Hallows and Dreams

Chapter 1: The Master of Death

Tom Riddle was dead. As his body crumpled there was a pregnant pause. Suddenly the whole Hall erupted into cheers, and they all crowded around Harry. Harry heard cries "Potter did it!", and "The Dark Lord is Dead. "All hail Lord Potter!". Harry just looked at all the smiling faces that surrounded him, as he was mobbed by his loved ones, strangers, and even some Death Eaters. If he were to look back at some of the chants he would be alarmed, in the moment however, he could hardly believe he was still alive.

As the excitement waned, the dead had to be addressed. Harry just looked at Fred, Remus, and young Colin Creevey, and all he could think was how he would have given himself up sooner, maybe they would still be alive. Ron and Hermione seemed to give him space, so he decided to sit a little outside the Hall. As he sat down he looked at the Elder Wand, he was now its true master. As he was examining the wand, he realized the stone was still in his pocket. At that thought, something compelled him to run and grab his cloak. As he grabbed it, he suddenly realized a presence around him.

Hello master.

Harry was alarmed, everyone was in the hall either dealing with and mourning the dead or capturing all the Death Eaters. He whipped around and confirmed that no one was around him. What was that? Harry thought to himself. The voice chuckled. Well, of course, you have the Hallows, I am but your humble servant, Death. Harry knew he should be concerned that everything that happened to him over the last few years had finally caught up with him, but in his head, he knew this was real. He was in control.

If you are my servant, what does it mean to be the master of you? Harry's thoughts were racing, could he undo all or some of these deaths? What does this change? Can I still die? The silky voice chuckled and replied: Questions, questions young master. I will answer all your questions that you have in due time, but not all at once, however what you need to know is that you control who lives... and who DIES. You can die, whenever you want, however, without being the master, you do have an expiration date. That is all up to you. I am merely to help and instruct you when you call. I will always linger but I do have my job to do.

Harry pondered what Death had said. Does everyone have a specific date? Yes, but some are taken from your world earlier than they should be. He considered what Death was saying, everyone had a timeline, but that line could be disrupted. Can I see when they are supposed to be taken? Can I bring them back? Yes. Use this power well, while I cannot rebel against you, there are consequences, and there is a limit. Harry was curious about what these rules were. What are the rules, how far can I tread the line? The body should not be too decomposed or bloated. I know you have many losses, but your parents certainly should not be brought back, they are beyond the veil. Do not make the same mistakes as my previous masters. That brought many more questions for Harry, but he had more pressing questions, he felt that Death's patience was slipping away.

How do I know who can be brought back? And how do I bring them back? Harry's inner voice was screaming one thing: Teach me. Focus when you hold the stone, it will show you each person's line. Those who are dead, and were interrupted will glow. To bring someone back, you just need to cast one simple spell with the Wand. With Harry's heart pounding in a whisper he dared to ask: "What's the spell?" Velle Vivificere. With that, the presence was gone, and Harry took off.

As he ran he held the stone and prepared himself for what he was going to see in the Great Hall. As he rounded the corner, he took a breath and looked in. Death was correct, all around the hall the living seemed to have gold string wrapped around them. The children's lines seemed almost platinum with how bright they shone. While the adults seemed to be duller, they were still quite Gold. Then there were the dead. Some seemed to glow around them, while it certainly wasn't all. Harry rushed over to the Gold ones. Colin Creevey was shunned by the glow, and Harry knelt. Nerves shaking Harry traced an unknown pattern over Colin's head as he said the spell. After he cast it, he slowly stood, the wand movement stayed for a minute, but slowly sunk into his skin, and then he was bathed in golden glitter. As soon as it arrived it seemed to leave, and then Colin took a deep breath.

Colin then stood up: "Harry, what happened? Did we win?" Around them, people noticed that a once-dead person was certainly not dead. Before Harry could get swarmed, not pausing to answer Colin's question. He awoke Remus, Tonks, Fred, and many Hogwarts students he didn't know. Luckily, none of the Death Eaters had the tell-tale glow. Harry wasn't entirely sure how he would have handled resurrecting people that had caused so much death and destruction. As they ran around the room there were plenty of happy reunions as people slowly realized that one, Voldemort was dead, and two, they were no longer dead. But Harry felt like he wasn't done. He walked outside, ignoring the calls of Ron and Hermione. Soon he was outside the gates, and without thinking really of his destination, only where the pull was taking him, he closed his eyes and apparated.

When he no longer felt the pull of apparition, he opened his eyes and saw a looming whispering arch. This is where Sirius died, Harry thought. He approached the looming arch, and maybe because he was the Master of Death, or maybe because he died, he could discern that there were many different souls trapped in the arch, but as he took his final step toward the arch, and in the veil, there was one glowing light, and Harry pulled. As he pulled he cast Velle Vivificere. As he was finishing casting, the veil moved, and soon Sirius Black stepped out of the veil.

Authors Note: I originally wrote this in the 9th Grade. I want to finish this story and (hopefully) my writing has improved. I also want to cut some things due to having so many ideas and wanting to use them all at once. Instead of having all these ideas I am going to maybe write some other stories with them. Who knows. My goal is to re-write the chapters I have, maybe make them a little longer as well, and move things around. I will also cross-post this to ao3 as I write this.

Also, the wand movement to the spell is the symbol of life in Egyptian mythology, the ankh. The spell is different because my lovely roommate Dino has taken Latin at some point in their life.

I also now have Beta readers! So thank you to my lovely roommates Dino, Grim, and Gem. You are all my best friends and I can't wait to actually, hopefully, finish this story so that I can move on a write some other things.