I've decided to restart my account on a certain site (you know the one—starts with P, ends with eon). I know I once said I wouldn't do this again, but hey, life happens. That said, this is completely optional—no pressure at all.
Also, that subscription (or lack of it) won't decide which chapters you get access to, only when. Before I used to post on public forums once I was 5-10 chapters ahead I think. Now, no such freedom for me. So I will just post on the public forums a week after the Site that must not be named. And as it was last time, if I quit writing, then all my pending stuff will be posted here ASAP.
-HelloDarkness07
——
'The moment has arrived. We are finally doing this.'
This is what goes through the mind of Harry as he presses the power button on his PC.
The PC, an invention of his, is not just a personal computer. It is also an instrument that will allow the user to peer into the past. But only if they know how to use it, of course.
As the Helm of Doom blinks into existence on the LCD monitor in front of him as a startup screen, Harry thinks back to the technology and magic that allow for this - even now amazed at his own invention.
The PC will capture a specific particle from its surroundings and store it into a core specifically designed for this purpose, all with the help of the Time Catchers, or the pair of antennas stuck on top of the cabinet. This particle, the Tachyon, is something he and Richards had debated about for days back in his first life.
Reed believed that capturing tachyons was impossible because of their imaginary mass; science at the time did not allow it, but Doom believed otherwise. He believed that they simply needed to be slowed down before they could be captured.
While Doom did not get the time to try it in his old life, Harry has no such constraints.
The secret to slowing down tachyons, lies in their energy and their imaginary mass. Mainly, one needed to increase the kinetic energy of the tachyons so that they can slow down. And that is exactly what his Time Catchers did.
The core, meanwhile, was made out of the same metal that he had stored the essence of Alastair in. Harry believed it to be Vibranium, based on the records of Howard Stark's experience with the metal, but he did not know how the rarest metal on Earth could land itself in the British Museum and that too in the form of a common woodchopping axe.
Unless… it is not actually that rare.
'Hmm, a topic for another time.' Harry thinks, dismissing it.
As the PC fully boots up within 5 seconds, with Harry's own custom OS, he directly opens up the terminal and types in a command, running a bat file he had already created in preparation. A large piece of code which took him 2 months to write, and 3 more months to declutter and debug, runs on the screen, and within seconds a soft green glow emits from the PC, where the core is.
Cables connecting out of the PC light up too, the green light flowing from the PC to a small crystal ball that Harry picks up in his hand.
As the crystal ball starts lighting up, footsteps sound behind Harry, as the first and currently only Doombot enters the room, carrying a bag of popcorn.
Harry looks at him, frowning, to which the Doombot defensively says, "Hey, we are witnessing history here. Quite literally. Don't look at me like that."
Harry ignores the pun, and focuses on the crystal in his hands. The crystal, powered by the tachyons, and by Harry's own magic, takes on a green glow which slowly expands to cover the room.
Until suddenly, they are somewhere else, somewhere definitely not in his workshop. In fact, they are not even indoors.
Diagon Alley.
That is where they find themselves.
The image they see is of a place frozen in time. People paused in terror, spells frozen in place as wizards in dark robes and silver masks attacked them, and even a shop, Florean Fortesque's ice cream shop in fact, in the middle of an explosion.
The crystal was another invention of his, a realistic 3D Projector, built primarily for immersive Time Viewing. It projects 3D illusions all around him, making it so the people viewing it feel like they are actually taken there.
Harry walks around, taking note of the position of everyone, and then he sees them. He sees who he has done all this to actually see.
Dumbledore, and Lord Voldemort, locked in a battle of spells, while literally everyone else gave them a wide berth.
This is why he invented the machine, why he invented the Chronoscope. To witness the fight between titans of the magical world.
When Dumbledore came to Harry two years ago, when Harry first learned how his parents had actually died, there was only one thing in his mind. Still is.
Revenge.
But to have his revenge, he needs to know exactly how strong his enemy is. He needs to know how Lord Voldemort uses his magic. But why stop at Voldemort. There were two more magical titans in this century itself, two more people whom Doom needs to be stronger than.
And with that the path was clear.
Harry needed to find a way to witness Voldemort using his magic. But out of the dozens of times that Voldemort had personally attacked a place, there were only three in which he might have utilized all his skills.
