Prologue

"Sirius!" Harry screamed as he charged towards the huge stone arch his Godfather just fell through. All around him were dozens of people engaged in fierce combat as they traded spells - and sometimes blows. Busy as they were fighting for their lives, only a few were able to hear Harry's anguished cry, and even fewer noticed his desperate charge towards the Veil of Death.

In many timelines, Remus Lupin would be one of those to notice, and would intercept the young wizard, knowing well that nobody returned from the Veil. Harry would then go on to chase Bellatrix Lestrange out of a desire for revenge, leading to a confrontation with Voldemort that would alter the course of Wizarding Britain.

In this timeline, however, Remus Lupin was just as distraught by the death of his close friend, and engaged his killer in a furious rage. Unfortunately, that meant nobody was there to stop Harry as he threw himself into the Veil with a desperate hope of finding his Godfather alive on the other side.

And so, Harry Potter - the Boy Who Lived and the wizard destined to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort - disappeared unceremoniously from the world, his whereabouts and status unknown. Given that he went through the Veil of Death, however, it was easy for those present - the ones who noticed Harry Potter's disappearance, at least - to conclude that he was dead.

Despite centuries of research concluding that the Veil's purpose was to kill any who entered it, this understanding was not wholly accurate. The Veil was a gateway, as its archlike shape implied, to a realm between life and death.

It was a realm removed from the world axis - detached from any physical or metaphysical realm connected to that reality. This place, where neither time nor space held any weight, was a true void.

And now Harry Potter was trapped in this world of nothingness, simply existing for a timeless eternity. One might have thought that a human would perish quickly in this realm with no oxygen, atmosphere, or sustenance. But this realm also had no concept of death or destruction, meaning that Harry Potter was now trapped in a sort of stasis.

He couldn't move, breathe, speak, sleep, wake, or escape. There was nothing for him to do except wallow in his thoughts, his magic and rudimentary Occlumency allowing him to hold on to his ability to think in this realm of nothingness.

Harry himself was barely cognizant of what was happening to him. His only thoughts revolved around the fact that Sirius was gone, and it was all his fault.

"If only I'd worked harder to learn Occlumency."

Harry cursed himself. His disdain for Snape kept him from properly learning the skill that would have kept Voldemort out of his head and tempered the curiosity over the visions Voldemort used to manipulate him.

[Confirmed. Spiritual Attack Resistance… Successfully acquired.]

"If only I'd realized that Kreacher was lying."

No, it wasn't just Kreacher's lie. If Harry had paid more attention, he might have seen the truth and prevented Sirius' death. What if he'd realized that Sirius was innocent early on, back in his Third Year? Could he have caught Pettigrew and freed Sirius? What if he'd figured out that the Triwizard tournament was a trap by Voldemort? Could he have stopped Voldemort's return in its tracks? Would Cedric have lived?

And this year, what if he'd figured out that his ability to get into Voldemort's head meant that Voldemort could do the same to him? Could he have turned the tables on the Death Eaters? Would Sirius be alive now?

[Confirmed. Extra Skill: Lie Detection… Successfully acquired. Evolving Extra Skill: Lie Detection into Unique Skill: Unraveler… Confirmed.]

[Notice. Unknown spiritual entity detected. Analyzing… Soul Fragment identified. Reconstructing… Failed due to insufficient data. Merging Soul Fragment to subject instead… Successful.]

Barely clinging to consciousness as he was, Harry didn't even have it in him to care about that weird voice in the background.

"Is this the end?" He wondered. Harry refused to believe that this was it. This couldn't be the end of his or Sirius' life. Harry refused to believe so. There was no way he was letting some stupid prophecy ruin his life like this.

[Confirmed. Unique Skill: Defier… Successfully acquired.]

He couldn't die here. There were so many things he still needed to do. He had to get out of here.

[Confirmed. Responding to summoner's request… Successful]

Harry felt a gentle tugging sensation in his gut. Not rough like a Portkey but more like he was flowing down a current.