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Don't Panic Chapter 1: A Whole New World – the Adventure Begins
🕑 Added 2024-04-19 18:49:24 +0000 UTCChapter 1: A Whole New World – the Adventure Begins
Harry Potter stood in the dimly lit Department of Mysteries, surrounded by towering shelves filled with dusty, leather-bound tomes. His heart pounded in his chest as he replayed the words that Hermione had whispered to him mere hours before.
"It's a trap, Harry," she had said urgently. "They're planning to betray you, take your magic, and turn the wizarding world against you. You must leave now."
As he stood there, his mind raced, struggling to accept the betrayal that seemed all but imminent. But he knew Hermione would never lie to him, and so he had taken her warning to heart. With a great sense of urgency, Harry began to gather his things, preparing for a journey into the unknown.
This was honestly no surprise, but it still shocked him that the time had come. Harry had been preparing, and was pleased that he’d managed to gather just over 150 house elves for this venture, rescuing them from the oppressive bonds they were held under through subterfuge and sometimes even direct threats. He also had one of his closest friends, Dobby, along for the ride, wearing more hats than was healthy, and lifting spirits with his endless enthusiasm, Harry smiled lightly before concentrating.
A large, enchanted trunk lay open on the floor. This powerful artefact held a fully self-contained life support system, and was large enough for various farms to be maintained, and even some small forests to be grown. Inside were all the elves, along with all his storage trunks, filled to the brim with clothing, food, and magical supplies amongst other things. Living beings couldn’t travel in the trunk for long periods without the magic of a Ley Line feeding it, but he’d be able to sustain it for a few weeks with his own magic if necessary.
Harry was pretty sure Hermione had copied every library, muggle and magical, she could get her hands on, and included it in the trunk. He had just nodded along when she reasoned he couldn’t know what kind of knowledge he’d need on the other side.
“Really though”, he thought, “surely even his questionable luck couldn’t justify a book on how to build a rudimentary flushing toilet, or ‘The Secrets of Soap in the Middle Ages’.”
As he worked, doing last checks and building up his motivation to take the leap Harry couldn't shake the feeling that his whole life was about to change, hopefully for the better. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been a downtrodden young boy, living with the Dursleys, completely unaware of his magical heritage. Now, he was faced with the prospect of leaving everything he knew behind. Yet, if he was honest with himself, all he could feel was excitement, and a whole lot of adrenaline.
Few in the Magical or Muggle worlds had ever been good to him, he wanted freedom, and this seemed like the best way to get it. His only sadness was in leaving his best friend Hermione, but he reassured himself that he’d try to find a way to contact her again some-day, and they’d both agreed there was no other choice for him. Nowhere on earth was safe if the entire wizarding world turned against him.
With one last glance around the Department of Mysteries, Harry patted the pocket that now contained a, possibly stolen, gold pocket-watch that may or may not allow for short spurts of time travel. Harry was still mind blown at times with the power of the magical artifacts just laying around in this department. He was equally mind blown with the irresponsibility of the magical world for not having them under better security. Oh well, more fun for him, he didn’t expect to need it, but who would turn down a time turner just in-case?
Harry checked no one was coming, checked his trunk one last time, closed the lid, and shrunk it to the size of a thumbnail. Now came the hard part, neither Harry or Hermione could confirm that anything more than his body would make it through the Veil, other objects might burn up or be otherwise lost, or land in a separate destination. With that in mind Harry cast a light cutting curse at his forearm, and levitated the trunk inside the wound, wincing as he pushed it further in, then relieving the pain with a simple numbing charm and quietly wondering why he hadn’t done that first. Harry finished with an episkey, and closed the wound over, safely storing the trunk and its precious cargo with him.
Harry’s gaze paused for a moment on the small tattoo sitting just a bit further up on his forearm. A small circle sat inside a triangle, bisected by a line; the sign of the deathly hallows. Boy had it been a surprise the day after defeating Voldemort when he woke up and reached over to retrieve his wand, only to discover it missing. Adrenaline had shot through him as he realised he had misplaced the most powerful wand in the world; the one he had only just won from Voldemort the night before. He’d jumped up without a thought, and immediately run around levitating everything in sight hoping to find it, before the realisation crashed into him that he was performing magic without any wand in sight.
