To Slay Fate
Chapter 1
Riding Destiny
Harry might have thought this over more clearly, and perhaps would have turned back before entering the murky shop in the old district of London. If he hadn't been so distraught over his recent loss, he may not have gone inside at all. He wasn't even sure he had ever heard of it before. But then, he hadn't gotten out much, being a virtual prisoner with the Dursleys and then the magical world.
He felt a slight shiver as he saw the odd person wrapped in a cloak and wondered if he had walked into the past; the street was even darker than in the magical world. Then he noticed the oddly-beaten up car and realized that he was just imagining things because he was scared, but really, what did he have to be scared of?
His future is bright.
The recent loss of his godfather...?
Professor Dumbledore?
His destiny…?
It was the last thought that brought him this far. He wanted to change his fate. He was sick and tired of having a connection to Voldemort and the magical world. He didn't know who the old woman was or why he trusted her to tell the truth, but he did. He had come so far because he wanted nothing more than to do away with his need for the magical world, and to do that, he had to give up his magic.
To give up his destiny, he would have to give up his powers. A woman told him of a demon who could grant him his wish, grant him a new destiny. He didn't know what would happen to his old destiny, but he couldn't stand the pain of watching, of seeing all the cowards looking to him as some kind of defence against evil while all he got was more and more heartache.
Harry had lost his godfather, and nobody seemed to care about how he felt. The prophecy he was told was literally worthless; it said nothing of value. In fact, Harry felt that if the mass of the wizarding community found out what it said, they would all stand back like the sheep they were and look to him for guidance.
He paused as he found the shop he needed. It had been hard to fight off the Order members sent by Dumbledore to watch him. He hadn't cared about using underage magic; it had been easy to trick them into showing themselves, and he took down Tonks in seconds. But Moody wasn't that powerless until Harry called Dobby and used the elf's help to escape.
Harry didn't care whether the Ministry would be angry that he used magic; if everything went well, he would be nothing more than a Squib, and then he could disappear into the Muggle world forever. He had set up Muggle bank accounts and withdrawn every penny his parents had left him.
He was surprised that he had so much money that he would never need to work a day in his life, and then add in what Sirius left him, he was so well off that he could probably buy a country or two and still be ridiculously wealthy; as pure-bloods seemed not to like cashing in, or using their money. He was certain that if it weren't for taking all of the money with him that he would have never seen any of it again after what he was about to do.
He sighed as he looked up at the shop. It was the oldest and dirtiest by far. The windows were covered in thick layers of dust, and he wasn't sure what the sign would say if he could see through the grime.
However, taking a deep breath, he forced the door open and stepped inside. The building was dark and dank, and it smelled of must and mold. Living with magical people, it wasn't uncommon for him to have to be around such dirt, as they weren't very clean, if clean at all. He looked around, surprised to find that aside from dust coating the floor, walls, and ceilings, the place appeared to be bare, as though it hadn't been used, which explained its filth.
"I've been expecting you, Mr. Potter."
He was interrupted out of his thoughts by the rough voice of a woman, and spinning round, his eyes widened as he had never seen anything like her, not even in books. She was slim, with black scaly skin. Her hair was long and wild, and she wore it tied back from her face. Her eyes were dangerous-looking, slanted grey, and her mouth was full of sharp-looking teeth.
She wasn't wearing any clothes, and though she didn't look old, she didn't look young either. She carried an air of age like Dumbledore, but Harry was certain this 'woman' was older than Dumbledore by a few centuries or more. Her skin was a light shade of gray, and her hands were clawed with elongated fingers and claws for nails. Her feet were also elongated, standing tall on her clawed toes.
Harry could see the area between her legs as well as her boobs, but he wasn't being the usual teenage boy. He wasn't getting any enjoyment out of it, not that she wasn't pretty, but his instincts were screaming at him, danger. It wasn't like that time he peeked in on Hermione, and Ginny, and okay, he was almost certain Luna wanted him to peek, but that was beside the point. Opportunity presented itself, and he was muggle-raised, so he took it rather than being a prude. Not that he saw much during any of those times anyway; he caught more of Ginny, top and bottom, as Luna was during a bathroom break, but that was beside the point.
"So, you've come to change your destiny?" the woman asked as she moved around him swiftly. Her mouth stretched into a horrible grin. "But my dear boy, do you forget the principle of equivalent exchange?" she asked whimsically as she looked him over, and he remembered that in order to gain something in magic, you had to give something of equal value.
"What do you want?" he asked nervously. "If it's money or gold, I've got plenty," he said, keeping her in his sight as she circled him like a predator.
