"I have the answers to any question you may have," Hikari said.
"Okay..." I said, unsure of what to ask. "Who are you? And who is Kurayami?"
"We are both half-gods. Kurayami is trying to become a fully-fledged god though, and he wants to be acknowledged as the most powerful across every universe."
"Why are you my 'protector'?" I asked, curious to know why she was so intent on protecting me from everything and helping me.
"Because for one, you have a fragment of my power due to your wish. Two, I must protect you from Kurayami at all costs."
"Wait, so that light that came from my hand was your power?" I asked.
"Yes. It is now technically your power though, since it is a part of you," she said calmly, smiling.
"Wait, so why the heck am I even involved with you guys and Kurayami in the first place?" I honestly had no idea why I would even be involved with other forces like gods and half-gods.
"Because he wants–no, he needs your power to become a god," she said, suddenly becoming very dark and ominous.
"Wait, but isn't my power technically the power you gave me?" I asked, confused about the whole 'powers' situation. Dude, I'm a reader that knows magic that happens with wands, not magic powers that are connected to my body that have manifested inside of my hand!
"You already originally had powers. You have a fragment of mine because I had to give you it to awaken your powers earlier than they were supposed to be," she said. I was absolutely MIND BLOWN. This was entirely different from what I had expected. I honestly thought this would be some simple story where a girl jumps universes to get to the Harry Potter world. I did not expect my story to get complicated like this.
"So, what were my original powers that you awakened?" I asked. Ooo, maybe I had ice powers, like Elsa! Or maybe I had the power to turn into a panda, like Mei Mei from Turning Red! So many different possibilities raced through my head, and none of them turned out to be correct.
"Your power is the power to hop universes," she said.
"Wait, so I can hop over to the Marvel Universe if I want to right now?" I asked. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think hard about the Marvel Universe, but nothing seemed to happen. I felt a smack as Hikari used the base of her palm to whack my forehead, causing my eyes to fly open. I pouted, sad that it didn't work.
"Idiot, you can't just go anywhere you feel like at any given moment! Don't you know how powers work?" She asked.
"Uh, they get used?" I guessed, and she smacked me again. "Ow!"
"They get used, which does what?" She asked, trying to get me to figure it out.
It suddenly clicked. "Oh, they get used and then their power gets drained! Like batteries!" She let out a relieved sigh and then smiled, which indicated I had gotten the answer correct. Ha, I was probably so smart even Sherlock Holmes couldn't beat me.
"Your power isn't very plentiful, since it was just awoken and it was awoken before it was supposed to be. You used it up when you came over to this universe, and you'll need to fully recharge it to use it again," she said.
"So, how long will it take? A month?" I asked, thinking it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
My face paled as she said, "It'll take 10 years at the very least. It could take up to 20."
"So...I'll probably never see my family back in my world ever again?" I asked.
"No, if you learn and actually train to improve your powers, you could be set to jump universes again in about 5 years," she said, trying to reassure me. "That'll be enough time to finish up all of your years at Hogwarts and then go back to your home world."
"Then, will you train me?" I asked.
"Sure," she said. "Anyways, do you have any more questions?"
"Wait, why does Kurayami even need the power to travel universes?" I asked.
Her face went dark again as she said, "In order to gain full control over everything, he needs to actually be able to travel to every universe. Both of us are only limited to two universes; the Harry Potter universe, as you call it, and your home universe. Those are the only two we have influence over that we can connect to people through."
"Wait so if I die, he gains control over time, space, and every single universe?" Hikari nodded her head to my question. "Well crap, then I cannot die."
"No you can't. That is why I can't have you going to places like the Forbidden Forest until you learn to control and use my power. My power will help protect you since you can draw on the light and use it against enemies. It is one of the purest forms of energy and magic, so you will do well once you learn it," she said.
"Why can't you reach me there and protect me?"
"Because it is too dark there. Kurayami thrives in the darkness, and he used to cast a barrier strong enough to prevent me from reaching anyone there," she said sadly.
"Well, I'll break any barrier he's cast then once you teach me to use these powers," I said confidently.
"I will see to it that I train you every night then," she said. "For now, I must go as it is already time for you to wake up."
"Wait—" I cried out.
"I'll see you tonight," she said.
I woke up and light was spilling through the windows. Hermione stood near me, nearly finished with getting ready. She turned and saw that I was awake and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good," she said, "I was almost about to wake you myself. Hurry, or else we'll be late for breakfast." I got ready and then headed down to breakfast with Hermione. We met up with Harry and Ron, who both seemed to be super stressed.
"Are you two alright?" I asked, concerned for both of their well beings.
"Yeah, the only thing wrong is that EXAMS ARE TWO WEEKS AWAY," Ron shakily exclaimed.
"And why are you so worried about that?" I asked, confused.
"Ronald is so stressed," Hermione said, shooting a glare at him, "because he hasn't paid attention all year and has spent the last couple weeks sleeping instead of studying. He is now coming to the realization that he is a failure and will completely bomb all of his exams." Damn, she sure was not happy with him.
"So, what about you Harry?" I asked.
"My scar–it's been hurting ever since..." he said, then lowered his voice, conscious of his surroundings, "...we saw Voldemort." My eyes widened as I realized we were now nearing the end of the first book. The two weeks I had left was for exams and for training myself enough to go with the trio to find the stone. That meant I had to train quickly and make a lot of progress.
"That must mean he's going to go after the stone soon," I said. "We should be on guard."
——————
Two weeks had finally passed and I had trained enough with Hikari to manage to draw enough of her power and maintain a gumball sized ball of light. It wasn't much, but it was enough to go with the trio and protect them. Light is the purest form of magic, so even the tiniest bit can have a large impact.