The first was in the summer, May 5th, of 1969, when Voldemort and a few of his first Death Eaters attacked St Mungo's to declare their War against the Wizarding Government. He was then repelled by the combined might of Arcturus Black, Alastor Moody, and a few other veterans of the Grindelwald War, helped by the prompt response of the Aurors. But because he was relatively new to the Dark Lord scene, Harry had rejected this one.
The second was on Halloween 1971, when Voldemort attacked the muggle part of London, hoping to kill the Royal family, but was then repelled by the Queen's Wizards, as well as Dumbledore himself.
And third was the only time when Voldemort and Dumbledore actually fought in a fantastic display of Magic, per the Daily Prophet. On August 27th, 1974. This was also when it became known that Dumbledore is the only person that Voldemort is afraid of, because after this fight, Voldemort made sure to keep away from Dumbledore and distracted him beforehand.
And so, here he is.
"It seems the fight has already started." Harry mused, watching the furious expression on Voldemort's frozen face, and the calm rage on Dumbledore's. Harry stays staring at Voldemort for a moment, and then says, "So this is Lord Voldemort. He does not look like a Lord Voldemort."
The Doombot shrugs, and says, "Everything in that name screams, 'I hate my real name'. We will have to learn who he really is since Dumbledore didn't tell us anything else."
Besides, his face, while still considered a bit handsome, showed clear proof of his multiple rituals. Red eyes, nose slowly disappearing, eyes turned to slits, and even some hair loss.
'Incompatible rituals,' Harry deduced, scoffing at his stupidity.
In a commanding tone, Harry orders, "Rewind."
Immediately, the surroundings start moving in reverse, as the clock turns back. Bit by bit, the spells return to their wands, the dead come back to life, destroyed stuff is repaired, and so on.
Until everything is safe, calm, and happy.
"Stop. Continue." Harry orders.
And then the illusion rebegins.
Harry sees as a calm afternoon in the Diagon Alley is suddenly disturbed by a swarm of black smoke crashing through the stone wall that serves as the entrance, only to split off and form into a dozen Death Eaters. He sees them attack the people of Diagon Alley indiscriminately, a couple falling victim to Killing Curses, while a few get hit by the Cruciatus.
Some fight back, but mass panic causes the hundred or so wizards and witches to run away like chicken, losing to the mere dozen Death Eaters.
And then, just when the people were beginning to fight back, he drops down from the skies in the form of another stream of black smoke.
Lord Voldemort.
Harry can sense the fear skyrocket despite the time difference, as a few people give up immediately with their wands thrown in surrender. People start screaming anew, tears sounding all around, and Voldemort takes a moment to relish it.
Three people drop down dead by a rapid fire from Voldemort's wand before they even see the wand moving, all they see is a green flash of light.
"Mudbloods." He says in disgust. Turning to look at the rest of the frozen crowd, he starts speaking.
"Is he seriously monologuing?" Doombot asks in disbelief.
Harry shakes his head, already tuning the madman out, and says, "He wants to make everyone afraid of him, but not the point. Did you see the spells he used? All three were killed by Killing curses in under 2 seconds. Despite his quirks, I cannot deny that this madman knows how to kill quickly."
As a man drops down to the ground holding his guts, which are forcefully being torn out of him, Harry amends, "Not that he seems partial to killing quickly."
And then, it happens.
Spells erupt from random directions towards the death eaters, catching some off guard and throwing them in the air, one cutting the arm off of a death eater, while most Death Eaters manage to raise their shield spells in time. For every death eater, there is a wizard or witch attacking them.
As for Voldemort himself, he was personally being attacked by Albus Dumbledore.
Harry is focused, as he watches the two titans fight. Voldemort keeps flinging Dark spells towards Dumbledore, while Dumbledore either shields himself, or brings in obstacles between the spells. Meanwhile, Dumbledore conjures the elements to attack Voldemort from all directions, conjuring water to snuff out the fiendfyre that Voldemort lets out, conjuring spikes to make Voldemort move towards where he wants him, until suddenly, Voldemort has his clothes on fire, because a simple Incendio got through all the complex spells.
