"Text" – Thoughts

"Text" – Spellcast

"Text" – Non-English Words

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does

Chapter 6 – Brightest Day

Date: ?

Location: ?

When Harry re-awoke, he tried moving his body slightly again. Through still quite apparent, Harry could feel that his body hurt far less than it had when he had first awoken. With some difficulty, the boy sat up. It was around this moment where he realized that he was naked for some odd reason. However, with no-one around (or anything to cover himself with anyway), Harry made no more thoughts in that direction.

He shakily got to his feet and tried to look around. The sheer whiteness of the void around him was unnerving to say the least. The ground beneath him, if you could call it that, was neither hot nor cold. The air seemed to be still, yet not in any capacity stale, nor fresh. It was as though nothing was there.

Harry blinked as he tentatively took a step forward. While still aching, Harry was able to persevere through without too much difficulty. His years of playing Quidditch, as well as all the training he had done for the tournament last year, had done wonders for his pain tolerance. Harry took a few more steps as he looked around once more.

"Where am I?" he wondered. He had absolutely no idea where he was, certainly having never been, or even imagined such a strange place. With nothing around him, Harry had a choice to make, one that was simultaneously simple yet mind-bogglingly difficult.

Which direction to travel?

With nothing to lose, Harry shrugged gently and began walking forward, hoping for the best.

After what felt like hours, Harry felt himself collapse onto the ground. His aching body had caught up to him, forcing him to take a break. For brief moments in his trek, Harry could have sworn that he had seen something in the distance. A temple with a number of clocks? A train station? Unfortunately, as Harry edged closer to those structures, they seemed to fade away like mirages in a desert.

Harry grit his teeth as he stood back up. Despite not knowing what was ahead, or even if there was anything in the direction he was going, Harry was not going to stop. No matter how hopeless, no matter how dire the odds seemed, Harry knew that he had to stand strong and keep walking. He could 'feel' it in his body. Or maybe that was just the aches.

Harry kept walking across the bleak landscape. He tried to recall what had happened right before he had woken up but could only recall brief flashes of it. He could recall that it had been very dark, also quite cold. Harry could vaguely recall Dudley's face there, so perhaps he was there too?

Harry's thoughts unconsciously moved to remembering his rotund cousin. Harry could visualize his round face, snacking on a ridiculously large hot dog with a gleeful expression on his face. His hair was well combed and the Smeltings uniform he was wearing crisp and clean, though the crumbs that Dudley's snacking created was quickly dirtying up the white shirt.

Without warning, the image in Harry's mind disappeared, projecting itself onto the floor in-front of him. Harry yelped in surprise, desperately covering himself up as he watched a moving image of Dudley eating a hotdog on the barren white floor. It was quite akin to that of the moving pictures that Harry had seen so many of in the past few years, as unsettling as it were.

A sudden thought suddenly dawned on Harry. He closed his eyes and imagined himself wearing a simple set of clothes that Daphne had all but forced him to buy from Gladrags not long after the second task. It had grown to been one of his most commonly worn clothes, simply because they were actually his size and not Dudley's hand-me-downs.

To his surprise, Harry felt the sensation of fabric touching his skin as he looked down to see the black shirt and matching trousers that he had grown accustomed to wearing. It felt slightly strange to be clothed again after so much time spent without any on but Harry was not going to complain.

The image of Dudley eating his hotdog had faded from the floor as Harry contemplated what to do next. He closed his eyes once again, trying to remember what had happened, concentrating as hard as he could on the small fragments of memory that he could. He was somewhere close to Privet Drive, probably Magnolia or something. It was quite dark, even though it wasn't that late yet for some reason…

When Harry reopened his eyes, he found a makeshift version of Magnolia Road had been imported onto the area around him. There were bits and pieces of it missing, an odd house or two that should probably be in places but it was more or less how Harry could remember it, albeit completely shaded white rather than the tiled greys, browns and blues.

Harry looked around in amazement at what he had created. He took a few steps in the direction away from Privet, towards the park where he would usually hang around. His vague memories seemed to point to that being an important part of what he was doing before coming to this bizarre place. Harry's eyes darted around, marvelling at the rows and rows of houses that he had seemingly erected out of nothing. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the small alleyway that he had once run down when he was being chased by Dudley and his gang many years ago.

