Jaieh Kat Kerai’yth, Daisha Kat Dai – Post One – penumbria

Reading Time:
12 Minutes

Title: Jaieh Kat Kerai’yth, Daisha Kat Dai

English Translation: Master of Death, Chosen One of the Force

Prologue

October 31, 1981 (again)

2:30 PM

Harry Potter lay on his back in his crib in Godric’s Hollow. It was nap time. And his body was 15 months old. The little boy, at least in body, knew what was coming that night. He had lived through it once before in his first life. 

Harry didn’t actually feel like actually napping on his last day with his parents but his mom tried her best to keep him to a schedule, so here he was, trapped in his crib for the next hour or so. He decided to use the time to think back over his last life and the last year.

Harry had lived a very long, full life as a wizard. And he didn’t actually recall dying. It hadn’t been during a dramatic duel with some dark wizard. He hadn’t been killed by a muggle who was trying to kill all wizards. He hadn’t died trying to execute a Wronski Feint in the World Cup. He hadn’t even choked on a piece of candy. 

Harry had just gone to bed one night as a 147-year-old man and the next thing he knew, he was a 10-month-old toddler living in Godric’s Hollow in hiding with his parents. Though he did suspect that he had actually arrived in his young body when he was born or even while in the womb, because he had some fuzzy memories that seemed to point to that idea. 

Harry’s mind was his adult one, mostly, sort of, but he still had to deal with his toddler’s body’s level of development, physically speaking. He had walked early, and kept his balance a bit better than most toddlers, but he was still unsteady on his little legs. He has a larger spoken vocabulary than a child his age should but he still lisped many and his mouth couldn’t quite form them properly many times. He could use his magic wandlessly for smaller spells but he also lost control when overwhelmed and had bouts of accidental magic.

Harry didn’t really mind having seemingly died in his sleep. He had been old, though he hadn’t looked his age, only appearing like a muggle man in his fifties or sixties at his death when he was nearly a century older than that. But he had been lonely. He had outlived his family and friends by a large number of years.

Ginny had died in a broom accident when Lily Luna was only in her first year at Hogwarts. Ron had died even earlier, in a muggle car accident, just a few weeks after Al had started his first year at Hogwarts. Hermione had died in her fifties during some kind of spell creation with the Unspeakables. Neville had been killed by a mistake with one of the plants in the advanced Hogwarts greenhouses when he was 85. Luna was killed by a nundu that she and her husband Rolf were trying to study when Luna was 77.

Teddy had been killed when he was 22 by an anti-werewolf bigot, even though Teddy wasn’t a werewolf and only liked his meat a bit on the rare side. James Sirius had died at only 28, during the muggle terrorist bombings in Manchester. Al had died in his late seventies of dragon pox, a new strain that was resistant to the vaccine. Lily Luna had lived the longest. She died the day after her one hundredth birthday, in a fall down the stairs.

All of Harry’s grandchildren had died by the time he was 110. As had his nieces and nephews, all of the Weasley’s kids. And he wasn’t close to any of the great-grandkids or their children. When he died, Harry was the only one left of his year at Hogwarts or even of any of those who had been at the school when he was there through his entire school days, older than him or younger. And had been for almost two decades.

Harry would have gladly died in his sleep and gone on to see all of them again. He just had not anticipated that he would be seeing them by reliving his life with all of his memories. It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He had tried and tried to head off the tragedy that he was was coming. But no matter how advanced he came across as, no one took a toddler seriously. None of his plans had worked and he knew what would happen in just a few hours. 

Harry did think that his dad and Sirius might think he was showing signs of being a Seer due to his attempts to change history. He had overheard them say some things that pointed to it. But they still weren’t taking him seriously. Harry did understand, considering his age and supposed mental development as far as they knew, but it didn’t negate the frustration he felt with the entire situation.

Tom Riddle would come to the house, the Fidelius betrayed by Pettigrew, and kill Harry’s parents before being disembodied by his attack on Harry. And Sirius would abrogate his godfatherly responsibilities and give Harry to Hagrid while Sirius chased after Pettigrew, ending up in Azkaban. And Harry would end up on the doorstep on Number 4 Privet Drive.