Their battle goes on for a good 5 minutes, finally ending with a battle of wills, with two spells locked together. Dumbledore's willpower is too strong for Voldemort, and right before Dumbledore's bright white spell can overpower Voldemort's cursed green Killing curse and kill Voldemort, the Dark Lord apparates out of Diagon Alley.
And thus ends the only battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore.
"Return." Harry intones, keeping his eyes closed to go through the battle again even as the illusion dissipates around them.
"It's different." The Doombot says, also in thought. "The way they use magic, the speed. As a Sorcerer, we relied more on brute force than on speed, even Master Yao relied more on using more obscure spells than on using spells faster."
Harry nods, and slowly opens his eyes. He taps the crystal once, and the feed gets saved on the PC in the form of a 3D video. He says, "Sorcerers do not lack for power, not in our old world, not in this one. But because millions of wizards all around the world share the same magic from the same planet, they do lack true power. I doubt that more than a few dozen true powerhouses like Voldemort or Dumbledore exist in this world. Or well, like myself I suppose."
Doombot nods slowly, and continues where Harry left off, saying, "And because they lack true power, they make up for it by using speed. I understand."
Nodding, Harry says, "Against Demons, or more powerful sorcerers like Doom or Yao, or even this new Ancient One, I believe that both Voldemort and Dumbledore will lose. But Dumbledore, the way he uses magic… I have no doubt that he would even make Doom work for his win."
Dumbledore's control over his surroundings was extraordinary, and Harry now knows for sure that Dumbledore is second only to himself in this case.
Shaking his head, he turns to the keyboard once again and types in another command, this time with a new set of coordinates and a timestamp.
This time their new location is indoors, onto a large hall, with a large glass window, looking out into the beautiful snow capped mountains of the Alps.
Once again time remains frozen as Harry takes a moment to walk around and observe everyone present. There were three people here, two of them inconsequential for Harry. The third one, meanwhile, was the one whom Harry had come here to observe.
They were all staring out the window, looking at the two armies facing one another, none of them making a move to actually begin the final battle.
"Continue." Harry orders, and the Chronoscope listens.
"Any update, Vinda?" The man known as Gellert Grindelwald asks his most loyal lieutenant.
The woman nods with a smile, and says, "Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore have left London along with Mr Scamandar and his group. They will be arriving here soon enough." She pauses, and then asks, "Are you sure about this, Gellert? Without Albus Dumbledore here, you can steam roll over any challenge the ICW can pit against you."
Gellert Grindelwald chuckles, and says, "My dear, without Albus Dumbledore, this will all be for naught. Even if I defeat the ICW, become the new Supreme Mugwump, people will still have doubts just like you do now. Could Albus Dumbledore actually defeat Gellert Grindelwald?"
"I don't-" Vinda starts denying, although the guilt on her face is clear for all to see.
Gellert raises a hand, and says, "You do, but that is alright. He is afterall the only wizard that even I believe capable of defeating me. But for my victory to not prove hollow, I need to defeat Albus, here, and now. Now leave, and remember my orders. No one will attack Albus Dumbledore. Not that you will manage to get a scratch on him, but I do not want to lose precious soldiers just yet."
And with that the two lieutenants leave the room, leaving Gellert alone in the hall to stare at the gathering outside.
Harry did not know why he stayed, when he realized that the Chronoscope was too early. But for some reason, he chose to stay and observe Gellert Grindelwald.
The man who almost conquered the entire Magical world, only to be thwarted by one man.
Albus Dumbledore.
Somehow, it all leads back to the old man.
Harry keeps glancing around the room, his eye landing on the surprising sight of a sleeping phoenix perched near the window. He approaches it, and says, "Fascinating. I did not know Grindelwald had a Phoenix."
!!!
Harry's instincts warn him of an approaching spell, and turns to defend with a shield spell already erected around himself.
A dark red spell rushes towards Harry, and passes through the barrier as if it didn't exist, but before Harry can panic, the spell passes through him as well, harmlessly.
Harry's heart beats fast, as he snaps his head to look at Gellert Grindelwald, who is looking around the place Harry is with wide eyes. His eyes don't seem to stick on Harry, but that just makes Harry even more confused.
