Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter. For better of worse that belongs to JK Rowling. The Ultimates and everything within the Ultimate Marvel Universe belongs to Marvel Comics. Which I don’t own either. If I did I would retire at the age of twenty three.

---

Project M.
Chapter Two: A Reflection of the World
By: Water Mage

He didn’t know what the Ultimates were and who Captain America was. While he did care, more than anything he just wanted to get out of here. The building shook again and Harry was running for the door before the roof came down over him. It didn’t take much convincing for him to follow his rescuer. The trail of the dead bodies of his former captors validated much of the costumed hero’s claim of goodwill.

A guard skidded around a corner and his semi automatic was in his hands as soon as he caught sight of the two men. Harry threw his body down behind a pile of debris. He frowned as the telltale sound of gunfire didn’t register. He looked over his cover to see the guard impaled to the wall by a circular shield. The way his body dangled was enough to see what little life he had was fading fast. Captain America yanked the shield from the guard’s abdomen and Harry was surprised to see that the shield was so sharp, and thrown was so much force, it embedded solidly in the wall.

The initial threat assessment of his mysterious rescuer just went up. Harry watched as the man flicked the shield sharply, cleaning it free of blood, then in one smooth action attached the weapon to his back.

“Nice moves,” said Harry.

The man offered a nod and a smile. “I do my best.”

They continued running amidst the sounds of a raging battle coming from just outside the building. Harry stopped to pick up a Beretta off a guard who looked like he didn’t have much longer for this world. He was tempted to shoot the poor bastard to ease his suffering, but Harry figured he needed the bullets more. The bloke was a dead man anyway.

“Get down!” Harry screamed.

The guards barely made it around the corridor junction before they met their fate at the hands of speeding bullets right between the eyes. Captain America surveyed the dead men, nodding approvingly at the head shots.

“Nicely done, son,” he said.

Harry shrugged with one shoulder. “I try my best.”

“The rendezvous point should be through the doors they just ran in from,” said Captain America, running ahead with Harry at his side.

They burst from the facility and Harry was momentarily taken aback by the smell of outside air. Real air, not the imitation crap that pumped through the vents during the simulation exercises. The wind carried smoke on its back and he inhaled it like it was the freshest thing he had ever smelled. Instinctively he tugged at the collar and a sigh of frustration left his lips. He knew it would take more than stepping foot outside to get the damn thing off, but he always associated outside with being collar free. And more than anything he wanted this cursed piece of metal off his neck.

A whirlwind swept through the forested area not a moment later. The wind was followed by the loud, whirring blades of a small, sleek back-and-gray copter that touched down on the grassy lawn. Another explosion rocked the building and Harry looked into the sky.

A man, no it was a robot, honestly he wasn’t sure what the thing was that hovered in the night sky. The red and gold armored being was lit up like a nightlight. Shoulder mounts slid open to reveal their hidden ordinance. A heartbeat later eight missiles launched from the power armor, discharging fire as they ejected from their tanks. They flew in an arc like glowing streamers, and hit home as they engulfed the building in a fireball of destruction.

“Bloody hell,” Harry murmured, amazed at the up-close and personal visual of ruin.

Captain America clapped him on the back and pointed at the helicopter. “There’s our ride.”

He tore his eyes from the armored being zipping through the sky dealing destruction where it saw fit. He finally registered the alarms blaring through the air, and he shook himself once. It was finally time he got the hell out of dodge. Harry jumped into the helicopter behind Captain America, as the man grabbed a headset from the pilot.

“The cargo is secure,” said Captain America into the microphone. “Repeat: the cargo is secure, over. You’re a go, Stark. Torch this Godforsaken place.”

The helicopter shot into the air as fireworks exploded in the sky. He moved closer to the window to see that the fireworks were actually over thirty missiles launching from the power armor. It was quite a sight to see them end their ballistic arc and detonate against the facility that had been his prison. A smile formed on his face as the building went up in flame.

Harry licked his lips as he watched the building collapse. “I can see why they call you guys the Ultimates.”

Captain America grinned. “You haven’t even seen the whole team.”

-

It took them an hour to arrive in New York City, particularly the Upper Bay of Manhattan. In the harbor rested a massive and breathtaking three pronged facility built on a boomerang shaped island. The central building rose up in a truncated cylinder with a golden glow emanating from its numerous lit windows. It was ultramodern and looked every bit as intimidating as it was meant to.

“It takes some getting used to,” admitted Captain America. He watched the looming structure grow closer as they approached the asphalt disc of the helicopter pad. “Welcome to the Triskelion. S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.”

“What?” he hissed, glaring at the face hidden behind the cowl. “Last time I checked you were rescuing me from S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Blue eyes looked away and Captain America sighed. “It’s a long story.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “That’s a story I’d like to hear.”

The copter landed with a barely felt bump. Harry jumped from the helicopter and he looked up as a whine of engines registered over the copter blades. The armored being curved around to their position, cutting thrust at the last possible minute. He landed on both feet and in one swift movement removed the suit’s helmet, revealing a handsome, smiling man.

He looked like one of those old movie stars from the black and white movies Aunt Petunia used to be so fond of. He had a dazzling smile and a neat Van dyke mustache and goatee. “This is the man of the hour I take it. They call me Iron Man when I’m wearing this contraption. You can call me Tony Stark during my off hours. I bet you’re glad we busted you out.”

Harry didn’t know what to say. The man was charming. His broad smile and easygoing chatter loosened a bit of tension coiling in his shoulders. Harry realized a second later that was the intention. Oh, he was good. He didn’t drop his guard though.

“Is this the part where you take me to your leader?” he asked, staring at the men.

Captain America blinked. “Yes actually.”

And they did. Twenty minutes later he found himself deep in the center complex. The room was like a classic interrogation room. He wondered if they were keeping him here because they didn’t trust him, or if they just wanted to pump information out of him. Harry surveyed the room. Metal chairs, one single table, and metallic walls that shone like mirrors.

The door slid open and Captain America entered sans cowl. He recognized the blue eyes but the blond hair and chiseled face wasn’t a surprise. Behind him entered a black man with a bald head. He had an eye patch and his bearing was ramrod straight, military through and through.

The black man stepped forward, offering his hand. “General Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Harry stared at the black gloved hand, making no move to take it. Fury took the hint and dropped it. He and Captain America took a seat on the other side of the table. Harry watched the new man with fire in his eyes. Here was the guy in charge of the organization that held him captive since he had come to this backwater world.

“You know I could reach across this table and kill you in five ways. It would take me no longer than three seconds. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put your head on a stick?”

Fury didn’t even blink at the glare and cold tone directed at him. He jerked his thumb at the blond beside him. “This guy right here is faster, stronger, better. And I sign his paychecks.”

“So when did kidnapping become a part of the United States government’s charter?” asked Harry, glaring at Fury.

Fury placed a stack of files on the table and slid them over to Harry. “Never, and for that I want to personally apologize for everything you’ve been put through. We know about your predicament and arrival here to this universe a year ago. The unit of SHIELD holding you was a rogue branch, and we only found out about them because an accountant noticed shunted funds. So we followed the money, and we found you.”

“They knew I wasn’t from this Earth,” Harry muttered, watching the muscles under his hands flex as if it was the first time noticing such an occurrence. “And they still did things to me.”

Fury ran a hand over his bald head. “We know. We’ve shut them down permanently.”

“Why?” said Harry, unable to smother the rage in his voice. “I deserve an answer damn it! Why did they do all that shit to me!”

Captain America glanced at Fury. “Tell him, General. He has a right to know.”

“Did you have a World War Two, Mr. Potter, in your world I mean?” asked Fury. At Harry’s slow nod, he continued, “We had one ourselves.”

Harry eyed the General. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything,” answered Fury. “It all comes back to that. In this universe that’s where events originate. It’s our history. Not many people know all this and for good reason. Four things stem from that war. The Super Soldier Project. Weapon X. Operation Rebirth. Project M.”

Weapon X and Operation Rebirth were familiar. He heard the scientists whispering amongst themselves when they thought he was unconsciousness or out of earshot. He figured they related to him but he could never puzzle out how.

“World War Two was about hope and symbols and freedom. It was the cornerstone of what people were fighting for. 1942, President Roosevelt authorized the creation of the Super Soldier Project. Its purpose was to create a soldier who was faster, stronger, and superior than any other soldier on the planet. The program was a success. It gave us Captain America.”

“1942…” Harry started to stay, but Fury held up his hand.

“Not done yet, Mr. Potter. Captain America was everything they wanted. He was deadlier than any soldier alive. Any weapon he touches, he instantly adapts to it and can kill you with it before you could draw breath. His tactical intelligence is off the scale. Anything short of cutting off his head, he’ll survive and come back from, and make wish you’d done that. He’s the most dangerous man alive. And we made him that way.”

“Made him?” asked Harry, looking at Captain America with new eyes.

Furry nodded. “Problem numero uno. The formula, the key to the super soldier serum that made him the way he is, was lost. One of the scientist was working for the other side and he double crossed his whole team. The project scientists were killed in the double cross, all of them. And with their deaths, the secret of the super soldier formula went to their graves.” He held up two fingers. “The second setback was in 1945. Captain America diverts a Hydrogen missile from hitting Washington. It detonates over the Arctic Ocean, killing the world’s greatest hero. So that leaves us no Captain America and no formula. The project’s a bust and the program fails at recreating another super soldier.”

“Do you understand so far?” asked Captain America.

“Not much to misunderstand. America created a soldier. Soldier dies.” He paused, head tilting as he studied the aforementioned soldier. “Although…how you’re alive now that remains unanswered.”

