Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Living at the end of the world sucked. Morrigan hadn’t told him where she was sending him for training before she’d thrown him here, but what few people there were had filled in the blanks.
Knowing that the fae were either dead or had left the earth and that the mundane people hadn’t taken the reveal of magic so well was a bitter pill to swallow. Still, to reduce the world to this? What had gone wrong? What had caused this level of hostility? The muggle government in Britain had known about the wizards for years? What had caused them to begin a war with the magical world? What had they done to reduce the world to this?
Harry made his way down what had once been a city street. Skeletal birds flew overhead and a dog with scales instead of fur snarled at him as he passed. Harry kept his hands loose at his sides ready to draw his sword at any moment. Morrigan had dropped him in what had once been London, but there was no sign of the once thriving city.
Harry slowly approached the abandoned house. He winced as he heard the feral growls in the distance. The dog must have called friends. He didn’t have much time. He was too tired to fight them and magic in this world was nearly nonexistent. He really didn’t want to waste what power he had left if he could help it.
Walking up the sagging wooden steps, he stepped onto the porch. He winced as he saw what had once been a porch swing. The iron chain was covered in a greenish slime and the wood of the swing pulsed slightly as if it were breathing. Giving the swing a wide birth, he approached the door and gripped the doorknob. He tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t move to the right or left. It was as if the knob had been dipped in concrete.
Drawing back his leg, Harry kicked the door as hard as he could. His foot sank into the wooden door with a wet thud. With some effort, he pulled his leg out of the door. He grimaced. There was no choice. Raising his hand, he made a slashing motion at the door.
The wand strapped to his back underneath his shirt warmed slightly and the door swung open with a ripping sound. Hesitantly, Harry stepped inside. And looked around the room his heart sinking.
This had once been a nice little house, but now everything was ruined. Cracks and streaks of rot covered the walls and furniture. The ceiling sagged alarmingly and some sort of moisture ran along the floor. The floorboards creaked loudly as he stepped inside. Sniffing the air, he could smell spoiled meat, wet earth, mold, and something else.
Deep down, he knew there was no reason to explore this house, but they needed provisions. Most importantly, they needed water and water that was free of contamination was nearly impossible to find.
As he stepped further into the room, the door behind him started to move. Drawing his sword, Harry spun around and slashed at the door. The enchanted bronze blade cut neatly through the door right above the hinges. The door fell flat on the floor with a wet splat. Looking down at his sword, Harry saw that the blade was covered in spongy green wood.
“Gross,” he muttered. Sighing, he held a finger over the blade. The wand at his back warmed again and the fungus burst into flame. While the fungus burned, Harry used the sword as a make-shift torch and looked more closely at his surroundings.
He was obviously in what had once been a kitchen. Cabinets lined one wall and a rusting stove sat in the opposite corner. His eyes widened when he saw a fridge next to the cabinets. As excited as he was, he had to be very careful. He hesitantly approached the fridge. His heart beat faster as he got closer to the door. A rustling overhead caused him to look up.
What had obviously once been a spider swung from long rope-like webs. Dozens of legs twitched excitedly and the spiders pincers clicked menacingly. “Bloody hell, I don’t have time for this.”
The spider let out a low keening sound and swung towards him. Swearing in frustration, Harry drew his sword and backed away from the spider thinking quickly.
As magical as the sword was, it wasn’t going to do much against a hungry spider the size of a large dog. To make matters worse, he bet that thing was poisonous and if he was bit, he would be dead. If he were wrapped up in webs, he was also dead, so he estimated his chances of surviving this thing as one in three.
“Damn,” he muttered. “If I drain my wand of magic, I’m gonna have to start drawing on my reserves.” Waving a hand, a circle of light sprang up around him just in time. The spider’s webs struck the circle with a loud ‘crack.’
Harry could feel the wand’s warmth against his skin. He had to hurry. He had no idea how much magic was left in that thin stick of wood. He was just glad he’d learned that it was a magical power source. The spider struck the circle again and Harry felt the vibrations all the way down to his toes. He winced. Either his shield was getting weaker, or the spider was getting stronger.
