Disclaimer: This is a story based on Harry Potter, Marvel, DC and Image comics characters and all recognizable characters, plots belong to Jk Rowling,Marvel, DC and Image comics. I claim no ownership to it.
Chapter 19: The World Was Not Ready : Part VII
The Batcave
Harry's telekinetic senses passed over the armored Batman, though his telepathy was blocked by whatever device was embedded in the cowl of the batsuit. Harry almost smirked in triumph as Batman's eyes met his, and his Legilimency easily bypassed whatever technological blocker the man had installed. Still, Harry knew this Batman would have other means of realizing if his mind was being tampered with, so he maintained only a light touch—just enough to sense surface thoughts and detect any hostility or falsehoods.
Ah, one of the cleverer versions, Harry sighed internally as he sensed Batman arriving at accurate conclusions about him. He was pleased to see this Batman didn't shy away from killing, unlike some of the others. The image of the Joker flickered through Batman's mind, and Harry felt the spike of killing intent that followed. He smiled slightly. Everything was going perfectly—now all that remained was his presentation to seal the alliance.
Harry began deliberately, greeting with Bruce before switching to 'Batman' making it clear how much he knew about the man.
"Hello, Bruce," harry shook his head and he added "Ah, sorry, my bad. Hello, Batman. I want to talk to the real you and not the mask you wear daily."
Harry couldn't deny the satisfaction he felt from the flicker of horror and panic that crossed Batman's mind, even though Batman's body and eyes betrayed nothing. Even seasoned Occlumens wouldn't possess the kind of iron control Batman had forged through sheer willpower.
As Harry expected, Batman reacted in the one way he'd assigned the least probability to when planning this encounter. Harry had contingencies and follow through for all the variables he could think of.
Batman completely ignored him.
Without a word, he walked to the far side of the Batcomputer's massive console, where an array of monitors displayed CCTV footage from throughout Wayne Manor. He began cycling through the feeds rapidly, his gloved fingers moving with mechanical precision.
Harry sighed and tried to placate; "Ah, don't worry. I arrived here directly—I didn't pass through the manor. Your butler, Alfred, is perfectly safe. He doesn't even know I'm here."
Batman ignored him until he finally found Alfred on one of the screens. Then, he turned, eyes narrowing as they met Harry's vivid green ones. His instincts screamed at him not to look into those eyes—but Batman was not a man who ever backed down from a challenge.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Batman asked at last. His voice carried no fear, only the quiet menace that could chill even the strongest of men.
Harry could only smile in nostalgia at that familiar tone. Batman, in turn, was momentarily thrown off by the warmth and nostalgia in that smile.
"Well," Harry said with a shrug, "I'll answer. But you might not want to try your usual intimidating voice with me, Batman. My name is Harry James Potter. As for what I want—let's just say I wish to recruit you to my side. I want one of the most dangerous men on this planet to follow me willingly."
Batman ignored the flattery, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
"For someone who knows so much about me," he murmured, "you should also know I don't work for anyone. I work alone, and only in Gotham. You have thirty seconds to explain what you are and how you know about me—before I forget you appear to be a child and get my answers with my fists."
Harry's eyes widened slightly before he burst into laughter. Within ten seconds, he stopped, realizing Batman would absolutely follow through on his words.
"Ah, there it is—the violent threat promising imminent bodily harm," Harry said with a grin. "Well, I suppose I'm happy to indulge in some training with you. I even promise not to use any of my powers. Come, dance with me, Batman."
Batman frowned when he saw no panic from the boy, who fell into a casual fighting stance. Even though the stance seemed faulty and half-trained at first, Batman could tell it was deliberate. The boy adjusted his footing slightly as Batman rushed forward to attack the being in front of him.
He started with a right hook, and to his surprise, the boy dodged it clumsily. The fight was on and they exchanged dozens of blows within seconds. Batman studied his opponent during the exchange and was slightly impressed by the boy's speed, reaction time, and strength, which seemed almost superhuman. The boy could not break his defense, but he managed to block half of Batman's attacks decently while taking couple of blows that could have broken an adult—only smiling in response.
Batman almost cursed himself because it took him almost a minute of fighting to realise a horrifying fact. The boy was improving rapidly, as if his mind knew the moves but his muscles were not yet accustomed to them. More than that, the clumsy movements the boy used to defend and attack came from various martial arts. Batman's count had almost reached a dozen different styles by the two-minute mark. Even more disturbing, the moves were advanced techniques normally mastered only after the basics had become muscle memory, yet the boy was fighting like an amateur.
At the three-minute mark, Batman realized the boy was treating this merely as practice to improve himself. Finally, Batman ended the fight with a harsh kick to the boy's chest, which was blocked with crossed forearms.
