MoD - Master of Defense

Ch.1

Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Won, Chosen One and all that tripe was perfectly happy living his life as it was, thank you very much!

He had won the war, defeated Tom Riddle, got the girl and the job, his friends were finally together and had finally stopped their sexually repressed sniping that had been going on since third year… well, at least they toned it down a bit.

The world wasn't perfect, there were still bigots, yes, and many other criminals who took advantage of the chaos at the end of the war to slip away, but it was more or less peaceful! He and Ginny were together!

It all crashed down on his twenty-fifth birthday, when Hermione noticed a little detail while going thorough the photo album she had compiled for him for his twenty-third.

He hadn't changed in a couple of years. Not only hadn't his hair, height or face changed, his weight was exactly the same. He hadn't aged a day for two years.

Harry should have known that it was too good to last, typical Potter luck.

Still, they didn't panic, for the love of Merlin, they went through much worse things.

It was Ron who found the answer, it took him only a couple of minutes.

"Mate, Harry, do you remember the day after the Battle of Hogwarts, when we took the Hallows and hid them, and they glowed for a bit?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course, we were afraid it would affect me somehow" Harry answered, thinking back at the days after the Battle of Hogwarts " but we know that nothing changed, apart from me having fewer problems with magic" he reminisced, flopping on a chair.

Hermione continued cautiously, having understood where Ron was going " We thought that was the horcrux being removed, it was perfectly normal, even Professor Dumbledore's portrait agreed that it could have taken a toll on Harry's magic"

Ron shook his head " I just remembered something that Aunt Muriel explained to us, when she was still trying to make a Prewett out of us" he explained with a laugh in his voice, trying to remember the exact words "It was something like 'the magical majority is not something always fixed, it depends on the bloodline and case too, but it is when the body adapts completely to the magic coursing through it and may have a few strange effects' more or less" he said, not noticing the pallor slowly overcoming Hermione's face.

Harry licked his lips, cursing his luck again, and took a sip of butterbeer, trying to calm his furiously beating heart.
" Like what?" he asked, hoping against hope.

"I remember something about Uncle Lancelot, the one who worked at St. Mungo's; I think he had to change his wand as it wasn't working well for him during his first year as a Healer, something about an Erkling shooting him a dart when he was a fourth year and it having an effect later on, during in the magical maturity, as its foreign magic that should have killed him instead mixed with his" He recounted, scratching his head.

They let the silence lull them, each thinking about what that could mean.

A few minutes later, Ginny broke the calm, asking the question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue "So, what does that mean for Harry? What happens from now on?"

Hermione shook herself slightly and answered " I still don't think it is possible for him to be the actual Master of Death, but in the Department there are records of the Peverell brothers being necromancers of the highest order" she took a breath, steeling herself "and it is perfectly possible that the three artifacts were lending their powers while receiving a bit of the life energy of their wielder, especially if he or she died early, and bringing them together, having accepted death and having Peverell blood in you may have granted you an extremely long life" she replied, torn between the need for knowledge that characterized the Researcher Unspeakable and worry about her friend.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and on his face, shoulders slumping in defeat.

He thought back on the last few years, on the rebuilding effort, auror training, his first assignments, the time spent with his brother and sister in all but blood, Ron and Hermione, and his girlfriend Ginny.

Harry sighed again before regaining a bit of composure. He squared his shoulders and decided to take this new challenge on, like he did everything in his life.

" If that is how the Hallows works, does is mean that I'll live like Nicholas Flamel for a while? You did say they took only a bit out of the wielder." he argued, trying to understand his new condition.

"Oh Harry, I say that because otherwise we would have felt the constant stream of energy getting sucked out of us while using the cloak, but it doesn't mean that it will be a short time before you'll start moving in time again" Hermione explained.

"It's probably a similar mechanism to the diary horcrux" she said, more excitedly, getting into her role, oblivious to the discomfort her words caused to Ginny, who took Harry's hands in hers, squeezing it to gather some comfort.
"If a sixteen years old with only five years of magical training could do it, it was probably a piece of cake for the might of the Peverells. It is, after all, known that they were the most powerful wizards of the XII century" she cleared her throat, before resuming her explanation as more and more clues started to paint a clear image in her head "it was probably a very good thing that you didn't destroy it in one hit, but in multiple ones, otherwise the life energy sucked out of Ginny would have probably dispersed in an explosion, or even just dissipated instead of slowly returning to ginny as the strongest one in the link in those moments, otherwise she could have been left as a cripple, or a squib, or even aged prematurely" she reported offhandedly, before noticing the trembling of her friend.

