Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter franchise, Mass Effect franchise, or Dragon Age franchise. This is a purely fictional piece written for my (and hopefully the reader's) pleasure. No monetary profit is intended.

The Wandering Mage: Thedas

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Chapter 01

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Prologue

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The seemingly young man stood amongst the rubble and bodies that seem to stretch as far as the eye can see in what used to be a great city staring up at the night sky. The once proud and sprawling metropolis of steel and chrome has been reduced to crumbling ruins, craters, and the discarded bodies of the fallen. Directly in front of him was what remained of a busy main street, if he looked past the destruction and tried to imagine how it once was. Boarded up or outright demolished shops lined the buildings to either side of the crater-filled street, long-dead flashing neon signs hung dejectedly in front of their abandoned places of business, and the occasional bullet-ridden car sat in the road. If the man listened carefully, he could hear the distant sounds of continued fighting in the distance as the war for survival raged on. The faint cries of soldiers barking orders, the sharp retorts of gunfire, the explosions, the horrifying and unnatural howls of an enemy that took no quarter and spared no lives, and the screams of the dying.

Far, far above the broken planet another kind of war raged on. A furious battle took place up past the outer layers of the atmosphere that lit up the dark skies at frequent intervals. Hulking squid-like monstrosities and their smaller drones flew through space as they did their best to destroy the opposing fleet comprised of various classes of starships. Massive dreadnoughts unleashed payloads powerful enough to level small cities, similarly sized carriers deployed seemingly countless smaller fighters to swarm and harass the enemy, cruisers pounded enemy shields making up the bulk of the opposing force, and nimble frigates swept in and out of the heavy combat searching for weaknesses to exploit. The once clear orbit was filled with debris from destroyed ships on either side and at the core of the battle was a truly gigantic space station known as the Citadel. Over 7 kilometers wide and 40 kilometers long, it was here that the fate of the known galaxy would be decided.

In spite of the horror and death surrounding him as well as the seriousness of the final stand being made at the planet, the man had a barely noticeable soft smile on his youthful face.

"So you managed to win after all, against all odds? Congrats… Shepard."

The entire world seemed to pause as an unnaturally bright red glow originated from the heart of the space station before exploding outwards. Rocketing through the fighting ships in orbit, the monstrous invaders seemed to just shut down and drift as the wave of energy passed through them. The drones controlled by them similarly turned off as signal from their masters was lost and in an instant the previously doomed final stand was won. Taking advantage of the situation the opposing fleet immediately unleashed everything they had on the now defenseless enemy, shredding through the creatures called Reapers like a hot knife through butter now that there was no opposition.

Down on the ground a very similar event was occurring as the energy enveloped the world known as Earth. Across the world the enemy seemed to collapse like puppets with their strings cut to the astonished eyes of the various races fighting for survival against the invading forces. Shortly afterwards all around the world the defenders began to slowly realize that it was over. The previously unwinnable final stand had somehow been turned around, and the survivors rejoiced and shouted their victory to the heavens.

Back with the smiling young man, he slowly sat down and kept his gaze skyward as a familiar sensation began to niggle and itch at the back of his skull. Letting out a quiet sigh as his hopes of having some downtime before moving on evaporated, he mentally wished those he had grown close to the best. It was time to go. Had there been anybody alive in the vicinity, they would have been stuck watching in awe as what appeared to be a tear in the world manifested before the man. The air was filled with the sound of howling winds as his messy black hair was whipped around violently by the force of it, and he stood again with a world-weary sigh. Walking forward in a resigned manner, he offhandedly comments to himself, "Wonder what kind of place we get next?"

Once fully inside, the jagged tears slowly seal back together and the gale force winds die down as the rip seals behind the Master of Death and he leaves the remains of London for his new, unknown destination.

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Author's Note: So this is just a quick prologue to a story I'm planning to write with the tried and true cliche of Dimension Hopping MOD Harry Potter to gauge if there's any real interest. Can't promise great grammar, spelling, or timely updates at the moment and English isn't my first language.