I've been doing some thinking (run for the hills!) and in doing so I've come up with an interesting idea, well at least for a pilot chapter to be written. As some of you may know, I've started to dip my foot into the Fate pool and in doing so have come up with an interesting idea or two alongside reading a bunch of Fate-based stories ranging from reimaginings of Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Grand Order, crossovers with other series and the like. One of which being one I've mentioned once before (or this is the first time due to me publishing this one first, you never know with me as I like to keep you on your toes), is "Lord of Swords" by Slim A Lou Prime (id: 13899843) and "A Moon's Reflection" by TheArrowblackcabary (id: 13757738). Both of these fics are "reincarnation" fics inside of the PJO universe. Now, you may be wondering how this is relevant, but it is (which, by the way, definitely check these ones out).
In these two fics, Shirou is reincarnated in a new body, in the latter of the two mentioned stories he's in a girl's body instead, and in the former, he's in his own again that he's used to. So, that all being said after reading these stories and letting them stew as they always seem to do, I came up with a variant idea that uses several classic tropes belonging to the Harry Potter fandom (it probably exists in others, but I've seen them plenty here). Here's what I got:
Harry goes through with his third year as he normally does and when he's exposed to the Dementors during the saving of Sirius at the lake/pond they awaken old memories of a past life belonging to one Shirou Emiya. It is then suddenly so many things make sense. Such as his affinity for bladed weapons or just passing fascination, why he was able to fend off and defeat the Basilisk the previous year while still a child because the muscle memory of his former self was still there even without the enhanced senses and reactions to pull it off properly. Why does his magic always feel different to him as opposed to others? Why in his dreams he dreams of a grassy hill filled with swords as far as the eye can see and three girls who he has never seen before smiling at him on one of the hills. With this new knowledge, he goes with Hermione back in time to rescue Sirius, but this time he accesses the Unlimited Blade Works. Pretty cool, right? I thought so, and here we are.
Title: [undecided]
Rating: T+. Considering Fate as a series some might consider this pretty low. But this is also Harry Potter where things don't get Fate levels of dark (Sakura Matou and her grandfather, anyone?).
Pairing(s): Completely undecided. I don't know if I want to go down with other characters getting reincarnated such as Sakura, Rin, or Artoria making a return via summoning or reincarnation to follow Shirou. At this specific moment in time, undecided in this regard. I have considered a Harry/Fleur pairing again, but again I'm undecided. Part of it would be who gets reincarnated where. I could totally see Rin being in Hermione and potentially Artoria in Fleur, but not where Sakura would go; maybe Luna? Again, this is very much "down the road" thoughts as opposed to now.
Summary: In the forest with the Dementors in the aftermath of the attack, the strange magics that make up the Dementors awaken Harry's old memory, not from him but from another man. A man he used to be in another life. That of Shirou Emiya. How will an entirely different life's worth of experience and information change him?
Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Fate belongs to TYPE-MOON and Nasu. I only own this particular idea. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.
XxXxXxX
"Expecto Patronum!" a young teen yelled. Desperate in his attempts. But all he got was a silver shield maybe the size of a round shield large enough to protect his torso if it were an actual shield meant for combat.
All around him was darkness, coldness, death, and despair. He was in the middle of a forest in front of a deep pond that had already frozen over. He was sitting next to another man who had already passed out and who he was protecting. Around him were trees surrounded by darkness and no ambient noise. Any animals, magic or mundane, that had been in the forest had long since scattered. The cold was unnatural for this time of year, it was May, after all, and it was coming from the things radiating death and coldness; so unnaturally cold that it froze the pond in front of him with a thick layer of ice. Those being the 'dark' creatures known as Dementors. Demons that literally sucked the soul right out of the body and ate it. Mere exposure to them would drive any sane person insane from the exposure of terrible memories they were forced to experience as the Dementors feasted on the happy memories someone had first before they devoured their soul.
The man currently lying next to the young teen was infamous serial murderer Sirius Black, an escaped inmate of Azkaban. Or, that's what those in power would want to believe. In actuality, he was his godfather who had been falsely accused by officials who didn't want to look into the matter and wanted the terror that was Voldemort's Death Eaters to just end; and Sirius just so happened that he was the perfect scapegoat. And the teen was Harry Potter.
The Dementors closed in and Harry had to back himself against a log just to brace himself against the physical assaults of the Dementors as they bashed at his Patronus shield. They really wanted their quarry and would even go through their mortal magical counter to get to it. Finally, his strength gave way and he collapsed on the ground, his Patronus charm, unable to sustain itself anymore, and his good memories all gone and replaced with the bad, the shield collapsed. The Dementors, seeing that the only barrier keeping them from their prize was gone, immediately swooped in and started to feast on the two humans.