"Oh Ginny, I'm so sorry, you know how I am, I get excited and babble too much…" she panicked, before flunging herself at the redhead and hugging her tightly.

Harry and Ron exchanged a look, silently passing understanding that only best mates who went through the hormonal years together know how to do.

Once the two girls got themselves in order, they resumed their position and Hermione started her lecture again " I think that the Hallows form a bond with their wielder, and throughout it they slowly absorb life energy, and at the moment of the death of the wielder they take everything that can! This is why the youngest brother is considered the wisest, because he made his in such a way that it wouldn't damage the family, unlike the other two".
She stopped for a bit, taking a stray bit of parchment and a pen and started writing a few calculations. The other three busied themselves making tea and preparing a tray with crumpets and jams, with the unspoken understanding that it was best to leave Hermione to her Arithmancy.

After the break the smartest witch of her generation took a deep, fortifying breath and opened her mouth to report her findings, and Harry already felt a profound weariness, directly from his very soul, as if it already knew that it wouldn't like the results " I've made a few calculations, and considering a margin of +/- 10% the Hallows will give you a bit less than two thousand years to live, one thousand nine hundred and thirteen, exactly" she read, looking directly at Harry.

Hermione then gave a small smile, that would have looked completely out of place to anyone else, but to Harry it meant a small new hope, and with that rekindled flame he asked her, almost pleadingly " I sense a but" then corrected himself "Please tell me there is a but!"

Ginny and Ron leaned forward, still stunned by the sheer magnitude of the bomb just dropped, but willing to trust their bushy-haired friend.

"There are a couple of ways I can think of" Hermione started, leaning back on the sofa "the first one would be sacrificial rituals, the one to increase the virility, is one I can think of on the top of my head".

She shook her head seeing their disbelieving looks " Guys, do remember that magic is magic, it's a tool to be used carefully, but its not intrinsically good or evil"

Harry nodded his head, having experienced the many facets of magic in his years as an Auror.

"These kinds of rituals sacrifice a part of your living energy to obtain immediate benefits; the most obvious problem is the taint they leave on the soul" Hermione explained, noticing the disgusted looks and nodding in agreement with their assessment.

"There are obviously purifying rituals that you could undertake, but in the long term it would all take its toll on you" she continued, sipping her by now lukewarm tea.

When Harry made to speak she raised her hand, stopping any objections.

"I know you wouldn't do it Harry, I told you about it to be thorough. There is another method, and while it's still in the experimental stage I'm pretty sure that it is what you are looking for." Hermione calmly explained, taking a little bite of a crumpet to loosen the knot in her stomach.

"I can talk about this only because I'm the leader of the research group, and deem this situation to warrant it" She stated formally, resulting in a brief flash of magic, in acknowledgment of her decision.

"Since our fifth year, when we destroyed every time turner at the Department, the Unspeakables have been trying various new methods to replicate the effects.
One of these ended up being a way to move across parallel dimensions."

She made eye contact with Harry, knowing that it was a crucial moment of his life and willing herself to give him all the help he might need.

"In the last few years we have made few breakthroughs, but we have noticed that in various dimensions time seems to warp and both the travel and the stay would have an ageing effect on the body." Hermione sipped her tea a bit more, to hydrate her parched throat.

"Normally travel between the dimensions is impractical and extremely difficult, as the traveler would age prematurely, possibly even arriving dead on the other side, and the few who could survive would be unable to return and report anything, so while the study of such dimensions is extremely fascinating, it never has fruited too much" she explained, noticing the understanding slowly dawning on Harry.

He smiled at her, having got her meaning "And while anyone else would be unable to survive and return, I have both years to squander and an anchor to use"

Then, thinking on it a bit more, he continued, this time more surely " And while I would still spend many years traveling around, I would still return here without too much time having passed, and while there I could even help the alternate versions of me!" he exclaimed, smiling brightly.