He looked around the room desperately. There had to be something he could use, but what? His eyes fell on the wooden door on the floor. It might be rotten in corrupt, but it was still wood. Concentrating on keeping his shield, Harry struggled to transfigure the wood. He needed to restore some of its original properties and fast. Gritting his teeth, sweat ran down his forehead and the wand at his back turned from warm to hot. Harry winced as the wood burned his flesh but kept working. Slowly, the door regained the firm rigidity he associated with wood.
Sighing in relief, Harry transfigured the wood, causing long wickedly sharp spikes to grow along its length. With a grunt, he levitated the door and hurled it at the spider just as his shield collapsed in a flash of light.
The door smashed into the spider, driving it to the ground. The wooden spikes impaled the spider, black fluid spurted everywhere. The spider made an angry hissing sound and tried to push the door off, but the spikes held firm. With a snap of his fingers, Harry conjured ropes that bound the spider to the door. Looking down at the raging insect, he made a sweeping motion with his hand. The spider went sailing across the room and struck the far wall with a thud. The ropes wouldn’t hold for long, but they would hold long enough for him to do what he came for.
Harry walked up to the fridge and yanked the door open. The wet smell of rot and the coppery smell of rusting metal wafted towards him. Looking inside, his heart sank.
The fridge was empty. Scowling, Harry allowed the door to swing shut. He looked around the room. Was there anywhere else the occupants of the home might have stored some water? He couldn’t go back to camp empty handed.
He spotted a brass ring in the floor. Hurrying over, he yanked the ring. A trap door swung up and landed on the floor with a crash. Harry looked down into the darkness below. Clicking his fingers, the space below was lit with a soft blue glow.
His heart leapt as he saw stacks of plastic water bottles just below him. Quickly, Harry shrank the bottles before using a gust of air to pull them to him. Tucking the bottles in the jacket he wore, he allowed the trapdoor to swing shut.
A loud cracking sound drew his attention. Looking over, he saw that the spider was beginning to chew through the wooden door. “Bugger all,” Harry muttered. He was out of time. Whether there was food here with the water, he had to get out of here.
Harry concentrated. The wand at his back warmed slightly and the door burst into flame. The spider let out a shriek as the door burned. When the flames spread to the floor and walls around the door, Harry turned to exit the house. He’d hoped that the properties of the corrupted wood would make it immune to fire, but apparently, some things in this hellish world didn’t change. Within seconds, the kitchen was ingulfed in flames. Harry hurried towards the place where the door had been.
Stepping out of the house, he saw a short stocky figure standing at the bottom of the wooden steps.
“Harry Potter,” the figure said in a low musical voice. “Long time no see. You’re looking good for a dead man.”
Harry stopped at the top of the steps. “And you are?”
The figure stepped into the light of the burning house and Harry saw he had leathery tanned skin, long fingered hands, and bright green eyes.
“You’re a brownie.”
“I was, but there aren’t any houses to work at and no fields to plow.”
“And you know me?”
“It’s been a while since I saw you, but I’d recognize you anywhere.”
“Should I know you?”
The brownie shrugged. “Judging by your age, I’d assume you’re a time traveler.”
Harry nodded. “I came from the year 1992.”
The brownie nodded. “If that’s the case, we just met, but your father did manage to break the curse on me.” He glanced over Harry’s shoulder at the burning house. “Although sometimes I wish he wouldn’t have.”
“Dobby?” Harry asked.
**ROE**
Harry walked back into the grove where Hogwarts had once been. Large oak trees ringed the grove. Their branches formed a great canopy that kept out the rain and wind. A young girl hurried over to him.
“Harry,” she called. “Did you find water?”
Harry nodded and held up the cases of bottled water. “This should keep us for a few days at least.”
The girl took a bottle and hurried back to her parents.
Harry turned to look at Dobby who was staring around the grove. “I thought the explosion was supposed to take out all of Europe. When it didn’t, I assumed there wasn’t enough magic to power the spells.”