The two's minds were filled with the pain of every horrible thing that happened to them as the happiness was sucked out of them. Harry, out of the corner of his eye could see Sirius's soul start to rise from his mouth and there was nothing he could do. He was kept in place by the Dementors who satisfied themselves with his happiness for now. But he didn't know if their missives also included performing the Dementor's Kiss on any accomplices or not. Slowly passing out, his vision blackened and as it did, he saw a figure across the lake.
"Durandal!" he shouted and what felt like Holy flames immolated the Dementors as the blade was swung.
As he faded to unconsciousness, Harry could have sworn that the figure looked like his father.
XxXxXxX
Harry woke up and found himself in a hilly field. But something was off about it. The hills around him, while green, all had swords, spears, and all other sorts of bladed weapons stabbed into the hills with their hilts pointing skyward, ready for anyone to grab them and use them. He stood up with a grunt.
"Where am I?" he asked aloud. The only thing that could be heard was a breeze and what sounded like birds chirping nearby, but there were no trees, just swords as far as the eye could see. The skies were blue with some fluffy clouds, but the grass was a pleasant green. It, combined with the warm sun provided a temptation to just lie down and enjoy it.
"Huh?" he asked as he cupped his eyes to give himself a little shade and better visibility as something caught his eye. A glint. There was a hill that was taller than all the others, but not tall enough to be an eyesore. It was a 'notice me' kind of subtlety. He climbed it and when he reached the top were four swords leaning against one another to make a small pile. The first was beautiful. It was a two-handed long sword whose blade was double-edged and shone pure white, almost like fresh snow on a winter's morning. Near the cross guard, part of the blade had been cut away to have what looked like a stick man with a diamond on his head, this was all inlaid with gold. Above the 'stick man' were letters that Harry didn't recognize. The cross guard was that of a partial circle and was also in gold. Lastly, the hilt was of a blue coloration with its pommel also being a gold color. He reached out to it and as soon as his finger touched it information flowed into his mind and recoiled in shock as he said the sword's name in reverent shock, "Excalibur."
"I'll always remember you, Shirou," a girl's voice said. She sounded elegant, regal even.
Harry spun around, but all he saw was the hills of swords, nothing more. No one else was here. The sword next to it was more like a large dagger than a sword, but to some, it would certainly qualify as one. Where the first was a beauty as of some heavenly entity forged it, this one was beautiful in the eyes of man. The blade was of a black metal whose edges were ground to a razor-sharp point that shone in the light in silver. The cross guard was more traditional in a t-shape and the hilt was wrapped in black leather with a blood-red jewel in the pommel. Wrapped around the cross guard was a silver pendant with another blood-red jewel. His finger touched it, but this one didn't have a name he had heard of before. "Azoth?"
"Shirou, you idiot! One of these days your 'Hero of Justice' brand of heroism will get you killed!" another girl's voice said. Unlike the previous one which was regal and elegant, this one was brattier but was showing care in her own sort of way.
Again, Harry spun around looking for someone but saw no one once more. This was getting odd. 'Just who was this Shirou person?' he thought to himself.
Lastly, There was a pair of swords. They were the same design, swept like scimitars but shorter, more like daggers. There wasn't really a cross guard to speak of, just blade met hilt. On both they have a leather-wrapped hilt and bronze appearing pommel. One sword was white as ivory with a black triangle and the symbol of balance, the Yin-Yang near the bottom at the start of the hilt. The other sword was black as the abyss with red checkering. Unlike the other two swords, these two called out to him, begging to be picked up. He reached down and like the others, he knew their names upon touching them, "Kanshou and Bakuya."
Unlike the others, this time a man's voice spoke. It was gruff, cynical. "I'll leave our fate to you. Your short-sighted goal of being a hero will still backfire on you. But I'll guess we'll see just how fucked we are. After all, I am you, Emiya," he said with finality. It seemed like this other man didn't like himself.
Harry was confused. "Who is this Shirou person? Who is this Emiya person?" he cried out in annoyance.
"That would be me," a man's voice said from behind him. Unlike the other times, when Harry whipped around there actually was someone there. "I'm Emiya Shirou. Wait, English. Shirou Emiya," he corrected as he held out his hand.