Ginny and Ron looked at each other and sighed, knowing that little could stop those two now that they had started, Hermione on the many things that Harry's travels could mean for her research and Harry on how many people he could save and how he would prevent any other him to experience what he had.

In the end it was decided that Harry would indeed travel around a bit, stopping in their original dimension after each leap to report and spend a bit of time with his friends and girlfriend to relax.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

All in all, it would take a few months still before everything was set up for him to travel.

It was with this thought in mind that Harry, feeling rather like what he thought Nicholas Flamel must have felt after destroying the Philosopher's Stone, started making sure all his affairs were in order.

He stopped at the DMLE Director's office, knocking on the door, before entering and greeting Gawain Robards, presenting him the papers signed by the Head Unspeakable and the Minister of Magic.

"Potter, what in the blazes has got in your brain to agree to help the DoM in a classified XXXX experiment?!" the graying man asked rather forcefully, projecting his worries.

Harry laughed slightly, shaking his head " It's something that only I can do boss".

Then he smirked " It won't even take too much; I'll probably only be away for a couple of years"

He then waved at the stunned Director and exited the office, moving swiftly through the office.

Once at the apparition point, having passed the check point, he twisted and, with a soft *snap* reappeared in the darkened alley nearby the Leaky Cauldron.

Inside the pub he waved at Tom, unmovable pillar of Diagon Alley's entrance, and at the Finch-Fletchley family dining at a table, and moved toward the back-side.

On a Tuesday morning, the Alley was more or less empty, save the few witches and wizards going to and from the apothecary and Gringotts.

He too steered towards the goblin-run bank, nodding to the guards outdoors and letting his eyes skim one the warning engraved in the marble, feeling the wards taking hold of him and examining him for ill intent.

Following the end of the war the goblins were more than ready to cut off his head and put it on a pike.
Thankfully, they liked their gold more than their vengeance.

After careful negotiations, long explanations of how and why they had broke into Gringotts', the assurance from the Minister that they could seize the Lestrange Vault for themselves and a rather large fine for the three of them, that was mostly paid with the earnings gained from selling the Basilisk carcass, they were finally allowed normal service.

He had, years ago, that his approach with any goblin should be of polite indifference, however they may act.

He approached a free Teller, who sneered at him, as if seeing something rather unpleasant, but refrained from commenting.

Harry noted briefly his name, written on a badge and looked at him in the eyes, offering his key "Greetings Teller Spearguts. I need to access my vault to make a withdrawal and will afterwards need to have ten thousand galleons converted in pounds, dollars and euros"

Spearguts sneered a bit more, just to make sure the human understood his disgust and then looked at the key and nodded curtly, barking an order for a goblin nearby in Gobbledegock.

He then turned towards Harry and snarked at him " Bashbrains will take you. I will prepare the correct amount. Now disappear human!"

Harry allowed himself a brief smirk, having always found it funny how goblins always tried to give more threatening names to each other.

After the usual wild ride into the bowels of London, the cart stopped.

" Vault 84, Potter Family Vault" the little creature said in a nasal voice.

"Key" Bashbrains asked, motioning for Harry to stand aside.

After the usual security procedures he made a gesture and the wizard entered the former Black Family Vault, that he had converted in Potter.

He took the Mokeskin Pouch that Hermione had graciously expanded several times more than what was usually found in shops, and flicked his wand at a pile of gold, making it rapidly jump into the sack.

As a fourth of the vault disappeared, he swished his wand and the coins in midair clatters on the floor.

He then turned around and went back into the car.

After having retrieved the converted money from the snarky teller he exited the bank and walked towards the nearest apparition point.

Disapparating to the restructured Grimmauld Place, curtesy of Silley the house-elf, he tossed the pouch in the study and sealed it alongside the sturdy trunk he had prepared for his travels.

He then called Ginny, who was still resting after the rather heated session of sex they had during the night moved towards the toilet to freshen himself.

"Ginny love, you know that I would like to join you in lazying the whole day, but your mother will kill us if we don't hurry" he called loudly.

He then felt a small hand on his stomach, slowly moving down towards his navel and a hot breath near his ear " I rather think we have a bit more time to enjoy ourselves, don't you?" asked his girlfriend in a sultry tone.