Harry didn’t know if he could handle a decade with Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley this time around. He was thinking about just wandering off of the doorstep and seeing where he could get to before he was missed by Dumbledore’s instruments and spies. But he was only 15 months old in body. And muggles weren’t all perfect and sweet, any more than witches and wizards were.

Harry was going to still try his best to avert Tom’s attack but he didn’t think it would work. It felt futile. Harry had tried so hard already. He had decided to just try to enjoy his time with his parents before he lost them forever, to make memories of fun and love that he would recall with perfect clarity this time around, rather than just the memories of their deaths.

Harry rested until he heard his mother’s footsteps approaching the nursery and he stood up and held the railing of his crib. Lily entered and smiled at him as she lifted him out of his bed and carried him downstairs. 

For the next half an hour, Harry enjoyed himself zooming around the house at knee height on the toy broom that Sirius had given his for his first birthday. It wasn’t a Firebolt or even close but given that Harry was fairly sure that he wouldn’t be able to fly again for at least a decade, he was taking what he could get. 

As he zoomed past, he laughed at his father who was tossing little balls of light at him as if they were bludgers. The rule was if Harry got hit, he had to stop flying, so he was dodging better than a toddler should but still couldn’t keep it up forever, especially once James really started trying to hit him rather than trying to miss him.

Time went by, Harry playing with his parents and cuddling with them and dreading the set of the sun that night. After dinner, Lily told James that she felt bad that Harry couldn’t get dressed up and go trick-or-treating with the other kids. So, James transfigured Harry’s clothing to look like a cat and transfigured some whiskers onto Harry’s face, and Lily charmed the rooms inside the house to have illusionary houses with doors that Harry could knock on to get candy.

James took Harry to the first door and told him to knock. Lily opened the door and Harry grinned at her. “Tig o teet.” Harry laughed at himself, his mouth still unable to form certain sounds, which did help him to seem like the child he appeared to be.

Lily held out a plate to Harry, who had a brilliant idea. “Cat not pit up caddy.”

James smiled down at him. “You don’t want candy, Harry-cat?”

“Me want caddy! But I cat, no hands.” Harry scrunched his face up and held out his hands which he had illusioned, not transfigured, to appear to be paws.

James and Lily let out gasps. “Okay, yeah, those paws can’t pick up candy, Harry,” said James. 

Harry nodded. “Daddy get it for me. Daddy be Hawwy hands.”

“Okay, tiger. I will be your hands.”

“And Mommy be Hawwy hands. Get more for me.”

Lily laughed. “Okay, I’ll be your hands, too, Harry-baby.”

Lily and James spent the next half hour or so going with Harry from door to door inside the house, trading off on answering the door from Harry’s knock and being his hands to collect the candy.

Then the moments Harry was dreading arrived. James sat with him on the sofa, making his wand puff colored smoke while Lily removed the illusory neighborhood she had created. Then James removed Harry’s transfigured whiskers and Harry whined. It fit the age he was appearing as but for Harry, he knew that Voldemort was viewing this scene through the window.

James stood with Harry in his arms and tossed his wand down on the sofa. Harry frowned and summoned it to his hand and pushed it into James’ hand. “Need! You my hand! Kick ass, Daddy!”

James stared at Harry in disbelief as the front door rattled. His head jerked around and within a breath he turned the door to solid stone. “It’s him! Lily, take Harry and run!”

Harry looked over Lily’s shoulder as she hurried away with him in her arms. “Love you, Daddy!”

“Daddy loves you so much, Harry! Always!” James yelled over his shoulder as he animated furniture and knick-knacks around the living room to defend his family.

Lily ran up the stairs into Harry’s nursery. She placed him in his crib and locked the door behind them. Hearing the crashes and yelling from downstairs as the two wizards epically fought, Lily looked down at Harry. She pricked her finger and drew a rune on his forehead and several others on his crib. And finally, she drew one over her heart. 

“I love you, Harry. You are my amazing little boy.”

Harry let his tears flow down his face. “Love you, Mommy. You my hands. You badass.”