Harry looked him over; he was a redhead almost like the Weasleys in that regard with messy hair that Fred and George sometimes had. He appeared to be of normal height but slightly older than him. In his mid to late teens, perhaps. He appeared to be of a different nationality, definitely not English in ethnicity. He looked like Su Li or Cho Chang in terms of ethnicity but also not the same. He didn't look Korean and definitely not from any of the other countries south of China in the jungles. Only one really remained due to skin tone: Japanese. He was wearing muggle clothing as he had been as well and nothing really stood out about it.
His analysis took little more than a blink of an eye, but he took the strange boy's hand and shook it. "Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself. "Where are we?" he asked.
"We're in my Reality Marble. My Unlimited Blade Works," Shirou announced.
"Your… what?" Harry asked with apparent confusion.
"It's…" Shirou searched for the right term he was looking for, "like an inner world you go to meditate in. It is a reality of your own outside of reality. Your own Reality Marble. Does that make sense?"
"I guess? But why am I here if it's your Reality ball."
"Marble," Shirou corrected. "And it's because I am a semi-conscious recording waiting for my next body."
"Body? You're not trying to possess me, are you!?" Harry shouted in shock and revulsion.
Shirou waved his hands in defense, "No, nothing like that!" He scratched his head as he tried to search for a better analogy. "Do you remember when you touched the Married Blades?"
"Kanshou and Bakuya?"
Shirou nodded. "They were owned and favored by another me. A future me who had traveled across all timelines and gathered a massive stockpile of weapons he was able to Trace. Everything he learned was given to me. This is that stockpile."
"But why am I-," Harry trailed off as it hit him. "No."
"Yes."
"There's no way."
"But there is only one explanation."
"I'm you."
"And you're me," Shirou completed.
Harry was silent as he contemplated this. "How is this, you know, going to work?"
"When you awaken, you will have all my memories. All of them," he said solemnly. "The good and the bad. For all intents and purposes, you are still you as I am you, to begin with, just more memories and experiences are available to you."
"What about you? Are you just going to disappear?"
Shirou shrugged. "One day, perhaps. But someone needs to be around to teach you magecraft and how to access this treasure trove of ours. So, for a while, you got me as a teacher," and then he added as a mumble, "and Archer too."
"Who's Archer?"
"You'll find out in due time. Until then, you need to wake up."
"What?"
"Wake up, you have a godfather to save, don't you?"
XxXxXxX
Harry woke with a start, almost like had just jolted awake from a nightmare. The memories of Shirou Emiya started to flow into him. Suddenly a lot more made sense of his dreams and nightmares over the years. The great Fuyuki fire. The Grail Wars. Everything. Rin, Artoria, Sakura, and even Illysveil (his adopted father's actual daughter).
Next to him, Hermione was shaking him awake. His memory of the Reality Marble is forgotten for the moment trying to recall what happened at the lake itself.
"I saw my dad," Harry said firmly.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"I saw my dad. He sent the Dementors away. I saw him across the lake."
"Listen, they've captured Sirius. Any minute now the Dementors are going to perform the Kiss."
"They're going to kill him!" he said as he shot up. Hermione stopped him from doing anything rash.
"No, it's worse. Much worse. They're going to suck out his soul."
The horror was written all over his face. He had seen it very briefly and definitely didn't want it to happen. Before any plans or the like could be announced or discussed, the doors to the Hospital Wing flew open as Dumbledore walked in.
"Harry," Dumbledore said with relief to see his student was alright.
"Headmaster you have to stop them. They've got the wrong man," Hermoine pleaded.
"It's true, sir. Sirius is innocent," Harry added.
"It's Scabbers who did it," Ron chimed in. The timbre of his voice showed that he was high on painkillers.
"Scabbers?" the headmaster asked absolutely befuddled. Granted, if Harry was completely out of the loop, he would have been too.
"He's my rat, sir. He's not really a rat, but he was a rat. He was my brother Percy's rat, and then they gave him out," Ron answered as his drug and potion-addled mind tried to put together a coherent explanation. Dumbledore nodded along seeming to at least understand him somewhat.
"Just, we know the truth," Hermione cut Ron off. "Please, believe us," she pleaded.