"I could have sworn I heard someone." The man says, frowning in confusion.
"Harry?" The Doombot says, taking a confused step towards him while keeping Grindelwald in his line of sight. Before he can take a second step, however, a second spell leaves Gellert's wand, again passing harmlessly through Doombot.
"Who.. where are you?" Grindelwald asks, looking all around the room, somehow able to hear Harry as well as the Doombot, but not see them.
Harry frowns, remaining frozen in his place, and signals Doombot to stay silent and in his own place. He takes a step towards Doombot and immediately three more spells pass through him, once again doing no damage whatsoever. Choosing to remain in place, he stares at Grindelwald, wondering what is happening.
How is this possible? How is Grindelwald able to hear them, when dozens of tests before have proven that no one can affect the past? Of course he had tested it on others before trying to witness actual history. With magicals, as well as muggles. But this has never happened.
Is there something special about Grindelwald? Can it be the Phoenix? Does it grant him any special powers of perception? Can the Chronoscope actually have a flaw? Or maybe a feature, depending on how one looks at it.
All the while Grindelwald keeps waving his wand, trying to reveal an unknown enemy, trying to find any spells at work, but nothing seems to work for him apparent from the frustration on his face.
"Unless… you're not actually here." Harry hears him say, as a gleam enters Grindelwald's eyes.
He immediately summons a.. hookah pot?.. and takes a puff from it. And then, his eyes directly land on Doombot, who is shocked beyond belief. Harry cannot blame him, for he himself is in the same state.
"A child?" Grindelwald says softly, also shocked but also fascinated. But then his mismatched eyes land on Harry, and he asks, "Twins? Tell me children, how old are you, and what are you doing here?"
Doombot turns to look at Harry, who frowns in thought.
"Ah, so you're the elder, the leader." Grindelwald immediately says.
He resumes waving his wand, no doubt trying to track Harry, and says, "You don't look old, 11, maybe 12. Your face tells me you're of noble blood, and your armour. Now that is not something I can say I have seen. Tell me, did Albus somehow convince you to do this? Spy on me using a secret Family Magic spell? Perhaps some talent in scrying? Hm? No words?"
Harry says nothing, giving nothing away, still thinking.
He knows Grindelwald believes them to be scrying, so what can he say?
Making a decision, Harry softly says, "The only part Albus Dumbledore played in our decision to do this, is be someone we know is strong enough to defeat you. I suppose we wanted to see if you were actually worth the hype."
"Ah, a Brit. So a Hogwarts student then." Grindelwald says, making his own conclusions. He then looks Harry over, pausing on his armour, and asks, "And how are you doing this.. Harry, was it?"
Harry lifts the crystal ball in his hand, and says, "An invention of mine own." He then frowns, and asks, "And how are you able to see us? Hear us? What was in that pot?"
"That was a little something called Magical Marijuana. As for me hearing you before that, well, I have a not that well known gift of Sight." Grindelwald answers happily, while he continues trying to decipher the spells that were allowing someone from Britain to scry on him, in his eyes.
Harry nods, accepting it, and immediately cuts off the Magic feeding the Chronoscope, shutting it down. As they return to their workshop, Harry turns towards Doombot, who says, "That was weird, right? Tell me it's not just me."
Harry nods, staring at the crystal ball, and says, "No, that was definitely weird. So it seems my spells that prevent scrying on me do not work if I scry on them first. Even if it is through Time."
"So, now what? Do we skip this one fight?" Doombot asks, disheartened.
Harry scoffs, and says, "This just means we do it carefully, and make sure Grindelwald is suitably distracted. He cannot touch us anyway, nor can the magic travel through time. He was only able to perceive us because of his talents, which I do applaud. But in the middle of a battle? Our presence will be just another observer to their battle."
Taking an hour to have their lunch, Harry and Doombot return to their workshop and turn on the chronoscope. This time, Harry makes sure to enter the coordinates outside the Nurmengard castle, and after the battle has already begun.
"There he is, our cousin, Charlus Potter." Doombot points out, and sure enough, Harry sees a man looking similar to himself fighting against two of Grindelwald's soldiers at the same time, and dominating the fight.
Fighting back to back with Charlus Potter, was none other than Alastor Moody, fighting against one really talented wizard.
