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The Omnipotence Paradox

Chapter 5: The Essential Omnipotence

Gone.

Everyone and everything he ever knew of cared about – gone. Floating amidst the chunks of what was once planet Earth, his home, Harry felt an all encompassing sense of loneliness and despair. Voldemort had willed all of the planet's power into himself, leaving nothing left for the planet to survive, destroying Earth and all life on it – except Harry. The horcrux Harry possessed inside him had transferred half the planet's power into him, locking him into the same, desolate existence as the Dark God who had caused it. He could see the cause of all his pain and anger floating nearby, only vaguely resembling a human. Voldemort no longer had any visible features, as he seemed to be made of pure, blinding energy – he pulsated with an eerie purple, blackish glow, with tendrils of green energy swirling around him and red glowing eyes. Harry looked similar: a glowing mass of white, golden light with tendrils of red energy circling his body and glowing green eyes.

Two Gods alone in a desolate universe; Harry screamed.

His screams seemed to echo throughout the vast expanse of space, as the universe itself seemed to tremble from the raw power and sadness he possessed. "WHY?" Harry screamed at Voldemort. "YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS?"

His glowing red eyes settling on Harry, Voldemort quietly replied, "Because I can."

Shrieking in rage, Harry grabbed the nearest thing, a large chunk of what used to be Western Europe, and threw it like a child would throw a ping-pong ball – without even noticing any strain. Batting the massive chunk of planet aside, Voldemort appeared behind Harry and punched him; the raw power unleashed in a single punch was astronomical, and launched Harry forward far quicker then the speed of light. Harry smashed into the planet Venus with enough force to go half-way through, into the planet's core. With a cry of rage, Harry surged his energy outward, causing the entire planet to detonate outward in a massive blast of light. Summoning the nearest projectile, which happened to be Mercury, Harry threw the diminutive planet at the Dark God, who pulled the same trick as Harry had with the Moon, and simply had it collapse in on itself. So completely lost in his own emotions, Harry commanded the sun to age, forcing a massive transformation upon it, forming a red giant. Howling in rage, Harry threw the red giant at Voldemort, who merely forced the star to age further, till it became a white dwarf. With some adjustments to the level of surface hydrogen, the white dwarf collapsed into a nova, unleashing a cataclysmic nuclear explosion that destroyed the rest of the solar system. Amidst the absolute destruction, Harry could feel himself expanding, just as he had felt when Earth was destroyed, as Voldemort absorbed the magical power of the solar system that was unleashed when it was all destroyed.

Once the light ended, Harry had finally surfaced from his sea of rage and came back to himself, looking around at the vast emptiness. "Gone," was the only word he said.

"Gone," Voldemort repeated, knowing exactly what Harry was thinking, causing him to laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Congratulations Potter, you've just helped destroy the Solar System. Did it feel good, to throw around so much power so carelessly? It's addictive, isn't it? That surge of energy racing through your being, when you absorb and release the seemingly endless magic of the cosmos. Do anything. Be anything. To have nothing beyond your grasp," Voldemort said almost reverently.

Harry was at the point where he no longer cared anymore where things came from when he summoned them, just as long as they came so he could finish of the abhorrent creature in front of him that had ruined his life. Summoning two stars, Harry smashed them into Voldemort, creating a luminous red nova, whose power blasted outward with an alarming force. But despite all the light, the heat, the radiation, the raw power released, nothing seemed to affect either of them. And Voldemort just hovered there, as if being at the center of a stellar explosion just tickled, while he absorbed the chaotic power swirling around him, empowering him even further – it was infuriating.

Harry then summoned a blazar and pointed one of its relativistic jets at Voldemort, blasting him with a surge of pure plasma, but not a damn thing happened. Warping the fabric of space, Harry did the impossible and aimed both relativistic jets at Voldemort, but he simply snapped his fingers and the now warped blazar collapsed in on itself before it was also full incorporated into the two Gods.