A sudden pain erupted in his head as he looked at that small alleyway. A veritable haziness surrounded his head as he decided to walk towards the alleyway. Perhaps it would lead to something? It was the only hint he had for now.

"I would highly recommend against doing that, Harry."

Harry froze in surprise. He swiftly turned around as he began processing the voice he had heard. It felt strangely familiar, yet at the same time so very different. A few meters away, Harry noticed a mop of signature red hair. His jaw dropped in surprise.

"Ron?" he choked out. 'Ron' gave him a wry smile, a look that Harry had never seem before displayed on his best friend's face. A silvery cloak hung loosely from his best friend's back, easily covering his entire frame. A long black wand was unsheathed, though pointed downwards in a peaceful manner. Lastly, a large black diamond ring could be seen on his left hand.

"Not exactly, Harry."

The boy's eyes narrowed. Harry briefly concentrated, using what little he had made sense of this strange space to think of a way to defend himself. The figure looked at him casually as Harry manifested his wand in hand.

"Who are you," Harry tersely enunciated. 'Ron's' face broke out in a familiar grin.

"I honestly expected the sword," it replied truthfully, completely ignoring the dangerously poised Harry. Harry frowned. His lips moved, about to cast a spell before he suddenly stopped. A brief flash of gold in his mind cooled his temper as he refocused. The figure's grin widened.

"Greengrass has trained you well. A different you would probably tried to disarm me. Not that it would have done anything. Not in this space anyway" 'Ron' raised 'his' arms and folded them behind 'his' head. Harry frowned and lowered his wand, though keeping it unsheathed.

"Where are we?" he asked, trying his best to put a threatening edge in his voice. The figure smiled once more.

"A place where ends meet, a room where spirits flow from one place to another." Harry frowned at the vague description that was given to him.

"What?" he asked. The figure laughed cheerfully, sowing even more confusion in Harry's mind.

"Alright, I'll stop messing with you, Harry." In an instant, the area around them changed from Magnolia Road to another strange place. Unlike the last one, it appeared that they were standing atop a field of white clouds. The 'sky' above them was equally white, giving the entire place a sense of blankness. In the distance, a stream of white seemed to rush towards some sort of structure which Harry couldn't make out.

"A place where ends meet, Harry, think about that for a moment." Harry's frustration was beginning to give way to his burgeoning sense of foreboding. He unconsciously took a few steps forward.

"I would highly suggest you not do that, Harry," came the voice, much more sharply this time. Harry snapped out of his daze, his heart falling as he looked fearfully at the figure behind him.

"Am … I… dead?" he asked hollowly. To his relief, the figure shook his head.

"Not exactly, though if you had taken a few more steps you most certainly would be,"

Harry almost collapsed to the floor in relief, as though a great weight had been taken off his body. However, that still left a few unanswered questions.

"If I'm not dead then where are we?" he asked. The figure sighed.

"I hoped that you would have gotten it by now," it said with a hint of disappointment in it's tone. "Where we are goes by many names. Limbo, Nihility, Border, Veil, many names for a simple place." Harry looked owlishly at the figure as another question dawned on him.

"Who are you?" The wry smile returned.

"That took longer than expected. I thought that Greengrass or Hermione would have drilled it into you to be more questioning and aware. Perhaps later…" The figure paused, as though it were in deep thought for a few moments before it looked back at Harry.

"I am one known of by many faces. Shinigami, Hades, Angra Mainyu, Stranger … I suppose the simplest I have been deemed would be Death." Harry froze.

Words could not describe what he was feeling at this moment. Though, it was hardly fair to criticize him for seizing up when he was being told that death was quite literally in his presence. Ordinarily, he would have brushed it off as a mere joke that Ron and his siblings had conjured up, laughing it off as Fred or George would explain one of the tricks they had used in their intricate ruse. This however was too surreal, too outlandish even for the imaginations of the Weasley twins.

"I can understand your shock, though in fairness, Fred and George do make some pretty decent illusions, at their level anyway." Harry blinked a few times.

"Are you–"

"Telepathic? This is my domain. Well, one of them at least," Death replied, beginning to sound impatient. Harry looked mildly surprised and turned back around to see the figure.

"Why do you look like Ron then?" he asked slightly timidly. Death grinned.

