Guardian

"You are a curious soul" A sound came from behind me.

"Whahakjdfjdhfk!!!!" The sound left me as I tumbled about frantically. I was so surprised that I tumbled around before finally turning to face whoever or whatever spoke earlier.

It took the form of a man. He had grey eyes, black hair as dark as night, a somewhat square face. He was wearing a black suit with silver buttons and cufflinks. He looked at me with an amused expression. I could tell however that he was anything but human.

"Are you done freaking out little soul?" he asked, a deep baritione voice leaving his lips.

I had calmed down by now and answered. "Yes, I think so. Who are you? Wait, how are we talking?" 

He chuckled before he answered "I'm allowing us to talk like this, don't bother trying to understand it. I'm curious however. Where do you come from little soul? You're not from around here." He said, looking at me curiously.

I nodded cautiously, thinking a little before deciding it didn't really matter if he knew. "I'm not sure about the where, but I died..." I explained my after death adventure to him. I didn't tell him about the cultivation technique I found however. Before finishing "I was wandering in the Void for a while before you pulled me here."

He nodded as if he expected it. "Well, that's quite a story. Very rare too. As for me, I'm... I guess you could call me a caretaker. I take care of this section of the omniverse, ensuring it continues running smoothly and that outside threats are dealt with." He said, looking over to something I couldn't see in the Void.

I looked at him alarmed for a moment before he continued speaking without looking at me.

"Not to worry little soul, you aren't what I consider a threat. You're quite lucky actually. To not have come across some of the monsters that inhabit the Void, it's very fortunate." He continued.

"That's... a relief. I had assumed there were things living here. I just wished that I didn't come across anything like that." I explained.

He nodded before speaking. "The things living in the void are beyond your imagination. Their diet consists of universes. For that reason, most parts of the omniverse have protectors like me. I doubt they'd be interested in you, you're not enough to be a snack. However, you would go insane just from looking at them." He said as he gave me a pointed look. I shuddered at his words.

"I can make some guesses about your situation. Would you want to know what I think?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes, that would be great. Honestly, I'm grateful to still be alive... well, as much as that counts for now, but I have no idea why." I said.

"Well, I can sense that you have a great affinity for the soul. If you didn't, even if you consumed souls as you said, you would have gone insane immediately." He said before his eyes sharpened. "Speaking of which. I will warn you here and now that you should never do that again. Do you understand?" 

I felt a great pressure from all around me as I nodded rapidly. He continued speaking and the pressure vanished as if it never happened.

"Good. This isn't only because it is an abhorrent act. It takes energy to create new souls. They're normally recycled to create new souls. There are some exceptions of course and each universe has different systems, but that's usually how it works." He said. I thought about it and nodded. Before, when the souls were torn apart, those particles of souls must have gone somewhere.

He continued. "It's not a major problem, but creating souls requires enormous energy. A few thousand, million, billion or even trillion destroyed souls is fine, but destroying a large percentage of the souls of a universe would require that universe to divert energy into creating new souls. That would take away energy from different systems like its defense or expansion systems. It would recover in time, but it would cause problems in the short term and leave it vulnerable to foreign influence."

He continued speaking after ensuring I understood.

"I assume you were doing it for your own survival which I can understand, however, it's best not to. Most universes have guardians like me in case something happens, but it's something to keep in mind. We guardians are almost omnipotent in our governed universes, but that 'almost' is very important." He said.

I nodded in agreement. It made sense, and I don't want to be the cause of something foreign slipping into the universe. That would cause a lot of problems.

"Well, that about sums it up. I know you aren't telling me everything little soul, but I won't pry. The Void in your soul is peculiar. You should find a way to hide that or when you meet someone who is overwhelmingly stronger than you like me, they might try to force your secrets." He smiled a particularly toothy smile and I shivered again.

I had no idea how he could see the Void currently refining and being refined by my soul, but I focused and used my soul technique and soon, from the outside at least, my soul looked like any other you could find. The man's eyes widened in surprise and shock.

"Well now, that is VERY interesting. Very interesting indeed. Hahaha." He chuckled. "Yes, definitely do that from the start. Hmm... Looking at you now, even I can't tell that anything is strange. That's an amazing technique." His focus on me was a little unnerving actually.

"No need to worry, like I said, I won't pry your secrets. I'm not exactly a normal existence among guardians you see, but that's a story for another time. Now then" he clapped "Are you interested in living again little soul?" he asked.

"Yes. Of course, I am." I said. Feeling a little cautious now.

He nodded. "Well, I can help you out with that."

"Why would you help me though?" I asked, confused about his reasons and a little suspicious. He must have noticed my suspicion, however, as his next words proved.

"No need to be so suspicious little soul. As for why I'm helping you, well it's because I feel like it. I don't need another reason. It might be interesting to see what you will do. In addition, I will give you a task in the universe you end up in." He shrugged. And I believed him. Honestly, he could destroy me with a thought if he wanted to, there was no need for him to lie.

