#master of death

[lumhos]

au where people present once they reach 16 years of age

au where in certain circumstances, bad environments will force the body to present early or present late

au where harry evans presents as an omega at age 14, way before anyone in his year

au where tom riddle presents at 18, way after his yearmates

au where tom is enamored with harry, even before knowing his scent or what his own secondary gender is. how he begs and prays that he presents as an alpha, just for the chance to smell harry’s scent. just for the chance to have a relationship taht is coveted by wizarding culture.

au where tom is so obsessed with harry that he doesn’t notice how the other (older) students in hogwarts recoil from harry. how harry’s smile shows a far too many teeth. how his eyes, so green and fair, seem to tear into your soul. how the shadows follow harry around the cold, stony walls of hogwarts.

au where tom finally does present, an alpha, naturally, and goes to find harry. the moment he steps in the common room, a wall of scents hits him. all overpowered by one. its a deep, threatening smell. one of dark red wine and plums, of moss and dirt. of bone marrow and rot. it is damp and disgusting. it is red and beautiful. it envelops tom’s own scent, one of fire and desire incarnate, and strangles it. tom can’t breathe.

au where tom looks up and sees harry standing before him. smiling his too sharp smile, eyes wide, glowing green with desire (infatuation, even).

au where harry smells like death.

au where tom is the last to find out.

[garfunkelworld]

harry ||| dead things ||| eclipsewing

"He stalks across the battlefield. His cloak flutters behind him like a wraith and despite the number of flashing lights passing by none seem to hit him. […] He’s barely recognisable. Like a copy of a painting, done well but it’s just not… Not quite right."

"Harry Potter hasn’t been seen in Britain for over twenty years. (That’s a lie, like most things about Harry Potter)."

dead things by the singular @shadow-of-the-eclipse was the first HP fan fiction I ever read and to this day I get goosebumps every time I reread it. an absolute masterpiece of fiction <3

[d00medbythenarrative]

Harry after becoming the master of death starts to understand dementor speech and it turns out they're not so scary just really fucking annoying.

They don't want to suck Harry’s soul out anymore but they don't leave his side. They are still very scary to everyone else around, so people start avoiding Harry who always has at least one dementor hovering behind him at any time.

Harry is sick of this shit.

[plummarvelous]

master of death

more arts and wips

[semina-art]

Master of Death Harry

You can download my wallpapers here.

[coldemergency]

Voldemort: There must be endless information you’ve gathered throughout all your past lives

Harry: I know everyone’s dirty little secrets

Voldemort: I don’t suppose you’d share any with me…?

Harry: You would never guess which Hogwarts professor has a foot fetish

Voldemort: Not at all the sort of information I was looking for

Voldemort:

Voldemort: who

[virgil-anon]

The tomarry micro trope that gets me giggling every time is when Tom is trying to find a way to make Harry immortal with him because he's THAT obsessed and that much of a simp, meanwhile Harry's either knowingly or unknowingly immortal already, either from being Tom's horcrux or being the master of death

And I just love it

Tom: here, I've found a ritual to bind your life to mine so we can both live forever!

Harry:

Harry: Tom I CANT DIE

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Any thoughts on the mystery behind the Veil of Death and the three brothers?

ana-lyz: So... What does it mean to be the Master of Death in HP universe? And like what does being MOD mean specifically for Harry?

Okay, funny thing is I got the first of your asks like an hour after I added to my drafts a post titled "Master of Death", so I was just thinking about it. And then I started answering it and you sent the second ask, so, great minds think alike, I guess.

Long post ahead:

The Veil, Death, and its Master

I'm going to cover what we know from the books, my opinions on it, and some of my evidence-based headcanons, since there is a lot of speculation on my part.

The Afterlife and the Veil

So, I wanna talk a bit about death, as it appears in the Harry Potter books. We know an afterlife exists in the HP world both when Harry dies and when he speaks to Nearly Headless Nick after Sirius dies.

I want to start with the scene in Deathly Hallows in the King's Cross limbo. Specifically these few sections:

Barely had the wish formed in his head than robes appeared a short distance away. He took them and put them on. They were soft, clean, and warm. It was extraordinary how they had appeared just like that, the moment he had wanted them. . . . He stood up, looking around. Was he in some great Room of Requirement?

(DH, 596)

“Where are we, exactly?” “Well, I was going to ask you that,” said Dumbledore, looking around. “Where would you say that we are?” Until Dumbledore had asked, Harry had not known. Now, however, he found that he had an answer ready to give. “It looks,” he said slowly, “like King’s Cross station. Except a lot cleaner and empty, and there are no trains as far as I can see.” “King’s Cross station!” Dumbledore was chuckling immoderately. “Good gracious, really?” “Well, where do you think we are?” asked Harry, a little defensively. “My dear boy, I have no idea. This is, as they say, your party.”

