Harry walked into his basement. The contractors had been very confused when Harry had requested they make everything larger than life on this level. The heights of the ceilings, massive doorways, oversized furniture, he even had a little kitchen with counters that would be over the heads of most people. But after giving the contractors enough money, they had simply shrugged and put it down to his eccentricity and gotten it done.
Harry was a bit of a loner outside of his close group of friends, so the public made all sorts of wild guesses of what he was really like. He had done all the renovations a year after buying this place, and he didn’t regret it one bit no matter how strange most of his visitors thought it was.
He had long told Neville and Ginny as well as his parents, Alice and Frank, his secrets after he graduated from Hogwarts. He had been worried about it at the time, but they had been surprisingly accepting of everything. Him being the heir of Slytherin had been more shocking for them than his transformation had been when he showed them. They seemed to view it as some sort of strange animagus it seemed and didn’t think any more of it than that. It had taken a few more years before Harry ended up telling Sirius Black, his playful Godfather. As friendly as the man was, Harry hadn’t quite trust him to keep secrets as important as his transformation as the others.
As Harry grew older, his second soul eater form had only grown larger. When he transformed he was nearly four meters tall now, far more than the two and a half he had started as during his first transformation in his second year at school. Harry reached the bottom of the stairs and transformed into his second form, his clothes growing and resizing to fit him.
He sat in one of the chairs nearby that was now just the right size for him and relaxed. After years of being well fed his appetite had settled down, and his formerly skeletal form was now much more filled out. Still much skinnier than a human would be, but his ribs were no longer visible and he sensed that this was his healthy state, that this was how his body was supposed to be.
He only had to eat a live chicken or two from his little farm in the back if he ever got in the mood to feed himself with some souls. Most of his budget went to food, so eating something live every once in a while helped his expenses as well as just being something that he got a craving for if he went too long without it.
“I'm enjoying the decor. You’ve really settled into yourself here,”
Harry looked down and froze when he saw the source of the voice. James Kensit stood there with all his scars, completely unchanged as if only a moment had passed since Harry had last seen him. His soul was shrouded by some sort of glowing film covering his form and blocking Harry’s normal vision of a person's soul.
“I have…” Harry said reluctantly. Why was he coming to Harry after so many years of his complete absence?
“A shame I missed the final battle at Hogwarts,” Kensit said from below, “I was looking forward to seeing it all happen down first hand… but I can’t have it all I suppose. Would you like to go upstairs and talk on more even ground?”
Harry looked down at himself and Kensit’s tiny form below.
“Sure…” he said and the two of them went back upstairs and Harry transformed back into a human before they walked up the stairs.
They sat back down upstairs in the sitting room now more even in height. Kensit looked at ease while Harry was tense, still wondering what had brought Kensit to him. Had something terrible happened to catch his attention?
“So, Harry. Long time no see,” Kensit started after the silence began to grow uncomfortable, “You should be proud of yourself. Successful business owner, plenty of friends, your little venture with the elves… its all very impressive.”
“Thank you,” Harry said, still waiting for the other foot to drop. Kensit stared at him for a moment before sighing.
“I see I’ve been gone for too long,” Kensit said, “I just wanted to say that as your maker, I’m proud of you and your accomplishments. And I wanted you to witness the culmination of everything I’ve been building towards for centuries. To see when I start creating more of your kind.”
Harry stood suddenly alarmed, “More? What do you mean, how? Why?”
“Just look at you,” Kensit said proudly gesturing at Harry not standing from his chair, “You’ve done so much, far more than the average wizard. And that’s with you holding yourself back somewhat to fit in with the other wizards. I’m sure if you massacred some small villages in another country you could be far more powerful than you are right now.”
“I don’t want to do that,” Harry said firmly, not liking the way this was going.
“I know, and I won’t ask you too,” Kensit said with a reassuring tone, ”But I’ll keep creating more of your species until I find one that does. Don’t worry, it won’t happen until long after you're dead if you retain a normal wizard's lifespan. This new race with you as its origin can push the limits of their power to the maximum and force the world to progress and innovate to rise against it! Your race is the one with the most potential I’ve seen in thousands of years. More than the alpha werewolves, more than the vampires, more than all of my other experiments I've released up to this point. Such a fearsome foe in your second form, transformation on command, retaining your magic as a human, and growing in power through the consumption of your powerful foes... I just can’t wait for what the world will do to counter all your race's innate advantages over them.”