Harry shook his head. “Apparently, Luna altered the runes before she died. This,” he gestured around at the grove, “was meant to try and reverse what the wars had done.”
Dobby shook his head. “If it works, it’ll take thousands of years just to fix England. No, you may be our only hope of stopping everything.”
“How? I don’t even know what caused this.”
“Do you have a place where we can talk?”
Harry led the way to a large oak at the far end of the grove. A bed of fresh leaves lay at the bottom of the tree along with a flat stone. Dobby looked around.
“Not the most comfortable bed, is it?”
“We make do with what we have.” Harry sat down with his back against the oak. “You wanted to talk?”
Dobby waved a hand and the world around them grew silent. “I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”
“Should you really be using magic like that?”
Dobby looked away. “Why not? Why exactly should I try and survive? I may be the last of our race left on earth. You’ve given me a bit of hope, but only in the sense that you may be able to stop this hell before it starts.”
“But how do I do that? I don’t even know why the world is like this let alone what started it.”
“If you’ll shut up, I’m gonna tell you.”
“Touchy.”
“You try living in a world where everything tries to eat you for a hundred years and tell me how touchy you get.”
“Point taken.”
Dobby stared off into space for several moments before speaking. “I suppose this all starts with Lucius Malfoy and Ginny Weasley.”
“Those are two names I never thought I’d here in the same sentence.”
Dobby ignored him. “You are aware of the attacks at Hogwarts?”
Harry nodded. “We are, but we can’t figure out what’s causing them.”
“Allow me to clear things up. Ginny Weasley is being controlled by a shadow of Tom Riddle. She’s being forced to open the chamber in an effort to not only get rid of the Muggle-born but restore Voldemort to a corporeal form as well.”
“Okay,” Harry said. “Ignoring the question of why, how did this start World War III?”
“You and the girls managed to stop the monster, but the damage was done. Ginny died and Lucius used her death as a rallying call for all the purebloods. He pointed out how they’d been treated during the attacks when they did nothing wrong.
At the same time, the Muggle-born viewed Ginny’s attacks as a sign that the purebloods didn’t want them in the wizarding world. They went back to the Muggle world, exposed everything that happened, and hostilities between wizards and muggles began. Within a year of Ginny’s death, magic was exposed to the world. By the time you and the girls finished Hogwarts, magical Britain was on the verge of a Civil War with the muggles.”
“How did the fae get involved in this?”
“They didn’t, at least not until Voldemort returned. With magical Britain in disarray, Voldemort managed to play on the anger that many felt over Ginny Weasleys death. With Voldemort whispering about the evils of Muggles, and the muggle-born whispering that all wizards were evil bigots, it was only a matter of time before someone fired the first shot.”
“That still doesn’t explain how the fae got involved.”
“Your Mum had hoped to negotiate peace between wizards and Muggles. She knew an all-out war wouldn’t end well for anyone. The talks were starting to show promise when someone killed Niamh with an iron bullet.”
Harry’s eyes widened. He knew his Mum was dead in this timeline, but to actually hear it was heartbreaking. He swallowed thickly. “Did she suffer?”
Dobby placed a hand on his shoulder. “No, it was quick,” he said softly.
“W-what happened next?” Harry whispered.
“The fae were understandably angry. Most of us assumed it was a muggle who fired the gun, but we never got any concrete proof of that.”
Dobby sighed. “If one thing can unite both courts, it’s the murder of a royal. Still, they were cautious. They knew what sort of weapons the Muggles had, and a radioactive earth isn’t good for anyone.”
“I assume Voldemort made the first move?”
“Surprisingly not, the muggle military stormed wizarding villages in the middle of the night. By the time the wizards knew what was going on, several were dead, and many were in custody.”
“How did Voldemort respond?”
“When the wizards were captured, Voldemort went to the fae for help. The fae didn’t trust Voldemort and Voldemort didn’t trust the fae, but the enemy of my enemy and all that. Things escalated bombs got dropped, magic was used in response, probability was changed, and here we are. There are still a few military bases trying to continue the war, but everyone knows it’s pointless. The world is dying and there’s nothing that can be done.”