"No, no, no!" she replied with a wider smile. "Keep your money; this task is simple for me, and in helping you, I get my reward. However, it isn't quite that simple because you have to pay Fate and Destiny a price. I can move your destiny onto another path, but to do so, you must give up something valuable in return. You will still be able to learn other forms of magic, just not the ones you currently possess. The payment of equivalent exchange cannot be toyed with or we will both suffer."
"W-what kind of new destiny would I get, and... what would I gain instead of magic?" he asked, concerned and wondering if this was such a good idea. He figured that he should have thought about that before.
He has a habit of thinking about what could go wrong when things are going wrong, but he looks at the woman and hopes it isn't going wrong. This may come from his hero complex, which likely stems from his need to be liked, which in turn comes from the Dursleys' abuse; he might even need to seek counseling from someone who has no connection to Dumbledore.
She looked at him coolly for a moment. "I'm the…machine, I suppose you would say, not the mechanic, so honestly I don't know what Fate will do to make this happen; only that she will do something."
So... no more normal magic?" he asked attentively. She nodded in agreement. "And no more Voldemort or any prophecies involving me?" he asked slowly.
She nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, but you should also know that those who die will remain dead, but perhaps the manner of their deaths may change. Those whose lives you save will, on some level, know you saved them; however, on many other levels, altering such fates will erase you from their memories." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Will you be okay with erasing yourself from everyone you care about?"
"Yes!" he agreed, feeling sick at his own choice.
"Then so be it!" she replied as an explosive white light erased the world and rewrote his destiny.
Sitting up quickly in bed, sweating, and breathing heavily wasn't something they had expected after encountering that demonic creature and experiencing the magical, otherworldly phenomenon. Pausing and frowning, they remembered things that weren't their own memories; they were false, dreamlike, but also real.
"Mavis Harriet Evans?" she asked herself as she gulped in worry, looking down at her PJ top and squeezing her breasts. She then went for her gold between her PJ-covered legs, and yes, definitely no penis.
She had had a weird dream, and she wasn't talking about the destiny-changing demoness. This dream was scarier than anything she could remember, and at the end, she saw the image of a black girl dying, and then she woke up.
Mavis – she would probably have to get used to that, looked around her room. There was a laptop computer open on her desk, with a fairly large screen, and it was blank at that moment, but she noticed a white sticker over the camera lens, she realized. Then there was the large TV hung to the wall above her desk. She had her smartphone on her bedside table sitting on a wireless charging mat. She also noticed she had that new PlayStation in an alcove on her desk, with accessories.
The room had a blue colored carpet that looked fairly new, or at least well kept, and her bed was a small double with a comfortable mattress. Her walls were a cream color with some anime posters, and a couple of signed comic books in frames. She had three bookshelves full to the brim of her favorite manga, and another full of science fiction or fantasy books.
"No way," she mumbled to herself as she walked out of the room on bare feet, reached her chest of drawers, and marveled at the abundance of fresh, clean, and new clothing—from underwear to T-shirts and vests. Then, looking into her closet, she found it stuffed full of clothes, none of them ever worn by anyone else before her.
She said quietly, having to get used to her softer voice, "This is the guest room."
There was a gentle tapping on the door, and Mavis started and looked over to see the door had a lock on it.
"Mavis, dear!" It was Aunt Petunia, but her voice didn't sound screechy or shrill. "Breakfast will be ready soon, dear, so grab a quick shower and get dressed."
"Okay…" she paused as she was about to call her Aunt Petunia before she realized things were different. Mavis wasn't a witch; she was more like Petunia in this lifetime. "I'll be quick, Mum," she said, waiting for the disgusted quiver to come, but instead she felt only fondness.
Petunia said, "I'm going to make some scrambled eggs and toast; it won't be long." Mavis listened for her footsteps to fade away.
Mavis didn't know what was going on as she picked up a small mirror and looked at herself. She considered herself pretty with striking bright green eyes, and long black hair. She was an inch or so shorter than Harry was, and slim, and a little more muscular, in a lean way than she would have ever expected, but she did take martial arts and gymnastics, as she wanted to do 'Kung-Fu', and her aunt - well, mother wanted her to do gymnastics, so they compromised. Her faint, fake memories reminded her that she loved doing both. However, she realized with a large grin, she no longer had Harry Potter's fate, and couldn't feel her magic anymore.
Slipping out of the room with her towel and a change of clothes, Mavis entered the bathroom. After a few minutes, she had washed, dried, and gotten dressed. She wore some beige trousers, a white top, and socks with white running shoes. It had been a little tricky figuring out her bra, and trying not to masturbate, but she managed on both accounts; she needed answers to her questions, and she knew she couldn't even ask.
After balling up her courage, Mavis finally entered the kitchen diner, and had to double-take. Though her aunt looked almost the same, except for the smile, her uncle, or she supposed, dad, was of a much slimmer build, and though bulky in places, looked much healthier, and had a neatly trimmed beard over the twitchy moustache, and was laughing honestly and not in the fakery of the previous world.