Growing desperate, Harry summoned one of the biggest explosions he knew of – a hypernova. Being at the center of one of the biggest storms in the universe was an unbelievable experience; everything moving, burning, expanding - everything except Harry…and him. Voldemort summoned a black hole which started to quickly devour the ambient light and energy surrounding it, left over from the massive hypernova.

"Don't you understand? No matter what you do, I won't die. No heat is hot enough, no cold is frigid enough, and no blade is strong enough. Nothing can kill me. Or would you rather summon the black hole at the center of this universe to prove it? Perhaps trap me in the center of the big bang?" Voldemort taunted.

Considering Voldemort was casually floating on the ergosphere of the black hole he summoned, with no noticeable change to himself, Harry was forced to believe what he said. There was no way to kill Voldemort while he was a God, but now what? Everything that he treasured and that tied him to this reality was gone, and any changes he made, Voldemort would just undo.

"You're finally accepting the inevitable truth. You and I will exist forever. A God, an omnipotent being, cannot be killed. Nothing can harm us. Magical beings are linked intimately to the planet, where our powers first came from; when we tied ourselves to the planet's ley lines, we then linked ourselves to the galaxy, where Earth's magical power came from. Then after we absorbed all of Earth's magical force we had the power to destroy star systems, and with the power of our entire solar system within us, we had tied ourselves to the cosmos in ways that mere mortals could never comprehend. So by all means, summon the big bang, or the final back hole at the center of it all; if we absorb their power, then we will be connected to all creation. Anything and everything, Potter." Voldemort chanted his new motto.

'No,' Harry thought desperately, 'there has to be something I can do, some way to stop him, but what?' It was in that moment a long repressed memory from his childhood arose, a philosophical debate he had overheard between two elderly Muggles; 'Benjamin Walker and Hartwell Cooper' Harry idly thought, drawing from his seemingly endless knowledge. His idea was a gamble, but Harry honestly believed he had nothing left to lose.

"But you can't do everything, Tom," Harry calmly taunted, "after all, you can't kill me. If you can't kill a God, then I can't die either, as you said. You can't do anything and everything; you can't make a weapon capable of killing a God, Tom."

Rage filled Voldemort's eyes as he stared at the only other being to ever match him. "As I warned you before, don't ever call me Tom. If you truly seek death so desperately, then I will grant it; after all, I am a merciful god," he said in quiet anger.

"You're still an asshole, Tom."

Raw power filled the space surrounding Voldemort, enough to overwhelm the black hole and trigger a blast surpassing everything that came before. Through the glaring light, Harry saw Voldemort raise his hands and shout to the universe, "Come onto me, magic of the cosmos; Give me your power! Give me a weapon capable of killing a God!" A dark vortex of energy started to form above him, forging a weapon capable of doing the impossible from the remains of the cosmic explosion, a weapon that had never before existed. Harry instantly knew what weapon would emerge: the only weapon that would never miss and never failed to kill, the legendary spear, Gungnir.

Unsure of if his plan would work, Harry focused his thoughts and concentrated, 'Give me a weapon with the strength to protect.' A light vortex of energy began to swirl above Harry as he tapped into the destructive power that raged around him, producing a sword unlike any other. The scabbard's lower half was covered in rubies, while the upper two third's was covered in sapphire; intricate, golden lines wound their way up from the chape, outlined in silver, and a design of a silver dragon holding a golden crown rested at the locket. The scabbard alone radiated power – its holder would survive any flesh wound and never bleed; it was an incredible ability. As for the blade itself, the pommel was made of diamond, and held in place with gold, while the grip of the hilt was covered in blood-stained leather, held tightly by threads of a silver-like metal that shimmered like a rainbow in the light. The cross-guard was made mainly of the same silver-like medal, with more gold winding around it with rubies and sapphires inlaid throughout, and diamonds at the tips. The rain-guard was made of diamond and sapphires held with gold, which stretched towards the blade, once again made of the shimmering silver-like metal. The fuller had runes written on it, reading 'Take me up' on one side and 'Cast me away' on the other, and the edge was transparent, seemingly a mixture of the shimmering sliver-like substance and diamond that literally glowed. Without even unsheathing the blade, Harry felt a connection to the weapon, not of words but of emotions, as well as a drain of power and a simultaneous surge of power that seemed to cycle endlessly. Harry was able to instantly tell which weapon this was the moment he saw it form above him; the only weapon ever made with sentient Mythril given by the Fay, and thus the only living weapon in existence. The sword was often called 'Excalibur' by those around it, but being sentient it had chosen its own name – Caledfwlch.

