The Decimation
SNAP.
If Harry had been told the true extent of the world-altering power of the Elements of Harmony, he would have had absolutely no interest, whatsoever, in exploring their capabilities. He simply would not have trusted himself with that sort of decision-making power. The Vow had seen to that.
But as it were, he had no need to trust himself; the Elements themselves told him precisely what he needed to do to thread the world through the needle, and why he should trust their judgment instead of his own.
There were many among Wizard-kind who had claimed they would rather die than live in a world without Magic, to see their wands become sticks in their hands and see the blood of Atlantis fail. The Mind Stone peered into them and extracted their volition, which the Element of Hope, the Time Stone extrapolated into a coherent vision of their true desires, followed to their logical endpoint. And as it were, many of them truly would rather die, and so their wish was granted.
Across the world, trinkets containing the souls of those held in Forbearance faded into nothingness, the purpose of their existence having been fulfilled.
Across the world, people from all walks of life, magical or no, began to notice things they had never bothered to pay attention to before.
Across the world, Wizards felt their command of magic, a crutch upon which they leaned to navigate the world, slip further and further away.
And across the world, people began to crumble; from dust they came, and to dust, they had returned.
The Graveyard
The Longest Day
Something was happening. Something felt different. Everything felt different.
"So shines a good deed in a weary world."
Harry whipped his head around to see Discord, in his full Draconequus form, standing atop the altar, clapping gleefully, wearing an absurd purple crushed velvet suit with a floral vest underneath and an orange top hat.
"Harry, my boy. You've WON! You DID it! You DID it!! Oh, I just KNEW you would, I JUST KNEW YOU WOULD!! Oh, Harry, forgive me for putting you through this, please forgive me." Discord gushed.
"Is what I think is happening actually happening?"
Discord nodded, grinning wildly. "Yep. Gone. Splat. Poof. Goodbye, Magic!"
Draco's eyes went wide with horror, "Goodbye... WHAT?! Harry... what have you done?"
Harry tried not to meet his friend's gaze, "I don't know if you can understand. I couldn't not do it. These things, these... Elements of Harmony... Someone way above our pay grade conspired to bring them all here tonight. The Unbreakable Vow... It can't compel me to any sort of positive action, but in this case, a choice had to be made and there was only one choice I could make--"
"Shut... just... Harry, just shut up and get to the point. What did you do?" Draco shrieked.
Hermione held out a hand, urging Draco to calm down. "Draco, listen to me. Whatever happens next, it's going to be okay."
"What is going to be okay? WHAT DID YOU DO?" Draco was positively shouting at this point.
Discord heaved a sigh. "Why are you so eager to know, my slippery little friend? Don't you... trust Harry not to mess this up? Really think about that one."
Draco paused for a moment. It was Harry, after all, he had to have some kind of plan. At the very least, he could trust--
Trust.
He could trust Harry.
"No." Draco whispered. "No, no, no... No, no, no, no..."
He could trust Harry.
"You... Dumbledore's prophecy-- Wands turning into sticks in our hands... He never said that bringing you the Stone would prevent that. I... No. No, no, no no no no. Lumos. Lumos. LUMOS!"
He had recovered his wand and desperately pointed it into the night. It took several tries for the spell to catch, and even then, only a weak stream of light poured out from the tip of the wand. He stared back at Harry, and after a few moments of silence, began to speak. "Harry. Did you... Did you just destroy Magic?"
Discord tittered, "Oh, that's just the beginning!"
Doug and Rachel Ferno were walking through a quiet neighborhood in London with their two young daughters, having just finished watching a particularly forgettable movie about a genie starring some American comedian. The kids seemed to enjoy it for the moment, although they were quickly becoming restless again. Or at least, one of them was becoming restless; despite being twins, Laura and Natalie were about as different as two sisters could be.
Presently, Natalie was riding on top of her dad's shoulders, taking in the sights. Laura, on the other hand, was speeding down the street awkwardly, much to her mother's consternation, rattling off the house numbers, proud to show the world that she had learned to read numerals.
"Eight! Nine! Ten!"
"Laura, that's far enough, why don't you come back now?" Doug called to her.
She pretended not to hear him. "Eleven! Twelve! Thirteen! Fourteen!"
"Laura."
She stopped in her tracks at her mother's ringing command. Slowly, she turned around and began moping back to them, calling out the numbers again with a very-much-aggrieved tone in her voice, "Fourteen. Thirteen. Twelve. Eleven. Ten."
Doug looked up at the houses, pausing for a moment. "Rach, wasn't this supposed to be the street with the missing house? You know, where they had a mistake in the numbering? What was it... Grimaldi Plaza or something?"