"I will explain a few things in advance, however." He said. "First off, I watch over my own section of the omniverse. There is no such thing as the 'main universe', but there are universes where higher forces such as Destiny and Fate have a higher pull or impact. " He said.

"What this means for you is that as an outside influence, it would be dangerous to put you in one of those, however, I can let you into a similar universe close to them. Whatever you do in there will still affect and be affected by Fate, Destiny and other forces, but not to a significant degree, so do whatever you want." He explained.

I had to ask though. "What about universes that are a mix of different universes? Back in my world, we had fiction books that were very popular and people wrote stories about those fictions. We called those stories fan fiction. In some of those, multiple different universes sometimes overlapped with each other even when the power scaling was completely different." I questioned.

He looked at me surprised for a second as he blinked. "Huh, interesting. Those universes do exist. Each section of the multiverse is interconnected with all others, leading to some universes having the influences of two, three or more universes coexisting in a single one. It's all very complicated omniversal structural dynamics which you wouldn't understand, but those universes tend to be less stable than others, so be careful if you ever end up in one." He said with a grin.

I shuddered a little, thinking about all the different crossover fanfictions and how absurd they usually are. Less stable... right.

He clapped and said. "Now then. For your task. In the universe you're going to, there is a little boy called Harry Potter."

I was completely blown away, but I was quite careful from his earlier reading of me and gave absolutely nothing away, so he thankfully didn't notice my surprise.

He continued. "Normally I wouldn't do this, however, this Harry Potter is the one with the best potential out of them all so far. I have left copies of three artefacts in every universe in the section I govern and the people of these universes call them the deathly hallows. I left them for one reason only. A long time ago, I was told by a prophet that I would find my equal in this section of the omniverse. I've grown a lot since then and can interact with the higher forces, so I know that to be true."

"I spread these artefact copies out to find myself a companion before I retired from my guardian position and continued my journey through the omniverse. Of course, some iterations of the artefacts have changed since then and do many different things, but that was my original intention."

I nodded. There have been many theories as to what the Deathly Hallows did, and many fanfictions about them too. I didn't interrupt however and let him continue.

"The universe which you are going to has a Harry Potter that was destined to collect all three and become my companion after his death. However, long-term manipulation and abuse of his trust damaged him severely to the point he rejects any and all power and authority and trusts no one, not even himself. He destroyed the artefacts in that universe and lived miserably till his death." He said, looking annoyed. However, contrary to his mildly annoyed look, I felt that talking now would be like stepping on a landmine. He was furious!

He looked deep into my soul. "Your task in this universe, in return for a second chance at life, is to guide him into being the best version of himself he can be. How you do it doesn't matter, but I wish for this to be done. If not, I will have to wait through 8 universal lifecycles until another suitable candidate appears."

I nodded. I can't comprehend waiting that amount of time for anything.

"Thank you very much for this chance guardian," I said, feeling intensely grateful to him.

He nodded. "It's not a problem. I've waited a long time already. Accomplishing my task is important to me, so it's an opportunity for me too. You came across me at an opportune time." He said.

He clapped again and spoke. "Now then, I will be sending you off now. I will send you to be born around the same time as Harry Potter give or take a year, however it will be random where you end up. It's more fun that way." He said with a toothy, excited grin.

I was a little alarmed but before I could do anything, he waved his hand and I found myself shot through the Void. It felt like I was tumbling, swirling through different directions and experiencing strange stretching sensations before everything returned to normal again.

Only... I couldn't move! There was darkness all around me, but not the Void. Let's see... darkness: check, muffled sounds: check, floating sensation: check. Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm in the womb right now. Thank fuck for that! That at least gives me some time to try and figure stuff out. What's next hmm....

The first thing to do is check whether I have a body. Using soul detection... nope, not yet, I'm still a cluster of cells right now. Next was checking for magic! I was in a Harry Potter universe! I found magic very quickly, almost immediately even. My experience with soul energy helped me out here. Plus, my memories from when I was alive made the sensation of foreign energy quite pronounced as compared to nothing before.

I have slowed my perception of time for optimum usage of time. I had learned how to change my perception in the void, it's a part of utilising the soul to have the world go at the speed of thought. Now then... hmmm... magic energy was floating around me in swirls and eddies, permeating through the small cluster of cells I currently inhabited. 

Trying to control it was tricky and I lost track of time whilst figuring it out. However, it didn't take as long as I thought. I did find out about a few things in my excitement for magic. Firstly, magic reacts to willpower and emotions best of all. All of the fanfics harping on about intent were correct. Intent is just willpower directed for a purpose. Emotions however had a profound effect that I can't just figure out sitting here in the womb. Speaking of...

