Harry and Voldemort slowly circled each other in the Great Hall. Harry knew the end was near, either he was right about the Elder Wand and he'd win or he was wrong and he'd probably die. He didn't see any other outcome.
"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does ... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand.
"Avada Kedavra!" "Expelliarmus!"
The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided.
The golden flames suddenly expanded to include both combatants for a moment before they suddenly contracted with a bright light and another bang, knocking everyone in the Great Hall off their feet.
When their vision return, everyone looked around and were shocked to see nothing in the middle of the large room. Harry's close friends were the first to recover fully and run forward, but there was absolutely nothing to find, not even ash or dust. Harry Potter and Voldemort and everything they had were all gone. Not even the professors could find anything or offer any explanation as to what had happened.
Harry Potter was hailed as a hero for defeating Voldemort. He was also never seen in the Wizarding World again.
— — —
The golden flames turned multi-colored, although it was against a backdrop of a bluish white tunnel that twisted and turned, stretching him in ways Harry was sure the body was never meant to bend. He thought he also saw a glimpse of Riddle and perhaps even a wand flying with him, but he couldn't be sure as "this world" exploded in a bright white light and dropped him from a height he felt in all of his bones.
— — —
Captain Jean-Luc Picard looked around his bridge with a certain amount of satisfaction. He never gloated publicly, but there were times in the privacy of his mind and in a few private conversations with trusted individuals that he said that he had the best crew in Starfleet.
As he completed his visual survey, he saw an impatient looking Ambassador Tremlin, which slightly dulled his enjoyable moment. The man was a fine example of an annoying bureaucrat.
Picard pushed the annoyance away with one last look at the main viewscreen, which showed the Earth below. The sight of his home planet from space like this was one of his earliest motivators as a child to go into the final frontier one day.
"Number One, are we ready to leave for Ardoni IV?"
"Aye, Captain," William Riker replied with a brief glance at the Ambassador. "All crew are back onboard and all of our supplies are stored. The Enterprise is ready."
"Very well, let's get the Ambassador on his way so he can do his job. Mr Crusher?"
"Course plotted and laid in, Captain," the newly field promoted Ensign replied as protocol specified, and with the Ambassador on the bridge, this was not a time for deviation.
"Mr Data, En-"
The klaxons suddenly went off.
Over the noise of the alarms, Worf shouted, "Wormhole!" just as a bright white light flashed in the middle of the bridge, a meter in front of the Captain and the Ambassador and not far behind Data and Crusher.
Picard blinked furiously to get his sight back. He'd thrown his hand up in front of his face as well as turned his head, which had mostly protected him, but not completely. As he started to make out images again, he realized he was looking down and to the right. He saw the Ambassador on the floor holding his face.
Ignoring the Ambassador to find out what had happened to his ship, he looked upward to see Worf had moved from his station and was holding a phaser in the ready position and looking menacingly at something.
Looking a little to the left he saw what the wormhole had delivered and had Worf so concerned. There were two bodies and there was a lot of blood. The blood was easily explained by the body of a humanoid that was ripped in half at the waist. The head of the humanoid looked like an experiment gone bad in trying to cross a human with a snake.
A moan from the other body brought all attention to it; he seemed to be looking at the corpse. "Lovely, but bloody hell that hurt," the young man that was about Ensign Crusher's age said before he went limp.
"Medical to the bridge, emergency!" Riker barked into his communicator. "We have … two … that need attention; bring a gurney." The first officer looked at the captain.
"I think two is the appropriate number. Try to help the Ambassador." Picard looked away from the grizzly scene as he didn't think there was anything he could do to help the young man. "Mr Data, Lieutenant Worf reported a wormhole. What did our sensors detect?"
Data returned his attention to his console and his fingers blurred into action.
