Paperpuscher 101
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Rise from the Ashes. Chapter 1.
🕑 Added 2023-12-09 09:29:08 +0000 UTCPlanet Omega.
“This must be what Azkaban looks like.” Harry muttered as he wandered through the frozen wasteland he was stranded in after being thrown through the Veil of Death. Curiously enough the cold had no effect on him. Even though he had no warming charm active, due to having had his wand snapped before being sent here.
As it turns out it wasn't beneficial to ones health to say the truth around wizards and witches. A lesson that hadn't penetrated Harry's thick skull until recently. Every time he did so something bad happened to him. Though this time he didn't do so voluntarily.
Somehow that bitch Skeeter had been able to smuggle Veritaserum in his drink during the Death Eater Trials where his testimony was required to lighten the sentence of the Malfoys. After a shouted question from the ugly hag about what happened in the Forbidden Forest he had answered it in great detail. Obviously that made him a Dark Lord equal to Voldemort and to be disposed of.
Which landed him in this situation.
“I hope Hermione and Ron are alright at least.” the last Potter mused, trying to distract himself while searching for some kind of way out. Ron and Hermione were in Australia at the time of the trials, looking for Hermione's parents. And the Weasley family was still mourning the death of Fred, leaving Harry alone at the trials.
Harry sighed, causing his visible breath to come out. Who was he kidding? He knew there was unlikely to be an escape from wherever he was. The frozen corpse of Sirius he had found near where he arrived made that much obvious. Didn't mean he gave up or anything. After dying and coming back he got a new appreciation for life. It only meant it would take some time.
Still, small blessings came to him regardless. It seems these Ice Serpents as large as Basilisks could be reasoned with through Parseltongue, giving him directions and other useful tips, as well as companions. Unable to to tell the time, Harry had no idea how long he was trapped in this frozen wasteland.
However, he survived and in a way even thrived. Ironically Harry flourished in such harsh environments. Always able to learn best under pressure or in situations concerning life and death. During his time in this weird dimension Harry learned wandless magic in record time by necessity and through sheer willpower alone. So that he was able to transfigure ice into food as well as conjure water. Death by thirst or starvation wasn't something he fancied.
He also noticed by accident that he was able to absorb energy, be it magical energy or life energy. Something that only furthered his magical power and knowledge by absorbing the energy of these people frozen in blocks of ice. Harry had no qualms doing so after so long in this place and learning that all of them were criminals worse than the Death Eaters. The plaques listing the names and crimes of each one also were a dead giveaway.
Of course, the last Potter had his theories concerning from where this new power came from and the only thing that made sense where the Deathly Hallows. All else made even less sense.
Through absorbing all that knowledge Harry learned many useful spells. Under them also the Animagus transformation. His form was a ebony coloured Phoenix, shrouded by black flames, possessing his emerald eyes as well as a white lightning bolt on its head.
Naturally, surviving in such an environment had an effect on his body as well. With no broom he had to climb the walls of ice to get anywhere for the time he did not possess his Animagus form. All that strenuous physical exercise transformed his former weak body to a muscular one, possessing a balanced physique.
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Ten years later
Harry still had no idea how long he was trapped in this desolate place. Considering the fact that his beard now reached his chest, it had to be a while. His messy hair was straight due to its length and made into a ponytail, hanging down to his arse. He could've easily cut both his beard and hair, but Harry preferred not to. Mostly because it was the only thing telling him how much time had passed since his arrival. However, he drew the line by clipping his nails.
Harry also got more scars adding to his collection due to many of the prisoners being unwilling or unable to cooperate. The biggest was a x-shaped scar on his right shoulder, while a few smaller ones peppered his abdomen and arms.
His clothing consisted of brown boots, loose black pants and a green robe with gold on the edges, which left his legs free by splitting at the back and front. Over it came a cuirass, gauntlets, a brown belt, a helmet, as well as fur around his shoulders. He had found the clothes on another deceased prisoner, who had carved a message in the ice. 'For those who have gone beyond Death.' Harry found it fitting to take it, considering his circumstances.
“It has to be here somewhere.” he muttered, his voice scratchy from lack of use. Harry looked around, always alert to his surroundings, looking for danger. Clues he got from other prisoners' minds led him to this part of the frozen planet. Apparently there was one prisoner, named Valtor, who had knowledge on how to escape. Knowledge Harry wanted.