Batman watched as the boy's arms and face healed rapidly. The bruises, swelling, and small wounds vanished before his eyes. For a moment, Batman felt a twinge of jealousy before he forced his mind back under control.
Harry closed his eyes in contentment, then opened them. "Ah, thanks for the training. It would have taken me days of self-training, or sparring against lesser men, to reach this level of improvement. Fighting a master like you makes things easier."
Batman remained silent for a moment before asking, "So you are a mutant?"
"Well, you could say that I am also a mutant," Harry said with a shrug. "Now let's get on with the more important matters, Batman. But before that, let me heal you so you can believe what I am going to say."
Before Batman could react, Harry waved his hand, and golden light enveloped his body. For a brief moment, Batman felt fear before the most soothing sensation he had ever known spread through him. His aches vanished, and his injuries healed rapidly. Despite his willpower, his eyes closed in bliss as the pain he was accustomed to faded for the first time in years.
Batman furiously shook his head, clearing away the contentment and whatever mental manipulation might have occurred, when his injuries were healed.
Harry walked toward a chair and sat down with a pleased sigh. Batman looked at him expectantly, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"So, as you correctly guessed, I am a mutant too—a telekinetic one," Harry began with a smirk. "But that's not all. I am also a wizard, and what I used to heal you is magic."
For a moment, Batman wanted to deny something as unscientific as magic before his mind stopped at one minor detail. He personally knew about the Lazarus Pit and how the Demon's Head was immortal. He had even heard rumors regarding supernatural beings like werewolves and vampires, but he had never met one until now.
Harry observed Batman. He saw the image of the Lazarus Pit in Bruce's mind and sighed internally, realizing he didn't have to waste time convincing him of the existence of magic.
"Intriguing," Batman finally said. "Continue."
"Well, I don't want to go on about magical history, but let's just say there is a parallel magical world separated by magic and a Statute of Secrecy established by the International Confederation of Wizards, the equivalent of the UN, and an agreement between top officials and magical governments."
Batman's eyes widened slightly. He never expected such a developed system; he had assumed there was more to the supernatural world, but at most, he expected hiding wizards similar to mutants—not an entire systematic parallel world.
Batman gave a slight nod for him to continue.
"Now, it would be a waste of time to explain what happened in the past two decades in wizarding Britain and how I came to be here. Let me show you," Harry said. Before Batman could protest, Harry used Legilimency, and suddenly, they were inside Batman's mind.
Batman appeared in what looked like the equivalent of his Batcave. It took him a few seconds to realize he was somehow inside his own mind. He looked at the boy standing near him and almost attacked, but the boy pushed him in the chest, sending him flying at near-sonic speed.
Batman rolled through the air and crashed through several buildings in Gotham before his eyes caught a wide black chasm. He finally hit a wall and landed on snow. Looking around, he saw an ancient castle that seemed to radiate magic.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Harry said beside him. Immediately, everything around them plunged into darkness before a massive theatrical screen appeared before them.
Bruce watched as the boy learned about a wizarding civil war that had occurred a decade ago. He saw the boy's parents fighting on the side of good, then going into hiding, and then the night of Halloween when the boy's life changed forever. Just as Bruce had once watched his own parents gunned down in a Gotham alley, he now watched a monster kill Harry's parents before turning his wand on the baby. Then the killing curse backfired, and Harry was left on a doorstep by a Gandalf equivalent with his relatives.
Batman's fists clenched in fury as he saw glimpses of abuse flash by while the next decade fast-forwarded to the last Halloween. He watched as the boy hovered near death's door before everything turned bright in a gigantic explosion that vaporized everything except the boy at its center.
Batman watched as the boy stood, finally catching sight of Harry's eyes—eyes showing impossible knowledge and age. The assumption was immediately validated as the boy apparated away as if he had done it thousands of times before.
As Harry vanished from the screen, the entire mindscape dissolved, and Batman took two steps back as they returned to the real Batcave. He was slightly panting as his mind processed the information dump that had taken mere seconds.
"That was really unpleasant," Batman muttered, hiding his slight panic that his tech-based blockers had failed to stop his mind from being accessed.
"As you see, Batman," Harry began, "when my body broke, my magic went beyond its limits, and my own mutant powers awakened. I received a flood of visions and information dumped into my brain. In that vision, I saw our meeting and even you training me in the future. We were two friends who had both witnessed the deaths of our parents and were marked by our childhood trauma."
Batman closed his eyes as his mind raced through the possibilities. He had only a basic understanding of what magic could or could not do, yet his instincts screamed warnings. Every sense in him told him the boy was speaking with complete honesty, yet he still found it difficult to believe for some reason.
"Yet I don't see why you are here," Batman said. "This may explain how you got here and your knowledge, but what do you want with me? You are in a child's body, yet you want to recruit me and expect me to follow you." He scoffed. "I still don't see for what purpose."