Worf, phaser still out, slowly moved around until he was next to the young man who had survived. There were two sticks near his hand and Worf moved them away with the toe of his boot so they were out of reach of the survivor. He didn't know if the sticks were weapons or not, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"Captain," Data said, breaking the general silence of all but a few whispers as the crew worked, "as Lieutenant Worf reported there was a micro-wormhole that ended on the bridge. Point of origin is unknown; however, there was a trans-dimensional component to it."
Picard looked at the android in surprise. "Are you saying he came from another universe?"
"I do not have enough data to be absolutely certain, Captain, but there is a very high probability of that being true. Perhaps he," Data pointed at the survivor, "can tell us more."
"Hopefully," Picard said as the doors to the turbo lift opened and Doctor Beverly Crusher hurried out, followed by three others.
"What happened?" she snapped in her take charge manner. Three steps later she came to a sudden and complete halt as she saw the full and unexpected scene in the middle of the bridge. This was something more like out of a war zone, not something that should have been on bridge of the flagship of Starfleet. Those with her almost ran into the back of her. As they stopped, she gathered herself after a few seconds and resumed her hurried stride to "the scene" and started running her medical tricorder over the survivor. The other body was ignored for now, obviously beyond help.
"A micro-wormhole brought these two here," Picard told her as she knelt over the young man. Another doctor moved to the Ambassador, who Riker had sitting in his chair as the man rubbed his eyes and temples. Almost as an after-thought, the captain added, "It's also possible that he's not from this universe, in case that affects your diagnosis."
Doctor Crusher looked at him and nodded her acknowledgement and appreciation for the information. "Doctor Sorrd, report."
"The Ambassador suffered optic overload, but is recovering quickly." The Vulcan doctor pressed a hypospray to the man's arm and administered it. "He'll be completely recovered in a hour or so; rest would accelerate his recovery."
"Very good," Crusher responded just before the Ambassador looked at Picard.
"Captain, since I will recover soon and this mission is critical, we need to go now." Although a little shaky, the Ambassador stood as if that showed he was perfectly fine.
"Ambassador Tremlin…"
"Captain Picard, you know the priority of this mission. While I normally have no authority over you, I do have authority as to the schedule of this mission and I say we go and you can deal with this on the way. I believe you said it would be a three day trip? That's plenty of time to clean the carpet."
Picard blinked in amazement at the man's narrow vision and callousness, but he did understand what the man was pointing out. There were two things that had to be done first.
"Doctor, what is his state? Can you help him or should we beam him down to Earth before we go?"
Crusher looked up at him after giving medicine to the young man via a hypospray. "He's reasonably stable considering having traveled through a wormhole without an environmental suit. He has a number of injuries, but I can handle those. There are some readings about him that I can't explain, but I don't believe they poses a danger to the ship or crew."
"Very well. Take him to sickbay and do your best. Please call me when he awakes and I'll be down." Picard turned the bridge crew as a whole. "Report your status by department."
Everyone was reporting ready when asked. As that happened, the medical team was loading the young man on an anti-grav gurney to move him to sickbay.
Engineering went last and Picard paid close attention to that report. "Ensign Yarnly?"
"Sir. Engineering is ready."
"Was there any damage to the ship from the wormhole?" Picard asked, slightly miffed that he had to ask, since he thought special mention of that should have been given in the report. He gave the new Ensign a little latitude. She was only six months out of the Academy and new to the Enterprise; still, he would speak to his Chief Engineer about this later.
"No sir, there is no structural damage at all. The ship is ready," she reiterated.
"Thank you," he said, now understanding her answer better and decided he had jumped to a conclusion and made a mental note to get to know his new bridge crew a little better over the next few days … although a hint to the Chief Engineer might be in order instead of a complaint.
Picard looked at the Ambassador, who was giving him a smug look despite watery eyes, and then ordered, "Mr Data, full impulse engines to take us out of orbit and the solar system. Go to Warp 8 as soon as you can. Engage."
