Worthy of Magic - New World - Part 4

New World - Part 4

Daphne woke up with a thumping headache. She groaned and shifted her cheeks against the warm oak table, feeling dried saliva coating her cheeks and her head thumping loudly as she realized that she had passed out in her office after drinking more than she should have. 

“Oh Morgana,” she moaned and she lifted her aching head, straightening her back into her chair, wincing as she opened her eyes. The memories of the previous night were still fresh in her mind, her thoughts still swirling around the reappearance of Harry and the possible consequences of his return in this delicate, post apocalyptic world. She had to handle this fast. 

With a sigh, she stood up and grimaced when her head spun. She held onto the edge of the table to regain her balance and then straightened out her clothes.

She reached for the eleven and a half inch long wand carved out of Holly with the core of a phoenix and tapped the tip of it on her arm, instantly making her feel like she had just taken a bath and her clothes felt like they were fresh out of the laundry and ironed.

“Wow,” she gasped, feeling the spell rush over her. “Been a while since I’ve done that,” she muttered as she stood up, the legs of her chair dragging on the floor, and headed towards a cabinet by the window, squinting against the bright sunlight streaming through the gaps in the curtain and pulling out a hangover cure.

She popped the cork open and gulped it down, wincing as the bitter taste ran down her throat and began to take effect.

Her headache began to recede and she sighed. What time was it? she wondered.

A quick glance at the clock above the door told her the night had passed and then some.

It was 11 in the morning.

Daphne's breath escaped in an exasperated sigh as urgency gnawed at her. Her eyes darted around her expansive office, taking in the disarray - papers that had been organized now scattered haphazardly over her desk, awaiting the prompt assistance of her diligent assistant for reforming order from chaos. 

A large bookshelf dominated the wall behind her desk, filled with knowledge on governance, politics, survival, evolution. 

She walked over to the window and looked out over the city of New London, the ministry now built over the foundations of what used to be called gringotts, and then the Tower of Elysium, and now converted into the headquarters for the government, with tunnels and buildings connecting it to the old Ministry for Magic, where Harry Potter had reappeared, and now locked in a cell in the Law Enforcement Wing. 

She sighed, it was time to face another day, she said to herself, in her mind and turned away from the window, her destination set and opened the door and stepped out. Her assistant was sitting in the corridor chairs, waiting for her. “Ma'am, you've been locked in for a long time. Is everything all right?” he asked in concern. 

“Nothing for you to worry about, Aster,” she said dismissively. “Now, why don't you go to my office, sort out my papers, organize my schedule? I have a private matter that I need to attend to.”

“Err, yes ma’am?” Aster was confused. The Prime Minister had never once had a private matter to deal with. What was going on? 

Daphne stepped into the lift, pressing the button leading to the floor of the department of Law enforcement. She tapped her foot on the steel floor of the elevator as it descended, her mind racing with thoughts and ideas on how best to tackle the situation. And no matter how much she thought she knew, there was only one inevitable outcome. As the lift shuddered to a halt and rang with a small ding and the doors opened into the lobby.

The office was bustling with activity. Dozens of men and women running from one corridor to the other, to one office to the other. They were busy, and Daphne, ignoring all of them, went straight for the detention wing. Charlie was there waiting for her.

“You took your time,” he said with a smirk. 

“I drank a bit more than I should have,” Daphne replied with a roll of her eyes, and together they entered the detention wing to the cell that held Harry.

When they reached the cell through the large see-through mirror, they saw Harry, clad in the prison garb, sitting on the bed, his legs folded, back straight, eyes closed in a meditative posture. He looked calm, serene, and powerful. Both Daphne and Charlie could feel their skin tingling, his power, his magic expanding all around them. A small smile curled at the edges of Harry's lips, as he sensed them and he slowly opened his eyes and turned to look straight at them, even though he couldn't see them. 

Charlie gulped. “Well, he looks more menacing now than he did 24 hours ago,” he joked feebly. 

Daphne rolled her eyes. “Let's go,” she said, and they entered the room. 

“Good morning, Harry,” she greeted amicably. “I hope you had a nice sleep.” 

She snapped her fingers, and the room began to morph back into its original shape, the bed disappearing from beneath Harry, and he had to move quickly to avoid falling on his ass, nimbly standing up on his toes and rolling his eyes at her. 

“That's childish,” he murmured, and took a seat in the steel chair before the table. And just like the previous day, Daphne and Charlie slid into their chairs opposite him, Daphne intertwining her fingers, and placing them on the table, a strange smile on her face. She didn't know why she felt amused. Something about the situation made her think it was funny. 

Charlie glanced between both of them. Their eyes were locked on each other. He could tell there was some serious history between them. He decided it was best to stay quiet and let them do all the talking.