“We’ll get to that,” said Fury. He took a moment to remember where he left off. “Next came Weapon X. After the Super Soldier Project ended with the war, Weapon X was initiated a few years later. It was believed the next war would be fought with genetically altered soldiers. For awhile there was a genetic arms race. Most of it was unethical and highly illegal. At the end of the finish line for America we got Wolverine. You want to win a war you send in Captain America. You want someone killed you call Wolverine. He’s the perfect killer. Largely due to the fact he’s unkillable. He’s got a healing factor stronger than yours and Captain America’s combined. He’s fitted with unbreakable bones, retractable claws, and a killer instinct that borders on animalistic.”

“Déjà vu,” remarked Harry, noting the parallel with his own recent history.

Captain America smiled apologetically. “General Fury was responsible for shutting down the program personally. Weapon X experimented on non-volunteers. It was criminal the things they did to its test subjects and the actions they carried out.”

He wasn’t faking the righteous anger in his voice. Harry could see the indignant fury blazing all on his face. Well goody for him. Where was he when their little rogue faction first scooped him up? Nowhere.

Fury went on to explain how Weapon X’s primary goal was altering mutants to become superpowered assassins. That was one term Harry already knew at least. Mutants had been covered extensively during his mental training in the chair. Those with the X-gene had superhuman abilities that made them a dangerous group of people. He had to shake off the tactical information that immediately triggered in his mind, producing weaknesses and strengths of known extrahuman abilities.

“Things were never the same after the mess Weapon X created,” said Fury. “Crime became super-crime. Terrorism became super-terrorism. America needed a symbol again. The government called for a new super soldier. A new Captain America. Thus begins Operation Rebirth, directed by Dr. Banner. Using all the research Weapon X gathered on genetics legitimately this time, a team of doctors tried to recreate the super soldier formula.”

Harry eyed up Captain America. “I’m guessing it worked.”

“Not exactly,” replied Fury, scratching at his goatee. “About seven months ago we discovered Captain America frozen in ice down in the Arctic. The boys fished him out, mainly to get a blood sample for Banner. The brains figured maybe they could reverse engineer the formula from his blood. Turns out the super soldier formula was better than we all thought. As soon as they thawed him out, he woke up.”

“You’ve been on ice since the 40’s?” asked Harry, voice full of disbelief and skepticism. “Forgive me for saying you don’t look a year older than twenty nine.”

Captain America smiled. “It took some getting used to for me too. They say I was preserved in a kind of suspended animation.”

“Even with Captain America’s blood Operation Rebirth failed to recreate the serum,” said Fury. “Some people were unsatisfied with the lack of results. When you came through that anomaly they saw it as an opportunity to experiment with a subject unlike anything they’ve encountered. They wanted to create a weapon that was the best of both Captain America and Wolverine.”

Harry frowned darkly. “And so Project M was born. Do you know what I am? Do you know what I can do?”

Fury gestured at the files on the table. “We managed to copy these files from the hard drive of the computers where they kept you. We know a few people who can use magic. Doctor Strange is famous for it.”

Harry snatched up the folders. He flipped through the papers, scowling as he came upon pages and pages of notes on his physiology alone. There was enough information on him in the files to fill a book. Everything about him was here. His fever induced ramblings from his first months were transcribed and carefully commented on. They had copies of his DNA sequence and charts with observations on his genome compared to the human norm. His surgical notes went into detail about his wand implants and how they pumped him full of steroids to enhance his muscles to compensate for his newfound strength.

Harry pointed to an unfamiliar word. “What’s adamantium and how does this collar work anyway?”

He tried a few times to magic the damn thing off only to get a nasty jolt of electricity directly to his nervous system for his effort.

“It’s an indestructible metal,” answered Captain America.

“As for your other question, you utilize a specific part of your brain to use magic and they noticed it during brain scans,” explained Fury, scanning a paper with slanted writing. “The collar constantly monitors your brain functions and emits an ultrasonic frequency when that region of the brain is activated. Auditory functions directly linked to that area of the brain functions are targeted, and the signal interferes so you can’t even work up enough brainpower to use your powers.”

“Can you get this thing off?” asked Harry, tracing the metal around his neck. He rolled his eyes as they traded glances. “I promise I’m not up to anything. I swear.”

Fury leaned across the table, glaring at Harry with his one visible eye. “Let’s get one thing straight, Mr. Potter. I feel bad for you. I can’t lie about that. What you went through sucks. But if you try and take some kind of vengeance against us or whatever, there’ll be nowhere you can hide. SHIELD will find you and I’ll make you regret ever setting foot on my planet. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” said Harry coolly, refusing to bow down from that glare.

Fury reached into his pocket and withdrew a small black square. He pressed something on the device and there was a momentary flash of red light from its center. At the same time the collar fell from his neck without fanfare. Harry closed his eyes smiling as the rush of magic filled his nerves. It was almost as good as coming home. He felt whole and centered for the first time in a long time.

Harry couldn’t fight the small smile on his face. “Thank you, General. Thank you too, Captain, for saving my life.”

“The name’s Steve Rogers. You can call me by either name,” said the blond man, returning the smile. “I was just doing my duty.”

“It still needed to be said,” Harry replied, feeling better with the familiar energy coursing through his body. “I may be a long way from home but I still have manners.”

Fury smirked. “Speaking of home…” His smirk morphed into a smile as Harry’s eyes widened, surprised and full of hope. “Crossing universes has been done before, and I know just the person who’ll have the best shot at getting you home. “

“Who?” Harry asked, failing to mask his anxiousness.

He was going home.

“Reed Richard’s his name and he’s the smartest person on this side of the continent. I can have him here tomorrow morning.”

-

How did they expect him to sleep after telling him news like that? The guest quarters were nice. After an extra long hot shower Harry spent the rest of a sleepless night in bed, flicking through the channel lineup. He paid extra attention to news channels. He really didn’t need information on this world, since hopefully he would be making his grand exit, but he felt fascination with the current events anyway.

Even though weeks had passed since the Ultimates very public scuffle with a being called the Hulk, the news were still treating the piece as if it happened yesterday. Harry watched another clip of Captain America and Thor take down the green giant known as the Hulk. Horny and on a rampage the creature carved a path of death and destruction through Manhattan. The news remained skeptical to believe if the blond haired, axe-hammer wielding man was the real Thor, as he claimed, but the way he threw lightning around raised eyebrows.

“I may work with the Ultimates, but that doesn’t mean I’m a super commando for the government,” boasted the blond. Thor ran a hand through his long hair. “I will not involve myself in international disputes. That’s not to say my aid is only for the benefit of the US.”

Harry flicked the channel and this time there was an Asian woman and surly looking man sitting together on a couch. They wore matching wedding rings and the woman was twirling a finger through her husband’s unruly brown hair.

“Hank just has a bruised ego, Barbra,” said the woman coyly. The caption under her image said Janet Pym ‘the Wasp’ of the Ultimates.

The interviewer patted the man’s knee. “Don’t pout, Dr. Pym. You weren’t the only one of your team that the Hulk bested. You were just the only one that didn’t get back up.”

Hank Pym ‘Giant Man’ of the Ultimates scowled and said through gritted teeth, “Why thank you for that excellent recap Barbra. Cause you know, I was there and all. Jan stop playing with my hair.”

Jan and Barbra shared a little laugh and the pixie haired woman leaned over to whisper into her husband’s ear. Harry switched the channel as the man turned red. He dropped the remote on the bed, and left it on one of the hundred’s of movie channels.

The Ultimates weren’t like the heroes in the comic books. They were real people and after witnessing their individual personalities it was incredible they even clicked well enough to make a cohesive team. The interviews they gave each shined light on their character for the public. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were just as they came across when he met them. Stark was charismatic and somewhat ego-centric. Rogers was a boy scout. He always said his ‘yes, sirs’ and ‘yes, ma’ams’ and didn’t let you forget that he was from a different time with his perfect manners. He might look like a fitness model but he talked like someone’s grandfather.

Thor was what he imagined a hippie to be like if he ever met one in real life. He resembled a Viking with his Nordic looks, but his Mother Earth attitude and green way of thinking almost made one forget that this man had unleashed the fury of the heavens on national television.

He couldn’t tell much from Hank and Jan Pym other than both was doctors of science. Jan tended to come off as very sexual, and played well for the cameras. Hank usually did as well till his defeat at the hands of the Hulk was mentioned, then he inevitably would go stone faced and uncooperative.

The Ultimates were the public face of super humans, and since they were government sponsored the people were treating them like national heroes. The Hulk had managed to kill almost a thousand people before the Ultimates brought him down. A large amount for a fight that lasted an hour total. He closed his eyes. Could that have been him? If kept in that place for a few more years would he have turned into some mindless killing machine that needed to be brought down?

He was dangerous now.

He knew it and sure enough Nick Fury knew it. The files they had on him had included his training regime and his subsequent progress over the last year of captivity. They molded him to be deadlier, and he was. He knew over a handful of martial arts. He could dismantle a gun with his eyes closed. He knew countless spells he could use to kill. The Killing Curse was a Godsend compared to some of the things he could unleash upon a target. He blinked. Were people targets to him now instead of foes or enemies?

He didn’t even know exactly when he began to think so tactically. And it worried him.

A chime echoed through the room and Harry glanced at the clock on the wall. He swore at the blinking time. It was already nine am sharp. The night had slipped past him in channel surfing and internal musing. He got up and answered the door.

Rogers stood in the doorway dressed in a pair of green BDU’s, minus his Captain America ensemble. “Good morning, son. You cleaned up well.”

Harry had showered and shaved and even trimmed his hair. He left it shoulder length since he was afraid of hexing off his own ears going for something more conservative like Rogers hairstyle. He donned the suit jacket and took a breath.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“I understand,” Rogers offered him an understanding smile, patting his shoulder. “I know what its like to be far from home.”

As they walked down the corridor toward the elevators, Harry realized the time displaced man did know the lost feeling that thumped inside his own chest. Harry swallowed thickly proffering the Captain a thankful smile. He gave up watching the numbers of the floors light up as the continual descent took them deeper than ground level beneath the complex. Finally there was a pleasant beep and the elevator came to a halt.