He groaned a bit and decided to give in. Not like he didn't get anything out of it.

He had spent the last few days pampering the little redhead in every way possible, to reassure her that yes, he still loved her and yes, she could still make his head spin.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Lunch at the Weasley's house was always a rowdy affair, full of babies screaming, excited chatter and loud discussions on Quidditch and how the Cannons would surely win the next match, and didn't you see, they lost the last one with only four hundred points of difference!

Harry moved towards the kitchen, hugging Mrs. Weasley and shaking Mr. Weasley's hand, offering him two bottle of Cabernet Franc Lavinia Maria 2003.

Arthur smiled in thanks, always one to enjoy a good wine, and motioned him to the table, where he hugged and slapped on the back the various members of the wider Weasley family.

As always, lunch was amazing, and he said so to Molly who smiled at him tremulously, and dabbed her eyes, asking the age-old question with a slightly different approach "Thank you, Harry dear, it's always a pleasure being appreciated, but you know that if you take this mission for those wackos at the DoM you will not eat anything decent for months. Do you truly have to?"

Everyone made faces all around the table, as this was a current topic in the last couple of months during the Sunday lunches.

"Mom, leave him alone, you know how Harry is. Once he is fixed on something, he will not leave it alone!" Somewhat surprisingly Percy said, conveying everyone's sentiment about the Weasley's matron tentatives to make Harry stay and not undertake the mysterious mission for the Unspeakables.

Obviously both his condition and his future travel weren't common knowledge; already that two more people (Ginny and Ron) knew of it was straining the limits!

Harry smiled apologetically at Molly, making her slump in defeat " I'm sorry , but I'm going to take this mission. However, I promise to contact you all whenever I can"

Molly perked up a bit, like others around the table, that had feared a complete black out of communications.

Ginny smiled sadly before shaking her head, knowing that there was little she could do to stop him, and that she should instead support him.

The pleasant heat of April's sun, together with the heaviness of the lunch left the in a pleasant heaviness, and only a quiet chatter remained.

After having regained his bearings Harry called Ginny and moved around the garden to say goodbye to everyone.

After a strong handshake with and a bone-bruising hug from Mrs. Weasley, they were both off with the floo toward Grimmauld.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was a small group that was to be found in the newest Chamber of the DoM, the Chamber of Travel.

Harry found himself listening for the umpteenth time to Hermione's listing of everything he should do and have done

"… and then, once you have ensured that it is indeed a sister dimension, and that you still have the cloak with you, that will act as a beacon for us to call you back, you should infiltrate the ministry with these papers" she babbled, shoving into his hands a stack of formal looking parchment, that he swiftly put into his Mokeskin pouch " and perform the simple Ritual of Naming that we talked about earlier, as you know that six hours is the limit before your reality starts to fade away if there are two identical people, and then go to Gringotts and open the new account"

Hermione then took a deep breath and smiled at him " after making sure to have implated the right memories in the right people, you'll be free to do what you want, making sure to note down every similarity and difference for us to study"

She the threw herself at him and hugged him for all that he was worth "Be careful Harry, we'll see you in a couple of months, or for you a decade"

She then moved, making space for Ron to manly embrace him, very manly, without any teary eye or nonsense like that.

Ginny just kissed his lips softly, having given her goodbyes the previous night.

Harry then motioned to the Unspeakable in grey robes, who waved his wand in a complex pattern alongside two others, making slowly appear a rift in the space in front of them.

They nodded at him and he took a deep breath, looking for the last time at his best friends in the world and his love and then walked with the head held high towards his next great adventure.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

TADAAAAAAAAAN!

weeeeell… That's the first chapter of my new fic.

I freely admit being inspired by the Lone Traveler series. It's amazing and you should read it!

Like you'll have read in the summary, it's about MoD Harry who has to travel around the realities and helps various people he knew from his original world.

This time he will take the role of DADA teacher for the alternate Harry's second year and then on.

The next chapter will mostly be about his arrival and the first two years where he travels around a bit to understand the new world.

If there is any spelling or grammar error, please tell me and I'll correct it.

If there is anything you notice isn't working in a space/continuity, please tell me.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

See ya next time