled the dream he had for the desert.

He was struggling to hold on to reason and sense. The abyss of madness grew deeper every second the magic of the desert pushed against his.

He was struggling to survive and it made him feel alive.

His dream had come true and the reality of it felt nothing like the fantasy.

But now. With a scream in his mind that cried for blood. And magic in his body that fought to be primal. He walked into sighting distance of the figure huddled under a tree that was dried and shrivelled.

As he got closer the figure seemed to sense his approach and stood up with alarm.

"Who are you!"

It was a woman.

The moon was in its first phase. Faint light brought colour to five feet around them.

The woman saw a small figure walking toward her silently and her first assumption was it was a small child.

Then he came into view and she gasped.

Harry grinned. The prey had a beautiful face. It was Rita Skeeter.

H-harry? Harry Potter!?"

Rita's voice was weak and full of disbelief.

Harry was in no mood to play.

He raised his arm and Rita rose in the air.

"Wha-a? What are you doing?!" she shrieked.

A cold force began to press around her neck.

Her eyes bulged with the lack of air and their dark look of anger in his eyes mixed with the strange grin on his lips sent her into panic mode.

"Please!" she choked. "I… I … no…"

Harry saw her blue acting up. She knew something. Something that was of use to him. He let her go and she crumpled onto the sand gasping for air.

"Speak." Harry whispered. His voice carried softly in the silence.

Rita was still wearing her acid green robes from the day the world was destroyed. Her carefully manicured hair was cut to shreds and the condition of her face was gaunt and scarred.

When the world had turned upside down, revealing the roots of the horror they had built above, Rita knew she was in hell.

This was the punishment she had feared and covered up under layers of wealth and pleasure won by nefarious means.

Her home was gone. Money gone. Comforts gone. She was alone. Inspired none. Forgotten.

Her secret nightmare had come true and now she was facing the harbinger of it all.

He was terrifying.

"I… I know it was you," she whimpered. "You did this." Her mind was in tatters but with the will to survive only one thought stood out among the terror of confusion. How could she use this in her favour?

Harry was unimpressed. "That's disappointing," he said. "You seem to be struggling to manipulate me."

Rita gasped and shook her head frantically. "No! Never. Why would you even-?"

Harry growled and curled his fingers, pulling at the threads of magic to control Rita.

"You're lost!" she shrieked.

Harry stopped. "I am not lost," he snapped. Her words struck deep inside his mind. The truth of the statement stung his ego. He had never felt a slight to it and it was the first time a true statement had served to piss him off in under a second.

Rita saw an opportunity and her mind grasped at ideas. "You wouldn't have waited so long to kill me," she said quickly. "After what I wrote about you, killing me must have been on your mind!" She laughed manically. "You're not the first I've met in this hell who wants to kill me!" Confidence was returned to her as she saw a scowl grow deeper down his forehead. "Which means you're lost too! Just as I am!"

She was grasping at straws but she could feel some of them taking root in his mind.

"Which means I have knowledge about this hell that you might want!"

Harry calmed himself and smiled.

"I remember you," he said instead. "I remember seeing you and watching your magic twist with the desire to manipulate and destroy."

Rita felt her control over her body disappear and her mind began to panic with the sudden loss of neural connections.

She had control over her eyes and they moved wildly from side to side as her sight turned up towards him looking down on her with cold green eyes faintly lit by the moon and stars.

"I see it now as well. Doing its best to cling on to life. But Rita. Its not good enough."

Rita felt sensation to her face return and she cried out, "I've met people! Derrick! Muggles! Black! Aren't you interested? Don't you want to know where they are?!"

Harry remained stoic.

"I came across a wizard settlement! Around one of the oasis!"

Harry frowned. "Oasis?"

"Yes! Big Oasis's where people have settled!" Her expression turned defeated. "They left me to die."

There were oasis's in the desert? This was news to Harry. He summoned water through the source when he needed and had not yet come across a large collection of water. Even solid sustenance was hard to come by. Once in a while he came across abandoned homes and small villages where he stocked up on supplies. There were a few encounters with wild hippogriff's and griffins who seemed to have escaped from the captivity of the department of control and regulation of magical creatures.

