Prologue Part 3
Disclaimer :- I do not own Harry Potter or A Song of Ice and Fire franchises.
Author's Note :- Sorry for the delay. The chapter is double the normal chapter length as I wanted Harry in Westeros at the end of this chapter. Also, I had to rewrite some parts multiple times.
Sitting down at his desk, Harry looks at the books he just received from Ollivander, excited to explore a different avenue of magic. Thinking back to his years in school, he is shocked to realise how much of the subtleties and nuances of magic he had missed when focusing purely on wanded skills.
While you could get the results a lot quicker with wand based magic, as the wand would be a great help in shaping and directing the magic, doing it by feel, which is necessary for the subtler arts of magic, required an entirely different playbook. Now, he has to focus more on what specific intentions he's pushing into his magic, to feel the effects of ambient magic and how it can change the way his own magic is expressed.
Being able to see and feel his magic with such great clarity opened his eyes to an aspect of magic often overlooked by many, limited to the select few who dedicated their time and career to it. The Living aspect of magic, as he liked to call it, which changes and frolics around as you cast it, leaving traces which only those who are open to it can see. 'Opening the Inner Eye indeed.' Harry smirked, remembering Hermione and her fight with Trelawney.
'We really ignored a lot of the useful aspects of Divination back then.' Harry reminisces, thinking back on his studies with Ron and Hermione. 'Even the other classes, like Herbology and Potions. I just can't help but think about how much I've missed out. Arithmancy and Runes sounded like much more of a drag back then.'
Over the past few months, Harry had gotten on with his studies like a man possessed. Thinking back on the desperation which fuelled him, his fears of not being able to perform spells had him feeling like he was at Dursleys again. Helpless. Now, with his new found appreciation of the different forms of magic, he realises that not being able to use a wand will not deprive him of being a wizard.
His studies on how magic interacts with the human body and magical healing was moving ahead at a steady pace. All the time Harry had spent on studying the flow of his own magic meant he now had a passive awareness of the flow all the time. He noticed how even a small thing like having a good mood during the day made a startling difference in the magic and how it affected his body.
Madam Pomfrey had helped him learn the basics of how the healing magic affected the body, after which he started researching it by himself. She even helped convince Professor McGonagall to allow him access to the Hogwarts Library, so he had a wide selection of magic to choose from. And on the few occasions when Mcgonagall was free, she would help him learn to perform human transfiguration without a wand.
Seeing her cast human transfiguration on herself, and on him, let him feel the changes as they occurred. How the magic was imbued with the animal concept they were focusing on, and how the magic changed the body in response. He realised how impressive it was for the Marauders to become Animagi while still in Hogwarts. The mutability of his body to magic made him wonder how much change his body can undergo while still remaining himself.
With the arrival of the books which Ollivander had promised to send him, a new avenue of research opened up to him. From his correspondence with Ollivander, he learned that wandlore is a lot more than just putting a magical core into a wooden enclosure and calling it a day. The process of harvesting the magical core, the temperament and attitude of the magical beast the core is being harvested from, the history of the tree the wood's being harvested from, the techniques and the emotions emphasised during the crafting, all of it had an impact on the final product.
Small variance in the steps led to vastly different wands and temperaments. To be a successful wand maker meant that he had to be able to feel all of the meanings hidden in each step, have such a control over his magic that he would be able to focus his intent into specific concepts while ensuring it never spread beyond the intended area. The level of control over magic required for wand making was mind boggling to him.
No wonder Ollivander was able to evade his senses and even managed to pinpoint his changes just from a glance. His understanding and improved senses of magic led to him having a newfound love of learning, one which made him excited the more he learnt of wandlore. And now, he has the books which can help him set out and make the first step. With a content smile on his face, Harry begins reading and loses himself in the words.
Some hours later, a gurgling noise from his stomach made him look up. Looking at the time, Harry realises, 'I've been reading this the entire afternoon.' Getting up from his desk, he stretches to get the blood flowing. Harry looks at the perch next to the desk to see Fawkes sitting there, preening himself. Harry says, "You could have let me know that it was getting late, you know."
Fawkes looks at him and hums out a crooning tune. Harry focuses and can feel Fawkes' intent in the tune he sang. He feels Fawkes' understanding of his eagerness to study the book, his reluctance to interrupt that, and snorts.
Harry replies, "I get that you don't want to interrupt me studying, but honestly, I wouldn't mind it. I'm not as focused as Hermione was in her studies. I'm open to taking breaks, you know."
Fawkes lets out a low hum to show his agreement, and Harry flashes a smile. He tries to put his appreciation in his magic, and let it flow out towards Fawkes for his inspection. This had become another exercise for Harry, with Harry trying to imitate Fawkes when he let emotion infuse his song with magic. It also made communication a lot easier between the two. Fawkes would check his progress and let Harry know about it, but it was up to Harry to glean as much knowledge as he could out of Fawkes' magic infused song.
Deeming his response acceptable, Fawkes glides down to his shoulder as Harry walks out of the house. With the destination in mind, Harry lets out a hum of his own with the destination for Fawkes, and Fawkes flames him to the secluded alleyway near Andromeda's place. Walking out of the alleyway, Harry lets his magic flow out, layering it around himself in a misdirecting field, diverting attention away from him and Fawkes.
In situations like these, he realises why the world grew dependent on wands. Shaping his magic in multiple layers, each of which would be designed to redirect a specific sense away from him, and all that could be accomplished with a simple wave of the wand and casting the Muggle Repelling charm. Walking up to Andromeda's home, he knocks and waits for Andromeda to let him in.
