(AN:) Harry Potter + Multi-Crossover Adventure. Any crossover characters mentioned would be appended to the end of each chapters' notes for every first meeting. Semi-Gamer-like, Harry/Multi. I still need to work out some of the logistics, but I think it's pretty solid and has legs.

Everyone around him was celebrating the second, for-real-this-time defeat of Voldemort; however, Harry Potter was just exhausted; emotionally, mentally, and physically.

'Neither can live while the other survives. Now I understand; I was just surviving year to year before. Now, I can live,' he thought, feeling mildly euphoric. He stared down at the Elder Wand in his hand. 'I really should hide this somewhere. That way, even if someone else becomes its master, they won't be able to use it. Maybe even put it under a Fidelius.'

His next course of action chosen, he slipped the Elder Wand into the mokeskin pouch around his neck, joining his original, newly repaired holly wand, the yew wand he'd taken from Voldemort's body, and the Resurrection Stone. For now, he'd keep them all safe there while he used Draco's hawthorn wand for a while. Then later, he could return that one, pretend he'd gotten a new one, and start using his old one again, while keeping Voldemort's wand away from any up-and-coming dark wizards who'd want to use it as a status symbol.

Abruptly, the sound of Hermione's voice broke into his train of thought, "Harry? Did you hear what I said?"

"Uuh, I should go and get some rest?" he guessed, a tired smile lighting his face.

She huffed impatiently, "No! Well, yes, but Madam Pince wants me to help repair and reorganize the library. Can I get you to hold onto my bag for me? She doesn't want it anywhere near the books. You can take it with you to rest because I'd have a better peace of mind if I knew that you knew where it was. I'd ask Ronald, but I can't find him."

He raised an eyebrow at her request, causing her to blush brightly.

"Shush, Harry! It's supposed to be Undetectable and I have no clue how she even knew! But, please?" she asked with a healthy dose of puppy-dog eyes.

"Of course, Hermione. I have some errands to run before going to bed, but I can hold on to it for now," Harry said, accepting the bag that had saved their lives so many times on their camping trip from Hell.

A trip to Shell Cottage wouldn't go amiss to give Bill his tent and supplies back. He'd need them in Egypt once he returned to Gringotts for his curse-breaking job.

After tucking the bag into his pocket, his journey took him out of the Great Hall before he was stopped by an unexpected hurdle.

He should've been surprised to find himself face-to-face with Lucius Malfoy, but couldn't find the energy to be. He pulled the hawthorn wand he'd won from Draco from his pocket, ready for any errant twitch from the other man.

"Peace, Po-…Mr. Potter. I am simply here to offer my heartfelt gratitude. Not just for defeating the Dark Lord after he'd essentially held my family hostage to use our manor as he did, but for allowing Narcissa and I the chance to reunite with Draco," said the Malfoy patriarch quickly and like he'd been rehearsing the words.

"I suppose you're quite welcome, Mr. Malfoy. Is that all?" he asked cordially, but coldly. There was a certain truth to Lucius's speech, but it was stretching it very thin since he remembered that the man had wanted to turn him over to Voldemort. Possibly to elevate themselves in that monster's eyes once more. He spotted the two aurors waiting behind the blonde, waiting to take him away.

"Ah, yes. To appease my honor—Yes, Mr. Potter, I do have honor even if you may not think so—I hereby gift you a hefty sum of galleons," Lucius responded, though a little tight-jawed. As though he'd prefer not to. "It was, at one time, meant to fill the Dark Lord's coffers, but I'm sure you'd find a better use for it. Forty thousand galleons."

He appeared to fight not to cringe and practically had to spit it out what he said next. "No strings attached, of course. I shall, of course, gift…" he closed his eyes as if to shut out the pain of saying the rest, "…Mr. Weasley and Miss…Granger a smaller sum apiece for their efforts in saving Draco's life and assisting your efforts."