He smiled softly at the thought of the frenzy of research Hermione dived into on discovering he had merged with the hallows. They never did discover what being the ‘master of death’ actually meant, other than the boost he had received to his magic and the ability to cast without a wand. Though they did more recently observe that he appeared to have stopped ageing. What that meant was beyond them. Was he now immortal? Harry had never been game enough to find out.
Gathering himself from his thoughts, Harry shook his head and focused on the Veil in front of him. Hermione had long ago regaled him with her theory that the veil was a portal to another world. To her, it was an interesting piece of magic, but Harry had immediately seen it as something else. An opportunity to escape and start anew.
Taking just one more deep breath, he stepped forward and crossed the veil that he hoped separated the wizarding world from a land unknown.
As Harry stepped through the Veil, he felt an inexplicable sensation envelop him, like he was being drawn into an infinite abyss of darkness. Time seemed to lose all meaning, and his very essence felt as if it was being stretched thin, on the verge of being torn apart. There was an otherworldly hum resonating around him, filling his ears and his soul with an eerie melody that he couldn’t quite place.
He felt something like a cold hand touch his forearm in the place where the tattoo of the deathly hallows sat. Then he was flung faster in another direction and, as suddenly as the experience had begun, it ended.
The darkness dissipated, and Harry found himself sprawled in a drift of soft snow in a completely foreign environment. The cold air hit him like a wave, sending shivers down his spine as his eyes adjusted to the stark contrast of the snowy landscape.
The world he had arrived in felt both surreal and tangible at the same time. Towering trees with snow-laden branches surrounded him, and the ground was blanketed in a thick layer of untouched snow. The silence was almost deafening, broken only by the whisper of the wind rustling through the trees and the distant howling of what sounded like a lone wolf.
As he took in his surroundings, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that he was in a very different world The land was untouched, and something about the place felt ancient. The strange feel of air thick with magic seemed to vibrate around him. The magic seemed much more prevalent than he was used to, but equally wilder.
Despite the surreal nature of his journey through the veil, Harry’s tension seemed to bleed away in place of relief and a large dose of excitement. A quick air quality spell proved the place had safe, breathable air, and the surroundings seemed to be safe, at least for now.
Pulling himself from the snow drift, Harry immediately sought to release the elves. He cast a low powered cutting curse at his forearm, and summoned the shrunken farm trunk out, wincing as he yet again forgot the numbing charm. Thankfully, everything he was wearing arrived in one piece but he now wished he hadn’t insisted on storing the trunk inside his own arm. Of course, hindsight is twenty-twenty.
Grumbling, Harry healed the cut with a quick episkey, placed the trunk on the ground, and unshrunk it, making sure to feed it more magic to keep the life-systems running in the absence of a Ley Line.
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As the elves climbed unsteadily out of the trunk, somewhat spaced-out and looking a might travel-sick, Harry began to pay attention to his surroundings. The cold was starting to hit him like a fist. That would be annoying, they’d need to set-up the shelter quickly. He sincerely hoped the whole world wasn’t some ice-covered wasteland. With his luck it would be just him against a horde of strange ice zombies, he chuckled to himself, what a ridiculous concept, his luck couldn’t possibly be that bad.
Before setting up camp, Harry pulled out his firebolt to get a better view of where they’d landed. Mounting the broom, he soared into the sky, the cold wind whipping at his face as he climbed higher and higher. From his elevated perspective above the canopy, Harry could see for miles, the vast snow-covered landscape stretching out before him, seemingly endless. Harry found a vast snow-covered forest tracking to the horizon in one direction, and in the other a snow-covered expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see. Tall mountains loomed in the distance, and a biting wind whipped through the air, sending chills down his spine.
"Where are we?" Harry murmured to himself, his breath visible in the frigid air. He was a little disappointed to see no immediate signs of civilisation, but that was just wishful thinking.
Upon landing the house elves huddled around him, their tiny bodies shivering in the cold. "Master Harry! Dobby is thinking we set-up the tent. Is we safe here?" Dobby queried, his teeth chattering.