"Harry, come in. We've been waiting for you. Teddy has started already" Andromeda greets, inviting him into the house. As he walks into the dining area, he sees Teddy sitting in a high seat, who lets out a cry of joy seeing him. Teddy starts babbling at him, his expression showing great indignation at being forced to eat his veggies, and is letting out a cry at this great indignity.
Harry joins the table with Andromeda and Teddy as Fawkes decides to perch at a distance with a squawk, determinedly avoiding Teddy and his habit of throwing food. Smiling at the thought of Fawkes with food thrown at him, Harry feels relaxed and asks Andromeda, "So, How did your day go?"
As Harry delved deeper into his studies, he started noticing magic, which in school was limited to wand waving and potions, was everywhere. On his daily walks, out in muggle London, Harry started noticing hidden meanings in people's speech just from how the magic flowed around them. He would notice that deceptive intent in their words would attract a certain tone of magic around them.
The first time it happened, Harry's pretty sure he must have looked like a lunatic, just staring wide eyed. Glancing back and forth as if he's seeing something not there, but it was just too fascinating to watch. While magic would be flowing around people, he had never really paid too much attention to it. Unable to sleep, he was just walking around at night when he came across a scene.
It was the classic significant other staying out late confrontation. Having nothing to do but aimless wandering, Harry decided to just stay and observe as the man was caught sneaking in. Perhaps it was him observing the scene with no other aim, or just that he was not studying at the moment and was relaxed, he noticed the subtle changes in the magic around them.
Intrigued, he looked closer and realised that the magic around the couple reflected their emotions and intentions. Around the woman, he noticed the magic was calm on the surface, but he could feel it turning about, reflecting anger and suspicion just below the surface. Around the bloke, it was like a mild tone of alarm just shot through before it started moving around panicking, until it settled on deception.
It was fascinating, he somehow just knew what was being reflected even though he had never even paid attention just moments before. 'The practice with Fawkes must have paid off.' he thought, still focused on the couple as the magic around them started to show embarrassment as they looked towards him and moved into their house. Since then, he would notice it every time he went for a walk. He encountered people striding by with their destination in mind, ambling around with wandering thoughts, waiting anxiously for someone and all of it was reflected in the magic around them.
'Perhaps I should have spent some more time in Diagon, to prepare myself at least.' Harry thought, as he observed the magic around his friends, sitting around a table in the back of Fortescue's Ice Cream shop. Entering the Leaky Cauldron, he had immediately noticed that the magic around witches and wizards was much more active, compared to their non-magical counterparts. He could hear faint undecipherable whisperings as he passed by magical beings, which unnerved him greatly. Still, he powered through it to meet his friends.
While the magic around muggles would reflect their stronger emotions and state of mind, for magical folk, it revealed a lot more. As their own magic interacted with the surrounding magic, he could feel the hints of their intent, the focus of their attention, flashes of their visualisation. It was like stepping out of a black-and-white movie and into a full colour movie. Everything seemed more vibrant, nuanced and detailed.
He was still thinking about this as he approached their table. "Harry!" Hermione cried as she got up and hugged him. The others let out their own greetings as they settled down at the table and gave their orders. As the discussion started and they talked about their time in Hogwarts, Harry realised that he could feel even more from his friends. Perhaps it was due to knowing them more, but he could feel the impressions left behind by their magic much more clearly than others. The whispers sounded clearer than before, and he could even see some weird buzzing around them.
As they were talking, he was repeatedly failing to pay attention to the discussion and kept on getting distracted by the magic. Until Hermione decided to ask him, "Are you okay, Harry? You're a little distracted."
Harry shook his thoughts, and replied, "Yeah, no problem. Just a little lost in thought."
Hermione, wanting to continue the line of questions but deciding to focus on something else, says, "Okay. So what have you been up to? Your letters about your studies are just fascinating. And talking to Ollivander about wandlore too."
"Wait, Ollivander?! Since when have you been discussing wandlore with Ollivander, Harry?" Neville asked, surprised to hear the wandmaker come up.
Harry, feeling grateful for Hermione not continuing the questioning, and feeling her curiosity on the topic, replied "I've been in touch with Ollivander since, well, since my wand started having issues. He encouraged me to explore magic more after finding out about my heightened senses. Wandlore came up then, and he decided to send some books."
Going into more depth about his newfound senses along with their drawbacks, he let them know about how their own magic interacts and imparts intent and concept to the magic around them leading to changes, how he has noticed magic being around everywhere and how it reflects everyone's thoughts and intentions, even muggles.
Hermione, in particular, seems really interested saying, "You know, if it is everywhere, then it must be inert most of the time. The fact that even muggles can affect magic means that they might have a small connection to magic, at a much smaller scale than wizards and witches, which can let them change some things about the magic around them. This has so many interesting implications."
Even Luna and Neville, who don't generally think in academic terms, were interested. They were especially interested in how the inert ambient magic is affected in the woodlands by the flora and fauna for Luna and how magical plants in particular respond to and affect the magic around them for Neville. Harry, interested in those topics himself now that it was brought up, decided to look into those topics at a later date with Luna and Neville.
As the discussion moved along, he kept getting distracted by the surrounding magic and the whispers, having to repeatedly shift his attention back. He was sure the others noticed his distraction, but were too polite to say anything. Eventually, as everyone was getting up and leaving, he noticed Ginny move towards him. Her intentions were clearly reflected in the magic around her. Everyone else, wisely perhaps, decided to leave them by themselves.
She met Harry's gaze with a hard, blazing look, and said bluntly, "When we broke up, it was because of the danger of Voldemort. It's been a year since then, but you didn't even try to reach out. You've been avoiding me. Why?"
Harry saw how much it hurt her, saying it out loud. He could see the magic around her show her determination and anger, but hiding beneath that was the sadness and self doubt. Harry knew what she wanted, was hoping for, but he would have to disappoint her.