Harry barely had to move to catch the bag that was almost unceremoniously tossed up into the air in front of himself. Before he could protest the gift, the two aurors stepped forward, each laid a hand on one of Lucius's shoulders, gave him a respectful nod, and led the former Death Eater away.

He frowned down at the bag of galleons; the size and lightness threw him off a little, but suspected an extension charm was on the bag. He didn't really need the money, except…Maybe if he was lucky, he could give most of it to the goblins to pay off the damages to Gringotts. He shrugged and tucked the bag into his mokeskin pouch to keep it safe for now.

A light pitter-patter of skipping footsteps alerted him to the presence of Luna long before she even spoke, "Hello, Harry Potter. I didn't think you'd just leave the Great Hall like you did. I wanted to try distracting everyone from your exit."

"If I had wanted to be polite, I would've stayed," Harry said, brushing off her odd statement. He found himself pulled into a soft, warm hug, which he returned eagerly. "Everything alright, Luna?"

"So far, yes," she hummed in thought. "So, what are your plans for the Deathstick?"

"I'm going now to bury it somewhere in the Forbidden Forest and then I'm going to go to bed. Later, I'm going to cast a Fidelius to hide it until people forget about it. It's nothing but trouble and I've had enough trouble for a lifetime," he answered easily.

A sudden rumble shook the very foundations of Hogwarts. Harry glanced around in alarm as cracks suddenly started appearing in the stones.

'I should not have said that,' he thought ruefully.

"What's the matter?" Luna asked, sounding distinctly puzzled and as though nothing had happened. "Did you hear something I couldn't? I don't know how; my hearing is fairly sharp."

"You mean, you didn't feel—" Harry started before finally looking at her, his breath catching in his throat. Not only were there cracks appearing in the halls, but there were cracks appearing on Luna! "Luna! Are you alright? What's going on?"

She looked puzzled and surprised, letting him go to look herself over. After a brief examination and during which time a few flecks of herself crumbled to the ground, she said, "Now that you mention it, I don't feel quite…whole. Then again, I think it might be gas."

Before he could do anything at all, the cracks in Hogwarts opened wider and the stones began to fall. However, instead of revealing the morning sky, it revealed a blank white space. The ground shook even harder while everything fell away, even Luna.

It didn't take long before he was surrounded by a bright, white expanse of nothingness. He stood there for a moment in sheer disbelief before a long string of obscenities flowed out of his mouth at the absurdity of the situation.

Mid-rant, a being composed entirely of black smoke formed behind him, taking on a faceless, humanoid form. It waited patiently for its latest acquisition to finish having a temper tantrum. Most of its acquisitions had such amusing reactions to their home realities breaking down.

"…until the bloody handle breaks off and they'll need a bloody shovel to excavate the bloody thing out of their bleeding rectum! Then I'd get creative in a way that'd make even bloody Voldemort blush!"

As amused as it was, there was a schedule to keep. Other realities could collapse at any moment and it needed the space to greet other survivors.

"Salutations, human," came a buzzing, ethereal voice from behind Harry. When he turned around and gaped at the being before him, it spoke once again, emotionless and with odd inflections. "We are Fumo and before you ask, we had nothing to do with your reality breaking. It broke of its own volition."

"I…What? How?" he asked, bewildered.

"Good questions. Succinct as well. Are you familiar with the idea of a multiverse?" Fumo asked. It didn't wait for an answer, inferring on its own from his slightly confused look. "Imagine waking up and deciding on a pair of socks to wear. You have two choices: white or black. Each choice will branch into another instance of your reality with the difference being your choice, big or small. Sometimes, there are too many realities co-opting the same space and some break from the metaphysical friction.

"Most of the time, there are no survivors. Rarely, there are. We take the survivors and place them in one of several places. We always give them two choices, though there are many possibilities. We base the choices off of their current thoughts and past actions. You have a choice between Peace and Adventure. Choose wisely. And quickly."

Harry stared at the strange being for a moment, trying to comprehend what it was saying. He knew he should be questioning more of what he was being told, but couldn't find the will to do so. The way that this thing was explaining it so matter-of-factly and the droning of its voice somehow assured him that it was truthful.