Looking over, Voldemort now held Gungnir in all its impossible glory; the shaft was gold with ribbons of silver running upward to provide grip. The bottom held a glowing emerald, as did the ends of the cross-bar, which had rubies laden throughout. Just beneath the cross-bar was an extended circle of gold that stretched outward slightly and curved around the spear in an extended infinity loop. The blade itself was long and black, as if made of reflective obsidian, and had sharp emerald edges that glowed. Overall, the weapon looked extremely imposing and lethal, as was its supposed function.

Aiming Gungnir, Voldemort's glowing red eyes stared straight into Harry's glowing green eyes. "Anything and everything, I am the alpha and the omega; the one true God of this world. Goodbye, Harry Potter."

Drawing Caledfwlch in a brilliant flash of light, Harry raised his sword and intercepted Voldemort's charge, stopping Gungnir by catching its cross-bar, but the blade itself bent around Caledfwlch and went straight for Harry's heart. 'This is it, its over. I've failed,' was Harry's last thought as the tip of Gungnir impacted the radiant gold and white light that was where Harry's skin should have begun.

But nothing happened. Gungnir had done the impossible, and had actually warped itself in order to strike its target, Harry's heart, but had failed to actually pierce the light of Harry's chest. Gungnir had failed to kill, because as Voldemort said, you can't kill a God, an omnipotent being; And if you don't have the power to do everything…

…then are you really a God?

A massive explosion erupted from inside the 'Dark God', larger then even the one produced by the overwhelmed black hole. Harry magical energy was expanding within him beyond almost anything even he could conceive, into the realm of absurdity. Through the Horcrux, all the power Voldemort once had was absorbed into him, to the point where Harry now glowed more intensely then even the brightest star and the largest explosion.

Harry's plan had worked – based on the old paradox he had heard, if a God who wasn't a 'true God' ever tried to do something that contradicted his own abilities, his powers would turn against itself. 'What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?' - Neither wins. In trying to kill an immortal God with a weapon that never fails to kill, Voldemort became the 'irresistible force' and Harry as a 'God' was the 'immovable object'. Neither Voldemort nor Harry could possibly win such a confrontation, but in trying to act against his own powers limitations, Voldemort invalidated them and 'proved' that he couldn't be a God, loosing his Godhood and killing himself instantly. Apparently a God can't do everything and be anything.

Voldemort was once again dead, but his hateful spirit still remained, tied to this realm through Harry. No longer worried about Voldemort becoming stronger, Harry removed the soul shard from his body and merged it with the former God's drifting soul, making Voldemort's spirit whole once again. "You've caused so much sadness and pain, all for your own twisted desires," Harry's powerful voice echoed throughout the cosmos, "you will take the secret of ascension with you into oblivion." With a thought, the soul of Tom Marvolo Riddle was completely annihilated, never to exist again.

Harry was now completely alone…well, unless you consider the sentient Caledfwlch as company. He now had the power to fix things uninterrupted, but how? Using one of Tom's last ideas, Harry appeared at the center of it all; ground zero where the super-massive black hole left from the creation of the universe still existed. Crossing the event horizon, Harry felt a bizarre sense of peace at the center of it all. Enlarging the black hole and accelerating time, the universe itself seemed to reverse, as if rewinding a video reel, and as the black hole devoured everything, Harry continued to absorb all the magic in existence, till everything had once again been restored to a single point of infinite density and darkness.

At exactly 2:24GMT on June 21, 1996, during the Summer Solstice when the sun was at its highest point, Harry James Potter saw Sirius Black in his Grim form take a piss on one of the Stonehenge stones. Everyone's animagus form was tied to their true persona, and Sirius had always sought to leave his mark on the world around him; either through pranks on people, notches on his bedpost from the women he had 'claimed', or if in his beast form, just pissing on everything. Regardless of if it was pissing off people or just plain pissing on them, Sirius was an expert and took pride in his work – Harry wouldn't change a single thing about him.