Taking a breath, he said, "Things aren't the same anymore, Ginny. I'm not … What happened due to the ritual, it gave me this heightened sense of magic, at the cost of losing my wanded magic. Nothing I've tried has made me come close. I've been spending most of my time in libraries studying to figure out how to fix myself."
"You think I can't handle you staying in the library. Or being a researcher. Do you think I'm that shallow that I need you with me to show off that I'm your girlfriend?" Ginny asked, her temper flaring at the insinuation that she cared for his fame and not himself as a person.
"I don't mean it that way, and you know it. Fame never came between us. How do I explain this? Ginny, everytime I walk around outside the house I've been paying attention to the magic around me, everytime I'm at home, I can't stop paying attention to the magic around me. Sometimes I think the only reason I interact with Teddy is because of him being a metamorphmagus."
"Every moment I'm awake, I always sense the magic around me. I can't shut it off. Even now, when we were all talking, you all noticed me not paying attention. I try being better, but every time I do, I get distracted because of the magic. I've even started hearing whispers. Just when I think I've got a handle on it, I find something new which starts distracting me all over again."
"We can't have a relationship if one side of the relationship is always unavailable. I could barely focus on the discussion right now, and most of the time, I need to be nudged awake by Fawkes to remember to go to Teddy and Andy. This is the first time since the ritual that I stepped in a crowded magical place like Diagon Alley, and I almost went back because of how much magic I could sense. " Harry responded, letting out his fears and worries to her.
"So what if you'll have to be more secluded now? We have been good together. We can work on getting you used to the magic, and even if that doesn't work out, I can adjust to stay with you. I don't need you being there for me outside, I can handle myself." Ginny replies, pleading desperately to save the relationship she had with him, with the one she cared about most.
"But you shouldn't need to adjust. You should have someone who can be there for you when you're happy and when you're sad. Someone who doesn't need looking after all the time. You can be anything you set yourself to, and leaving all that to be a glorified nurse for me, you can do so much better than that." Harry replied, wanting the best for her, even as it pained him to say this.
"Well, as you said, it's on me to be anything I want to be, so I want to be a Quidditch player and I want to be with you. The only thing that could stop me would be you. So, the only thing that matters is Will you stop me from being with you?" Ginny said determinedly, her confidence bolstered by the fact that her worst fears were unfounded. Anything else she could deal with.
Harry, seeing Ginny's determination and feeling the reflection of her mind in the magic around her, couldn't bring himself to hurt her, not at this point. He sighed, saying "I won't stop you. Ginny, not in this. But you need to promise me, promise me that you won't stop focusing on your career in order to look after me. We can try and work on my problems together, but not if it comes at your expense." That was one point in which Harry would be firm on, regardless of his hopes of having a life together with her. Not if it came at the cost of the rest of her life.
"I promise, Harry." Ginny said as she stepped closer, eyes brimming with emotions. She continued, "We'll get over this, you'll see." as she kissed him, letting out all of her stress and worry and just basking in his presence, his touch, his love.
Harry deepened the kiss, feeling all of Ginny's emotions, and his own emotions rising in response. He lost himself in the kiss, putting aside his own worries and just let it go. Stepping back and looking her in the eyes, Harry grinned, hopeful for a better future.
It did not get better. In the beginning, as Ginny moved in with him, they tried different ways to keep him focused. They looked for ways to get over his forgetfulness, and his inattention. She asked him to explain his research to better connect with his new found love for studying. His thoughts and experiments with wandlore and divination and the subtle sides of magic. She even managed to improve her own senses of magic, which managed to help make her flying better.
Ginny, realising that he was losing touch with people and things not related to magic, tried multiple ways to help him stay engaged with the non-magical aspects of his life. She tried enchanted calendars to help him keep track of time and activities, remembralls for when he forgot things and enchanted cubes to help him recognise new people by taking a snapshot of magic.
He saw things differently nowadays. Magic seemed to overlay his senses, giving him additional information with every sense. In his sight, he could see magic connect and flow around him as threads which flowed like liquid all around him, he heard magic as a constant low level hum of music with an ethereal quality to it along with whispers, which separated it from normal music. While these were the most noticeable, his senses of touch, taste and smell were also affected, letting him feel magic as a texture when he moved his hands over an object, his sense of smell and taste gave him information about the type of magic dominant in that area. All of these senses could be developed individually to be able to decipher almost any magic, he felt. But together, they overwhelmed him.
Ginny, deciding to include others in her attempts to help him get a semblance of normal life, called upon their close friends, hoping to find something to keep him tethered to normal life.
They visited Neville for quiet company where they had interesting discussions on Herbology and how the magical flora reacted to their magic. Seeing Neville in action, in his own greenhouse, made him realise why Neville was the best in Herbology. Seeing the magic within the plants reach out in Neville's presence as Neville's magic brush past them made him realise that Neville was instinctually using his magic to get an idea of what the plants need, and conveying his intentions to them at the same time.
They visited Hermione and Ron to remember, where they laughed about their past adventures, studied magic with Hermione and looked into and developed magical games with Ron to help George out in the store.
They visited Luna to appreciate nature, where they camped out and relaxed out in the wilderness. Learned to live off the land, assisted by magic, and communed with and understood nature at a deeper level with Luna.
But life moved on, and as the months went by, the solutions stopped working. His magic started influencing the calendar, making it worthless. His ever increasing senses started rendering the cube useless. The remembrall just stopped working.
Neville moved ahead with life and became a Professor of Herbology, and their talks became more and more about misbehaving students and grading papers, with Harry being distracted with every new name, as he felt Neville's impression of them as a separate sprite appearing nearby.