“I don’t know where you get this from, if your father is right and you have seer talents or if it is something else. But you are amazing and I will do everything I can to protect you.”

“Bess Mommy evah.”

Lily’s face was wet with her tears as she spun around to face the door when she heard the spells impacting against it. She slid her wand into her arm holster and waited.

Harry knew what was coming. She was going to beg for his life, offering hers in exchange. He had heard the exchange when near dementors in Hogwarts in third year. As his years had progressed, he had gained many other bad memories, and the dementors had more to choose from, even as soon as his summer before his fifth year when they were sent by Umbridge to kill him.

The event played out as it had in the past, even though Lily had several more minutes than his last time living this event. She had her plan in place and the extra time didn’t deviate her from it, just allowed her more breathing space to place her runes.

The green light of the killing curse hit Lily and she collapsed, leaving Harry looking Voldemort in the eyes. The older wizard sneered at him and raised his wand, casting one of his favored curses once more.

The curse hit Harry and rebounded, striking Voldemort and blasting his body into ash. His soul began to head toward the ruined ceiling of the cottage with a piece drifting towards Harry’s forehead rune when time seemed to freeze in place.

Harry lay in the cot, looking up at the escaping wraith when the dust in the air stopped moving. He felt a heavy pressure and knew there was a Being in the room with him, though he couldn’t see them, just feel them.

“Def?” Harry questioned.

‘You can call me Dai, Harry.’ Harry felt the words more than he heard anything physically.

“Otay.”

Suddenly, Harry was looking down at his toddler body in the crib and could tell his soul form or astral form or whatever he was, was his adult self.

“Am I dead then? Properly this time?”

‘You can be. You have choices. You Mastered my Hallows. And your trick with naming your parents as your hands, and getting them to verbally accept such a role, has increased your possibilities.’

“Okay. It didn’t keep them alive.”

‘No. It opened up the Prophecy, but they needed to die to allow me the power to change Fate’s design for you. They chose their Fates. I allowed them to choose. They chose you over their own lives. As always.’

Harry nodded. He understood. He would have given his life for his children if needed.

“Okay. So, what are my choices?”

‘You can stay here, back in your toddler body, with your adult mind as it has been. Relive your life from here out, but facing the same future. Fate is difficult to belay or change as you have already learned. You may save some who came to Death before but you may send others sooner. You may lose.’

Harry sighed. “Sirius will still go to Azkaban? And I’d be in Durzkaban? It is what I expected for months now, but I can change something?”

‘Not here. I can take you to your Next Great Adventure, as your Headmaster put it. And due to your status and your manipulation of the prophecy, I can take Tom Marvolo Riddle and all of his pieces with us. Fate’s prophecy would be fulfilled.’

“But I would be dead here.”

‘Yes.’

“Sirius? Remus? My friends?”

‘Sirius Orion Black would move on. He would grieve but he would live his normal lifespan.’

“Azkaban?”

‘No. He would not be sent there. He would capture Peter Andrew Pettigrew as he intended. Remus Lyall Lupin will reunite with Sirius Orion Black, and they will help one another. Your friends will have normal lives and schooling at Hogwarts, without Tom Marvolo Riddle there to cause war. They will live to the lifespans that Fate gave them at birth, without the Prophecy interfering.’

“And I would move on. Finally.”

‘You would come with me.’

“Okay. I will come with you, Dai.”

Harry watched time resume and the wraith or Voldemort begin to spin and other streaks of darkness impact it. The room grew brighter and brighter and brighter until he couldn’t see the furniture or walls anymore. He glanced around and realized he was in Limbo again. It didn’t resemble King’s Cross Station this time but was still stark white. 

He could see an outline of a Being, Dai, hovering nearby. ‘I will stay in contact. Your Next Great Adventure will bring you happiness if you let it. Listen for me. You may co-opt another Chosen One’s place but it will make his life better, and your own. Enjoy childhood.’

“What? Dai! I wanted to move on!” Harry felt heavy as a body formed around his soul once more. A portal opened beneath his once more little feet.

Dai laughed. ‘Catch!’