"Grimmauld Place?" Rachel nodded her head up to the street sign nearby.
"Yeah, that's the one. Don't you remember hearing about that?"
Rachel was too busy giving Laura the look to really think about her husband's question, so she just responded with a shrug, but when he continued to look concerned, she decided to humor him. "I think you're right. One of those filler articles in the paper, strange facts about London or something. 'There is no 12 Grimmauld Place.' Must just be the Mandela Effect, I suppose."
"I... I don't remember there being a castle at the top of Mount Greylock," Jane Berenstain whispered to her husband, looking out from the car to the structure that loomed before her.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I think I read about that. I think they built it back in the 80s. Thought it would get more visitors or something like that," Charles went back to reading his book. The third installment of The Dark Tower series had just come out a few months ago and he finally had a chance to start reading it during the drive from their home town of Wilbraham to the mountain.
"Hm, alright then. Well, we're here, all the same. We better--" Jane stopped as she saw someone, (they must have been foreign, she reckoned, given their funny clothes), hunched over atop one of the parapets. "Charles. Charles!"
"What is it?"
Jane pointed at the person, who most decidedly did not look well. "Look at that. What's he doing? He looks like he's about to throw up over the edge or something!" Jane looked back to her husband, whose head was buried in the book and was clearly not paying attention, and gave him a jab to the ribs. "Charles!"
He grumpily put down the book. "What?"
She pointed emphatically towards where she had been looking, where moments before, a figure had stood, but now there was only dust.
"What am I looking at?"
Jane paused. "Huh. That's odd. I could have sworn there was a person up there."
Severus Snape desperately fumbled with the chain that he always kept on his person, upon the end of which had been an ornately carved pair of deer, locked in an embrace. He had maintained the magic of Forbearance for the last eleven years as atonement, penance for what he had allowed to happen.
And now, it was crumbling to dust.
He couldn't let this happen, but it was happening, all the same. His hold over his magic was waning, the Transfiguration was slipping, but that shouldn't have done this. There were more than enough people who knew and loved the Potters who had contributed their magic. For it to crumble, all of their magic would have to be waning too.
He swung open his cabinet, quickly finding a Potion of Pure Preservation and uncorked it, pouring it into a glass bowl on his desk.
That's odd.
It didn't have the characteristic iridescent sheen or the vague smell of candied walnuts. In fact, it looked like nothing more than plain water.
He pulled his wand from his robes and tapped the bowl quickly, "Ra eset".
Nothing.
"Ra eset."
Nothing.
"Lumos."
Nothing.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Nothing.
Snape sat down in his chair. It was happening.
He buried his face in his hands. It was happening, which meant she would be gone forever. Lily was gone, James was gone, the chance for their forgiveness forever lost. What did he have in this world, if not his penance, his absolution?
Something in the dim recesses of his mind, something intimate but somehow foreign, was probing him, exploring his desires, his needs, his wants.
Do you wish forgiveness?
More than anything.
More than your own life?
Yes.
Would you like to continue seeking forgiveness?
Yes, yes, please, more than anything, yes.
Then come.
Yes, I think I will.
Come.
Loops and whorls of dust flittered around the now-empty office in the dungeon, which seemed strangely peaceful for the first time in over a decade.
Alastor Moody tapped on the Dark Detector, which had ceased activity after going haywire for the last hour or two since Dumbledore's disappearance. Minerva McGonagall was similarly concerned, as the Mirror she was using to communicate with Amelia Bones stopped working inexplicably.
Both of them had fought long enough to know the difference between deliberate interference and something else entirely. And this was, beyond any reasonable doubt, something else entirely.
And both of them had lived long enough to where the touch of their own Magic was something so second-nature, that its absence to them was roughly as jarring as losing one's sense of smell.
"This is it, Minerva." Moody spoke, gravely, the Eye of Vance hanging lifelessly in its socket.
"Yes, I suppose it is." McGonagall nodded.
"Dumbledore warned us about this, how it might happen. It'll be painful for us, I reckon. Old and damaged as we are. I always keep one of these around, just in case." he held out a small glass bottle with a few capsules inside, "Purely non-magical, and perfectly lethal."
"No, Alastor, although admirable as your preparation may be, I would prefer to see this one out until the end."
"Suit yerself," Moody shrugged as he uncapped the bottle, tossing his head back. "Bottoms up."
McGonagall placed a hand on his shoulder. "Wait."
"What is it?"
