Harry Potter and the Reality Dream

Chapter One

The Artful Abaasy

"Harry, Harry? Planet Earth to Harry, come in." Ron poked his best friend in the stomach. "Mate...can you hear me?"

Hermione sighed, "Leave him alone, Ron. He's had a hard time at the Dursleys'; he's tired." The frizzy haired girl gazed at the silent teen. He was curled up by the window, and gave the impression that he was watching the passing countryside. Hermione noticed that Harry's eyes were blank and unseeing, staring at an object that seemed to be just out of her sight.

Ron unconsciously copied Hermione's sigh. "Bloody Hell Hermione! You know he needs attention even without those fiends treating him like their personal slave, and look at what Dumbledore's doing!" Ron stopped for a breath, "I mean look at him: never knew his parents, treated like dirt by his only living relations, got a Dark Lord obsessed with making him kick the bucket, and seen two people die, all that is more than a normal adult can handle. Dumbledore won't tell him anything, as he thinks Harry is 'still too weak' to hear it." Ron fumed.

"Well then, we'll have to tell him ourselves. I mean, we are his friends, we should help him though this." Hermione gently spoke, trying to calm the fiery adolescent. Ron opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the trolley lady appearing at the doorway.

"Anything off the trolley dears?"

"No thanks, I'm saving myself for the welcome feast. What about you, Ron?"

"Can't say 'no' to food, can I?" Ron jumped up, but then sank down again, a disappointed look on his face. "I don't have any money. You don't think Harry will mind me borrowing some?" Without waiting for an answer, Ron delved into Harry's pocket and drew out some Knuts and Galleons.

"That'll do." Ron counted out the coins, "What can I buy with this?" With his horde of provisions Ron sat down upon the red carriage seat and contentedly munched his way through his first pumpkin pastry of the day.

"Mmmm, yum. You want some 'Mione?" Hermione declined the offer and went back to staring at Harry.

***

Harry was flying. Flying over towns, rivers, seas, and countries at a terrific pace. Huge oaks were but small green dots. Human forms were impossible to recognize. The waves on the shores he passed reached up to him, as if trying to touch is feet. He flew through a cloud, feeling the bitter, wet droplets settle on his bare face and arms, but Harry didn't care about the scenery or the wetness of his skin.

The monster he was riding swooped down and around, up and side-to-side. From below, the seven Abaasy's must have looked acrobatic, diving and turning as if they

were swallows hunting flies, but Harry wished they would quit their fluttering, as it made him feel nauseous. He dug his hands into the think fur beneath him to keep himself from falling.

"Nearly there-" hissed the demon carrying Harry.

Then, as a connected group they started lunging up then down in a sickening manner, until the leading member hollered. "Now!"

They shot up so fast that Harry very nearly lost his grip. That would have been the end of him for certain- even The Boy Who Lived wouldn't survive a drop like that. Harry clung on tightly, hoping that any minute now the group would stop flying vertically. They flew uninterrupted through the last cloud and halted. Harry sighed with relief, while the Abaasy's whooped and cheered.

"Yes!"

"We did it!"

"Old white-beard can't stop us now. Come on, the rest is easy."

So once again the gigantic bats flew on. The wind up here was chilling, and Harry snuggled into the fur he had been clinging to, and waited patiently for the journeys end. At last, they reached their destination. It was a grey platform suspended above the fluffy clouds. In the middle of the platform there was a silver and green throne, and sitting upon it was a well-dressed man. He sat elegantly with his shoulders straight and was holding a highly-polished, dark wooden cane in one hand. He seemed to have been waiting for them, because as soon as they came in sight he stood and strode towards them. The seven creatures that Harry now remembered as 'Abaasys' alighted and stood in a row.

"Master, we have travelled through time to the distant future, and have collected what you have long sought," chorused the Abaasys.

The leader stepped forward. "We are now in possession of this object and have brought it to you, to use to re-unite those that have been forgotten for these ages. By using this weapon of Destruction you can be immortal."

"That is good. You have done as I requested." This caused a few wings to be shuffled. The Abaasys apparently didn't like taking orders. "Now give me what I have sought." He continued, leaning forward, his hand out-stretched.