"How many people would lose themselves when they learned that they had perished? Not many reach peace with their demise before they pass. Being in the form of whom they can communicate most effectively helps the most." Harry stared at a moment before nodding slowly. With a grin, the cloaked figure redrew its wand. The silvery cloak it donned billowed as though carried by a non-existent wind.

"Perhaps this would suit your fancy a bit more," Death said with a grin. The long black wand was raised for a moment and for a moment, the whiteness around them became blinding. Harry instinctively shielded his eyes from the light, only to notice that the light had faded before he even had time to block it. He lowered his arms for a moment, his eyes widening as his mouth opened slightly.

Standing in place of his best friend's guise was a woman that Harry could not recognize. His first thought was that Daphne was standing before him, from the shoulder-length blonde tresses and stylish black-and-green dress that he could see her wearing on a day out in muggle London. However, he could see some of the minute differences between his friend and the 'person' in front of him.

The woman was quite clearly older than Daphne, though her height did not seem to be much taller. Unlike Daphne, the 'person's' slightly unkempt hair had light brown highlights which mixed very nicely with her light blonde locks. The cool expression that Daphne almost always wore was replaced with a sunny disposition that he had grown accustomed to see on Tracey's face, though in a more mature and worldly way. Her posture was firm, yet opening, conveying an innate sense of intelligence, almost as though she were exuding a shimmering radiance in how she carried herself.

Harry heard a soft giggle and he abruptly realized that he had been staring at the blonde 'woman' for quite some time now.

"I don't think Lord Greengrass would appreciate it much if he knew you were checking out his wife like this, nor would Daphne be happy about her boyfriend looking at her mother in this way," the 'woman' said teasingly

Harry's eyes widened and he instinctively leapt back slightly as the blonde giggled cheerfully. Harry felt a rush of blood in his cheeks as he forcibly looked away from the dazzling woman in front of him.

"I suppose this form would be a little too distracting then," came the melodious voice once more. Harry could feel his face burning and quickly nodded.

"Very well." Another blinding light washed over the area which ended as quickly as it came. Harry peeked tentatively and spotted that Death had changed its form once more, this time to another woman.

A few snippets of memory were dredged up by the 'her' long red locks, matched almost too perfectly by her bright-green eyes. A pert, yet kind smile adorned her face and Harry quickly recognized who she was. His mother.

"How do I look?" came a warm, motherly voice. Harry was immediately confronted with memories long since lost of a loving mother and her child. Her voice was kind and gentle, much unlike the memories he had…

Harry almost collapsed onto the floor as a memory he had fought so hard to keep hidden resurfaced again. Unearthly, dying screams of his anguished mother which had haunted his nightmares, a vision that he had seen many times last year when exposed to dementors. The light briefly shone once more and Harry looked up to see a concerned looking expression on his best friend's face.

"Apologies for that," came Ron's voice. Harry got up shakily. It wasn't like him to fall so easily, especially to something that he thought he had already conquered all that time ago when learning the Patronus charm. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"This place also serves as a reflection your memories," murmured Death as he looked around the white area. "Catharsis of all variations to be had for a passing soul." Death looked back at Harry, who had been staring intently at it.

"That will be it for now, I have other matters to attend to," Death said in a very un-Ron like manner. Harry blinked for a few moments, looking surprised.

"What do I do here then? How do I get back?" Harry asked. Another grin flashed on 'Ron's' face.

"Be patient, Harry, your time has yet to come." With those words, Death seemingly vanished, leaving Harry alone in the vast white landscape.

Date: ?

An indeterminate amount of time had passed since Harry had last seen the shapeshifting creature that had called itself Death. In his boredom, Harry had found himself wandering the place, which had continued to build itself from his memories and thoughts. At one point, Harry wondered if there was something he could read and moments later found himself in a vacant version of the Hogwarts library, chock full of books, seats and tables for his use.

Even the Restricted section was perfectly recreated, even though Harry had not been here since his second-year adventures where he had first been introduced to the exceedingly useful (and horribly tasting) Polyjuice Potion. With nothing much better to do, Harry sat down at a seat that he imagined up and decided to begin reading. To his surprise and slight annoyance, many of the 'books' that had been conjured up in the library were virtually unreadable by him, whether they were in different languages or simply too advanced for him to comprehend.