She stared wistfully out the window. "I... I had a sister. Once. "
"I know that. I was there when she died, we fought ol' Voldie together. You think I'm daft?"
"No, Alastor," she held out the chain around her neck, whose stout iron bauble had now faded into dust, staring at the empty clasp meaningfully. "I had a sister. And I thought... When the end came, that we would be together, like this."
Alastor nodded, understanding. "Listen, Minerva. You and me, we're fighters. Protectors. Always have been. And now, well, the world is changing. There's nothing left for us to protect. It's time."
"Yes, it is. It's time."
Come.
"So. Your resignation, huh?" Marcellus asked the man in front of him.
"It's time for me to start a new life. To walk the Earth, to be the shepherd."
"Uh-huh. Damn shame about Vincent. Damn shame."
He nodded, "I'd like to think he's at peace now."
"Peace. Sure." Marcellus leaned forward, lifting the decanter at the corner of his desk which had been filled with a deep, blood-red liquid but now contained nothing but dust. "I've been thinking about getting out of the game, too. Move to an island somewhere. Enjoy my... remaining years."
"And here I was, thinking you were going to live forever."
"Yeah. Me too." Marcellus sighed, heavily, removing a flask from his desk drawer filled with a more conventional beverage. He filled two glasses, then offered one to Jules. "To good health."
"To good health. So where do you think you'll go?"
"Tahiti sounds nice. I hear its a magical place. You?"
"Two Pines, Texas. I hear it's a shithole."
Marcellus Wallace and Jules Winnfield laughed, and the two men sat in silence for a time, enjoying the drink and each other's company.
"Bella. Bella. Please... Don't. Don't go."
"Cissy... I've done too much. I've opened too many doors, crossed too many bridges and burned them in my wake and pissed on the ashes. I'm not dying today. I died thirteen years ago. And I did what I set out to do. I was your Orpheus. I traveled to the underworld, and now you're back. There's nothing more I can do."
Narcissa was crying hysterically while Lesath was strangely quiet. He seemed to understand, after a fashion. Narcissa couldn't form a response, but Lesath looked up. "I love you, mum. Even though I don't really... know you, the real you... But I love you. Whoever you are. And if you think it's time, well... Maybe it's time."
"Lesath, little Lesath... You can feel what's happening. You know there's no place for me here. Please just... remember me like this and not... Not... how I was."
Lesath nodded, having no more words to say, and instead, he gave his mother a tight embrace.
Come.
And with that, Bellatrix Black returned to the ashes from which she had once risen, leaving Narcissa Malfoy and Lesath Lestrange alone in an unfamiliar world.
Gellert Grindelwald's rheumy, clouded eyes looked up into the nothingness before him, free for the first time in more than fifty years to leave his prison.
Voices were calling to him, in a language which was unfamiliar, and yet thoroughly intimate.
Is it time?
"Al... Albus, is that you?"
Yes, and no.
"You're... You came back. It's been so long, so long."
Come.
Neville held his parents tightly. He had always said, he'd trade all the Magic in the world just for the chance to spend an hour with his parents, pristine and undamaged. They hugged him back, still shaking off the cobwebs of more than a decade of incapacitation.
It seemed now that he was getting his wish, and then some.
King Sombra smiled.
Tom Riddle was filled with knowledge. Ancient purpose, and new understanding. The Mind Stone had expanded the scope of his already considerable intellect, exposing him to truths that had laid outside his grasp, or were buried deep within his soul through years of deliberate construction.
One truth hung heavier than all the rest, stinging with the white-hot fires of self-judgment, unavoidable, inexorable. Filled with the knowledge of who he truly was, what he truly was.
He was alone.
Utterly, completely, forever alone.
Learned in all manners of the deepest and most eldritch magics, and yet ignorant as to the one Magic that mattered the most, the only Magic that would matter now, in this new day to which he was bearing witness.
Salvation was possible in this new world, true immortal life, this much he was shown, this much he knew. It could be built, but he also knew it could not be built with the magic that he once knew. It could only be built together. And 'together' was a concept that was thoroughly alien to Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Until now.
Come with us, Tom Riddle, if you wish.
Now, there was hope.
Come with us, Tom Riddle, and we can teach you what you wish to know.
He had nothing in this world, but this was not the only world, for now at least. All was not lost.
Come.
He had hope.
Harry had some vague sense of what was happening across the once-Magical world and looked up at Discord. He didn't feel panic, as he expected, but a strange sense of calm.
"They aren't dying," he stated. Somehow he knew this was the case, and yet he still wanted to hear confirmation.