"Mr Worf. Please get someone up here to clean this mess. I want someone from your department to oversee it and search the body to be sure it's safe before Medical has a look at it. Also, I think someone from Security should be in Sickbay until we know more about the survivor."
"Aye Captain, I've already made arrangements for Sickbay. They'll be there before Doctor Crusher arrives."
"Efficient as usual, Mr Worf." Picard turned to his guest. "Ambassador, perhaps you should go to your quarters to recover. I'll notify you of anything that impacts our journey."
"I-" Ambassador Tremlin blinked heavily again and rubbed an eye. "Perhaps you're right, Captain. I look forward to your next progress report." A medical aide went to his side and helped him to the turbo lift as the gurney also went in.
"Doctor?"
"I'll let you know the minute he wakes up, Captain," she told him quietly.
"I'd like a report in two hours if you can, whether he's awake or not. If he's really from another dimension, there will be a way to know, won't there?"
"Possibly," she answered. "He seems human based on my scan, but I have a reading that I don't understand. I'll let you know in two hours."
As the Doctor left, Picard turned to his first officer, purposefully not looking at the body and blood. "Number One, please schedule a meeting for the senior staff in two hours. I want to know more about what happened and discuss affects. I'll be in my ready room. You have the bridge."
"Aye sir," Riker said as he moved over into the main chair and the turbo lift hissed open, revealing a small group that would clean up the mess.
While not sickened by it, Riker didn't particularly want to look at it either, so he turned to his old friend. "Deanna?" he asked softly. "Did you get anything from him?" There was no doubt who the "him" was.
"Very little other than relief," she replied. "I can understand relief at having survived, but it didn't seem like that was his focus."
"As long as it doesn't get any worse, at least this mission won't be as boring as I first thought," he said.
Deanna Troi gave him an incredulous look. "You enjoy tempting fate by saying that, don't you?"
He grinned at her. "I've never seen you be superstitious before."
"I'm not being superstitious now, I'm being … practical," she said a little defensively.
"If that's what you want to call it," he said good-naturedly.
— — —
Captain Picard walked into the conference room off the bridge and was pleased to see all of his senior staff already there. "Doctor Crusher, let's start with your report," he said as he took his seat at the head of the table.
"Our patient has the DNA of a human, so if he's from a parallel universe, it one that's very similar to ours. Oddly, I found traces of Anaphasic Energy in him," the doctor reported.
"That should not be possible, Doctor," Data said.
"No, it shouldn't," she agreed, "as it's generally unstable and the usual stabilizer, plasma as in matter not the blood component, would kill humans. It's a mystery I can't explain; but if you want evidence for extra-universe origin, that would be it. Of course, this universe is very large and there are many life forms which have surprised us throughout history."
"Yes, good point, Doctor," the captain agreed. "Since you haven't called me down to Sickbay, I'll assume he's still unconscious?"
"He is," she said with a nod. "I can report that the Anaphasic energy levels in his system are dropping while he is healing faster than normal."
"Leading us to the conclusion that the Anaphasic energy should be there and is not a by-product of his wormhole experience," Riker said thoughtfully.
"Yes, I arrived at the same conclusion," the doctor said. "Lastly, there appears to be a direct inverse relationship between his Anaphasic energy level and his rate of healing. So despite his rapid healing, or perhaps because of his rapid healing, the energy is dropping and his vitals are getting weaker. I can only think of one thing to do, although it would normally not be done for a human. We need to give him Anaphasic energy."
"While that might help him, what would that do to our crew and ship?" Picard asked with concern.
"As long as it isn't directed at the warp core or the fusion generators, the ship should be fine," Geordi La Forge answered, "or so I think. It's not something we deal with on a normal basis."
Data frowned and started tapping away at the keyboard built into the table in front of him, not saying anything for the moment.
"The crew," Crusher said, "would be safe in low doses for short term exposure. My quick search found no studies on long term exposure to large doses since it's not something that's normally found in nature in more than trace amounts - anywhere."