Death, or whatever he was called, had not appeared again since their last encounter, which had basically left Harry bored and alone in the vast white landscape. It was more boring than irritating, really, Harry thought as he stood up from his seat. The library around him dissolved away as he moved from the area. Harry tried to think about what he could imagine up.

The endless white plain in front of him mirrored his current thoughts on his situation. It had been far worse than anything Harry had to endure for long durations of time. Sure, the excruciating pain of the Basilisk's venom was painful, as were the distrusting, callous looks that he had to endure in that same year were both horrible experiences but he had his friends then. With no-one to talk to and nothing to do, a harrowing sense of fear was beginning to seep into his mind. What if he could never return? His thoughts returned to the strange castle he saw when Death had last talked to him. Should he take the–

"Bored I see?" a voice called. Harry jumped, startled, and turned around to look at the grinning face of his best friend.

"What am I supposed to do here?" Harry asked loftily. The figure continued to grin.

"The Fates are somewhat riled about you right now, you know, messing up the events that were supposed to happen. Course it wasn't really your fault, since it was the younger Greengrass who … ah spoilers." Harry looked owlishly at the figure in front of him, who seemed to be leaning on a marble pillar or something. Harry looked around quickly and saw that they had been seemingly transported to a pyramidal structure. Concentric squares appeared to encircle the structure which lead up to a giant arch.

It was massive, to the point where Harry couldn't even see the top of it. Each side was a few meters thick, seemingly made of some sort of glowing stone. Etched within the stone were innumerable strange shapes – runes, Harry idly recalled from one of Daphne's rambles – which caused the entire structure to emit an eerie glow. However, stranger still was what seemed to be within the archway itself.

A peculiar, almost cloth-like silvery lining could be barely seen inside the arch, reminding Harry of something that he had seen very often. The boy blinked for a moment and looked up. Somehow, he had unsuspectingly walked up the flight of stairs, all the way to the edge of the giant arch. Harry looked to Death, who seemed to be watching Harry casually. Seeing no reaction from the other being, Harry reached out and touched the velvety material.

And suddenly he could feel everything.

The sound of birds, a warm breeze, the smell of morning grass. A veritable explosion of sensory information overloaded Harry, causing him to fall to the ground. The senses that he hadn't used in so long felt overloaded and Harry immediately felt nauseous. Somewhat dizzy, he stood back up. Looking back at the creature that had brought him here, he was surprised to see the being had crossed the staircase that lead up to the arch.

"What… what was that?" Harry asked breathlessly. Death seemed to frown, it was rather hard to tell.

"It is a portal, from the mortal world to here. Mortals, as usual, have many names for the gate. Some call it the Nexus of Nihility, others call it a Veil," Death supplied. Harry's eyes widened.

"So this is the way back?" he asked with a wondrous tone. Before he could fill himself with the joyous feeling, Death shook his head.

"Unfortunately no, as this is usually only a one-way portal. I for one am able to pass through," he said, demonstrating this by extending his hand through the material. "I would have thought…" Death seemed lost in thought but Harry had already tuned him out. The brief instance where he was able to sense the world, to hear, to smell, to feel, it was painful, evermore so now that he had been denied access to it now.

"I am terribly sorry, Harry." Death said, looking quite apologetic. In an instant, the pair appeared in some other part of the space. A pair of comfy looking armchairs, reminiscent of the ones that Harry had enjoyed sitting on in the Gryffindor common room, appeared. Death took a seat.

"For that little experimental failure, I will answer a few questions you may be having. Unfortunately, I cannot divulge the future to you, not that I really can anyway. No-one really can until Skuld writes it out …" Harry looked blankly at Death. For a brief moment, he had hope that he could escape this maddening void but … but …

"Am I trapped here forever?" Harry choked out. He was doing his best to keep his emotions in check but this was getting too much to him. Death shook his head with a small smile.

"It is not your time yet, Harry, that much is certain. In actuality, you shouldn't even be here now. You're about… three years too early to be stuck here in Limbo. And since Thomas Marvolo would be alive at that time, you wouldn't have been stuck here for long. Like then, you are given the choice to live or die, though I can see that you pick the former now…"

Harry blinked a few times. He was supposed to… what? Thomas Marvolo? Harry walked himself to the opposite armchair from Death. The creature grinned.