“They’re in special projects lab two,” said Rogers, leading him passed a row of thick reinforced doors to one that looked equally as fortified. He keyed in a code on the door and it slid open, revealing that the door was at least eight inches thick. “Here we are.”

Harry entered with mixed feelings. He was apprehensive to be in another lab, but the knowledge of home was the only thing keeping his feet moving. The room had a domed ceiling and most of the lab was taken up by computer equipment. Monitors glowed and buttons beeped as they were connected to the central piece in the room. It was a platform, circular, and stationed on a raised bit of metallic platform.

General Fury and a man, younger than all of them, stood before one of the central monitors. He turned to Harry and he was struck by the youth on the man’s face. He was maybe twenty one and looked it. His brown hair was cut short and his blue eyes stood out bright on his smiling face. This was the genius?

“Are you our extra-dimensional visitor?” asked Reed. “Oh, where are my manners. I’m Reed Richards.”

His arm stretched on its own, without charms or a spell, extending the twelve feet separating them. Harry blinked at the stretched appendage. He had seen a lot of strange things in his life, but odd was odd. And this was odd.

Reed smiled at the surprise on Harry’s face. “They call me Mr. Fantastic.”

“Indeed,” Harry murmured, finally taking the hand and giving it a good shake.

The arm returned to its normal length like a rubber band snapping back into place, and Reed looked like he didn’t feel a thing. Harry looked around and noticed a window that had to be some type of observation room. A dozen scientists watched as Reed calibrated the machine, using his stretching abilities to the do the job of all of them.

“I’ve been modifying this device as sort of an upgrade to the N-Zone transporter in the Baxter Building. Principles behind the science are the same but I’ve tweaked the specifications,” explained Reed to Fury as he typed into a keyboard. “Thanks for letting me work on it here, General.”

Fury crossed his arms, looking at the platform with speculation. “Put it like this. I’d rather something go wrong here where we can contain it than the middle of Manhattan.”

“I appreciate it. Our neighbors are still trying to get us evicted after the last few messes,” admitted Reed, flushing.

Harry cleared his throat. “This thing is tested, right? Can it send me home?”

“We’ve only used it to travel parallel universes, but theoretically it should be able to get you home,” said Reed. He picked up a hand device and slowly ran it over Harry, all the while talking without pause. “All matter in the universe resonates on a quantum level with a unique signature. Since you’re from a different universe your signature is different than ours. It’s simply a matter of attuning the transporter to match your own universe’s variance…”

Fury’s eye narrowed as Mr. Fantastic trailed off. “What, Richards?”

Reed pressed a series of keys on the scanner. “It’s his quantum signature. Our universe’s signature is for lack of better term starting to overwrite his. I’ve never thought such a thing’s possible,” he rattled off, sounding both excited and confused at the discovery. “The signature is constant and cannot be changed through any known process. It’s the basic foundation of existence. Yet his is fluctuating as we speak!”

“Can you still get him home?” asked Rogers.

They all moved behind Reed as he went to the keyboard on the central console. His fingers flew across the keys and a rolling undulating script rained down the monitor. Harry couldn’t make heads or tails of whatever was flashing across the screens. Reed seemed to understand because he watched the monitors with a pensive expression, making a thoughtful noise every so often.

“I’ve run the math twice and I’ve pinpointed the best potential universe that matches the quantum variance,” said Reed slowly. “I do have to warn you that it might not be your universe. The science isn’t exact and your signature could have degraded further than what I’m reading. You’ve been here a long time.”

Harry gazed at the platform, stubborn determination etched on his face. “I’ll try it. This is the best shot I’ve got at getting home.”

Fury stared at him hard. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Tell him the plan,” Fury ordered, turning to the scientist.

Reed stepped up to Harry holding a pair of metal bracelets that looked pure silver. “These bracelets will track you to the universe that’s hopefully yours. After two hours we’ll recall you back as a safety precaution. If it’s your universe than we’ll send you back, and if its not, well there are an infinite number of universes in the multiverse…”

“Basically I’m stuck here if its not home,” cut in Harry flatly.

The young genius sighed and then nodded. “It’s the best we can do.”

“If it’s not your home…” began Rogers.

Harry shook his head, holding up his hand to forestall the rest of Rogers’ sentence. “I don’t even want to entertain that thought right now.”

He slipped on the bracelets and watched as Reed fired the transporter up. He was nervous. He was trying to hide it, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Fury and Rogers noticed. Harry didn’t want to have the conversation he probably needed to with them, about the possibility of making a life here. Right now he was focusing on getting home. He didn’t want to think about it not being his universe. Doing so kept his hopes up.

The platform came to life with an ominous white glow that pulsed like a beating heart. “How does this thing work?”

Reed’s eyes lit up and he didn’t stop working as he answered, “The transporter will emit a tachyon pulse that will open a quantum fissure from subspace into local space contained on the platform. Your mass will be ripped apart at the subatomic level.” He failed to notice Harry’s eyes go wide and jaw gape. “…then sent into the transporter’s safety buffers. Then you’ll be shunted through the fissure, where your matter will rematerialize in the designated universe.”

“Sounds delightful,” said Fury sarcastically, rolling his eye. “Learn some tact, Richards.”

“So why are you helping me?” Harry asked the General as the machine fired up.

“I know what it’s like being a prisoner,” said Fury glibly. He shrugged and then added, “Plus we owe you, since illegally or not, Project M operated under SHIELD’s umbrella.”

There was a whine of noise that echoed in the air as the transporter successfully powered up. Reed stepped back as the transporter’s monitors flashed a meandering series of numbers before switching to a set of wavering lines that glowed electric green, each line representing a single quantum reality that existed within the multiverse.

“Transporter N2, online,” said Reed, watching the screens intently. “All lights are green. We have a go.”

Harry stared at the platform, cautiously. “So I just hop on that thing and away I go?”

“Pretty much,” answered Reed.

“Remember you have two hours before we retrieve you for confirmation,” said Rogers. “Good luck.”

Harry took a deep breath and walked up on the platform. He could feel the hum of power beneath his feet as the glow pulsed in a quiet rhythm. The glow grew brighter as Reed began the process. There was a whooshing noise and light encased Harry like clear glass. He could dimly make out Reed’s voice over the noise that gradually rose in pitch till it began to drown out all other senses.

“Primary shielding in place and holding.”
“Neutrino generators at maximum power.”
“Sending mapping probe for universe syncing.”
“Power buildup within parameters.”
“Disengaging safeties three and four.”
“Bridging pathways coupling points Alpha and Beta.”

Eight violet beams shot up from his feet emitting tachyon radiation that disrupted normal space in the containment field. The normal laws of physics fled before the artificial power, as a quantum fissure ripped open above him. The air in the platform rippled and Harry barely had time to notice the unnatural effect, as his body was hit by a beam that dissembled his body all the way down to the subatomic level. It hurt coming into this world and it hurt coming out as his matter streamed through the quantum fissure. Time and space meant nothing as his matter coursed wildly between the singular planes, finding its anchor in the intended coordinates.

Reed jumped away from the transporter as sparks jumped from the keyboard. The central console went up in a burst of flames and alarms blared to life as a damage team swept into the room, fire extinguishers at the ready as they rushed toward the fire. Rogers grabbed the younger man, pulling him back as the damage team put out the flames.

“What the hell happened, Richards?” Fury demanded, rounding on the genius.

“It was the buffers. They overloaded,” he replied, shocked. “Whatever power that man has it blew out the buffers.”

“Can you fix it?”

“Circuits need to be replaced… as well as the buffers…. The system has to be rebooted and calibrated again….”

Fury narrowed his one good eye at the rambling scientist. “I didn’t ask for specifics. Can you fix it?”

Reed nodded hastily. “Yeah.”

“I need it fixed yesterday,” ordered the General. He glared at the smoking machine. “We just possibly sent a man home, or at worse to another universe entirely. For all we know he could be poison to another universe… or they might see him as a weapon and declare war against us. I don’t like being in the dark. You have seven hours, Richards. Get him back here.”

“I’ll get right on it, General.”

Rogers looked at the machine and prayed that the worse case scenario didn’t occur. He hoped Harry made it home. It wasn’t often that good things happened to deserving people. He exited the lab and made his way to his room. If the worst case scenario did happen then he would be suited up and ready to defend his country.

---

Harry fell to his knees coughing so hard it was a miracle his lungs didn’t come up. He closed his eyes as the world finally stopped spinning. He wiped spit from his mouth and took a moment to right himself. Groaning, he staggered to his feet and leaned against a tree.

He looked around the playground and had to give it up to the Reed. The process might have hurt like hell but at least he managed to jump universes in one piece. The sound of kids playing was uplifting. The city streets were filled with normal looking people and he felt his hopes rising even further. He walked down the street taking note of his surroundings. It took him a moment to realize he was in the middle of Times Square, still in New York or another version of it.

It took him less time than that to realize that this wasn’t his universe. The last time he checked people didn’t openly fly broomsticks in view of the normal public. He finally dragged his eyes off a group of businessman walking out of a coffee shop. They kicked off from the group on sleek broomsticks, joining a throng of flyers in the air.

The streets were full of strange sights. People were in line at the corner, stepping onto a black pad that spirited them away in flares of blue light. A woman almost bumped into him and he stepped away, as her kid clutched tightly at her hand and her stuffed bear walked right along beside her. The bear sent him a wave and skipped merrily along at the child's side.

He looked south toward the JumboTron that rose up in the center of Times Square. The LED screens showcased images proclaiming the anniversary of ‘Union Day’, whatever that was. People were all smiles as they wished each other a "Happy Union Day". Trumpets blared from the speakers of a window display gaining his attention. He turned around and watched as the dozens of flat screens on display came to life in a wash of color.

