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Author Note – I enjoy writing short stories for my own enjoyment but at a suggestion from a friend, I have decided to start posting some of my stories that I am working on or have completed. All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to hearing what you think!
Darkness.
Pure and complete darkness.
The absence of anything and everything.
A void.
Harry had slowly been regaining awareness of himself over the past…well… he wasn't sure how long it had been as it was impossible to gauge time in his current situation. However, his current thoughts were preoccupied with the utter darkness he found himself in. He was pretty sure he was upright, but he knew he wasn't standing. It was more like he was floating.
Harry began to think back as to how he got into this situation. He could remember his entire life in stunning clarity, the first time he had ridden a broom (in the living room with his parents and Sirius laughing below trying to chase him around the house), the first kiss he had experienced, the inhuman treatment at the hands of his uncle and aunt, the feelings and sights of watching Cedric murdered before his very eyes…it was all easily recallable, however the last thing he could recall was walking into the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort and sacrifice himself for the benefit of his friends and all of the wizarding world.
Feeling frustrated with his current state, Harry tried to yell but no sound came out, he tried to move from his location but without ground below him, it was futile. Resigning himself to the current state, Harry relaxed and made peace with his predicament, as for the first time in a long time Harry felt a measure of peace within himself. It was as if he had tensed every fiber in his body for as long as he could remember and was finally able to relax.
Time passed for Harry as he reviewed his memories. Smiling as he got to remember the love his parents had for him, feeling the despair as he rewatched those he cared about sacrificing themselves for himself and his fight against Voldemort. Unsure of how long he had been…well wherever he was…Harry began to notice a feeling of warmth and a slight buzz of sound slowly increasing in intensity, almost as though he was awaiting a train and could feel the wind being pushed ahead of the carriages.
And all of a sudden there was light, so bright and fierce that he slammed his eyes shut and quickly reached up with his hands to prevent the intensity from leaking in. Slowly he removed his hands, allowing himself a chance to take in his new surroundings.
"Huh…I am at King's Cross Station…" Harry said, visually noticing his surroundings at the same time he registered there was ground below him. This gave him pause as he realized sound had come out with this exclamation. "Well at least this looks like King's Cross, except everything is clean and incredibly white".
Harry looked up and down the platform trying to see if there was any hint as to where he should go or what he should do. Noticing a black bundle just a little ways down the platform and lacking options he made his over to it hoping to see what it was. Looking into the bundle he immediately recoiled at both the sight of the disfigured humanoid monstrosity that was contained and the feeling of pure evil that radiated from it, feeling only slight sympathy that the …"thing" appeared to be in pain.
"Ah yes, I do want to thank you for delivering that to me" said a female voice from behind Harry, causing him to jump in surprise as he spun around to identify the voice.
Noticing a hooded individual who had managed to sneak up on him. Harry was momentarily speechless before recovering and stuttering out, "Who…who are you? Where did you come from? Where am I? What is that thing? Is it dying?"
Releasing a very melodic and soothing laugh that was in total contradiction with the mysterious appearance, the woman looked at Harry as if appraising him to determine his worth. Apparently coming to a decision, she replied, "Well this may take a while." Guiding him to the nearby bench, she continued, "Well first of all I am known by many different names by different people but for simplicity, I am Death".
Harry almost missed the bench as he was sitting down. "Wait…what…no… but that would mean I am…"
She released her laugh once again as Harry managed to properly sit down, staring at her, noticing that while her visage was uncomfortable her laugh was soothing and her voice put him at ease. "That is who I truly am but you are not truly dead yet." Holding up a hand to forestall any questions, she continued. "I am sure, that as with the few who have had this experience, you will have an almost endless amount of questions but if you let me talk for a little bit I can provide a lot of information that will hopefully help you understand what has happened and what your choices are going forward". Seeing his nod of approval Death continued. "You, Harry James Potter, have died.."
This immediately caused Harry to exclaim "WHAT?! I thought you said I wasn't dead? Is this the afterlife? Oh my God, what happened?"
Having apparently expected this, Death chucked to herself before silencing Harry with a hand on his shoulder as she began talking again. "What I mean to say is that while this may be confusing, you have died… but you are not yet dead. Thanks to the abomination over there," pausing and pointing at the bundle that had quieted down and was no longer making noise or noticeable movements. "Thanks indeed to horrible, dark, forbidden magic practiced by Tom Riddle", causing his eyes widen as she spat out his name.
"When Tom Riddle tried to kill you as a baby he actually set in motion events that would ultimately lead to his demise. I am not talking about the immediate effects of his disappearance, but rather, at that moment when he tried to kill your parents he activated a ritual that your mom had rediscovered that saved your life trapping a piece of his soul in you. In essence creating his final Horcrux. Even though this Horcrux has made your life miserable in essence reducing your magical ability, decreasing your attention, and even poisoning your relationships." Pausing Death looked at him with sympathy in her eyes, as she paused and then continued.
"Did you never wonder that even though your Aunt may have disliked, and even hated, your mother due to her jealousy, that your entire family growing up loathed you and were the absolute worst versions of themselves around you? Did you not wonder how it was possible that, Seamus, one of your earliest friends at Hogwarts who spent a significant amount of time growing up with you and learning who you were as a person was so easily swayed by the negative opinions of you from the news and his family? Have you not ever wondered why your best and first friend, who has watched you repeatedly being put in one life threatening moment after another and constantly chose to sacrifice yourself for the benefit of others, constantly gives into jealously and negative emotions when he most of all should know that you would give it all up, the fame, money, Quidditch skills, … for simply one meeting with your parents?"
