Work Text:
So I'm kind of experiencing a slight case of writer's block with Harry Potter: The Demigod Who Lived. I recently watched the Justice League Season 2 Episode, Hereafter, and got a little inspired to write this one-shot.
In the deep recesses of Malfoy Manor, several hooded Death Eaters were gathered around a table. The one sitting at the head of the table stood up, “This resistance is futile! Those Mudblood-lovers have defied us and our Lord for far too long. The biggest thorn in our side is none other than that Potter brat! Our lord refuses to see reason and insists that the boy dies at his hand, and his hand alone! Now… Speak your names!”
One-by-one they lowered their hoods and took off their masks, “Bellatrix Lestrange.”, “Walden MacNair”, “Rodolphus Lestrange.”, “Rabastan Lestrange.”, “Lucius Malfoy.”
Malfoy commanded, “Speak the word and seal the pact.”
In unison, all five Death Eaters pulled out their wands and raised them in such a way that the wands were crossing each other. Then they simultaneously chanted, “Revenge and Pureblood honor.”
A few days later
Sixth-Year student, Harry Potter and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were hanging out in Hogsmeade. It was just another day for them. Of course, the war with Lord Voldemort was not over yet, but the Death Eater camp had been a bit quiet, lately. Also with them was Ginny Weasley, Harry’s girlfriend.
Harry spared a glance around his group, and spotted several other students. He noticed that many of them looked relaxed, but a closer examination revealed that several students had their hands close to their wands.
Suddenly, the tranquility was rocked by a massive explosion, followed by several tell-tale cracks of Apparition. Right on cue, the four of them, along with dozens of other older students whipped out their wands. A handful of students began shepherding Third-Year students away and inside the shops.
Harry marshalled the students into attack formations as they faced the direction of the explosion. Sure enough, from a building with a burning hole in its side, there were several Death-Eaters pouring out and casting spells everywhere.
Harry quickly pulled out his mirror and relayed a message to Remus Lupin to bring reinforcements from the Order. Suddenly, his blood ran cold when a familiar deranged cackle reached his ears.
“Where are you, widdle baby Potter!? Aunty Bella’s got a surprise for you!”
With that, the Death Eaters split up and began firing dark spells with wild abandon. The Order of the Phoenix soon arrived and engaged the Death-Eaters. As Harry and the students began fighting back, Malfoy Sr smirked, “The brave little lion has taken the bait. Bellatrix, are you ready with that special Black Family spell of yours?”
She grinned back, “You bet! This will be fun!”
On the other end of the battle ground, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna were alternating between shielding and attacking. Hermione grunted, “We need to be careful! This is obviously an ambush.”
Ron quipped back, “We noticed! Come on! Let’s try and split them up. Our odds will probably be better in one-on-one combat.”
Trusting Ron’s judgement, the six of them split up and engaged a different Death Eater. The battle raged on and no one looked like they were gaining the upper hand. As she cast Cruciatus spell after Cruciatus spell, Bellatrix Lestrange began singing loudly and off key, “Rain, Rain go away! Little Bella wants to play!”
Then, she fired her mysterious spell at Luna and Neville. However, they managed to dodge and it struck the side of a nearby building, leaving behind a gaping hole. She fired it again and again, but kept missing. Harry couldn’t help taunting, “Wow Bella! I thought you only knew how to cast Cruciatus curses! Good to see that you’re not a one-trick pony! Besides’ you’re never going to hit me with that!”
She pretended to think about it, “Maybe not, Pottykins! But what about your friends?”
With that, she aimed her wand at Ron and Hermione, who had their back to her while they ganged up on MacNair. She roared out her spell, and Harry thought fast. He sprinted over as fast as he could and tackled them out of the way. He succeeded, but to everyone’s horror, the spell struck him instead. Harry was enveloped in a green glow, and with a pained yell, disintegrated right before everyone’s eyes.
When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of Harry, apart from a ripped piece of his Gryffindor robes. There was dead silence in the entire area, with the only sound coming from the wind blowing. Bellatrix cackled gleefully, “Hehehehehehehe! Harry Potter go bye-bye!”
Silence reigned for a few more minutes, before there was an angry screech, “You bitch! You killed him!”
