Harry Potter found himself in a disorienting state of uncertainty. He strained to examine his surroundings, searching for anything recognizable, but all that met his gaze were luminous streaks of light. These streaks originated from a point in the distance, too far for Harry to discern, and extended far behind him, creating an unsettling, infinite expanse.
Despite the feeling of movement, Harry lacked any fixed reference points to gauge his speed or direction. It was as if he had been thrust into a perplexing journey with no apparent purpose or means of control.
Realizing that his immediate surroundings offered no answers, Harry attempted to retrace his memories, struggling through a fog of recollection. After what seemed like an agonizingly effort, fragmented scenes began to surface. He recalled a frantic race through the winding corridors of Hogwarts, an atmosphere fraught with tension and impending doom. There had been a fierce battle, and Harry's heart ached as he remembered the pain at remembering loved ones had been lost. In his mind's eye, he could see the lifeless forms of Fred, Lupin, Tonks – friends and family who had met their untimely demise with the belief that Harry would save them.
His memories sharpened further, revealing another moment. He recalled walking alone through a shadowy forest, a sense of solitude and vulnerability clinging to him. Then, with a vivid, almost haunting clarity, he recalled the malevolent green glow of the killing curse hurtling towards him, dominating his vision, and … that was the last moment of recollection.
Harry's persistent effort to recall more eluded him, frustratingly just out of reach … well that wasn't entirely true … A fleeting image of a cloaked figure flashed through his mind, shrouded in black robes. He could recall a singular word, a voice unfamiliar and enigmatic, bellowing out with commanding authority, "FATE!"
As Harry continued to observe his mysterious surroundings, a curious sensation unfolded before him. He realized that he was gradually decelerating, and as this happened, the streaks of light began to transform into intensely brilliant, minuscule points of light that whizzed past him at such speed that he couldn't pivot his head swiftly enough to capture any distinctive details.
As the deceleration progressed, a startling realization took hold. These luminous points of light were not evenly dispersed but instead arranged in a seemingly arbitrary pattern across the mysterious black landscape. Harry's breath caught in his throat as a chilling certainty settled over him.
His mind raced with a disconcerting question: could these points of light be stars? Was he hurtling through the boundless expanse of space. The thought left Harry in a state of profound astonishment and uncertainty.
A surge of panic gripped Harry, and he couldn't help but twisting and turning, desperately seeking clues to decipher the manner in which he was traversing space. His sense of being alive seemed incompatible with flying through space, fueling his anxiety and confusion.
In the midst of this introspection, an even more startling revelation unfolded before him. As he cast his gaze downwards, a sharp silent gasp of astonishment escaped his lips, falling far short of adequately articulating his disconcertment. His body, upon closer inspection, appeared to be in a state of partial transparency. The sight was profoundly disturbing, inducing a sense of fear and bewilderment at what was happening.
The situation struck Harry as though someone had very poorly cast a disillusionment charm upon him, a spell meant to render a person invisible but, in this instance, had been only partially executed. While he could discern the outline of his body and discern some vague features, it was as if he had become a semi-transparent entity, allowing the light of the stars to shine through him, accentuating the weirdness of the experience.
In his relentless quest to ascertain his whereabouts and comprehend his circumstances, Harry continued to twist and turn, scanning for answers. But, disappointingly, nothing offered a shred of clarity.
As he continued to survey the void, a growing sense of desolation began to seep into his thoughts. He couldn't shake the disheartening feeling that perhaps he had met his end. In a mix of resignation and surprise, he muttered inwardly, "I must be dead ... This is not at all what I expected ... just floating through space for all eternity." The overwhelming sense of the unknown and the uncertainty of his situation weighed heavily upon him.
"You will not be flying through space forever," a voice resonated through the void, and Harry instantly recognized it as the same voice that had previously bellowed "FATE." It appeared to come from all directions at once, echoing through the emptiness of space.
Startled and taken aback, Harry let out a sudden shout as he attempted to swivel around, his gaze darting in all directions in an attempt to pinpoint the source of this mysterious voice. However, it became increasingly apparent that the origin of the voice defied his ability to locate.
The voice, responding to Harry's thoughts, seemed to agree, "I am not there, or at least not in any form you would be able to perceive."
Overwhelmed by a whirlwind of emotions and the jarring surrealism of his predicament, Harry called out to the disembodied voice, his questions and concerns pouring forth. "Who are you? What is happening to me ...?" His thoughts hung on the feelings of doubt, wondering if this encounter was real or if it was all happening within his head.
In the midst of Harry's engagement with the mysterious voice, he realized that his gradual deceleration had continued, affording him the opportunity to discern the intriguing shapes hurtling past him. These forms, upon closer inspection, bore a striking resemblance to planets. Each of these orbs seemed to bear their own distinctive characteristics and bewildering landscapes.
