Harry remained frozen, his new crown glowing brightly as Eric finished disappearing. Harry suddenly felt something pop in his mind and then he had a new limb. The crown. He could instinctively feel everything that the crown could do, and it felt like it was part of him. He could even feel things through it, like it was covered in skin. The tingling died down around Harry, and he could move again after a couple seconds. Balthazar came out of the shadows.

“Hail the new king,” he said calmly.

“What happened? Where did Eric go?” Harry asked as a sinking feeling hit his gut. Or the patch of mud where his gut would be.

“He has fled,” Balthazar stated, “His soul has returned to your world. He will integrate with your soulless dead body and use the latent magic of the ritual to heal it back to life. It was a trick, all to get you to accept the responsibilities of kingship without knowing what you were agreeing to. That’s what allowed him to escape and finally leave this place.”

“So I’m stuck here?!” Harry said in shock, “Until I trick someone else into accepting this thing? Why didn’t you say anything? You could have stopped him!”

“No, I could not have,” Balthazar said, “All orders of the crown are binding to us servants. Or Demons as Eric used to call us. He ordered me to not dissuade you or explain what was happening and so I was unable to. He’s been waiting a while for a new soul to arrive so he could leave, and gave many orders to me ahead of time before he left to retrieve you.”

Harry felt at the crown in his awareness and felt instinctively that what the demon was saying was true.

“Well, uhm. I order you to not conceal information from me again.” Harry said, “Tell the truth and stuff. And you don’t have to listen to any of Eric’s old orders. If that’s okay?”

Balthazar chuckled, “You’re the king. You can do as you wish. Eric would often have the lesser servants come up here and dance for his amusement until they collapsed exhausted. He was quite a cruel one.”

“Oh. I thought he was… unstable, but not mean. Or at least that mean.”

“Hmmm. Yes, it was not intentional cruelty but indifference,” Balthazar clarified, “He didn’t believe their claims of exhaustion until their muscles could no longer comply with the crown's orders. He was forgetful and did this several times, only listening when the dancers could no longer physically move. He didn’t care about how they felt, only the dances they could do for him.”

“That still seems pretty cruel. I won’t be like that.”

Balthazar eyed Harry for a moment, “Perhaps not. I apologize that you were thrust into this without understanding. I can enlighten you on this place now that you are our king. Is there anything in particular you’d like to ask first?”

“Well, uhm. What is this place? I died, and now I’m here… What happened?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s as good a place as any. Do you know the term pocket realm? Do you have any education in the magical arts?”

“Magical arts? No? Can I learn magic here? What’s a pocket realm?”

Balthazar eyed Harry suspiciously, “Hm. Interesting. You have intrinsic magic generated by your own soul, Harry Potter. You always had magic whether you came here or not. But there is another form of magic as well. This place, this tower, the crown… It gives you authority over this world. And you can draw on it to power spells and changes to its reality, just as you do with your intrinsic magic. It is often called domain magic. Eric Smith had no intrinsic magic, so this domain magic is the only type of magic he had access to. I imagine when he finishes stealing your old body that he may acquire a portion of your intrinsic magic as well. Whatever was left in your body as he integrates with it. We’ll have to see.”

“This place is called a pocket realm, because it is a very small world. No larger than a day or two’s travel in any direction from the tower. Past that is the edge, and nothing but the void. Very unlike your own realm that is trillions of light years or more in diameter from what Eric told me. Having stable planetary orbits and other little details he was able to give me about what your people knew about your realm provided enough for me to assume that much. Although your spherical planet is only in a very small segment of that space.”

“So there’s just an… edge? Nothing beyond it?” Harry asked.

“Indeed. There’s a barrier, but if you managed to pierce it and go through unprotected you would instantly dissolve into nothing.”

“Er, well. Let’s not do that then. What about intrinsic magic? Domain magic? Can you teach me to do it?”

Balthazar nodded, “I can. But there is a reason beyond the obvious that I was disappointed that Eric chose to flee. There is another, more honorable way to leave this place. If you two had worked together then there would have been a much higher chance of it working. Training together to overcome the challenge. Then no one would have had to be unwittingly crowned king and you could have both left.”

“Ok, show me!” Harry said eagerly, “What is it? What’s the way out? Actually, wait… I’m a mud person. If I went back would I have a body?”