Nodding in agreement, Harry reassured, “the world seems liveable Dobby, that’s about as much as I can say for now”. Dobby summoned the expanded camping tent from one of the storage trunks the elves had retrieved. And with a flick of his wrist, Harry triggered the self-set-up function of the tent, before lifting the flap to reveal the much-appreciated warm interior. “In, in, everyone in” Harry ushered the house elves inside, listening to their chatter as he made sure they were settled.
Before entering the tent himself, Harry couldn’t help but marvel at the magic that made it possible. The exterior appeared as a simple, two person waxed-canvas tent; in-fact, it was built to be camouflaged in any world, so it look deceptively shaky, held up seemingly by sticks that could have easily been foraged from the forest floor. But within its canvas walls lay a comfortable apartment-sized living space for all of them.
Harry double checked the wards and magic charge on the tent, ensuring that the enchantments remained strong and functional and stepped into the tent, immediately feeling the difference in temperature. “Gotta love Magic” he mumbled to himself in relief.
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The interior of Harry's expanded tent was nothing short of astonishing. It was the most expensive one he could buy, and an impressive feat of magical engineering, with various rooms that easily defied the laws of physics. The tent was obviously designed to cater to the utmost comfort for its inhabitants.
Upon entering the tent, one would find themselves in a cosy living area, complete with plush sofas and armchairs that surrounded a warm, crackling fireplace. Harry observed one of the younger elves stoking the fire as he strolled into the room.
The walls were adorned with moving portraits pulled from his family vaults, some of which were already asking the elves what all the excitement was about. Others turned up their nose at the idea of talking to an elf, but you could see the curiosity in their eyes. A wireless wizarding radio sat on a side table, though it was unlikely to be very entertaining. An elf was already frowning as they fiddled with the dial, trying to find any sign of a live frequency either muggle or magical in this new world.
To the right of the living area, a fully-equipped kitchen provided all the necessary tools and ingredients for Harry and the house elves to prepare their meals. An enchanted stove cooked food to perfection, while a runic icebox kept perishables fresh and crisp. There was even a small pantry that used protean and switching enchantments to replenish supplies automatically from one of their food stasis trunks.
Adjacent to the kitchen, a spacious dining area featured a long, wooden table that could comfortably seat a dozen people. The room was illuminated by never-melt floating candles that filled the space with a warm, golden glow, making it the perfect setting for shared meals and conversations. At the moment it seemed some of the older elves were setting up some knitting work on the table, already getting back to work despite the uncertainty of their trip.
On the opposite side of the living area, a door led to the library, stocked with the books Hermione had gathered, covering a wide range of subjects, from potions and charms to engineering, history and agriculture. In the far corner was Harry’s favourite comfortable reading nook, complete with a soft armchair and a small stand for his tea set.
Harry had found himself to be quite the reader once his life settled down. With less death eaters after him, his pace of learning skyrocketed. Though Hermione also theorise that the Deathly Hallows might have had some influence on this behaviour. Either way, this nook invited hours of quiet contemplation and study.
The tent also boasted several bedrooms, each furnished with soft beds, warm blankets, and enchanted wardrobes that cleaned and pressed any deposited clothing. Each bathroom offered a magical shower that provided an instant source of hot water, and a large bathtub perfect for soaking after a long day's exploration.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t use the farm trunk for any extended period without either straining Harry’s magic, or the use of a ley line to feed it magic, so they’d all be living in the tent for now.
It would be cramped with so many Elves, but Harry had thought ahead and prepared for this scenario. He’d paid a Master of Charms and Ancient Runes to expand four of the bedrooms to far greater proportions, resembling a barracks in shape and content, each with a large bathroom facility. It wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable, but all 150 elves could fit, which mattered more than comfort.
The tight fit would give Harry and the elves plenty of motivation to find civilisation. Though given the apparent wild nature of this land, Harry was certainly thankful for the protection it would provide from, the elements, and the opportunity to rest their weary bodies after what might be some long days of exploration ahead of them.
Harry settled into an armchair as a few of the elves huddled in-front of the fire for warmth. The daylight seemed to be waning in this forest, and the trip had been draining, so as the elves chattered together about their situation and threw out increasingly outrageous theories about this new world, Harry just rested. They knew they were far from the world they had known, but had no idea where they were or even whether other humans or magical creatures shared this world with them. They’d set off in the morning to explore this new land and try to find some form of civilisation.
