Against The World, All Alone? (Harry Potter SI)

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Chapter – 1.1: The Beginning​

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"Thud!"

"Thud!"

The silence of the quiet, eerie forest was broken, and the forest reverberated as two silhouettes hit the ground.

Slowly, the moon crawled out from behind the clouds enveloping the sky. The moonlight penetrated through the thick canopy of the trees and shone the ground. Soon the darkness began to fade away, and the surrounding became clear.

On the ground lay motionless a bulky, greenish figure with a bald head and pointy ears. As Purplish blood seeped out of the many cuts across its body, beside him lay a relatively small human breathing heavily.

The young boy, probably in his early teens, turned his head to look at the blood falling on his hands, but he was too exhausted and had no energy to even lift his arm. All he wanted to do now was close his eyes and drift into a sound sleep.

But he knew he could not do that. Soon, there might be people coming in to investigate this place. And he had to leave before that.

As the coldness began to seep through the boy's body, with great effort, he pushed himself to stand up. As he looked around, feeling dizzy and staggering on his feet, the boy somehow managed to pull out a small pouch from behind his back and swish... the corpse of the dead creature vanished into that small pouch. But the expression on the boy's face hardly changed, as if he was accustomed to it.

'This should be enough,' After he was done storing the creature, the boy thought to himself as he looked around, 'I should leave now.'

And with that, slowly but steadily, the boy got back on the path he entered from, making his way towards the village. The dizziness he felt was also gradually getting better with time.

Soon the boy was out of the forest on the road towards the small village in front. The streets were silent, with not a single soul to be seen, and only a few lights flickered across the borough.

It took him about thirty minutes from the spot he rested to finally stand in front of an inn. This was the old, shabby inn he was staying in for the time being.

Entering the inn, the first thing that the boy came across was the old haggard-looking man sleeping at the reception with his arm supporting him. But the boy did not stop. The boy gave a short glance at the shabbily dressed man and made his way up the stairs to his room.

"It has been quite loud outside," the old man opened his mouth and said slowly, taking his time.

The boy stopped in his tracks and slowly turned back to look at the old man, but the old man was not looking at him.

"Maybe someone is getting married tonight," the boy said, "Poor guy."

"Oh..." The old man exclaimed and closed his eyes again, not continuing the conversation anymore.

Not hearing anything else from the old man, even the boy turned around and, in blood-soaked robes, made way to his room.

Entering his room, the boy first took off his clothes and had a nice hot bath before crashing on the bed. And he was soon sound asleep.

Next morning,

The boy got up quite early and checked out of the inn. But the old man was not at the reception this time. Not that it affected him in any way. So the boy took a cart to the town's railway station. He was going to catch the first train to London.

Settling himself into one of the sitting chairs, it did not take five minutes for the boy to fall asleep, again. And by the time he was woken up by the granny next to him, they had already reached London. Thanking the granny and helping her in carrying her luggage off the train while maintaining the deadpan look on his face, the boy hitched a taxi for his next destination exiting the station.

And after another half an hour of the ride, the taxi finally stopped in front of his destination. Getting off the taxi, the boy stood in front of a large gate, which read 'Hope Springs Home' written on the board in large, bold letters. This was the orphanage he lived in. This large gate has been a common sight for him for the last so many years. But he felt nothing in particular staring at the large iron gate. Pushing the smaller gate beside the large one, the boy made his way inside.

As he walked down the path, several other kids rushed past him. Some of them were so young that they could not even run properly. The atmosphere around him was lively but loud. Some were playing tag among themselves, some were fighting, and there were even a few who were crying their lungs out.

But, the boy hardly paid any attention to them. As he walked forward, his eyes swept all around, searching for a certain someone, and for the first time all along, there was a glint in his eyes.

'There she is,' Finally, his gaze turned towards a wall. A girl with her black, long hair done in a pony, who was about the same age as the boy, was surrounded by kids younger than her as she had fun drawing something on the wall.

The girl was almost done with her drawing and giving it some final touches, she took a couple of steps back and looked at the wall with satisfaction. The smile on her face grew wider the more she looked at her drawing.

"So? What do you guys think?" The girl turned towards the kids and asked. Looking at the drawing, even the boy standing behind them nodded in appreciation. The drawing was of him and the girl holding hands as they walked down the road while the sun set on the horizon.

"Isn't he that guy who's always missing?" One of the boys asked, making faces, "Why would you draw him? You should have drawn me. After all, I am going to marry you when I grow big and strong."