It did not take long for Harry to find the man. He was frozen solid in a block of ice like most others.
Valtor was revealed to be a very pale and tall man who looked to be physically around his thirties or even early forties. He had long light brown, almost strawberry blonde hair that flowed down to his waist, thin grey eyes with dark purple eyeshadow, and notably high cheekbones. He wore weird clothing not out of place for a wizard, considering their tastes. His attire consisted of a long maroon-colored jacket with a lavender inner layer and gold pins over the folded cuffs. Under it, he wore a violet vest over a white ruffled shirt, violet dress pants and grayish-indigo knee-high boots.
"Sorry mate. It's you or me." Harry told the immobilised man, putting his hand on the ice to absorb the man's powers. A moment later a dark blue flame flew out of the man's body and entered Harry's own, empowering him even further. Way past any limit the foolish wand-wavers of Great Britain could conceive of. By now Harry was able to filter out any useless information easily, only keeping what he wanted.
As a result the block of ice encasing Valtor shattered, letting the now dead man fall to the ground.
Already in the swing of things his typical luck granted him more happenings. The ice cave trembled and shortly after three young women fell down from a hole in the ceiling, landing painfully directly in front of him.
"Ouch!" One of them exclaimed.
Harry inspected and assessed them, but quickly dismissed them to be no threat. Though, they looked peculiar.
One was a light-skinned young woman, with teal-coloured eyes and dark purple frizzy hair shaped like a cloud. Her lavender bangs were shaped like lightning bolts, which went past her shoulders. She wore a maroon crop-top with a metal loop decoration attaching the shirt to a loop around her neck. Other than this, her top was strapless. She also wore a shiny maroon mini-skirt with lavender panties he could so from his position. Her shoes were maroon platform high-heeled sandals.
The second was a young woman with a light skin tone, long brown hair that reached down her knees with lighter colored bangs that flowed down to her waist, and dark gold cat-like eyes. She was also wore lilac-colored eyeshadow and purple lipstick. Her outfit consisted of a lilac-colored top with a purple ring-like pattern that bared her midriff and was attached to a purple choker she wore around her neck, purple bell-bottom pants with a small split above her ankles which exposed a lighter-colored lilac area, and black heels with pointed toes. She also wore a small pair of yellow glasses.
The last had silver hair, pulled back into a high ponytail held with a dark teal-tube piece. Though her bangs were pulled back into her ponytail, she had pieces of her hairs, curled, reaching her shoulders. She also had pale blue eyes and wore light blue eye-shadow. Her outfit was a light blue midriff collared tank top and matching skirt with a belt studded with diamonds.
All in all they even looked like no threat. More like ridicioulus with how they were dressed for such an environment. Especially with how little their clothes covered in this cold. Not to mention their impractical heels and long nails. Then again, he wasn't affected by the cold and hadn't been given a chance to dress appropriately either. On top of that Harry didn't know if they were magical or not.
For now he'd be on his guard.
All three stood up fast and were greeted by his intimidating figure.
“Hey, check this out!” the silver-haired one said as she saw Harry. She noticed something shiny and picked up the plate on the ground, reading out loud. “Valtor?”
The one with clouds for hair, read it, too. “Wow, that dude got sentenced to eternity. He must've done something bad.”
“You know its rude to talk about someone where they can hear you?” Harry asked rhetorically. “And my name is not Valtor.” he nudged the corpse with his foot. “It was this guy's name. Unfortunately he had something I needed.” after trying to make some allies at first, Harry had learned to not do so with these people. They always stabbed you in the back. Better to quickly get from them what he wanted and be done with it.
Seeing that they were not attacking, Harry left them to finally get out of here.
“Where are you going?” the silver-haired one asked, visibly annoyed that she was ignored so completely, but also a little disturbed by the dead man. She and her sisters may be evil, but up until now they hadn't killed anyone.
“Getting out of here.” Harry grunted out as his black flaming wings grew out of his back as he partially transformed, knowing where he needed to go.