Hermione and Ron moved on to start fighting for rights and leading the charge to ensure that the rights of muggleborns and other minorities does not get suppressed again, with Harry paying more attention to their emotions and thoughts appearing as creatures than on the actual content.
Ginny started spending more time training with her Quidditch team and becoming a sports personality, with daring moves and tactical plays. But Harry found himself unable to keep up with the new plays, getting distracted by the symphony of music generated by the team acting on instinct, so that when asked about it, increasingly having nothing to add..
'The worst part being I always know when I mess up' Harry thought, as he could sense their pity as it became harder and harder for him to remember. He tried remembering, their pity serving as an excellent reminder of when he lost track, but as time went on, all of the different topics and people and names became easier and easier to confuse.
'What did the name matter when he remembered the annoyance or the irritation associated with it more? Surely that meant he could help them more.' Harry thought, but deep down, he knew that wasn't it. Losing names and people and events, how long would it be before he started to forget those close to him?
It all came to a head when Ginny and her team won the tournament, and he was happy for her. He was. She came to the home, and it was when he got distracted amid her retelling when he messed up again.
He felt her emotions turn from joyful to irritation to despondent, and it hurt, feeling her pain and sadness, knowing that he was the cause. "Ginny, I … I didn't mean to get distracted." But he stopped when he saw she was crying.
Ginny just placed a finger on his lips. She said tremulously, "I know, Harry. I know you didn't mean to. I know you are beating yourself up over getting distracted. Don't. It's not your fault Harry. It's not. I will never blame you for it, you know that, right?"
Harry, taking a deep breath, nodded. He said, "I know you don't blame me, you never have. But it hurts. I'm getting worse, and you know it. I feel it, whenever I mess up, you always feel sad. It's getting more and more difficult to stay present."
"We can still work on it, I can spend some more time here, or look into other methods. Surely we haven't exhausted everything there is" Ginny started, but Harry decided to interrupt.
"It's not working, Ginny. And you can't spend more time on my issues, you're busy with your practices and your career. You promised not to give up on your own life, remember. "
Harry paused, adding "Ginny, we can't keep on doing this, I'm getting worse and I won't drag you down with me."
Realising where he was going, Ginny's eyes widened and she rushed to deny, but he placed a finger on her lips. "Tell me, honestly, do you believe things will get better without you giving up on your life? You know that I'm getting worse, and nothing we've done has stopped that."
"That doesn't mean we have to break up. You're still enough for me." Ginny said desperately.
"You deserve more than that Ginny. Do you think I like seeing you hurt, because I keep getting distracted? It hurts me so much that someone who cares for me, loves me is hurt because of me. I'm just holding you back without giving anything in return. You deserve someone who you can share your burdens with. This doesn't mean it will be the end. We'll still be friends."
With a sob, Ginny hugged him as she started shaking, letting out her emotions. She wept for the relationship which she lost, and he held her, happy to be her support, knowing that it might very well be the last time. She let out her grief knowing that their dreams of a life together wouldn't be coming true. Until she grew tired. Until all of her emotions were let out.
Stepping back, she looked at him, trying to etch his face in her memory. Smiling weakly, in a small voice, she said "Goodbye Harry".
"Goodbye Ginny." He replied. She took a step back, turned around and walked away. The door slammed shut and with that sound, his heart broke and he wept. With Fawkes as the only witness, he let out his tears, in the silence of his empty home.
Waking up the day after, he renewed his studies with a focus unlike any he felt before. He ignored everything but his research. He looked into the remaining 2 Hallows, their bond with him, which he increasingly suspected to be his soul, and his growing certainty that he would need to start looking into Soul magic to come close to realising what went wrong.
He studied day and night, not realising the time spent until, he was startled by Fawkes flaming somebody in. Looking up, he realised it was Andromeda. Somehow, she took one look at him, and she knew. Without a word, she took his head in her arms, and gently hugged him. As she ran her fingers through his hair, he broke down again. "I had to let her go." he repeatedly said, as she murmured sweet nothings until he fell asleep.
When he woke up, he realised that she had moved in, 4 year old Teddy with her. It was a blessing in disguise. While her efforts did help, Teddy's childlike innocence and his insistence on playing with him kept Harry grounded longer than usual. His childlike acceptance meant he didn't question his lapses. He just accepted him as he was.
He could spend his time researching until Teddy came to play, and that kept him moving, kept him functional. As she saw him handling Teddy, Andromeda grew more confident in leaving them together, as she ran errands on her own. The three of them grew closer, filling in a hole in his heart which he hadn't realised was growing.
He realised that every time he found a new thing with his magic, his senses would try to show it to him. He found that if he would cycle through each of his senses, the changes he experienced with one particular sense would be minimised. But eventually, his senses started catching up, as if adapting to the magic and incorporating it as if it was normal.
Looking for ways to heal his soul, he came across ancient druidic methods to cleanse and heal, one which reinvigorated a person not just physically, but also spiritually. Interested in the lost art, he started looking for historic sites related to druidism and druidic rituals. He wanted to know more, but all records of druidic culture were lost, gone with their oral traditions. The scant few texts that remained painted a tantalising picture, but did not have much detail.
Letting Andromeda know about his intentions to visit the druidic site, she insisted on him having a chaperone. While he bristled initially, hearing her fears of him getting lost in the magic of the ancient sites and her argument of how Teddy would miss him made him stay. She contacted Luna, who agreed, and off they went.
Over the next 2 years, they visited multiple older sites, where he would sit and meditate, trying to divine the methodology of the druids. Upon the urging of Luna and Andromeda, he also started compiling his results. As they went over different sites and compiled a decent enough primer, he knew that he was becoming less and less functional.