"Awww... you are such a sweet kid," the girl ruffled the little boy's hair, "But to marry me, you have to grow up fast."

But before the kid could reply, the boy walked up to them and grabbed the kid by the back of his collar and lifted him up.

"Hey, let go of me," the little boy demanded, throwing his arms around, trying to hit the boy, "You big bully."

But the boy paid no heed to the kid's tantrums as he inspected the kid in the air and then shook his head, "I don't approve..." The boy said as he put the kid down and kicked him hard on his butt, "Shoo... Shoo... Get going now."

With his eyes ready to tear up and, waving his finger at the boy, the kid threatened, "Don't you dare sleep tonight." And he ran away from there.

"Brother..." The girl, on the other hand, paid no heed to what happened to the kid. Her eyes were only on the boy in front of her. Not waiting any longer, she jumped into her brother's embrace, "You are back..."

"It didn't look like that you missed me a lot," The boy said, "Poaching a young kid."

"It was all him," the girl looked up at the boy and said, "When did you come?" The girl asked, still hugging her brother.

"Just now," the boy said as he stroked the girl's hair. She was not that short compared to him.

"Look, I drew us," leaving the boy's embrace, the girl said, pointing at the wall, "What do you think? Is it good?"

"It's nice," the boy nodded.

"See... I knew you would like it," The girl was instantly happy. She knew this was the most she could get out of him. There was no use asking for more.

"So... What did you bring me this time?" The girl got out of the boy's embrace and entangled her arm around his.

"I went to a remote place," the boy replied as he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet. The bracelet was silvery in colour and had a red stone on top, "This was all I could get." The boy bought the bracelet on his way from the inn he was staying at to the station this morning.

"Wow! what a pretty bracelet. Let me go show it to my friends," but the girl was still happy about getting a souvenir from her brother.

"Wait, take these for them," Just as the girl turned around to leave, the boy stopped her grabbed a bag full of candies and chocolates, and gave it to his sister, "For your friends."

"Brother!" The girl looked at the boy in surprise. It was so not like him. Happy, the girl tip-toed and kissed the boy on his cheeks before running away from there, "Thank you." The girl yelled as she ran away from there.

Watching the girl run away, the boy shook his head helplessly. She was always this cheerful and fun-loving, totally opposite to him. While she always had a smile on her face, even his scorn was forced.

But it was not the time for the boy to muse over it. He had to meet the head nun. So he made his way towards the church. As he walked passed the corridors, all the nuns greeted the boy with pleasant smiles on their faces. God knows how, but most of the donations made to the orphanage were made in his name. Every once in a while, he would leave the orphanage after getting special permission from the head nun, and soon upon his return, there would be this huge donation to the church and the orphanage.

It was all a mystery, and everyone was more than happy to voice their opinion adding a bit of their own flavour. But in the end, since it was able to sustain the church and the orphanage and even let them extend support to others as well, everyone was happy.

Soon, the boy was standing outside the head nun's office. He looked around before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

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[author]
Hello guys! This is a Harry Potter fan-fic with a self-insert. Now everyone has a style of writing. For me, it has to be slow and a bit descriptive. So I don't know how long the story will drag on but I hope it would be a nice journey for you guys.

Chapters would be roughly between 1000-2000 words.

And Important note: The age of all the characters at the time of admission to Hogwarts is 14 years (+3 years from JK Rowling's book)

Also, Do make it a habit to leave comments on the chapters. It does nothing but makes me, the author happy and know the errors.
[/author]

 

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Chapter – 1.2: The Beginning (Part-II)​

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"Oh! You are back," the head nun looked up and exclaimed when she saw the boy enter, "Sooner than last time, I reckon."

"Hmmm..." the boy nodded and went on to sit in front of her. For all these years that he had been in this orphanage, he had never seen that smile leave her face. Something that his sister got from her.

"Was there any problem? Are you hurt anywhere?" the head nun asked with concern. Similarly... For all the years that the boy had been in the orphanage, the head nun had rarely seen him smile. And rarely if ever, did the boy reply to anyone in more than one sentence. He never caused trouble for anyone, stayed out of any commotion and minded his own business. And the only time she could see any emotion on his face would be when he was with his sister.

"I am fine," the boy shook his head.

"So..." the head nun paused. A bit hesitant or maybe trying to phrase her words, "I am guessing he will pay you a visit very soon." The head nun asked.