Data cocked his head slightly for a moment. "My review agrees with Doctor Crusher's. However, by searching the medical information shared with us by the Klingon Empire, it appears that Lieutenant Worf would be the least affected and probably not affected at all. Vulcans and Andoreans should also not be affected. All others would probably react like humans, at least for those species we have data on."
"Thank you, Data," the redhead said with a smile. "I constrained my searching to human biology because of haste. I'll expand my search to other physiologies and see what I can find that might be helpful. However, my first concern is the patient's present condition. Geordi, can you help?"
"I can, the only question is if he can hang on long enough for me to make a small Anaphasic generator, something I'll have to go research as I'm not overly familiar with it. For the short term, could you put him in one of the small Holodecks and have it generate low-level Anaphasic energy to stabilize him?" La Forge asked.
"Technically, yes," Data answered, "but it would be ill-advised now that I know more about this energy. There is an 87 percent probability that it would damage the Holodeck circuitry if it were hit with a strong enough beam of Anaphasic energy. While all of the electronics onboard are hardened against EMP damage, Anaphasic energy has a higher output and is also something that is never been tested on our systems. As Doctor Crusher said, it is not normally found in nature in any significant concentration. It is also not easy to generate in concentrated amounts."
"Mr La Forge, please work on that generator and make one as fast as you can, while keeping the safety of the ship in mind," the captain directed.
"Yes, sir." Geordi typed a message on the computer interface in front of him to start a team working on the problem.
"Mr Worf, what were your findings?"
"The dead body had little of consequence on him," Worf said. "The fabric of his clothes was a little unusual. The best guess based on data from the computer is that it's from the technological equivalent of our early twenty-first century. The clothes on the survivor were similar although more worn."
"His speech was consistent from that time frame as well," Data said. "It was also consistent with the island formally known as Britain, based on recordings I have heard."
"Was there a temporal displacement as well as trans-dimensional?" Picard asked.
"Not that I was able to detect," Data answered.
"Very well. Please continue, Mr Worf."
"The possessions of the survivor were limited to the two sticks near his hand, a bag around his neck, an unusual piece of cloth in a pocket, and a ring in his other pocket. They seem normal, yet there are indications they aren't." Worf scowled as he thumbed the datapad in front of him.
"What do you mean?" the captain asked.
"The sticks show something unidentifiable inside them, but there is no seam or hole anywhere on the wood. The bag seems to have something in it, but we can't open it or scan inside of it, at least not without destroying it. When we scan the cloth and ring, they absorb the energy but don't do anything with it. Also, we can't identify the material the cloth is made of and it compresses to a smaller volume than normal cloth. It's shaped as if it's to be worn and reminds me of a cloak that some cultures use, the Vulcans and the Romulans both come to mind. The doctor has verified he's not Vulcan or Romulan in disguise. The inconsistencies are frustrating."
"I assume you've been working with Science on this?" Picard asked.
"Yes, sir. I've also considered asking Data if he could look at our findings. Perhaps he could see correlations we haven't."
"I would be happy to help," Data said.
"Make it so," Picard said with a nod at Data.
"We've delivered the body to Medical for an autopsy," Worf ended and laid his datapad down.
"We haven't had time to look at corpse in detail yet," Crusher said. "A quick scan also shows human DNA, but some of the genome sequences are completely unexpected, which accounts for his odd appearance. I anticipate we'll have full genetic information by tomorrow morning although I don't expect it to be all that helpful."
"Captain," Riker spoke up. "Deanna has one more piece of information."
"Counselor?"
"Commander Riker asked what I felt from the survivor before he fell unconscious. Besides the obvious pain he was in from his ordeal, the only thing I felt was relief," she said.
"That would make sense," Picard said and nodded.
"I'm sorry, Captain, but the focus wasn't on his survival. I got the impression it was about something else and that he didn't really care that he had survived."
