Harry Potter and the Infinity Matrix

Harry ducked blindly, the heat from the curse scorching his scalp as it rushed past, an inch off its target. He pivoted hard on the spot, spinning away from a ugly yellow curse before brandishing his wand and launching a stunner hard at Lucius Malfoy. Lucius batted the curse aside easily and sneered at him before rapidly leaping back from the concussion hex that Sirius had launched. A huge blast knocked Harry sideways off the Dias and he quickly scrabbled to his feet, lunging towards the minor cover provided by the stone steps.

The battle in the Death Chamber had turned to utter chaos, Order members and Death Eaters where trading curses at blinding speeds and Harry had enough time to feel a sinking feeling of shame; he had thought the DA's retreat through the department had been going well... The escalating battle in front of him just proved that the Death Eaters had been toying with them all along. He quickly flicked out another stunner at Dolohov which was effortlessly parried before leaping up the stone steps of the amphitheatre, desperately trying to reach where he hoped his friends where.

Despite his focus, he was distracted by the sound of Bellatrix cackling madly. He turned for just a second, having only a moment to register Sirius mocking his cousin before he saw the killing curse form. Sirius' eyes widened in shock and in the split second before the curse hit him he dove to the side, flinging himself into space. The curse rippled Sirius' jacket as it past before striking the crumbling arch of the veil. Rather than shattering the strange device, there was a titanic boom and the curse deflected sideways, heading straight at Harry who, flatfooted, could only stare in shock as Sirius' agonised yell of denial echoed around the room and the world went black.

Pain. Deep lancing pain flickered through every nerve in his body. It was strangely similar to being under the Cruciatus curse. Desperately Harry attempted to move, scream, anything to diminish the agony that tore through him. With an almost perverse lethargy, his eyelids cracked open and Harry realised he had gone insane. Deep aquamarine eyes framed by flowing golden locks looked down at him critically. There was no other explanation; even the worst levels of hell would not force him to suffer waking up to the sight of Lockhart.

''He's waking up sir...'

Harry craned his neck, enormous world dimming pain shot through him at the movement, but he managed to move his head slightly and immediately began to scream in horror as he looked into the face of Lord Voldemort. The world faded once more into merciful blackness.

Harry opened his eyes. Pain? Lots, but not unbearable. Nightmarish visions of Lockhart and Voldemort? Nope. Giving a relieved sigh, he lifted himself up on his elbows and scanned the room. It was fairly small, but very personalised. Random possessions and books covered every available surface, all of it inscrutably neatly stacked and in their places. Whoever owned this room valued their possessions and was inordinately tidy, that was for sure. Harry allowed his paranoid side to take over and he quickly scanned the room from a danger standpoint. He immediately noticed the door was heavy and banded with iron with a large keyhole, probably locked knowing his luck. There was also a conspicuous absence of a window. The ceiling sloped down ending only a foot above the bed giving a slightly oppressive feeling and a large ornate foe glass dominated the far wall, shadowy figures clearly moving in the fog.

Harry swung his legs over onto the floor and was preparing to stand when the door swung open.

'Ah, Harry, I see you're finally awake.'

Harry looked up and felt reality tilting away once more as he met Voldemort's gaze, so much for being a dream... Knowing he had potentially only seconds to live, he quickly decided to go on the offensive, leaping to his feet as he reached into his pocket praying for the feeling of his wand. Instead he felt a cracking pain, as if he had been pole axed, as his leap carried his head straight into the stone ceiling. He wavered slightly before toppling forward, the sight of Voldemort rushing forward the last thing he saw.

He felt himself slowly coming round, this time still with searing pain where he had struck his head. Carefully he climbed out of bed and staggered forward. He was still in the same room so it was safe to assume Voldemort had been real and he was now a prisoner. He quickly patted himself down and was utterly astonished to find his wand actually in his pocket. Death eater incompetence was apparently endless. Not wasting time to complain about his incredible good luck, he flicked out an unlocking charm and carefully opened the door. There was no one outside so he swiftly ghosted into the corridor and moved silently down the hall.

The passageway was lined with identical doors to the one he had just left and not wanting to risk running straight into some death eaters bedroom, he held his course until the corridor opened up into what seemed to be a large storeroom. Large barrels and crates of various supplies were stacked in neatly organised rows, everything from food to random gadgets, even one small box that appeared to be filled with second hand wands. Harry immediately spotted a barrel containing a few dozen brooms and quickly acquired the least battered looking one. It wasn't in his nature to pass up opportunities as golden as this, especially when it came to survival.

He darted down another abandoned corridor and quickly jogged up the first staircase he saw, emerging into the open night air. It was immediately obvious why his ceiling had been sloped, he was stood on the side of what appeared to be a large mist shrouded hill. He quickly mounted his broom and was about to attempt to disillusion himself when he heard a twig snap.