“Today marks the twenty fourth anniversary of Union Day and the signing of the Treaty of Unity. A day that began in tragedy ended in a historical reveal that changed the world as we knew it. All eyes turned to Europe as the wizarding community came out of the dark and made their existence known after the Fall of Buckingham. The Treaty of Unity was signed between the natural and supernatural communities, and together they bore their might down on the Dark Lord Voldemort and his army.”

The televisions panned out to show an audience of millions crowding together in a park, all facing a stage where man in robes shook hands with a man dressed in a sharp suit. Smiling, they shook hands and the audience exploded with cheers as camera flashes went off.

“The supernatural and natural alliance hunted down Voldermort and his terrorist army and ended the war of supremacy. The alliance then ushered in an era of peace with technological and magical advances that came from the combined schools of thought.”

He couldn’t believe it as he watched snippets of history unfold on a 42’ inch flat screen. Muggle and wizards worked together to fill the gaps where their respective peoples ingenuity failed. It was shocking and awe inspiring to watch as muggle and magical came together, and actually worked well enough to accomplish feats that he thought were impossible. Medicine was more advanced, transportation was cleaner, faster, and technology was developed to factor in working around high emissions of magical energy. It seemed like a utopia.

His mouth dropped as an image of Professor Dumbledore kneeling at Queen Elizabeth’s feet appeared on screen. “No bloody way...”

“Hey, watch your mouth,” a frowning older gentleman, also watching the televisions, chided. “Albus Dumbledore’s a saint. Saved my boy’s life in the supremacy war, he did.”

Harry muttered an apology. Albus Dumbledore. That was a name he hadn’t thought of in a long time. Could the old man still be alive? It was possible. This wasn’t his universe that was for damn sure. If the Headmaster was still kicking did that mean others lived as well? His eyes glazed over as face after face of dead and gone people flashed through his consciousness.

“We interrupt your broadcast to deliver devastating news…”

Harry frowned, dread building in his chest. Of course everything wasn’t perfect.

“We’re receiving reports from all over the world of mass destruction…”

People crowded around as everyone watched the utter devastation being shown, one event after another. Tsunamis fell upon Australia, drowning the country in waves of pressurized water. A mushroom cloud arose in the center of London and then raced outward as the city became engulfed in nuclear flame. Rome fell as the Vatican became a pillar of burning fire. A camera panned back as a monstrous hand ripped the Washington Monument from its stationed position. It panned back further revealing a giant hefting the monument like spear. He proceeded to use it as such, and launched it through the air. The nation’s symbol struck the White House with the force of a comet and then the image went black.

“The US Military has declared martial law, as the President and the cabinet have been listed as missing or dead. All citizens are urged to move to their homes or nearest available shelter. This is not a drill. I repeat, the US Military has…”

Panic set in the crowd, and they didn’t know which way to run first. Some people took off into the air as fast as their brooms would allow. Others ran for the teleportion pads, rushing to be anywhere but here. Harry frowned as gasps and shocked shouts jumped from mouth to mouth. He reached for that bit of magic that allowed him to apparate and found it didn’t leap to his bidding. Dismay turned into realization as he realized someone had already set anti-apparation wards.

“Scrambling wards on the whole island… can’t teleport, portkey, or apparate…” Someone said frantically from the rushing crowd.

Scrambling wards, Harry mouthed the unfamiliar term as he stepped out of way from the crowd that kept jostling him. He didn’t know a ward that could envelope a whole city. Atlantis was said to have one, but that was just myth and it was generally thought something like that would take a whole lot of juice. More power than what the magical world… Well this wasn’t his world? He didn’t know how far they had come with the muggles help.

Thunder cracked across the air and it sounded like the moon itself splintered open. Lightning streaked across the night sky, and with every flash a creature flew from thin glowing cracks appearing in the air. He squinted, peering into the cloudy sky that was churning like the waves of the stormy sea. The sound of beating wings filled the air accompanied by hissing roars.

Long membranous wings that spanned a city block, prehensile tail, and lizard like necks that jutted from thick beastly bodies. They were darker and tougher than the ones from the Triwizard Tournament all those years ago, but he recognized dragons we saw them. They dotted the sky, more and more appearing with each stroke of lightning till there were hundreds of them.

People pointed at the sight and there was a long moment of time that simply froze as too much happened at once. The dragons circled the city and every one of their ranks opened their hideous mouths. Dragon fire poured from their jaws in torrents of thick blue flame. Harry threw up his hands and a blue shield flared to life around him as dragon fire fell from the sky in streams of devastating flames.

Fire slammed against his shield and he was honestly surprised it held. Dragon fire was potent for two reasons. One: the flame was the hottest fire known to wizards. With a sigh a dragon could turn sand to glass. Two: the fire came from one of the most magical creatures on Earth. Dragons were old, like dinosaurs roaming the Earth old. No charms or shields could defend against their flame at least not for long. Harry could only reason his phoenix abilities must have something to do with his unwavering defense. Phoenixes were children of fire, some say born of the Sun itself.

The screams didn’t last long. As his vision cleared of unending blue flame, Harry dropped his shield. Bones and half melted carcasses were the only remains of a crowd of thousands. There was no one left. The streets were scorched so bad under the intense heat the asphalt was still bubbling. Harry turned away from the sight of a half burned body of a little girl. Her hair was gone and her skin was a mix of blackened and melted tissue. A singed bear almost unrecognizable, yet very familiar, lay next to the corpse.

Rage colored his sight red. Children didn’t deserve this shit. Who would unleash dragons on a city full of innocent people? He screamed into the night, gathering magic to unleash into the horde of dragons circling the city, systematically pumping fire down the streets. A roar of wind drowned out his battle cry as from the eastern cloudbanks appeared two squadrons of F-16 fighter jets led by their own host of dragons. Their path took them directly above his head before they banked right, and launched a swarm of missiles from their wings.

The sky lit up as jets met dragons, and missiles contested dragon fire.

Harry took off down the street as a dragon launched itself on the canopy of a jet. They went into a freefall and Harry didn’t stop to look as a horrendous crash followed by the sound of an explosion thundered behind him. He and Reed Richards were going to have a long talk about science, and how experiments should be at one hundred percent before he went along with it.

He jumped over wreckage and had to breathe through his mouth to filter out the stomach turning smell of cooked flesh and smoke. He ignored the bodies in his wake as best he could. He skidded to a halt as he came around a corner. Before him a group of survivors were fleeing before a descending platoon of hulking creatures. They wore only the barest scraps of leather to cover their pale green forms. Their hair was matted and blood was in their hungry eyes, as the closed in on their prey.

Hobgoblins. Harry thought with a start. He’d never actually seen one outside of textbooks from History of Magic. Hermione had once described them as the menacing, larger and stronger form of common goblins. They delved deep into the Earth and made it their home after the Goblin-Wizard Hundred Year War. Their skin was resistant against most spells and curses yet their weakness lay in the elemental spells, since living under the Earth prevented them from building up a resistance to such things.

Harry sprinted forward passing the group of fleeing survivors. Once between the attackers and their prey, he waved his hand with a swift gesture. The street detonated as if a bomb was planted beneath the concrete. Stone spires ruptured from the ground, piercing and skewering countless hobgoblins, as they blasted upwards. If they escaped being speared by the giant stone spikes, the debris rushing at high speeds surely nailed them.

A teenage boy and older woman stopped running, drawing their wands to come to his aid. Harry shook his head, snapping out, “Go! Run while you can!”

They hesitated but ultimately were cowed by the aura of power that surrounded Harry in that moment. The hobgoblins picked themselves up, and the noise had drawn another platoon of monstrous beasts to their location.

“Looks like its going to be that type of day,” he growled.

Harry’s fingers wrapped around a parking meter, and then with his phoenix enhanced strength ripped it out of the ground like it was a blade of grass. It was ill balanced. The center of gravity leaned toward the bottom where a mound of concrete clung to its end. It would do. He ran forward at a clip and clubbed a hobgoblin that jumped ranks to maul him.

Brain matter went sailing as the pole shredded though his skull like tissue paper. He twirled the pole in a single spin and the bits flicked off the end. He settled into a stance as the throng saw him finally for the threat that he was. That was fine, he thought as they rushed forward. He was going to make them regret not running the other direction. Green eyes settled on the approaching creatures and they promised no mercy.

The wizard waded through the swarm, pole weapon swinging sometimes like a baseball ball then a staff. He did a quick spin on his heel, burying the pole end in the collar bone of a hobgoblin whose claws ripped out a good chunk of flesh from his back. Growling, he pushed the pain to the back of his mind and kept moving before the others could land another good hit.

He was momentarily surprised to learn his battle cries acted like a phoenix song. At the sound goblins faltered in their attacks or hesitated as his voice sent a note of fear straight into their hearts. He didn’t question it, and was ultimately thankful for the surprise gift. Harry took advantage of it making his hits as fatal as possible, advancing forward in a run before bodies even fell to the concrete.

He cut a path through the mass of skinwalkers just like that, striking fast and hard, pressing their defense by speed and strength. A fist caught him in the side of the head, and in his brief daze his makeshift weapon was snatched from his hands. Claws ripped into him and a kick sent him reeling backward.

Harry rolled to his feet gesturing his arms at the same time. A cement truck and a fire engine heeded his silent summons and levitated into the air. The hobgoblins didn’t see it coming. Harry clapped his hands and the vehicles mimicked his hands, colliding together like two magnets of opposite charge, with the platoon caught in the middle. Blood splattered outwards in all directions, the effect resembling a smashed packet of ketchup.

“That’s unpleasant,” he murmured, watching as the cars dropped from the air. The mess the bodies left was almost unrecognizable.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the last of the creatures. The few that managed to survive picked themselves up as more of their inhuman brethren came from who knows where to join the party. Harry cracked his neck as he saw the growing number. Obviously not fans of a fair fight. So be it. At least he was making his training count for something.