He hesitated, asking, "What's the difference? I mean, it's kind of obvious, but I'd like to know what I'm getting into. And can I change my mind later?"

Fumo huffed impatiently. Its "head" tilted in an unsettling way, saying, "Peace means no fighting. Any fighting is punished by nonexistence. Adventure means you may fight, you don't have to, but you may also be attacked. You will learn more depending on your choice. You may not switch. CHOOSE!"

While his rational mind cried out for Peace, several parts of him were screaming that that was boring. Moreso, his irrational saving-people-thing told him that Adventure meant more people to save from being attacked. He chuckled to himself.

'I guess Susan was right. She thought I'd never be happy if I wasn't saving the day and fighting injustice,' Harry thought with a fond yet sad smile for the now nonexistent Hufflepuff. 'It sucks that my reality fell apart, but at least in some way, somewhere else, everyone is happy. Including me. Which in hindsight makes no sense, really.'

"Alright then. I choose Adventure. The other one sounds a bit boring for a long term destination," he decided.

The being nodded and some of its smoke wafted his direction. The smoke solidified into a dark gray object shaped like a clipboard, but much thicker that floated in front of him, practically ordering him to grab it. When his hands closed on the edges of the device, he felt his body move through space as though he were being launched by a trebuchet.

When he came to a stop and his stomach decided to catch up with the rest of his body, he found himself in what appeared to be a nearly empty waiting room, clutching the strange rectangular object. Before he could do more than just glance around, a dark-haired, bespectacled man with a scruffy, thin chinstrap beard wearing a blue military uniform walked up to him with a genial smile and a clipboard at the ready.

"Greetings, Mr…" the man glanced down at his clipboard. "…Potter, is it? A wizard on the way to a grand adventure, yes?" The man's smile grew wider at Harry's confirming nod. "Wonderful, I'm Maes Hughes. If I could direct your attention to the device in your hands, I can assist you with the operation of the device. Please, have a seat and I'll be nearby to answer any questions you might have!"

With the prompting, he sat down. Maes sat down directly across from him. He stared down at the object in his hands which reminded him of something called a PDA that he'd seen Dudley break in less than a week, only more advanced. The screen said that the device was called an "Adventurer's Aide" and was prompting him to tap on an area on the screen to continue. Once he did so, the other man chuckled to himself, causing him to look up.

"Oh, sorry! I've helped others calling themselves wizards before and they usually take longer or need help. Sorry to distract you," Maes said with a nervous smile.

"I've seen touchscreens before, mate. Not as good as this and my cousin broke that PDA maybe three days later, but still," he replied without heat before looking down at the screen.

He stared at the information listed on the screen, surprised at how…accurate it all was. It listed his full name, his age, weight (and Merlin, he needed to gain some), height, and many, many more things.

"Class?" he said, smirking when he realized his class was just "Wizard."

"Ah, it's what represents you in this place and how people will search for you if they want you as a party member," Maes explained. At the confused look he received, he continued. "Adventuring party. You don't have to have one, but it helps. Hell, even while you're in a party, you can take solo quests, duo quests, etc. The sky's the limit!"

Harry couldn't help but grin at the man's enthusiasm. He turned his attention back down to the Aide, managing to figure out how to scroll through the information without assistance. With a swipe of his finger, the screen changed to a list of his abilities. He paused and frowned down at a piece of information he wasn't expecting.

"Is…Is this completely accurate?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yes! I've seen so many people learn things about themselves they never realized before! Why? What's got you worked up?" he asked curiously.

"I…Back where I came from, I was told…" Harry hesitated, trying to work it out in his mind. He stared down at the information that had stopped him in his tracks: 'Parseltongue: Expert.' There was a bar showing that he was going from Expert to Master, and he was approximately three-quarters of the way there. "I thought I lost an ability due to circumstances, but it seems I still have it and I'm not…completely trained in it like I'd thought."