"We have a deal, remember? You set us free, and then we give you the book. We are not foolish enough to give you the book only to have you not release us. We want to do what is natural to us, not serve others who are inferior." The man pretended that he didn't hear the remark saying that he was of a lower status to them. He nodded and man turned towards the immortal creatures, it was in this instant that Harry recognised the him. His blond hair, his sneering mouth, and his silver eyes. He looked like a mirror image of his son. It was Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius sighed, "Very well then..."

Chapter Two

Back To Life, Back To Reality

Voices shouted, elbows shoved and toes got squashed, but in the end Harry, Ron and Hermione found a free carriage. They had spent a bit of time chatting to Hagrid while he waited for all the first years to arrive from the crowd.

The trio was soon joined by Luna, Ginny and Neville, who quietly settled down in their seats. All of them pointedly ignored the Thestrals, as if by avoiding them they could avoid thinking about what had happened the year before. It was too depressing for certain members of the group. After a strained silence Luna reached out and pulled the magazine that her father owned out of her bag, she turned to page twenty and became immersed in the cryptic words. Hermione suddenly giggled, overcome by laughter.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Look. It says, 'Hefalumps, are they Woozles' worst enemy or not'." She snorted into her fist.

"Yeah, and what's so funny 'bout that?" Ron puzzled.

"Hefalumps and Woozles are from a fictional muggle book about a bear called 'Winnie the Pooh'."

Neville and Ron exchanged puzzled looks; they had no idea what she was on about. Winnie the Pooh? Who the hell was he?

Ginny who had been sitting by the window waiting for the first sight of Hogwarts suddenly squealed. "We're nearly there! Look, there's the lake! I wonder how the first years are getting on... Oh, oh look - there's Hagrid's house. And, look we're there! Yippee!!!" She bounced out of the carriage and zoomed up to a gaggle of giggling girls, who fiercely hugged their friend.

The trio, followed by Neville and Luna pursued the young witch out of the coach and up the steps into the hall along with their schoolmates. The pupils' attention on each other was never keener than during those first few minutes waiting for the first years to appear through those the wooden doors. Luna separated off from them and sat down at the Ravenclaw table next to Lisa Turpin. Just as the remaining four were about to get a space for themselves at their table, a sneering voice called out to them.

"Potter, so you decided to grace us again with your presence again? What a shame, really you should be at home don't you think? You must be tired, fighting all those bad guys."

"Nice to see you too Malfoy. Sorry, I don't really have enough time to waste chatting to you." Harry was calm and composed. Who cared what Malfoy thought of him? He was just upset that it was Harry who had sent his dad to Azkaban and disgraced the family name. Harry started off towards a space next to Dean, when Malfoy intercepted him again.

"It was you who sent me those dung-bombs wasn't it? That's the sort of thing you would do, Potter!"

"Unfortunately Malfoy, I didn't send any dung-bombs, but I wish I had. Thanks for the good idea."

"You think you're so special don't you, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "Well you're not. You couldn't save Diggory or Black, could you? You're no saviour Potter. Longbottom would make a better hero than you."

"Fuck off, Malfoy! You're such an attention seeker!"

"Why Potter, you seem to think that I am you. You must be a bit disorientated, do you want to sit down? You're the one who thinks that the whole world revolves around you."

"Me! Me! You think I'm the one who thinks the world revolves around me? It's you that has a problem." Harry put on a high-pitched voice, doing a bad impression of Malfoy. "Oh, I'm so perfect...I'm a pureblood, come kiss my shoes. I'm the best."

Draco Malfoy smirked. He thought his smirk was very good, he had practiced it in the mirror that morning to make sure it was perfect. "Well I am the best, even you admit it Potter. My family is, of course, better than yours." He paused for a second and eyed Harry up and down. "Oops I forgot, you don't have a family." He smirked again.

"At least I know my family loved me, they died for me. But you, you were born just to be your father's puppet, and look where Daddy is now. Rotting away behind bars. Even Voldemort isn't going to rescue him."

"You know nothing, you son of a bitch!"

"Malfoy, Potter, when you are quite done shouting at each other, please sit down at your tables. Mister Malfoy, that means now." Professor McGonagald had entered with the wet, shivering first years.