"I don't know," the boy again shook his head, "Maybe."

"In that case, why don't you go freshen up and rest?" the head nun suggested, "I will have the kitchen prepare something nice for you," the head nun said with a smile, "Is there something you want in particular?"

"I am fine with anything," the boy said and got up to leave.

"You know you can tell me," the head nun softly reminded him, but the boy left without replying.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Walking into his room, the boy put the backpack he was carrying beside the table and crashed on his bed. There was this weird obsession he had with sleeping. Even if he had gotten a second, he wouldn't mind spending it on his sleep. And to make it better, he had no one to share his room with. Well, except for his sister. This was something of a perk he got over other children who had to share a room among four of them at the very least. And it was all because of the man backing him up.

The sun was already setting when he arrived at the orphanage, and soon it was pretty dark outside. The head nun also had one of the children deliver his dinner to his room. And by the time he was done with his dinner, it was already past nine. But his sister was still not there. With nothing else to do, he decided to read. He grabbed a thick, worn-out book and started to read. He wanted to sleep, but today he was going to be visited by someone, so he needed to be prepared.

Not long after the boy had engrossed himself in reading, his sister walked into the room and, without saying anything, got on the bed and rested her head on his lap.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked.

But the girl did not reply and snuggled more into him. Getting no response from the girl, the boy shook his head, and with the book in one hand, he started stroking her hair with the other.

At midnight,

The boy suddenly looked up from the book. His sister was fast asleep by now, and a man dressed in black was sitting on the chair by the window. And even though the moonlight shone through the window, his face could not be seen.

The boy slowly put his sister on the side, and covering her properly with a blanket, the boy knelt in front of the man on one knee.

"Master," the boy greeted the man.

"You are getting better at noticing my arrival," the man praised the boy, "Good."

The boy did not say a word and continued to kneel in front of him.

"... Stand up," the man told the boy, "Did you collect everything I asked you for?" The man further asked.

"Yes, master," the boy nodded and pulled out a small pouch from his jacket. It was the same small pouch he used to store that monster in the jungle.

The man took the pouch from the boy and pulled its mouth open as he peeked inside.

"3 trolls, 9 Alizors, 5 Limaxs, 7 Grindylow, 6 Ashwinder, Dittany, Moly, Shrivelfig. On top of that, you also got me a Niffler's fancy and an unconscious Augurey, " the man's tone changed from being calm to that of surprise. No matter how many times he got the boy to do this job, this boy in front of him managed to surprise him. And the fact he managed to get this done in four days only added to the surprise.

"Everything is fine, but how did you manage to get an Augurey inside? It's even alive," the man asked.
"It was easy after I understood the space inside this pouch," the boy extended his hand to take the pouch from the man. Wanting to know more, the man readily handed it over to the boy.

"I don't know what goes into making this, but it is very well made," the boy continued, " There is a space where you can put your things and surprisingly, there is gravity in there."

"So?" The man did not know what the boy was getting at.

"If it was just a random space, everything would have been floating around, but since there is an attracting force in there, everything is stuck to the floor." The boy explained, seriously, it was getting too much for him. He was not used to talking this much, and when he saw the look of confusion still persisting on his master's face, he sighed.

"Let me make it simple. There is gravity in the pouch, which holds things to the ground, providing stability. Now all that is lacking in there is air, importantly oxygen," the boy said, "For that, I put in some hydrogen peroxide in a container and added some blood into it, human blood."

"What does that do?" The man asked. What he was doing right now was completely different from what he was here for.

"It produces oxygen," the boy said. He did not elaborate any further.

"Is that so," the man got into some contemplation, "So can we even have someone like me or you in there?" The man asked. It was a path-breaking discovery which might change the world.

"No," but unexpectedly, the boy shook his head, "The force keeping it all together is too much for a human body," the boy said.

"Ohh..." The man was a bit downhearted, but now it was time to get back to business, "You have done very well for all these years." The man appreciated the boy's efforts.

"I have taught you most of what I can without getting you or me in trouble," the man said, "Now it's time for you to do this one last thing for me. You don't need to worry about the orphanage. I would continue to support it as usual. Now, all you need to do is focus on this one last job."

The boy nodded, ready to hear about it, but the man had something else in mind.

"For now, all you have to do is wait," the man said and got up from the chair, "I will be in touch." And with that, the man disappeared into thin air, leaving some black smoke behind.