Lockhart was staring in shock at him, wand held loosely at his side. Damn, Harry thought, I had hoped at least he was a dream... He immediately hurled out his strongest stunner and was amazed when the usually incompetent Lockhart smashed it from the air, parrying so fast his wand was a blur. He hesitated to counterattack though and Harry immediately leapt into the air, launching his broom to its maximum speed straight up into the fog. He ignored the sounds of shouting alarms below him and quickly pulled out his wand.

''Point me Hogwarts!' Harry hissed. His wand spun on his open palm before pointing slightly to his left. Harry steered and immediately lay flat, pushing every ounce of speed possible into his getaway. He had absolutely no intention of getting recaptured.

He was beginning to shiver from the freezing temperatures, he had initially been glad for the cover of darkness but after over an hour of flying he was beginning to lament the temperature. He had attempted to fly lower, seeking warmer climates but had had to pull up sharply when he found himself about to plough into a large body of water. There was no moonlight to guide him and the fog, while no longer thick and oppressive as it had been on the hill, was still present. There was no way to tell if he was flying over the sea or had just skimmed a lake and he didn't want to get wet testing the idea so he just kept going, periodically checking his wand with the point me spell.

Harry felt a sudden tingling and looked up and gave an audible cry of relief. There, shining in the darkness was the jewel that was Hogwarts, its towers and parapets glowing softly from the light within. Harry immediately angled down to land on the sweeping lawn and found himself caught on a strange web like patch of air. He panicked, struggling in midair against the alien sensation before finally slipping through and landing haphazardly on the grass. What the HELL was that! He allowed himself to just lie for a moment, attempting to get over the shock. He had never flown a broom into Hogwarts before and now was combing his memory for any instance where Hermione may have mentioned the castles defences against such an entry. Coming up short, he shrugged and hauled himself back to his feet, hurrying towards the slightly ajar main doors.

He sighed as a wave of warmth flowed over him stepping into the entrance hall. The familiar sound of dinner time rippled through the open doors of the main hall and he smiled widely as he strode through to reunite with his friends. The hall immediately fell silent as he entered, every student staring at him in shock. Slightly intimidated, Harry avoided eye contact and scanned the Gryffindor table for Ron and Hermione. They weren't there. Feeling a strangled sense of panic working its way up his throat again he looked up at Dumbledore, hoping for reassurance and an explanation. It wasn't to be, the Headmaster was staring at him in open shock, jaw hanging uselessly.

'Sir...?'

Harry never managed to get out the rest of his sentence as Dumbledore immediately brandished his wand and roared out his spell.

'Avada Kedavra!'

I'm well aware how terrible I am at updating my stories, I'm a full time honours student and any free time I get away from studying is usually invested in catching up on sleep. This story has been bouncing around my head for a good few months now and while I have the beginning and end pretty much sorted, the concept for the central filler still has a few holes. I'm hesitant to post this first chapter knowing I could well never finish it, but I've nearly completed my degree and summer approaches. Maybe I'll get it finished, who knows, maybe some talented beta would be willing to take my draft notes for the plot and continue it in the event of my absence, we'll just have to see. Normally I care very little for reviews, I appreciate the thoughts and constructive criticism though I don't get upset or depressed if I don't get any, but I have come to the belief that the more feedback I get, the more effort I find myself putting towards a story. I'm far more inclined to give up free time with my flatmates to write if I think there's a couple of fans out there who'll get some good honest enjoyment out of the results of my labour. I enjoy writing but I enjoy knowing people are having a good time as a result of something I've created more. So if you think this idea has some potential and want me to continue go ahead and review, it really will make a difference and I may actually find myself committed enough to write that majestic and epic finale that I have planned. I'm almost tempted to skip ahead to write it but what good are endings without a beginning and a middle to define them?

On another note, I also feel that this first chapter is painfully underdeveloped. In the interest of keeping my brief spurt of writing energy going (It's two in the morning and I should be preparing my honours project presentation right now) I forced myself to keep things short and to the point. If I start spending hours on each section I'll rapidly lose interest so if there's a Harry Potter fanatic Beta out there who has similar taste in fanfics as I do,( Meteoricshipyards, Dobbyelflord, Jbern, Nonjon and Blot, and all the other truly elite writers out there) I would be extremely willing and grateful to share this story with them for error checking and, if there's a person out there with more dedication and time than me, to go through each chapter adding in detail and flesh to this bare bones of a tale, I would actually sign over my first born child to you :P

Cheers guys, hopefully you wont see another Authors note until that fabled ending, I hope we make it there, it really is a goodun! Well, it is in my head at least...

Mat