And then, just like Moses split the Red sea, the crowd parts, almost pausing in their fights. All to let two people pass from two sides.
Gellert Grindelwald, and Albus Dumbledore.
Taunts are thrown, Grindelwald reminding Dumbledore about what happened in Japan, how dozens of wizards and witches lost their lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"Do you still think muggles can be allowed to rule themselves, Albus? When the supposed good guys caused so much civilian death?" Grindelwald asks, and Harry can tell he is honest when he pleads, "Join me, Albus. It's still not too late."
But Dumbledore refuses, and says, "What happened in Japan is a tragedy that can be placed on the heads of a few amongst many. But you know as well as I do that you don't believe that. You believe that because one man ordered this, then all the American muggles deserve to die."
Gellert sighs, and taking his wand out, he asks, "Shall we do this then, old friend? Shall we give these people a show?"
Without waiting for a response, Gellert throws the first spell, and the battle begins.
And it is.. magical.
Spells collide in mid air, sending waves of magic all around. Arrows, knives, and even birds and animals are conjured to be thrown at one, only to be expertly countered by the other. Elements are conjured by one, only for the other to use a counter element.
Curses, counter curses.
Spells, and their counters.
Charms, Transfiguration spells, light spells, dark spells, both of them use any and all magic they possibly can, and as Grindelwald had said, they put on an amazing show.
Hell, at one point, Harry even sees Grindelwald using a Tao Mandala like the Sorcerers of this world to smack a spell thrown by Dumbledore towards the crowd, only for Albus to apparate in between to take the hit on his own shield.
And finally, it happens. Two spells are thrown by both sides, but no one stops casting, locking them in a battle of wills.
The Gods themselves hold their breath, thunder crashing in the skies, the ground shakes by the sheer Magical force the two wizards keep going. The very fabric of reality seems to tremble, and even Harry, 46 years into the future, feels goosebumps, seeing them lock in.
The locked spells writhe in the air, no one giving an inch, tendrils leaking out only to crash like lightning in the ground.
And now the entire battlefield remains frozen, everyone knowing that this battle will decide which side has won.
And then slowly, it starts happening.
Much to the apparent disbelief of Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore slowly starts to overpower his spell, pushes it back.
Albus Dumbledore is determined, while Gellert Grindelwald grits his teeth, defiant.
Even Harry leans forward, desperate to see it through the end.
But as it is, history has already been written. The ink is already dry. And so, the two locked spells both hit Grindelwald on his wand hand, making him drop his wand right before the locked up magic explodes, sending Grindelwald flying back towards his own castle walls.
As Albus apparates towards the fallen Gellert Grindelwald, Harry turns to look around at the two armies. Gellert's armies look as if they lost all hope. They all turn to look for his second in command, Vinda Rosier, but only find her dead body. She had died to Aberforth Dumbledore, Harry remembers reading it.
And so, one by one, Gellert's soldiers all drop their wands, and surrender. Even as the ICW armies celebrate their win, Harry and Doombot walk towards Gellert and Albus, Harry's curiosity still not satiated.
"Will you not kill me then? What makes you so sure that I will remain imprisoned in my own castle? I did build it, you know." Harry manages to catch as he approaches the pair.
Albus points his right hand behind himself, and with a whoosh, a wand lands in his hand. Harry notices that this is the wand Gellert just used in this battle. But it is also the same wand which he knows Albus uses daily.
"Oh!" Doombot manages to voice out softly, and Harry barely manages to stop himself from smacking his face.
Gellert's eyes barely flicker towards the empty space which he knows the scrying twins are, as he keeps an eye on Albus, who says, "Because now you know exactly which of us is stronger. I know you have thought about it already. If I can defeat you with this wand in your hand, what hope do you have of defeating me without it? But if you do manage to escape my spells, Gellert, I will make sure you are never able to use any magic whatsoever. I will turn you into the muggles you hate so much. Now, I suggest you stay put, while I help the ICW gather all your sycophants."
And with that, Albus binds Gellert with thick chains, and leaves him there.
Once Albus is gone, Gellert turns towards Harry, his eyes gaining a dulled out look, and asks, "So.. that's how it is. Time. You are not scrying from London, now. You are doing it from the future. Can I ask how far?"