His escape was delayed further by the arrival of more ice snakes. Like always they ignored him, though they had no such qualms about the three females. One would expect Harry to have grown a thicker skin and being able to ignore people in need of help. It was true that he had changed, but his ruthlessness only extended to his enemies. Something these girls weren't. At least not at the moment. Not to mention that the magical attacks the three sent at the snakes were ineffective.
With a sigh Harry flew up towards the white snakes and commanded them. $Leave them alone!$the ice serpents looked at him in indecision. Not wanting to fight with him, but also unwilling to let a meal go. $NOW!$Harry commanded harshly, causing the large magical reptiles to fall in line and leave.
“Nice work, dude.” the one with silver hair complimented. “Whatever you did.”
Harry simply grunted and made to leave again. He was stopped again as the one in maroon inquired curiously. “For how long are you in here?”
The last Potter had no idea why he humoured them. 'Probably because they are the first non-hostile beings I met that are able to talk.' he mused and finally turned around to face them. “I don't know. There isn't really anything to measure time with in here.”
“Oh.” came the reply. “Sounds boring.”
Amused, he replied. “Not really. I had plenty of excitement by trying to survive in here.” by now this place wasn't a threat to him any longer. “Before we go any further, how about introductions? My name is Harry Potter. With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?”
“Icy.”
“Darcy”
“Stormy.”
For such weird names they fit perfectly, considering the attacks each of them used.
“How about we break out of this popsicle stand together, Harry?” Icy asked, remembering his words from earlier. She figured if he knew a way out they could benefit from that.
“Fine.” he replied. Not caring one way or the other now that he finally had a way out. Without preamble he began walking towards his means of escape. Following close behind were the three young witches.
He didn't speak much, too intent to finally leave this place. The Trix, as they called themselves, whispered under each other, asking questions here and there. Some were answered other not.
Progress was slow due to their impractical shoes. They didn't give enough support, were utterly useless in such a terrain and in varying intervals their heels broke off. They were able to fly, but the frigid air made such a thing ill-advised, especially with so little clothing. They would freeze solid even sooner from the cold and cutting winds.
Icy, Stormy and Darcy were frosting over fast, their limbs growing heavier by the minute, their movement sluggish. Icy may be resistant to ice and cold, but she wasn't completely immune to the effects. Another problem came in the form of their exhaustion and grumbling stomachs.
In the end Harry decided enough was enough and called a stop to rest. These three may not want his help due to their foolish pride, but he refused to endure any more of this misery. “Stop!” he commanded in a voice that broke no argument.
Too tired to complain they heeded his words and did as told, grumpily.
In the meantime Harry pulled out his charmed wizarding tent. Luckily, he still had the tent borrowed from Bill Weasley inside his mokeskin-pouch, which came with him through the Veil of Death. “Erecto.” the well-practised spell came instinctively by now, letting the tent set itself up. He went inside, conjured some wood to put in the fireplace and started a fire. “Incendio.” that done he pulled a small wooden box out of his mokeskin-pouch. The box contained all of his foodstuff and was bigger on the inside.
“Aren't you coming?” he called to the three still standing outside while he discarded his helmet, gauntlets, cuirass and robe, leaving him in only his boots and pants.
Darcy poked her head through, causing her eyes to widen once she saw the big space inside the small tent. She checked for illusions, but this all was real. Without further ado she went inside, followed by her sisters who were also looking around wide-eyed. Inside it was much warmer, but one could still feel the cold permeating everything in this realm.
Obviously the tent was larger on the inside. There were no real rooms separated by walls. Instead cloth was used to get some measure of privacy. It wasn't Spartan by any means, however the interior also wasn't anything the Trix were used to. There was a single large bed, tables, chairs, a kitchen and a small bathroom, consisting of a bronze tub, a washbasin and a bucket.
“What hovel is this?” Icy complained with her nose up in the air. It was mirrored by her sisters.
“You can sleep outside any time you wish to.” Harry replied, his emerald eyes glowing eerily.
Darcy had a hand over her sister's mouth to prevent her from speaking. “What she meant to say is that we are grateful for your help.” the middle sister had no intention of freezing solid.
Stormy shook her head in agreement with her older sister.
“Don't give me orders!” was the reply of Icy after she slapped her sister's hand away. She gathered her powers in her hands in preparation to freeze him at a moment's notice. Her exhaustion and hunger be dammed.
