Arriving on streams of magic
Harry woke to the feeling of being squeezed through a tube. Like apparition only so much worse. If he could scream, he would.
While his mind was struggling to grasp the situation. his stomach was already reacting. Violently. Bile was burning its way up his throat. Cramps twisting his inwards as he was squeezed and tugged simultaneously.
As soon as he was released from the tight hold of magic, he hit the ground face first. Sharp pain zapped through his body and the taste of blood filled his mouth. Gagging in between gasped breaths, he rolled onto his side. Curling up, he could taste blood in his mouth.
Dazedly he realised he had bit his tongue. A small dribble of blood was dribbling down his chin from his nose bleeding as well.
"So typical," Harry slurred out. Pressing his head against the cold marble food he sighed. "Now the only thing missing would be for me to open my eyes and look right at a Basilisk. Would be just my luck too."
'Quite right you are, dear.' A soft voice said from out of nowhere.
Flinching, Harry stiffened. He thought he was alone. Where was he anyway? Tensing even further, he recalled the violent sensation he had just gone through.
'Relax, dear one, no harm shall befall you in this place.' There was a small pause before a sigh could be heard. 'That is unless you bring it upon yourself….again.' The voice sounded exasperated. 'You are terrible reckless sometimes, dear.'
Opening his eyes Harry blinked a few times. The floor he was on was strangely familiar and yet something was strange. It was very confusing.
He heard feathers fluttering. 'Yes, I guess it does look different here.'
Lifting his head, Harry's body stiffened. In front of him were scales. Following their pattern up, up, up his mouth fell open. A snake; one awfully familiar. Letting his gaze slide up even further he nearly choked on his own breath. No, not a snake. He felt a shudder go down his spine as his locked eyes with the yellow orbs of a Basilisk.
Instantly his body froze in place; completely unable to move. His muscles were locking up more and more. His mind went blank.
Being as fixated on the sensation as he was, he startled when a light weight settled on his head. Startlement turned into shock when said weight resulted in his head falling face first onto the ground again.
'Looking a Basilisk in the eye as your first instinct Harry? Really?' As the weight on his head shifted, a hair strand of his was picked up. 'Foolhardy little chick.' It was settled back down in a slightly different position and another strand was picked up. He was being preened.
Having his head pressed to the floor as it was, Harry barely managed to mumble out a response. "You could have warned me." His muscles were loosening up now, though slowly.
'I did.' Pulling sharply on his hair, the female voice chided. 'You need to learn to listen.'
After another especially hard tug Harry spoke again. "Not to be rude, but what are you doing on my head? And…who are you?"
'Isn't it obvious? I am preening you.' Shifting her weight, the tugging continued on the other side of his head.
"Pree-….but why?!"
'I am doing it to tame your terrible ruffled feathers, of course. Really, you should take better care of them.' Unintelligible grumbling followed. They were laced with indignation at his lack of proper self-care.
Bewildered at the strange conversation, he wondered if he was talking to a bird. He could speak to snakes after all, were birds now included in the list? What was going on?
'And you know my name, dear one.' There was tiptoeing on his head. Claws lightly grazing his scalp as yellow eyes appeared in his line of vision.
Feeling like he was staring at the Basilisk all over again, his breath hitched. An all-too-familiar gaze was pinning him down. 'After all you were the one to give it to me.'
Harry was completely still as his eyes roamed over the soft white feathers of his first friend. Blinking rapidly, tears formed in his eyes. Small droplets rolling down his cheeks. This couldn't be, wasn't possible.
He wanted to avert his eyes, but was too terrified she would vanish. His familiar had died. She had taken a curse meant for him. Until this day he had never forgiven himself for that. It should have been him. She should never have had to-
Tears dripped down his chin, mixing with dried blood. Voice chocked with emotion, he croaked. "Hedwig…"
'Yes, dear one.' The same soft voice answered. Hedwig's voice.
"But how…you are-…I mean-!" He wanted to say so much, to apologise and beg for forgiveness. Yet all that came out was, "You are just a bird! Birds can't talk!"
Yellow eyes previously filled with love narrowed to angry slits. Suddenly a sharp beak was attacking him over and over. 'What do you mean with,' her attacks became faster with every word. 'JUST,' an especially hard peck followed, 'a bird?!'
