Agents of Discord

by KittyrinnAiko

Chapter 8: Game On

Things were getting out of hand fast. The gas burners were now off but Aerie hadn't shut them off fast enough to prevent burning letters from going all over the place. She quickly snatched up the little emergency fire extinguisher and attempted to stem the growing fire while the front parlor filled with burning letters that were pouring out of the fireplace at an alarming rate.

“No, no, no, no!” Nova cried out. “This wasn’t supposed to happen? I’m so sorry, I thought surely that would stop them.” And she really had thought that surely the fire might give them a break and Dumbledore would just have to find some other way. But then again, she hadn't fully comprehended Dumbledore's fixation.

It was a good thing she had dressed because 'evacuation' was now the order for the day. Not like she hadn't expected they'd take off on a road trip any day now...

“We have to get out of here!” Nova called as she retrieved the lunch basket she’d been getting ready to go. “Dudley, grab your bag!”

Aunt Petunia shrieked at the sight of Vernon attempting to put the fire out with his house coat, she still in her night robes.

“Aunt Petunia, get upstairs and grab the bare essentials, we’ve three, maybe five minutes before the whole house goes up in flame!”

“Do it!” Vernon shouted. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

Dudley raced by with a couple of bags, and out the front door. Aunt Petunia raced upstairs, dressed as quickly as she ever had in her life, threw a few things into a traveling bag, and raced downstairs to discover Nova in the front entry with a garden hose. She was trying her best to keep the flames that now engulfed the front room at bay but the torrent of letters was looking like a flamethrower. Soon as Petunia was out the door, Nova dropped the hose and followed her to the car.

They lingered to watch as the house began to become engulfed in flame.

“I’m so sorry. I honestly thought that would stop them.” Nova lamented as kitty Moonie came up to her with Nova’s shoulder bag.

“Moonie,” Nova said as she scooped up her bag and then the cat. “I just knew you’d saved my bag.”

“That a stray?” Vernon asked. He’d half his mustache burned off, and had put his housecoat back on and looked quite the sight. The housecoat had numerous holes burned in it and was even still smoldering in places.

“Any chance she can come?”

“Dudley seems to have prepared for leaving on short notice,” Vernon asked Aerie.

“I figured that Dumbledore’s game was to drive us out of the house,” Nova admitted. “Burning the house down… that’s not supposed to happen.”

“You knew?”

“Of course, I knew.” Nova walked over to him and in a voice only for him. “I was briefed by Her Majesties Secret service. Dumbledore has been a thorn in England’s side since the Great War. Dumbledore is likely the reason why I had to come back. We are caught up in his little game and... And this…” Nova gestured at the house. “This is going way too far. He thinks I’m Harry Potter and isn’t likely to give up any time soon.
“We will make him restore everything, but first we have to play his game. Any idea where we are going or was it just going to be some random location?”

“I think I’ve got an idea how to make things as difficult as possible on him,” Vernon replied, his expression stern. “Alright then, everyone in the car. We are going on a road trip.”

So they climbed into the car, Moonie the cat on the luggage in the back of the station wagon, Mr Dursley pulled out of the driveway and started down the road. Nova couldn't help but wonder if Mr Dursley had any idea where he was even going.

Minerva McGonagall arrived at the Dursley residence later that morning as fire crews were mopping up. The house had been gutted. Not just gutted, but sunk into a pit that had been under the house. Old masonry could be seen. Old masonry. Was it medieval, or Roman, no one could tell. Granted it had actually been built by changelings in the present era out of whatever they could find which could very well be Roman masonry. All put together with an interesting mix of material including their own bio-glue that they used to hold everything together. And the tunnels had turned the house into a blast furnace which threatened to engulf the houses next door both of which had charred sides.

Sinkholes in a few places gave witness to tunnel collapse as well.

“Minerva! Minerva, it’s horrible!” Mrs Figg called as she approached.

Minerva turned and a moment later the two embraced. “Arabella, what’s happened here? First the owls, and now this?”