Maes nodded and explained patiently, "Those character sheets never lie, my friend. Oh, before I forget! The bar represents the experience you have in your skills!"

"I think I understand that much, yeah. What are the…levels? Is that the right term?" he asked.

"Ranks, more like. And they are: Novice, Adept, Journeyman, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster. But just remember, even Grandmasters have room to learn, so anything past that is numbered!" Maes explained, smiling. "Grandmaster I, Grandmaster II, etc."

"Fair enough. I think I understand. You know, I never expected to be considered an Expert in Potions. The teacher who taught me…Well, the less said about him, the better. Anyway, you said something about quests. What's the point behind them?" Harry asked curiously.

"Glad you asked! Quests can give you materials, weapons, money, and many, many other rewards! Some are even there just for bragging rights. There are new quests frequently. Some are put into the system by towns, cities, kingdoms, or others; and some are made by other inhabitants of this world, people like yourself."

"Oh? Making a quest; how does that work?" he asked curiously.

"It's a very interesting system!" Maes exclaimed. "There are many types of quests you yourself can make. Some of them you have to provide the reward yourself, but not all of them. In fact, some quests you make can come with rewards generated by the system that you can curate and choose the appropriate rewards.

"A quest can be something as simple as 'I need to get from point A to point B quickly and safely, so be my bodyguard' or 'I need supplies; go and get them for me'; or it can be complicated like 'I want someone dead and I want it done quietly.' It can even be something you yourself have experienced in the past made into a dungeon instance! Those usually come with system-generated rewards that are scaled to how difficult the quest is. The quest-maker is simple and easy to use."

"Interesting. I'll have to use that. I have plenty of experiences to draw from," Harry said idly. He was perusing the menus, exploring what he could find. His eyes widened at the fact that everything in both Hermione's (technically his now) beaded bag and his mokeskin pouch was itemized and organized in the Inventory tab. A tap seemed to conjure a bottle of essence of dittany into his hand.

He stared down at the bottle and chuckled, "This is all insane, you know? Just before I came here, I was ending a war and this is the last thing I expected."

Maes nodded sagely and spoke reassuringly, "Yeah, it is, isn't it? But there's something about the beings that run this whole thing that just makes people accept it. There'd have to be since they 'rescue' people from all walks of life, good and bad. Thankfully, this building is in the middle of a neutral zone, which is enforced rather strictly. And that reminds me: on your map, you'll see labeled areas.

"The labels vary from person to person and their standing with areas, but it's all there for you to read. You'll find allied areas, enemy areas, neutral areas, and more-or-less ambivalent areas. You're not restricted from traveling anywhere, but take care to follow the laws of the land wherever you go or you'll find yourself making enemies. Keep that in mind when you have a party as well. You may find yourself in a place where someone else you're traveling with is hated."

Harry nodded and tapped the screen again, causing the bottle of dittany to go back into the beaded bag. He jumped a little when he was able to change the color of the Aide to a forest green and looked deeply confused when touching a little 'x' in the upper right corner of the screen made it disappear completely.

"I was wondering when you'd do that," Maes chuckled. "Just think 'Status' deliberately in your mind and it'll reappear in your hand. Or any of the other tabs for quick access."

Immediately after trying the suggestion, the Aide reappeared in his hands on his Status screen and he gaped with shock. He hadn't seen this particular screen earlier, but it didn't look good.

"Err, is there any sort of hospital around here?" he asked hesitantly. At the other man's politely confused look, he turned the Aide around to show him the screen. Showing on the screen was a silhouette of a human male with several areas (especially the chest area) shaded a dark, foreboding red and next to that were the words "Status: Weakened; Cursed(multi)".

"…Why the hell are you nearly dead?!" the other man asked incredulously, standing up quickly and gesturing for him to follow.

Harry fell into step behind Maes and said, "Might be because I took a Killing Curse about an hour or so ago from my point of view."

The man nearly stumbled at the explanation, glancing over his shoulder with an incredulous look.

"What? I died for a minute, but I got better. Is that a problem?"