He threw back his arm like he was preparing to pitch a curve ball. Under his breath he furiously began to incant the charm known as Winters Kiss. It was a spell invented in Canada, and from what he knew it was the strongest freezing charm in the world. The spell generated a subzero temperature that was normally used to rapidly freeze lakes for ice skating. His present application was definitely not its intended use.

Pressurized air gusted from his palm, and he dragged his arm back and forth into the incoming mass. Ice overtook their skin as the front lines turned to ice blocks mid run. Those lucky enough to avoid the spell ran right over their frozen brethren, and like the ice statues they now were, they shattered in a spray of ice and congealed blood. Harry was forced to cut the charm as ice eventually crept along his own fingers from the the spell's backlash.

He turned his head as the sound of distant rumbling grew closer. Hobgoblins poured from the south end of the street and Harry swore mentally. The fight went from unfair to virtually overkill, and they weren’t even using weapons. They wanted to rip him apart with their bare hands. He had the claw marks and already purpling bruising to prove it.

Harry was forced to go on the defensive as they came at him on all sides. He slipped into the mental state conditioned into him as he went into killing mode. Harry’s body blurred as he moved. Every hit and motion served a purpose. A hand gripped his neck and he grabbed the wrist and forearm, twisted his upper body, hip throwing the goblin that assailed him. A foot in the throat crushed its windpipe. He kicked the body and it flipped into the air and knocked down the line of approaching attackers. Harry reeled back from a punch to the face, and then his left foot came up in a sharp kick. He felt the sternum give and the goblin staggered back, falling backward into the horde.

The hobgoblins suddenly swelled and he jumped back, higher and more agile than he would have pre training. A door ripped from the burning wreckage of a Volkswagen nailed him in the peak of his jump. He fell directly on his shoulder and bit his tongue as his shoulder dislocated with an awful pop. Burning fire exploded in his leg as a spear stabbed him in the calf a split second later.

“Impedimenta!” He spat, snapping his arm up.

There was a flash of light in the air before him, and space in a five meter area slowed as if the gears of time malfunctioned. The spell affected the entire horde and their movements slowed to a crawl. Harry ripped the spear from his leg and muttered a healing spell that basically slowed the bleeding. It was a patch job, but it would hold till his healing factor took care of the rest. Harry launched the spear skewering the closest goblin. The force of the momentum carried the creature back into the mob.

Harry rose to his feet and jumped on the goblin to his immediate right. His weight carried them to the ground as he rained a flurry of blows to the face. Harry rolled to his feet as the spell ended, and time returned to full speed with a jarring abruptness. He grabbed a goblin by the back of its neck like a misbehaving child, if that child was almost six feet tall and full of steroids.

With a grunt of effort, Harry gave a jerk and ripped out the hobgoblin’s spine. It dripped blood and spinal fluid as he snapped it through the air like some sick macabre whip. The bony weapon slashed against the swarm closing the distance of the circle of death surrounding him. Ultimately the weapon shattered against their tough hide after a few hits.

Harry blew against his open palm summoning forth the Cursed Fire. Fiendfyre gathered in his palm as he witnessed Voldemort do all those years ago in the Ministry of Magic. The portion of phoenix inside him crowed at the fiery power, rising up inside him like a sentient being. The flame jumped as the phoenix power spurned it to even greater heights. Shock hit him as the fire burst outwards, expanding about him like he was an accelerant. The fiendfyre wrapped around his body like a warm cocoon. He became a burning tower as the heat of the flame scorched the pavement and liquefied goblins that came near. They met their deaths in a flash of red and orange flames and they dropped to the ground, dead.

His rage and adrenaline fed the pillar of fire that the phoenix sang to even greater heights. It sparked higher in the air in a roaring blaze. Harry clasped his hands together, intricately twisting his fingers, feeling his magic hum in response. The inferno abruptly flared, forming into a flaming phoenix with its wings outstretched in a defiant pose of fury. Its beak opened singing a haunting note of death, and with a hand movement it flew forward.

The phoenix of flame soared through the mass of hobgoblins covering the streets. They challenged the flamebird with bold attacks, throwing their might against the fire construct. They didn’t stand a chance. Their attacks dissipated against the songbird made of fiendfyre given form. Harry threw his arms up and the phoenix whipped through their numbers, setting the ground ablaze as it surged forward, burning the dark creatures to ash in an endless echo of dying screams.

The phoenix sang a triumphant string of notes and then dissipated as the fire surrounding Harry sputtered and faded away. He stumbled back as his the phoenix power settled to normal levels, as its overpowering presence was apparently satisfied. Harry rubbed at his chest, stunned. What the hell. That had never happened before. He surveyed the smoking street and the unrecognizable mass of corpses.

“Duck!” a voice shouted from over his head.

A fob watch hit the ground next to a hobgoblin that climbed to its feet. The watch face flipped open and there was a burst of light from the innards of the clock. A ray of blue light surged upward and fell over the goblin in a dome, or a shield of some kind by the looks of it. There was a snap of noise and electricity ignited within the half sphere like the inside of a Van de Graaff generator. Megawatts of electricity pumped into the goblin and its painful screams rose in crescendo as the currents slammed into his body, sending him flailing around like a broken back snake.

Harry looked behind him, then up. A woman hovered on a broom, the breeze catching her braided red hair. Wrinkles shone around her eyes and there was a burn mark near her right ear, but there was no mistaking those eyes, or that face. Harry gazed upon Lily Potter, fully alive and breathing, who stared right back at him with increasing confusion.

“James,” she murmured, sounding a bit dazed. She shook her herself and came to her senses. “Sorry. I thought… grab my hand. Quickly now, that enchantment won’t hold much longer.”

Harry grabbed the offered hand and swung himself on the broom behind her. He held on tight as she rocketed off. They kept low to skyline well away from the fight in the sky that was in its last throes if the fewer number of combatants was telling.

“Where are we going?” shouted Harry over the blowing wind.

Lily barely turned her head, keeping her eyes forward. “I’m meeting my partner. We’re both Phoenix Order. I’m Lily by the way, Lily Potter.”

“Harry,” he returned simply, idly wondering if the Phoenix Order was some offshoot Order of the Phoenix group. “How’d you find me?”

“Phoenixers are gathering up survivors. You’re the only one I’ve run into and it’s been almost an hour.” She banked hard and then went into a steep dive that took them toward the streets till she pulled up out of it in a controlled follow through. He had to admit it was a nice bit of flying. “The question I should be asking is what’s a sorcerer doing out here by yourself. Dumbledore rounded all you up earlier.”

Sorcerer. Harry frowned at the term. He didn’t think he was one. Dumbledore had been the Grand Sorcerer in his world, but that title was bequeathed to him after his feats of magic made him a living legend within his own lifetime.

“I’m not a sorcerer.”

Lily chuckled humorlessly and said disbelievingly, “You couldn’t be anything else with the way you were slinging out magic. Did you not hear the call? Are you on the run?”

Harry shook his head, deciding to just play along. “I didn’t get a call.”

That was the truth at least.

Lily dipped the broom forward and he barely saw a sign that proclaimed the street 33rd before they went zipping through the stairwell that led down into the underground subway. He held on tight as she turned a corner fast, flying through the platform and down into the train tunnels. Her wand tip glowed, acting as a single headlight, as she flew through the tunnels of the Manhattan subway.

“He should be just ahead,” she mumbled to herself or Harry, he really wasn’t sure. “There they are.”

Sure enough they slowed closing in on a huddled group of sad looking survivors, gathered together a meter away from the tracks. Lily came to a halt and Harry jumped off, while she slid elegantly from the broom like she did it everyday. A man broke away from the dozen or so group of people. Harry’s breath caught as Sirius Black sauntered forward with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He looked haggard and tired, but nowhere near the sorry state Harry had once witnessed after his Azkaban breakout.

“Lily,” he said, gripping her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

Harry’s eyes widened as he counted a least six beats as the hug extended beyond just friends territory. He awkwardly looked away as they shared a look that was soft and tender, and all kinds of inappropriate for friends. Sirius finally took notice of Harry standing behind Lily, watching the ground with a too interested stare. The blue eyed wizard stilled and his face paled as he gaped at Harry.

“James,” he whispered, disbelievingly. “Prongs…”

Harry took a step forward into the circle of light. “Sorry but the names Harry.”

“Sorry,” Sirius apologized quickly, running a tired hand through his hair. “I thought you were a friend of mine... He died this morning when England was scorched.”

Lily laid a hand on his arm, smiling sadly. “I thought it was him too… He’s gone. He was at the Ministry when the nuke went off. London was ground zero.”

“I know, Lily,” he sighed. “Just give me a minute.” Sirius dragged a hand down his face. “Where did you find him?"

“He was actually fighting against the hobgoblins.”

Sirius frowned, staring between the woman and Harry. “And he’s still alive?”

“You didn’t let me finish,” said Lily, hitting his arm. “There was nothing but dead bodies around him. He’s a sorcerer. Somehow he missed the call.”

Sirius shrugged. “Some sorcerer not registered in the system is the least of our worries. We have to get these survivors to Dumbledore. Word is the old man has a plan.”

“The last time I saw him he was muttering about Adam, Eve, Lilith and something about the bloodlines. That was after he got us out of England.”

“Excuse me,” a girl said butting in. “But some of don’t have a fucking clue what’s happening and you two seem to be full of answers. Care to enlighten the crowd why the world’s going to hell in a hand basket?”

She was a small thing, maybe seventeen or eighteen. Blond hair was cut short and styled with pink highlights. Her arm was in a makeshift sling crafted from a torn shirt. Small stature or not she glared at the two Phoenix Order members with frustrated and frightened brown eyes. Frightened no doubt of what the future held now that her whole world was gone.