The oddity of the whole situation still amazed Harry – he was a 'God' who hid his powers from everyone around him. Once he had absorbed the magical power of the entire universe, he froze time and began the painstaking process of using his new powers to restore everything back to the way it was exactly…up until 9:45GMT on October 31, 1981.

Harry chose to re-make the universe in exact replica up to that time because if Harry instead reversed time, Voldemort would be fully restored, powers and all, because he would be reunited with his Godhood, thus starting the whole conflict all over again. And if he decided to remake the world in the shape of an earlier time period, like before Riddle was born, he would run the risk of not being born himself into his newly created world. So Harry copied the universe exactly as it was on that fateful night, and having everything put back into place, Harry found himself with a bit of a problem: Harry had completely destroyed Voldemort's soul, and in doing so no longer had his actor to play the role of 'Dark Lord' on that fateful night. Harry couldn't just have Voldemort 'disappear', as it would leave all his Death Eaters to their own devices and have everyone else looking over their shoulders continuously for years to come, waiting for him to re-appear to terrorize them all once more.

Harry was forced to command the soulless body of Voldemort himself, and have it attack his own home, using stunners on his parent's so they wouldn't be harmed, before Harry re-entered his infant form and 'mysteriously' killed the evil Dark Lord Voldemort, leaving only a lighting bolt scar on his forehead and Tom Riddle's corpse. Harry had been slightly tempted to make the scar something silly, like a smiley face, but the absurdity of it stopped him…and the fact that Harry knew his scar would later become the symbol for the new award, the Order of the Phoenix, which would replace the old Order of Merlin once people find out what a traitorous ass Merlin actually was. Although Harry had to admit, the thought of criminals running in fear, screaming 'Look out! The Smiley Badge Brigade is here!' did have its merits.

From that point, time flowed and Harry started to reshape the world to make things better. The first thing he did was cause a lethal surge of power in anyone who bore the Dark Mark as well as the Dementors, making people think it was magical backlash from Voldemort's death that killed them, thus ridding the world of the Death Eaters and their soul sucking wraiths for good. With his family alive and Peter Pettigrew dead, no one thought Sirius was guilty of treason and he never went to Azkaban. Being a free man allowed him to meet Hestia Jones at a Quidditch party in 1985, where the healthy, and horny, Sirius tried repeatedly to pick her up, while she repeatedly shot him down. His dogged persistence eventually won him a date with Hestia, which lead him to more dates, till they finally wed in May of 1988. Sirius had so far had only one child with Hestia, Charlus, who was named after James' father who had taken in Sirius after he was disowned, and had been more of a parent to him then his own were.

Remus Lupin continued to have trouble getting employment due too his Lycanthropy, until a funny little mishap with a new charm led Cassandra Lovegood to discover Nargles in December of 1983. Everyone was astounded to discover the furry little creatures lived in mistletoe and wondered why they hadn't discovered them before – which Harry could answer because they simply didn't exist before. Harry had gotten the idea from the old Luna of his original time; Nargles had been one of the imaginary creatures she had dreamed up after the trauma of seeing her mother's gory demise in front of her. So Harry decided he would solve several problems with a simple solution – make Nargles real. He made it so that they existed in every piece of mistletoe on the planet, and that they fed on negative emotions, leaving those around them feeling happier - kind of like an anti-Dementor. Their fur was also highly magical, and was the key ingredient in the cure for Lycanthropy and several other previously incurable illnesses. It was because of Harry and his Nargles that everyone now had at least some mistletoe in their house, promoting happiness throughout their home. This change also led Cassandra to quit charms experimentation so she could focus on unlocking the secrets of Nargles, of which Harry built in many, to keep her busy so that she never died in 1990, and Luna's mind remained grounded in reality.