Without thinking he freed one of his hands from under his body and softly petted her ruffled feathers. “Sorry, sorry!” Huffing Hedwig stopped her relentless attack after one last painful strike.
Her pearly white head disappeared from his view. He just knew she had pushed out her chest and was glaring down at him; like she used to do when near Pigeons.
'If you had paid better attention you would have realised that I am in fact not speaking to you in the regular sense. Or did you see my beak move when I talked, you insolent chick?'
"But-…I mean- How…?" Flabbergasted, Harry idly wondered if he had hit his head too hard and was only imagining this weird conversation. He had landed pretty hard…
'Your head is perfectly fine. Well, except for your apparent inability to treat others with the proper respect.' Harry couldn't help the little twitch of his lips as he listened to Hedwig grumble on and on about 'being under appreciated' and that she 'should have known' and something about 'messy feathers'.
Feeling her glare holes in him, he wisely suppressed the laughter bubbling up inside him. A snort escaped him anyway.
Quickly switching topic to prevent retaliation, he blurted out. "Eh…Hedwig…I am sorry, but… if you don't talk to me and I didn't hit my head then…how can I hear you?"
Hedwig sighed before gracefully jumping off Harry. Landing on the floor directly in front of him. He craned his neck to see her better.
'Harry, dear, you don't hear me. Our conversation is only in your head.'
With that Harry let his head fall back onto the floor with a soft thump. "So, you are telling me…I am hearing voices in my head? Again?!"
A hard peck to his head was the fast response.
'You were never hearingthings Harry. As I am sure you know very well. The Basilisk did speak. It wasn't your fault that that others couldn’t hear it.'
Harry's despairing snort made Hedwig huff angrily. 'Really, stop with that nonsense. Being able to do things others can't isn't a bad thing. It makes you the person you are. It makes you my dear Harry, my chosen one, mine. So, stop being ridiculous and start acting more like the brave, determined and very lovable young man you are.'
Nearly as an afterthought she struck him again. 'And why are you still on the floor? You are going to mess up your feathers even more! And after I preened them so carefully too. Up, up, I say!'
Stumbling to his feet, Harry kept his eyes tightly closed. Still a Basilisk in front of him after all. Shifting from foot to foot, he hoped there were not more surprises waiting for him. At least none quite as shocking. Also, why hadn't he heard any noise coming from the Basilisk since waking up….
'Better…now, as I was saying, you are the only one talking out loud. I can now speak to you mentally since we have finally achieved a proper familiar bond.'
Being made aware of it, he realised he was indeed hearing her in his head. Huh. 'No one beside you can hear me and once you have trained a bit the same will apply the other way around.'
'Think of it as a two-way mirror in your head. As our bond deepens and your abilities grow, we might even be able to see each other that way. No matter the distance. For now though you can only hear my voice. '
'Train communicating with me to improve. That will make it easier for me as well. On your current level, all the required magic and focus is provided by me. Something I can only keep up for so long at a time.'
"Okay. I will.”
Hedwig puffed up in pride. 'Good. As expected of my chick.'
"What is our current range?"
'That we will have to test out. Depends on multiple factors. But that is for another time."
"Alright. So…” He hesitated briefly before straightening his posture. “Hedwig… how are you alive? I mean I saw-” Gulping past the knot forming in his throat, he forced the next words out. “I saw you die. Held your lifeless form in my hands. You were-...because of me- " A soft head snuggled close.
'Oh, dear one, it is ok.' Harry only nodded mutely. 'I am your familiar. Your magic is deeply connected with my very soul….I may disappear for a while, but I shall always come back. As long as you live so shall I. Not even Death can part us, dear one.'
Hedwig snuggled even closer. 'Beside Death wouldn't do that anyway. He has sped the process up, so I could return to you faster. He sent me to guide you.'
Gratitude made Harry's heart warm. Maybe there was a reason he resonated so well with the Hallows.
Hedwig huffed indignantly. 'Though Death could at least have taken the time to explain the situation properly to you.'
Harry tilted his head in confusion. “But he said time was running out…”
Hedwig looked up as if praying for patience. 'Death took you to one of his realms. Which is completely removed from the concept of time. Time literally does not exist there.'
“But then why…?”
