Jeff McKenzie had a relatively boring life. It wasn't a bad one, no it could be much worse, however the lonely young man yearned for some excitement. And whilst he couldn't find any in reality, Jeff was more than capable of pursuing adventure through video games. In fact he was rather good at it.
He was leisurely sitting at his desk playing through Skyrim for 7th time. Reaching towards the left he latched onto an open can of cola and chugged in down in one go, before proceeding to crush it and throw out his window.
As Jeff began customising his character an indescribable feeling of pain bloomed in his chest. His face turned ashen. Falling sideways he dropped to the ground with a loud thud and desperately tried calling for somebody, anybody, but it was like his voice had become a light breeze. Weak and quiet.
Vision gradually darkening Jeff gave up trying to shout. Resigned to fate he shut his eyes and drew his last breath with an unexpected feeling of relief.
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When he next awoke Jeff was greeted to the view of orange. Everywhere. No matter where he turned the irritating colour dominated. He tried calling for somebody, but nobody responded. Deciding to look around he chose a direction and started to jog.
After an hour of never ending orange he sat down and began panic.
Jeff was certain he had died of a heart attack. So was this hell? Because he was sure it wasn't heaven. His breath quickened as he sunk to his knees in worry.
"Oh calm down will you? There's no need to be alarmed." A distinctly feminine voice sounded from behind him.
Leaping in shock he swiftly turned around and saw a tall woman with orange hair, dressed in an orange dress with orange shoes. If it wasn't for the fact her clothes were a different shade of orange compared to their surrounding, she might have blended in perfectly.
"W...who are you? Where am I?!" He demanded in frustration. Someone had finally appeared and he was determined to get answers. This was not an opportunity he could afford to waste.
The young woman smirked patronisingly, "I can't tell you who I am or where we are without lying, but I can tell you why you're here." She responded.
After a moment of silence Jeff raised and eyebrow expectantly, he was practically oozing impatience. "You're here because two very powerful... beings, have made a bet. The contents of this bet remain a mystery to even I. All I'm aware of is that you have a job related to a universe portrayed in your world as a series of books called 'Harry Potter', that must be completed to the best of your ability. And yes, you're dead."
Despite the bombshell that he is in fact dead being dropped on him, Jeff's curiosity as to what his task was and how it could in anyway be related to Harry Potter overshadowed any other emotions. He had long since guessed that death had taken him, and he really wanted know what the possible god-like beings wanted with him.
Making eye contact with the beautiful woman before him he spoke, "Th...this task. What is it? Is it dangerous? What will I get in return?" He asked, his leg bouncing subconsciously.
"My my, full of questions aren't you? Well I was just getting to that. As you know the main 'villain', Voldemort, had the goal of becoming immortal, taking over the Wizarding world and slaughtering or enslaving the worlds 'imperfections', in this case Muggles and Mudbloods, or rather Muggleborns. He wanted to control the wizarding world and desired to be the master of death. Now this is where you come in." She said seriously.
Not wasting anytime Jeff graciously agreed, "You need not say more. I'll do it. I'll bring down this evil tyrant and save the world." He smiled magnanimously.
However his smiled slowly faded as he saw the lady's face slowly turn from seriousness to surprise, then to ridicule, before she burst out laughing. "Hahaha! No, you're not going to bring Voldemort 'down'. You're going to make sure he succeeds. Although not the immortality part, but in short you must ensure Voldemort is successful in dominating the Wizarding World and killing or enslaving Muggle-borns. And before you try and say no, know that if you do try to refuse or fail that a fate significantly worse than any hell awaits not just you, but all your family and friends from home."
Faced with these revelations Jeff grabbed onto his head and stumbled backwards. He could feel a migraine incoming.
Help Voldemort win? He never claimed to be some saint, even that 'taking Voldemort down' sentence from earlier was just to get away, but he wasn't a bad person. He'd never killed somebody or been arrested. How could he when he spent his days at home playing video games?
Yet, all of a sudden he had to become a bad guy? Worse than bad. He had to help magical Hitler.
Jeff wished he could refuse. He really did. In spite of this, his family would always come first. They didn't talk very often, but they were the most important people in the world to him, he'd die or kill for them.
Not to mention adding the wellbeing of himself, his friends and a fate 'worse than any hell' into the mix. As selfish as it was he had already made up his mind.
Raising his eyes after along period of muteness he shook his head bitterly, "I...I will do it. What are the details?" He asked tiredly.
The woman genuinely sighed in relief knowing that if he refused, she'd also be punished. "You will be sent there at the start of canon as a first year student. Other than that the details are up to you. Including name, background, sex, blood status, appearance. Although you can't be too closely blood related to any main characters. Your mind will be protected when it come to anything pertaining your past life or your task for the first 4 years there. Finally you can not be directly responsible for the death of any of the golden trio."
Jeff hummed in understanding and began to think this through.
If he was going to help Voldemort he'd have to at least be half-blood, preferably pureblood, but would that make him suspicious? It's not like all purebloods were untrusted, however being a muggle-born would give him all the trust he needed.
Who would ever suspect a muggle-born of supporting the death eaters? He'd have to do a lot of stupid things to get caught.
As for background he'd choose to have a family under normal circumstances, but this wasn't normal. A family was most definitely not an option in this situation, especially a muggle one. He'd already thought of how to make his background play into his favour
Next we're gender and appearance. This was something that was troubling him. He wanted to remain as a guy, but it couldn't be denied that women were tended to be trusted more and seen as less threatening.
People would deny it, nevertheless they would react differently to a man approaching them in certain situations than a woman. Especially a beautiful woman. Clenching his fists Jeff came to a decision knowing the life of his friends and family were on the line.
He couldn't leave anything to chance.
Jeff took a deep breath, "First if I want to be entirely pureblood and healthy. As for the family please choose a relatively important one that has money, but no members. Next I want to be an orphan raised in a muggle orphanage, with the documentations left from my deceased parents that I am in fact pure blood. My time growing up at the orphanage I was greatly liked by my peers and the staff.
"At eleven years of age I received a visit from McGonagall who believed me to be muggle-born and went through the normal procedure, with me not standing out in the slightest. I insisted on visiting Diagon Alley and gathering my supplies alone. My orphanage is relatively near the home of Harry and the Dursley's, and whilst we never had any interactions they have seen me walking around town. Lastly I choose to be a girl. Yes a girl. My first name should be Ariana, spelt the same as Dumbledore's sister. Red hair, bright green eyes and attractive in every way. Kinda similar to Lily Potter, but with clear differences."
By the end of it Jeff was relatively happy with his choices. It'd be hard for Dumbledore to suspect or think ill of someone with his sisters name. Not to mention with him being from an orphanage he could pretend to be muggle-born whilst actually being pureblood.
This would be further solidified by Harry having seen him around Little Whinging. His future good looks would just help in every department. Beautiful people were liked and trusted more.
The resemblance to Lily Potter was just to further the trust of Harry, Snape and basically everyone that knew the witch. Whilst it might be a little overkill, there was a lot on the line. So he wouldn't hold back and planned to grasp at every advantage in his reach.
The lady smiled, glad this would soon be over, "It seems the fates aren't entirely cruel and I have been ordered to make sure you aren't entirely incompetent when it comes to magic. You're no Tom Riddle, but you'll certainly be able to hold your own. Along with a peculiar talent for the dark arts. Well this is good bye Arianna Rose of house Rosier" With a wave of her hand Jeff was engulfed in a bright orange light.