An enraged Ginny Weasley flew at Bellatrix and fired a whole slew of hexes and curses. She somehow managed to get within a couple of feet of the deranged woman and pointed her wand threateningly. Bellatrix pulled out her own wand, “You better stay back, girlie, before I give you a taste of the Cruciatus!”
Ginny decided to forgo her wand and grabbed the older witch, punching her in the face, repeatedly. She paused briefly and snarled, “Do I look like I’m playing games?”
Ginny resumed punching until Bellatrix’s face was a mass of bleeding bruises and lumps. The redhead screamed, “How about I send you back to your precious dark lord as a corpse?”
She was about to punch Bellatrix again, but Neville and Hermione grabbed her and hauled her off, kicking and screaming. Neville struggled to hold back his friend, “Ginny! Don’t do it!”
She struggled even harder, “Speak for yourself!”
Hermione gently laid a hand on her shoulder, “We’re trying to speak for Harry.”
That got her to freeze a little before letting go of Bellatrix’s robe. They slowly walked away, but not before Ginny angrily stomped on Bellatrix’s leg, breaking it, and spat on her.
The next day’s Daily Prophet read, “DEATH EATER ATTACK TURNS DEADLY! BOY-WHO-LIVED DIES IN RAID AT HOGSMEADE.”
“It was a fine day for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students were going about their business at the village of Hogsmeade. Suddenly, there was a surprise Death Eater attack, led by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. In the ensuing skirmish, Lestrange fired an unknown spell, which seemingly destroyed Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived’s body. We at the Daily Prophet and the Wizarding World mourn the passing of a true hero. Harry Potter was our last hope in defeating You-Know-Who. The memorial service for our fallen hero, will be held in Hogwarts school in two days’ time. Rest in peace, Harry Potter. In addition to friends, colleagues and loved ones, the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, will also be in attendance-”
Ron’s reading was suddenly interrupted by Hermione. She growled, “Put away that rag of a newspaper, Ron. I can’t bear it. I’m not in the mood to hear the sheer fucking hypocrisy it is spouting! They spent a full fucking year dragging his name through the mud, and now they have the fucking audacity to try and portray him as a hero?”
She got up from her seat in the Great Hall and stormed away. Nobody commented on the fact that she had swore multiple times, which was uncharacteristic of her. The hall was dead silent for a while. Just then, Ron spotted a hint of green and blond in the corner of his eye. He spun around with his wand raised, the tip pressing against Draco Malfoy’s nose.
Ron’s rage grew even more, “Are you happy? Are you fucking happy Malfoy? I figured you would be crowing it from the rooftops. Your arch-nemesis is fucking DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! Bet you wished you were the one who dealt the killing blow, eh? Now run along to your precious Dark Lord and party all night long.”
With that, he also stormed away. Slowly, all other Gryffindors walked away, each of them throwing dirty and murderous looks at Malfoy.
In the Common Room, the older students huddled together. Ginny and Hermione were on the floor hugging each other and sobbing. Ron entered and wrapped his arms around the two girls. Not a word was spoken between them for a long time. Then Neville broke the silence, “Wh-what do we do now?”
Ginny spoke up, her voice hollow, “We fight. We continue the fight. Harry believed that we all have a right to be in this world. Pureblood, Half-Blood, Muggleborn or Squib, we all deserve to be treated as equals. I’ll be damned if I let those ideals die with him. However, Bellatrix is mine. Look… Harry is our leader. How many battles have we won, simply because he was there to inspire us?”
Ron sighed, “Yeah… I’ll be the first to admit. He always had my back, not matter what. Even when I never had his back, especially when he needed me the most.”
Two days later, it was time for the funeral. Everyone turned up to it. Fred and George arrived after closing up their shop. Even Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Oliver Wood turned up, reuniting with Katie Bell, the only other member of the original Gryffindor Quidditch team still in the school.
Just then, Hermione spotted a new figure entering the Great Hall alongside Remus Lupin, and her blood boiled a little. She got up to meet the two figures at the entrance, before suddenly grabbing the stockier teenager and dragging him away. Ron and Ginny followed her outside. Hermione snarled, “Dudley Dursley… How dare you show your face here.”
He tried to speak, but was cut off by her punching him with a massive right hook. She continued, “Your parents sent you here to gloat, didn’t they? They abused him for years! Forced him to live in a cupboard under the stairs for more than a decade! Planned to beat the ‘freakishness’ out of him. Are you and your parents happy now? Isn’t this what you and your family always wanted? Get one thing through your thick meaty skull… I hate you. Ron and Ginny know what you and your family put him through. They hate you too.”