"That's interesting," Picard said slowly. "Thoughts anyone?" No one answered.
"Then, you each have a project Mr La Forge and Mr Data, and you have a patient Doctor Crusher. Please keep me informed. Dismissed." Picard rose and left, as did the others to their tasks or normal duties.
— — —
As the normal first shift ended, the captain walked into Sickbay. It wasn't hard to find the survivor. Besides Doctors Crusher and Sorrd standing at the end of his bed, there were two heat lamp looking devices shining on his body and the Chief Engineer was taking recordings. Two men from security were also standing not too far way, phasers in their holsters.
"How is he doing?" Picard asked.
Crusher turned to him and Sorrd walked away after a nod to the captain. "Geordi brought these in about two hours ago and I believe they're helping, but I can't tell you why. They were giving the biobed fits at first, but it's getting better."
"I've been tuning it a little, but I believe that it's about as good as it'll ever get, at least for this version of the device," Geordi told them as he closed his engineering tricorder. "That's at its highest setting, which is about twice the trace amount found on Earth."
Picard looked at her. "Have you found out anything else about him?"
"A few things." She stopped and looked at Geordi who got the hint.
"I'll be in Ten-Forward for a while if you need me, or call Engineering. Lieutenant Barclay helped with this and he'll be on-shift for the next four hours."
"Thank you, Geordi," Crusher said with a gentle hand on the engineer's shoulder.
"Any time, Doctor," he said pleasantly before he left.
She turned back to the captain. "He should be about eighteen, or the age of Wesley. However, unlike Wesley, this young man was abused in his childhood. Although he doesn't look it now, he was malnourished as a child and there is evidence of a couple of broken bones that healed on their own. They were probably simple fractures which is why the bones healed in the correct shape, but I can still tell they had been broken. He has a few interesting scars, including one on his forehead that looks recently healed or maybe changed, but he is otherwise in fairly good shape physically. He used to wear eyeglasses, but Worf only found some mangled ones during the clean up, so I corrected his vision with a simple procedure."
Whatever Picard might have been about to say was stopped cold as their survivor moaned and started to flutter his eyes.
Crusher stepped forward in two large steps and ran her tricorder over him. "Can you understand me?" she asked.
"Yes," he whispered. "Water?"
"Hold on," she told him as she turned around and grabbed a small bottle with a straw before handing it to him.
"Thank you," he said a little louder after a drinking. He looked around for a moment before saying, "Where am I and why can I see without my glasses?"
"You're in the sickbay of the USS Enterprise and I'm Doctor Crusher. This is Captain Picard." Picard stepped to the other side of the biobed. "You were injured but we've mostly fixed you up. I also did a simple procedure to correct your vision so you don't need glasses anymore. How do you feel?"
"Like I've been trampled. I'll assume a sickbay is like a hospital, but what's an Enterprise?" He looked back and forth at both of them.
"I suppose that is my cue. The Enterprise is a starship of Starfleet, a part of the United Federation of Planets; I'm Jean Luc Picard, her captain. Do you have a name?"
The young man blinked at them for a moment, obviously trying to assimilate the information. "OK," he said slowly. "I can at least answer that question. I'm Harry Potter. What's a starship?"
Picard looked at Crusher, who looked as surprised as he was.
"Let's try something a little easier," Picard said gently. "Where were you born?"
"Not really sure," Harry told them. "I don't know a lot about my parents and they died when I was one. About all I can really say for sure is in Britain."
"Data was right then," Crusher said, causing Harry to look at her.
"On the planet Earth?" Picard queried.
"Yes, what other planet could I be born on?" Harry asked as if there was only one possible answer.
"Mr Potter, what date do you believe it to be?" Picard asked.
"Err, the last I remember it was the 2nd of May, 1998. Why?"
"That would explain a few things," Crusher said.
"What?" Harry asked a little urgently.
