The Outsider From Beyond

Tags: AU, Dimensional, Travel, Mostly Light! Harry, and Powerful! Harry

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, or any affiliated characters, and make no profit from this story

It was a wintery mid-December evening, one in which a former Dark Lord vanquisher found himself meeting his latest client in the office of his startup company: Druid Runeworks.

"Mr. Potter, are you with us?" asked the client tersely.

Harry yawned at the question. He had been working late all night on a complex high-level rune script for the DMLE. It was requested at an extremely short notice and paid the biggest commission he had ever gotten since starting the company. Usually Harry would get help from his employees, but in his half-witted attempts at being a good boss he let them start their Christmas break early.

"Yes Mr. Clark, the warding algorithms for the new magical settlements will be scheduled for February at earliest. I'm afraid these new parameters will further complicate things especially in accordance to wizarding secrecy regulations. I'm sure you also understand the increase in commission price."

The pasty suit glared at him. He stood up from his chair angrily with his face turning a nasty purple color not unlike his late uncle.

"You promised at the beginning that you would fulfil the contract at most in a month! There can't be any settlements built and sold without your blasted wards guarding the estates. I've got a lot riding on this, and there's a shareholder meeting coming up."

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. All 43 waking hours seemed to come crashing on him at that moment. He reached for the small cup on his desk and retched as he swigged down the now regrettably cold coffee.

"OK. I completely understand. I mean it. But, you can't come in and request a simple defense rune ward for a street and then ask for a complex one the size of a quidditch pitch at the end of the month. That's just not how it works. Any competing firm would demand a completely new contract, but I'm willing to give it to you at 20% off."

Disheartened, the business man sagged into his chair with dismay. It was late and the dark circles around his eyes meant he wasn't fairing any better than Harry. He stared at the dusty picture of the Golden Trio on the desk next to the haphazard stacks of paper and other stationary.

"Do you miss them?" he suddenly said, pointing toward the picture.

"Who?" Harry wondered before noticing his gesture.

"Oh... Oh yea."

Harry suddenly found himself starting at his shoes, his business persona disappearing. The lump in his throat choked any attempts to say anything else. An uncomfortable silence covered the office.

Feeling slightly awkward, the businessman got up and looked at his watch.

"Sweet Merlin, would you look at the time," he muttered.

"Here-take my business card. I think I'll be going now. You can contact me after the break on the new payment and ward runes. It was a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Potter."

The door shut behind him without a sound as if it had been charmed to.

"What a tosser."

Harry looked around the empty building as he finished packing and closing his personal office. He reached for his grey cashmere coat that was a gift from his contract work in India.

He paused just inside the small lobby of the building to light his roll-up of fanged-bear leaf, imported from South America, just before the door swung open.

Two official looking people sauntered in the room bringing in the smell of winter rain. The first one was a hard stern but honest looking man that reminded Harry of a more confident Neville. The second was much younger even compared to Harry and had an air of mischievousness that was almost cocky.

"I'm Senior Auror Tom Barnaby and this is my assistant Gavin Troy. We're here for the counter curse rune ward the DMLE commissioned on December 2nd."

Leaning against the wall, Harry paused and took a long drag on his cigar before blowing out the foul-smelling smoke. He leveled a cool gaze at the aurors before quickly drawing his wand on them.

In shock, Gavin backpedaled and stumbled over a trashcan only to fall on the ground. Barnaby stared in confusion at his easily excitable apprentice before calmly turning back to Harry.

"Look, there's no need to get violent. We're only here for one thing," said Barnaby before showing his empty hands.

Unmoving, Harry grinned at older auror before replying" Sorry about that, I just need to see your I.D please. Constant vigilance and all that."

Chuckling, Barnaby fiddled with his jacket before pulling out his badge and nudged Troy to do the same.

"I thought you knew Mad-eye," said Barnaby.

With a reminiscent look in his eyes, Harry replied "He was the best damn mentor I ever had. Oddly enough, he never taught me for a single day."