"I do, Miss Granger. But I'm sorry to say the word of three thirteen-year-old wizards will convince few others," Dumbledore said with some remorse. It was clear that he did speak from experience. He walked between them and they parted like the Red Sea so he could walk to Ron's bed. All the while the bell in the tower tolled. "A child's voice, however honest and true, is meaningless to those who have forgotten that lesson." He patted Ron's still-healing leg and the pain of it was just enough to cause him to grunt in pain, the painkillers didn't quite completely numb his pain. He seemed to dwell on it a little too heavily and his mood changed to one of mystery. "Mysterious thing, time," he said as he started to walk towards the Hospital Wing's doors. "Powerful, and when meddled with, dangerous." He stopped a few feet from the door but didn't turn around. "Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the Dark Tower." He suddenly turned around. "You know the laws, Miss Granger," he said directly to Hermione. "He must not be seen and you would do well, I feel, to return before this last time. If not, the consequences are too ghastly to discuss," he continued as he walked closer to impress the graveness of this information. "If you succeed tonight, more than one innocent life may be spared," he said with a pointed finger, though it was more towards the window more than anything else. He pinched his fingers as he said as if he was just remembering it, "Three turns should it, I think." He walked towards the door and started to close it, only to put his own arm in the door to stop it. "Oh, by the way," he said as he peeked back in with his head, "when in doubt, I find retracing my steps would be a wise place to begin. Good luck." And with that, he closed the door.
"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron asked, completely baffled.
"Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can't walk," Hermoine trailed off as she reached inside her hoodie to produce a necklace with a really long chain and wrapped one part of it around Harry's neck to include him in the 'circle.' Harry saw that it looked like some kind of pocket watch. He reached out to touch it and the urge entered his mind.
"Say 'trace on'," Shirou said inside his mind.
'Trace on?' Harry mentally said as he touched it and information flooded his mind until his hand was slapped aside by Hermione. He felt something enter himself, more like something appeared in that Reality Marble he had been in.
"We can look at that later," Shirou commented again in his mind. "It's an extremely minor yet contradictory powerful Noble Phantasm."
'Noble... what?' Harry asked.
"Later," Shirou repeated.
As he finished, Hermione had finished setting the three turns on the... 'Time Turner?' the words of the device entered his mind. Immediately it started moving on his own and he felt like a rock in the middle of a stream spiritually as people blurred past him and night turned to late day. There was even an amusing rewinding of someone being mummied with bandages. But it stopped, right as the clocktower chimed seven and a half times and she stuffed it back under her jacket.
"What just happened?" Harry asked. He had a feeling of what it was, but he wanted Hermoine to confirm. "Where's Ron."
"Seven thirty, where were we at seven-thirty?" Hermione asked.
Harry wracked his mind and stuttered as he tried to think where they were. "I don't know... going to Hagrid's?" he asked unsurely.
"Come on," she said as she grabbed his arm and started to pull him, "and we can't be seen." Catching up to her pace, she released him.
"Hermoine!" Harry called out to try and get some kind of explanation out of her. They ran down the clocktower that bordered the Hospital Wing, and entered the small courtyard that ran to Hagrid's and the Forbidden Forest next to it. She stopped at the entrance of the bridge that separated the school. "Hermione!" he called out again. "Hermione! Please tell me what are we doing?" But he was silent as he looked at the scene below him that was beyond the familiar.
"You foul, evil, loathsome little cockroach!" Hermione said. But it wasn't the Hermione next to him, but the one below him in the scene below.
"That's us," Harry stated quietly.
"Hermione, no, it's not worth it," Ron said almost like a script he had read before. Once again, Hermione had her wand to the throat of Malfoy.
"This is not normal," Harry declared. Before anything could happen, she pulled him back out of sight. She then pulled out the device to give him a better look.
"This is a Time Turner, Harry," Hermione started to explain. "McGonagall gave it to me First Term. This is how I've been getting to my lessons all year," she stressed.
"You mean, you've gone back in time?" Harry confirmed.
"Yes," she said as she put it away again. "Dumbledore obviously wanted us to return to this moment." She turned and looked out the entryway again. "Clearly something happened that he wanted us to change."
They watched as Hermione's past self repeated the punch she had done just a few hours prior. "Clearly not that," Harry commented smugly. "You just wanted to see that again, didn't you?"
"Hush, you." She didn't say 'no.' Malfoy and his posse started to come their way. "Quick, out of sight," she said hurriedly as they ducked out of sight. Clearly, Malfoy was going to go to the Hospital Wing to lick his wounds and try to get them in trouble like he always did. They waited just long enough to peek out and see that their past selves were already heading towards Hagrid's hut. "Let's go."
Harry followed but he could help but ask, "Are we seriously just going to brush over the fact one of our professors gave you an extremely power artifact just to attend more classes?"
"Later."
"I worry about you sometimes," he said as they started to descend the stairs carefully.
"How so?"
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Harry quoted a famous movie from almost ten years prior.
She stopped and looked at him. "Did you just quote the Shining?"
"Yes?"
"I have fun."
"Studying doesn't count," Harry countered. "Do you do anything physical? Like running or something?"
"I read books for fun," she rebutted with a pout.
"This summer we really need to get you into a new hobby."