(DH, 601)

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright white mist was descending again, obscuring his figure. “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

(DH, 610)

I don't think this place Harry was in is the Afterlife, or even connected to the Afterlife. I think it is in Harry's head. Harry having complete control over it, actually calling it out as behaving like the Room of Requirement, Dumbledore not knowing where they are until Harry knows where they are, etc. All this doesn't fit with it being a limbo on the way to death and the figure there being the real Dumbledore. Dumbledore, throughout this scene, acts kind of strange, way more helpful and finally says all the right things Harry wants to hear.

Not-Dumbledore himself tells Harry he already knows everything he explains to him:

“Explain,” said Harry. “But you already know,” said Dumbledore. He twiddled his thumbs together

(DH, 597)

So, I truly believe it isn't really happening. That this isn't death and it isn't Dumbledore. throughout the scene, Dumbledore doesn't actually give Harry new information Harry couldn't guess on his own. He's just going over things Harry already knew and creating a nice narrative out of them. At some points, he asks Harry what he thinks, and only starts explaining once Harry knows the answer (or what he wants the answer to be). I think this is Harry's subconscious coping and not actual death.

Additionally, there's the disturbing baby Voldemort thing. Now, the real Voldemort is still alive, so contrary to what Not-Dumbledore says, it isn't actually Tom Riddle:

“Oh yes!” said Dumbledore. “Yes, he destroyed it. Your soul is whole, and completely your own, Harry.” “But then . . . ” Harry glanced over his shoulder to where the small, maimed creature trembled under the chair. “What is that, Professor?” “Something that is beyond either of our help,” said Dumbledore

(DH, 598)

What I believe it is, is the soul in the Horcrux in Harry. Separated from Harry's own soul within his mind. That's the only thing it can be, in my opinion. I don't believe the soul shards in the Horcruxes could pass into an afterlife, or even to limbo. They were created to be bound to life and passing away is against their very nature (unless, maybe, if you throw them through the veil).

Besides all these oddities in the scene, it just doesn't make sense for Dumbledore to be there. Nearly Headless Nick gives some insight about death and the Afterlife:

“He will not come back,” repeated Nick quietly. “He will have . . . gone on.” “What d’you mean, ‘gone on’?” said Harry quickly. “Gone on where? Listen — what happens when you die, anyway? Where do you go? Why doesn’t everyone come back? Why isn’t this place full of ghosts? Why — ?” “I cannot answer,” said Nick. “You’re dead, aren’t you?” said Harry exasperatedly. “Who can answer better than you?” “I was afraid of death,” said Nick. “I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to have . . . Well, that is neither here nor there. . . . In fact, I am neither here nor there. . . .” He gave a small sad chuckle. “I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead. I believe learned wizards study the matter in the Department of Mysteries —”

(OotP, 861)

From the way Nick speaks, ghosts are caught between life and death, part of them remains among the living while the rest moves on. Ghosts live in limbo, unable to be alive or dead. From his words, it also implies the properly dead, those who chose to move on, stay dead. They stay gone.

If that's the case, how could Dumbledore come to greet Harry in limbo? He's dead, truly gone, and death has no exceptions. There is no reason Dumbledore could speak to Harry in limbo and his parents won't. Once you're dead, you reach the afterlife and there you stay.

So I don't think the white King's Cross in Harry's death vision was connected to the afterlife, nor was it the real Dumbledore there. So, what is the actual afterlife?

Well, we don't really know. But, I can cover what we do know about the nature of death in the HP universe.

From Nick's words, the afterlife is the better option, than becoming a ghost. Nick describes ghosts as imprints left behind, but imprints of what specifically?

I talked about this already when I discussed how to make Horcruxes, but in alchemy, everything is comprised of three things:

Sulfur - soul

Mercury - spirit (that binds the body and the soul)

Salt - body

A ghost doesn't have a body, and we know all that moves on to the afterlife is one's soul. Therefore, it stands to reason ghosts are an imprint of a soul, while the spirit leaves at the moment of death. That's what an Avada Kedavra does, it removes the spirit, the connection between the body and the soul. That's how it kills instantly and without a trace.

So, when someone passes into the afterlife, it's their soul that passes away.

What about the echoes of Harry's parents and Cedric in Voldemort's wand during the duel in the graveyard?

Well, they're dead, they moved on, so it can't be their soul. The figures aren't even described the same way as ghosts or diary Tom, figures we know are made of souls:

and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemort’s wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke. . . . It was a head . . . now a chest and arms . . . the torso of Cedric Diggory. the dense shadow of a second head, If ever Harry might have released his wand from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept him clutching his wand tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so solid) emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort’s wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel . . . and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.

(GoF, 665-666)

Their bodies are buried, and Cedric's is just lying there, neither are they physical enough to be bodies. I believe this is their spirit. Remember what I said about the Killing Curse just now, it severs the tie, and as such, it keeps the spirit. So, Harry is speaking to his parents' spirit, the echoes of their lives, not souls.

Now, let's talk about the veil. The veil is one of the most fascinating things introduced in the books, and the way it is introduced is fascinating on its own, but that's for later. The veil is a physical archway into the world of the dead.

