And... I've started a new fic! Enjoy! Just a heads up: I've got this story going on Archivesofourown and Quotev as well anonymous and cassopeiablack respectively, so if you see them, don't worry. Typically, my Archives account will get new chapters uploaded first, so look on there if you'd like!
Chapter 1: A new Prophecy, the Veil and Snape.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord-"
Oh, bloody hell.
"A world unlike his own."
Harry could feel a pull from the words, urging him towards them, up and up and up.
"Who are you?" He called, warily.
"Foretold Master of Death, he unites…"
The feeling intensified and Harry could practically feel the power behind the words.
"Screw you!" He tried. He could've sworn they -whoever they were- were laughing at him. Laughing! I'll show them laughing, Harry scowled.
Harry was not having a good day. He'd gotten that vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort which turned out to be a lie, he'd gotten his friends captured before the Order arrived, and he'd fallen through the Veil. And now? Now, he was assumedly inside the Veil, listening to some cheap imitation of that dratted prophecy.
"His Quest to be completed…"
Suddenly, an invisible lasso caught around him, pulling him up, and he felt himself lifting and moving and spinning, until he couldn't tell which way was forwards and his stomach felt too much like emptying itself for comfort. Then, just when he was preparing himself for the unavoidable projectile vomit he just knew was coming, he started falling.
"His mentor and Companion..."
Down and down and he shouted "Arresto Momentum," until his voice was hoarse, but it made no difference. He opened his eyes and the floor was barely metres away and he prepared for landing-
Nothing. He opened an eye cautiously, words echoing inside his skull. He opened the other, just as carefully. Harry sat up. Immediately, vertigo hit him like a train and he doubled over groaning. He leaned over just in time to retch his breakfast, and some mildly worrying vivid red stuff- out. Now that was some projectile vomiting.
He froze. A slightly-muffled groan sounded slightly to his left and down. Harry almost didn't want to look. Snape. His slightly-less-greasy-but-still-impressively-coated hair had gotten the worst of Harry's bile, but his face and robes were still splattered nicely.
Against his better judgement, Harry smiled. Snape covered in green spots always made for an amusing sight. Snape's eyes snapped open. Harry dropped the smile immediately. It was like the man had an in-built happiness monitor, that notified him whenever he was close enough to obliterate someone's hopes and self-confidence. Harry should know.
"Potter." Snape spat, glaring viciously up at Harry. It didn't have quite the same effect when it was puke he was spitting out, Harry mused.
"Professor Snape!" Harry squealed. He made a mental note to dial it down a notch when the man's left eye started twitching. He couldn't have Snape dying on him yet. He still had years left of petty revenge to exact on the man.
"Sorry." Harry scratched his neck bashfully. "Do you know what happened?"
Snape glared some more. Apparently, he didn't appreciate Harry's heartfelt apology. No bother.
"Do you really think I'd been sitting here, talking to you if I knew?"
"No?" Harry cringed.
"I have a theory."
"Let me guess," Harry smiled humourlessly. "Dimensional travel?"
"No- wait, yes, how did you know?" Snape narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"I was joking. Are you all right, Professor? Did the fall give you a concussion?" Harry reached out to inspect Snape's head before Snape whacked him.
"Idiot boy! This is not a joke! Look!" Snape snatched up his wand, and snarled: "Point me, Hogwarts."
The wand waved perilously without slowing.
"Could be all part of it." Harry eyed Snape sketchily.
"Point me, Harry Potter."
The wand pointed directly to Harry.
"A fluke, maybe?" Harry tried weakly.
"Point me, Severus Snape!"
It pointed to Snape.
"Try Hermione," Harry suggested. "Just in case."
Snape grumbled something fierce before trying for Hermione. Again, the wand spiralled.
Damn. Harry came to the disappointing conclusion that he was most likely in another dimension. He snapped to focus almost simultaneously. Say what you would, but Harry hadn't survived this far by joking around. He knew when to buckle down and get shit done.
"Dimensional travel, you say?"
Snape eyed him curiously before shrugging. "Yes. I've been working on runes for a while now. I suspect that's what triggered the- "
"Runes? Where they related to the Veil?" Harry piped up.
"Yes," Snape scowled suspiciously. "I've been researching its possibilities for alternate dimensions- "
"Wait. Where were you?" Snape demanded.
"I just fell through the Veil."
"What? Idiot boy!" Snape cursed.
"Not on purpose! But maybe your research was triggered by that?"
"That…is not a completely unfounded conclusion," Snape acknowledged. "Your presence might've activated my rune work."
"One more thing," Harry gulped. "I heard a prophecy."
Snape raised his eyebrows. "The prophecy isn't news to me, Potter."
"Really?" Harry gaped. "But- never mind, it wasn't the old prophecy. It started the same, but it changed." Harry repeated what he'd heard back.
"Fated Master of Death..." Snape gazed at Harry with an undecided expression. He looked annoyed, confused, curious and fearful, all at once.
Harry resisted the urge to shudder. A new prophecy. The thought was bile-inducing and Harry really didn't have any food to spare.
"That is most certainly important, but for now, we'd best leave it. We've got other things to worry about now, Potter. Like which world we're in."
Mountains rose overhead in all directions from the valley they now stood in, shielding the pair from the harsh winds. Even so, there was a fierce chill in the air and from Snape's barely suppressed shiver, Harry could tell he wasn't the only one who thought so.
I know, I know, it's super short. But it needed to be! I'm working on setting the scene with a few short chapters first before I pull out the big guns. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure this measly 900-word chapter is the shortest you'll be getting. Either way, I hope you enjoyed!
I've written the next chapter already and I've started the one after, so updates should be fast for now. After the prewritten ones are up, updates will generally be on the weekend. No guarantees they'll be every week or even every fortnight, but I'll do my best.
Still, remember to review and give me lots of love so I'm motivated to update even faster!
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