I started writing this forever ago, and finally got around to publishing the first chapter. This is a Inheritance/Harry Potter crossover. Some aspects of this story have been done before, but I've added my own little twists. This story takes place mostly in the HP world. There are other crossovers mentioned, but never seen.

Spoilers: Inheritance: Post-Brisingr HP: Up to the end of GoF

Oracle

Harry gazed at the clock on the nightstand beside him, watching as the second hand crept around the circle at an agonizingly slow pace. As each minute passed, it seemed to pass slower than the one before. At last the minute and the hour hand joined in happy unison. Midnight. Harry was sixteen. Two more years, and no one could force him to come back to this house again. He would be free from the Durselys forever.

The second hand completed one more rotation and the minute hand marked off the slow passage of time dutifully. As it did so, I blinding flash of light enveloped his room, radiating from every nook and cranny. When it subsided, Harry found himself laying on nothing but an endless white expanse.

There was no forward or backward as far as Harry could tell, and he didn't seem to be lying upon anything. He sifted his weight slightly in preparation to get up, but stopped when his stomach did a flip-flop.

"It would be ill-advised for a mortal such as you to stand, Harry Potter. This world is not suited for your kind." The voice that spoke seemed to come from all around Harry. It was a warm male voice that immediately put Harry's pounding heart to rest.

"Where are you?" He said, trying his best to stand once more, despite the warning.

"I am all places," answered the man. "I am here, in your own World, and in many others."

"I don't understand," answered Harry.

"Of course you don't. You are only a mortal, how can you be expected to understand what one such as I say?" As the voice spoke, the space in front of Harry shimmered; a man appeared before him, standing nearly seven feet tall, though Harry could see him entirely without having to strain his eyes. The man wore a thick blue robe, like a wizard out of a muggle movie, though his face was clean-shaven and his cobalt blue hair was neatly groomed, quite unlike a stereotypical wizard.

"Who are you?" Harry said. His third attempt to stand met with more success than he had previously enjoyed. He sat up, forcing his stomach to calm down as it flipped yet again.

The man laughed. "I am many names, Harry Potter, though for now, until your understanding of the Worlds is more complete, you may call me Oracle."

"Oracle?"

"Listen closely to me Harry, for I'll only explain this once. I am not a god, I cannot control time, and right now, time is of the essence. You, Harry Potter, are very important."

"Yeah," Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly, "Like I haven't been hearing that one for the past three years."

"If you were only important to one world, I would not be overly concerned with your fate, but that is not the case." Oracle sighed, an oddly mortal gesture for one who seemed so ethereal. "My Order has been caught up studying and worrying over two great wars in two very different Worlds. The first is of course, your World. The second is Alagaësia. Alagaësia is embroiled in a desperate war that will decide the fate of their entire World. This war will be decided by three very powerful beings, but unless my order interferes, the side of good will be lost. We have searched the Worlds for one who could help us, and you are the only one there is. Unfortunately, if we just pluck you out of your world and deposit you in Alagaësia, Voldemort will conquer Europe, if not the whole Earth, within a few years. I hate to pick favorites, but the situation in Alagaësia is more pressing."

"I won't do it," Harry said suddenly. "You can't make me."

"Oh, I won't have to," Oracle answered. "For I must send you into Alagaësia into the exact place you need to be. Once events are set in motion, you will be caught up in them, as is everyone else involved. You will have to fight for your life, not to mention your sanity."

"There must be someone else." Harry protested.

"We have searched an uncountable number of Worlds and examined legions of beings for the correct person. We could find no one else who is living." Oracle sighed again, and Harry realized that he was frustrated, not with him, but with something else. "You are the only one, Harry, who can help the light overpower the evil that threatens to overwhelm Alagaësia. We will attempt to compensate for the loss to your World, by bringing other great warriors from other Worlds to aide your friends. If the situation ever becomes too desperate, we will send you back at once."

Now it was Harry's turn to sigh. He didn't seem to have a choice. "What do I need to know?"

"There is an evil king called Galbatorix who is threatening to conquer all of Alagaësia. Only the Varden and their allies stand in his way. If Galbatorix succeeds, there will be no conceivable end to his reign, as he is immortal. Eventually, he will have conquered every square inch of the planet. Once the Varden fall, that will be Alagaësia's fate, for no one else has the power to resist." Oracle thought for a moment. "Oh, yes, you won't be able to use your kind of magic in Alagaësia. The language you use has no power over land touched by elves. But once you return to your world, you will be able to use Alagaësian magic, if you learn it, I mean."

"So I'll be defenseless?"

"Not really," answered Oracle. "As I said, you will arrive at the proper place. You will learn everything else as you go."

A blinding light engulfed Harry, and he found himself once more on solid ground. Trees surrounded him on three sides and a large mountain range rose up behind him into the clouds. Before him stretched a crystal blue lake as far as the eye could see. A clear blue summer sky glowed overhead.

Funny, Harry thought, I imagined a bit more gloom and doom. I guess nature doesn't really care if an evil king is about to take over the world.