'Don’t let his usual monotone voice and serious demeanour fool you. Death has a very…unique character. Sometimes he just likes to leave the little details to others.'
“Little details like life-changing events?” Harry gaped.
'His perspective on the world differs greatly from yours, Harry. Yet in some ways you are oddly similar.' She added the last part with an exasperated grumble.
Unsure whether or not to take that as an insult, Harry remained quiet.
Suddenly the air around them hummed. Hedwig huffed. 'Death also likes to be overly dramatic.' An electric shock missed Harry's ears only by a few centimetres making the hair in his nape stand on end. His familiar casually took a small step to the side, easily avoiding being hit. 'See?'
Shuddering Harry stared at the daring bird. Dear crazy Hedwig. He had missed her.
'Well, anyway, you can open your eyes. The Basilisk won't kill you nor will its gaze.'
Hedwig fixed him with a look. 'He never had any intention to stun you before. He simply did not expect you to directly look into his eyes right after waking up…Since anyone, especially you, should know better than doing something like that.”
She glared at him before sighing. 'Anyway I had a little chat with him before you woke up. Even managed to introduce him to a few nice roasters, who could be coerced into signing him lullabies from time to time.'
Harry’s chin fell open, disbelievingly staring at a smug looking Hedwig.
"You did what?!"
Hedwig rolled her eyes. 'Roaster only kills Basilisk if they crow wrong. By using their voice in the right manner, they can help Basilisk sleep and train up their resistance at the same time. He has sleeping issues, he was quite grateful.'
He was about to comment when he heard the massive snake they had been talking about rumble in a deep hissing voice. "Your familiar is right."
Harry's head swivelled around to stare at the Basilisk, keeping his eyes lowered from his eyes.
"I was only slithering closer to you since you suddenly dropped onto the floor after being magically deposited into this world. As if I would ever attack anyone without a proper reason, I am no brute."
The Basilisk made a sound similar to a snort. "Opposite to some beings, Basilisks have manners. And a potent healing ability." He added smugly.
Harry blinked, deciding to simply accept the madness surrounding him as reality for the moment. His friendship with Luna Lovegood had somewhat prepared him for situations like this. Potter Luck ensured they were more common than rare. Still his brain felt deep fried.
"Into this world….huh…"
Harry looked around the room. It didn't take him more than a moment to realise why the floor was so familiar. This was the Chamber of Secrets just not the one he knew. Whereas there had been nothing but cold stone and statues before, there was now a beautifully decorated chamber.
On both sides there were statues of wizards and witches, dragons, Veelas, Nymphs and all kinds of creatures and beings imaginable. Harry was even fairly sure he saw a small statue of an imp towards the back of the hall.
There was no obvious order in which the statues and sculptures stood. But that could be his lack of knowledge speaking.
Between two sculptures of wildly arguing creatures in the back, there was a small natural lake. Small fish swimming within. Behind the lake was the mouth Harry remembered the snake in his second year coming out of. Though instead of a snake water was constantly flowing out of it and into the lake.
On the far left side Harry could see a small part of the lake flowing down into nothingness. Flowing down the edge of the marble floor and simply disappearing beneath.
Shaking his head Harry could only assume it was some kind of magic and resumed his investigation of the room.
Looking up he saw the Sky, or what appeared to be the Sky, reminding him of the ceiling of the Great Hall. Apparently today was a sunny day outside as there were no clouds to be seen. After studying the enchanted ceiling for a moment, Harry let his eyes drift again.
It was painfully obvious that this was not the Chamber of Secrets he knew. It was similar, though only in some aspects. The size of the hall was the same and the Basilisk was here as well. Though unless this was also somehow located in Hogwarts that was where the similarities ended.
This Chamber of Secrets was a bright, elegant hall that made one feel at home and at ease. There was no feeling of threat here and it was well-lit as well; the bright Sky above and the floating balls of magic made sure of that.
Harry watched one of the balls of magic drift past him slowly. Holding up his hand he stopped it mid-flight and stared at it confused. It wasn't hot like he had thought it would be. The bright yellow ball of energy only emitted comfortable warmth.
This would explain why it wasn't cold in here as it was in the Chamber of Secrets he had been in when he was twelve. Letting the ball of magic go he watched as it went back in its routine slowly drifting away.