"Mr Potter," Picard said and waited until he looked at him. "You came here under very unusual circumstances, through a wormhole."
"What's a wormhole?"
"That's something that will have to be explained later, but the important thing is that we believe that you came from another universe, or another dimension if you prefer."
Harry blinked incredulously.
When nothing was said after a long moment, Picard said, "We believe that not only did you travel to this universe, but you've come forward in time. Here, it is the year 2367 on Earth."
Harry looked around sickbay very carefully before dropping his head back down on the pillow. "I'd swear this was the best prank ever except that I don't think even Fred and George could do something this elaborate. And I can see without my glasses." He suddenly looked at Picard. "Did I come alone or is my memory of a dead man arriving with me real?"
Picard nodded. "That's a very real memory. Will you tell me what happened?"
Harry sighed. "At least I did one thing right." He looked at each of them for a moment. "Assuming everything you've told me is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then I guess I have no reason not to tell you.
"The short version of the story is that there was a madman who was trying to take over our world - our Earth. He's the one who came with me. His name was Voldemort. I, and others who didn't want him to take over, fought back however we could. Originally, our side was led by the Headmaster of my school, until he was killed about a year ago.
"The last year has been very difficult for everyone, except Voldemort's side. People they didn't like were put in 'camps'; some were killed. The final confrontation, if you want to call it that, happened just before I left. As Voldemort and I fought, it ended in a strange bit of golden flames. Before I knew what was happening, I was pulled into this very colorful place and was stretched and twisted in painful ways. I assume that was your … wormhole?"
"I would assume that too," Picard agreed.
"At least I ended the war by removing him and everyone where I came from can have peace, or those that are left alive." Harry looked at Picard. "Is it possible for me to go home?"
"While we are considered very advanced technologically to your world, there are many things we can not do. I'm sorry," Picard said very sincerely, "but I'm afraid you're stuck with us in this universe."
"I suppose it's just another twist in my strange life," Harry sighed.
"We'll do our best to help you adjust," Picard assured him. "We have some very good people here who can help you. Also, we can help you get to Earth. That will be a few weeks away at the earliest and you'll have to transfer to other ships as it could be a year or more before we return."
"Thank you, Captain."
"Doctor Crusher will help you get better and then introduce you to those in charge of education to help you acclimate to this universe and time." Picard patted him on the shoulder and left.
As he was walking away, he heard from behind, "Mr Potter, do you know what Anaphasic energy is?"
"Huh?
Picard smiled to himself. That young man had a lot to learn.
— — —
Harry closed his eyes and thought. He wasn't really sleepy, but they had dimmed the lights to simulate night, or so he had been told. He hadn't been awake for more than a few hours, but his head was swimming in "stuff" that he had trouble believing.
That he had come to another dimension, a term he preferred over universe, wasn't overly hard to understand. He supposed the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic could be considered a portal to another dimension, just one for death instead of life.
That he had rid his world of Voldemort was a great thing. That he had lost all of his friends and the world that he knew sucked greatly. One to balance the other he supposed, although he felt like he came out on the short end of the things - again.
There was a big positive about being here though: he could start over and never ever have to worry about being called The-Boy-Who-Lived again. He would be famous for being a dimensional traveler, or so the doctor hinted at, but perhaps he could live somewhere that wouldn't matter.
Perhaps the most interesting thing was they had a "scientific" name for magic: Anaphasic energy. He had played dumb when Doctor Crusher asked about it all, saying that he'd always been this way and it all "just was".
While that was true, it was less than honest; but he was also not quite sure how much he could trust everyone at the moment. They all seemed trustworthy, but he couldn't really tell. Also, while this group might be trustworthy, others might not be. So for the time being, he kept the knowledge of magic to himself, like he'd always done when not at school. It wasn't even all that hard anymore.
Harry considered that being from a place that was similar to nearly 375 years in their past was also helpful. He could use that as an excuse for anything strange that he did.