The concept of such an entrance exists in multiple mythologies. In Greek mythology, many heroes (Odysseus, Orpheus, Heracles, Theseus, etc.) all travel through the underworld in one way or another, this is why the hero's journey goes through the underworld, it's very common. In Mesopotamian mythology, Gilgamesh and Ishtar both travel to the underworld. The point is, a gateway into the afterlife you can travel through, is a concept humanity has been toying with for millennia.

What's interesting is that, like Thestrals, those who've seen death (Harry, Luna, and Neville) can hear whispers from it. They experience it differently from others who haven't witnessed death (Ron, Hermione, and Ginny) who feel unnerved by it (although, Neville and Luna react differently from Harry, but more on that later). Not much more can be said about it, except that unlike all these gates into the underworld from myths, the veil is meant to be a one-way ticket.

In general, the afterlife in the Wizarding World is a one-way passage. Once you're gone, you're gone. Hence the closest thing to proper necromancy they have is creating inferi, which are soulless since the soul can't be pulled back from the afterlife.

The veil was also there before the Ministry of Magic, which was built around it. My guess is that some ancient wizards made it, and how or why were forgotten over time.

As the Peverell brothers were born around the 1210s and the Ministry of Magic was founded in 1707, it's possible, that the same Peverells from the story have built the veil. I actually think it's quite likely.

Death Himself

The idea of death personified is just as old and prevalent in many myths and cultures as a gateway leading into the afterlife. Whether Death, as a being, exists in the Wizarding World, I'm uncertain, but I don't think it's likely.

God-like spirits like Death feel out of place in the world in a way. Like, having a pantheon of gods feels wrong for the world of Harry Potter. It feels out of place with the established lore and magic. We don't see any evidence of wizarding society having any kind of unique religion in which such beings exist. Death, in the tale, is also described as similar to a dementor, making the idea that the author based Death's appearance on that of a dementor plausible.

That being said, Death's similarity to dementors could be the other way around. As in, the dementors look like death because of their connection to him. And, Death from the Tale doesn't really act like a god. How he behaves and is spoken of in the Tale of the Three Brothers reminds me a lot of a fae-like creature. Like, a powerful being who's a trickster that twists your wishes into something that he can use against you.

However I look at it, I still don't feel a being like this would fit in the world of Harry Potter, it feels wrong to add gods (or fae) in there. We don't see any hint that such beings might exist, which makes me feel they don't. So, I don't really think a personification of Death as appearing in the tale actually exists, but they do have an afterlife, as established above.

The Peverells and the Hallows

So we all know the legend about the three Peverell brothers who cheated death and received his gifts. Dumbledore (the one Harry imagines in his death fever dream) is certain it went down a little differently. That the tale is to explain incredibly powerful magical artifacts made by extraordinary wizards:

“Oh yes, I think so. Whether they met Death on a lonely road . . . I think it more likely that the Peverell brothers were simply gifted, dangerous wizards who succeeded in creating those powerful objects. The story of them being Death’s own Hallows seems to me the sort of legend that might have sprung up around such creations.

(DH, 602)

While it's not really Dumbledore and more Harry's own mind, I agree with him the Peverell brothers were probably no run-of-the-mill wizards, and I agree it's unlikely they've met Death, as I don't believe he exists.

Now, all the Hallows have a sentience to them beyond just any magical artifact. Even the wand is more sentient than any other wand, which are already quite sentient ("the wand chooses the wizard").

The wand of the first brother is a Hallow I already wrote about how it chooses its master. It is a wand intrinsically connected with death, having a core of Thestral hair. (I wonder if a core from a Thestral would agree to work for a wizard who hasn't seen death, but I digress)

This wand is actually the least impressive Hallow, in my opinion. Even though it said to be unbeatable:

Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor

(DH, 352)

Its user is beaten quite often, that's how the wand changes owners, after all. This wand's tendency for even more sentience than other wands is what is particularly unique about it. How it chooses its master repeatedly, and sometimes even decides it prefers another over its current master, something unheard of for any other wand.

The Resurrection Stone has the supposed ability to pull a soul imprint from the afterlife:

“Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered.

(DH, 352)

Something that I just discussed above should be impossible. Once dead and in the afterlife, nothing comes back out. Harry uses it as well for the same purpose and describes them as being similar to Tom from the diary:

They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward him, and on each face, there was the same loving smile.

(DH, 589)

Because that's what the stone brings back, echoes of souls, but they aren't what Tom Riddle was in CoS.

“We are part of you,” said Sirius. “Invisible to anyone else.”

(DH, 590)

This line, made me believe the resurrection stone does something different than its name suggests and more similar to the lie Tom in the diary told Harry. They aren't souls, they're memories, echoes from within Harry himself. "Memory made solid"

Magic, in the world of Harry Potter, can't bring back someone who has moved on to the afterlife. It's a one-way ticket, as I've established before, once your soul moves on, that's it (if you try to resurrect someone immediately after they died and their soul hasn't yet moved on it's a different story). So I think, these shades are based on Harry's memories, and not actual souls brought back. It'll make more sense magically since his thoughts and memories are there, but the souls have gone on.