Despite everyone's worries, and his own, he decided to proceed with the druidic ritual he had finally decided upon. One which connected him to the Great Mother, the Life Giver, to ask for rejuvenation and healing. And so, on the morning of Beltane, he left for a hidden grove in Scotland, associated with Beltane. He set up the ritual elements, and waited for midday before starting.
Starting the ritual, he beseeched the Great Mother to look upon her child and hear his plea. He beseeched the Life Giver to look upon him and grant him succour to rejuvenate himself. As the ritual progressed, his magic and awareness spread until he felt connected to life, in a manner he never had before.
Imbolc, the festival of spring, marked the beginning of new life, and his awareness spread over the entire forest, focusing upon new life, how it formed, how it sustained itself, how it grew. As his awareness of life grew, so did his despair as he saw how deep the wounds left by the Elder Wand truly were.
He saw how the parts of his soul from where the Wand ripped pieces out was steadily degrading. He saw how his wand tried protecting him, how the stone tried healing him, how the cloak tried to hide him from death.
How could his wand work for other spells, if it was already working trying to keep him alive? He realised that all three were in a delicate balance, keeping him alive by replacing the degrading parts of his soul with magic, and the more magic that entered his soul, the more his senses towards magic increased, and the less human he became.
As the ritual died down, he realised that he was going to die. While the three objects bonded to him did an admirable job keeping him alive, he was slowly but surely dying. As he sat down and processed what he just learned, he saw Fawkes flame in and settle down next to him.
Looking at the bird, Harry spoke, "You knew what had happened to me, didn't you?" Harry let his thoughts flow out, his bond with Fawkes strong enough that they could understand each other better than words could convey meaning.
He saw how Fawkes felt through his connection to the Phoenix feather in his wand, his own loyalty to it, how he trusted the wand to do what's best for him, how its actions resulted in irreparable damage to him. How Fawkes felt touched by his trust, felt responsible for his fate, how his trust in the wand led to Fawkes deciding to spend the remainder of his life with him.
He felt how tired Fawkes felt seeing all those he knew pass on while he remained, stuck in an endless cycle of rebirth. He felt all the sorrow and grief which Fawkes went through, and realised he could never feel angry at Fawkes. Not after he did his best to help him out.
As he pondered on how to even start the topic of his impending death, his refusal to go quietly to his death, his desire to leave something behind, he had an idea. A bold, audacious idea. One which he wasn't even sure was possible.
One which couldn't be accomplished without Fawkes. Letting his intentions be known to Fawkes, he felt Fawkes process it, and then, give his own approval. With that approval, he was reinvigorated. He had a task to do, a way forward without a slow death. With a smile on his face, Harry apparated back, eager to start his preparations.
Coming back home, he suspended most of his studies, and spent his time with Teddy, much to his delight. He decided to spend as much time with his family and friends as he could, knowing that soon he might not be able to do that. His days were spent helping Andy out in the garden, playing with Teddy in the afternoon and visiting his friends in the evening.
They attributed his improvement to the ritual he performed, and were excited at the prospect of him getting better. He might not be able to remember as well as he used to, but he was getting out more. Surely, that meant he was getting better, which was what all were thinking. He didn't have the heart to tell them what he had learnt. That he was slowly dying, and this was just his last effort to leave them with happy memories.
As the months went by and his condition grew worse, he knew he couldn't delay any longer. Not if he wanted to ensure that their plan would be a success. A week before Teddy's 7th birthday, he left for Gringotts, ensuring that he would leave his money and properties to Teddy. After arranging for that and arranging for one last gift for his friends, he talked with Andromeda and invited his closest friends to a birthday party for Teddy.
Everyone was surprised that it was him inviting them, and they eagerly accepted, hoping that he was finally getting better. And so, on the day of the birthday, Harry gave Teddy the best birthday party he could. Inviting his friends, and his aunts and uncles to the party where the kids played around and the adults talked and gossiped.
Until eventually, the party died down, and everyone started leaving. Harry asked for his friends to stay back, as he wanted to tell them something. So, as Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Andy and Luna chatted in the dining room, he took Teddy to his room to tuck him in, who was all tired out, running around in the party. As he was about to go to sleep, Harry said, "Teddy, I have one final gift for you. A secret gift between me and you."
Teddy, excited about another gift, a secret gift at that, got up, with his eyes wide. "What is it?" he whispered, feeling excited and secretive.
Harry took off his cloak, and held it out for Teddy, saying "This is my Invisibility Cloak. It was passed down from my father down to me, and his father passed it down to him, and so on. It will turn you invisible. But you mustn't let anyone know this, otherwise it won't work as well. Only your family can know about this. Your grandma Andy can tell you when to tell someone. Do you promise to keep it a secret?"
Eyes wide open at the gift, Teddy quickly promises, saying "I promise I won't tell anyone about this, not without telling Aunt Andy." Then, Teddy hugged him tightly, saying "This is the best gift I got today, Thanks a lot." Quietly, he added, "Dad".
Harry, eyes tearing up, pretended he didn't hear the last part to let Teddy have his secret, and only tightened the hug even further. Then, clearing his throat and his eyes, he said, "Well, now it really is time for you to go to sleep. And remember, no matter where I am or how far I go, I will always love you, Teddy. Always."
As he said that, he took the bond he had between the cloak and himself, the one which ensured that he remained hidden from death, and broke it, moving the bond to connect with Teddy. Ensuring that the Cloak will now recognise Teddy as the one to continue his family. He moved his magic so that Teddy would truly become his heir in magic. As the excitement caught up to Teddy, he got tired, and slowly being rocked in Harry's arms, he fell asleep.
Putting him to bed, Harry got up, and with one final look, moved out of the room. Heading to the dining table, he took a deep breath and entered the room. Sitting around the table, his friends and Andy looked up when he entered, smiling at him. He tried smiling back, but looking at the hint of confusion which went through everyone, he wasn't as successful as he thought it would be.