A closer look revealed that between some of the sculptures and statues there were bookshelves and elegant armchairs in the colours of the rainbow.
Eyes full of wonder, he gazed back at his familiar.
"Hedwig, where exactly are we?"
'We are in the Chamber of Secrets, dear.' Hedwig's voice whispered in his head as she settled on the floor once again. 'The Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts, Great Britain, Earth.' She elaborated after a moment.
"But not the Earth I know."
Hedwig hooted softly. 'You are right, dear one. We are in a parallel universe to the one you grew up in.'
She tilted her head in the way only owls could. 'And that's exactly why I need me to guide you. Death granted me insight in some of the history and workings of this world. With this information I, as your familiar, will help you to find your way.'
"A parallel universe….?" Harry mumbled to himself. "I have heard of those before. I think Dudley had an obsession with a series focused on that topic." He hummed thoughtfully. "Does that mean that everything will be different here?"
Hedwig tilted her head to the other side. 'Different it will be, yes, though it is a parallel, so some fundamental things will stay the same. You will recognise many of the people here or their appearance anyway. You must remember that they may look the same and even have the same name, but that doesn't mean that they are the same person. They might have grown up in completely different circumstances.'
Yellow bird eyes gazed at him with deep wisdom reflecting in their depth. 'Try not to let the shadows of your past mist your view, dear one. It could lead to dangerous situations.'
Harry crouched down in front of his friend and absent-mindedly petted her feathers. "I will try my friend. I will try." He stared blankly ahead for a moment before speaking again. "….Do you think I will ever be able to return? See Hermione and Ron again? Or Remus?"
A soft sad hoot was the only response he received.
Harry sighed before nodding determinedly to himself. "I guess I will have to think about that later. Maybe we will come up with some solution…" He trailed off. “This is a new world with new possibilities after all.”
Hedwig softly pecked his petting hand. 'You are messing them up again, dear.' Kind yellow eyes captured his own. 'Don't worry, dear one. Everything will become clear in time. It always does. For the meantime, stop worrying so much. Your friends will be fine.' Harry only snorted disbelievingly, but didn't retort.
"My friend will be here soon." The Basilisk suddenly spoke up from behind Hedwig, slithering closer. "If you prefer not to make his acquaintance, you should go now. Jump down the edge the water disappears from. Imagine the place you want to go to as you fall and you shall arrive there safely."
"Your friend….?" Harry paused for a moment recalling what Death had said to him. "The charm was intended to-! Oh!" Realisation suddenly lit up in his eyes. "Your friend doesn't happen to be….Salazar Slytherin?"
There was an agreeing hiss from the giant creature. "Yes, that is exactly who I am talking about. And I am quite sure that your dramatic entrance must have …startled him quite a bit."
Shaking its head, it continued in a mischievous tone. "Salazar is very protective as who and what he sees as his. You should keep that in mind in the future."
He mumbled something else under its breath Harry couldn’t understand before hissing excitedly. "Yes, you should definitely remember that, little Parselmouth. After all, he would be highly intrigued by you. And he tends to be intense when something interests him."
Harry was just about to question the snake further when he was unceremoniously picked up by his cloak. The Basilisk had its dangerously sharp fangs buried in the material mere inches from his neck and proceeded to slither with him towards the edge.
“What the-!”
Carrying him all the while as a lioness would her cup until he was suddenly dropped over the edge.
“Aaaa-!”
'Think of a location! Quick!.' Hedwig instructed.
Imagining a side-street of Diagon Alley as in-detail as possible, hoping for the best. He had not seen the version of the area of this world after all. Splinching was a horrible experience to be avoided at all cost.
Instead of feeling like he was being squeezed through a tube, Harry found himself and Hedwig being embraced by what felt like a soft blanket.
In the distance he could hear the fading voice of the Basilisk. "This promises to be highly amusing. I wonder how long it will take for them to realise that-"
The darkness around them tightened in a lieu of a firm hug as Harry became aware of the magic flowing around them. No, it wasn't flowing around them but through them. Carrying them along a stream of magic.
"-…found…Shame I am not allowed to-"
The voice faded out completely and for a moment the magical stream and the darkness was all there was. Then, without warning, the stream disappeared from beneath them. A soft pop sounded before the sounds of a busy street nearby replaced the quietness of the Chamber of Secrets..