Some of these planets, Harry observed, were home to colossal, otherworldly trees that reached impressive heights, creating an eerie leafy skyline against the backdrop of the space. Others were entirely submerged beneath vast expanses of glistening water, their surfaces forming a serene oasis amid the stars. Still, other planets presented an even more impressive contrast as they were covered in the fiery, molten glow of lava, glowing bright red against the darkness of space – as if small little embers floating in the darkness of night.
As the voice engaged Harry once more, offering a reply to his query, it declared, "Who I am is not an easy notion to explain. But you may view me as the concept of fate."
Harry was left momentarily stunned, his thoughts spiraling in astonishment. "Fate?" he echoed, his voice tinged with disbelief, not anticipating such a cryptic revelation.
"Yes, what I am is more complex and beyond your ability to understand but you may think of and address me as Fate," the voice responded enigmatically.
Struggling to come to terms with the astonishing revelations, Harry stammered out, "Um … ok … Fate? ... what is happening? What happened to me."
The response that followed was delivered with a touch of simplicity, "That is a slightly more straightforward question to address. Simply put, you Harry Potter, have died."
Harry's world seemed to shatter with those words, leaving him emotionally reeling in disbelief. "Wait, what?" His mind raced, grappling to formulate a coherent response as he tried to process the shocking revelation. "No ... no ... this can't be true. Why are my memories so hazy? This must be some kind of ruse, a ploy to extract information from me."
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If the cold unyielding voice had been capable of sounding sad, Harry was sure the tone of the next statement qualified. "I am sorry Harry, but it is the truth. The man on your planet that you knew as Tom Riddle attempted to defy his fate and attain immortality. And being responsible for death, that was an affront to me."
Harry's thoughts whirled in response to this revelation. "Wait … you are also Death?"
The enigmatic voice affirmed with a sense of inevitability, "I am, for it is the fate of nearly all things to eventually face their end."
As Harry attempted to contemplate this insight, he noticed that once more his deceleration persisted. He passed a world which appeared to be covered in nothing but buildings reaching up towards the skies as if trying to escape what sat at their roots and another world where it appeared all their buildings were floating in the sky.
"So if the fate of all things is to die … why am I here? What is happening?" Harry inquired, his voice tinged with curiosity and confusion.
The voice replied with an air of explanation, "I had found you acting in such a way that I was able to claim you as an agent of fate. This is a rare occurrence, something I have only been able to do a handful of times though the existence of the concept you know as time. Inspired by your actions and your sacrifice on your world, you set in motion events that allowed those who you knew to emerge victorious over Tom Riddle. This, in turn, restored the natural order of things on your world."
As those words settled in, Harry couldn't help but start to feel a rush of relief. "You mean my friends ... they ... they won? They're safe?" he cautiously inquired, an undercurrent of anxiety in his voice, fearing that he might have misinterpreted the message.
"Yes, Harry, they won, they triumphed over Tom Riddle, who as a consequence, proceeded to wither away into an eternal nothingness, destined to be forgotten by everything and everyone, an existence without end. Though the fight was difficult, none of those who you care about and left behind, lost their lives in what had remained in the conflict."
Upon hearing these reassuring words, Harry let out an inaudible sigh, and the tension that had clung to him, like a dark, ominous shadow, seemed to disperse, allowing a profound sense of relaxation to wash over him. The weight of uncertainty and worry that had gripped him for what felt like an eternity yielded to a profound relief.
They had won … they had actually won …
Seeking clarity, Harry inquired, "What happens next? Can I return? Or do I get to move on … and get to be reunited with those I lost?"
The question lingered, as Fate seemed to pause, "You have the choice to return, or you can choose to journey forward. But like the boundless space around you, there are an infinite numbers of decision you can make at this point."
Harry looked around him observing the vastness of space and weighing Fate's words, trying to decide what he would rather do … whether to return to the world he had left behind, reuniting with his friends left behind: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and all the others … or to venture forward into the unknown, and have the opportunity to meet his parents … Sirius … and all the others who had passed on and beckoned.
Before he was able to say anything though, Fate spoke once more, "However, I hope to ask a favor of you. You had managed to stop a man whose actions were threatening a nation, I am asking you to help stop a man whose actions will threaten an entire galaxy."
As Fate had been explaining its request, Harry noticed that his gradual deceleration had him steadily approaching a planet directly in front of him … a planet that appeared to be one solid color, a desaturated yellow … a planet that seemed to be composed entirely of … sand.