But the boy was not surprised now. He had gotten used to this sleek exit from the man after all this while.

"Brother, why are you standing by the window?" a sleepy voice sounded in the room.

"Nothing," the boy said as he looked outside the window for the last time before turning towards his sister, "Go sleep on your bed now."

But the girl ignored him again and made herself even more comfortable.

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Chapter – 2.1: I want the World​

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A month had passed since the boy got back to the orphanage. Usually, he would have left for another journey by now, but this time it was different. He was done with his training and everything he could be taught by the man. Now he had to wait for the right time.

Sitting in the garden, the boy was enjoying the last of the gentle warmth of the sun before the summer dawned upon them, and it gets unbearable to even leave the room. Suddenly, out of nowhere, something fell into his lap.

It was an envelope. The boy looked around to see where it fell from when he saw a large, brown owl flying away.

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and had a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms, a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.

'So this is it, huh...' The boy thought.

Turning the envelope over, the boy saw his name and address written in emerald-green ink.

Mr Alexander Ashbridge,
Hope Spring Home orphanage
40 Crown Street
London

The boy, Alexander, smiled, looking at his name. Staring at the envelope in his hand, the boy could not help but reminisce about how it all started.

It all started with that fateful encounter seven years ago. It was also seven years ago that Alexander and his sister first arrived at the orphanage, thanks to that man.

The siblings were all alone, wandering from place to place when the man found them in a town. They had not eaten for days, and Alexander had to leave his sister under a bridge with nothing but a worn-out piece of rag to cover her up.

He went around, from one shop to the another, looking for a job, and after a whole day of labour, he had earned enough to buy bread and eggs for his sister.

But the satisfaction he had was short-lived. When he returned, Alexander found his sister burning with fever. While her brother was out working, the little girl was all alone under the bridge, waiting for her brother with nothing but a piece of cloth protecting her from the cold. The snow, on the other hand, made it even worse.

Flustered, Alexander had neither enough money nor any idea about what he was going to do now. But at this moment of crisis, that man showed up out of nowhere.

"Mister, please help me. My sister is burning with high fever," Alexander, when saw a man dressed in black robes show up when there was no one in sight for however far he might look, asked for help. Of course, he was afraid that this might not turn out well, but in front of the suffering of his sister, he had to take the risk.

The man did not say anything right away but stared at Alexander hanging on to his robes. He gauged the little guy in front of him from top to bottom for a while before he opened his mouth.

"I will help you, but you need to do something for me," the man spoke.

"I will do anything, anything you ask of me. But please save my sister," Alexander agreed right away without even thinking of the weight of his words.

"Think it through. You might end up in an even worse situation than now," the man cautioned Alexander, "I am not the type of guy you want to mess with."

"I am confident," the little Alexander clenched his fists and looked at the man with determination.

"Very well then," the man nodded and pulled out a small stick from his robes.

"Don't resist," the man said as he waved his stick. Soon, Alexander and his sister were floating in the air as a black mass started to envelop them. It did not take more than a couple of seconds, and it was like they had entered another dimension. They were flowing through something Alexander could not even explain. It was like floating with the flow of the river.

And before he knew it, everything was back to normal, and they were outside a large iron gate.

It was dark, but Alexander could still make out the words written on the board beside the gate. It was an orphanage, the same one he was living in right now.

Alexander lifted her sister in his arms as he followed behind the man inside. Being only seven years old, it was hard for Alexander to walk carrying his sister. But when the man offered to help, Alexander was reluctant to accept. Though he had accepted the man's offer, Alexander still did not let his guard down. Even if he had to go down, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

But it was a waste of time for the man. He did not argue with Alexander, but suddenly, Alexander and his sister were floating in the air.

"Let's make it fast," the man said, and with hurried steps, he entered the building with the siblings floating behind him.

It was not that late, but they did not come across anyone until they entered a room. Inside the room, a lady was waiting for them.

"You are finally here," Alexander heard the lady say as soon as they entered, "Where is the girl?"

"She is here," the man said as he put down Alexander while the lady got hold of his sister, "Take care of her. I have something else to take care of," the man said and turned towards Alexander, "Follow me."

"Wait..." the lady tried to stop them, "Look at him. How weak he looks. Let him have something first."

The man looked at Alexander before shaking his head towards the lady, "He can wait," and with that, the man left the room.

Alexander looked at his sister one last time, and then, nodding towards the lady dressed as a nun, he followed behind the man.

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