“Why are you here?” Harry asked, “I thought you could only create me originally because the forces of prophecy guiding you.”
“True,” James Kensit agreed, “And some methods that I used still confound me even now. But I’m hopeful for some of the prototypes I’ve created. Some of them should survive when I pierce the Veil. With the portal open, I’ll have plenty of time to provide the rampaging souls with bodies of my choosing.”
“Pierce the Veil? What do you mean? The thestrals told me that was a terrible idea.”
“Thestrals? Oh, of course those passive buffoons would say that. Like they’re ones to talk, they are the exact kinds of souls they warn the dangers of, only they found their nice comfy thestral bodies first rather than shopping around like the rest of us. The humans will recover from the disaster in a few decades anyway. What’s that in comparison to the wonder that would be the creation of a completely unique race in this world?”
“I would think the humans would care,” Harry said drily.
“I know you’ve settled in with them,” Kensit said, “So I’ll tell you where and when I’ll do things. Three days, and I’ll take over the Ministry building below London to open the portal. There’s a stone archway there that will assist me in doing it. I have to open the portal then, the celestial alignment will be perfect for piercing the Veil. Normally I would have waited to the end of your natural lifespan to spare you this, but I won’t wait another thousand years for the celestial alignments again. Make sure anyone you care about isn’t there or near London and they’ll have enough time to escape the fallout. If you want to witness the creation of more creatures like yourself, then come and announce yourself in the Ministry. I’d like for you to be there if you want to see the new life that I will create.”
Kensit stood up, a slightly complicated look on his face, “I realize you are young and don’t understand yet, but this really is the best way for progress to happen. Feel free to warn whoever you like, it will make no difference in the end. My defenses will outmatch them. So long, and see you in three days.”
And then with a crack of air Kensit apparated away, leaving a worried Harry behind. He had to warn his friends of what was coming.
— — —
Harry told them and they were justifiably concerned and horrified when Harry told them the results if Kensit kept the portal past the Veil of life and Death open for too long. They anonymously warned the Ministry of what was going to happen but they didn’t seem to take it that seriously, even after their exact description of the stone archway that Kensit was after.
Harry only had one idea that would help him save the people of the Ministry and London above. He had Ragnok locate the biggest spatially expanded trunk he could find in a day and bring it to Harry. It was like a full building in there with the hand held trunk acting as a mobile home of sorts. A home so large that he was amazed that Ragnok had located it so fast.
Harry carried the case at his side and after making himself invisible with the disillusionment charm apparated straight to Azkaban. He appeared on the white stone platform and immediately darted to the side so as not to be seen. One of the nearby Dementors immediately spotted him, seeming to see Harry’s soul. It began to reach up to point at Harry but he opened his mouth and spoke in its language.
‘It's me, Harry Potter. I’m here to speak with One about something important.’
The Dementor lowered its arm and floated in silence and what Harry’s mind interpreted as confusion.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
‘Can you carry me down into the cave?’ Harry asked.
‘Very well, Harry Potter,’ the Dementor said as it lifted him from under the armpits. It did suck in a breath and try to nibble on his soul with its Aura, but Harry kept his soul in a tight grip and the action failed. After a moment the unnamed Dementor stopped and flew him down to the ocean. It plunged into the same cave in the rocks that Harry had entered from before and they flew through the darkness until they reached the cave again. Just like before all the dementors milling around turned their gazes to Harry as soon as he appeared. He was placed down in front of the larger One by the other dementor he came in with.
‘Human? Why have you…’
Harry transformed into his soul eater form and One stopped speaking,
‘Oh, it's you, Harry Potter,’ One said, ‘Back so soon? You’ve certainly grown since we’ve last seen you.’
‘I have a favor to ask,’ Harry said, getting straight to the point. ‘In exchange there will be plenty of free souls for you to consume where I’m going.’
It was a shame 104 and 235 didn't appear to be around at the moment, Harry had run into them occasionally throughout the years and the two of them always lifted his spirits a bit with their good natured bickering. It was probably for the best, he had no time to relax if he hoped to scramble together any preparations for the oncoming disaster.