Raising an eyebrow, Harry retorted, amused. “I didn't give you orders.” a moment later a sphere of Arctic blue sped towards him. He simply raised his left hand and caught the orb easily. With his right he cast. “Stupefy.” the red beam hit the girl square in the chest, knocking her out. For good measure he threw her own attack, freezing her in a block of ice. “You want to try your luck, too?” he inquired, seeing that Stormy was also preparing to attack. “So be it.”
Stormy threw a lightning-bolt his way, which was reflected back at her by a shield appearing before Harry. She screamed as the electricity coursed through her body. First paralysing her and then sending the witch into dreamland. Like a puppet with its strings cut she collapsed.
Being more subtle and sensible than her siblings, Darcy refrained from attacking, letting her arms fall to her sides. Not to mention that he didn't even move from his seated position. “I get it, no attacking.”
“Good.” he frowned at the two unconscious girls. “Even for my rusty sensibilities their behaviour appeared quite rude.” Harry remarked, his right elbow lazily propped up on the table as he leaned his head on his hand. An amused smile on his lips.
Darcy was visibly unnerved. No one had been able to take them out so quickly or with so little effort. All the while making it look easy. She could only agree. “Indeed.”
With a sigh Harry levitated Stormy on a chair and cast. “Incarcerous.” thick ropes tied Stormy up, securing her tightly.
Frowning at the block of ice, Harry shrugged and freed the stupid girl. “Finite.” the spell shattered the ice and was even powerful enough to minimally cancel the effects of his stunner. Without bothering to warm the girl up or change her wet clothes full of frozen water, Harry repeated the process of tying her to a chair. Icy's skin was ghostly pail, her lips were blue and there was frost climbing up her shivering body. The fire in the room did its best to warm her up, but it wasn't quite enough.
“Now that there are no further interruptions I can make dinner.” Harry said, preparing the meal with in an ease that came from practise. He didn't make anything fancy. Just a simple stew that would warm the body up from the inside.
Darcy sat down and watched, unable to warm up her sisters with the spells in her repertoire. She could do nothing else as Harry made food, knowing she'd share the fate of her sister should she attack. Instead, she observed him, noticing that he was bare-chested as he moved about. A look at his armour showed it to be quite dented and used. However, it did not look neglected neither did it loose functionality.
Another look at their host showed his ripped and muscular body, clearly outlining his muscles. This wasn't the body of a boy like those of Red Fountain. No, this was the body of a man, with the scars to prove it.
'At least it smells good.' Darcy thought once the stew bubbled in its pot and a glass of clear water was set in front of her.
“Let's get you out of your frozen clothes and into something warmer.” Harry proposed and without warning he vanished her ruined and wet clothes, leaving her naked. Next he picked her up, put her in his lap, pressed her chest to his own warm one and put a cosy blanket around them in an effort to rise her temperature up.
“Wha..What are you doing?” she stuttered out, her face bright red. Fighting the urge to jump away or attack. The first meant being exposed and cold and the second would see her in the same position as he sisters.
“Warming you up.” Harry stated the obvious as his arms rubbed her back to warm her up quicker.
Darcy wouldn't and couldn't complain, it did indeed warm her up good and his hands worked their own kind of magic. Unconsciously she locked her legs behind his back to increase the contact, nearly purring at the soothing warmth enveloping her body, banishing this infernal chill. The gentle darkness she felt in him only served to make him more appealing to her. It wasn't suffocating and vile like Darkar's, but protective and peaceful.
Once sufficiently heated up and with a flushed face, which thankfully was convenient to hide her blush, he transfigured identical replicas of her clothes from blocks of ice he had summoned from outside, together with a thick black robe. Reluctantly she pulled the thick and ugly robe over her body. It was better than freezing to death, she supposed.
Standing up Darcy walked to the table and sat down, though Harry interrupted her shortly before she could do so.
“Why are you walking like that?” he inquired, pointing at her feet. She stood on the balls of her feet, as if she still wore heels and wasn't barefoot at the moment.
Darcy looked down and stared. She wore heels so much her entire walk had changed, making her not even notice how different it was now. She tried to lower them to the ground but was unable to, but her Achilles heel was uncooperative, refusing to stretch. “I can't walk any other way.” she admitted finally.