The senior auror nodded sagely at his words remembering the fiasco with Barty Crouch Junior.

"Wait a minute, who's Mad-eye?"

Harry and Barnaby glanced at each other before looking at Troy in exasperation.

"Bloody Greenhorns."

Harry walked the aurors over to where the company kept high level and borderline forbidden rune scripts. Some of them even approached dark arts territory. The storage was well into the underground basement of the building. He approached an innocuous looking wall at the back before looking pointedly at them.

"Can't a man get a bit of privacy," Harry chided.

After they looked away abashedly, he tapped his wand on the wall in a peculiar method until bricks broke away to reveal a vast array of almost endless locked vaults.

"Welcome, to my own personal Gringotts," Harry announced before bowing in mock ceremony.

"This is where Druid Runeworks stores all high-level rune scripts for let's say elite clientele. As it happens, the DMLE is among my most generous benefactors."

"After you, gentlemen," Harry motioned with his hand towards a particular vault in the room.

He hovered his hand near the vault until a steel spike suddenly extended from the door and cut into his palm. Within a second, the door opened with jerk and the cut had healed leaving no trace.

"Blood wards" Harry replied to the unasked question. Barnaby nodded in pragmatic understanding while Troy looked disgusted.

Inside lay a small dark brown briefcase inside the relatively large empty vault. Troy gingerly touched the briefcase before yanking it into his own hands.

They emerged back into the small lobby where now Harry's rollup was on its last embers. He gave one last puff before he mushed it into an ashtray.

"Well gentlemen, it seems everything is in order now. I'll ring up the DMLE tomorrow for the payment so -"

"I'm afraid that's not all we need unfortunately," interrupted Barnaby. "We need you to come with us to input the runes for us."

Groaning, Harry turned around and exclaimed "Do you even know what time it is? Merlin knows I need a hot shower and some rest. I do not want to spend even an extra half hour inputting in a 12-page script for you lot past midnight."

Wordlessly the two aurors looked at each other before Troy stepped towards Harry with a large sack.

"We'll pay you, sir. Extra. "he added hastily after Harry opened his mouth indignantly.

Harry grabbed the bag from Troy and shook it around trying to get a feel for the money. It felt heavily, and he heard a noisy clanging from the metal currency bouncing against each other.

"How much is even in here?"

"Twelve thousand galleons," replied Troy.

Harry opened his mouth in shock. Twelve thousand galleons? With that kind of money, he could get twelve new staff members. He could get Teddy that new expensive broom he was always whining about. Maybe he could even redesign the décor of his offi—

"I'll do it," Harry announced.

Sighing in relief, Barnaby checked his watch and reached for the door.

"Alright listen, I've got a portkey set up to take us to a nearby location. After that, we should reach the destination give or take 7 minutes with plenty of time before 1:00 am for you to run your runes. C'mon Potter, let's go."

Silently Harry followed with only the possibilities of twelve thousand galleons on his mind.

"So, where exactly is this place if you don't mind me asking," asked Harry as he looked around the squalid hamlet.

The foreboding weald that surrounded the grimy village seemed impenetrable with its dark aura. The town was in clear neglect as the cluster of sinking mansard roofs and gables had even toppled in on itself. As they approached along the old road that went through the town, there was a visible dearth of life. A nearby harbor gave way to a collection of moldering wharves with the brackish water bearing a tinge of malignancy.

Even at this late hour, there were a few residents that trekked around aimlessly with a queer shamble and a bulgy fishlike stare. It seemed almost as if dark magic had corrupted the lands and twisted it into a bleaker version of itself. The feeling reminded Harry of Number twelve, Grimmauld Place but in a more ominous sense.

"This hamlet is called Somber Grove. It's been tucked away in some forgotten backwoods of Scotland. A prominent, noble, and pureblood family whose lineage predated even Roman times used to live here. However, the last heir was afflicted by madness after his ever-growing interest in the dark arts depraved his own mind. Now, the Ministry wants to repossess the estate and repurpose it for a new commercial district," lectured Barnaby.