They finally reached the bottom where Hagrid's hut was. They proceeded to hide themselves behind the massive patch of pumpkins that Harry wouldn't be surprised if it was used for the pumpkin juice served by the castle. Though that did beg the question: how did one juice a pumpkin? He looked out towards the 'easier' path from the school to see the executioner and the rest of the Ministry officials on their way to execute Buckbeak. He had seen them on their way coming from that direction originally.
"Here they come," Harry announced to Hermione. Crows called out, announcing pending death approaching. "We'd better hurry." He stood up but Hermione stopped him.
"Fudge has to see Buckbeak before we save him. Otherwise, he'll think Hagrid set him free." Harry nodded in understanding.
"Scabbers!" Ron called out from inside the hut.
"Pettigrew," Harry growled. In his mind, he started to think of ways to kill the man. Two weapons from the Unlimited Blade Works entered his mind. The first was a black bow, it had no name. The second was the ammunition, Troia Velos: an arrow that would always pierce its target.
Seeing the seething rage inside him, Hermione grabbed his shoulder if to bring him back to reality. She pleaded, "Harry, you can't."
"Hermione, that's the man who betrayed my parents. You can't expect me just to sit here."
She pulled him down as he attempted to get away. "Yes, you must." She pulled him around the other side of the pile and hid in the shadow of it. "Harry, you're in Hagrid's hut now. If you go bursting in, you'll think you've gone mad. Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time, Harry. You can't be seen." He was silent as he contemplated this. He didn't have to see himself from the past, just needed a clear shot and enough distance to be nothing more than a speck on a mountaintop. "Fudge is coming." She looked over but nothing happened like it did the first time around. When Fudge showed up, they were booking it out of there. "We aren't leaving," she announced her observation. "Why aren't we leaving?"
Hermione looked down and saw a snailshell. She grabbed it and threw it through the window and nailed the vase that Hagrid had on his table. The same vase that they both remember just breaking out of the blue, with no explanation. She then threw another and hit Harry in the back of the head. The pain his past and present selves felt was immediate. "Ouch!" he silently huffed out.
"Sorry." They proceeded to look on and saw as the party from the Ministry knocked on Hagrid's door. Their past selves noticed what was going on and left through the back door. "They're coming from the back door," she said as she grabbed him to move around the other side and into the trees on the edge of the Forbidden Forest to remain unseen. "Is that what my hair looks like from the back?" Hermione wondered a little too loudly. Harry pulled her back and they still remained invisible despite their movements in the trees creating noise.
"What?" Harry's past self asked.
Past Hermione looked back and saw nothing and replied, "Nothing."
"Let's go!" Past Ron stated as they ran away from their previous hiding spot.
Once gone, Hermoine and Harry snuck up to Buckbeak. The party came outside and looked at Buckbeak, but then Dumbledore did something unexpected: he started to delay the execution. Taking this opportunity, the two of them snuck up. Harry went to the chain and saw that it was stuck in the ground with a stake held in place with powerful magic.
"I have just the thing," Shirou said in his mind. "Say 'Trace on' again and think of Rule Breaker."
"Trace on," Harry whispered and thought of the weapon. In his mind's eye, he saw a twisted, jagged dagger that almost looked like his scar if he squinted enough at it. In his hand appeared the dagger. He felt every bit of history behind it as he held it. 'How did-?'
"Later, now touch it to the stake," Shirou instructed. Harry did and there was a sound akin to glass breaking but Fudge and his executioner didn't seem to notice it. They were preoccupied with Dumbledore's story of the property. "Now dismiss it, think of it fading away." He did and the wicked dagger disappeared in a blue mist, almost like dust.
Harry gave the stake another tug and it pulled free easily. It was like a spoon pulled from Jello. That being: beyond easy. He took up the chain pulling at the hippogriff gently to get its attention. Remembering the lessons he had learned from Hagrid, bowing to it and Buckbeak bowing back. Hermione grabbed rabbits that Hagrid appeared to snare to feed to Buckbeak as his last meal. He snatched the first rabbit right from Hermione who had to look to make sure all of her fingers were still there, which they were.
"Come on, Buckbeak," Hermione urged with the second rabbit, the hippogriff followed the two well beyond the tree line to vanish into the darkness.
"Let's get this over, please," Fudge said as he turned around to see nothing. "W-where is it?" he asked absolutely confused. "I saw the beast! Just now!" The executioner walked to observe the site where he too had seen the magical creature at. "Not a moment ago!"
"How extraordinary!" Dumbledore exclaimed.