‘Is this so?’ One said with a more serious tone, ‘And where are these free souls that will not have relatives or descendants swearing revenge on us? You know we remain here because wizards are always out there hunting us down in revenge...’
Harry explained James Kensit’s plan by piercing the veil. One seemed interested and floated thoughtfully for a moment.
‘Very well. A great feast. We are even doing the humans a favor, so things should be fine. How should we get there?’
Harry opened his case and showed them the inside. ‘Right in here,’ he said, ‘And I’ll release you when it's time.’
They complied, and after a few minutes the case was stuffed to the brim. One itself picked up Harry and carried him outside where he apparated back home. Hopefully it would be enough.
— — —
Kensit stood next to the veil. There was a while before he could begin his work in creating the portal. He looked at the empty space to his right. Would Harry Potter come? He hadn’t seemed receptive to Kensit’s vision when he spoke with him three days ago. Kensit had never had much luck in connecting emotionally with his successful creations. Even after all of these centuries, Dracula still refused to speak with him. Ah, he had been such a successful vampire variant as well...
It truly was a shame that he hadn’t done more to help Harry Potter as he developed these last few years. He was too invested in finishing this project first. Hopefully after this Kensit could get closer to him and they could form a more amicable relationship.
Kensit prepared by taking his true prototype bodies and scattered them in a rough circle under the stone archway. They would be receiving the souls that would be streaming out of the archway.
Kensit began transporting his latest batches of failed subjects unconscious and placed them scattered in hidden rooms around the Ministry. His failures in exploring Harry Potter's transformation and new form in more detail all lay still as he carefully transferred them. They should all wake up in thirty minutes or so.
Enough time for some to be discovered by the ministry but not all of them.
The subjects had all gone quite mad in their transitions to their new states, so he was sure they would cause enough chaos to give Kensit enough time to entrench himself enough that he could defend from all comers. And then he could work to perfect the method of creation of the new race without the dependence on the stationary portal to give them life. Kensit cast a series of wards to create some basic defenses around the room while he waited. Couldn’t be too careful with these things.
He pulled out the spherical ward stone from the pouch at his side. His own anti-apparition ward was far more potent than the spells wizards or that this Ministry had access to these days. He placed it on the floor out of the way and it activated. Everything would be locked down, no one would be able to apparate directly on top of him or around the rampaging subjects.
The first subjects began to be found and were promptly attacked by the Aurors. Something that woke them from their sleep early and started the excitement. Within ten minutes, the building of the wizarding was nearly empty except for the groups of fighting Aurors. Kensit sensed that they were slowly pushing back the fifteen subjects that were attacking the building in the main lobby, killing them off one by one. Kensit saw it through the far seeing spell he had placed to watch for Harry Potter’s arrival. The Aurors had nearly won, and only three of the subjects remained fighting.
The Aurors won and spent a few minutes fortifying their position and appeared to relax slightly. Then the two hundred other subjects awakened, the spells keeping them unconscious expiring without any interference. The building shook slightly as their inhuman cries echoed through the building as they began rushing down towards the loud booms of the noise the concentration of Aurors was making in the main floor of the building as they fought the failed experiments they had already awakened.
The battle began anew and the Aurors were rapidly pressed back, but Kensit didn’t truly care about that. Where was Harry Potter? He should have heard of what was happening by now. Just when he thought he wasn’t coming, one of the fireplaces burst into green flames and the boy, no man, himself stepped through. Kensit created an exception in the wards. Before Harry Potter could involve himself in the fighting Kensit apparated in, grabbed him, and apparated back to the room with the veil. He took a step back and looked at the large case held at Harry’s side.
“Brought some luggage?” Kensit asked cheerfully.
“I’ve brought a solution,” Harry replied coldly before opening the case. A swarm of dementors came rushing out until they nearly filled the room. Harry turned to them and said something and they spread out and hugged the walls of the room and retracted their auras before Kensit moved to punish them for their insolence.
“What’s this?” Kensit asked, “Why? …Oh! Ah, ingenious. Of course, they will consume any souls that will escape. That does wrap things nicely up in a bow. No little collateral damage for you to worry about. I should have thought about that first, I don’t think I could have convinced them to be nearly this compliant though.”
