I'm no stranger to pain. My health record files at Hogwarts were bigger then any three peoples put together. I've had bones removed, bones regrown, Basilisk poison pumped through me, a cracked skull... Those are just some of the more outlandish ones.

This, by far, is easily the worst I've ever felt.

I tried to open my eyes, but they didn't react right away. I tried to take a deep breath, almost coughed up a lung, and took stock of my injuries. My chest felt a lot better. My head didn't. Wonderful.

My eyes finally opened and I sluggishly looked around. I was in a rather dull room, with only the bed I was on and a lamp in the corner. Sunlight streamed through the small window, blinding me. Spying a grey cloaked kid standing at the doorway,  I cleared my throat to get his attention. The kid almost jumped out of his cloak.

“Hey, pal, go get your commanding officer.” These guys looked like soldier types, what with the uniforms and all. Time to throw some rank around, I guess.

The young guy looked nervous, I sure as hell didn't recognize these guys so it was a safe bet they didn't recognize me either.

“Um... I'm supposed to go get Warden Morgan when you wake...”

I arch an eyebrow. “Is he in charge?”

“Um, no. That'd be the Merlin if he's still here, or Captain Luccio.”

I wave a hand in the direction of the doorway. “Well, go get one of them then. Hop to it, pal, don't want to sit here all day.” The kid nods nervously and takes off. Little young to be in the army, though. I wince as I aggravate my chest and it throbs angrily at me. Reaching into my inside pocket, I pull out my mokeskin pouch and pull out one of the generic healing potions I keep in there. I popped the cork, and grimaced as I drank it. The pain faded almost right away.

I looked up as a woman with solid grey hair in a military haircut walked in. She was built like she did a lot of physical labor, and she was at least as tall as me, if not taller. A slender scimitar hung from her hip, and she carried a staff in her left hand.

“The guard said you're awake. Name?”

I stand up. “Captain Potter of the British Unspeakables. And you?”

She frowned, almost as if she was confused. “I'm Captain Luccio of the White Council.”

Oh, dammit. Not another bloody cult calling themselves a 'Council.' The last one I dealt with tried to kill me, hope it's not a sign from God.

“Right. Where are we?” I say acting like I know what she was talking about.

“Edinburgh. You've been unconscious for four hours. Your heart stopped, but we managed to resuscitate you.” She half smiles at me. “I'd like to thank you personally for your help against the Outsiders. You helped save a lot of lives.”

I grunt. “Where's the old man in the coveralls?”

“McCoy? He went to stage a counteroffensive against the Vampires.”

I narrow my eyes. “What'd you guys do to piss them off? There hasn't been open hostilities against vamps for years.”

She looks at me like I've just said my name is Jesus Christ. “The war has been-” She's interrupted by the Germanic looking man stepping into the room, nodding towards me.

“Captain, we need to go if we want to get to Chicago and,” he fairly spits the name, “Dresden in time.”

She nods. “One minute, Donald.” She faces me again. “The Gatekeeper and the Merlin will be here in a few minutes. They had some... ah, questions, they needed to ask you.”

I nod, acting like I know who the hell the Merlin is, or what the Gatekeeper is. That's almost as stupid as Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts. I mean, they don't even lock the gate!

She walks off and I'm left to stew and think again. I close my eyes and reach out with my senses searching for wards.

Jesus.

This place is loaded. It'd be suicide to try and attack here. The wards though... Normally wards have a sort of humming feel to them, once you know how to look for them. These hum, but it's different. Almost... almost like a different pitch or tone or something.

None of this makes sense. The White Council guys were slinging some pretty heavy wandless magic around, but surely they could have defended themselves better with a wand. I mean, Merlin, that one lady threw a bloody thunderbolt! And swords? I mean, sure, I carry a sword in my mokeskin pouch, but it was one that all officers are given. Swords are useless in magical duels.

It doesn't add up. They can magic up a ward that stopped my apparition, but they couldn't just apparate away from the fight? They were getting slaughtered. If that fight didn't call for a tactical retreat, I don't know what does.

Those demons, Outsiders they called them. The wizards magic just slid off of them, yet mine killed a few. Another reason the wizards should have used their wands like I did. I grin. Hopefully that last spell of mine took out most of them.

Bugger it. I'll just tell someone in the Ministry and have them come explain why it's a bad idea to piss off the vampires.

I mean, come on.

They drink blood.

I'm not fucking with anybody who would willingly drink me dry.