Harry sighed, remembering the problem from Hermione's rants about Lavender. The girl had apparently had that exact same problem until it was fixed by Pomfrey. “Let me see.” he ordered as he gently pushed her into a seat and sat down next to her, taking her foot in his hands. Her toenails were beginning to look ingrown and looked like they were a bit away from becoming hammer toes.
He may not have any medical education and his powers weren't suited for that kind of thing, but he had power and a healing spell. He would basically force the foot to heal. Not a pleasant experience by any means. “Episkey.” he cast after gathering a considerable amount of intent and power, his hands glowed a vibrant green the moment he released the spell.
Darcy suppressed a scream as the bones in her toes were forcefully returned to their original place, straightening them out. Her Achilles heel stretched again, allowing her to put all of her foot down on the ground. Even her nails and toes, over which she normally put an illusion, were pristine once more.
She curled her toes and tried different position she knew were impossible before. Everything worked again as it was supposed to. “Thank you.” she said, a sincere smile on her face.
“No problem.” he waved her off and went back to look after the stew. Once the food was ready he put bowls in front of her and his place at the table.
Harry even set bowl in front of Icy and Stormy and woke them up with a spell a moment later. “Rennervate.”
“There, now that we are all awake dinner can begin.” his emerald gaze settled on Stormy and Icy opposite of him and Darcy. “That is if you are ready to apologize for your rude behaviour earlier.”
“Apologize?!” Icy and Stormy said incredulously, a stutter in their voices from the magical frostbite they suffered. Both glared at him to convey how ridiculous that sounded to them. They were witches and did not apologize!
“Of course.” Harry replied condescendingly. “Darcy doesn't have to because she had the basic decency not to attack someone in his own home.” he shrugged in a faux-apologetic manner. “Or you go hungry and cold; your choice.” with that he began eating. Darcy ate shortly after, suppressing a snort of amusement at their predicament. Not seeing why she should starve herself or freeze to death for her sisters stupidity.
The Witch of Ice and the Witch of Storms glared at their sister's betrayal. They were evidently stubborn and refused to admit defeat. That was until their hunger, the cold and exhaustion caught up with them, making them thoroughly miserable.
“Sorry.” Both whispered, glaring at the table in front of them with a grimace. As if the words were causing them physical harm.
Harry leaned closer. “What? I couldn't hear you. You have to speak up.” one hand was on his ear, mockingly acting like one hard of hearing.
Darcy giggled at her sisters misfortune. Actually enjoying herself a bit while eating the stew. Vindictiveness clear to see in her gold eyes.
“We're sorry.” Stormy grit out through clenched teeth. It was a wonder she didn't grind them to dust.
“It was wrong of us to attack you earlier.” Icy added with as much warmth and sincerity as her name suggested.
Knowing it was an effort in futility to get a proper and sincere apology, Harry released them. “Thank you.” if his smile was a bit strained nobody said anything. He had hoped for some civilised company.
Icy and Stormy still shivered from time to time due to their clothes being full of ice water. The fire and stew helped a little, though they were still shivering a little. Such was the all-freezing atmosphere of Omega. That in turn didn't help their mood as they glared at Harry.
Finished with the meal, Harry began speaking. “Before we do anything further, I have to ask if you can control yourself or if I should throw you out right now?”
They didn't say anything, their pride damaged by his casual dominance over them. Though, Darcy appeared indecisive.
Again, Harry sighed and went with plan B. His old self wouldn't even contemplate his next course of action. However, his time here and the actions he had been forced to take changed his outlook somewhat drastically. Next Harry spread out his right hand and cast a silent spell at all three. His personal version of the Dark Mark, which he had learned from here. Who knew that so many people in this place were able to cast that? Now it would serve Harry beautifully.
The symbol of the Deathly Hallows burned itself onto their stomach over the navel, marking them. He explained before they could do anything foolish. “There, now you can't harm me and vice versa. I'll remove it once we are out of here.”
Not satisfied, Icy tried to attack again. Her body gave out on her, slumping uselessly against the table. With her face in the stew.
'Well,' Harry thought. 'I guess they are better company than no company.'
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Paperpuscher 101
I'm terribly sorry for the slight delay. However, I hope the fact that I'll now update weekly makes up for it. Please enjoy the chapter.