"I am supposed to … die?" Harry asked.

"Death comes to all," Death replied "You are a special case, one who greets Death as an old friend. Or would have greeted, as the case may be." Harry didn't really know what to think. The whole situation was crazy itself, even more so that when he first discovered magic all those years ago. Shrugging in defeat, Harry looked back at Death.

"So I was supposed to … wait how did I end up here again?" Harry asked. As anger-inducing as it had been, Harry had been unable to figure out how he had ended up here. He surmised that he had been fighting something before he ended up here. All he could recall was feeling indescribably cold, as though he would never feel happy again…

"Dementors?" Harry asked. Death nodded.

"I suppose the British call them that," Death answered, "Most cultures call them demons of despair, or something like that. The creatures' proper name is somewhat closer 'shards of death'. After all, they do originate from this dimension."

Harry's eyes widened. He had spent quite some time two years ago learning as much as he could about the foul creatures, mainly to dredge up as much information as he could about combating them.

"I thought they were formed from negative human emotions?" Harry asked, truly intrigued. Death smiled.

"Dementors are drawn to the mortal plane by those negative emotions. They do not simply create themselves out of nothing. Even in magic, laws apply," Death reminded, waving an arm. A set of numbers and letters appeared in thin air. "Hermione would be able to tell you more about it, bloody smart girl she is, so ask her about conservation laws when you have the time." Harry looked blankly at Death, who chuckled.

"Anyways, back to what we had been discussing," Death said, dematerializing the equation from the space. "You were brought here by one of the shards on the date you call July 7th, 1995. A skirmish at Little Whinging, one which should have occurred about a month in the timeline. Harry James Potter should have beat back the dementors that were sent by a certain Dolores Jane Umbridge to attack him, albeit under very different circumstances."

Harry's ability to mask his surprise completely failed him as he gawked at Death, who could not be looking any more casual in his slouched position. It was one that Harry had seen Ron take many, many times during their longer studying sessions.

"… what?" came his eloquent reply. Death smiled.

"Following this, Harry would return to Hogwarts, facing a number of challenges and obstacles before facing the resurrected Thomas Marvolo Riddle in single combat. His triumph brings peace to the British Wizarding World, at least until the spawn of Riddle threatens the timeline years later."

Harry blinked a few more times owlishly. "Why… why are you telling me this?" he asked slowly. Death shrugged.

"This information will neither do you good nor harm. A timeline of what was supposed to be, contrasted by what is now. In that time, Greengrass and you would not have a proper conversation for many years until the time you visit her in Azkaban. She attempts to assassinate you in a haphazard effort to avenge her late father, who dies amongst Riddle's forces in the final battle. It is actually quite an interesting story…"

Harry's jaw dropped to the ground. The blonde's face flashed in his mind, the cool expression that she always wore, with that almost-smile that he had begun to see on her face recently. It was quite hard to imagine that the girl who had so ardently helped him through his trials, who had taught him so much was meant to … try to kill him?

"Daphne is supposed too…" Harry trailed off. His attempt to rationalize the thought failed. Death shrugged.

"You need not worry about that, Harry," he said reassuringly. "The premises that would have led to that incident have been avoided. Ronald's little incursion into the Death Eaters' hunt was rather apt…" Death trailed off here, as though he were reminiscing about an event that was dear to him. Harry blinked.

"So Daphne is not going to kill me?" Harry asked unsurely. Death laughed.

"Who knows? Perhaps Skuld will write it as such? Or would Verthandi change an event like she did with the ball? Though if it were my guess, Greengrass will never be able to kill you, no matter how much she thinks she wants to…"

Death shook his head. "We're getting off-track again. In what was supposed to be, the dementor incursion occurs on August 2nd. Unlike what happened in this timeline, you are able to fight off the dementors without too much trouble. In fairness though, that version of you did not have to worry about two more people in the vicinity other than your oaf of a cousin. You also did not have to deal with the residual effects of the River of Stars."

Harry frowned as he remembered what Death was speaking of. It was slight but Harry could remember feeling more drained that usual in the days following the tournament. His reflexes were slower, his spells casts lethargic and general mental acuity had decreased a little. It wasn't anything major and Harry had mostly attributed it to fatigue from the tournament.