She couldn’t speak anymore and just broke down sobbing. Ron comforted his friend and glared at an awkward-looking Dudley. He hesitantly stammered, “L-look… I’ll admit, I was a real dick to Harry in my younger years. However, when he saved my life against those demen… demon…”
Ginny helpfully supplied, “Dementors?”
“Yeah them… Since then, Harry and I made our peace with each other. Look, my parents don’t know I’m here at all. They still think that I’m at Smeltings Academy. I just wanted to tell him I’m sorry for all the shite that I put him through. I should have been a better brother to him.”
Soon, the ceremony started and Headmistress McGonagall took the podium to speak. Wiping away a few tears, she spoke, “We gather here today, bound together in sorrow and loss. We share a precious gift. We are, all of us privileged to live a life, that has been touched by Harry James Potter. We all know him as The Boy-Who-Lived. However, I knew him as one of my Lions. Harry Potter was extraordinarily gifted and has shown it on multiple occasions. He had the courage to do what needed to be done, no matter the cost and had the ability to inspire others. Let us all strive to be as courageous as he was, as an ongoing tribute to Harry James Potter. The boy who taught us all how to be heroes.”
Days later, life without Harry Potter began, and they were pretty tough for everyone. Draco Malfoy was unusually silent, but the big surprise was when some idiot tried to badmouth Potter, he ended up getting hexed by everyone in the Great Hall, including the Slytherins. Ron, Hermione and Ginny each went about their days very robotically. The older two could not find it in themselves to even bicker like they used to. They both knew that if they did nobody would have the guts to mediate between them. Only Harry could do that. He was the glue that kept their ‘Golden Trio’ together. One day, Ron found himself wandering around aimlessly, still clutching the torn fabric, which was the only thing they had left of Harry.
The redhead found himself standing in front of a memorial erected in Harry’s honor. He stared up at the statue of what used to be his best mate and sighed. Ron said, “Look mate… I’m not good with words, and it’s still sinking in that you’re not there with us anymore. I used to be jealous of you, but you knew that already. I mentioned this to Ginny earlier, but you’ve always had my back, even when I didn’t have yours. I was jealous of your fame, being the Boy-Who-Lived. Now… I’m not anymore. I never once thought about what that title meant. Sure, you had that fame, but it came at a cost. I don’t know if I could have the strength to live without my mum and dad. Without Bill, Charlie, Percy, as much of a git he is, The twins, even when they get on my nerves, and even Ginny. I think it’s finally hit me. If anyone had to be jealous, it was you. I had a loving family around me, something that that wanker Voldemort robbed you off. I wish you weren’t dead, mate. I promise you; I will avenge you and get Bellatrix. Though Ginny has first dibs. I-”
He was cut off by an explosion in the distance. Ron turned behind to see smoke rising from somewhere in Hogsmeade. The teenager groaned good-naturedly, “Never a moment’s peace, eh mate? Bloody Hell, these Death Eater wankers are bloody inconsiderate.”
ELSEWHERE
Harry Potter slowly woke up and found himself buried under a pile of rubble. He gingerly got up, groaning as he felt his bones pop. The boy grumbled, “Anyone get the number of the hippogriff that hit me?”
Strangely, no one answered his question, and that got him to notice his surroundings. He was completely alone in some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland. There weren’t even any distinguishing landmarks for him to identify which country he was in, if he even was in Great Britain or Scotland.
He took out his wand and tested it on a nearby broom. Unfortunately, his Levitation Spell was quite weak. He tried a few other spells, charms, jinxes and curses. Every single one of them were severely underpowered. Finally, he tried a locator spell, asking for the nearest piece of civilization. His wand spun and pointed in a random direction, and he was about to start walking when he paused. Harry mentally smacked himself for his stupidity, “No way am I walking that far!”
Finally, he noticed the broom that he tested, and shrugged, “Well… It’s no Firebolt, but it’ll do for now.”