I'm temporarily derailed from that thought as the old, bearded man and the hooded guy walk in. The old guy gets straight to the point.

“How did you kill the Outsiders with magic? It's impossible to kill an Outsider at all.” The guy with the hood looks like he's about to interrupt but I speak before he gets the chance. He wants to interrogate me? Fine. Looks like a little aggravation is in order.

“Please. I'm Harry Potter. I do the impossible every day.”

The old man scowls, and looks like he's about to burst a blood vein. Nice color, by the way. Might give Vernon a run for his money by the time this conversation's over.

“Merlin, perhaps we should introduce ourselves before we start interrogating him.” The hooded guy broke in quietly. That must make him the Gatekeeper.

I scoff. “No need. Already know who you are.” I point at the old guy. “The Merlin, which if that isn't pretentious I don't know what the hell is.” The Merlin flushes angrily. I point at the other one. “And the Gatekeeper. What's the deal with that, by the way?”

The Gatekeeper sounds amused. “I guard the Outer Gates.”

“Oh, right. That makes perfect sense. You guard the Outer Gates, presumably where the Outsiders are from?” He nods. “Great job, by the way.”

The Merlin looks like I just kicked his puppy. “You will show respect to the Gatekeeper! Your situation is dangerous enough without your disrespect.”

“What situation is that? I almost died saving your ass. You owe me.”

He scowls at me. “I owe a warlock nothing.”

I couldn't help it. I laughed in his face. “Warlock? Please. I'm a Hit-Wizard, not some two-bit dark wizard.”

“He's right, Honored Merlin. You shouldn't accuse him of being a warlock just because he killed an Outsider. Precious little is known about how to kill them.”

The Merlin stares hard at the Gatekeeper before nodding grudgingly. “The Gatekeeper is correct. Your attitude... I apologize.”

I nod acceptingly. “I do as well, I suppose. I shouldn't have tried to aggravate you.” I'll play nice for a while. “I suppose I'm free to go?”

The Merlin nods, though it looks like it costs him to do so. “Yes, we thank you for your help.” He turns and walks out leaving me in the room with the Gatekeeper.

“I think you just made yourself an enemy today.”

I scoff and wave him off. “Eh. Wouldn't be the first.”

I catch an image of a frown underneath his hood before shadows obscure his face completely. “The Merlin is not somebody to take lightly. He isn't the leader of the White Council for nothing.”

I nod, accepting the advice for what it is.

“I would like to speak to you in a few hours time after we get done here. Is there any place I can meet you?”

“Yeah, uh... Charing Cross Road, London. Three hours? Look for a place called the Leaky Cauldron.”

He nods. “Very well. I'll be there.” He turns to leave then stops. “I hope you find what you're looking for.” He walks out abruptly.

I blink at his back. Right. That wasn't weird. Shaking my head, I summon my wand to my hand. Alright, portkey or apparition? I shouldn't have any trouble apparating out. The wards don't feel the same as the one at the battle. I gather my belongings, turn once, and disappear with a loud crack.

----

I reappear down the street from the new Ministry entrance. After the war, new wards were made which made it impossible to apparate into the Ministry. Only way in was walking through the wall of an abandoned warehouse ala Platform 9 ¾ , floo, or the visitors entrance. I place my wand back in its holster and stride towards the boundary wall while thinking. I need to tell the Minister about this, maybe the Auror commander. A whole score of demons that we've never seen. This could be a big problem. And then there's the White Counc-

My thoughts are knocked from my mind as I slam face first into the wall.

“What the fuck?” I snarl, holding a hand to my bleeding nose. I push a hand against the wall testing it. Solid. The border shouldn't be down. It's the primary entrance now. Bloody amateur warders. I shake my head and turn around to walk towards the phone booth that serves as the visitor entrance.

A brisk few blocks later, and my nose has finally stopped bleeding as I reach the phone booth. I walk in and hold the phone to my ear, dialing the numbers needed. The dial tone stops and a cool female voice answers.

“The number you have dialed is not registered. Please check the number, and try again.” I slam the phone against the box and try again. Same message. Unease starts to stir in the bottom of my stomach. Something isn't right. My heart starts to race as I step out of the booth and look around. Hogwarts, then. My house isn't connected to the floo. Maybe McGonagall knows why the Ministry is locked down. I look around making sure nobody is watching, and apparate to Hogsmeade.