I walked into the Potion Classroom, feeling confident and fully prepared to take my exam. Harry and Ron on the other hand seemed nervous and skittish. The entire time during the exam it felt like Snape was practically breathing down our necks as we recalled how to make a Wiggenweld Potion.
Finally, after exams were over we all went to the Gryffindor Common Room, exhausted. Harry then began to grit his teeth in pain again, and I rushed over to him.
"Harry, are you okay?!"
"No...it has to be Voldemort! He must be near!" Harry cried out.
"Uh...think happy thoughts! Like, thunk of Norbert!" I said. I chose Norbert in particular in hopes that Harry would connect the dots with Hagrid, the egg, and the person after the stone.
"Norbert...come to think of it, the way Hagrid won the egg seems really suspicious..." Harry said. His eyes then lit up and he said, "Whoever gave Hagrid the egg must've used it to obtain information!"
I grinned. My plan had worked successfully and now I had helped move the plot forward quicker. "Well then, let's go see Hagrid!" I exclaimed.
We all walked down to Hagrid's hut together. Hagrid was standing outside, and his face seemed to lighten a little bit when he saw us. Though he perked up a little, he still seemed quite sad. He was probably still dealing with the fact he no longer had the dragon he'd always hoped for.
"What er yer guys doin' here?" Hagrid asked.
"We just wanted to check up on you once exams were over." Hermione said, not wanting to give us away.
"Why the long face Hagrid? You look like you've been run over multiple times or something tragic like that," Ron said nonchalantly. Hermione turned over to Ron and smacked him on the head. He groaned in pain.
"I just miss Norbert, ye know? He was one helluva dragon," Hagrid said.
"How did you even get Norbert again?" I asked.
"Well, I was at the Inn and some hooded stranger came up to me and I won the egg in a game. I talked with the stranger for a while about all my pets and how I'd always wanted a dragon. It's a shame Norbert had to go," Hagrid said, saddened again.
"Wait, going back to when you spoke to the stranger about your pets—what exactly did you say about them?"
"Well, ye know I just told them about Fang and how he's such a scaredy cat. Oh, and how Fluffy loves music! Fluffy will fall asleep as soon as you start playing music." Hagrid's eyes widened. "I shouldn'tve said that. You four should go now," he said, shooing us away and cursing to himself.
We all walked away triumphantly, having obtained the information needed. Harry said he felt ready to voice his suspicions to the headmaster, so we took our time working our way up to Dumbledore's office, dropping Ron and Hermione off along the way.. Of course as a reader, I knew Dumbledore was going to be out anyway. I couldn't tell anyone that though sadly, as I didn't want to raise suspicion or draw unwanted attention towards me.
We finally reached outside of Dumbledore's office, and just as we were about to try and enter, Professor McGonagall stepped out. Surprised to see us she said, "What are you two doing here? It's nearly curfew."
"Professor, can we speak to the headmaster? It's urgent," Harry said firmly.
"I'm afraid that he has been called away for urgent business by the Ministry of Magic. He'll be back very soon though, give it three days to maybe week."
"But Professor, we really need to speak to him!" Harry insisted.
"Mr. Potter, you will have to wait. Now if you excuse me, I need to leave and you two should start heading to your dorms. It's getting very late."
Feeling disheartened, Harry walked with me back to the dorm. As we walked in silence, we encountered Professor Snape.
"If I catch you two wandering at night, I will see to it that you are expelled immediately," Snape said in his flat and monotone voice, then he left with the swish of his robe.
Harry turned to me, eyes widened. "I think he's going to try and steal the stone tonight!"
"Wait, how the heck did you deduce that from the one sentence Snape spoke to us just now?" I asked, confused.
"I dunno, the dots just connected. Hurry, we need to get back and tell Ron and Hermione!"
We rushed back to the dorm and found Ron and Hermione talking to each other by the fireplace. I wanted to tease them, but now was not the time. Harry and I explained what had happened to them, and Hermione came to the same conclusion, this time providing me with the information on how she reached it.
"Snape must be striking tonight. It's the perfect chance. The headmaster's gone and he told us not to wander at night which must mean he's going to do something," she said.
"So then, should we stop him?" Ron asked dumbly.
"Of course you dimwit!" Hermione said. "Harry, go fetch your invisible cloak. We need to move quickly."
Once Harry came back down, we began to leave. Suddenly, we were stopped by none other than sweet Neville Longbottom.
"Neville, please move. We need to go save the school from Voldemort and his goons," I said, hoping it would be enough to convince him to move out of the way. He didn't budge though, and he didn't seem like he was going to.
"I can't have you losing even more points from Gryffindor! Also, if it's so dangerous you need to let the professors handle it! That's why they're there!" He scolded us.
"Neville, please," I begged, but he didn't move.
"Petrificus Totalus," Hermione said, and Neville's body stiffened as it was hit with the body-binding curse. "I'm sorry Neville," she whispered.
The four of us stepped over Neville's body, and I was the last. I bent down and rubbed his hand. "I'm truly sorry Neville. Thank you for being brave though," I said.
Then, the four of us left underneath Harry's invisibility cloak. We made our way past Filch, the heightened senses of Ms. Norris, and Peeves the Poltergeist. We reached the door that led to Fluffy and looked back and forth to each other, nodding our heads.
"Let's do this," I whispered confidently to them.
A/n: Ooo, we're almost done with book one! I also have added a lot more of my own twists, so I hope you still kind of enjoy. Hopping universes doesn't come without it's price, and I am using creative freedom to make this more than just a regular Harry Potter fan fiction.
See you guys on Monday!