The Experiment
The forest was creepier than Harry remembered. In fact, he had never found anything except for Vernon creepy. Nasty old fat man who deserved what Harry gave him; Death.
His first few steps into the forest, he felt like he was being watched.
Harry stretched out with the Void but felt nothing out of the ordinary. The trees were bigger, sure. Acromantula stronger, but nothing he couldn't handle. The Centaurs were in their secret stronghold and the Vampires were far up North, holed up in their caves.
He could feel his first desert experiment burning through the centre of the forest and on the other side, he felt the stirrings of a threat.
Even with his senses so sharp, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched.
It was the same feeling he got as a child for the few minutes after Vernon would leave for work. Like he was still being watched by his fat uncle.
Harry felt alive. His senses were honed and the Void was alert, looking out for danger. Even the slightest movement that he detected, the Void was around it, probing, assimilating.
He didn't make a sound as he walked through the space between the tree trucks and poisonous thorns. Not even the forest made a sound in its silent observation of a predator in its midst.
Harry's destination was fixed. The unexplored lands beyond the reach of the experiment.
The anticipation of seeing his first big experiment again after his long journey through the desert made leaving Hogwarts easier. After dinner with Luna and the elves, he felt calm.
The rage and chaos that always swirled deep down in him was changed. It was now a vision of an end. He could see it so clearly and could almost see an answer worth uncovering.
Luna was wrong in his mind. To Harry, the destination was more important than the journey.
When he finally reached, he was taken aback by it's scream.
The experiment was now a mass of turbulent sand churning and roaring as it dusted from one horizon to the other. Magic was beyond anything like he had ever seen before. The desert was strangely encased inside a reddish pink hue of swirling colour shaped like a drill bit with runes rushing downstream at a speed he could not translate.
What had the experiment turned into?
There was no wind and a step back into the forest brought silence.
The power of this - Harry thought for a word to describe it and machine came to mind - was greater than what Harry had felt when he connected to the runes in the sky.
What would happen if he stepped in?
A smile lit up his face. Now this was going to be an interesting journey. Maybe Luna was right after all. He wrapped the void around him willed to protect and stepped into the unknown.
Time Unknown, The Settlement by the Sea.
"Good evening Mrs Barb, we have another one for a re-fitting."
"Fresh out of hell eh? That too wearing black robes? You're lucky you survived."
"We used cooling charms," Hermione said, feeling a bit offended that they were chiding her choice of colours when she was a witch.
"A waste of magic," Mrs Barb said with a tut. "Every edge you can keep counts in this world Miss. If a change in colour helps, use it." Barb's voice was weary but sharp.
"We're stuck in a sadistic game Hermione," Daphne said grimly. "Harry's game. And they only way we're getting out of it is to find him and kill him."
The flight from Hogwarts was still fresh in Hermione's memory. "You're right," she said. "We thought that too and he crushed us. He's beyond the likes of anything Daphne. Professor Dumbledore… Voldemort…, I doubt they'd stand a chance against him now."
"Calm down Hermione," Daphne said softly. "That's why right now our priority is to become strong and self-sustained. We're making a plan and weapons to help us."
Hermione frowned. What plan and weapons could they use in this desert? "You're underestimating him by far Daphne," she said tightly.
"And you're underestimating us," Daphne retorted. "When muggles and witches and wizards put their minds together, as it turns out, dangerous things can be created. No one can stand in our way with them."
"Done," said Mrs Needle and with a tap on her strange sewing type contraption - dull white robes along with perfectly measured inner wear and a head scarf popped out with a puff of smoke. "Self-cleaning and cannot be damaged easily. Welcome to our Camp Hermione Granger."
"Is that…!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Yes," Daphne interrupted. "It's based on a runic structure. This world we're in is based on it. One of our researchers who invented this machine, calls it Maya. He says we're trapped in an virtual reality and deciphering the rune code is the way to decode it and turn things back to normal."
"Like computer code?" Hermione asked incredulously. She missed the hint of sarcasm in Daphne's tone.
"Call it whatever you like, but using their methods and algorithms we have recreated the usage of magic in a way that muggles can also use. They might not have much power but ever since the Desert took over our lives, some muggles have been developing abilities."
"Alright out now," Mrs Barb interrupted before Hermione could gasp at that. "You can talk while showing her the rest of the camp."
"Thanks Mrs Barb," Daphne said warmly and ushered Hermione out.
"But I," she gestured towards her new clothes.
"You can change once you build your hut."
"Build?"
"Stop with the questions Hermione," Daphne scolded. "There's a lot you need to learn and listening usually works well for the newcomers."