I looked at myself, the cluster of cells that I was right now and sensed everything with my soul. It seemed to be doing fine, but if this was to be my second life, I needed better than 'fine', I needed the best! What I can do is this: Using my soul energy, I will guide the free-floating magic in the air and use it to make sure that any problems with my growth don't happen. I'm not an expert or anything, but I have a decent knowledge of the human body. Sadly no soul I absorbed was a doctor or surgeon, but most people in the 21st century have at least some knowledge on the body, not to mention that martial artist.

Without waiting, I did exactly that. Using my strong soul, I forced my will on the magic energy in the atmosphere and directed it through my new body. I let the stream I controlled flow through my body and around to start again in a loop. Soon enough, I noticed that a little of the magic energy was absorbed into my cells bit by bit.

I'm not exactly sure what this will do, but it can't hurt. If I had to guess, I would have a heightened affinity for magic but again that's just a guess. I continued this manually for a while until I could do it as an automatic process in the background. Plus this will help with training control. I imagine that if I can control the freely floating magic energy, controlling my own will be a cakewalk.

Now then... time to see where I am. Honestly, I should've done this first, but I wasn't too interested. The Guardian said that I would be born within a year of Harry. This means I could be anyone from his year, the year above or the one below. Maybe someone I don't know as well. The point is that nothing much will change no matter where I am. Okay then.

Using the detection part of my soul cultivation technique, I spread my soul energy in a sphere and expanded it outward. Immediately I was assaulted with a multitude of different information. I was left reeling for a little while due to the sheer amount of information and it took a minute to sort through it. When I could, however, I immediately knew where I was and who I was going to be born as.

I was in a mansion for one. Well, a small castle might be a better descriptor. It had 4 floors and 2 separate basements. The entire place was absolutely covered in spells, enchantments and wards. The magic energy in them was ordered in different structures. Some of the structures were solid and long-lasting whilst some were anchored through writings around and inside different parts of objects. I'm going to assume those are runes.

There is a dome covering the mansion with hundreds of layers woven in a complex weave and connected into a central whole through a massive stone in the second basement. The stone was covered in horrendously complex arrays of runes in tiny writing with no gaps on the entire stone.

In addition, the entire mansion was covered in extravagant decorations. Crystal chandeliers, fine weave and high-quality rugs, tapestries, portraits and paintings. The clothes in the closets were all extremely high quality and covered in spells. Even the material itself in these things had natural magic flowing through them. In all honesty, it was over the top to the point of tackiness or gratuitous overkill.

As for my parents' identities though... My mother is an average height woman who is incredibly beautiful. She has platinum hair, grey eyes and aristocratic features of high cheekbones and her skeletal proportions are near perfect.

As for my father, he is taller than my mother but he isn't tall as such, has long blonde-white hair, grey eyes and a pointed face. They were both dressed incredibly expensively.

If you haven't figured it out yet, my parents are Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Okay... it could be worse. At least I will be rich. I should probably expect a childhood of brainwashing and very different values than those I know. At least I will have a lot of opportunities for whatever my pursuits will be.

As I finished sorting through my initial recon of the mansion, I grew curious about the second basement underneath the first. The entrance is hidden underneath a flagstone and the whole thing is covered in dense, intricate and layered barriers of magical energy. None of the magical energy inside can get outside and vice versa.

This proves no problem for my soul detection, so I had a look. There are objects inside that if I have to guess were cursed. The energy in and around them is quite sinister. I can feel the intent behind the magic through my soul detection and it's all quite gloomy feeling. Some are aggressive, some are depressing and some are radiating pure malice.

Including these objects, there's also a collection of books down there. There's nothing special about these books, they're not cursed as far as I can tell. They have the same patterns of magic energy in them as the books in the library in the mansion proper. They're definitely illegal books though or why put them in an obviously secret basement to begin with? There is one book, however... It's definitely heavily cursed. There's a soul in the book too. Ah right, the horcrux Voldemort gave to Lucius. 

Moving on, I did a further detailed exploration of the mansion just in case I missed anything. I didn't, but this second look really drove home just how rich the Malfoys were. It was a showing of arrogance more than anything else at this point. Who needs jewel-encrusted cups?

I don't care about the wealth however, I mean making money as a wizard is easy! I have no idea why the Weasleys were poor in the series. Using magic you can scry for precious metals and gems, you can kill some nasty creatures for parts to sell, you can grow potion ingredients, you can even take an expanded storage, go logging and sell the lumber, go mining with digging and explosive spells. The easiest by far would be to go to a second-hand store or a yard sale, buy up something broken, repair it and sell them to antique stores.

These are just a few ideas too. There are tons of ways to make money as a wizard. I have no idea why wizards work at all. As long as you are reasonably educated, you can live anywhere. You can even have a mansion in a suitcase!