Harry had only been there a few moments when something happened, the surface of the water cascaded aside in a brilliant splash to make way for the head of some sort of long-necked reptile. Blood-red scales and ivory spikes gleamed with moisture. Not sure of what was happening, or what the creature would do, Harry hid behind a fallen log. The head moved toward the shore at an alarming rate, covering the half mile in a few short seconds. As the beast crawled up on shore and out of the water, Harry glimpsed a set of powerful forelegs, a snaking tail and strong leathery wings.

"A dragon," he whispered to himself.

The dragon wheeled with surprising speed and reached back into the water with his muzzle. It grasped something between its teeth and tugged a man out after him. At first when the beast started sniffing at the prone man and nuzzling him, Harry feared that it'd found its next meal. His fears were abated, however, when the dragon curled up beside the man and sat peering out across the lake.

A minute or so later, the surface of the water rippled again and a second man's head appeared near the shore.

"Thorn," the man spluttered. "Help me, these saddles are heavy."

The dragon stood and slinked back into the water gracefully. Gently, the dragon clasped the scruff of the young man's shirt between his teeth and lifted him above the water. Harry was surprised to see an odd-looking lump of leather hanging from each of the man's hands. He assumed these were the saddles the man had referred to. The dragon drug the man to the shore and deposited him in the shallows.

"Thank you, Thorn," the man said, tossing the saddles up on the shore next to the unconscious man. "Could you fly over the Lake and look for Saphira? I'll take care of Murtagh and set up a camp in the trees."

The dragon turned and looked over towards the woods where Harry hid, then took off into the noonday sky. The young man drug his companion, Murtagh, closer to the trees, then straightened and drew a sword. Harry was surprised to note that the sword was a beautiful shade of shimmering blue that danced as the warrior turned it.

"Come on out," he called. "Thorn told me you're in there, child. Do not play this game. It would be a simple matter to find you forcibly, but I'd rather not hurt you."

Harry's pride boiled when the stranger called him child, but decided against coming out of hiding. He didn't know anything about the world he was in and whether or not this stranger could be trusted.

"Very well," said the stranger, taking another step forward. "I will try to be as gentle as possible, but I make no promises."

Harry felt a snaky rope reach out around his mind and realized that the warrior was using magical telepathy to find him. Harry didn't know how to defend himself against such an attack, and decided to wait for the youth to find him without resistance. Only a minute later, a mop of shoulder-length brown hair appeared beside Harry's face.

Up-close, Harry was surprised to see that the man wasn't quite a man. His face was ageless, though Harry assumed he was quite young. His eyes had a strange upright slant that gave him the appearance of a feral cat. The tapered point of one ear poked out between the locks of hair.

An elf? thought Harry. He vaguely remembered Oracle mentioning elves, but he'd never imagined they would be so strange. This being wasn't anything like he'd expected. If elves such as this had ever existed on Earth, he wondered how they could've given rise to the gnomes of modern myth.

"Greetings, boy," the being said. "My name is Eragon. What's yours?"

"Harry." He suddenly found his throat quite dry. He was scared, whether of the creature and sword before him, or the beast that flew overhead, Harry wasn't certain. "Are… Are you an elf?" he stuttered.

"I'm not an elf," Eragon answered, "but I'm not quite human either." He held out a hand and helped Harry to stand. "Where are your parents?"

"Dead," Harry said sullenly. He hoped he wouldn't have to explain his life to everyone he met here. "They died when I was a baby."

"I'm sorry," Eragon said. "I do understand a bit the sorrow. My mother died shortly after I was born, and I didn't know who my father was until after he died a short time ago."

Together, they drug Murtagh's body into the woods and lit a fire. A few minutes later, while Eragon was unrolling some blankets and hanging them up to dry, Thorn returned, a second dragon close behind. The second dragon was roughly the same size as Thorn and her scales were a brilliant blue that made the lake water appear pale by comparison. Eragon rose hurriedly and rushed to the blue dragon's side. He reached upward without fear and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"I missed you," he said. The blue dragon batted her eyes and crooned with pleasure. Eragon stepped back and gazed at her intently. "Where is it?"

The blue dragon looked down at the ground between her fore claws and flicked her tail. An oblong bundle rolled forward and came to rest at Eragon's feet. He knelt and hurriedly unwrapped the package, revealing a beautiful bright green stone. It was large, about a foot and a half long at its longest point.

Beside him, Harry saw Murtagh stir slightly, but he was too wrapped up in what was happening to truly notice.

"It's larger than your egg was, Saphira," Eragon said, looking up.

"Larger than Thorn's, too," Murtagh added. Harry jumped aside as Murtagh sat up. "It'll be a big dragon when it hatches."

"If it hatches," Eragon corrected.

"What happened?" Murtagh said, quickly taking in their surroundings.

"Let's just say this is the last time we fly over a large garrison held by the king's troops," Eragon chuckled.

"Trebuchets?" Murtagh smiled. Thorn and Saphira both growled.