Harry shrugs, and sits down on the ground. Staring at Grindelwald's broken and bandaged form, he says, "Decades, I won't tell you exactly how long though. How did you know?"
Grindelwald turns towards Doombot, and says, "Your brother. When he saw my wand in Albus's hand, he recognized it. I had it for 35 years. But even before I took it, it was kept hidden for 50 more years. No one could have seen it before, no one should have recognized it. So I took a wild guess that you must have seen it in Albus's hands before. Or well, in the future."
"You and Dumbledore both make it sound as if there's something special in that wand. Is there?" Doombot asks, curious.
Gellert chuckles, and then coughs. He says, "Argh, that, my boy, is something you will have to find out by yourself, as we did. And then perhaps you will do what I failed to do."
"Fat chance of that." Doombot mumbles.
And Harry can't help but agree. While ruling sounds wonderful in theory, he knows from experience that people are stupid. At most, he will try to rule the magical world. But the muggles? No. Maybe he will try and resurrect his old nation of Latveria from whatever ruin it is in now, but that is still decades away. Till now, he is satisfied with simply learning Magic.
He sighs at that, and asks, "Tell me then, Harry, why did you and your brother come here today?"
Harry stares at Grindelwald, as he starts standing back up. Harry cannot help but feel some respect for this man in front of him, as he answers, "To witness the battle which people will be talking about even when another Dark Lord has come and gone. But mostly, to learn from the two greatest wizards of this century."
He then bows, and says, "Thank you for the lesson, Master Grindelwald."
And then Harry turns his spell off, returning them once again to his workshop.
"You're an idiot, you know that?" Harry says immediately, not even bothering to look at Doombot.
Doombot scowls, and defends himself by saying, "Hey you made me. It's not my fault you modeled me after your younger self."
Harry shakes his head, and keeps the crystal down on the ground. He closes his eyes and sits back on his chair, leaning it as back as it can go, and thinks back on the battle they just witnessed.
"Hey, Harry?" Doombot asks, suddenly. As Harry turns to look at him, Doombot asks, "Why is it that Grindelwald and Dumbledore's fight got so intense? Why was it so…"
"Mesmerizing? Like you couldn't look away?" Harry completes for Doombot, with a soft smile.
As Doombot nods, Harry says, "They were in love."
Doombot turns towards him, so he explains, "Dumbledore and Grindelwald. They were in love once, maybe even till now. I could see it clearly in Grindelwald's eyes even as he was defeated. That love, it was forcing them to give it their all, because they wanted to prove the other wrong so badly. You may have noticed that it all started like a dance, almost. But then after the first locked spell, something changed in both of them. They became more intense. The battle became a battle of emotions, where each was trying to be understood by the other.
"So even if both Voldemort and Dumbledore in 1975 were stronger than Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945, the battle couldn't give us the same satisfaction. It couldn't keep us involved, personally."
Doombot nods, and asks, "Will we be trying to find out more about that wand of theirs? Why is it so special?"
Harry shrugs, and says, "If you're curious, you can do it in your own time. But first, we have some more important tasks to finish."
Doombot nods, his face becoming sombre. He says, "We need to witness our parents' death. And then, we need to find out who stole what from our home."
And Harry has a large smile on his face. Because as he had said before, the thieves had better hope Harry never learns who stole from him.
But thanks to this invention, even praying won't help them now.
——
A/N: Grindelwald can see Harry when he plays Time Watcher. A trope I used in Mason Aves as well, that Grindelwald's Sight is strong.
I hope I wrote the battle well, please let me know your thoughts.
Also, here's a bit of an explanation regarding the personalities of Harry and Doombot.
Harry has a mostly normal personality, he can talk normally, he can have fun, and make jokes. So the Harry that spoke to Dumbledore last chapter, even if it was a Doombot, that's his real personality.
But he also has his pride, ego, whatever you call it. So if someone pisses him off, this is the Harry they see. The Doom part of him, so to speak.
Doombot, he is more Harry than Doom. So a bit less ego, a bit more fun. They're both geniuses, both can use Magic like a third arm, and they can both invent technology deemed impossible.
Any questions?
Till then, tata!