Harry whistled as he surveyed the dismal village. He peered through one eye between his fingers that imitated a camera before taking a snapshot of the place.

"That's pretty interesting to think that someone would want to go shopping here. With all due respect, I hope they realize this place can give Knockturn Alley a run for its money," remarked Harry.

They walked until they emerged near a hilltop where a tenebrous crumbling manor sat on its perch overlooking the entire estate. After walking through the front door, which hung resiliently on its last hinge, they saw series of holes that lead into tunnels.

Barnaby walked forward and pointed at the biggest tunnel.

"From the recent excavations, the foul corruption seems to be coming from the below the Manor. After further research, we realized that this is the very epicenter of the infestation," commented the senior auror. They walked through the twisting tunnel only to come to a stop at a massive metal door.

The door was huge It was easily three times Harry's height and was covered in an intricate scribble of runes.

"Finally, something for me to do! "Harry.

The rune decryption was one of the hardest he ever had to do so far. Multiple times Harry had to adjust or even outright modify the prepared rune script just to protect them from a hidden defense ward. After much work, Harry finally triggered the rune script. It wasn't a quick process, but slowly the metal door started glowing and humming as a bright magical light started rippling across its many runes.

"Its… its ACTUALLY working!" sputtered Harry.

Suddenly in one final burst the light, the huge metal doors blackened and suddenly crumbled into the ground like dust. After a grueling forty-five minutes, Harry rejoiced triumphantly "By Merlin, I thought it was going to take forever! The blasted thing is finally down."

He looked back at the aurors eager to share his triumph only to find out that unfortunately, they were dozing the whole time. After some not so gentle rousing from Harry, a yawning Troy sleepily got up and stretched loudly before nudging his mentor awake.

"I'm so glad I didn't choose such a boring and wimpy job like rune scribing."

Harry glared at the young man before cuffing his ears.

"Listen wanker, I've slayed Dark lords before you learned how to use both of your wands. Kids these days have no damn respect."

Chuckling at their antics, Barnaby pulled out his wand quietly mumbled under his breath

"Lumos!"

A bright bulb of light burst out of his wand tip like a star in a pitch-black sky. The magical flashlight illuminated the path forward inside the underground dungeon. The group now moved past the crumbled doors to the lair of evil itself. They followed the path as it crossed several time in a serpentine manner before finally coming into the dungeon proper.

The dungeon was lined several bookcases, skulls, and other skeletal bones. It expanded into a wide-open space with the center comprising of a massive pit surrounded by fantastic and strange altars.

"So much for your dark infestation, sir" jeered Troy as he looked around the dusty and occult-like room.

"I've always hated reading, but I never thought books could actually cause dark curses. Maybe we should be investigating Hogwarts instead."

Troy slowly walked up to one of the many bookcases and reached out to touch one of the texts, but Barnaby swiftly snapped onto one of his arms.

"Don't you dare touch anything. It could be all cursed," hissed Barnaby, but Troy's attention was elsewhere as he was pointed out with his other hand.

"What's Mr. Potter doing over there?" he asked, pointing.

Harry stared down into the pit. It was like looking down at the void itself. Not even Lumos's dependable light could pierce its stygian curtain. The chasm reminded Harry of the Veil down at the Department of Mysteries. He knew that if he fell, he would be facing his parents and retelling his very mundane death. He wondered what Hermione and Ron would think. However, something about the abyss betrayed its barren image. Despite all appearances to the contrary, Harry knew by a lurching feeling in his gut that Barnaby wasn't just telling tall tales.

"Mr. Potter, for heaven's sake please get away from the edge!"

Barnaby grabbed his shoulder and slightly pulled him away. Harry looked like he was stuck in a trance before he turned and faced the grizzled auror.

"Relax, I'm not going to try to off myself by jumping in."