It also makes the tale of the second brother make more sense. He suffered because it wasn't really his wife that came back, but a shade based on his own memory. The tale said that she suffered, but I think it was Cadmus who suffered, not truly having her back. However, depending on how she died, her suffering might've been his memories of her that the stone resurrected, or the tale made it all up just like it made up Death.

The stone is just as picky about its master as the wand. It does not seem to have worked for anyone other than Cadmus Peverell and Harry himself. We don't hear of any Gaunts who used the stone, nor do we hear from Dumbledore he succeded in using it (I don't think it's actually Dumbledore in the conversation in King's Cross as I mentioned above). Regardless, I think the real Dumbledore probably did try to use it, and I will hazard a guess he failed. Since the stone didn't choose him.

The Cloak is unique in many ways. Lasting centuries, way longer than any invisibility cloak can, passing from parent to child for generations. It also does a better job of concealing you than another invisibility cloak, if, it still has its limits:

“...We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Miss Granger?”

(DH, 354)

The cloak is similar to the other Hallows in how picky it is regarding its master. The cloak wouldn't belong to anyone who just possesses it, it's not enough. It has to be passed willingly on the owner's deathbed, as they greet death as an old friend. It means that in the books, no one but Harry could be its owner.

All artifacts are powerful, but they aren't capable of anything that breaks the laws of nature (as the stone doesn't really resurrect), they are also sentient and picky, but it isn't something beyond the capacity of wizards. Why, we know of four wizards who made three sentient magical artifacts already — The Hogwarts founders.

The four founders enchanted the sorting hat together, but more relevant to the discussion of the Hallows are the Book of Admittance and the Quill of Acceptance.

At the precise moment that a child first exhibits signs of magic, the Quill, which is believed to have been taken from an Augurey, floats up out of its inkpot and attempts to inscribe the name of that child upon the pages of the Book (Augurey feathers are known to repel ink and the inkpot is empty; nobody has ever managed to analyse precisely what the silvery fluid flowing from the enchanted Quill is). Those few who have observed the process (several headmasters and headmistresses have enjoyed spending quiet hours in the Book and Quill’s tower, hoping to catch them in action) agree that the Quill might be judged more lenient than the Book. A mere whiff of magic suffices for the Quill. The Book, however, will often snap shut, refusing to be written upon until it receives sufficiently dramatic evidence of magical ability.

(from pottermore)

The idea of multiple sentient, powerful magical artifacts that need to agree is something wizards are capable of. And that, I think, is the secret to becoming the Master of Death — having all 3 Hallows pick you. Just like the book and quill need to agree a student should be admitted to Hogwarts.

Master of Death

Or more specifically what does that actually mean and why I think even if someone retrieved all 3 Hallows they wouldn't have become the Master of Death if their name isn't Harry James Potter.

This is definitely more in the headcanon territory, but the first scene that really made me think about it is the one in the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries. Because I think Harry and death always had a weird connection, it might've been around before the failed killing curse, and it was definitely around before Harry mastered all 3 Hallows.

So, why do I think Harry was always bound to be the Master of Death, and even if Dumbledore or Voldemort had all the Hallows it wouldn't have helped them?

There, are a few things that led me to this conclusion.

First, as I mentioned above, the cloak can not belong to anyone other than Harry in the books. It means that no one but Harry could master all of the Deathly Hallows, regardless of what they did.

Second, This first scene in the Death Chamber with the veil. I'll copy parts of it below and ask you to note, as you read, that Harry, Neville, and Luna are the only three who can see Thestrals and therefore should react more to the veil:

“Who’s there?” said Harry, jumping down onto the bench below. There was no answering voice, but the veil continued to flutter and sway. “Careful!” whispered Hermione. ... He had the strangest feeling that there was someone standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway. ... “Let’s go,” called Hermione from halfway up the stone steps. “This isn’t right, Harry, come on, let’s go. . . .” She sounded scared, much more scared than she had in the room where the brains swam, yet Harry thought the archway had a kind of beauty about it, old though it was. The gently rippling veil intrigued him; he felt a very strong inclination to climb up on the dais and walk through it. “Harry, let’s go, okay?” said Hermione more forcefully. “Okay,” he said, but he did not move. He had just heard something. There were faint whispering, murmuring noises coming from the other side of the veil. “What are you saying?” he said very loudly, so that the words echoed all around the surrounding stone benches. “Nobody’s talking, Harry!” said Hermione, now moving over to him. “Someone’s whispering behind there,” he said, moving out of her reach and continuing to frown at the veil. “Is that you, Ron?” “I’m here, mate,” said Ron, appearing around the side of the archway. “Can’t anyone else hear it?” Harry demanded, for the whispering and murmuring was becoming louder; without really meaning to put it there, he found his foot was on the dais. “I can hear them too,” breathed Luna, joining them around the side of the archway and gazing at the swaying veil. “There are people in there!” .... “Sirius,” Harry repeated, still gazing, mesmerized, at the continuously swaying veil. “Yeah . . .” ... On the other side, Ginny and Neville were staring, apparently entranced, at the veil too.