"So Fleur's spell … made me weaker?" Harry asked curiously. Death shrugged.

"Close. It weakened the phoenix tears in your bloodstream, which indirectly strengthened the basilisk venom that is there as well. Fleur's River of Stars used to counteract Krum's Draco Meteor was very well placed, reversing the charms that Krum had used while also clearing both you and Cedric out of the way. Very cunning, very veela."

Harry nodded slowly. It still didn't make too much sense to him but he felt that asking further would simply make him more confused.

"So … what now?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. Death smiled.

"Well, you can continue to wait for whatever is going to bring you back to the mortal realm. Since you can't just pass through the Nexus, I assume that some resurrection spell of some sort would have to be cast…" Death's face darkened somewhat and Harry was briefly remined of whom he was conversing with.

"And knowing that insufferable bastard, it will be Thomas Marvolo who will do something utterly stupid. Fracturing and displacing his soul into those infernal contraptions is stupid enough. Trying to brew Persephone's Lament goes beyond that. Whatever he could try to do to bring himself back would just bring even more suffering to the mortal plane," Death said with distaste. "And more work for me," he added with an afterthought.

Harry was once again caught off-guard by the information that he was given.

"Wait… Voldemort get revived?" he asked stupendously. Death arched an eyebrow, forming a very strange expression on Ron's face.

"I believe I told you that earlier. Regardless yes. Thomas Marvolo is essentially fated to return, as much as you wish to delay it. Death comes to all after all, be it gods or demons. A being that tries to defy death will only receive death's retribution tenfold, so as I say so mote it be." Death rose from his seat and Harry found himself following suit. The figure began to seemingly levitate himself as he looked down at Harry.

"Sorry to cut our discussion short but there are things to attend to." Death turned and began to fade from view. Harry's eyes widened.

"Wait!" he called.

Harry shouted once more in vain as he found himself left alone again in the deep blank void.

Date: ?

Harry had continued to wander the area. As it had been, time was impossible to tell in the infinitely expansive void that was around him. Death had left him with so many questions that he couldn't rest, not that it was very easy to rest here. The blinding nature of the area made it quite difficult to sleep, not that Harry really felt the compulsion to do so.

Seeing that Death did not seem to return any time soon, Harry resolved to wander around until he would find something that would help him with a way out of here. The 'nexus' that Death had brought him to was his only clue and so Harry was resolutely trying to find it again. Many a normal person would have stayed put but Harry Potter was no such person. It wasn't in his nature to stay still.

His mind imagined up a scenery that he had seen quite a few times, the idyllic and peaceful countryside that lined the path of the Hogwarts Express. Harry had always found it somewhat relaxing to look out the window on his journeys on the train. When going to Hogwarts, the trips gave him some time to prepare for the year while leaving behind the mundane Little Whinging for as long as he could. Coming back was his short moment of respite between the misadventures of the previous year and his time that he would spend at 'home'. It also served him well as it was the longest route that he could think up to any degree of accuracy.

Harry began his walk, strolling down what would have been train tracks as he began to think. Some time had passed since Death had given him a veritable expositional dump and it had taken him around this long to process most of what he had learnt.

Timelines and whatnot were not too difficult to understand for the young wizard, as he could equate his experiences in his third year when he saved Sirius and Buckbeak from the Ministry's clutches. What was more difficult to comprehend was everything else.

If he were to be completely honest, Harry would admit that he had thought of the possibility of transcending death, a feeling that had been first incited by the Mirror of Erised and furthered by the numerous haunting visions that he had experienced under the influence of dementors. Hermione had reminded him time and time again that since life was one of the exceptions to Gamp's laws of Transfiguration, it was impossible to revive the dead in any capacity. Then the creature supposedly personifying death tells him otherwise, though had warned about the consequences.

Harry found himself walking further and further into the void, ignoring the voice at the back of his head telling him to not stray too far. It was far too boring to stay back where he was, no matter how he could use his imagination to create landscapes around him. While Harry had been used to staying solitary from the many years he had spent under the Dursleys' collective shoe, this was getting a little much.