“I don’t know. All I know is the car is gone. No one seems to have seen them go so no one knows who all was in the car. I’m told there will be someone out here after the embers have had time to cool to sift for bodies. Someone was saying that the presence of the owls had driven Vernon Dursley mad. He might have murdered Aerie. Oh, this is just horrible.”

Vernon Dursley just drove and drove. Sometimes he’d turn onto another road, other’s he’d turn them around and go back in the direction they started on. At one point he got onto a roundabout and just went around in circles until he saw a police car.

“Always wanted to do that,” Vernon offered. There was in his tone just a hint that he might be enjoying himself. Of course, Dudley was missing his favorite shows, and yet, there was a spirit of adventure.

Nova couldn't help but sing and started in softly, *“Is this the real life, is this just fantasy, caught in a landslide, no escape from reality...”

And then Dudley cracked a grin and joined in. “Open your eyes, look up to the sky and see…”

“Mr Dursley chimed in, “I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy…”

And they drove and they drove without ever knowing their way.

After a while, it was decided that they’d need to stop to freshen up. Nova having no thoughts for her dignity was the first to make it to a toilet. Relieving herself was her first priority. She then gave Hermione a call on her phone.

The house fire had been in the news. “I’m fine, everyone is fine. We are just on a little road trip. Listen, I figured it’d hit the news. I’m the one who alerted the media to the owls. I called because I knew everyone would be worried, but I have to make this quick. I’ll talk to you again soon; I need to go.”

Nova disconnected the call only to have it start buzzing to let her know another call was coming in. “Hello?”

“First off, my name is Nova Silverwood…”

“Oh, hi me.”

“What?”

“Except I’m presently Aerie Lilly Potter.”

“You are saying that you are…”

“I’m your counterpart from another dimension sent here by my Discord to see to it that Tom Riddle never rises again.”

“I killed that man. He’s not coming back despite what Dumbledore says.”

“By any chance are you familiar with the concept of a Horcrux?”

“Horcrux?”

“An artificial vessel for a portion of the soul used to cheat death. That’s why he killed Myrtle Warren. Dumbledore knows he will come back because he knows that Riddle made a Horcrux. And yes, in the last ten years he hasn't lifted a finger to try to find it. And it gets worse. Riddle made multiple. Discord sent me here to prevent Dumbledore's brand of order from finding its way into Equestria.”

“OK, now I’m getting to see a little more of the big picture here. That said, there are officers ready to move in-”

“No, don’t! Tell them to keep their distance.”

“Are you safe?”

“I’m fine. I’m not exactly helpless either. I need this to play out. If everything goes as predicted we should end up on an island that has a little cabin on it. Hagrid will show up right at midnight on my birthday, Harry's birthday, to tell Harry Potter that he’s a wizard.”

“You are not Harry Potter.”

“No, I’m Aerie Potter. And I’m pretty sure Discord found a way to make it stick like I’m somehow Harry’s Twin in this world. Listen, if you let everything play out it’ll give us yet another opportunity to embarrass Dumbledore. I expect Hagrid will violate the secrecy accords by performing magic in the morning in front of muggles. And no rescuing. I don’t need rescuing. If it gets bad enough I need to get out I’ve my pendant and I’m a fully realized alicorn with my very own personal Night Mare Moonie. I think you know what that means. OK, I need to get going. And no rescuing.”

Aerie disconnected the call and put the phone away. She then washed her hands and opened the door to find a frantic Aunt Petunia who pushed her way in.

Elsewhere at a police command post set up at the Finch-Fletchley residence, we find the adult Nova, Nova Silverwood. “Tell your officers to keep their distance.”

“You sure about that?” Asked a man in a suit.

“She doesn’t want to be rescued… yet. Let’s just track them. She seems to think they are going to end up on a little island with a cabin where Hagrid is supposed to show up. She also stated that she was actually brought into the role she’s playing from another dimension.”

“Sounds like she’s possibly losing it.”

“No, it’s worse than that. She’s another version of myself with a mandate from a very powerful being who can only be described as a god. A chaos god. And she is also Aerie Potter, a person who shouldn't even exist but now it seems like she does. Let’s just follow to see how this plays out.”