Harry sighed tiredly and ran his hand through his hair, showing slight nervousness.
"Well, the vision also showed me many other things about the future. I saw aliens descending on our planet and war after war. I saw many things, and I am cursed with knowledge, Batman. I want to prepare this Earth to face the future, and for that, I need a solid team. I need the man who can devise strategies and plans for me. I need Bruce Wayne—his connections, his mind, and his resources," Harry finished in a whisper.
Batman remained silent as his mind went through everything Harry had shown him and repeated the words again and again.
"No," Batman finally said. "I don't want to follow someone like you, Harry. I believe you when you say danger is coming, and that the rise of various powers among humanity might be the Earth preparing itself for a greater fight. But I will not follow a man who shows no remorse or pity for causing the deaths of so many people, even if it was by accident. I saw your eyes and your face, Harry. You are a killer, an absolute monster, barely holding back from complete madness. It would take only one bad day for you to become the greatest threat this world has ever seen. I would never work with you, and I am certain that even in the visions you claim to have seen, I would never have allied with a person like you. If I can see it now, then the more experienced version of me in the future would see it even more clearly."
Harry's eyebrows rose slightly in appreciation at how close Batman had come to the truth about him.
"I see that you need more convincing, Batman," Harry said with a calm shrug. "Read this, and let's see if it changes your mind."
The paper floated toward Batman, and he caught it with gloved fingers. Even his iron control faltered as he read the twenty-four-letter code written on it.
The paper floated towards batman and batman picked it up. even his iron control over his emotions vanished as batman read the 24 letter code word written in the paper.
"How?" Batman whispered in disbelief. "How do you know this code word? It is something I created for myself, a private contingency for time travel scenario I created, as a joke after Alfred teased me about why I was ignoring time shenanigans when I was preparing for various scenarios. I have never shared it with anyone."
Harry smiled faintly, an enigmatic expression touching his lips. "I told you, Batman. I was your close friend in the future. We worked together often. You trained me, and that is how I know the code."
Batman said nothing, his mind racing through every possibility. He knew Harry had not read his mind—he was trained to detect even the slightest intrusion, and Harry had not breached his mental defenses once. Batman had deliberately directed his thoughts to unrelated topics to confirm it.
After several long minutes, Batman spoke again. "No. You are still lying. Even if I did train you in the future, there is no reason I would have given you that code. More than that, the chances of the code being exactly the same are near impossible due to the butterfly effect. So tell me, Harry, how many times have we had this same conversation, including this one? Now tell me the truth, or leave. I have other matters to attend to."
Harry almost slumped in his chair. He had been certain that Batman would at least accept the vision or time travel aspect, but the world's greatest detective had not only seen through his deception but had even guessed that they had met before. Though Harry doubted that Batman had realized those meetings had occurred across different realities, not just different times.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Harry asked, intrigued despite his frustration.
"It was simple in the end," Batman replied. "Our fight. You used too many different martial arts styles and adapted too quickly. You are a mutant and a wizard with immense power. You wouldn't need to learn so many forms of combat unless you had an incredible amount of time, which you shouldn't have, given your claims of impending wars and apocalyptic events. Without reading my mind, there is no way you could know my private code. I have no missing memories, which means it hasn't happened to me yet—it must have happened to you instead."
Harry nodded with clear admiration. "Quite impressive, Batman," he said. "But does that not create another problem for you? If I have had this conversation with you many times before, then wouldn't I already know you would question me like this? That means I could have planned for it, leading us to the classic comedy scenario—you know that I know that you know."
Batman frowned deeply, lost in thought. Finally, he spoke. "Perhaps. You may have expected me to ask this, but you could never be certain, because each version of this encounter might be different for you. Or perhaps this is truly the first time we are having this conversation, and you are attempting to recruit me while still in your child's body. When you woke after the blast, your expression was not of sudden knowledge or revelation—it was confusion at your surroundings. And according to the memories you shared, Hogwarts is a seven-year school for learning magic. That means we should have met only after you completed your education, when you were an adult. Therefore, before this time, either you only received these visions as an adult or you can only travel into your adult body."
Harry smiled, impressed. "You are correct in a way, Batman. We are not having this conversation for the first time, at least not for me. I have met you countless times across many realities, and every time you always surprise me. I have always felt a strange kinship with you because of our shared tragedies. So I will tell you the truth, though I hope you can retain your last bit of sanity after hearing it."
"You say I don't give a damn about some Muggle lives when I awoke in this world. You are absolutely correct, Batman. I have killed more than I could ever count, and I have lived more years than I can remember. I am fighting against an omnipotent, omniscient mad titan who is slowly killing this world. And by this world, I mean not only Earth. The multiverse theory is correct, and the mad titan is slowly killing this cluster of universes because of a time loop he created to torture me. If you concentrate enough on yourself and your surroundings, you will feel a faint weariness in your soul that has nothing to do with your life. It is the degradation of the universe itself, being reset again and again without ever reaching the cosmic end."