“So, Harry,” she said, “Where have you been? How did you survive? Is your mind a little bit more coherent now to speak rationally?” She asked. 

“I survived,” Harry replied mildly. “And now I am back. Apparently time has moved on. My body seems to be in good shape, better than it was before, keeping up with time for some reason. And you’ve changed as well.” 

He smirked, eyeing her up and down appreciatively. “You look beautiful,”  he said. 

Daphne felt her heart flutter at his voice, his words, but her Will was steel. “Thank you, Harry. I hear it almost every day,” she retorted. “Now, coming back to you. You might have saved the world from complete annihilation, which was probably your doing anyway, and even to this day, you are probably the most wanted criminal on this planet. Of course, assumed dead.

There's only stories and legends about you now. The evil monster who brought our world to the brink of destruction before he was vanquished by the great Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle, united. And if the public finds out about you and sees you in the flesh, it would invoke either a tale of reconciliation or one of bloodthirsty justice. And I think, knowing you, you wouldn't want to deal with any of that. You want to be on your own, figure things out in your own way, away from human interaction. So I have a proposal for you.” She paused, her eyes locked on his, waiting for a response. 

Harry raised an eyebrow. He processed her words. She was making sense. There was nothing to say. “Go on,” he said softly, waiting for her to get to her point.

“There's a lot of unwanted activity still in this world that needs to be stopped, that needs to be controlled. You could be the perfect weapon that we need. What do you say? You will have your freedom, but you will do exactly as I say. And when I say, no matter how, whether you like it or you don't, I am the law. Are you agreeable to these terms?” 

Harry could see the steel in her eyes, the will of her voice. She was no longer the young woman that he vaguely remembered being in love with. This was a woman of power. In this new world.

“Sounds reasonable,” Harry said slowly. “I guess it could be an interesting way of exploring the world, seeing the things that have changed. And tell me what has changed. What happened? Do you mind filling in the gap between then and now?” 

“It hasn't been easy, Harry,” Daphne said, her voice tightening a bit. “The planet was in chaos in the aftermath, people continued to die. Diseases were spreading. Nuclear reactors were fucking melting down. Society was crumbling. But there was one thing that saved us all. Magic blossomed across the planet. People started gaining magical abilities, manifesting in different ways. And with a unified global will to survive an apocalypse. Humanity united, rebuilding the world even better, even while continents collapsed and nature wreaked havoc. But when we did stabilize, and with so many people around the planet awakening magical powers…” 

She took a breath and sighed. “Humanity is not without its own eternal curse, Harry. Humans behave as humans always do. We love, we hate, we create, we destroy. And time marches on. It's just a different landscape now, with fewer people and most just trying to survive, to rebuild a better place, a better world. And I need to eliminate anyone who is a threat to our global peace.”

She looked into his eyes, as if she was looking deep into his soul. 

Harry could see raw emotion behind her beautiful blue eyes. 

“And not to mention, you owe me.”

Harry took a moment to collect his thoughts and sighed. She was right. Emotion surged within him. She had been the voice that had saved him from the void. His eyes softened as he smiled and said. “Alright.”

Daphne let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. Her eyes brightened almost fleetingly but Harry could see the joy beneath them no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

“Good,” she said, the steel in her voice softening. She then promptly stood up. “Charlie,” she said, turning to her Head of Security. “Set him up in a secure flat in the city with a new identity. You can fill him in on the state of world affairs while you’re at it.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie replied, still attempting to process the hidden layers of communication that had just taken place before him. 

“See you later, Harry,” she said and winked at him and walked out of the cell. 

Harry and Charlie looked at each other bemused. “Has she always been like this?” Charlie asked suddenly. Popping out the first question in his head. 

Harry just smirked. “She always knew how to get what she wanted. Seems like she’s gotten much better at it.” 

Charlie hummed. Thinking to himself. So, not much had changed. “Well,” he said, standing up. “Let’s get you to some better living space. Can I trust you’ll behave yourself?” 

Harry just stared at Charlie deadpan. 

“Ok then,” Charlie continued. “Follow me.” 

Harry followed quietly. Content to watch, content to learn. There was no hard and fast decision in his head. For now, he was just ... content.

But he could sense it. Deep within him. A new journey, a new Quest awaited him.

Behind Charlie's back, as they walked to the back of the corridor, where there was a isolated floo network, Harry smiled, a small smile, the Void already feeling like a faint memory, as excitement and anticipation built inside him.

He could not wait to get out in the open and see how the world had survived his apocalypse and wondered would they survive it if he tried again.

Harry chuckled under his breath softly and Charlie felt a chill run down his spine.

Without stopping he shot a quick glance at Harry and saw nothing out of the ordinary except for that creepy smile he was sporting. He turned back in front. This was either going to be a blessing or a curse. Only time would tell.

-x-x-x-