He kicked off and began flying in the direction that his wand had indicated. Hours passed and there was still no sign of human life. Very soon, day turned into night and he was beginning to feel a little stiff from being in the same position all day. So, he flew down, dismounted and decided to camp for the night. He made an inventory of his food rations, which consisted of an assortment of sweets from Honeydukes. There were also a few leftovers from the Three Broomsticks, that they were planning to sneak into the Gryffindor Common Room.
Having grown up with the Dursleys, he had learned to try and eat just enough to sustain himself. As night fell, he built a campfire and used an under-powered Incendio to light it. The nest day, he woke bright and early and set off once again on the borrowed broom. Once again, he flew for hours, and that lasted until he spotted a familiar structure in the distance. It was definitely Hogwarts, so he willed his broom to go faster.
However, as he flew closer, he saw the state of the castle. While it was still standing, it had clearly seen better days, with so many holes peppering it. The Black Lake was non-existent, and the Forbidden Forest was nothing but a stretch of dead trees. Harry landed by the front entrance and then slowly walked inside the castle. The castle was practically a ghost town, without the ghosts. As he entered the Great Hall, he uttered to himself, “What the bloody hell happened here? Where is everybody?”
Suddenly, another voice broke the silence, “They died, Harry Potter… Thousands of years ago.”
He spun around to see none other than Voldemort emerge from the shadows. The Dark Lord looked exactly the same as their last meeting, bald head, slit nostrils and pasty white skin. Harry scrambled to bring out his wand, and aimed it at his arch-nemesis, “You have a lot of nerve showing your face here and desecrating this place. Now, what did you do to Hogwarts!?”
Voldemort was unfazed at Harry pointing his wand in his face. He walked over and sat on one of the long benches, “This is what becomes of our world, thousand years in the future.”
He sighed, “Bellatrix truly did not understand the repercussions of her little plan. I had made it explicitly clear that this battle was between you and me. That spell that she hit you with, was an old Black Family spell. As you have now guessed, it sent you into the future.”
Harry shook his head, “Then how are you still here?”
Voldemort shot him a look, “You should know that, Potter. I am immortal because of my Horcruxes. I am the sole remaining survivor of earth. All the people are gone. This world belongs to the cockroaches now, and me, I suppose.”
Harry sneered at him, “And how’s that working out for you? Also, why did you decide to tell me about your Horcruxes? If you’re going to be some big bad villain, shouldn’t you not tell your sworn enemy the only way to beat you? You clearly suck at being a villain.”
“Which is why I need your help, Potter.”
Harry shot him a disbelieving look, “And why should I help you? You’ve tried to kill me since I was a baby. Also, aren’t you hell-bent on world domination and Pureblood supremacy?”
Voldemort scoffed, “World domination? In the short-run, it was the idea. Walk with me, Potter.”
Reluctantly, Harry walked with his sworn enemy, until he reached what looked like a memorial. He recognized the statue, himself. Voldemort spoke, “Your funeral was an emotional affair. The whole of Wizarding Britain turned up, even Minister Scrimgeour.”
Harry snarked, “Glad you enjoyed it.”
Voldemort scoffed again, “As a matter of fact, I did. But if there is one thing that thousands of years of isolation taught me, it was perspective. It took me that long to realize that my lust for power was meaningless and the downfall of the Wizarding World. We won the war and occupied Britain. From there, we conquered the entire Wizarding World. The Americans put up a fight, but we defeated them in a decade.”
He snorted, “With each victory, my arrogance grew. Then, we turned our sights on the Muggle world. That was when things went horribly wrong. We attacked the various muggle politicians. Say Potter, you grew up in the Muggle world. What do you know of nuclear warfare?”
Harry replied, “Enough to know that no one can survive a nuke. You must have been mad to try and challenge the Muggle world. Congratulations! You’ve ended the Wizarding World and absolutely stomped on the Statute of Secrecy." Voldemort continued, "Your Order of the Phoenix put up quite a fight. A month after your disappearance, Lucius and I, led an ambush and destroyed the Order. Your friends were particularly vicious. Your girlfriend even managed to kill Bellatrix, with the help of the Longbottom boy. However, our numbers soon overwhelmed them and they all died heroic deaths. One thing was for sure, after we snuffed out the Light side, we set our sights on the Muggle world. As I mentioned, this wasteland was the result of us punching above our weight.”
After some uncomfortable silence, Harry asked, “So what now?”