The older man sighed "Good, I refuse to have anyone die on my- OOF!"

Barnaby slipped and crashed on the slick ground. Harry's eyebrows shot up as he looked at the wet puddle in surprise.

"What the hell, there wasn't any water there before," Harry puzzled before offering a hand to Barnaby. The auror cursed before the pair decided to group with Troy. As they drew near the younger auror, Harry saw that Troy was holding a book near his face and was reading it.

"Troy, I told you to not touch those books damn you!" Barnaby swore. Troy didn't even respond. It was almost eerie how he quietly had his face almost glued to the book. Barnaby advanced and this time bellowed angrily "TROY DROP THAT BOOK OR I'M GONNA-"

Troy dropped the book.

His hands flopped at his sides while his head dropped to the left almost lifelessly. The whole behavior was unnatural of the normally cocky auror and made Harry's tiny hair stand on edge. Barnaby approached his apprentice and laid a trembling hand on his shoulder. His face was painted full of concern and uncertainty.

"Are you alright son?" worried Barnaby.

Suddenly a tiny tremor reverberated throughout the ground. Books tumbled down from their lofty shelves while the bones rattled in their place. Troy suddenly snapped up and turned around with eyes agape and heavy breathing.

Suddenly, a smile split his face and he started wailing and flailing maniacally at the top of his lungs. Harry couldn't make out any of his words. It was all complete gibberish. Deliriously, Troy started scratching his face as if to rip his eyes out until Barnaby tackled him.

A second tremor rippled the earth.

The senior auror grappled frantically with the maniac Troy until his apprentice start to bite and claw him like a rabid animal. Frustrated, Barnaby pushed him away before pulling out his wand.

"Stupefy!"

A red beam of light erupted from his wand and slammed into the crazed auror finally incapacitating him. Barnaby heaved against the wall with his hands barely holding onto a crevice. Harry could only watch the auror as tiny whispers from the back of his head screeched of terrible outcomes. His mouth ran dry as he felt the darkness closing in and suffocating the tiny light that emanated from his wand tip.

The third tremor cascaded with an echoing pounding until finally the Thing from the Abyss burst from the pit.

When Harry looked at it a cold wash went down his back. It was the foulest and most terrible monstrous being Harry had ever seen. It made boogeymen and simple pelagic nightmares a mere afterthought. Neither flesh or simple matter was the sole composition of the monster due to its simultaneous formlessness and rigidness. Even the horrific image of the creature tore at his sanity as now even Harry wanted to rip his own eyes out. He was completely frozen in shock despite his heart thumping painfully. It rippled throughout the darkness slowly reeling Harry in like a fisherman to its simpleminded prey. The monster started screeching a horrifying song that drove Harry maddeningly insane. He started seeing hallucinations of a horrific nature crawling throughout the ground. He even started feeling things crawling inside his skin.

Harry desperately looked back at the aurors for some help. However, where the aurors were now laid two gleaming skeletons. Their skeletal visages mockingly grinned at him almost as if on a secret joke.

It was all a machination of this monster Harry realized. He could not hope to fight this horror. Humanity was a mere sustenance for such a monstrosity. There was nothing for him in this hell. Nothing at all. The room stretched before him until it snatched him in its appendages. Slowly it began to pull him inside that vile pit. Then, something strange began to happen as he looked inside the monster's mouth. Harry began to truly see the terrible revelations of the universe. He witnessed the infinite entanglements of space, time and the insignificance of mankind until the creature's maw ultimately and finally closed shut.

Harry woke up with a gasp.

He looked around him in disbelief. His eyebrows shot up to the stratosphere as he looked at his intact and not-quite mangled body.

How the hell am I alive Harry wondered. Either that was by far the worst drugged up nightmare, or he was in hell. But hell wasn't supposed to look like typical generic forest with pristine unspoiled grass. At least it was until Harry heaved his last meal on it.

He looked around blearily until he saw something that gave him a cold flash. It was the sack of twelve thousand galleons.