Balthazar waved to Harry and started walking off, and he quickly went to follow.

“No. You will have to find an unoccupied body even if this works,” Balthazar said, “It is a puzzle of sorts. A locked door that if unlocked will allow you free of this place if you wish, but also be able to return any moment you wish to.”

“A puzzle?” Harry said, his mood dropping a bit, “Is it hard? Do you think I can solve it?”

“Perhaps. It is difficult, but often new eyes on a problem can provide unexpected solutions.”

“Balthazar?”

The demon looked at Harry even as they kept walking through abandoned obsidian hallways to who knows where.

“Why am I here? Like, I’m dead right? How am I alive in this mud body in this… pocket realm?”

“Your soul was drawn here after death. The body was constructed by an automated spell, a very advanced application of domain magic facilitated by the crown and the tower. Even now the domain magic sustains your form and cognition while rooting your soul firmly in that body to which it does not belong. Not even I know the exact parameters the tower uses to choose the souls. But so far all have been children that died in tragic circumstances. I think perhaps the original creator wished to give such unfortunate ones a chance to inherit his legacy. Someone unknown and who knew true suffering. And with this advanced realm that even many higher wizards would fight to claim dominion over, he must have wished it to not go to some spoiled scion of a noble line.”

“I’m definitely not some spoiled noble… More like a servant,” Harry said as they started walking down a long spiral staircase.

“Being a servant is not so bad. If you have the right masters, that is.”

Harry glanced at the big demon as they emerged into another obsidian hallway and kept walking down it.

“Do you not like it? That I can order you around with this crown? I don’t think I would. If it was me.”

Balthazar looked at him in surprise. “Not many kings in the past have thought to ask me that. I have accepted my lot in life. I do not mind it, truly. If anything I feel pity for the petty tyrants that I’ve had to deal with. They are simply acting out against the unfairness doled out to them in their previous lives. Eric was not the worst I have seen in my time.”

“How many have there been? Kings, children that have come here.”

Balthazar thought hard for a few seconds before shaking his head, “I could not rightfully say. Many. More than I can remember. I have some hope that you will be the last.”

“Why? Do you think I can do the puzzle and… claim this place? What do I have that all the rest of the kids didn’t?”

Balthazar stopped in front of a seemingly random obsidian wall. He stared at Harry for a moment silently, “I do not know why I think so. Something odd swirls about you, beyond your intrinsic magic. Even now I can see it drawing you towards this room. Even now this tendril grows stronger. I suppose we will see soon. Use your crown, and will this door to open. In the room beyond is the gateway out of this place.”

Curious, Harry felt at his crown and immediately knew what Balthazar was talking about. There was a door here, he just knew it somehow. With a flicker of his attention and desire, the door revealed itself and opened wide revealing the room beyond.

The two of them walked inside to a large circular room lined with the same reddish flames that had been present on the elevator. In the center of the room was an empty stone archway, surrounded by dozens of perfectly circular grooves carved into the floor.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Harry went to walk forward, but Balthazar put a hand on his muddy shoulder to stop him.

“This is a test for you and you alone,” Balthazar said, “I can not help you directly, it is part of my bindings beyond even the orders of the crown. But I can assist in teaching you to develop your magic in a more general sense. Do you sense the first barrier? Close your eyes and reach out your arm.”

Harry did so and reached out his arm of black mud and felt something vaguely tingling on his arm.

“Focus on that sensation. This is magic. Your current body being made of domain magic itself is sensitive to even the slightest hint of foreign magic entering it. This is to your advantage. Keep moving your hand in and out of the barrier. Focus on the magic, its sensation on your body. Try to isolate any similar sensation within yourself. This is the first step in the art of sensing magic.”

Harry opened his eyes and withdrew his hand from the invisible barrier.

“Is the puzzle of my… magical skill? So I have to learn as I go to figure things out? But I’m a kid, how am I supposed to figure it out? There’s dozens of these barriers.”