Discord was now sitting at the altar with his copy of Discordpedia, furiously scribbling out some passages, erasing others, rewriting others further still. "They're not dying. They're going to a new home. Well, some of them are. Others are sticking around, to help rebuild."
Draco looked up at the creature before him, "And what... what of our dead? What of..." He held up the jade statue he had transfigured not a short time before but was surprised to see that it was nothing but dust.
Discord pointed a claw behind Draco. "Why don't you ask him for yourself?"
Draco spun around and saw the form of his father, composed of fractal patterns of flickering light, hovering close behind.
"Hello, son."
"Dad... Dad. You're... You're not coming back, are you?" Draco was openly weeping, now. "What am I going to do? We have nothing."
Lucius laughed, causing his form to warble and pulsate. "Draco. The Malfoys have survived more calamitous regime changes in the past. We would hardly be the Malfoys if we were not prepared for such an eventuality. In my study, there is a key to a storage locker at King's Cross station. Within it, you will find all that you need to start a new life in this new world... And you will have quite a considerable head start. As it so happens, it seems that the Muggles have... or rather, had a very different economic value that they placed on our silver knuts than we do. A value that was very ripe for exploitation."
"Can't I... Can't I come with you? To where you're going? To where... they're going?"
"You could, if you truly wished it. But you don't. I don't need an artifact of power to see that, I know you. You need to stay here, stay with your mother, rebuild this world, and see to it that the Malfoy legacy is secure. More importantly, that is what you truly desire."
"Can you just... stay here for a few minutes? I'm not ready to say goodbye. Not yet, at least."
"Of course."
Draco was sobbing gigantic, oversized tears that were starting to flood the ground around the altar, and Harry noticed his feet starting to grow damp. Once he had caught Harry's attention, he stopped the theatrics immediately and leaned over. "You didn't really think that magic was going to be the secret to saving the world, did you? Or at least, 'saving the world' by your and my definition."
"Actually, yes, I kind of did."
Discord booped Harry on the nose. "You silly goose, magic isn't real! Or at least... not anymore. But then again, you already know everything I'm about to say, don't you?"
"Maybe I do, but I'm not sure. I don't know if it was the Vow that he made me swear to or the Elements of Harmony, but I had an epiphany that I knew on some deep, unassailable level was true. Magic, it does what we know. It's insanely powerful, it's awe-inspiring, but it's like the Dementors: it conforms to expectations. It does precisely what we expect it to do because we expect it to. And it's too easy.
"Look at how the Wizarding world has stagnated. They've barely made any advances in the past 500 years, in fact, it seems as though they've actually regressed. And it's not just the Interdict of Merlin, I've read enough of history to see that things didn't progress that much between the Ancient Era and the High Middle Ages. The world is growing smaller, information is spreading faster than it ever has and it was only a matter of time before Magic would escape beyond the confines of this snowglobe.
"And then what? At best, some idiot like me would go and blow up half of Britain by experimenting with things he ought not to be experimenting with. Or worse still, the world would stagnate. Things would be too convenient. No one would learn anything because no one would need to learn anything. I've heard that most Wizard homes don't even have bathrooms, they just go on the floor and then make it disappear!"
Discord grinned, sheepishly. "Oh, that part isn't actually true, I just hacked J.K. Rowling's twitter one day in the future."
"You what?"
"Nevermind, forget I said anything. Anyway, do go on, I was interrupting your enthralling and not-at-all contrived denouement."
"Um... Sure. Okay, so..." Harry realized he was speaking not really for the benefit of Discord, but also for Hermione and Draco. He did not realize, however, that it was unnecessary. Hermione came to the same understanding that Harry did, but several moments earlier, and without the aid of a sextuplet of godlike artifacts. And the last thing that Draco cared about at that moment was magic. "Power without understanding is nothing more than a crutch. Like those stories that you hear about rich people who crash land in the middle of nowhere and have no idea how to survive. That's where we would be. I'm not saying everyone has to know everything about everything... I can use a computer without knowing how to build a motherboard from sand and copper. But that's just it- at least I know how to use a computer. Here, in this world, people just know how to play Solitaire and that's it.
"The only way to save this world--"
"Was to destroy it," both Twilight and Hermione said together.
"The world that birthed Equus... That was the world of Magic," Twilight said.
"And the stars in the heavens... They're being torn apart right now, as we speak." Pinkie Pie's form was starting to waver, to fade, as she looked off in this distance.
"Oh darling, it's beautiful!" Rarity was holding hands with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy as they gazed together into the nothingness.
"What's happening over there?" Hermione asked.
"I think... I think Equestria is about to have a lot of new residents." Twilight grinned.
