Chapter 1 – Death, Prophecies, Scars and Number 7 Part 2.

Harry Potter's confusion and apprehension only grew with Death's statements. Let's untie one knot at a time. Where is Hermione when you need her? Shaking his head, he asked, "Doesn't Tom still have Nagini?"

"When he hit you with his curse and killed his horcrux within you, he created a magical backlash that destroyed his familiar. Pity that the shock only can harm nearby horcruxes and Tommy boy himself. I wish it offed his Death Munchers at least, my hellhounds could do with some chew toys. Do tell me to show pictures of Ruddy, Terry and George St. Pierre later. I know, I know but George St. Pierre wanted no other name. You see, he followed all of George's UFC fights as a pup, so he only goes by the name."

Harry nodded, wisely ignoring the rest of answer. 'So, all the horcruxes are destroyed and I have barely satisfied the conditions of the prophecy.' But there is something else he is trying to get at here. He sighed and raised an eyebrow, "So if the prophesy was fulfilled, what more is there to discuss?"

Death's expression grew somber. "You see, there is one slight problem with everything that happened. You were never meant to die till you reached a ripe age. But here we are on your 7th death in your life."

Harry's eyes grew comically wide and spewed out the whiskey to his left. Death, with a casual wave of his hand, vanished the spewed-out whiskey. Harry drew in a deep breath, trying to wrap his around the revelations.

'So, it turns out that I was never supposed to die at all. But wait, there is more! I have already died 7 times, six of which I do not remember. Huh that must be some real strong whiskey. Yep, that explains everything.'

Death lips thinned to a fine line, much like a certain transfiguration teacher. He poured himself some more whiskey and continued, "Whenever Fate determines a champion and a prophesy, the outcome can only go two ways, a worst or the best outcomes possible; never a situation where the prophesy is barely satisfied. A prophesy by fate is different from other prophesies, they have the possibility to deviate fabrics of existence in potentially dangerous. Still it is probability, but not even the two of us can determine the extent of the uncertainty.

That was why Fate decreed that Albus Dumbledore as the guide for the prophesy. Prophecies by Fate have a prerequisite of establishing a proper guide for the champion, much like Merlin was to King Arthur. Usually guides are meant to be an individual with great influence, wisdom, and power. At the time of the delivery of the prophesy, he fulfilled many of the requirements. There was no one else for us to consider. Nonetheless, his attempts to manipulate destiny instead backfired spectacularly on all of us. Neither Fate nor I could have accurately predicted the way he would guide you, or in this case, misguide you. We are not completely omniscient or omnipotent, although we are omnipresent.

From the way he handled the leaking of the prophecy, the security and death of your parents, the subsequent abandonment and suffering under the Dursleys to the subtle manipulations he did to engineer your death, lead us to why we are here.

You died four times under the tender cares of the Dursleys before the age of 11. After Hagrid revealed that you are a wizard, they were hesitant to act as brazenly as they were prior to your introduction to the wizarding world. Although, they did try to employ more subtle means. They have less subtlety collectively than that of a troll," Harry snorted in response to that jab at the Dursleys.

You went into Hogwarts as a mentally, magically, and physically underprepared child. You survived your first year. In your second year, you died once while facing the Basilisk, and then another when attempting to protect your godfather from dementors. I find myself wholly surprised that you only died twice during your stay at Hogwarts and I must give you credit for surviving despite the overwhelming odds against you. And yes, each time you died you did come here. My wife found you to be the most adorable baby, child, and teenager baring the great me of course."

Death paused for a few moments and reached out to his glass and took a sip of Lagavulin. He wanted Harry to digest what he just said. Yes, he is being longwinded, but in this case, in a situation where the threads of fate could be in potential danger, he must take appropriate precautions. Besides, Harry no longer has that thrice damned horcrux in his person anymore; he is mental and magical capabilities are no longer suppressed. He could see the changes in his expressions over the last few minutes, shifting from sorrow, anger, remorse, and then complete nothingness. Death took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. 'Alright, showtime.'

"Because of the unprecedented nature of the occurrences of your life and the fact that you have now died 7 times. You are entitled to one last chance at living."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows and closed his eyes. He pinched the bridge of nose. Well this day has clearly been one comedy of errors after another. First apparently Snaped loved my mother, then finding out through his memories in the last minute that I am supposed to off myself for the Dork Wanker to die. End up eating a killing curse to the face, making the said wanker mortal again and then there is this whole meeting with Death. 'Yep, I should write 7 books after my life, future to be a bestseller for sure. Deep breaths Harry, and one donkey at a time.' Slowly opening his eyes, he asked, "What you mean by another chance at living?"