"Buckbeak," Hagrid sighed in mixed emotions. Happy that his friend had escaped, but sad about not knowing where to or how he had escaped. "I had nothing to do with it."
"I don't think the Minister is suggesting that you had anything to do with it," Dumbledore interrupted any questions that could have come from the Minister. Meanwhile, Buckbeak tried for the other rabbit currently tied to Hermione's belt loop. "After all, how could you? You've been with us all the time."
The Minister looked around searching for something in a whole lot of nothing. "We-well, we must search the grounds," Fudge argued.
"Search the skies if you must, Minister. Meanwhile, I'd like a nice cup of tea, maybe a large brandy." He made to walk inside but stopped to address the other person at their party. "Oh, executioner? Your services are no longer required. Thank you."
"There won't be any small glasses in this house, Professor," Hagrid said as he welcomed Dumbledore back into his house. Even from this distance, Harry could get the joke.
Fudge huffed as a crow sat on his hat which he tried to shoo away. The executioner was clearly annoyed. Even if he was paid in advance, this was a last-second cancellation that caused him wasted time. An annoyance he took out on the pumpkin in front of him, slicing one clean through with one chop. It was then Harry and Hermione realized that it wasn't Buckbeak that the executioner was killing, but an already picked pumpkin. They proceeded to go deeper into the forest, all the while baiting Buckbeak with the rabbits. Feeding him every so often along the way to keep him compliant. Finally, they stopped.
"Now what?" Harry asked.
"Now we save Sirius," Hermione announced.
"How?"
"No idea," she said as she climbed a hill to get a better look around.
Harry looked to Buckbeak and ordered, "Wait here," before following Hermione. They looked on to see the Whomping Willow and Lupin pacifying it with a spell. "Look, that's Lupin."
The tree calmed down and Hermione added, "And there's Snape."
The two went inside the tree and vanished from view. "And now we wait."
"And now we wait," Hermione parroted in agreement. They sat down, hiding in the shadows of the forest to wait for the right time.
The two of them sat as the late evening became the dead of night. Harry spent this time meditating on his past life. He was a magus. Not quite a wizard and also didn't use quite what was magic. That was magecraft. He was an alright magus, definitely not the best. That went to his friends Rin and Sakura by a longshot, doubly so for his adopted sister Illysveil. He had served all across time as an agent of the Earth itself to prevent is destruction as a Servant. He had come across tens of thousands of swords that were all stored in his Unlimited Blade Works for him to use. Everything from nameless blades used as powerful but weak ammunition for spam, or extremely powerful Noble Phantasms. Then there was the whole Chaldeas incident. That was… interesting to say the least. He hoped that the rest of them were doing alright, wherever they were.
Bats at some point got disturbed and flew out of the forest. They heard the sound of a beak snapping as it tried to grab a midnight snack. "At least someone's enjoying themselves," Hermione commented.
They watched for a few seconds in amusement as Buckbeak was unsuccessful in his attempts. "Yeah," Harry replied as he sat back down. "Hermione?"
"Yeah?"
"Before, down by the lake when I was with Sirius, I did see someone. That someone made the Dementors go away."
"With the Patronus," Hermione added. "I heard Snape tell Dumbledore. According to him, only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it."
"It was my dad," Harry said resolutely. "It was my dad who conjured the Patronus."
"Harry… your dad's-."
"Dead, I know," he interrupted. "I'm just telling you what I saw."
There was an awkward silence between the two, no one really knew what to say. Luckily, timing was on their side. "There we are," Hermione said and stood up, ready to act.
"You see Sirius talking to me there?" Out in the distance, she could see the fugitive speaking to Harry. "He's asking me to come live with him."
"That's great."
"Once he's free I'll never have to go back to the Dursleys. It'll just be me and him. We could live in the country, someplace where you can see the sky. I think he'll like that after all those years in Azkaban." Harry could remember that moment, the sheer joy that he felt at that. The only other option was killing the Dursleys and making it look like an accident. He mentally shook his head clearing that thought out, he had no idea where he got that one. All the things that the two could do. He could tell stories of his parents, parents he'd never know. They'd go and do things, things the Dursleys would never let him do due to their fear of magic. And him.
"Harry!" Past Hermione called out. The clouds had parted, this moment of peace gone. Shit was about to get real. There was shouting followed by a howl and Hermione's scream of terror. Lupin turned into a mindless beast, attacking them. Luckily, like last time, they dodged and kept their distance.
"Let's go," Harry said as they changed positions again. They moved into the trees to get a better look.
Just like before, Lupin stood over him, ready to strike. Before he could do so, Hermione cupped her hands and shouted, "Awoo!"