As Harry drifted off, he chuckled quietly at a few of the theories he picked up from the Elves, he’d admit dragons could be a thing here, but Yappy seemed sure there would be a civilisation of dragon riders. What a fanciful idea, he thought as he fell asleep.
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As the group sat around the crackling fire in the living room, eating a hearty morning meal, it was time to devise a plan. With shelter sorted, and easily movable, their most pressing need was now to understand their surroundings, and that would require exploration.
Harry unfurled a large specialised map parchment, which he’d created and cleverly charmed to update with the information they gathered during their travels. Harry equated the charm he’d created to something between the original Marauders map, and a slowly revealing map in a videogame. Thus, in honour of the now useless original, he would carry-on calling this the Marauders Map. In-fact, he was quite proud of how clever this set of charms was. To his knowledge, this was an entirely new invention.
To finish the set-up, he just had to cast a customised sight-based protean charm on himself, and all his companions, and link it with the map. From this point forward, all the lands, and possible towns they covered in their explorations would be drawn up as accurate topographical details on this parchment.
As the map grew, information would be stored, and with the flick of a wand or wrist, the map could scroll or zoom allowing anything from the full map, down to a specific building to be seen. Of course, for all he knew there might not be any buildings, as there was no sign of civilisation yet.
The map could also show people, but would require buried ward stones in the vicinity to capture such information, or proximity to one of the linked observers. At this time it showed only a ‘you-are-here’ type dot, some vague trees and some snow piles in their immediate vicinity, the rest was blank.
"Alright, everyone, we need to be organised about this, there are a lot of us, and we can cover a lot of ground, but we need to stay safe and unseen," Harry declared, his eyes scanning the eager faces of the house elf friends. "We should also gather food and supplies as we go, our packed supplies are plentiful but not infinite; we’ll need to become familiar with subsisting on this land, for all we know we could be alone in this world.” A few of the elves winced at the idea of being completely alone, whilst others seemed unconcerned. “the Farm Trunk will be viable when we find a ley line to settle over, so keep an eye out for any subtle directional flows pulling on your magic" Harry finished, feeling strangely like some sort of battle commander giving orders to his troops.
Dobby stepped forward, his ears twitching with excitement. "Dobby be suggesting we split into teams, Master Harry. One team can spread out to explore and gather information”, Dobby paused to think, “another team can investigates the wildlifes and foods, and the elders can try to sense for- a ley line”
"That's a great idea, Dobby.” Harry nodded, impressed with Dobby's suggestion., “but remember, we must remain invisible while we're out and about, at least until we know more about the potential people and civilisations we could be dealing with."
Winky, raised her hand timidly. "Winky can help with magical concealment, Master Harry. Winky is well versed in casting invisibility spells on old Master Barty, elf versions of your disillusionment charm” Winky nodded to herself, proud of her own skill, “I’s can also be teaching the others to cast spells to hide our tracks and mask our presence."
"Excellent, Winky. That will be incredibly helpful," Harry replied, somewhat relieved that the elves seemed to be getting a sense of independence; he was a little afraid all 150 beings would rely solely on him for direction in all things; this however, was a good sign that he had help on this journey, and not just hangers-on. "We'll be sure to use those spells when we're out exploring or foraging."
Over the next hour, Harry and the house elves prepared for their tasks, and took a mass lesson in spells for hiding track from Winky. Harry’s first lesson from a house elf wasn’t so productive, as he wasn’t yet sure he could use house elf magic, that would need to be investigated later, but he gave it a shot anyway.
With a sense of purpose, the group broke up to spread across the snowy landscape. This, Harry thought to himself, is already looking like an interesting adventure.
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Notes:
The story begins in 256AC, 25 years before Robert’s rebellion, giving plenty of time for our long-lived Harry and Sirius to settle-in before things get messy.
This story is somewhat inspired by “Veiled Dimension” by Riyer, and “Harry Potter and The Land of Ice and Fire” by kossboss. Both of which I recommend reading. Unlike most crossovers that start with Harry being born into a ruling house of Westeros, I want Harry to build his little kingdom from the ground up as a complete outsider, and a wizard from the modern world.
DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creators: JKR. or G.R.R. Martin