Aerie got called again the next time she went in to spend a penny. “Yes, I’m fine. Granted I expect to be worn out by the time this has played out, but if all goes well I’ll be in Diagon Alley on my birthday. I had hoped to use this to leverage Dumbledore to let me stay with the Finch-Fletchley family. Just because I have to be Aerie Potter doesn't mean I have to live the life intended for Harry Potter. Say, maybe after Hagrid picks me up you can whisk away the Dursleys and put them in protective custody. I’m pretty sure there are a bunch of spells making them act the way they do. OK, I need to get going.”

That night they found themselves at the Railview Hotel in Cokworth somewhere in the Midlands where they finished off the last of the sandwiches Aerie had made. The hotel itself was rather run down, and the room only had two beds and a chair, and as Aerie was the one accustomed to hardship she slept in the one chair in the room. No, she was not about to share a bed with Dudley any more than Petunia wanted to share with her. As for the chair, it was one of them extra big plush chairs which may actually have been better than the beds. She also had a cuddle kitty to keep her warm. The next morning they breakfasted on the continental breakfast provided by the hotel which consisted of cornflakes, toast, and canned tomatoes for some odd reason.

“Excuse me,” Offered the desk clerk as they approached. “Is one of you a Mr H Potter?”

“Nope, sorry,” Nova replied and then attempted to cleans her pallet with some rusty water that tasted heavy with chlorine and dirty socks. “Blah.” So much for cleansing her pallet.

“But I’ve something like a hundred of them?”

“Send 'em back then,” Vernon suggested.

“But there’s no return address. They don’t even have postage.”

“Burn em then.” Aerie offered. “That or hand them off to the local postal inspector. Someone delivering mail without postage has got to be some kind of violation. Wish we could help but there’s no Mr Potter here.”

Once more onto the road, only this time Mr Dursley just drove. The novelty was off, and everyone was worn out. Nova would have liked to go home if they had had a home to go back to. Dudley lamented over shows he was missing, and Petunia was starting to suggest that perhaps they should go to Aunt Marjorie’s house. Nova was pretty sure that would be a disaster.

“Can’t.” Nova countered to that idea. “Not unless you want her house buried with those letters.”

“I think I know just the place,” Mr Dursley stated his eyes glued to the road. He seemed more manic than ever and even resisted stopping long enough for necessary breaks. Such as for food and toilet breaks. He had a schedule to keep. At one point he’d driven down a dirt track into the middle of a forest, gotten out looked around, got back in, and they were off again. Another time he did a similar maneuver at the top of a parking garage. Late that afternoon Uncle Vernon parked the car at a place near the coast, got out, and walked off.

“You’re the one who understands weirdness, what’s he doing?” Dudley asked Aerie.

“Orienting himself. I’d say he’s looking for landmarks.”

“But why?”

“I think he’s been programmed.”

“You mean like brainwashing?” Dudley whispered sounding a bit frightened.

“More like a form of hypnosis. Wherever we end up will be exactly where our letter sender wants us to be. And it’s entirely possible we are almost at our intended destination.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“Yes, and no. Think in terms of one of your computer games. We can expect the mini-boss right at midnight if I’m right. And this is the sort of battle that must be fought with our wits. Not our fists.”

“Any chance there will be a television? The Great Humberto’s on tonight.”

“No, afraid there’s not going to be a television. All this is meant to demoralize us. Just keep in mind that knowing what’s going on gives you the ability to fight it. We can resist the effects of manipulation if we know we are being manipulated.”

Author's Note:

Comments

[harts fire]

awesome chapter.
i can see were Dumbledore plans are getting out of control and now Nova is in the game this is not going to end well for him.

[badninja]

At this point Dumbeldor is completely screwed. Now let’s see if he drags Fudge and the entire ministry down with him.

[Kentavritsa]

“No, afraid there’s not going to be a television. All this is meant to demoralize us. Just keep in mind that knowing what’s going on gives you the ability to fight it. We can resist the effects of manipulation if we know we are being manipulated.”

Why does it make it sound, as if it is Dumbledore being Manipulated?
He is manic, rather than in control here.

[KittyrinnAiko]

11571432
Keep in mind it's Dumbledore who set up the situation in the first place.