Lily traded a glance with Sirius. The crowd of survivors wasn’t all fit to make a stand behind the girl but they showed their support with their expressions alone. They moved closer to the group so they could hear more clearly, and then Lily began her version of events.

“Seven o’clock this morning, England time, Albus Dumbledore heard a vision from a Divination professor at the school. It was a warning that Voldemort had aligned himself to demons of the old world, and by the end of the night blood will cover the Earth—“

An older woman in her early fifties let out a loud noise of discontent. “You got a lot of crust, honey! Voldemort was killed over twenty years ago. They nuked that snake pit and the whole place burned. I was there, sweetie, I know what I’m talking about.”

“Well, lady,” growled out Lily, glaring icily at the older woman. “My husband died this morning and it sure as hell wasn’t the Easter Bunny that did it. Voldemort is back, more powerful than before, and he wants every last man, woman and child dead. No mercy for anyone. His vengeance knows no bounds.”

Sirius squeezed her shoulder, stepping protectively to her side. “She’s telling the truth. Voldemort is back. He started with the far eastern countries first and is making his way west. Dumbledore managed to gather a group of sorcerers, the Phoenix Order, and a small group of refugees before England became a burn mark on the map.”

“What are we going to do?” asked a boy unable to keep the tremor from his voice.

He was maybe twelve or eleven and not entirely human. Harry didn’t want to stare but he found it hard not to. The boy was human and something other. His ears were pointed and shaped like tree leaves, and his skin had a faint off quality to it. A cast of gray or green that was hard to tell in the dim light. His eyes were the most striking. They were wide, too big for his face, and violet like the freshest flowers of the same name.

“Dumbledore has a plan,” answered Sirius. “He sent the Phoenix Order to search for survivors from all over, as many as we could find. I only got the communiqué sent to us a little while ago,” Sirius said to Lily’s inquiring expression. “But we’re supposed to rendezvous at Central Park. Dumbledore has found us sanctuary away from the unkillable psycho.”

“Where?” asked the girl, less demanding than before.

Sirius smiled. “Avalon.”

Lily let out a short laugh that sounded bitter. “Great. So humanity comes crawling back home with its tail between their legs. Ironic.”

“Avalon?” asked the boy.

Lily nodded, bending at the waist to smile at the hybrid boy. “Do you go to church?”

“Not often,” he replied softly, ducking his head shyly. “But I know stuff.”

“Do you know the story of Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden?”

He nodded and said proudly, “That’s Genesis!”

She laughed, ruffling his hair. “That’s right. That garden is where we’re going. Avalon is what we call it. Most people know it as Eden.”

Harry had to smile at the sight. It was something right out of his childhood imagination. He always envisioned his mother as the loving woman before him. Pain lingered in her eyes but there was a spirit in her that refused to die.

“How long do we have?” asked Harry, bringing them all back to reality.

Sirius flicked his wand and muttered, “Tempus!” The time appeared in a mist of gray that hovered obediently above the tip of his wand. “Two hours and change.”

“Do you know how to get there?” asked Lily.

The blond girl stepped forward. “I do. The name is Alice by the way. Born and raised in Brooklyn. We’re almost at Grand Central now. All we have to do is follow these tracks north till we go past the terminal, then we hop topside and cross the street to the park.”

“That’s going to be difficult,” muttered Sirius, rubbing his chin. “The sorcerers currently have the park warded off. While it’s keeping out nasties, it also has the side effect of drawing a giant bull’s eye on that position. I can’t imagine how many soldiers are at the edge of wards trying to break through now. We’ll be slaughtered as soon as we go topside.”

“Solutions not negatives, Sirius,” scolded Lily, her eyes glassy as she stared off thoughtfully.

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Yes, love.”

Harry couldn’t help but look at them wonderingly. Lily and Sirius both acknowledged James, and both mourned his lose. Yet they acted like lovers. He didn’t want it to be true. To paint such a light on his mother and godfather made his stomach turn, but the answer was staring him in the face. They were lovers and had probably been for some time. Lily was having an affair with her husband’s best friend. It wasn’t his place to judge, but it was hard not to when the cheaters was wearing the faces of his loved ones.

Different universe, he berated his judgmental thoughts, different universe.

“I-I think I can help,” said the hybrid boy with a soft stutter. “I can make us not be seen, its how I got away earlier.”

Lily touched his shoulder and quietly asked, “It’s house elf magic right? You’re part elf?”

The boy lifted his chin defiantly. “So what, I’m just as human…”

“Shh,” she quieted him gently. “No one’s going to say anything mean. What’s your name, honey?”

“Keith Palmer.”

“Are you sure you can do it?”

Keith nodded, determined. “I’m sure. I’ve been practicing just like Dad said.”

“Okay so the plan is Alice will lead us through the subway till we get close to Central Park,” said Sirius, assertively. “Then Keith will make us invisible right before we hit the streets. Let’s do this. Our window isn’t long and we’re on foot.”

Sirius and Alice took point and Lily and Harry took the end to watch their backs. Sirius was a lot more confident than his version. This man was leading the gaggle of survivors with smooth efficiency. His Sirius would have been back here with him making bad jokes and reminiscing about better times. Harry wondered if James had been as different here too before his death. He looked sideways at Lily who shined her wand light into every passing nook and cranny. The mothering version of Lily he always imagined. This soldier was a different matter altogether.

“You should keep a better eye out instead of watching me,” said Lily coolly.

Harry faced her fully, continuing to keep pace with the group. “Do I really look like your husband?”

Her lips pursed into a thin line. It took a half minute before she answered, “You do... You like a younger James. Not exactly but you could pass easily.”

“You must’ve really loved him a lot,” said Harry.

Lily teared up and hastily wiped at her eyes and said softly, “Yeah, I did. We’ve been together since we were teenagers.”

“So why exactly are you sleeping with his friend?” he asked, flicking his eyes to Sirius in the lead.

Lily’s arm snapped up with her wand aimed directly at his jugular. Harry reacted at the same swiftly snatching the wand from her fingers. Startled confusion turned to irritation.

“My business is my business,” she spat quietly, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear.

They continued walking and Harry handed back her wand. It was quiet in the back as they followed the shuffling crowd. It was a long silent four minutes as Lily’s agitation faded away replaced by a quiet bitterness.

“I loved that man,” she said. “I loved my husband with all my heart. He was my world and has been my everything since we were seventeen. We started having problems and Sirius was there…”

“Okay that’s enough,” said Harry, his stomach clenching. “I don’t need the sordid details.”

And who would like to hear that their mom puts out.

She laughed and it lacked any warmth. “You must think I’m a horrible person. I’m in a relationship with my dead husband’s best friend.”

“I don’t,” Harry said gently, thinking she must feel guilty enough if her expression was anything to go by. “I don’t know you so how can I pass judgment.”

He found that it was the truth. He didn’t know her or Sirius. He knew of his universe’s version, the people they were, or could have been. These people weren’t the ones he knew. Every decision and choice they made in their lives was theirs to make, even if they conflicted with his ideals of who these people could be.

“Tell me something about yourself,” said Lily, not even being subtle with her change of topics. “You’re obviously bright. You picked up on my and Sirius’ intimacy. I already know you’re a sorcerer. Any reason you’re not registered in the system? You’re very talented.”

“I’m not from here,” said Harry.

“You’re from one of the oceanic settlements?” she asked, a note of surprise in her eyes.

Harry opened his mouth and then closed it. Telling her that he wasn’t from here would lead to questions he really wasn’t ready to answer. No doubt she would develop a theory as to why Harry looked like James, and then things would get really awkward. There wasn’t time for the drama that would ensue. That was the scenario if she believed him. Universe hopping wasn’t something a normal person immediately believed.

“Yeah,” he answered, settling on lying. He wouldn’t be here long anyway. “I was passing through the city when the wards came up.”

Lily sighed. “We’re lucky we’re still alive. Dumbledore got us out of Scotland right before the nukes went off all over the country.”

Harry was about to reply when he heard a distant scrapping noise behind him. Lily saw him stiffen and spun around to shine light into the thick darkness beyond. They froze, listening carefully for the noise again.

“What do you hear, Lily?” asked Sirius, appearing at their side.

Harry could see the group behind them anxiously moving about, frightfully staring into the darkness. There it was again, then again. Large, red glowing eyes pierced the dark. Growls broke the silence and whimpers and frightened murmurs came from the crowd of survivors. Sirius’ wand light joined Lily’s and together the light broke the veil of dark. Black dogs flickered before the light; their spectral bodies were very real and very huge. Saliva dripped from their jaws and their pack of two dozen slowly stalked forward, intentions clear upon their hungry and ravenous faces.

“Hellhounds?” asked Harry, backing up along with the two wizards.

Sirius shook his head and muttered, “Black Dogs.”

“Incendio!” Lily snapped, fire lashing out from her wand and curling through the air. The blaze filled the empty space as if the area was drenched in gasoline. “Run!”

The group took off down the tunnel with the howl of phantom dogs at their backs. Harry racked his brain for what he knew about Black Dogs. They were the basis for the old Grim omens. They were nocturnal specters and where as hellhounds often went after those wanted by Hell, these phantom hounds were freelance and could not directly be killed, only banished by ritual. He had never seen or heard of so many black dogs all in one place. Hearing the story secondhand he would have dismissed it as a hoax, but he was learning this universe’s Voldemort was going for a big finish, and he was not a fan of easy death.

They ran with the sounds of howls drifting through the air, and the black dogs at their heels. The fire was a minor inconvenience to them. They jumped through the flames and chased them with increasing speed. Harry launched a Bone Crushing spell and Blasting Curse, but they flew right through their phased states.

“They’re gaining on us!” said Lily in between pants.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Sirius cursed, running beside her. He made a decision and looked directly at Lily. “I’ll hold them off for awhile. Physical hits can slow them down.”

Lily shook her head, green eyes going wide. “What? Sirius no! I’m staying too then!”