My eyes widen in shock as I reappear on the hill overlooking Hogsmeade. Something is definitely not right. The town looks completely different. Where are all the stores? The Three Broomsticks? The Hogsmeade I knew was a small town, maybe a city block wide with one street down the middle. This is most definitely not that. Small buildings line the streets. A grocery store stands where the Hogs Head used to be, and a small pub is standing where the Three Broomsticks used to be. A few people walked up and down the street, checking out the wares in the various stores through the windows. It looks like a tourism town.

I walk through the town in a daze, looking around. I break into a run as the first stirrings of panic start to overtake me. I round the corner towards Hogwarts and skid to a stop.

“Merlin. What...?” I shake my head and look again. Same thing. Hogwarts is gone. It's just a ruin, the same ruin that muggles see when they look on Hogwarts. I'm no muggle, I shouldn't be seeing this! I look over and see a sign saying that another tour begins in two hours. Tours? What is going on? I pace furiously back and forth, throwing theories around in my head.

Time travel? I went through the Veil, and no one knows what it actually does. It threw me into the Outside, and I just assumed I came back into the same time period. Maybe the White Council is all that's left of the world of magic. It would explain what happened to Hogwarts and why I can't enter the Ministry. Maybe the Wizarding World collapsed. I raise my wand.

“Accio newspaper!” A newspaper from the nearby town flies into my hand. I scan the top of it looking for the date. I deflate as I read it. It's the same date. Damn.

Maybe... maybe. “Fuck!”

Alternate dimensions? No... the Department of Mysteries disproved those ages ago. Bunch of technical terms I didn't understand. I pause, and my eyes widen. The Gatekeeper knew. That son of a bitch knew! Trembling with anger, I turn on the spot and reappear at Charing Cross road.

----

I look up and see the Gatekeeper standing there. The anger flies out of me as I see him. “Why are you here already?”

The Gatekeeper holds up a note that reads, Be there an hour and a half early.

I shake my head and glare at him. “You son of a bitch. Where am I?”

“London, to be exact. I looked. I didn't see a place called the Leaky Cauldron, so I decided to wait here.”

I clench my fists in anger. “I know that. Nothing is here anymore. This isn't my England. I'm going to ask you again. What happened to my world?”

The Gatekeeper shook his head. “I can honestly tell you that I don't know. I've never encountered anything like this before, although when I witnessed you come out of the Outside, I expected something like it.”

“Why didn't you say something?” I growl.

“Would you have believed me?” He asks amusedly. “It was easier this way, for both of us.”

I sigh, and relax my stance. He's right. I wouldn't have believed him. “What happened?”

“You went through the Outside. I don't know how you got there, or how you survived it, but when you came out you were here. That is all I know, truthfully.”

“Can I go back?”

The Gatekeeper pauses. “How did you enter the Outside?”

“The Veil. I fell through the Veil along with Hamath, the Outsider.”

The Gatekeeper shakes his head. “Then I sincerely doubt it. I am sorry, but no way of entering the Outside is known here. Even if you did manage to go beyond the Outer Gates, you'd have to be summoned to be able to leave.”

I picked up where he left off. “And since no one in my world knows about the Outside, I would never be summoned.”

He nods, speaking quietly. “I will look for a way, but I would advise you not to have false hopes.”

I look at the one eye I can see underneath his hood. “I need you to tell me everything you can about this world.”

He looks at my eyes, before looking away abruptly. “I will, but I need you to do something for me, first.”

I clench my teeth. Bastard knows I need his help. “What?”

“Luccio and Morgan go to help Wizard Harry Dresden in Chicago. A band of necromancers are there. The Wardens numbers have been severely depleted because of the battle, so they only have a small force. I would like for you to go help them.”

I try to catch his eyes. “That's it? Then you'll help me?”

He nods.

“Fine. Where in Chicago?”

He holds out a picture of a pub called McAnally's. I look at it and burn the picture into my mind, preparing for an apparition. “The necromancers magic shouldn't be so different from yours, I imagine. I would not ask this of you if not for our dangerous situation.”

I nod grudgingly. “I know. This is what I was trained to do, anyways.” I turn towards him, placing a hard look on my face. “Don't expect me to jump when you ask. I'm only doing this because I need your help.”

“I know.” He starts to walk away. “Oh, by the way, ask Luccio to enchant your sword. You'll have need of it in a few hours.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “How did you know I have a sword?”

I swear to God, that cheeky bastard grinned underneath his hood, before holding up another scrap of paper.

I snort underneath my breath, before apparating away.

Necromancers beware. Potter's coming to town.