Sitting down at a seat, he decided to rip off the bandage and let them know the truth, "Guys, I have something to say to you guys. Something which I found out about the last Imolc." Taking a deep breath, he let them know about what the ritual did, how his heightened senses let him connect to all life, how he realised what was actually happening to him, his wand, stone and cloak working together to keep him alive but slowly replacing pieces of his soul with pure magic.
How all of that meant his sensitivity towards magic kept on increasing at the cost of him eventually becoming entirely magic, and losing his life. He saw they wanted to interrupt there, but he raised his hand.
"Please, let me finish. So, the truth of the matter is that I am going to die. If I do nothing, I will slowly lose all senses until I become completely focused on magic, and eventually, I'll die and become a part of magic, never able to join the next life. The truth of the matter is, ever since the first ritual, I was going to die. It was just a matter of time. I have already made arrangements. Teddy will get everything I own, with some final gifts set up for you guys. This is it."
"This is it? That's all you're going to say, what about working on figuring a way out? You've always been the guy who didn't give up? Why are you giving up now?" Ron shouted, unable to stop himself, his grief leading him towards anger.
"We can look into older records, when soul magic was studied as a facet of spiritual healing. There will definitely be ways we can work around this." Hermione said, already thinking of which research materials will have the best chance of helping him out.
Ginny and Andy were frozen, still in denial about his death, looking back on their past interactions, to find something which can disprove his words. Neville though, he understood. He knew what it was like to have someone just surviving but not living. He understood better than most, with how his parents lived, what he was trying to avoid.
But it was Luna, who surprised everyone. Luna, who said, "You've already made up your mind, and taken the next step. Haven't you, Harry? I don't see the cloak with you." Looking at her, he realised again how she had an uncanny ability to know things, which was at full display here.
"Yes, I passed the Cloak on to Teddy. He will be the bearer of the cloak, with the cloak now recognising him as the owner. It will protect him." Harry confirmed, as everyone sat down and digested his words. Remembering how the cloak shielded him from death, and what it meant that he gave it away.
Ginny, unable to hold it in any longer, shouted, "Why Harry? Didn't you say that you'll work on it, get better? Why did you decide to just give up?"
"It was because he didn't want us to see him at his lowest, completely helpless." Neville intervened, eyes shining with unshed tears as he smiled at him. "He doesn't want us to look at him and mourn, thinking about how he was. He doesn't want to end up like my parents."
His words shook them all, making them sit down. They spent their time thinking quietly, until Ron asked the question. "So, what now? You've given up the Cloak, what does it mean for you now? How … How long do you have?"
Harry, feeling everyone's attention was on him, replied, "This is it, Ron. Today is my last night. I don't want to waste away slowly, becoming more and more helpless. I wanted to spend my last night with my friends and family. But yeah, this is it. I'm only going to get worse from here on out, so why not go out with a bang? I don't want to become a part of magic, unable to join the afterlife."
Taking time to digest all that was said at the table, everyone just sat quietly and processed what was just said. It was Hermione, noticing something odd in his explanation, who broke the silence and asked, "You said that you gave up the protection of the cloak after fully passing it on to Teddy, and that this is your last night. I don't think you are getting worse, not at the rate I'd expect if you were to pass on this very night."
"The way magic is slowly replacing my soul, I will soon become purely magic. At that point, I don't know what will happen. Will I be trapped forever here, unable to move on to the afterlife, will I become an unbound spirit or a magical animal, or just something else? I don't know. But I know what I want to have, to be able to move on. To not linger. And well, since I have such a 'good' track record in rituals, I thought why not try another ritual? One which will let me move on."
Knowing that this is the last time he'll see them, he decides to open up completely, saying "This is it, guys. My final night. I wanted to let you know why I'm doing this, before going ahead with the ritual. I just wanted to let you know, going into this ritual, all this time, I wanted to be just Harry, but you guys made me realise what I truly wanted was a family. And I found one with you guys. I know that there's so much I'll be missing out on, but seeing everyone here today enjoying themselves, I know that my family will have each other's backs, and I don't have to worry. I don't have any regrets so, thank you, thank you for loving me."
Feeling the approaching dawn, Harry realised that his time was running out. Getting up with tears in his eyes he said, "I'm glad I got to go on adventures with you, I'm glad I got to live and explore our hobbies, I'm glad I got to raise Teddy and I'm glad I got to know you guys. All of us have grown up now, and I know you won't let what happened to us happen again."
Realising that it was the time for farewells, everyone got up and embraced him. After all that, he took a step back, and said, "Thank you guys, for everything. I promise, no matter what comes next, I won't forget this." With a deep breath, he moved and apparated out to Hogwarts. Letting his magic convey his intentions to the castle, the wards allowed him entrance to the castle.
Looking at the Hogwarts castle, Harry knows he has some more time left, so he decides to walk into the castle. Walking through the Great Hall, he sees that all the damage has been repaired. While he had known that physically the Hall has been repaired, but seeing it now, with his senses, he realises that the scars left behind have also been healed. He can see the damage that had occurred to the school, in spirit and magic, and how the school has only grown stronger. He knows that Hogwarts has grown stronger than it was before, and he feels content, knowing that the future will be better.
Taking a deep breath, he moves out of the castle, heading towards the Forbidden Forest. Walking through the Forest, he can't help but remember the last time he walked through here. He reminisced about the time he learned the secret of the Snitch, and called forth the ghosts of his parents. Their support as he walked to his death, right alongside him. As he's walking to his death once again, now that he is without regrets, he finds in himself an eagerness to go through with it.