Dudley was another change. Gone was the fat, greedy prick, and in his place stood a fairly muscular teenager who was talking nonstop about boxing. There was another addition to the family, however; a young girl with brown hair and green eyes.
"Big Sister!" the girl called out, and hopping from her chair, the ten-year-old girl glomped Mavis in a hug, and Mavis smiled as she wrapped the small girl in her arms, and kissed her forehead on autopilot.
"Lily!" Petunia reprimanded. "Breakfast first," she said, smiling at her daughter.
"Mavis, be a dear and fetch the mail, would you, while you're up?" Vernon Dursley asked hopefully.
"Um, sure, Dad," she quickly agreed as she left the kitchen and felt like nothing more could shock her. She had finally fetched the mail, scanning through a few pieces of junk mail, and a few bills and or statements. And then, her heart almost stopped as she held a parchment envelope, turned it around, and didn't know whether to feel relief or dread.
Miss Lilith Daisy Dursley
4 Privet Drive...
Mavis had a dilemma. She knew that many muggle-borns would ignore the letters as 'pranks', but Dumbledore chose to be a prick and send them anyway. However, with normal muggle-borns, someone would always come forward to prove the existence of magic, so she couldn't hide the letter.
Sighing, Mavis hitched up a smile and hoped nobody saw through it; she handed out Petunia and Vernon's mail, and dumped the junk on the table, before smiling wider as she gave Lily her letter.
"I have a letter?" Lily exclaimed joyfully, as she tore it free from its envelope. "Huh," she murmured. "Dear Miss Lily Evans, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."
"I'm sure that's just a silly joke," Petunia said, but Mavis didn't miss the way her eyes flashed to her.
"It says someone will be here soon?" Lily asked in confusion as she heard a knock at the door, causing everyone else to look up confused.
"Probably just the parcel I ordered from Amazon," Vernon tried to reassure them, but frowned as he looked at his phone, and saw no notifications. "Mavis… could you, as they sometimes use Royal Mail, and their systems take a while to communicate?"
She took a deep breath and hoped her smile wasn't too strained, as she exited the kitchen, and took two deep breaths before opening the door, half expecting Hagrid, half expecting a Death Eater, but instead she got a stern-looking woman wearing a wool tweed women's suit with her hair tied up in a bun, and though she looked tired, she offered a tight-lipped smile.
"Good morning," the woman said. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"I'm Mavis Evans," she replied, and the woman showed a brief sign of recognition; her eyes flashed with sadness for a moment.
"I'm here to see, Miss. Lilith Dursley, and her parents."
"Sure," she replied with a smile. "Mum, Dad, I think this is about the letter you sent me."
After that, Mavis wasn't paying too much attention, but sat in on the meeting with Lilith protectively in her lap. It was nearing the end, and going rather well, as the Dursleys were being much more accepting, as their lives had been better this time around.
That was when Mavis sensed it before it happened. She moved before she realized what was happening, and with Lilith in her arms, she flipped up and over the couch and ducked them behind it as the three men appeared.
Dudley cried out in anger, "Who are you?" he demanded while Mavis held her little sister tight, still struggling to keep her from speaking.
"Get bent, filthy muggle!" one man hissed, followed by two words and a thump.
A moment later, there were bursts of light from magic, and then Professor McGonagall appeared, bleeding and staring at Mavis and Lily with tears in her eyes. They could hear the screaming next as the Death Eaters did not want to search for the 'mud-blood'. First came Vernon, and then Petunia, but neither of them said anything as the flashes of green eventually ended their misery.
"Oh, she was right here with another muggle," one of the masked men said as he rounded the sofa where McGonagall lay, barely alive. "Oh, this muggle's a looker, maybe we'll keep her in a cage too," he laughed as the other two joined him.
Mavis didn't know how long she stood there, shaking, crying, and distraught over her little sister. The next thing she knew, the first man burst through the wall behind her, and the second had both legs broken with his neck a moment later. She grabbed the third man by his throat and squeezed the life out of him.
Breathing heavily, Mavis quickly returned to her sister, ignoring everything around her. She held her sister in her arms, shielding her from the horrors, and crouched beside Professor McGonagall.
"I'm sorry, Professor," she whispered through tear-filled eyes. "But I have to protect my sister." She paused and took a deep breath. "I changed fate, gave up my magic... I didn't want to fight anymore. I was tired. For a little while, I was happy..."
"It's okay," McGonagall whispered through her pain. "We... we all want peace and love... and we all make mistakes. Run, Mavis... take young Lilith and leave, and never look back." She said before her eyes drifted closed and she was gone.
To be continued...