Around him, Harry began to see that his imagined path was beginning to contort strangely. The air around him seemed to get heavier, which was a bizarre feeling to Harry, who had not felt air pressure in so long. Each step he took felt heavier and heavier, as though gravity itself was growing stronger as he journeyed farther into the void. The path had now collapsed, leaving only the blinding white void in front of him.

And the it all changed.

Colors flooded his mindscape as Harry felt the world around him contort impossibly. He wanted to scream but no sound came out as he fell dizzily to the ground. Harry felt as though he had been unceremoniously dropped in a pensieve. He got up from him sprawled position on the ground and looked around.

The place he found himself was completely unrecognizable. It appeared to be the inside of some temple, though not one that Harry had ever seen before. Harry peeked out what he assumed to be a window, seeing a very clear night sky. Harry blinked as he looked at the constellations above him. While he wasn't very attentive in Astronomy class (something that Hermione had admonished him about regularly), he was quite certain that the constellations were not supposed to look like that. Not to mention how clear the sky was…

A feminine ear-piercing shriek sounded, causing Harry to jump in surprise. He turned around, looking into the darkness that was further into the temple. He could barely make out the figure of two people deeper inside. Another shriek came from the same person. Harry could hear another female voice speaking in a language that he could not recognize.

Harry took a few steps closer to the women to see if he had any means of helping. However, he found himself colliding with an invisible object before he could even ascend the first step to what was becoming more apparent as an altar.

The sun was beginning to arise behind them, illuminating the temple much more. Harry's eyes widened as he saw what was happening, a child was being born. The second woman's words were becoming more frantic as the sun began to creep up farther and farther. Harry could only watch, spellbound in his position as he watched the event unfold in front of him.

As the sun behind him fully arose, illuminating the whole temple with its golden rays, Harry gasped in wonder as he saw the small child that had been born. The first woman, the child's mother, appeared to have fainted and the midwife was holding up the new-born. A single ray of light from the sun shone through a hole in the roof, hitting the middle of the baby's forehead. The midwife gasped.

"Apollo..." she murmured, her voice a deathly whisper.

Suddenly she turned around, seemingly looking straight at Harry. Harry started, just remembering that he wasn't supposed to be there as his surroundings changed once more. He could see brief flashes, of a boy quickly growing into a man. It was easy to see the resemblance between the baby Harry had seen born and the rather surly looking man that seemed to be the central focus of the visions he could see.

The man was now wearing a set of ultramarine robes, holding a golden staff that was stylized after a snake. He donned an olive wreath on his head and appeared to be talking with colleagues with similar dress. Harry's eyes widened as he began to realize what he was seeing as the vision changed again.

The man was bound by large, heavy looking pieces of metal. He had not aged considerably though it was clear that quite some time had passed since Harry had seen him last. The man was raving, though Harry could not hear a word that was being said. An important looking group was standing around him and the most important looking one seemed shout out something. Harry deduced that this was some sort of court and watched the man. For a moment, the man stopped raving, a sinister smirk plastered on his face. Harry's eyes widened and was about to yell when the man appeared to explode. Harry screamed as the surroundings changed once more.

The area around him continued to twist, now only short instances could be seen before they would change before him. Harry watched as the man stood before what appeared to be a giant sphinx, then a man cloaked completely in gold and then a stone giant. The man fell every time but never backed away, each time his visage becoming more and more serpentine. Eventually, his adversaries faded away but someone would always take their place.

Another scene flashed and Harry watched as the snake-like man lead a giant horde of snakes, rushing towards what appeared to be a giant army of Chinese men. With a loud clash, the leader of these men, some great bearded man clad in blue, struck at his adversary with a shining sword. The serpentine man smirked as his staff glowed a bright gold, turning a majority of his adversary's troops to stone. The blue-clad man could only watch in horror as the thousands of men he had previously commanded had been petrified. In an instant, his eyes glowed a fierce rage and he struck his blade at the serpentine man once more. Harry shouted out but could only watch helplessly as the scenery around him changed.

The scene this time was strangely familiar to Harry. He was on a plain, with a burning village nearby. Harry could see a small group of four people slowly hobbling out. Out of these four, one of them appeared to be heavily injured as she was draped on the back of the largest looking one. As they walked closer, Harry couldn't help but feel that he had seen these people before.

"Helga..." the other girl in the party said glumly. The injured girl could not respond, even with the large boy's jostling. With a start, Harry recognized the man.