Discord nodded. "Yes, indeed. You know, when I wrote that prophecy--"
"Wait, you wrote the prophecy?" Twilight interrupted.
"Of course I did, you bumpkin. Who else would have? Now don't interrupt me, it's my turn! When I wrote that prophecy, I figured, well, there's only so much we can do here, only so many stories we can tell. We had a good run of things," he leaned accusingly in towards Twilight, "Although everything started to go downhill once you got your wings."
Twilight looked offended, but Discord continued on. "But all good things must come to an end, no? Our worlds were connected for what seemed like forever, but now it's time for your world to move on. And it's time for us to build our own world, and now we have all the OC in the world to do it with?"
"OC?" Harry asked. "Like... fanfiction?"
Discord recoiled. "No, are you kidding me? OC: Oblatum Caelum. These little baubles and doodads, these magical cryonics. The transfigured bodies of all the dead witches and wizards throughout history, their brains and therefore their souls perfectly preserved. Rather macabre, if you asked me. I really was of half a mind to make that magic be the only thing to fail and see what would happen when half the world realized they were carrying decomposing corpses around their neck."
Discord sighed, wistfully, as he started floating back and forth. "But alas, I never get what I want, do I? Anyway, each time one of these was created, a new star appeared in Equus and each time a new life was created on Equus, Princess Luna would find the right star, smash it open like an egg and then, 'poof'! Out of the sky comes a little baby pony! And right now, I'm making Equestria's biggest omelet."
"And what about you all?" Harry turned towards Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. "You all have kind of grown on me."
"It's time for us to go home," Pinkie Pie said. "But I want to leave you with something, a little trinket for you to always remember me by."
She produced a single cupcake from her bag and presented it to Harry. "Actually, now that I think about it, you probably want to eat it today or tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's going to go bad in a few days."
Then, her eyes lit up. "Oh, I guess I won't be needing this stuff anymore, so you can have this all, too!" And at that, she began dumping the contents of her Hammerspace bag onto the ground around the altar. "This might take awhile."
"I... I won't forget you all. Ever."
Draco, whose tear-stained eyes held a look of deep contentment and peace, looked at them as well. "I didn't get a chance to really know any of you. Well, except for you, a little bit, Madame Shy. But I trust Harry, and if he says you were good people, then I know the world will be a lesser place without you."
Hermione looked warmly towards Twilight. "Well, it was fun being an alicorn princess for a few days, hours, years, however long we were there for."
"It was fun princessing with you, too!"
"And I was proud to have you as my Patronus."
"And I was proud to be your Patronus. We make a good team, Princess Hermione Granger."
"Yes, we did, Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Discord rolled his eyes and coughed loudly, "Well, listen. This has all been grand, but I'm sure that these new ponies are going to wake up and wonder just what on Equus is going on, and they're going to need someone to show them around, so we need to get a move on."
He floated over to Harry, "But I want you to remember something. Although our two worlds will be separated, I'm sure that one day you'll find a way to reunite them. Because I'm leaving you with the most important magic of all.
"Fr..."
Discord coughed.
"Frien--"
Discord gagged loudly. "I can't do it. Twilight, will you please do the honors?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and grinned.
"Friendship."
And with that, the Equestrian girls and their Draconequus friend began to fade.
In the moments before they disappeared, Spike began to shout: "Wait, what about me, don't I get a goodb--"
And there, Harry, Draco and Hermione stood, not alone, but in friendship, on a perfectly ordinary, perfectly normal June night, ready to rebuild the world.
Together.
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Well, this chapter was much more readable than that other one. Good chapter, funny ending.
Well, *CONGRATULATIONS*, you have removed magic from the universe, whos main feature is that it has magic. Along with some bullshit message about relying in magic too much despite the fact that we rely on laws of physics about as much. I can't belive i didn't see this earlier, what a fool I was.
Interesting ending, but controversial as hell : ) Harry was on a quest to defeat death itself, and now he got himself New Game++ with bumped up difficulty. And he glimpsed at a world where his ideals won... It would be hard.
Also, did he still got the Elements? : )
This was good. Hoping to still get an epilogue :)
Well, you left tremendously huge one at the very end. Now you have to write entire new book to finish it.
Additionally, did Sombra return? Even if he did what happened to that "wine", considering it wasn't magical in nature. Or was it?
„Great idea to stay behind Harry“
Malfoy Said after watching the news of Russia invading Ukraine „ really great …..“
Still waiting for that epilogue. And, of course, any slice of life bits to tell us what happened to Spike while the camera was on the rest of the crew.