Listening to her go on, he was reflecting on his past. Oh no, is this true? Might I have grown up in a supportive household, or at least without the mental torture I had to experience. Is it true that I may have had a happier existence and better memories? It does fit though … Noticing that Death had stopped talking as he was working through everything in his head. Looking up and Harry nodded for her to continue.
"This brings me to the contradictory nature that you have existed in. Since he created the Horcrux, while you have in general had a very difficult existence, it was impossible for you to die. As you noticed on your own journey, Horcruxes are incredibly difficult to destroy and the fact that you are, or rather were, a Horcrux would have prevented you from dying from anything except the most violent and powerful of magics. In fact, in your second year if Fawkes had not intervened, we would have been having this chat several years earlier. He neutralized the Basilisks venoms moments before it would have killed you destroying the soul fragment. As you witnessed earlier Fiendfyre can also destroy a Horcrux and while there are certainly others methods, including powerful purifying rituals, the killing curse works on living Horcruxes."
Harry starred at her. "So I was hit by a killing curse? Why can't I remember?"
Death's shoulders dropped as she starred at him from under the hood with regret, while her eyes while shadowed, blazed with barely concealed fury. "I am sorry Harry but for your sanity I had to remove several of your memories. You remember walking into the forest, where once again you were going to sacrifice yourself for the greater good, as expected. However, things very quickly started going sideways. Rather than simply kill you outright or possibly play with you a little. Tom Riddle offered to let all of his followers torture you…you had been hit by 77 torture curses. For reference, The Longbottoms were subjected to 21 curses over the span of an evening, before their minds broke. While amazingly your mind was still intact the Harry that would have emerged from that scenario would have been vastly different from who you are. At this point not out of mercy but wanting to get on with his plans, Tom Riddle threw the killing curse at you"
Harry wordlessly starred at her not fully being able to comprehend what he had gone through, remembering the Cruciatus curse Voldemort had hit him with in the graveyard, but understanding why Death had done what she had done. "So I was killed, but yet because of the Horcrux I am not dead? What happens to me now, am I to stay in Limbo, as I assume that is what this is?
Appearing to be relieved to move off the previous topic, Death shook her head. "You are partially correct, this could indeed be viewed as what you think of when you think of Limbo, but you are not stuck here. You have the choice to actually die and move on or if you feel you would rather go back to where you were before you came here we can grant that. However, because of your continued selflessness, even while dealing with the negative effects of the Horcrux combined with an important caveat, there is a third option. If you desire I can place you at any point in time after your first Christmas at Hogwarts."
Not expecting this reply, Harry looked at Death questioningly. "Sorry, what? Why then? Why not earlier?...What caveat?"
Death smiled, the anger completely dissipating from her eyes. "Well at the time of your death you were in possession of all the Deathly Hallows and having returned them to me you are now the true Master of Death. Your first Christmas at Hogwarts was when you came to be in possession of your first Hallow and as such, we were connected at that time and I can return you to any point from then onwards. But I understand this is a lot to take in please take your time thinking it over and when you have made up your mind let me know."
Harry appreciated the chance to go over things in his mind, after all, how often was someone told they had died and had an opportunity to decide what happens. He was pretty sure he knew what he was going to choose but wanted to confirm a couple things with Death.
"Ok, this is a little much to deal with, I honestly couldn't image I ever would have been in a situation like this. First of all, what happens if I choose to die? Do I get to see my friends and family I have lost? My parents, Sirius, Cedric, Professor Dumbledore, … do I get a chance to see them? If I do move on what happens to everyone back…well… everyone I have left behind? If I go back in time, do I have a chance to change things, can I save people or do I just need to watch everything happen the way it already has and lose the people I have already lost?"
"This would be a lot to take in no matter the circumstances, and for what it's worth you are taking it better than I thought you would. As for what would happen to you if you moved on. I cannot tell you. Before you get frustrated, I cannot tell you as everyone's experience is different. Nevertheless, I can say that it is truly the next great adventure and you have nothing to fear. As for your friends you feel have been left behind they have a chance for success. With your hunt for the horcruxes and you yourself having been killed there is only one final horcrux remaining and your friends are aware of its identity and have the means to destroy it. As for Tom Riddle himself, after losing the final horcrux he will be weakened and his mind fractured to a point where several of your allies might be able to defeat him. So you do need to feel guilted into going back to help. Not everything is on your shoulders. If you do choose to go back in time, it will be a new reality and decisions you make there will cause different outcomes. It might end up in the same ending, you needing to die for the sake of your friends, or it may end up better with you being able to save the lives of your friends. However, I do caution you that using your knowledge to change events will indeed cause events to change, eventually making your knowledge of the future of little use and there is indeed a risk that you may cause things to end up worse for your world. As the Master of Death though, the choice is yours."
Harry sat in silence starring up and down the platform, weighing the options. He had a chance to be reunited with his family and friends he had lost, the thought of seeing his mom and dad again made him tear up. There was nothing he wanted more than that. However, would it be right to choose to see his family when his friends were still in danger? Death had said his allies had the means to end the war successfully but how many more would die in order to defeat their enemies. Would Neville make it out? What about Luna? The Weasley's had already suffered so much, are they done or is there anyone else who would have to suffer? And finally he could go back and try to make this all better try to improve our lot in this war. Have us better prepared maybe save Sirius, save Cedric, … is it possible? Or would I make it worse?
Harry was unsure how long he sat in silence, thoughts running at unbridled speeds through his mind. Weighing the benefits and drawbacks of the options. Trying to determine the odds of the outcomes. He had never been freer but he had never felt such pressure of a decision he might make. However, Harry realized he had made his mind and knew what he must do.
Looking at Death Harry firmly started, "I have made up my mind, I know what I want to do. I want …"
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