(OotP, 773-775)

The interesting to note:

Luna, who can see Thestrals, also hears the whispering. I assume Neville does too.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are mesmerized but unnerved by the veil. Ron and Hermione seem to fight this memorization in their fear for Harry as he nears the veil.

Harry is the only one who is drawn to the veil He is the only one that moved, the only one whose feet take him against his will to the dias with the veil.

Harry thinks of it as oddly beautiful.

He has an urge to pass through that no one else does. All of them are frozen in place.

Harry is so affected he needs to be reminded twice that he's there to save Sirius before he can draw himself away from the veil.

Third, later in the book, after Sirius fell through the veil, there's this part:

He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out again. . . . But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back. “There’s nothing you can do, Harry —” “Get him, save him, he’s only just gone through!” “It’s too late, Harry —” “We can still reach him —” Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go. . . . “There’s nothing you can do, Harry . . . nothing. . . . He’s gone.”

(OotP, 806)

Harry's instinct to go through the veil to get Sirius out is so odd. The way he thinks that he himself can pull him out, not anyone else, but he... I don't know, but, this scene is interesting. It almost makes me feel Harry could pull Sirius back out. He defied death already once and will defy it again in the 7th book, so why not? Why wouldn't he be able to pull someone back from beyond the veil if they fell through just now (the timing is relevant, I don't think Hary could pull, say, his parents out).

My headcanon is that in that very moment if Lupin let Harry pull Sirius out, it would've worked. Caused a pandemonium about the fact Harry can apparently resurrect the dead (even if it's not really what he did), but that it would've worked. (I actually really want to write a fic like this)

Fourth, throughout the 7th book, once Harry finds out about the Hallows, he can't let the thought go. He knows his cloak is one, he is convinced the stone is in the snitch Dumbledore left him, way before he opened it. He just has a sense about it, and a fixation on it that's almost instinct:

Dumbledore had left the sign of the Hallows for Hermione to decipher, and he had also, Harry remained convinced of it, left the Resurrection Stone hidden in the golden Snitch. Neither can live while the other survives. . . master of Death. . . Why didn’t Ron and Hermione understand? “‘The last enemy shall be destroyed is death,”’ Harry quoted calmly

(DH, 374-375)

So, these are my reasons why I believe Harry is the only character in the books that could or would be the MOD. It's just that he always was, in a way. The Hallows already chose him before he ever held any of them.

But what does it mean to be the Master of Death?

“Well, of course not,” said Xenophilius, maddeningly smug. “That is a children’s tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters, however, recognize that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death.” ... “When you say ‘master of Death’—” said Ron. “Master,” said Xenophilius, waving an airy hand. “Conqueror. Vanquisher. Whichever term you prefer.”

(DH, 353)

We don't really get much besides this. Along with what's written on James and Lily's grave:

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

(DH, 283)

Harry believes all phrases, along with the prophecy are connected and lead him to believe he should become the Master of Death:

Three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death. . . Master. . . Conqueror. . . Vanquisher. . . The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. . . . And he saw himself, possessor of the Hallows, facing Voldemort, whose Horcruxes were no match. . . Neither can live while the other survives. . . Was this the answer?

(DH, 369-370)

So what can the Master of Death do? Death isn't a personified deity, what is defeating or contouring death mean? Does it mean immortality?

I don't know if I'll say full immortality, I think the Master of Death can die the same way Ignotus Peverell did. I think Ignotus Peverell was the first Master of Death, in a way, he at least represented the concept:

And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life

(DH, 352)

He was death's equal, he could escape it and live a fulfilling life, before choosing to meet Death on his own terms. I think that's what it means, that Death won't find Harry until he is ready to move on, and when he finally chooses to move on, Death would greet him with open arms.

The crux of it is the choice. That death can't touch you until you choose to allow it. And those who become Masters of Death, would always eventually choose to greet death, as these are the type of people the 3 Hallows would choose. It's all about choices.

(For the record, yes, I think there could be more than one MOD, I think Ignotus was until his death, and then in the books, Harry is)

And considering how much emphasis is put on choices and intentions in the magic of this world, it seems only right to be so relevant here too.

Like with the Mirror or Erised, which only let someone who wanted to have the Philosopher's Stone but not use it, have it; the Hallows won't choose a master who wouldn't, eventually, be willing to accept death. Because mastering death, isn't only not dying, it's understanding it, and accepting it. Both the deaths of others and eventually your own.

Also, as I mentioned above, I headcanon that Harry could pull Sirius out the moment he fell in through the veil. I don't think anyone but Harry could. I believe, as a Master of Death, Harry is the only wizard (well, being) that can go into the afterlife, walk past the veil, and come back out. A Master of Death is the only one who the afterlife isn't a one-way ticket for.