He doesn't need the support of his parents now to walk through to his death, and he doesn't know what to make of that. Pondering on that, he reaches the clearing where he had confronted Voldemort. Looking around, he realises that the Ministry cleaned up the Acromantulas which nested here, another danger which has been removed.
Walking to the exact place where he had passed on, he takes out the Resurrection Stone and his wand. Pushing a slight hint of his magic to the wand, Fawkes flames in next to him in response. She chirps at him in greeting, settling on his shoulder. He looks around him for one last time before standing up straight with his shoulders back.
He releases his magic and lets it flow into the stone. As the stone reacts to his magic, and opens a connection to the other side. He carefully controls his magic so that there is not even a hint of a person which the stone could latch on to, to prevent it from summoning anyone, and just letting it maintain the connection to the other side.
At the same time he does this, he starts focusing his magic on himself, on the parts that connect his body to his soul. As he maintains the connection, he starts to focus and break the bonds between his body and his soul. Normally something no sane wizard would even attempt to do, let alone be able to accomplish it, but with Harry's increased insight into the deeper workings of the world, he is able to perform such a feat.
Fawkes, who was waiting for him to start breaking the bonds, starts to burn up and prematurely enter a Burning Day. While normally his essence reforms into a chick while his previous body burns, this time, Fawkes pushes all of the gathered essence into the wand which houses his own feather. Infused with all of Fawkes essence, the already great bond between Harry and his wand, merging with the bond which Fawkes shared with Harry, deepens even further.
Harry, knowing what was about to happen, is prepared to receive it, and pushes the bond between them even deeper, managing to connect it to his very soul. With unquenchable agony coursing through his soul, the bond finalises. The wand, unable to hold onto such a concentration of essence, starts smoking, about to burn into cinders. They manage to establish the soul bond just moments before the wand ignites.
With the soul bond established, Fawkes begins pushing his own essence into Harry's soul, beginning the union between the two of them. As his wand starts to burn, and Fawkes' essence begins merging with him, the phoenix ash which was formerly swirling around him, is absorbed right into his body.
The phoenix ash present in his body, Fawkes' essence merging with his soul, and his breaking of the bonds between his body, akin to the way Fawkes burned up his own body for his Burning Day, revitalises the phoenix ash, reigniting it. Letting his own body burn, Harry knows he has a scant few moments remaining.
And so, with Fawkes working on integrating his own essence into him, Harry now completely a soul untethered to his body, with the help of his magic, drags his own soul into the Resurrection Stone, attempting to pass through to the other side of the connection. As his soul enters, the Stone, unable to handle the essence of a Phoenix, starts burning up. The Concepts of Life and Rebirth completely at odds with the Stone's Concepts of Death and Afterlife.
As he pushes through the connection, he increasingly uses his magic to copy the deteriorating functions of the Stone, hoping to keep the connection stable until he passes through. In the end, with Fawkes' essence supporting his strength, he manages to maintain the connection long enough for him to pass through, at which point, The Resurrection Stone, one of the famed Deathly Hallows burns up, melting through and falling onto the forest floor. But that was the least of Harry's concerns.
On the other side, in the Realm of Death, Harry took a moment to digest his present situation. He saw the world with a clarity he never had before, he could sense all the concepts around him, like lifting up a curtain to show the workings of the world.
He could sense the recently departed souls enter this realm, and become increasingly lethargic. He saw the souls which have spent some time here, only maintaining a facsimile of themselves due to a connection to the Living. It was those very connections which were used by the Resurrection Stone to summon the souls of the dead. He saw what happened to the countless souls who had no connections with the living anymore, slowly wasting away.
Looking closer at himself, he realised that his soul had taken the form most familiar to him, that of his human body. He saw Fawkes' essence merging with his own. Healing and patching up the parts which he had damaged with the ill-thought out ritual he had performed years ago. He could feel the Concepts of Life, Fire and Rebirth held by Fawkes' essence merging into him, just as he could feel the Concepts of Death sapping him of his will, making him lethargic.
As Fawkes merged with him, he could feel the Concept of Rebirth infusing into his soul, making it more malleable, improving his control over his soul. He felt the Concept of Life taking root within him, providing him with the necessary energy to resist the lethargy and stillness of the world around him. He could feel the Concept of Fire empowering him, giving him the strength to keep moving forward in this dead realm. He also felt the entire realm sapping him of his strength and ability to move the longer he spent here.
Looking at the connections emanating from him, which were fading away, leading to his parents and loved ones, made him want to follow it until he found them. But as Fawkes merged with him, sharing his instincts, he knew his very presence in this place would cause harm to the surprisingly delicate balance maintained. The longer he stayed in one place, the more damage he would inflict. So, with his heart heavy, and one last look in the direction of his parents, he moved in the opposite direction, refusing to bring harm to his family.
As he moves away, using the instincts he received from Fawkes, he flies straight above to see further ahead. Climbing up, he realises that while the entire realm of the dead is a flat plane, it isn't the only plane there. Looking around him, he sees multiple floating islands, which upon closer inspection, he sees as planes similar to the one he's rising above. These floating islands seem to be spread out, but the further he sees, the more he realises that the planes are uncountable like the stars shining in the darkness.
[Was planning on using the Buddhist Bhavacakra(Wheel of Reincarnation)]
He saw the souls around him arranging themselves in intricate patterns, moving along as if a giant mechanism is guiding them along like clockwork. Feeling his energy stocks dwindle, he decides to move onwards with haste, heading towards the nearest plane of the dead, other than his own, in order to bleed off enough energy that he won't damage the plane but still be mobile enough that he can push to be reincarnated there.
As he's moving towards the closest plane, he focuses and starts making preparations. Thinking back on to the ritual he performed on Imbolc, he uses the Concept of Rebirth from Fawkes to rearrange the core part of his soul into a seed, which will grow into his own soul. Unlike Fawkes, being a powerful magical beast could sustain a fully developed soul as a newborn chick, reincarnating into a baby as Harry planned to do would require a different approach.