“I do not know how a child is supposed to solve it,” Balthazar admitted, “The last barrier would befuddle even me in its subtlety before I was bound here. It would require a genius to solve. Perhaps whatever strangeness swirling around you will assist. But this is the requirement to inherit this realm, pinnacle magic senses. Each of those barriers represents a perfect dome of magic surrounding the door. In each dome there is a single weak point of varying sizes. You must use your magic sense that you will acquire to find each of these spots. As you go inwards the spots will grow smaller, there may be decoys requiring you to find the point of lowest density of the bunch, the points may begin to move, or other challenges. When you find it, simply reach out and touch the barrier in the desired spot and inject your magic into it. The barrier can sense your will, so you can not guess if you want it to accept your answer. If you are incorrect then you will be thrown from the circle and all the barriers will reset with a new randomized weak point for you to try again. Do you understand?”

Harry processed all of that. “What about the one I just stuck my arm in?” Harry asked.

“That one’s for the basics,” Balthazar said with a grin, “It will let you pass no matter what. A simple tool so you can simply sense the presence of the magic at all. It is perfectly smooth and will fall or rise at the command of your crown.”

Harry felt his crown and stuck his arm in the barrier again. He used the crown to turn off the barrier and the tingling on his arm disappeared. He flicked it on again and the tingling returned.

“Try to localize the sensation,” Balthazar said, “The magic enters you at only a few points and then spreads from there. Can you feel where there’s the strongest sensation?”

“I don’t know…” Harry said, “It, well… Sort of. I can’t really tell.”

“Do not worry. Eric failed because he became frustrated and gave up his efforts after enough time. I sense you will have a stronger resolve. And with your intrinsic magic you will have an advantage for this. I will remain here. Feel free to ask any questions about your skills so long as it doesn’t directly relate to the test itself.”

“Okay. Thanks, Balthazar. I’ll do my best.”

— — —

Time passed. Balthazar stood there motionless, answering Harry’s questions when they came up. Harry was focusing on the feeling of the magic more than he had ever focused on anything he had focused on ever before. It didn’t take much time for Harry to localize where exactly the training barrier was passing through his body. The next part was much harder.

After an unknown amount of time, Harry managed to successfully find the weak point on the first true barrier. Balthazar had taught him with the exterior barrier that he wasn’t limited to sense magic directly on his skin. With some training he managed to sense the exterior magic two or three inches away from his skin. It allowed him to hover his hand directly over the barrier to slowly scan it and try to extend his range. He also learned the basics of pushing his magic into his finger so he could trigger the weak spots when he pressed into them.

The weak spot for the first barrier was ten feet wide and had barely any magic at all compared to the magic of the rest of the barrier. Harry knew immediately when his hand went sensing the vibrant humming magic to nearly nothing. Harry poked the barrier and it fell down, popping like a soap bubble.

“Alright! You see that, Balthazar? I did it!” Harry cheered.

“Very good, King,” Balthazar said, “You are learning quickly. I’m sure you will be through in no time at all.”

Harry turned back to the second barrier with a smile. Maybe he had a chance at this. As he ran his hand over the next barrier he felt his focus narrow and the world became but nothing his hand and the magic below it.

It took a longer time to find the weak point on this barrier. He actually missed it the first time. It was the same large size, but the difference in magic was much less than the first one had been. But his range of magic sensation had extended to five inches from his skin so he was able to search faster as he went. Harry poked the barrier and it fell.

Harry kept going through barrier after barrier, taking longer and longer each time. Carefully scanning the whole thing each time and extending his skill with sensing the magic. Each time Balthazar congratulated him and Harry was feeling better and better about his chances. But at the seventh barrier, Harry guessed wrong.

He poked the weak point and instead of poking through his finger touched something hard. There was a pulse of magic around him and suddenly he was thrown back into the wall. He felt his body squish and splatter against the wall and he slid to the floor. He was worried that he died for a second time, before all of his black mud gathered back together and reinflated into the body shape he was used to. Well, that was super gross. Harry felt himself all over and everything felt the same muddy shape as usual. Well, that was a relief. One advantage to being a mud person it seemed.

“An exemplary first attempt, King,” Balthazar praised, “Most only make it to the fourth barrier their first time.”

Harry stood up, “I want to try again, It must be the one with multiple weak spots. I rushed and just poked the first one. I’ve just got to check the whole thing this time!”

Balthazar didn’t say anything or react except to gesture to the barriers again. Oh, right. He couldn’t help Harry directly. Harry dived right back into the puzzle and started training again. He would definitely get the barrier down this time!

As Harry went back to the barrier, Balthazar finally recognized what the strangeness about the newest king was. What he had thought were swirling tendrils of magic were something entirely different. They were chains. Chains of Fate. And they were tugging the boy towards the exit in the center of the room with all their might.