Hermione soon learned that to survive in this camp, everyone had to do it themselves. A basic skill was necessary to join and those who didn't match up were sent to the far side of the camp to figure it out or die. There were volunteers from the camp who took classes for such folks, but practical application was their own headache. No one was willing to waste their resources and energy.
When they headed down to the beach, Hermione was impressed by the unique filtration system installed in a canal drawing water from the sea. It also had units where fish were attracted using more runes, structured as bait.
"The sea is continuously receding," Daphne explained. "So Arthur came up with a spell to make the canal dig by itself as the water keeps receding. The muggles helped him with the Arithmancy of the slope of the canal and what not."
"Incredible," Hermione said. She had been saying that a lot with the ways and means this camp had taken to survive. One thing was certain – all this would not have been possible with Daphne. She noticed the respect which the camp had for her.
"Not really," Daphne said grimly. "The Devil, it seems, was not satisfied with Harry's curse and chose to keep Azkaban as our neighbours."
Hermione gasped.
"We have a night patrol and our researchers are trying to create a rune shield that can protect us. It's been difficult though, because any spell that requires a lot of magic causes the sky to interfere and fuck it up.
Daphne scowled. "Harry really is a bastard," she growled bitterly.
"What happened Daphne," she asked softly. She had waited long enough to ask questions and the walk had made her realise what was the most important. "What happened at the Trial?"
Daphne closed her eyes and felt the warm salty breeze and observed the gentle roar of the sea. The beach was the only place which was easy to bear and provided a solace that their lives weren't as bad as it could be.
"I often wonder about that," she said slowly. She walked closer to the sea and sat down on the wet sand just out of reach of the receding tide.
Hermione followed suit and drew her knees up, feeling calmed by the enormous horizon.
"Harry was brought to the stand," she began. "I was down at the witness stand and once he was secured Malfoy made an announcement." Daphne paused for a moment. "He announced Lord Voldemort was the new King of Magical Britain and proclaimed it the beginning of a new era."
"Oh my god," gasped Hermione in horror. A world where the Dark Lord was King was too horrible to comprehend for a muggle born.
"I was soon called to the stand to begin my testimony of his character which was incredibly difficult to accomplish with the volume of shouting between Andromeda and the Ministry. I knew this was all posturing since the Rebellion had a plan to take over the Ministry but the shock of having Voldemort as a opponent was terrifying." Here Daphne laughed. "I guess everyone was so self-absorbed with their personal grudges that they missed the biggest fucking threat in the courtroom."
Daphne sighed and bowed her head. "I saw the Dementors feeding off him and I could see how they were affecting him. It was terrible. I wanted to say something but everything was happening so fast."
"What happened?" Hermione asked in a hush.
"Harry fought back," Daphne said quietly. She turned and looked at Hermione, her eyes reflecting sadness. "He didn't care who got caught in his curse."
Hermione kept silent. She now understood Daphne's pain and her motivation.
"I want to kill him for what he did, I really do, but do you think this is really his fault? Since the time he's been born he's been used by authority for their own purpose and selfish reasons. We saw this coming and just ignored it thinking it was too farfetched."
Hermione put her hand on Daphne's shoulder. "Do the others share your point of view?"
Daphne laughed. "I don't share it with others. You're just the second. But tell me what would you prefer – a world where we'd need to survive under the Dark Lord or a world where all we need to do is survive?"
"Well, we'd never know now would we," Hermione said with a smile.
The two friends remained silent and observed the beautiful sun set reflecting colours on the sea.
Night would soon fall and by morning the camp would be without a few souls… if they were lucky.
The desert had changed them.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
With Sirius and Snape.
"So that over there is the camp," Sirius droned as he lazily led Snape to the camp. "You got to build your own hut and you'll be assigned to the research team to do shit. Any questions?"
"Don't tell me you're in-charge here," Snape said with a scowl.
Sirius grinned. "Don't be ridiculous. Daphne's the boss, or at least de facto boss."
Snape stared. "You're joking?"
"Na, I'm serious."
Sirius was fighting hard to keep from laughing when Snape's scowl deepened.
"Do you intend on telling me something useful or shall I go and talk to the boss?" he snarled.
"What do you want to know?"
"What happened at the Trial?" Snape asked immediately.
"Harry fucked up our plans."
"You got to be clearer than that mutt."
Sirius shrugged. "That's what happened. Bellatrix couldn't control herself and blew someone's head off. Then Voldemort attacked Harry and then…"
Here Sirius went quieter. "Something happened to Harry. I can only rationalise it as some incredible expulsion of magic out of his body. There was this heaviness in the air and within seconds the ground and air began to shake. I was transported to Diagon Alley somehow and all hell had broken loose there. Goblins and Wizards were raging. I saw Daphne in the chaos and managed to drag her away. The next thing I know, I'm running on sand with a desert to my right and an ocean to the left."