Without his 'furry little problem' to hold him back, Lupin had gotten a job as a liaison with the Ministry for several different magical races, including the remaining Werewolves who for their own reasons didn't want the cure. Shortly after he had approached Emmeline Vance, who he had met during the war, for a date and they hit it off, eventually getting married in 1987. He had had two children so far with Emmeline; Romulus first in 1988, and then Rhea in 1990. They were going to go to Hogwarts the same time as Sirius' child, Charlus, and Rhea would eventually fall for him, and they would get married…

Harry placed his hands on his temples and rubbed; the farther he tried to look into the future, the more variables he had to deal with, and Harry tried desperately to always limit the amount of knowledge that passed through the front of his mind, or he would always be left feeling like his head might explode. Harry could see Hestia, Emmiline, and his mother, Lily talking and looking after Charlus, Rhea, Romulus, and Rose. Rose was Harry's little sister, who had been born in 1986. Harry already knew Romulus would end up being attracted to her, as she was just as pretty as her mother, with intense green eyes and wild, messy red hair; Rose would be stunning when she grew older and, despite Harry actually liking Romulus, he still wondered if he should pull the 'big brother' act on him, despite Rose being two years older then Romulus and fierce enough to take care of herself. Regardless, most futures Harry saw involved them getting together after they finished Hogwarts.

Harry saw the Longbottoms, ancestral allies and a friend of the Potter's, nearby talking with the Lovegood's. Both families were invited, along with the Granger's, Weasley's, and the Marauders families, to be here with the Potter's at Stonehenge to celebrate the Solstice. Harry could see Neville bent down next to Ron, examining a plant hidden in the shade of one of the henge stones; Neville had grown into a confident teen, with the help of his parent's, Frank and Alice, and Harry was still proud to call him a friend, although Harry believed he spent too much time fussing with plant's and not enough time just living. Ron also had a lot of confidence, seeing as he didn't have as many insecurities from being poor due to the large inheritance the Weasley's had received when the Death Eaters had died, considering they were now the last of kin in many cases.

Sirius was nearby sniffing more of the henge stones, still in his Padfoot form, looking like he had every intention of peeing all over the entire monument and marking it all as his. James and Remus were watching him and laughing their assess off, followed by their 'apprentices', Fred and George, who idolized the Marauders and still looked up them, despite just starting their own joke shop, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. The thought of Sirius and his 'marking habits' allowed the knowledge of just how many dog's had actually peed on the rock Harry was sitting against to filter through his mind; Harry thought it would be a good idea to stretch his legs for a bit.

Standing up, he couldn't help but hear the nearby giggling, and was forcefully reminded of one of his main problems with his new life. Being good-looking and considered a child prodigy, not to mention the 'Boy-Who-Lived' title drew girls to him in a way that would have frozen the old Harry in shock and horror. He had known Ginny from a young age this time due to their family's being friends, and although she had never been 'star-struck' around Harry, unlike his past life, she did grow to genuinely care for him because of who he was as a person. Due to growing up with Fred and George, she was not shy about revealing her feelings for Harry, especially in front of their parents, who rarely ever stopped teasing him. Harry had to resist the urge to reverse time when he was first given the Kama Sutra by Sirius for his fifteenth birthday, in front of all his family and friends, and then loudly told Harry he had highlighted all the best sections and to 'have fun'.

He had also met Luna shortly after Ginny when Harry had used 'accidental' magic that flew him to the Lovegood home, coincidently on the same morning that Nargles were discovered. Befriending Luna early had helped further prevent the loneliness she had suffered in her last life; thankfully, due to her fathers influence, she was still a delightfully quirky and kind person who enjoyed trying to hit on Harry in the most bizarre ways - How are you supposed to respond when one of your pretty young friends asks you with a blank face, "would you like me to flush the Blibbering Humdinger's from your crotch, Harry?" Luna was well aware that Harry knew Blibbering Humdinger's didn't exist, because she had used them to get them both out of trouble for turning Xenophilius' paper printer into an ice-cream maker when they were five; Xenophilius still demanded they all wear beer-bottle necklaces to prevent their belongings from turning into ice-cream.