There wasn't much to do right now, but I would pay attention to my parents' conversations and try to figure out a way to read with my soul sense so I could read Lucius' correspondence. This time period is the height of the war after all, and this world won't be exactly like the series I know. I need to figure out the differences.

Well... it's not really a war. It's a small-scale terrorist insurrection led by Voldemort. Gindelwald waged a war. Anyway, there should be 1-2 years before the war ends at the hands of Harry Potter/Lily Potter. I can clearly perceive how serious both my new parents are by the subconscious tension in their bodies.

(Time skip: Just before birth) (More infodumping here as well. Story proper will start in a few chapters)

Today is the day of my birth, I can feel it! Well, it's just my intuition. However, you need to trust your senses - your instincts and intuition. They always know better than you! How many novels and fanfics have characters that have a 'bad feeling', ignore it, and then shit goes sideways?

Anyway, for the past 7-8 months I've been... not busy, but not idle either. Progress with soul cultivation is slow and steady. My body on the other hand... well, let's just say I've outdone myself. I found out about a month after I started running magic through my body as it grew that I could affect my body as I did so and mould it to my wishes. Not in any major way like giving myself a disposition for massive height or bulk, but any minor issues were taken care of.

My body has no defects now. None at all. With the background process of letting magical energy filter into and out of my body as it developed, my body has become extraordinarily attuned to magical energies just like I thought. I can't use magic yet obviously, however using just my physical senses I can feel the magic in a small radius around me.

The best side effect of running magic through my body during development, however, is simply how smoothly magic flowed through my body. At this point, there was no resistance at all from my flesh. It was like my flesh was a superconductor for magic I was so in tune with it. This means that wandless magic will be available to me!

I've been observing Lucius and Narcissa closely for these past months and I've discovered something major. This discovery is the exact relationship between the body, mind and soul. The soul I have is very strong and only getting stronger. Using it to observe the world around me I can view everything. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING.

I can view the energies present in the world, I can view physical forces like Gravity. I can view Space, Time and Void. I can't view much of these things yet, only having a blurry idea that they're there, but the fact they're in my perception at all is already amazing. Using this sense, I can view the souls, minds and bodies of other people. Doing this with my new parents and the occasional visitor of the mansion, I found the link between the three.

The three are a triangle. Not literally, of course, it's all very metaphysical. However, the relationship is similar to that of a triangle in that the thee corners of them support eachother. All three aspects are linked. The upper limit achieved by a person is determined by the weakest of these three. That's why the wizards of Harry Potter were so weak in the series compared to other works of fiction.

The mind is the bridge between the mystical and physical parts of existence. It is being chained down by the physical bodies of these wizards. The soul is unencumbered and can grow or regress as it likes, but the mind cannot due to the physical parts of it being too weak.

The physical body has limited them to the lower power levels. Even if they're physically stronger than a normal human by 1.5-2 times naturally, they don't develop their physiques apart from duellists and quidditch players and even then, those are specifically for duelling or the sport. They don't have gyms or anything like that, so that is something that I will have to find a solution to. The upper limit for wizards like Dumbledore is pretty high, but it's not anything amazing throughout fiction. He's famed for his wisdom, not his sheer strength.

I was lucky to be able to mould my body's growth how I wanted to. I have no defects that would become a problem later, so my potential is now theoretically infinite with magic to support me. I'll find ways to get supernaturally strong. When I find ways to travel worlds in the future, I will definitely give it all I've got with nothing to hold me back.

Other than my body, however, I've been collecting all the information of the outside world that I can. I found a way to read! By using soul detection, I scan a letter and reconstruct it as an image in my mind. Using this, I can read what I want. It's a recent development, so I'm still getting the hang of it and can only read letters for now.

Using this method, I have read through the missives sent to and from Lucius in his study. After reading a lot of them and understanding the subtext of the messages, I figured out what kind of person he was - Trash, that's what. He's been using the war to buy up businesses by threats, blackmail and even buying low after the owners seemingly 'disappeared'. As a high-ranking death eater, he definitely either took advantage of his knowledge or arranged the disappearances himself. 

After all, this 'war' that's happening, it's not a frontal war. Kidnappings, political pressure, bribery etc. Mainly, fear is the weapon being wielded most spectacularly, not magic. There are no frontlines or pitched battles. Any pitched battle is just the Aurors or the order of the fried turkey getting info on something happening in advance and reacting to it, not a designated battlefield. It's the worst and most difficult kind of conflict. All wars have these things, but this war is only these aspects - a kind of shadow war.

Anyway! Enough rambling! I'm about to be born again! Hahahaha I can't wait! I wonder what my early years will be like. I can't wait for Hogwarts! It was every kid's dream in the world I grew up in. I have a goal now too after seeing beyond my own little bubble of existence. Find a way through magic to travel through the multiverse! It's going to be a long journey.

As I thought that, I felt my body being squeezed by the walls around me.