“You have to get those people to safety,” ordered Sirius. “Do it for me, sweetheart. I’ll catch up. I promise.” He glanced back at the pack, and then looked at Harry. “Keep them safe, Harry. They’ll have better odds with a sorcerer watching their backs.”

He tenderly smiled at Lily and with a wink his form rippled and in his place was Padfoot. The dog matched his growl against the howls of the Black Dogs and they bristled at the challenge, hackles rising at the foe standing between their prey.

Lily stopped and Harry grabbed her arm. “Keep going. He’s made his decision!”

They dragged their eyes from the sight of Padfoot bounding forward and throwing himself into the middle of the wild pack. Harry pulled a frozen Lily along and they took off. He tried his best to ignore the sounds of fighting behind him. Sirius wouldn’t last long against them. That was a given. His sacrifice though would buy them time to make it to the streets.

Reed was taking his sweet time retrieving him. This had gone way beyond a scouting mission. This damn sure wasn’t his universe and he wanted out. Now.

---

The transporter was in the best possible working condition it could be in for the time allotting to fix it. Reed crunched more numbers, making sure it wouldn’t blow up in their faces, or level a third of the Triskelion when he activated it. Fury and Rogers entered the lab and surveyed the man hard at work.

“Report, Richards,” barked out Fury.

Reed didn’t take his eyes off the logs filling the monitors. “I’m ready whenever you are, sir. Everything lights up green.”

Fury nodded. “You have a go.”

Rogers and Fury watched as Reed did the job of two people as he began to fire up the transporter for the second time today. His arms stretched to either side of the consoles, fingers clicking keys and flipping levers quickly.

“Diagnostic functions within parameters.”
“Quantum network cross-checked with hyper-dimensional matrix.”
“Multiuniversal syncing complete.”
“Tracking devices omicron-1101A and scarlet-4998B.”
“Filtering out quantum resonance signature.”
“Lock engaged on signature. Standby for retrieval.”

Reed finished the systems check and they watched as on the monitors a yellow line glowed amongst a sea of wavering green lines. Reed isolated the universe and it zoomed in larger and a set of fluctuating numbers appeared beneath the yellow line.

Rogers shook his head and muttered, “God knows where we sent him.”

“Hope it’s not a universe where the communists won,” said Fury, slyly glancing at Rogers.

Captain America narrowed his eyes at the smirking man. “Don’t even joke about that, General.”

Reed turned to Fury as his hand hovered over a chrome switch. “General?”

Fury nodded at the man, all traces of humor gone from his face. “Emergency recall now.”

---

Keith dropped whatever house elf magic casted that shielded them from sight. The reappeared as they crossed the wards around Central Park. They made it passed the creatures and sentries without fanfare as the elven magic worked more than successfully.

“Home stretch now,” said Harry. He looked at Lily who hadn’t said much since they came to the surface. “You okay, Lily?”

Lily shook her head. “Not really.” She managed a sorry looking smile. “But now isn’t the time for breakdowns.”

Alice jogged forward and pointed in the distance as they came upon a pond in the middle of the park. The pond was the main center of focus. However that wasn’t the most spectacular sight. Around the pond was hundreds of thousands of people. Not only people but magical creatures stood amongst the humans. The pond glowed deep blue, shining with inner light, as its waves rippled like the stormy sea. People stepped out into the surface and vanished with a pale light within the twisting maelstrom.

The old woman in their group let out a long whistle. “Well isn’t that something.”

Professor McGonagall and Remus stood with their wand tips glowing red, waving traffic through and directing people to the portal. They went in large groups, one after another, vanishing in light and splashes of water. It made sense. In some cultures water was believed to be a universal conduit. It acted as sort of a transitioning fluid from one plane to another. That was just the myths thrown around in History of Magic, but here it was an actual fact.

“Please no pushing or skipping,” Professor McGonagall’s booming voice cut through the night, amplified by way of a Sonorus charm. “Don’t fight the grip of the transitional current once in the portal, or you’ll find yourself missing an arm or leg on the other side.”

Lightning lit up the sky and they gazed up as a luminescent dome shimmered to life, as electric currents raced over its surface. The sky thundered and McGonagall continued urging them to move forward. Their group of survivors went to join the evacuating crowd after profusely thanking them.

Keith turned and threw his arms around Lily’s waist. “Thank you.”

Her face softened as she smiled into his hair. “Look after yourself. Go on now. They’ll help you on the other side.”

Keith waved and joined Alice as they were ushered into the departing mass. Going around the pond was a ring of men and women with their hands clasped in prayer. Or it looked like praying. From the way their auras shined cerulean like the wards they had to be the sorcerers powering the shield. Dumbledore with his trademark white hair and beard stood before the ring of sorcerers. Like them his eyes was closed in concentration as he and two others held hands. It was a younger man in his late teens and a middle aged woman. Blood streamed from slashes in their forearms, and trailed down their clasped hands, falling to the earth.

“Blood magic,” gasped Harry.

Lily nodded. “Their bloodlines are the three keys to Eden’s gates. Magic has nothing to with the portal. Blood is life and their life force is going into keeping the gate open.”

“Merlin’s ghost,” Harry swore, staring at the incredible sight of power and energy.

The wind rose in fervor and a there was groan that came from everywhere at once. Heads snapped up as the clouds in the sky thickened, becoming a twisting whirlpool that was reminiscent of the event from earlier. A shape formed in the clouds growing into a huge depiction of a human skull, the Dark Mark. The skull’s mouth opened and smoke, black and tree trunk thick, poured from the orifice. The shield lit up as the smoke slammed against its walls. It held for a moment then the smoke swelled, and the shield fell in an explosion of light and sound.

“Bloody hell,” Lily gasped, readying her wand.

The smoke split into numerous thin clouds shooting down into the foray. Where they landed Mountain trolls appeared shaking off the smoke like clumps of clinging dirt. The sorcerers broke away from maintaining the now useless wards, and ran out in front of the evacuees, hands blazing with magic and fury radiating from their faces.

“Go for the vulnerable points!” a delicate looking sorceress commanded. Right before launching a Cutting Curse that sheered the head clean off a troll’s bulky shoulders.

The air became alive as magic met trolls that continued falling from the sky, riding in on their black clouds of smoke like the devil himself. Harry and Lily immediately threw themselves into the thick of things, buying the survivors time to flee. Harry conjured a steel staff with a flick of his wrist. He swung the pole high and cracked it across the skulls of two trolls with one swing.

The line of sorcerers worked on raining down Killing Curses and fireballs into the invading brigades front lines. They fell before green light, dead in their tracks. The fireballs struck with the force of fallen meteorites, slamming into them and turning them into melted husks.

Harry and Lily picked up the slack along with a few brave wizards and witches, attacking those trolls that were coming in at the sides. Harry curled his fingers and lightning coursed between his fingers then sped forward in a sweeping sheet. It slammed into the trolls, currents jumping from body to body, blackening their skin till they turned into convulsing heaps of smoldering flesh.

Lily slashed her wand through the air with long strokes, and at the end of her movements she fired off a Blasting Curse. The spells blasted from her wand accompanied by bangs reminiscent of gunshots. The jets of colorless light flew at the speed of sound, and fatal holes exploded in the trolls gigantic bodies. Chest cavities blew open in a spray of blood and bits of bones, and heads exploded in one spell.

Trolls were strong but speed was never their best attribute. It was a primary reason they never warred with wizardkind before. Whatever Voldemort did to lease their service wasn’t worth it, because no matter how strong you were speed always played a key factor in a fight. This was no exception. They slung curses and spells quicker than the trolls could fill holes in their ranks and force their line.

Whole platoons fell under continuous beams of flaming light thrown by the sorcerers. The light swept across the field of trolls, hewing off appendages as it went along. One sorcerer made a fist and slammed his foot into the ground. The earth beneath the trolls erupted in a crystalline jet of molten lava. It shot into the swarm of creatures and covered them in flames, burning them alive.

Harry pointed two of his fingers and focused his power into a Blasting Curse. It split the air in a thin ray of focused power. One of the trolls was pushed in front of the attack by one its comrades to protect their own hide. A smoking crater appeared in its side. Cauterized flesh created by the heat of the spell stopped the bleeding, but the troll was left missing a chunk of its torso and fatally wounded.

A chill appeared on the air carrying with it a haunting feeling of despair. It crawled into the heart and sucked at hope. Harry took a deep breath and cursed when it came out in a visible puff of air. He had seen that effect too many times in his life. Dementors.

“We’ve got incoming!” shouted Lily to her left and right.

From the tree line appeared the hooded wraiths. The floated on the wind like ghostly specters. But they were definitely not ghosts. They were worse. Silver light bathed the night as Patronuses bursts to life to protect their casters. The silvery, ethereal spirit guardians rushed across the grass and stopped the soul predators in their tracks. Dementors slashed at the guardians with power and claws and were forced to break ranks and scatter, as the emotionless creatures couldn’t be moved by their very presence like humans.

Harry focused on the day he finished Auror training, and holding on to that feeling of pride, accomplishment and happiness, shouted, “Expecto Patronum!”

Three Patronuses jumped through the air. McGonagall was the first to create multiple Patronuses during the Second War, and the Headmistress was quick to teach others. While not as powerful as an individual Patronus, three working simultaneously could cover more ground and defend more people. It was perfect for incursions like this when civilians needed a quick defense. The silvery, semi-transparent stags took off a quick clip overtaking the dementors heading toward Lily and his position.

Some dementors made it through, floating above their heads to snatch up a person from the fleeing crowd. Loved ones were forced to watch with tears in their eyes as a family member or friend was Kissed before their eyes. The dementors greedily sucked down souls and tossed the soulless carcasses down into the mass of evacuees.

“No matter what, hold this line!” Lily shouted, flinging out a glob of green goo from her wand. It splattered against a troll’s abdomen vaporizing skin, and causing its lower intestines to dangle out in a steaming coil.