Harry almost completely ignored the conversation, entranced as he was by the stone at Sahpira's feet. He'd never seen anything so beautiful before. It was as green as algae covering a wet rock and as tough as diamonds. Curious, he rolled it towards him, causing Saphira to curl her teeth defensively. Harry turned it over in his hands, examining all sides of the flawless surface.

"Alright," Eragon said suddenly, "time for bed." He snatched the egg from Harry's grasp without ceremony and wrapped it once more in the brown sackcloth.

"But it's only noon," Harry protested.

"Excuse me, boy," Murtagh snapped. "Did you just break out of the king's fortress and steal his most precious possession?"

"Not to mention," continued Eragon, "we're still in the middle of the Empire. As we've already proven, it would be dangerous to fly during the day. When night falls we'll fly to the Varden camped to the south. All of us."

"What about Thorn and I?" Murtagh asked. "The Varden will never accept me back. They don't understand the bondage I was under."

"You two will have to hide in the Spine," Eragon said. "You can come and help whenever you wish; perhaps eventually you can prove yourself to them."

"I don't understand," Harry muttered.

"I'll explain everything tonight," Eragon said. "But right now, I'm very tired." The camp instantly fell silent as everyone rolled over and did their best to go to sleep. Little did Harry know that all around him, a silent debate was raging between humans and dragons as to whether or not he could be trusted. Finally he fell asleep; blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.

Harry. That was his Rider's name. His deepest, unconscious soul had known it for centuries, ever since he'd been set aside as a bonded dragon. The soul that had touched him before was Harry's. He knew it. Now was the time.

But it was still dark. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. When the Rider touched his dragon, light was supposed to envelope both of their worlds and they would never be separated again. But it was dark.

He pushed the darkness away with all his might, but it refused to budge. He growled, the sound emerged from his lips as a pitiful squeak. Again he pushed against the darkness, this time using his mind as well as his miniscule legs. A crack appeared in the darkness; He stuck his ivory claws into the crack and pulled with all his might. The crack deepened and he pushed against it in reply. Only a moment later, the darkness was cast aside in favor of the pressing light.

He stuck a scaly head out into the light, only to meet with another barrier. Some oaf had wrapped his darkness in a clothe-wall! He snarled unhappily. Here was another barrier between him and his Rider. Such barriers were only meant to be overcome, so he snapped at the clothe-wall. Once the fabric was caught between his teeth, he shook his head from side to side vigorously until there were only rags surrounding him and his darkness.

He crawled out of his darkness, shaking wet-darkness-water off his legs as he did. Overhead, there was an orb-brightness-fire that lit the whole land. Where was Harry? He sniffed at the being closest to him and wrinkled his nose. It was not Harry. It was Blue-Star's Rider. The creature beside Blue-Star was not Harry either. That one was Fire-Scales, and under Fire-Scales' wing was his Rider.

Using his tail for balance, he crawled over Fire-Scales, careful not to wake the sleeping giant. Fire-Scales could easily crush him without knowing it. From Fire-Scales' back, he could see much more, including a third two-leg beside Fire-Scales' tail. He leapt down beside the two-leg and sniffed his head-fur.

Harry! He wanted to dance for joy. He immediately curled up beside Harry, his small green muzzle resting lovingly on Harry's limp right hand. A moment later, Harry's sleep-visions came cascading down on him. He sighed and then begun to purr.

When Harry opened his eyes in the just as the sun was setting, he was surprised to see four faces, two human, two dragon, staring at him with laughter in their eyes.

"It's fate," Eragon said, smiling.

"Or very good luck," continued Murtagh. "I can't believe he slept through the entire process."

"We all did," Eragon answered.

"What are you talking about?" Harry demanded.

"Look," Eragon pointed at the ground just to the right of Harry.

Harry looked. Right next to him, its head resting on his right palm, was a small green dragon.

Harry jumped up in surprise and backed away from the dragon. The sudden movement startled the dragon awake and he jumped up as well. Confusion and fear that wasn't his own filled Harry's mind and he backed away from the creature further. The dragon looked over his shoulder at the four onlookers and yelped. He dashed behind Harry's legs as quick as lightning. Peering around Harry's pajama pants at the four, he hissed.

Eragon laughed. "He thinks you're afraid of us," he said. A moment later, Murtagh joined in the laughter.

Harry turned and looked down at the dragon, who returned the gaze like a lost puppy searching for its mother. He took a step back, only to have the dragon follow him. Harry backed in a complete circle, the green hatchling close behind every step of the way. Finally, he turned to face Eragon.

"Why's he following me?" Harry asked, exasperated.

"Look at your hand," Murtagh answered.

Harry complied and saw a silvery oval that curled around the meat of his thumb joint. A moment later, both Eragon and Murtagh tore off their right hand gloves and held their hands out for Harry to see. Both hands carried a marking exactly like the one embedded on Harry's flesh. Harry looked from the marks, to the honest faces to the two young men, and up to the bony grins of the great dragons. As his gaze shifted down to the little green creature beside him, Harry realized what had happened. He'd somehow become bonded to the little monstrosity.