“And stopping Ginny’s death will keep this from happening?”
Dobby shrugged. “I don’t know that it will stop it, but her death was what Lucius used to justify his attacks on Muggle-born.”
“Do we know how she got the diary?”
Dobby shook his head. “No one was able to figure that one out. Her father blamed Lucius, but the Weasleys and the Malfoys never have been on good terms.”
“This is all very interesting, but how do I stop it when I can’t even get back to my own time.”
Before Dobby could respond, Harry glimpsed movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, his eyes widened. A pack of the scale covered dogs were making their way towards the camp.
“Uh, Dobby, we have a problem.”
Dobby looked where Harry was pointing and swore. “How did they find us?”
“No time for that now. We have to warn the others.”
Dobby dispelled his silencing spell. He and Harry leapt to their feet and hurried into the camp.
Someone had obviously seen the dogs because several of the men had grabbed lengths of wood from the fire. A few drew long knives from their boots. Dobby glanced at Harry. “These people are really not equipped to fight something like those things.”
“You have a better idea?”
“I think I can take them out, but I need you to watch my back.”
“Dobby no, you don’t have much magic left. Let me help you.”
Dobby shook his head firmly. “You still need to get back to your own time. You’re the only one who can stop what’s coming. If you succeed, this world won’t exist, and I won’t have died.”
“But…”
“No buts,” Dobby snapped. “This is the only way these people survive.” Harry followed Dobby towards the dogs. One of the dogs leapt at Harry.
Harry swung his sword, cutting the one of the dogs in half. Black blood splattered his arm. Where the blood touched burned as if he’d dipped his arm in acid.
“Dobby,” he called. “Be careful. I think the blood is acidic.”
“Got it,” Dobby called back smashing one of the beasts skulls with his fist. Brains and more black blood flew on the air. Dobby held up his smoking fist.
“Yep, definitely acidic.”
Harry rolled his eyes as he slashed another beasts throat. “I just told you that.”
“He was too close to use magic,” Dobby snapped. “Now quiet, I’m trying to concentrate.”
“Here,” Harry said. A circle of silver light appeared around Dobby, keeping the hounds from getting to him.
“Harry,” Dobby said. “You can’t use up all your magic.”
“If I don’t use some magic, we’re gonna be eaten before we can do anything. Whatever your gonna do, do it fast.”
Harry turned back to the hounds just in time to see an old man tackled to the ground. Blood flew on the air as the hound dragged the old man out of the grove.
“Harry,” a small voice called. “Help.”
Turning towards the sound of the voice, Harry saw a hound closing in on Sally. The tiny girl was backed up against a tree, her blue eyes wide with fear.
“Dobby,” Harry said. “Sally.”
“Go,” Dobby said his voice strained. “I’ve got this.”
Harry ran over to Sally and was just in time to keep the scaled monster from biting into her throat. Taking up a position in front of Sally, Harry began hurling balls of fire and swinging his sword at the incoming creatures.
Time slowed. All Harry could see was scales, snapping teeth, and black blood. A wave of magic swept through the camp. Every scaled dog imploded becoming lumps of black scaled flesh and bone. Everything stopped. Slowly, the survivors began checking over each other for injuries.
“Sally,” Harry turned and saw a brown haired woman rushing over.
“She’s fine Penelope.”
The woman threw her arms around Harry, heedless of the gore that covered him. “Thank you.”
“Any time.” Harry gently drew away from Penelope and hurried over to Dobby. The brownie lay sprawled on his back, panting rapidly.
“Did we, do it?”
Harry knelt beside him. “Everything is fine. It looks like most of the people here survived.”
“You… you… you have to stop this world from happening.”
“I will,” Harry said. “I promise.”
A circle of light appeared. Two slim hands reached out of the light, grabbed Harry, and yanked him into the portal.
Harry landed in the classroom in front of Niamh.
“Harry,” Niamh said hugging him tightly. “Are you alright?”
Harry drew back and stared at his mother. “I have a lot to tell you.”