"What are you doing!" Harry said as he grabbed her.
"Saving your life! Awoo!"
For some reason, Werepin had taken the bait. For what reason, Harry didn't know. For all he knew, Hermione's feminine voice may have sounded like a mating call. Regardless, he started to come toward them at a full quadrupedal sprint. "Great, now he's coming for us."
"Yeah, didn't think about that," Hermione admitted. She grabbed his jacket and they ran. "Run."
'No shit!' he thought internally as he followed behind her. They ran deep into the forest. They passed between large trunked trees. The hilly marsh that made up the area had an oppressive mist radiating from the ground. Tree roots were all over the place and both teens had to watch their footing as they ran at full sprint. It didn't matter much as Harry did trip near the top of a hill. Hermione helped him up and they two ran to a very large oak tree to hide behind.
Branches and leaves crunched as Werepin stalked near them. Howling and snarl-barking at losing his prey. He howled and started to stalk away. Not saying a word, the two walked backward and thought that the coast was clear. When they turned around, they were horrified that Werepin was a dozen yards away. Their eyes met as the teens realized their mistake and they finally realized where his prey went. Harry felt a pulse from his Unlimited Blade Works. There was one sword that he knew would work. And he really didn't want to have to use it.
"Please, Professor," Harry pleaded; Lupin was one of the few good professors he really liked (not to mention a friend of Sirius), "don't make me do this." The only response he got was a snarl. "Trace on!" Time froze for him as the sword in question appeared in his hand from the blue mist as it was Projected. In his hand formed a silver-plated hand and a half longsword that fit a skinny blade profile. It was double-edged with a blood groove running down the center on both sides of the flat of the blade. In those grooves were runes written in Slavic script on top of symbols that had their origins in Slavic folklore. The cross guard was that of a V-shape with a small jagged spot to stagger it making it look like two lightning bolts in a V-pattern. The black leather-wrapped hilt was beneath that and finally as a pommel were two stylized wolves baying towards the directions of each blade. Words entered his mouth, "Come forth from the mountains, slayer of monsters, friend of Witchers: Zireael!"
Time resumed and he held the blade, the flat of it facing Werepin to see the runes at breakneck speed. This had caused the were pause as silver was the natural enemy of weres. They glowed as the extremely minor and situational Noble Phantasm warned the monster it was made to hunt and glared at them. Before he was forced to engage, a sign from the heavens – literally – came. Buckbeak came down and flaps its wings and brayed with its beak as his front claw-hooves scratched at Werepin. He had enough and left the area, seeing that going after his previous prey was too much of an effort to go after now. Buckbeak looked at them and did the avian equivalent of a smirk.
"That was so scary," Hermione said as she finally let out the breath she was holding. Harry didn't even notice she was holding on to him.
There was a howl in the distance again. "Lupin must be having a really tough night," Harry commented.
"What is that?"
"Zireael," Harry replied simply. "It's a blade belonging to the Witchers of Slavic folklore. Monstrous men who hunt monsters."
"I've never heard of such a tale."
"There's a book written, given enough time it will become a legend, and then legend to myth," Harry said ominously. He knew that in the far future that blade would become part of folklore. From what he remembered of Chaldea, Geralt of Rivia was one of the newer Servants of a Saber classification. He wasn't super-powered like Artoria, Cu Chulainn, or Herakles due to over a thousand years of myth and legend surrounding them to increase their natural abilities on top of their Noble Phantasms. The less said about Gilgamesh, not the original King of Heroes he had encountered during Chaldea as he was alright with him, the better. Geralt was a monster killer and he knew his craft well.
He dismissed the Projection which was timed perfectly as the air started to get colder and the wind shifted upwind. Harry and Hermione looked in the sky and saw swarms of Dementors heading in one direction. Considering that this was the past, there was only one way they could be going. "Sirius," he said, suddenly reminded of the final task of the night. "Come on!"
Harry dragged her through the forest and they didn't have to travel too far as they came to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a lake that had already frozen over. The two watched on as the Dementors harassed past Harry who had already lost his Patronus.
"This is horrible," Hermione commented.
"Don't worry, my dad will come. He'll conjure the Patronus," Harry tried to reassure himself as much as Hermione. But nothing happened. "Any minute now. Right there," he pointed to a rocky outcropping on the shore, "you'll see."
"Harry, listen to me. No one's coming."
"Don't worry he will- he will come."
There was a cry of anguish and the soul of Sirius once more started to raise from his mouth. "Sirius," Hermione called out, "is dying. Both of you are." 'If dad won't come to save me, I will.' Harry walked down to the outcropping. "Harry!"