"Wow, I've never seen Malfoy lose his temper like that," Ron whispered as they seated themselves. "Not even when 'Mione smacked him one." He grinned at the memory.

"I know, maybe something happened to his family over the holiday."

"Something did happen you nit, Lucius escaped from Azkaban and is now on the run from both Death Eaters and Aurors. Precious Draco here obviously thought that Daddy was coming home, but Lucius has abandoned his wife and heir to the Aurors."

"Shhhhhhhhh." Hermione hushed them. But the two of them continued, Harry had missed so much over the break.

"I'm surprised you didn't find out, mate." Ron raised his eyebrows towards Dumbledore, who was audibly muttering something to McGonagald that seemed to be about why he was wearing red underpants. It was apparent that Ron wasn't talking about the lack of Dumbledore's current sanity, but about his lack of telling Harry vital

information. "He obviously thinks that you would go after Malfoy, Senior that is, if you heard that he had escaped."

"Why would I do that?"

"I dunno, but I would hate to be in Lucius Malfoy's boots at the moment. How would you like it if one moment you are at practically the top of the Ministry of Magic, then you go to despised, now there's a massive manhunt for you. Not really nice is it. Oh yeah, you also missed some other news about Pettigrew. Mum and Dumbledore had a massive argument about it, she saying that as you are family, so you had better know, but Dumbledore said that it would still hurt you and that you needed time to-"

"Misters Weasley and Potter, I am terribly sorry that we are interrupting your important conversation. Please continue, we don't mind." Snape said loudly in a honeyed, sarcastic voice. The two guilty boys ducked their heads until they heard a muffled laugh across the table, of course it was Malfoy laughing about them along with his two brainless body-guards.

Ron growled and raised a few centimetres from his seat, clutching his hands into fists. Hermione grabbed him and held him down, muttering something about 'Prefects' setting an example'.

Harry glared across the hall at Malfoy. Vaguely in the background he heard unintelligible parts of Dumbledore's warning about the oncoming war, Death Eaters, You-Know-Who and drivel like that. He was Harry Potter. He was The Boy Who Lived, there was no way Draco-fucking-Malfoy would ruin his year. What was Ron going on about now? It seemed strange that he was known as Dumbledore's pet, but in reality Dumbledore never told him anything 'for his own safety'. His eyes became glazed for a few seconds then he fell into a dead faint with a crash onto the table.

In that instant Harry recognised the man: his blond hair, his sneer, and his silver eyes. He looked like a mirror image of his son. It was Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius sighed, "Very well then..."

****

"...Absolvo. There, now you are free from the Dark Lords curse. I have done my side of the deal, now do yours. Give it to me."

The leading Abaasy tugged a black case off his back; the bag was the same colour of his fur, camouflaging it perfectly from spies. He undid the buttons slowly and gently, not wanting to harm the item inside. Everyone there was apprehensive, the silence filled with tension.

The Abaasy pulled out his paw from the bag, his claws were gripping a thick, silver book. Harry could just make out the title.

'The Downfall of the Greatest Dark Lord'- by James Wellard (2009-2076)

"So this is the book telling us how to get rid to He Who Must Not Be Named?" Lucius clutched the bag to his chest as if it was a newborn babe.

"Yes, that is correct," hissed the Abaasy, "We went into the future and collected the book for you; now we go."

Harry slid off the furry back of his mount and fell onto his hands and knees. He glanced up and surveyed the beast he had been riding: it was like a bat, but was the size of a hippogriff. Sharp claws kneaded the ground underfoot, like Mrs Figg's cats did when they were being stroked, Harry reflected. Up from the talons, scaled, black legs stretched, ending amongst thick, heavy fur covering its round back and chest. Big, circular eyes whisked back and forth, emerald green pupils flicking all over the place, taking in its surroundings. These were obviously very intelligent creatures. The Abaasy sniffed from its bulldog nose, licked its lips with its tongue as an aroma set off its salivary glands. Its tongue was white with red veins running from end to end. Hidden behind its teeth were two more pallid muscles. Harry shuddered as he looked at those teeth. They were silver and looked dangerously sharp, almost like they were made of metal.

Luciu's voice brought Harry back to his senses. "I see you can smell your next meal. I won't keep you waiting,..."

To be continued...