“All I did was ask nicely,” Harry Potter said, “They saw the advantage to following along.”
James Kensit snorted, “If it was anyone else I doubt they would have done anything even if we offered all the souls in the world. For embodiments of despair and suffering they are surprisingly lazy when you get down to it.”
He noticed that Harry Potter was ignoring him and inspecting the prototypes laid in a circle around the archway.
“Those will be the next generation once we get started,” Kensit said, “More of your kind. Aren’t you excited!”
“Where did you get the bodies?” Harry asked and Kensit felt a flicker of annoyance. Why couldn’t he just appreciate the moment of creation that was approaching? He had thought maybe Harry Potter would understand with how he had raised that elf society out of the mud with his own two hands. Kensit had been so proud when he had heard about that...
“Muggle families, of course,” he said to answer the boy's question, “The adults served to further my other interests, but those below two years in age have been built into the masterworks you see around you. Over twenty of them, all with different mechanisms and spells embedded in them so I can find which formula is best. I know they don’t look like much right now, but they are some of the most complicated pieces of spellwork I’ve ever created in my long long life! Besides you, of course. Why, if the right soul binds to them, these children might even become wizards when they grow up!”
“Yes…” Harry Potter said, looking a little disturbed.
Kensit shrugged, they were dead now. There was nothing that Harry Potter could do about it. He was sure Harry would get over it when he saw them spring into life again in front of his eyes. He would see the benefit to the world, the progress they represented. Unlike all the others who allowed themselves to be constrained by something as petty as morality.
Kensit realized that it was nearly time. The armband on his wrist was pulsing with light slowly. It would speed up until it became solid when it was the perfect moment. He stood there with his wand ready for the proper moment, mentally forming and pushing magic into the complicated spell diagrams he mentally formed inside his wand. His wand began to glow slightly as he pushed more and more magic into it.
Harry Potter still seemed shocked at his use of human experiments much to Kensit's suppressed annoyance. Kensit had told him how he had created Harry, what did he expect? Some people didn’t understand the price of progress. But he would understand, James Kensit would make Harry Potter understand after they were done with all of this. He would be able to convince him, he was sure of it.
His wristband began to flash even more rapidly as the stars began to align in the cosmos. He finished the diagrams and began to simply increase the flow of magic while holding the whole thing steady. He would have to use his full power to make sure he pierced something as all encompassing and powerful as the veil enough to form a stable portal.
His bracelet was flashing rapidly, the portal's opening was only seconds away. But as he brought his concentration to a point, there was a heavy impact into his back. Kensit grunted as he was sent forward into the air, but his focus was on completing the spell and opening a portal he had been working on creating for hundreds of years.
He had a choice. Use his magic to save himself from falling through the portal, or finish the spell to open it fully. It didn't even take him a moments consideration.
With a blast of magic he shouted the incantation even as his feet fully left the ground, finishing the spell at all costs.
“Penetra Realitatem et Velum Vitae et Mortis,” he shouted quickly in mid air and the spell launched into the misty frame of the archway even as Kensit’s body flew towards it. His spell sunk into the portal and in an instant the mists disappeared leaving only a pitch black void floating in the archway. A void that was rapidly filling James Kensit’s vision. He twisted around to his attacker and prepared to cast a spell as he saw his betrayer. He tried to apparate but his own ward that he had thought so clever delayed his spell even as he moved ever closer to the now black portal.
Harry Potter stood there in his large inhuman form, his arm still swinging from the follow through of the blow on Kensit’s back while he was distracted. Always betrayal! He had thought that this creation would be more logical, more able to understand the need for progress. But it was just as spineless and soft hearted as the rest. HOW DARE HE TURN ON HIS CREATOR! HE GAVE IT LIF-
The dark void swallowed him and his body disintegrated in an instant. He had passed through into the void outside of the world. It only took moments for the bright circle of white light to rapidly recede into the distance until it finally winked out, leaving him alone in the empty void once again. He floated there as an isolated soul, waiting there floating at what he could sense was the edge of the veil. It was always so boring out here, and he could only wait there alone with his thoughts... Waiting for another entrance through like the one he had found into this world all those years ago...