"Well you could choose to go back to the same time as when you just died and finish the job. I don't really recommend living in a world where a prophecy was barely met though, there are some general unpleasantness you would not want to know or see. Ever. Choose this option and you still will remember what we discussed, unlike the other six times.

Another option for you would be to pass on to the Elysium and spend the rest of your days with your family and friends that passed on, baring of course the numb skulls who were thrown over to Tartarus.

But the final option is an interesting one. You get to go back in time to the end of your second year, the day after freeing Dobby and the day Hermione wakes up from her petrification. You will get to retain all your knowledge and experience thus far, including this conversation. You will also no longer have that thrice damned horcrux attached to your scar anymore and thus be able to attain your true potential."

Harry gripped his fists in frustration and narrowed his eyes, it does not seem like there are any easy choices here, despite the low hanging fruit of moving on. It seems clear that he prefers Harry to take option three. He told Harry of the choice of moving on; however, based on what Death has been telling over the last several moments, that does not seem to bode well to anyone. Option one seems like a harebrained situation to dive into.

Even though he would return to the war, barely fulfilling the prophecy would leave him open to unknown threats. If his understanding is correct, and he is not going confirm it with death for the slight chance of being manipulated into talking an action that he does not completely support, options one and two leave potential dangers in the fabrics of existence that could even leave two powerful beings such as Death and Fate vulnerable.

On one hand, there is the possibility of saving many from the taint of war and reuniting with my friends. On the other, a chance for some sort of peace and solace and finally rejoining my lost family.

'Saving people who have I have grown to care for or meeting the people who have always cared for me.'

Harry attempted to rub his eyes and them remembered he did not feel the usual pair of glasses in the way. Seeing the expression of confusion painted across the young Potter's face, Death let a gentle smile fill his countenance.

"You seem to have noticed the lack of glasses in your person. Understandable with the shock of everything really. You see, you no longer require any optical assistance because of the removal of that horcrux in your scar."

Harry raised an eyebrow but was intrigued at the prospect of knowing more about the consequences of the scar. Schooling a more neutral expression, he inquired, "Would you please tell me what the consequences were of having such a scar and if there were other methods of removing it than eating a killing curse to my face?"

"The knowledge you seek requires some background information about horcruxes and the night of your parents murder. Would that be permissible by you?"

Harry nodded.

Death gave a low chuckle. 'This is going to be slightly unpleasant.' He leaned back on his chair and started, "As you know, a horcrux is a portion of a soul torn apart from a being using means most foul. The ritual is conducted on a new moon, the darkest time of a month, the ritual is triggered by the murder of a child no less than the age of two. The runes utilized in the process are prepared by the death of a virgin female's blood. The blood is constantly prepped over the period of seven days, case and point the death of Ms. Myrtle. If the investigators had done a rigorous autopsy, they would have found traces of ritualistic magic which would have pointed them to Tom Riddle. Alas, the prejudices of blood in Magical Britain labelled her as unworthy of being investigated at the time. If anything, there were sick parts of the society and the school who felt vindication of the death of a muggle born."

Revulsion accumulated in Harry's gut has he heard Death describe the creation of a horcrux. A presence tainted with magic most evil. His revulsion grew when he understood that he was a vessel to a heavily tainted soul. His face fell and it was all he could do to stop the bile from spewing all over the place. He clenched his fists and drew in a couple of deep breaths. He slowly relaxed and returned to school a more neutral expression.

Death watched with sympathy to Harry's reaction. For Harry to understand the gravity of the situation, he must provide him with all the information that is necessary. This is a man whose childhood ended on the Samhain night of 1981. This is a man who has survived his whole life, life filled with one tragedy after another.

There is no other way to work with a man like him than to be completely honest with him. Something that Dumbledore managed to botch up completely by acting like a consummate politician using his pawns for satisfying ends that he has no right determining. He let Harry gather himself before he continued.

"When Riddle attempted to kill you, he truly was attempting to create a horcrux. After killing your mother, he began to prepare for the ritual. Unbeknownst to him, your mother finished the sacrificial ritual which triggered with her sacrifice and powered by your magical core. You see, you were quite the powerful baby magically. Your parents and their friends used to serenade the social gatherings after Order meetings with stories of your capabilities. Well, it was more of Sirius Black bragging about his godson to every single and attractive witch in the Order."

They both chuckled lightly at Sirius's antics.

"Cheers to a fine man."

"Cheers to Padfoot, a horn dog to the end."

"Cheers."