(Although, I think it's possible that if you wear the invisibility cloak you might be able to pass into the veil and come out even without being the MOD, but, I wouldn't bet on it)

Summary of my thoughts

The afterlife exists in the Wizarding World and nothing that passes beyond the veil can return. It's a one-way ticket.

The scene in Deathly Hallows with Dumbledore in King's Cross station limbo didn't actually happen.

Death, as a deity of sorts most likely doesn't exist.

The Peverell brothers were powerful wizards who made the Deathly Hallows and perhaps the veil too.

The Resurrection stone can't bring a soul back from beyond the veil so it does the next best thing — reviving an illusion of a memory.

All 3 Deathly Hallows are very sentient magical artifacts like the sorting hat. Each of them is very picky when choosing its own master.

When all 3 Hallows choose the same master, this person is the Master of Death.

Being the Master of Death means the MOD won't die until the time of their choice. But the MOD will always choose to die eventually because that's the kind of person the Hallows would pick.

There can, over time, be more than one MOD (not at the same time though). And it's possible Ignotus Peverell was one, in a way.

The MOD might be the only person who can go into the veil and come back out.

The invisibility cloak might also allow you to make a trip into the veil and then back out.

[nightblackowlbat]

Ghost King & Master of Death

A meta-commentary on Danny and Harry. Think of the parallels, the potential!

(Slaps car, "you can fit so much fanon into these bad boys!")

So without further ado, let's get started.

Green eyes: green like ectoplasm, green like the killing curse

Death didn't stick: Harry is the boy-who-lived. Danny is the boy-who-died.

Death-scars: Danny is often written as having Lichtenberg scarring from the accident that killed him. Harry is famous for his lightning bolt scar, received from the killing curse.

Power thrust upon them: Danny defeated Pariah Dark to save his town. Harry collected the hallows by accident/Dumbledore to defeat Voldie. Neither wanted their titles.

Eldritch entity: MOD and GK are portrayed in fandom as beings beyond time. They are not bound to one universe. Death is all-encompassing, it reaches ever corner of the multiverse that contains life. Thus, so do they.

Eternal teenagers: Depending on the depiction, there's a lot of takes where Danny and Harry stopped aging due to their titles/species.

Tired and timeless: AKA Overpowered and overworked. There's a lot of bullshit that goes on behind the metaphysical veil apparently. Being a god-like being isn't easy. There's paperwork and shit. Being immortal sucks.

Vacation AU: What do said immortals do when they need a break? Run away to a random universe for a new start. Hey, maybe here they can finally live a normal peaceful life, right? RIGHT? (It would be a pretty boring crossover if that happened, so sorry Danny/Harry. You're getting a love-interest at the very least.)

Antagonists obsessed with their moms: Vlad and Snape

(ok, that last one was added as a joke, but im not wrong)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So. Where does that leave our deathly boys? What paths can this lead? So many.

Just two Death Gods chillin' in your dimension: Danny and Harry are work colleges, just two dudes, two pals. Every century or so they pick a universe to dip in to live and relax a little. They're just a couple a eldritch tourists, no need for the locals to get so freaked out, honest.

Summons unclear: Maybe there's some mixup over which universes fall into who's jurisdiction. So when a cult tries to summon a death god they get two. And then Danny and Harry immediately start bickering and bitching. "No, I very clearly stated that this realm was/wasn't my problem!"

Alternates: They could be alternate versions of each other. Does something go wrong with the multiverse? The balance of life and death? Maybe they take each other's places or end up body-swapped. Or they could be reincarnated versions of each other and something unlocks memories of their previous life.

Godly matchmaking: Death and Time see their protégées suffering alone and set them up to support each other. Partners through the pain of eternal responsibility. Could just be platonic.

Soulmate AU: Matching death scars are morbidly romantic, right? Or it could be a write on your skin situation, where they write to each other and only meet once they've ascended. And it comes with the bittersweet knowledge that while they were destined to be together, but they were also destined for greatness born from suffering.

[ree-dee-art]

One of my @hd-tarot fest works based on the Death card. Click the link below to view it in higher quality on AO3.

[lumhos]

tomarry aus where harry is the mysterious transfer student with great amounts of power are my guilty pleasure.

au where harry evans has a few screws loose in the head and its evident to everyone as soon as he steps foot into the great hall. his eyes look like they are in a permanent state of “glazed over”, his hair a wild mess of black curls (white strands here and there).

au where as soon as he sits down, he is a hat stall. minutes pass by, the hat seeming more agitated by the second. harry does not bat an eye when the sorting hat finally screams out “HUFFLEPUFF” to the great hall.

au where despite being in the “unnoticed” house and being of (presumably) muggleborn descent, harry feels wrong. inhumane. eldritch.

au where everywhere harry goes, whispers follow. a cold settles in every room he enters. shadows curve and bend at his will and harry is often seen muttering to himself in a language that should not be possible for the human tongue. the ghosts avoid him like the plauge.

au where tom riddle, frustrated with not knowing where the chamber of secrets is, storms off into the forbidden forest under the cover of night. using stars to light his way, he hears something in the distance.

au where tom riddle discovers harry evans reanimating the corpse of a unicorn. the rest of the herd had long since fled the moment they felt the magic leaking out of harry.

au where tom watches in horrified fascination as the unicorn’s body begins to rise. its head jerks up before the rest of the body has a chance to keep up. its leg joints crack sickeningly, all in the wrong directions. a dark, wet tongue falls out of its mouth, drooling over the forest floor. its horn is noticeably missing, as are its eyes.

au where harry evans is a necromancer.

au where tom riddle finds a new obsession.