Voldemort said, “We need to head to the Department of Mysteries, whatever’s left of it. We’d best be careful though. This land may be devoid of humans, but there are still creatures lingering around. Once upon a time, they may have been normal animals, but have since mutated into grotesque creatures.”
With that happy thought, the two unlikely allies left the relative safety of Hogwarts Castle. Surprisingly, they did not meet any of the creatures that Voldemort warned him about. Eventually though, they reached a ruined building, which was supposed to be the Ministry of Magic. There was no elevator, so they trekked down the stairs to where the Department of Mysteries, was supposed to be. It was not as eerie as it was when he first visited the place, but he did recognise a few objects. One of them was the Veil, the very thing that cost him his godfather.
Voldemort stopped in front of a fairly large device and waved his wand to activate it. For a few frightful moments, nothing happened. Then, it sputtered to life and activated, forming a portal in front of them. Harry gaped at him, "Wait... you knew that this was here, all along? Why didn't you just go back and stop yourself?"
The Dark Lord snapped, "Fool! Do you have any idea what a big mess it would be for me to interact with my past self? Besides, my younger self would think that I am an imposter and kill me on the spot! You must be the one to go back. As it is, this is my punishment for my hubris. Now tell me, what progress have you made with my Horcruxes?"
Harry counted them off his fingers, "There was the diary in second year, then the Gaunt ring in my fifth year and Slytherin's locket, about a month ago, which is my sixth year."
He nodded, "I see, there is also Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, Ravenclaw's Diadem and my familiar, Nagini. Also, I sensed that you are a partial Horcrux. Hufflepuff's cup is in Bellatrix's Gringotts vault. I am aware that you are Lord Black, through your godfather. You can use that title to reclaim the item from her vault. Unfortunately, I know not, where the Ravenclaw Diadem is, though I believe that it is somewhere in Hogwarts. You may also have to face Nagini in open combat in order to kill her and the Horcrux. However, your case is different. Since you were an incomplete Horcrux, there is no need for you to die. I'd suggest going to a Curse-Breaker to remove it."
As Harry prepared himself, Voldemort punched in some coordinates and gave him some parting words, "You have to stop me, by any means necessary. Good luck, Harry Potter."
The teenager stepped closer, before turning back to his arch rival-turned ally. He said, "Once all this is done, what happens to this version of you?"
"Do not worry about me. Return to your friends. Do what you do best, Potter. Save the world from my hubris."
With one final hand-shake Harry stepped through the portal and he was soon gone.
Back at Hogwarts in the present day, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were wandering around listlessly. Harry's death had hit everyone hard, but they were the worst affected. Their fellow Gryffindors did everything in their power to help them just function somewhat normally. They were all in the Great Hall, when it happened. Hermione and Ginny were listlessly eating, while Ron was also absently playing around with his food. Suddenly, Right between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, a large portal opened up, causing the three of them, and several other students to jump in surprise. The portal shimmered, and Ron stammered, "Wh-what the bloody hell is happening, Hermione!".
She shook her head, "I honestly don't know! How can random portals just open up right in the middle of the Great Hall!"
Ginny asked frantically, "Death Eaters?!"
Ron called back, "Doubt it, but I'm not taking any chances!"
He raised his wand and pointed it at the swirling portal. Just then, a figure was spat out, and sent tumbling to the ground. Ginny saw a hugely familiar messy mop of black hair and her breath caught in her throat. Then the figure stood up and everyone got a look at him for the first time. Hermione stammered, "H-H-Harry? Is that you? This isn't a dream, is it?"
Harry looked at her and had a big smile, "Hey guys... I'm back."
Tears in her eyes, Ginny squealed, "HARRY!"
She flew at him and tackled him in a flying hug and crashed her lips against his. Hermione followed her immediately and wrapped him in a tight hug, pecking his cheek. When they let go, Ron slowly walked up and then gave him a big bro hug, before he quipped, "I'm not kissing you, mate. I don't swing that way."
Harry grinned back and returned the hug, "Hey, if my best mate was vaporised right in front of me and came back after Merlin knows when, I'd want to hug the life out of them too."
Then the rest of the school cheered, as several members of the DA came up to hug him, pat him on the back and welcome him back. Surrounded by his friends, he asked, "So... how long was I missing in action?"
Neville spoke up, "You went missing for a week. What happened to you, Harry."
Harry gave a weak grin and simply said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."