"Here, let me show you how it all began," Harry finished as Batman plunged into the mindscape again.
Batman watched as a teenage boy very similar to Harry read a children's tale with a girl and a boy in a home—the Deathly Hallows. Batman's mind almost overpowered the entire memory as his greed for the Stone enveloped the mindscape for a few seconds before he managed to control it. He watched as the boy somehow involuntarily collected the Elder Wand, the Cloak, and the Stone. He watched as the boy walked toward his death willingly and then came back to win the war. He saw the boy unaging, living a long life. Then he saw Harry finally meet a blur that introduced itself as the cosmic aspect of Death.
He watched as Harry ignored everything, living his life until he was summoned again by an alien warrior, his hand enveloped in a gauntlet containing six colorful stones. Information regarding the stones and what Lady Death had done flooded both Harry and Batman. With horror, Batman watched Thanos torture Harry and, when bored, start an insane gamble of looping time as a game. The memory sped through four loops, with Harry always awakening after becoming the Master of Death, only to be tortured by Thanos again no matter what he did.
Finally, the mental landscape ended as Bruce panted harshly on his knees. Batman had thrown off his cowl, pure horror and panic on his face at the sheer absurdity and terrifying reality of what he had seen.
"No… No… No!" Bruce yelled as his heartbeat thundered. His voice was panicked as he kept screaming.
"This is insane…" Bruce whispered, tears falling in despair, his mind on the verge of breaking after seeing the realm of Death, Lady Death herself, Harry's torture, and realizing that his entire life was nothing but a blink and meaningless in the cosmic history.
Harry sighed in indifference before using his telepathy and Legilimency to immediately support Bruce's mind from breaking.
"Come on, Batman. I know you can do it," Harry whispered as he patched the cracks. "I told the truth only to you because I know only you have a chance of surviving the knowledge of the reality you live in."
"No, this can't be correct!" Bruce yelled. "My entire life is meaningless! My goal of fighting crime is worthless when the universe itself is dying! I couldn't even get myself to kill a stupid clown for God's sake, and now the world itself is ending because of a stupid love triangle—and because the literal cosmic Death was a bitch!"
Harry snorted at that but still felt a chill down his spine.
"Batman, snap out of it!" Harry snapped as he pushed his telepathy again to support Bruce's mind. "You should be thankful you didn't kill Joker till now. The Joker is protected by one of the Endless—Delirium—and that's the true reason he always survives deadly injuries. If you had killed him, the retaliation from the Endless would have been far worse." Harry said, and finally, the cracks in Bruce's mind began healing.
"I actually applaud your instincts that made you hesitate to kill the Clown Prince of Crime. Your life is not meaningless, Bruce. It is a testament and tale of inspiration for anyone with human will, determination, and intellect. In fact, even I was inspired by it—seeing you fight crime again and again, knowing there's no end to it, yet never slowing down since the first day you began. Even if my situation hilariously outguns yours, at least I had hope of finding a solution to my troubles. Yet even I succumbed to madness and defeat many times because I couldn't win in the end, no matter what."
Harry finished speaking as Bruce's mind completely healed from the trauma he had just suffered. Harry withdrew his mental hands after leaving some subtle subconscious suggestions in Bruce's mind as payment for healing—and for insulting Lady Death. In a way, Bruce was lucky that he was too low in the totem pole for Lady Death to bother with, and yet she noticed the insult because her consciousness always kept an eye on Harry himself. Leaving without some punishment would be foolish, as Death could be a bitch later and kill Bruce, ruining Harry's plans.
Finally, after several minutes, Batman calmed himself. His heartbeat was steady again, and the eerie calmness had returned where before there was near insanity.
"You are correct, Harry, when you said knowledge is a curse," Batman finally said with a sigh. "So you want me to support you? Me—a normal human?"
"Normal or abnormal is irrelevant to me," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "If I wanted, I could already empower you. I have already undergone the Super Soldier Serum process, and I could make one for you too. What I want from you is, as I said, your influence, money, and brains."
"For that, I need to know everything," Batman said after swallowing his awe at hearing that the Super Soldier Serum had been rediscovered.
"Well, then it's fortunate that we have time to discuss the future, as it will take a while to show you everything, even with my psychic abilities," Harry said with a grin, plunging them both back into the mental landscape. "Well, I'll show you what I think will be relevant," he thought as the screen before them filled with countless memories and information.
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Author's Note: yeah meeting lady death's form was an reason for young thanos to become mad in comics… so meeting her even in memory in blurred by harry leads to almost insanity for bruce… but harry's telepathy is there to mend the mind immediately….
Next harry and bruce discuss the plan and what to do…
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