[emi-gelfling]

ok, so harry isn't explicitly morally

dubious here so much as he only cares

about his voldemorts after everything

he's survived. but that makes his actions

inherently part of a moral grey to me as

a reader. that plus the cavity-inducing

fluff between harry and his scarcrux just

makes this strange relationship so sweet!

LINK:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57200377/chapters/145493482

[imlilmisscomplicated]

• incorrect Harry Potter quotes •

Harry: What’s up guys? I’m back.

Draco: Salazar’s Sake- you can’t be here. You’re dead. I literally saw you die.

Harry: Death is a social construct.

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #100: Harry Potter, but make it Conclave

While driving somewhere for work the other day, I was struck by the most perfect, most terrible crossover for this, my 100th Terrible Fic Idea. Because at some point during that drive my mind went: Ralph Fiennes played a character named Tom in Harry Potter; he also played a character named Thomas in Conclave (2024). The rest, as they say, is history.

Or: What if, after dying in the Forbidden Forrest, Death sent Harry Potter to a universe where Tom Riddle was adopted by the Lawrence family as a child?

aka the keep the earth below my feet fic

Just Imagine It:

When Harry dies at the end of DH, instead of meeting Dumbledore in King's Cross, he encounters (the Angel of) Death, who grants him a boon for collecting their missing personal effects: Harry can either return to his old life, where it's very likely he'll die again in the battle now raging around him, or go on to his reward.

Now, Harry is in a pretty dark place at that moment. He has, after all, just committed suicide by Dark Lord. The idea of going straight back into a war that has cost him everything is so anathema to him that he decides to go to his reward. Naturally, he assumes this to be some sort of afterlife where he can meet his parents and see Sirius, Remus, &c again-

-but instead he's dropped into a fairly ordinary muggle living room somewhere in the near vicinity of Guildford, where an old man in clerical clothing is putting things into boxes.

Meanwhile, four months after the events of the conclave, things are running smoothly in Pope Innocent XIV's Vatican.

Joseph Tremblay has been publicly defrocked for simony but not excommunicated from the Church; Aldo Bellini has replaced him as camerlengo and been given the instruction to root out corruption wherever he finds it - a task for which Goffredo Tedesco is an unexpected ally more often than not, though there's serious talk of soundproofing whatever office the pair happen to find themselves in. The former dean Thomas Lawrence has been invested as Secretary of State and has become Vincent's closest friend and advisor.

Then, shortly after Easter, Thomas receives word that the last of his siblings has died and left her home in Guildford to him.

This is somewhat of surprise, but not how one might think. The Lawrence family had adopted twelve children from orphanages around London over the years; Thomas had merely been the last and youngest of these. The real surprise is that Iris Evans née Lawrence had outlived all her children and grandchildren so that her estate might fall to him.

Thomas takes a sabbatical to handle the arrangements and is in the middle of packing up her things when a young man in bloody, threadbare, dirt-stained clothing appears in the middle of his sister's living room.

The situation is tense at first, but a kindly old man offering Harry food, tea, and a place to rest breaks down a lot of barriers, and this and the stress of having recently been dead causes the truth to spill out.

Thomas takes the knowledge his houseguest is an unwitting wizarding refugee from a war in another universe much better than one might expect a priest should, in part because before his adoption his name had been Tom Marvolo Riddle and he'd attended Hogwarts before seminary. (Not, of course, that he's ever thought of himself as Tom Riddle. He's been Thomas Lawrence since he was fifteen months old and has lived his life as such. He's never had the slightest interest in tracking down who his biological family might be.)

After much arguing - and many cups of tea - they agree to pass Harry off as Thomas' sister's great-grandson, whose care has fallen to Thomas for lack of other options. Harry's hesitant to accept at first - hell, Harry can barely allow himself to accept a change of clothes - but he's got nothing and no one in this universe. Not to mention that he looks closer to 14 than 17 after his encounter with Death.

(Besides, from what Thomas knows of his eldest sister's family, it's possible that Harry might actually have been her great-grandson in another universe. And even if he wasn't, Thomas is unwilling to abandon a child in need.)

And so Thomas ends up bringing Harry back to the Vatican with him.

This is naturally a surprise and sets the Curia gossip mill running. Those who’d known Thomas as a young man are especially confused. ("Thomas, you’re the most repressed man I’ve ever met. How is it there’s someone who looks just like you forty years ago running around?" "Your memory must be failing, Aldo, if you think I ever had that much energy. Or that much hair.")