The trolls were making headway with the dementors running interference. They charged forward in a thick mob, surrendering the outer soldiers in favor of protecting those in the middle. The screeching sound of brakes pierced the night and a scorch mark ridden school bus dived from the sky, roughly landing on the ground with a thump, and bulldozing right over the trolls. The door was missing and an auburn haired man about Harry’s own age, jumped from the interior brandishing his wand. His Banishing Charm sent a trio of trolls rocketing backward into the air.

“Who’s that?” asked Harry, as the boy grinned at Lily and fought his way to their position.

Lily smiled, bright and glowy, and it actually reached her eyes this time. “James Jr. My son.”

The man swept back a lock of reddish brown hair and grinned at his mother with brown eyes as he reached their side. “’Lo, Mum. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Enchanting a bus to fly, really J.J...” she chided, her smile growing larger. “Your father would be proud.”

J.J. smirked and motioned with his head over to the bus. “Don’t blame me. That was all Hermione. Ron did the driving.”

Harry snapped his eyes to the bus where Ron and Hermione were helping passengers off, and directing them to the small group of refugees still left at the gateway. Hermione’s hair was straighter, Ron was a bit broader in the shoulders, but they looked just as he remembered. A nostalgic grin flashed across his face, fleeting and swift.

J.J. snapped his wand toward a blinded troll stomping toward them, blood streaming from its eyes. “Expelliarmus!”

Harry watched the creature fly backward and smiled at the familiar spell. He hadn’t used that one in a long time. “Nice.”

J.J. cocked his head at Harry, cataloguing the familiar facial features but making no comment on his obvious resemblance. “Thanks, uh, we’ll have to do the meet and greet thing later.”

“As nice as this is, let’s keep our eyes on the dark creatures intent on killing us,” said Lily, directing her Patronus at a dementor.

They focused on slaughtering as many soldiers that came through their path. Eventually the creatures noticed a circle of devastation existed around the fighting wizards, and their numbers grew less and less. Ultimately they stopped going toward the magic users, as they realized that it equaled death and the wizards mowed them down till they retreated.

Harry glanced behind him to see McGonagall and Remus with only a little over twenty people left at the gateway. It was almost over. The sorcerers were banishing the last of the dementors, and the wizards were cutting down the few trolls that still drew breath.

Clapping filled the air and Lord Voldemort suddenly landed on the ground as if he had been flying. He probably had. The inky black robes were the same worn by his version of the Dark Lord. The face was paler if that was possible, which might have been because his face looked even more snake like. His lips were thinner and blue tinged, nose almost non-existent, and ears were smaller as well. His eyes. Those red eyes were darker, but still gazed around with warring disgust and malevolence. A sudden hush fell over the park.

“It’s always amusing when you just don’t beg for your lives,” said Voldemort, smirking at the bodies littering the ground. He smirk fell and it was eerie the way he switched expressions like a change of hats. “And where do you think you’re running off to?”

“Leave us alone,” said Lily stepping forward. J.J. reached for her but she shook off his hands, staring hard into the eyes of the Dark Lord. “You wanted genocide, well you got it.”

Voldemort sneered at her. “Genocide?” he spat. “I’m above such concepts. This isn’t about genocide. This is and always will be about the betterment of wizardkind. This cleansing has created a blank slate. The strong that survive will inherit the Earth. Wizards, all of them, it will be a world filled with magic and only magic.”

“I have to say,” said Lily, sounding more pissed with each uttered word. A dark hatred shone in her eyes. “You’re positively insane. I hope you burn for this, bastard.”

The Dark Lord jabbed his wand and she lifted into the air. Her eyes widened and instead of screaming she murmured one word and one word only, “Sirius.” With a sharp flick of his wand, her head twisted hard to the right. Her neck snapped with a sickening crack, and abruptly her body crumbled on the ground in a tangle of lifeless limbs.

“Mum!” J.J. shouted, falling to his knees beside his mother.

J.J.’s face was white with shock as he stared unblinkingly at his mother’s lifeless body. Harry was beyond shock. For the second time in his life he watched his mother die at the hands of the same man. Rage flared through him like a scalding wave, tightening his shoulders, his arms, spilling into his hands. It had been awhile since he’d felt rage so quickly and so completely.

He didn’t apparate. Fire burst to life around him in a wreath of red hot flames. For the first time Harry teleported as a phoenix would in a flash of fire. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Voldemort. He flexed his fingers and conjured a sword to his hand.

Three things happened at once. Voldemort turned as he felt the disturbed air behind him, surprise flashed across his face at seeing the man once before him now covered in flames promising death. Harry’s sword whipped through the air, as simultaneously both bracelets on his wrists glowed white.

Voldemort called on power.

Harry was enveloped in white light.

The sword phased through Voldemort’s neck as it and its conjurer were broken down at the subatomic level and shifted from local time and space, slipping from the universe in one stroke.

Taking advantage of Vodemort’s lapse of attention, Hermione and Ron yanked J.J. from his mother’s body and dove into the gateway, followed by McGonagall and Remus who were the last ones through. The maelstrom of twisting energy died, and the waters stilled as the pond returned to its normal state.

The male and female beside Dumbledore collapsed to their knees and then fell over, gasping in panted breaths as life as well as blood bled from them. Dumbledore fell to a knee, and it was only because he was conditioned to large feats of power that he wasn’t in worst shape like the other two. He slowly rose to his full height, feeling the action take more out of him than normal.

The prophecy as predicted by Sybil Trelawney had come to pass and he was indeed the last of three and the dying of the light. At least the last of humanity was safe from further harm. The gateway was closed and would stay that way with his death. None of those that escaped knew the true extent of how Voldemort rose to such heights again after decades of absence. While he only knew of half it, that half was enough to make him apprehensive for any lingering survivors.

He didn’t have much longer for this world. His fate was sealed.

He would make sure that his final moments weren’t wasted. He gathered his power to him, readying his wand in his hand as he prepared for one last duel. His face was pale, every wrinkle showing prominently, but his eyes were just as bright and determined as ever. The air crackled as his aura became a visible sight to be awed at, even in its weakened and dying state.

Voldemort noticed the Headmaster wasn’t done and red eyes glared at his old teacher. “Still alive, old man?”

“Poor, Tom. Mother seduced his father and died during childbirth,” said Dumbledore in an acerbic tone. “His father wants nothing to with him and life is so very hard. Talented wizard, prefect, Head Boy.” He shook his head, making a disparaging noise. “Any sympathy I felt for you died with the world. I’m no match for you now, but I will make you feel pain.”

Voldemort glared, hand tightening against his wand’s handle. “I would expect nothing less. It started with me and you.”

Dumbledore raised his wand, nodding. “And it will end with us.”

---

“Erecting secondary shields!”

Harry shook on the platform and the fire died, as the sword fell from his hand. The conjured blade clattered to the ground and vanished back into the ether. The shields dropped once the flames dissapated. Harry shakily stepped from the platform.

He glared at Reed. “Took your time didn’t you?”

Harry looked around the room and then the last several hours caught up to him. The non stop fighting and magic slinging had taken its toll on his body, and he took another shaky step before he toppled over.

“We need a medical team in here!” Fury shouted, and a team sprinted into the room in no less than six seconds after his call.

The team of medics rattled off medical terms, as they worked over Harry. One turned to Fury. “He’s alive. His readings are stable, although a bit weak. His whole body is covered in fresh bruises and some that are in the last stages of healing. He’s got cracked ribs, a torn calf muscle, and a possible concussion. We know he has a healing factor, but we’re going to keep him overnight in the infirmary. His healing factor may be hindered since he’s suffering from severe exhaustion.”

“Keep me up to date,” said Fury, watching as they lifted him on a medical bed. “I want to know the minute he’s awake.”

The medic nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He rushed out of the room after the medical bed, following his team. Fury and Rogers shared a stare and the General then turned to Reed. “I want the data from the logs on my desk before you leave, Richards. And I want every piece of this machine disassembled. This room will be cleaned out come tomorrow.”

Reed gaped at the SHIELD director. “General Fury don’t you think that’s a bit much? Think of what we could learn! There’s still so much we still don’t know. We don’t know for certain something can track us back to our universe. You’re being paranoid.”

Fury smiled coldly at the man. “Paranoid is my job. I get paid to prevent worst case scenarios so people like you can still keep thinking of what they can learn next. Follow orders Richards, or I’ll have someone else do it. Do you get me?”

“I get you, sir,” Reed snapped out, glaring as the man turning sharply and left the room. He looked at Rogers the fight leaving his shoulders at once, as he pleaded, “Please, Captain. You have to talk reason into him.”

“The General’s right. You’ve seen parts of his files. Whoever or whatever did that to him, I don’t want to run into. Who knows if they could track him here, or what if they think we sent him as some kind of weapon.” He held up his hand to forestall the scientist’s retort. He mustered an apologetic smile. “Plus, it’s dangerous just having that technology. Dismantle it, Richards. For all our sakes.”

“Wait,” Reed called, stopping the blond man mid-exit. “What about getting Potter home? We won’t be able to try further attempts.”

Rogers turned around. “You said it yourself. That world was our best shot, obviously that wasn’t it. It looks like he'll be stuck here.”

He turned back around exiting the room as it filled with the sounds of Reed dismantling the transporter, taking with it the possibility of finding Harry’s universe using technology created by one of the smartest men in the world.

---

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I wanted to break this up but I decided not to, since I haven't updated this story last october. So this is an extra long chapter. I can't promise that all of them will be this length but they'll be pretty long. I do intend to continue this, and I hope that the wait was worth it.

Once again this is the Ultimate Universe of Marvel so if something comes up that's different from what you expect, its because this is a different universe than regular Marvel continuity. As far as timelines goes, this takes place right before the Ultimates Vol. 1: Homeland Security.