He outstretched a hand, not even bothering to draw his wand. "You know the words to say. We know them well, invoke the lines of your aria," Shirou said in his mind.
"I am the bone of my sword," Harry started the aria. Mana swirled around him as he started to pull up on the deeper realms of his Unlimited Blade Works. "Steel is my body and fire my blood." He found what he needed. Time stood still once more for him.
"Yes, good. Now the seven steps of Tracing."
Step 1: Judging the concept of creation.
A sword. A blade. One who would slay the unholy.
Step 2: Hypothesizing the basic structure.
One that is holy and will burn the unclean supernaturality of the Dementors.
Step 3: Duplicating the composition material.
The blade was black as night with edges silvery and blessed. A cross guard of gold and black. A comfortable grip. A pommel with a white gem in it.
Step 4: Imitating the skill of its making.
Long hours in the forge for months at a time to create the perfect blade. Presented to a priest of the Catholic church to bless.
Step 5: Sympathizing with the experience of its growth.
Given to Hector, it became a spear then later a sword once more. Given to King Charlemagne by an angel before it was presented to Roland who used it last in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass where he tried to destroy it.
Step 6: Reproducing the accumulated years.
It's been thousands of years. Its pedigree is almost on the level of Caliburn.
Step 7: Excelling every manufacturing process.
In his hand was the sword he had sought. He quoted the last person to hold the blade, "Once again, I hold in my hands the sword with no rival, Durandal!" He swung the Noble Phantasm and his desire to eradicate the unholy was answered by a slash of fire. The Dementors who were even remotely close burst into flames and were blown away to become ash. There were a few that tried to assault him, but they were turned away by the power of the Phantasm, the glow of it protecting him and Hermione. When the last one was done, the sword began to dull, and past Harry collapsed. Meanwhile, Harry from the future panted as he felt exhausted by the Projection itself. He let go of it and it disappeared like the others before it.
To be continued…?
XxXxXxX
And with that, this entry is complete. For those of you who are big fans of Fate, you will notice that Harry only performed two of the lines of the aria. As his life and circumstances have changed, along with his current life with the experience and memories of his past life, he will need to redo the rest of his aria to reflect this in order to truly summon his Reality Marble to unleash the true fury contained within the Unlimited Blade Works.
So, let's go over the story idea itself. For an idea, how far am I wanting to go with this one? We'll definitely to the events of Deathly Hallows and beyond. Not sure how far, probably a time skip and epilogue not dissimilar to what already exists in canon. I can already see some of you typing that I pretty much-copied everything from the Hospital Wing to the lake from the film, and you know what? You're right. My intent is to stick to canon at least until the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban and then the divergences start in the summer months leading into Goblet of Fire and then the film/book itself. The tasks may be the same, but he'll handle them differently; after all, he has Shirou as a guide and mentor for combat and magecraft. All in all, this seems like a great setup for a potential fic. Especially for an ending with the implication of the Unlimited Blade Works I've presented where Excalibur is in Shirou/Harry's Reality Marble, same as Ea.
On to other projects. Same old, same old. I did create one other Harry Potter/Fate fic but in order to pull that one off, I actually need to rewatch Fate/Stay night or read the visual novel to see how I can make it work. The way it has to happen involves some strange timing with dates; so, you can count one more idea backlogged for a while. I haven't created anything else new as of yet, but this one, in particular, was an earworm until I finally wrote it out. With this uploaded, I'm going back to the backlog to start working on those again. Hopefully, I don't run into any major writer's block with them and get sidetracked by another project idea.
On to real life. So, instead of getting a 1911 like I mentioned last time, I decided to get a Remington Model 700 hunting rifle in .308 win. Considering I don't have a proper hunting rifle, I figure I can hold off on the 1911 for the collection as while .45acp may be "God's caliber," no one seriously gets it unless it's for the memes and to dunk on gun boomers. Counting the days until my promotion finally takes over for roles. Only another week or two. I've started picking up Fate/Grand Order, the game, just for "funsies." I'll guess we'll see if this game takes over my entire life or something in a few months. Also, plz gatcha gods, gib Saber Artoria, plox. Started up a new project that I got back in April as a gift, it… didn't go well and I have to redo it. I'll talk about it again if I manage to fix it. Also started my next brew project, making apple cider. As in the boozy kind. Yes, it's legal. I'll let you know how it turns out next month.
That's all I have for now. Let me know what you thought about this idea or just about the idea's concept in general. If you want to leave me a tip, anon addresses for the wallets I have are in my bio. See you in whatever I decide to put out next.