But the real bulk of the fic is what comes after - about how a child groomed to fight other people's battles all his life finds closure when the war is finally over and there's not even anyone to bury because even that has been taken from him - about how a child who was never allowed to live for himself learns how to exist without the weight of expectation on his shoulders - about how, "What had the most profound impact on me [...] was the moment when someone reached down to take my hand, drew me up by their side, and called me their friend. Not for gain, not for prominence or wealth, but because that man saw a small child who needed help, and he provided it [x]". This he does surrounded by those who only want the best for him and how have no expectations other than he grows into a happy, healthy adult.

It's all very pastoral and at least partially religious (dealer's choice on how much of it is finding peace and how much is finding god) given the setting, but at the end of the day the fic should be about how healing sometimes can only come after someone reaches out and says let me help.

I have very little plot for all of this, mostly vibes:

Thomas eventually finds out that he was a genocidal would-be dictator in another universe and feels immense guilt over it, especially since he and Voldemort share more than just an origin story - parseltongue, wandless magic, and the like. Again, it should be the realization that it was the hand freely offered by the Lawrences that kept him from going down that path. This doesn't stop him from wanting to help Harry, but does confuse the matter for a bit.

Vincent, of course, has a lot of experience helping former child soldiers and victims of genocidal warfare, he just hadn't expected to need those skills in the Vatican. Or for a child who is nominally his best friend's nephew. The truth comes out eventually, but even before that he's Harry's favorite person to talk to. (Thomas doesn't mind; Vincent is his favorite person too and he's just glad Harry has someone he trusts.)

Aldo too eventually learns about the Wizarding World (perhaps Harry has very violent, very magical nightmares), but has parallel arcs of 1) being angry his friend of forty years never confided in him that he had magic, 2) having extreme difficulty coming to terms with the existence of magic, even after it's repeatedly proven to him; and 3) fretting that there's a whole community that the Church is not engaging with and has no formal representation at the Vatican. Oddly enough, it should be Tedesco who helps the most with each of these, being the only other Wizard in the College of Cardinals.

Harry's journey is slow, but by the time he graduates he's in a much better place then when he first arrived in this universe and should vaguely encompass Éowyn's lines, "I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren." Maybe he decides to become a healer or aid worker or follow in Vincent's footsteps as a missionary in underserved parts of the world, but whatever he decides, he always knows he has a family and a home to come back home to.

Bonuses include:

Harry never being quite certain what's going on between Thomas and Vincent. Maybe they're codependent platonic soulmates like he and Ron and Hermione once were, maybe they're carrying out an affair behind closed doors, maybe it's something complicated in between - Harry doesn't know and never asks. All he knows is it works for them and he'd never begrudge the adults who've done so much for him their happiness.

Harry never being quite certain what's going on between Aldo and Tedesco either. Are they each other's nemeses? Are they enemies with benefits? Are they even really enemies and not just antagonistic life partners for whom arguing is foreplay? Or is the arguing merely pulling each other's pigtails because they're both too repressed to realize they're attracted to each other? They agree on more points than they disagree, but invite schism every time they fight on the minutest points of doctrine - yet always seek each other out to argue with and never seem to tire of it. In the end Harry decides he simply doesn't want to know. There are some things in life he's better not knowing.

Multiple references to Sylvester II being the first - and so far only - Wizarding pope.

At least three jokes about cardinal-nephews, the first arising from the American media seizing on a poor translation of some international news article referring to Harry as the cardinal's nephew; and

Vatican City being a character as much as Hogwarts is in canon.

And that's it. That's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back if you ever do anything with it. (And look forward to a spam of 100th Terrible Fic Idea celebration posts in the coming days.)

More HP Ideas | More MISC Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

[celestialseawitch-ff]

Concept that the Durselys run so far from the owls that first year, they go all the way to the US. Then they think, what if he just wasn't our problem anymore? So they abandon Harry in the crime capital of the world because it'll surely never get back to them.

Little eleven year old Harry walking around the seedy streets of Gotham, both wondering if his relatives will come back and knowing that they won't. And then he turns a corner and meets a very tall man (older teenager, but he's eleven so).

Harry stares at Jason. There's a weird sort of energy (magic) surrounding the man. Weird and very familiar to Harry in a way he can't describe.

He opens his mouth and the words come out before he even knows that he's going to say, "You're supposed to be dead."

Jason raises an eyebrow at the kid. "I was. It didn't agree with me." He looks around. "It's gettin' late and you're a bit far from the tourist-friendly parts of the city. Lose your parents, kid?"

"Yes. They're dead." He stares at Jason. "It agreed with them."

[coldemergency]

Harry: A world without Lord Voldemort is quite dull

Voldemort: Sounds like you have experience

Harry: Yeah, in my third life I sped-ran the whole thing and took you out before my thirteenth birthday. You should have seen Dumbledore’s face, absolutely priceless