'Ooo … I love sand,' Harry thought, a memory surging to the forefront of his mind. A memory of a trip the Dursley's had been forced to bring him on, a trip where everyone else had been so focused on Dudley trying to swim in the lake that they all seemed to forget about Harry, leaving him to lay by himself on the beach and play in the sand.
Shaking off the memory, Harry reflected on Fate's proposal. With a measure of trepidation, he tentatively asked, "How would I possibly be able to succeed? I barely managed to prevail against Voldemort, and it required actually sacrificing myself for my friends to accomplish this. How am I supposed to achieve this task? … Why don't you do something?"
"I am not able to directly interfere in the fates of people. However, when you became an Agent of Fate, I did gain a little influence to affect where and how you existed. However, once I do this, I will lose any ability to intervene further in this universe. Should you choose to accept this mission, once placing you, and a gift for being my Agent, something that should help you succeed, I will no longer be able to access this universe, whether to lend aid in your times of need or prevent your descent should you falter."
The weight of the decision began to weigh down on Harry and he thought back on the memories he had accumulated over his lifetime. Memories of cherished moments spent with friends, enduring images of his parents, scars of his own failures, and the heart-wrenching memories of watching others suffer. And in that moment, Harry Potter knew with complete certainty, what he was going to do.
"If I do this," Harry inquired with a touch of hesitation in his voice, "I will be able to see my parents someday though, … right?" The question conveying his hope for an eventual reuninion.
Fate replied with a reassuring tone, "Yes Harry, no matter what course of action you chose, and no matter the outcome in this galaxy, you have more than earned the right to be reunited with your parents someday."
In a seemingly quieter voice Fate continued, "This stands if even after this experience there is another universe I ask you to intervene in. This right to a reunion shall never be forfeited, it will only be temporarily deferred."
With a deep breath, Harry nodded. "Well then, I have decided …"
As he spoke, Harry noticed that his previous suspicion had been confirmed. He had indeed been heading towards the planet apparently covered in sand. Over the past minute, the planet had been getting bigger and bigger until the sandy terrain below him filled his entire vision.
As Harry descended, he cast a sidelong glance and observed a remarkable sight. He appeared to soar by what could only be described as a spaceship – an incredibly shiny and polished silver space ship that appeared to be quite streamlined in its design, which also appeared to be descending towards the planets surface, specifically a little grouping of buildings … A settlement? A town? A city?
Even though his decision had been made, doubts continued to plague his thoughts, and he voiced his concerns to Fate, "How will I be able to make a difference though? I had enough difficulty making a difference on my own world and I did not have to leave my country. As a foreigner, how will I have even the smallest chance to save the galaxy from … whatever … whoever the threat is."
Fate responded with a reassuring toner, "Do not be troubled Harry, as mentioned, when you awake you will see the gift I have given you. Furthermore, you won't merely began an existence here; you will inhabit the body of an individual who will have a unique opportunity to be close to pivotal events across this universe. While the journey ahead will not always be easy, you have the chance to make a meaningful impact. In order to help you start in this universe I will also give you all the previous knowledge and skills of this individual, it should help to make this transition easier for you and should help prevent you from sticking out."
As Harry processed this revelation, he found a glimmer of hope amidst the daunting task ahead of him.
"This will be the extent of my intervention," Fate conveyed with a sense of finality. "I cannot give more information about what you should do. Your journey will be yours to determine. Nevertheless, I extend my best wished to you and hope for your success."
As Fate's statement drew to a close, Harry felt a sensation that was difficult to describe, it was as if something was something profound that had suddenly disappeared. He came to the realization that this sensation likely signified that with his decision having been made, Fate had departed from this universe, leaving him to chart his own path unaccompanied.
Harry realized that his momentum had almost completely dissipated and he noticed that he was no longer above the buildings, but rather he was within one of the houses, floating down towards a bed. As Harry found himself nearing the bed, Harry watched as the pile of sheets moved slightly revealing that the bed was already occupied. Before Harry could fully process this revelation, he witnessed his 'foot' make contact with the body in the bed.
In an instant, Harry was struck by a peculiar sensation, as if he had been standing too close to a lightning strike. As this sensation gradually lessened, Harry felt his mind start to fill with new knowledge … knowledge he knew for a fact he had not learned previously. All of a sudden Harry possessed an understanding of robotics, a comprehension of alien languages, familiarity with tools like a hydrospanner, … he knew what …
A profound sense of disorientation washed over Harry as he was roused from his current state when a voice called from another room, a voice that part of him knew he had never heard before and yet another part of him this was the most comforting voice in the world, it was the voice of … his mother.
"Ani, come down for breakfast. This is your last chance if you want to eat something before you head off to the shop …"
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