"Where?"

"I… I don't know," she said helplessly. "I… I … the desert! It keeps changing. One minute its sunrise, the next its sunset, I lost direction again."

Another thing that stood out. Day and night was not a constant for Rita.

Harry's mind began to find familiar territory as it began to spin with thoughts and analysis. A strange bubble of excitement linked to the prospect of discovery began to grow inside him. Rita had encountered Oasis's in the desert. Day and night was variable. She was being rejected by people; cast away. Rita was experiencing the desert differently. Was the magic tailored to put her through her own vision of a harsh environment? Was the source making him and only him experience the harshness of a true desert? Were they all trapped in their own hells?

"And there's news too!" Rita continued. "Some of the settlements were talking you too. That you're a demon. The monster who destroyed the world!"

Harry smiled. At least one thing was going right.

"No one understands it but the rational thought is that you stopped the Dark Lord again."

"Who?"

Rita gaped. The more she talked, the more her confidence returned and the hope she would escape this encounter alive grew. But Harry Potter not knowing who the Dark Lord is boggled her mind.

"You know who," she said but Harry still remained blank. "The man who killed your parents!"

After being alone for so long Harry was discovering a need to talk. Even though Rita was blabbering, her voice was strangely calming him down. Contact with a human soul was pulling him out of a hole he hadn't even realised he had fallen into. He could see a line between sanity and insanity. He could see he was on the far side of insanity and wanting to reach towards sanity.

He stepped back from Rita and the suppressing magic that turned the air heavy and hot disappeared with a cool breeze.

Rita scrambled away from him and quickly stood up poised to run if the need came.

"What is happening to me?" he whispered through clenched teeth. His senses were not making clear sense. He was confused. He didn't know what next to do.

Rita didn't quite hear him. "W-what?"

Rita had been right. He was lost. He had lost purpose. No goal. His dream of creating the desert had been fulfilled. Instead of feeling accomplishment he was empty and chaotic. Instead, his world had fallen apart and now he was trying to rediscover himself. Trying to find his identity.

The Void roared in anger and Harry growled as his green pulsed and a rush of strange emotions began to pull him down. Making him feel emotions like sympathy and empathy.

"Are you okay?" Rita asked cautiously. "Have you met anyone since… you know… the trial." Rita wanted to know what happened that day. Did she dare quiz him? Insanity still danced in his eyes but she also saw conflict.

The man who killed his parents: Voldemort. He remembered now. Dumbledore had been pushing for him to direct his anger at the Dark Lord.

Harry giggled.

The resistance he had been facing from the desert was gone. He had found a renewed sense of purpose. He almost felt like his mind was being rebuilt.

"H-harry?" That smile was creepy. Rita was afraid for her life. Clearly the boy was beyond unstable. "I think I can be of use to you," she said hesitantly. "I can spread word about your powers. I can ensure your name is sung with whatever tone you desire."

Harry remained silent but his eyes bored into hers with intense curiosity. His green was acting up. It wanted to be heard. It's soothing nature made Harry want to listen but he crushed it down and his eyes grew cold. The green had caused nothing but pain.

"Harry?"

"How do I find Voldemort?"

Rita's face fell and she cast her eyes down. "I don't know. No one has heard anything from him."

Rita felt dangerous magic pulse around her. Evaluating and judging.

"Settlement's will be where you'll get news! You just have to find a settlement! I'm sure with your power and wisdom you'd be able to find it. After all, you're the god who created the desert!"

The anger that Harry was keeping sedated woke with razor focus and Rita's head parted her body with a look of hope to survive.

"I am not a god," Harry growled as he watched the head roll on the sand. Blood sprayed with a soft hiss and the body fell with a soft thud. Her blood glowed against the night's light for an instance before disappearing in the sand.

He was at war with the desert. He was not it's god. He was not in control. The desert had taught him that lesson well.