Sirius sighed. "Mind sharing what happened to you?"
"What about Dumbledore?" Snape asked. "Do you know where he is?"
"Look around Snape. Think about how you got here and then imagine if we'd be insane enough to actually think about looking. You just got to deal with this. This is what we get for playing with life of a psychopath."
"He's your godson after all."
Sirius scowled. "What happened at Hogwarts?" he asked instead of replying to that insensitive barb.
"Well, right after the tournament, we got cut off from the outside world. Anyone who left the gates never came back and there was no floo or owl's able to bring news. The children obviously became animals and making sure they didn't blow up the castle was our only job. Of course, that was before Bellatrix launched an assault on us out of nowhere and Harry turned up half dead.
"Our first assumption was the Dark Lord had taken over and Harry had escaped. Which meant taking one step out of the castle could mean instant death. But then he awoke and it was immediately obvious the boy had something to do with what was going on.
"We couldn't deal with containing him and before we could even understand what had hit us, he tore down the castle and forced us to flee or risk being slaughtered."
"Merlin," Sirius said with wide eyes. Was Harry officially completely certifiably insane and thirsting for blood?
"We were ten at the beginning when we were transported to this desert. But there were these distortions and everyone kept disappearing until it was just Granger and me. We kept close and were lucky to find vultures, lizards and snakes. We came across some villages that were occupied by local gangs. Barely got out of those alive after stealing their food stock. Water was harder to come by but we came across a few small oases. We couldn't stay there for long because the night attracted strange creatures to them; carnivorous ones. Probably escaped from the Ministry."
"So basically, there's nothing left and nowhere to run," Sirius summarized. "Do you plan on staying?"
"I need to find Albus," Snape said. "He's the only one who can save us. Maybe if I find the Dark Lord, he might have some ideas too."
Sirius barked a laugh. "They can't help us. But you can contribute here. The Dark Arts are a big hit with the muggles you know."
Snape scoffed. "I'll stay for a few days but then I'm leaving. At least I try to find my way to London to start with. I can't give up on him. Not after all he has done for me."
Sirius sighed. "Well, if you're hell bent on it, then you should talk to Arthur. They think they can navigate through the desert with this weird thing they invented, however their volunteers are yet to come back."
Snape nodded. "I guess this is goodbye than Black."
Sirius began to say something but then changed his mind. Instead he stuck out his hand and looked Snape in the eye. "If we ever meet again. Let's have a drink."
"To survival," Snape said and for the first time in decades, he shook the hand of a man he once hated without animosity.
The Desert had changed him.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Time Unknown, Ruined London.
His name was once Tom Marvolo Riddle. His ego had changed it to Lord Voldemort. His magical power had almost made him take control of an entire country by force and subterfuge and just before his moment of glory, he lost everything.
After a desperate battle with his archenemy, in a land born from the one prophesied to defeat him, he was no one.
Tom struggled to his feet and massaged the stump of his missing arm. Thank Merlin it had been his right and not his wand hand that had been torn apart in their final encounter. He had no idea what happened to Dumbledore. The explosion had hurled him far and right through a distortion.
Now, after days of crawling through the desert with death hot on his heels, he had managed to make his way to civilization. He had never felt more relived in his life to be able to interact with human beings again.
The Desert had changed him.
He stood up shakily and slid down the sand dune towards the ruined concrete buildings.
He was weak. He needed to lay low and regain his strength. He needed to rebuild his self and find purpose. Everything he had worked for. Everything he had dreamed. All his plans for revenge and playing politics at the highest level were gone. There was no one left to fear him. No one to manipulate for his amusement. It was worse than being lost as a spirit. At least then, he knew there was a way back.
A new world order had taken control. This was Harry's world and the best way to navigate it was to first find a foundation. Then to understand the rules of this world and to finally conquer it.
Until that happened, he was just another lost soul swimming in the sands of magic trying to find a reason, an explanation to the fate that had befallen him.
But now, after being torn down to the shreds and surviving an epic encounter with his arch enemy, an encounter that he had secretly dreamed about for years; he finally understood this fate was not the work of Harry Potter. There was a larger force at work, this was a result of a subtle game of magic. It's root lay in prophecies, which were nothing but miraculous prediction of the future based on an interaction with magic at a level no one really understood, and whose translations could manipulate entire generations.