"Worry not, Lady Ravenclaw," came a monotone voice that Harry vaguely recognized. He glanced at the other boy in the clearing, already knowing who this person was – a much younger version of Salazar Slytherin.

"He will pay," came the rough voice of the larger boy. Harry watched in awe as he realized that he was looking at the four founders, who had now begun walking further towards Harry.

Harry was about to call to them as the scene changed even more. The transition this time was much more violent and Harry could see as time passed. Unlike last time, the plain in front of him did not change. What he could see however was glimpses and flashes of a gigantic battle, with massive snakes – basilisks, he recognized, dragons and other creatures fighting against hordes of men, clashing infinitely. Until nothing.

An eerie darkness settled in for a moment before Harry's vision became enveloped in a bright light again. He felt himself yanked violently from his position and then thrown onto the ground. Extremely dizzy, he looked up to see a rather stern expression on Death's visage.

"How much did you see?" he all but demanded. Harry blinked. He opened his mouth to answer but found that not words came from his mouth. Death looked straight at him critically and frowned.

"That Verthandi has no business dealing with those in my domain…" he muttered quietly before turning back to Harry.

"I am not going to answer any questions that you might have about what you saw, not that it …" Death stopped abruptly in his sentence as his expression soured greatly.

"Damn you Skuld!" he cursed loudly into the nothingness above him. Harry backed away quickly, worried what an angry death would do. Fortunately, he calmed almost as quickly as his temper had arisen.

"No matter," he said dismissively. Death turned back to Harry. "It seems your time is now, Harry."

Death tapped Harry's shoulder and the two were seemingly transported to another location. Harry looked around. He was back in the large blank void, vacant of everything apart from what appeared to be a giant slab of stone. A large number of runes could be seen marking the stone slab. Death guided Harry towards the stone slab, where Harry could see a figure stuck to the rock. With a gasp, he realized that it was the serpentine man he had just seen.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Avenger. Shouldn't you be trapped in a cup right around now?" the old, snake-like man croaked out. The man had not seemed to have aged much since the last vision Harry had of him, though it was obvious that he had lived a great many years.

Death seemed unconcerned about what had been said of him and instead waved his hand at the stone. Immediately, the stone vanished and the old man dropped to the ground.

"The time is now, god-slayer," Death said with surprisingly terseness. Harry tensed up as the old man got up from his prone position. Every cell in Harry's body was yelling at him to get away from this dangerous man, who now looked directly at him.

"Thor? Is that you?" the old man asked, leering at Harry. With a grunt, he withdrew his head. "Bah, maybe in another lifetime." The man turned back to Death, who was now barely masking his contempt for the man.

"My choice is life, of course," the old man said. With a flash of white light, he was gone. Harry looked surprised as he turned back to Death, who was staring a hole at the position that the man had been.

"Who…" Harry asked.

"No questions," Death interjected tersely. There was a deadly fury in his eyes, one that Harry had never seen his friend have. It was honestly quite chilling to see such an expression on his face.

"Pray that you are ready for him when he comes…" Death said quietly, almost as though he were talking to someone else. Death turned back towards Harry.

"Your choice now, Harry. To return to the mortal plane and live. Or to defy fate and pass on." Harry barely process the words.

"Bring me back," he said automatically. Death shrugged.

"As you wish." As these words were said, a bright light engulfed Harry as he felt himself begin to disappear. He turned back to Death, who now had a strange expression on his face, as though the figure wanted to say something. For an instant, Death's composure broke.

"Tell me to save Tr…"

Harry felt himself yanked from Limbo, unable to hear the entirety of the last message.

Date: Tuesday October 31st, 1995

Location: British Ministry of Magic Level 9: Department of Mysteries, Analysis Room 585-789

Harry tried sitting up to no avail as he found his body aching even more than what it had when he had first woken up in Limbo.

"Great… now where am I," he mentally grumbled. Without warning, a large flash appeared behind him.

"Harry James Potter."

Spells Used/Mentioned:

Ryuseigun – Meteor-Shower Spell

Fleuve d'étoiles – River of Stars Spell

A/N: Sorry this is a week later than usual and further apologise as I may not be able to update at the regular pace since finals are beginning to loom.

Next Time – A Gathering of Minds