Hermione had been a bit of surprise to Harry when he first noticed her attraction; he was the only student who got higher grades then her, and instead of being jealous like he thought, she had instead asked for advice. They had become fast friends again and Harry soon discovered that Hermione was attracted to intelligence. She had also matured far quicker then his other friends, and he was surprised at how often she would break into his trunk to read his copy of the Kama Sutra again; every time he caught her, she would just blush and give a cute little smile and wink at him, before she just kept on reading like he wasn't even there, the kinky little witch.

Tonks and Fleur had been a bit more surprising, seeing as they had both shown zero interest in him in his past life. Harry had met Tonks early on through Sirius, and he almost regretted showing her his transformation skills, leading her and everyone else to believe he was also a Metamorphmagus. Since then she has stuck to him almost whenever possible, being the only one who could fully understand her as the only other living Metamorphmagus and comparing ideas about transformations. He was her sounding board and helped comfort some of her insecurities about men who only wanted her because of her gifts, drawing them closer together. Fleur just seemed to be mystified by him since they met during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Apparently she had never seen nor heard of a man that was completely immune to the Veela's charms; Harry was a challenge to her, but she had come to appreciate him for who he was as well over the time she had spent with him. Fleur apparently found it refreshing to have a conversation without having to worry about seeing someone 'blank-out' and start to drool on themselves.

Harry already knew that a future with any of them would be a happy one, but his 'stalker' was the wild card – she was too unpredictable to fully read, and she did it on purpose to confuse him. When Harry had reset the world, he only let four others besides himself remember what had actually happened: Myrddin, due to his involvement and knowledge would remember everything, including his second death, but would never be able to tell anyone any details, on either side of life, due to having the information locked away, with only him having access. Slytherin would also remember due to his involvement and be unable to tell a soul, living or dead. The living sword, Caledfwlch, would also remember; the blade never left Harry's side, and was hidden by a complex invisibility charm, keeping him company and it would continue to do so through the eons as an undying being. The last was Morgan, who was reborn when Harry had restarted time, and had studiously guarded the ley line since...at least, when she wasn't busy stalking Harry. She, as an immortal Fay, was never supposed to have died, so he had resurrected her so she could help him protect the planet and keep the balance though the years…when she wasn't creeping him out. He would often have dreams of her poking him with a stick, studying him, only to wake up with her actually standing over him. Even now, she sat on top of one of the henge monuments, watching him, covered in an invisibility cloak. She was still confused as to why he didn't just make himself 'supreme overlord' or something equally ridiculous and instead chose to do things the hard way. Morgan had seen too much darkness and death to believe in a person's 'inherent good' anymore; something Harry would have to fix over the endless years he would now know her.

Thankfully, neither would ever have to deal with another God uprising again; the Stonehenge stones, and all the other henge monuments in the world, had had all traces of Mythril removed from them and returned to the Fay for them to nurture and guard. The only Mythril left unguarded by the Fay was in the Sword of Griffindor and Caledfwlch, which were both under Harry's protection. The ley lines were now being monitored constantly by both Morgan and Harry to detect any anomaly and correct them before any serious repercussions could occur.

Harry still found the whole situation ironic: the big, bad 'Dark God' done in by a technicality spawned from a debate being made by two old Muggles. Both Benjamin Walker and Hartwell Cooper had been shocked when they came home after a day at the park to find themselves millionaires from winning a lottery they didn't even remember entering. To think, the mysterious 'power he knows not' was just two old fogies arguing about a paradox while feeding the pigeons…it was quite ridiculous.

A child nearby began to whimper when his ice-cream scoop slipped off his cone and fell to the ground, but before he could start to cry it was replaced by three extra-large scoops, causing the child to squeal in wonder. It was often the little things that made Harry grin, and with no more Dark Lords or Gods on the horizon, the world was free to make its own choices, without fear of repercussion or prejudice. Morgan had yet to understand that a world free of terror and suppression was the reason he didn't just enslave the universe, because a world filled with endless possibilities and futures was a world that Harry felt was truly worth fighting for.