For a long time, deep down, he had believed himself to be the messiah, the one destined to lead the magical world into a new era of glory, free of oppression from those who would scorn them. Restored to their position at the top of the food chain.
But now, he understood that was his ego talking, not his magic. Together, his ego and magic had taken him down the path of becoming a Dark Lord, but now, after his ego was crushed by the desert. He understood what his magic had always told him; to be free from the influence of human irrationality and focus on the true quest. The quest to find the source.
As he silently walked into one of the sturdier buildings, he remembered the last time he had entertained pursuing that ridiculous myth. The source of magic, a well of infinite power. All his travels had led to nothing and it hadn't taken long to dismiss the existence of any source. Magic was everywhere. It was like the wind, except, nature only chose a few to be able to use it.
He was wrong. There was a source, there had to be. He could feel it in this desert, now that he had the chance to lie down and think. Could it be that Harry Potter was pursuing the source and managed to draw the power to unleash such an epic curse over an entire country, perhaps the world?!
"Harry Potter," he murmured. There was no winning against him. Not yet anyway.
He had to think. He had to rebuild. What was he now?
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Time Unknown, The Battle for Gringotts.
In another part of London, at the frontline of the assault on Gringotts, Draco Malfoy was in a situation that begged the question to be asked; what the fuck was he doing?
He was wearing a jacket that was designed to explode upon contact with the wards of Gringotts. This was the end of the line for him.
The full force of the rebellion was going to descend on Gringotts and Draco's job was to sneak through and hurl himself at the walls. He was the main course of the attack, everything else was just a distraction.
He chose to go out this way, instead of dying like a starved rabid dog on the streets of London. At least he would be remembered if the rebellion won this battle.
"You doing okay there buddy?"
"Sure," Draco muttered.
"It's going to be okay. We're all going to be heroes after this. One way or another. We're doing this for the survival of mankind."
Draco scoffed in his mind. They were doing this because there was nothing else to do.
"I think I'm gay," Draco said suddenly.
His companion shrugged. "Is this your coming out of the closet kind of thing? Being this close to death and all?"
"I just… wanted to tell someone about it that's all. Back in school, there was an image that had to be maintained, you know? I was to be a prince and get married to a queen and even whispering this to the walls could have ruined my reputation. But instead," Draco trailed off. "I don't know if I'm gay but sometimes, my heart would race if I saw an attractive man. Does it mean I'm gay?"
"It means you saw something attractive in that man, that's all. Did you feel any sexual energy in you?"
Draco laughed. "I was too young, I don't know."
"Well what about now? Am I turning you on?"
"Fuck off, mate. Everyone's ugly in this shit world. Even me."
Footsteps sounded at the entrance to his bunker and Mad Eye Moody barged in. "What's with the noise? I told you to keep it down!" he hissed. "Who are you talking to?"
There was no one but him in the bunker.
"No one," Draco muttered with a scowl.
"Well okay. Keep it down and don't forget the plan. The moment we give the signal, you make a dash for the walls and fling the package at the walls. Just before impact, you have to click the button. Remember, you got to be as close as possible or else it won't work. And if you fall before you can reach, you press the button anyway. Is that clear?"
Draco kept silent. He had no intention of flinging anything. This was his last stand and he was going to go out his way. This was his freedom.
Moody walked out from the reinforced bunk and surveyed their barricade of Gringotts. It had been a tough battle. The loss of life was historic, but they had managed to force the battle Goblins back into Gringotts and now the only way to complete their victory was tear down it's walls.
There was no moon tonight and the weather was sedate. It was almost prophetic. Taking Gringotts would mean they would get resources and shelter. It would allow them to gather together and work to reverse what happened on the day of the trial. No one had really found the time to reflect on that day. It had been the survival of the fittest since.
Moody had lost count of how many people had died in front of him since. Either by his wand or in his arms.
In the centre of the circular barricade was Gringotts. A gleaming white dome that was littered with the dead bodies of humans and goblins. It was this circle of death that now separated the goblins and humans. Along the outer edge, men and women were using fire guns and wands to burn the dead to ash so that they could charge easier.
This was their seventh attempt to breach the walls and this time they were armed to the teeth with explosive magic and weapons.
He circled to command central. "Is everyone ready?"
Their silence was answer enough. They were out of supplies. Food and water was all but gone expect for their personal hidden hoardings. It was now or certain death.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Time Unknown, Location Unknown.
Inside the strange experimental desert where matter and time were no longer constants, Harry took a breath of deep awe.
He had not expected to return here. Why was he here? What was he seeing?
"Are you ready to tell me who are you, child?"
Shock froze all of Harry's senses.