Unlike all the other mammals, A human baby is not completely developed when he is born, due to the larger size of their heads. They are born early. That also means that a newborn baby will have trouble hosting a fully developed soul. To prevent that, Harry decides to mould his soul to ensure a gradual growth of his own soul, from a seed to a fully grown plant after he's reborn. If it means he won't have to live through years spent as a helpless baby, all the better for it.
As he reaches the plane of the dead he was aiming for, he finishes concentrating all of his memories, instincts and knowledge of magic into a small seed. Entering the plane, he realises instantly that things are going to be very different here. While in his home plane, there were only souls slowly losing memories until they're ready for reincarnation, here things were vastly different. For one, there were beings, who were moving on their own volition here, too large to be souls of the recently departed. For another, they all paused to look at him. Freezing in place, Harry thought if he could retreat, but knowing that he doesn't have enough energy to make it to another plane, he knows he'll have to get past them.
Sensing movement from them, Harry looks back only to notice that someone is trying to ensnare him with a mystical thread, which feels like Fire and Shadow. Moving away from it, he realises that all of them are now moving, with their own version of threads trying to ensnare him. Bursting into movement, he tries dodging around the different threads, noticing that each of these threads have a different distinct feel to them. He also realises that all of these sudden movements trying to dodge are sapping him of his energy even more.
Distracted by his dwindling energy reserves, he fails to notice a thread brushing past him and he freezes. He feels a vast river flowing through a continent, with a great civilization arising from it's banks. He feels its people calling to the river, calling her Mother. He realises with a start that the thread is affecting him, changing his soul and quickly moves back.
With a cold sweat, he realises if a brush was enough for him to start seeing things and changing his very soul, he shudders to think what would happen if he's ensnared completely. Will he even remember his past life? He keeps on moving, with his energy reserves on the back of his mind. He looks around, hoping to find a way out, but to his despair, he realises that there's no way out.
Refusing to give up, he thinks of other ways out. Looking closer, he sees that the threads from different beings, they're gods a small voice says in the back of his head, repel each other. Thinking on his feet, he jumps forwards, moving towards the strings which feel the most similar to him, which would lead to the least change in his soul. He notices two deities, one which embodies the Essence of Flame, and another which embodies the Essence of Life. Getting closer to them, he waits until two of their threads move close to each other before jumping in.
The moment he touches them, he feels each thread trying to influence him. He sees visions of white trees with blood red leaves, small green creatures and humans worshipping them, and then he sees large towering volcanoes and great cities with tall black spires and dragons roaring about. The threads try to pull him towards themselves, and he feels excruciating agony, being almost torn apart. Thankfully it stops, the likely reason being they recognise he was about to be torn apart.
As his soul changes a little due to their influence, he realises they are pushing him onwards towards reincarnation. Trying to minimise any external influence, he lets go and focuses all of his magic on ensuring that his soul seed is not tampered with. But even with all of his efforts, some of their influence does manage to reach him. His fire he inherited from Fawkes changes, becoming hotter and more likely to hurt, the life aspect which Fawkes used in his tears to heal found a connection to the wider web of life, from animals to plants. As he's passing through the boundary, he passes out due to all the pressure and fatigue he felt.
In the continent of Westeros, and indeed of the rest of Planetos, most of the people scarcely notice the fight which had just happened. The dealings of the heavens were best left to priests, but the impact of this fight cannot be underestimated. This was because The Old Gods of the North and The Gods of Valyria had decided to lay a joint claim to the soul of the outsider. While normally, the gods were only able to impact the lands of Planetos in indirect ways, save for great events which gave them the necessary faith and power, the outsider came in from the spiritual realm, which was where the Gods resided.
This let the gods have a greater impact, and coincidentally, on the continent of Westeros, a great tragedy was occuring. One which involved the Old Gods of the North and the Gods of Valyria. House Targaryen had fallen on dire straits as Prince Rhaegar tried to complete the prophecy of the Prince who was Promised. An ill-advised course of action, as trying to interfere with prophecies always leads to ill consequences.
In the deserts of Dorne, next an isolated tower which had housed 3 of the greatest knights of their time, stood the Lord of the North and his 6 companions. Facing them were the aforementioned 3 knights. As talks broke down, and the fight seemed imminent, the arrival of a comet heralded the beginning of the final battle of the devastating war which came to be known as Robert's Rebellion.
As the group below fought on, another battle was taking place in the rooms of the tower. As the Lady in the tower laboured to bring forth her child, the battle below continued and died down. It was here that the soul of the outsider was introduced, a Prince of Ice and Fire, born from a union of long First Men and Valyrian lineages, a perfect vessel through which they could influence the world.
As the Lord of the North laid eyes upon his dying sister, with her newborn child in her arms, he knew what had happened. Holding her in his arms, and giving his word to protect his nephew, he was determined to comfort her until she passed away. As they looked upon her son, who opened his purple eyes, neither noticed the fires in the room burning ever so slightly brighter than the norm, which continued until the babe closed his eyes to rest. And so began Harry Potter's Next Great Adventure.
Author's Note :- So, I've finally got the chapter out. I had a lot of difficulty figuring out the breakup scene between Harry and Ginny, making sure it hits the right feelings. I also had to go over Harry's senses and how the magic affects him. Please do let me know how it comes across, I was intending for it to be more like him getting lost, slowly being overwhelmed by the magic until he has to focus in order to see/appreciate mundane stuff. This chapter was kind of an outlier because I wanted Harry to enter Westeros at the end of this chapter. So, review/comment and let me know how it felt like, and which areas I can improve.