— — —

The creature stared and the shifting and whirling dots over the shimmering barrier of magic. Its magic sense had improved in leaps and bounds since it had first arrived into the room. As time passed, it had become consumed by the obsession, the compulsive desire to keep training so that it could return through the door in the center, returning to its proper place.

Balthazar had stopped speaking half way through to the creature, realizing that it was no longer listening to him. The creature had only heard a few things that stuck with it as it had been Balthazar’s last words before he went silent.

“A child of prophecy. Taken from the world of his origin… I see. I’m sorry, Harry Potter. Fate will not let you rest until you are back with her, where you are meant to be. I can only hope you can recover yourself again when it is all said and done.”

The creature had vaguely wondered about the words at the time, considering if it should have paid some attention to them. It wondered as it continued to improve its magical senses and learned the tricks of the ever increasing complexity barriers. But it wondered no more, there was only its task. This was the last barrier, it was almost done.

It could almost smell the magic of the door to freedom and its proper place behind the door in the center. Its magical senses now more than covered the room from all directions of its body. It could see the entire barrier at once. Right now it stood in front of a certain spot. It had been observing the pattern of the flickering weak points over the barrier for as long as needed to get a sense of its motion.

Out of the hundreds of points moving over the barrier all at once, constantly changed their strength and speed, even size. It was like watching waves of an ocean crashing and merging into a chaotic mess. And the creature had to press the exact lowest point in the whole surface at the exact instant it was that way before it changed again.

So here the creature stood motionless, its finger poised over a single spot in the barrier. It had nearly pressed the barrier over twenty times by this point standing here. Twelve times the creature had almost pressed before quickly realizing that there was another point that was indeed weaker than the one in front of it. Six times, the creature had not reacted quickly enough, the true weak point just out of reach of where it had kept its finger hovering. The final two times the situation had been perfect, the perfect weak point had appeared directly beneath its finger. Yet, it had doubted and double checked its work. And by the time it was done the waves and swirls of magic had moved on and the opportunity was lost.

If it was still human, it would be frustrated. Its arm would be exhausted and unable to keep its finger perfectly still poised above the barrier and using laser focus to observe the chaotic surface of the barrier without being distracted for a single moment.

The creature did not feel any of this. It was made of mud, sustained by the domain magic of the realm. It was no longer human, and the chains of fate were tugging hard to drive it towards the door and back to its proper place.

Finally, the moment came. The true weak point appeared beneath the creature’s finger and it pressed down firmly. The whole rippling barrier of magic froze as one. The creature's finger remained pushed into the single spot it had been waiting for… days, months, years? All was the same for the creature.

The barrier, unlike the others, didn't fall immediately but began to crack and disappear in chunks like removing the shards of a shattered ceramic plate. The creature wondered what a plate was. The chains of fate tugged harder and it was forgotten.

The barrier was dropping, and after a few seconds it disappeared, revealing the empty doorway. With a single order to the crown on the creature’s head, the doorway flickered with magic and turned into a glowing white portal. The chains of fate twisted and the creature sent new orders to the gateway.

The white changed and swirled until it revealed the form of a red haired girl sprawled on a floor of greenish tile. The chains of fate tugged, and the creature leapt through the doorway without a second thought.

Its mud body dissolved into nothing as it lost the domain magic animating it. The creature was now a single isolated soul, the chains of fate wrapped tightly around it. The chains quickly moved to move the soul. The creature only had a single thought. Relief. It was finally being returned to its proper place after so long of being beyond Fate.

— — —

Balthazar watched with some sadness as the newest king solved the final barrier and fully claimed this realm as his own. He had liked the new boy. He had been mild mannered and thoughtful when asking Balthazar for advice. Been curious about Balthazar himself and asked questions on what he truly thought rather than looking for simple surface information like so many others did. And he had not used a single order the entire time they knew each other besides his first one to tell the truth.

Better than the vast majority of the kings he had seen in his time.

Yet, that boy was gone. There was only Fate’s rabid creature left behind. Balthazar could only hope that one day Harry’s mind would return. He could only hope. Balthazar satisfied himself with the knowledge that this would be the final king. The realm had been claimed and the inheritor had been chosen.

Things would change when Harry Potter returned to them.